The Grid

The HSCC's Derek Bell Trophy will have a new look for 2009 following confirmation that MSA championship status has been awarded to the series for the first time. Now to be known as the HSCC Historic F5000/F2 Championship for the Derek Bell Trophy, the category will focus on Formula 5000 and Formula 2 cars only, with Formula Atlantic cars likely to race alongside the F2 cars. "This move recognises the strength of these two classes in historic racing and the series is at a point where it should have championship status," said Grahame White. "We're focussing the calendar into a smaller number of higher profile race meetings." The schedule is likely to cover five or six events, including one overseas date, and some double-headers. During the 2008 season, more than 20 Formula 5000s raced in the UK and, when added to over 20 active F2 cars from both the 1600cc and 2-litre eras, makes up a potentially very strong grid for the new championship. The 2009 season will also mark the 40th anniversary of the first British Formula 5000 Race. Initial plans for the development of the championship include giving significant and equal recognition to the leading F5000 driver and the leading F2 driver. The overseas date is under negotiation, with an event at Dijon in France in early October looking likely. The provisional calendar is

In the 2009 World Touring Car Championship a system of Compensation Weights will replace the Success Ballast system that was used in the past. read more

BMW have confirmed their participation in the FIA World Touring Car Championship for the 2009 season. The announcement was made recently in Munich, during the marque's traditional Sport Pokal party. "Touring cars have traditionally been very important to BMW," said BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. Between 2005 and 2007, BMW won for three consecutive times the WTCC Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships, while this year, despite six race victories, they had to settle with second place in the Manufacturers' Championship behind SEAT and fourth in the Drivers' Championship.
Theissen commented: "I am pleased that a compromise was reached regarding the 2009 rules. This balances out the different engine concepts and should allow for fair and even competition between the manufacturers. We are absolutely determined to be back at the top of the WTCC at the 2009 season finale in Macau. We shall announce our team and driver line up later."

Following an invitation to tender, the FIA World Motor Sport Council appointed Italian company PANTA as the official fuel supplier for the 2009 and 2010 FIA World Touring Car Championships. PANTA will supply both petrol and diesel fuels that will be composed by 10 per cent of second generation bio-ethanol and 90 per cent of commercial unleaded fuel. The second generation bio-ethanol is made from waste biomass, derived from recently dead biological material, such as the stalks of wheat, corn and wood. This distinguishes it first generation bio-ethanol that is made from food crops, such as sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats, using conventional technology. The use of second generation bio-ethanol can reduce the use of fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, without interfering with the production of foods. In a few days the first samples will be delivered to the teams, so that they can start testing with the new bio-fuel. The 2009 FIA WTCC will start the season in Brazil on March 9th, with the whole field powered by PANTA bio-fuel, reinforcing the championship's support to the FIA Make Cars Green campaign.

Within the celebrations for their victory in the 2008 FIA World Touring Car Championship, SEAT Sport drivers Yvan Muller, Tiago Monteiro, Gabriele Tarquini and Jordi Gené paid a visit to the SEAT factory in Martorell and shared their success with the SEAT workers.The visit began at breakfast, when drivers and team members were personally congratulated by SEAT president Erich Schmitt They were later escorted to a complete visit of the factory's facilities and workshop, that was followed by an exhibition drive in the factory's courtyard, with Gené at the wheel of the León TDI racing car.Later on, the visitors had lunch with the workers in the canteen of Workshop 9, where they also signed hundreds of autographs.The visit ended in the corporate building, where the office staff also had the opportunity to congratulate the world championship winners.

Alexander Rossi became the BMW Americas Champion this year in dominant style a record 10 wins. The 17 year old from California clinched the championship back in September, winning round 15 at New Jersery Motorsports Park. Since then Rossi took another 2 wins at the Brazilian Grand Prix of Brazil . Since then he has spent November training for Formula BMW World Final held at Mexico City's famous "Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez" next weekend, 5-7 December. There Ross, Rossi driving for Eurointernational , will be one of the favourites to win and take the F1 test with the BMW Sauber Team. “It is great to have the FBMW series championship, however since Brazil myself and the whole Eurointernational team are focused on a world championship and I believe this is our year”, Rossi commented. “Eurointernational now has three back to back Formula BMW Championships and I am proud to have bagged one of them, it would perfect to give them a world championship. They are an amazing team with such a focused and dedicated group of people. My focus this month has been on my mental and physical training for Mexico City. Pushing myself to new levels training knowing I will be racing at an altitude 7,300 feet on a very busy and physical racetrack. I am very confident with my Eurointernational crew who have been working overtime to insure each detail is looked over in these conditions. The racing in Mexico will be close because of the draft, we’ll be fast and we’re ready. It is team effort and I believe we have the best team.” Partnering with Eurointernational for Formula BMW World Finals in Mexico City in support of Alexander Rossi is Title Sponsor; Giumarra Companies, a worldwide produce company from California

Newly-crowned FIA World Touring Car Champion, Yvan Muller, will complete the line-up for Team France at The Race of Champions on Sunday 14 December, at Wembley Stadium, joining Sebastien Loeb, the most successful WRC driver of all time. Muller clinched the world title at Macau in China earlier this month, with SEAT. He will be making his fourth attempt at The Race of Champions. Muller will join a list of star drivers in the end-of-season spectacular to find out who is the "champion of champions". They include seven times Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, British F1 stars Jenson Button and David Coulthard, and Muller's fellow WTCC racer, three times world champion Andy Priaulx.

Aussie Vineyards - Team Australia driver Will Power will return to his roots when the Australian competes in the 2008 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) All-Stars Karting Classic at the Orange County Convention Center in Oralndo, Florida on 11 December 2008. Power will drive for the FirstKart.com team in the Masters division, running as part of a three kart squad alongside fellow IndyCar driver Marco Andretti and leading NHRA Top Fuel drag racer Antron Brown

Silverstone has been confirmed for the UK round of the 2009 World Series by Renault, the free motorsport festival that combines on-track racing and F1 demonstrations with off-track family activities. The Northamptonshire circuit plays host to World Series by Renault on 4th/5th July, 2009, just two weeks after the British Grand Prix. The announcement completes the race calendar for the 2009 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship and 2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup, which each have two races at World Series by Renault. Both one-make championships contest their remaining 18 rounds alongside the BTCC across the UK, starting at Brands Hatch on 4th/5th April and including a visit to the Silverstone National circuit on 29th/30th August. Racing in the WSR comes from the Formula Renault 3.5 and Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 single-seater cars, plus the Eurocup Mégane Trophy, which features a stunning new car for 2009. In addition, there’s the ELF Renault Clio Cup and Formula Renault UK Championship. Entertainment off-track includes motorsport-themed activities such as race simulators, Renault road-car safety demonstrations, a showcase of the latest Renault models and a variety of ING Renault F1 Team and Renault Sport merchandise boutiques.Free tickets will be made available to request in 2009 via the World Series by Renault official website www.worldseriesbyrenault.com.

The 2009 Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship will start and finish in good company. The series kicks off at the Australian Grand Prix in March and ends on the Gold Coast in October ..read more

The 2009 Australian Drivers Championship schedule has already been well received by several competitors as a strong foundation to continue growth the series has shown in the past two seasons, despite uncertain financial times worldwide. ..read more

CAMS Rising Star, Daniel Erickson leads the charge for the Avon Rookie of the Year title in the Australian Formula Ford Championship after taking a second and a third place at Symmons Plains last weekend..read more

The 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB will be officially unveiled at Autosport International at the Birmingham NEC on 8-11 January 2009. The wraps will come off the 2009 season during the major pre-season show. The Carrera Cup GB will have a stand at the show, which is an ideal opportunity for both teams and drivers looking at the championship to meet the key people involved in running the hugely successful Carrera Cup GB, one of the key support races to the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship. As well as displaying one of the stunning 420bhp 911GT3 Cup cars, the stand will be a focal point for Carrera Cup teams, drivers and their sponsors during the show/ Also on hand throughout the show will be Tom Bradshaw and Lewis Hopkins(pictured), the winners of the Carrera Cup GB Scholarship Programme. This will be the first of a range of activities planned for the two young drivers who have each been awarded £50,000 towards their season in the Carrera Cup GB in 2009. "Autosport International is the traditional start point for the new racing season and we look forward to welcoming current and prospective teams and drivers," said championship manager Marion Barnaby

The entry list of drivers helping to raise over £50,000 for the BP Ultimate Celebrity Karting Challenge at Autosport International on Friday 9 January is looking pretty impressive with some leading names from the sport. David Brabham’s charity kart race will have some of the top Racing dirvers fighting it out alongside members of the public ..read more

The 2008 Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship will be decided next weekend at Oran Park when Paul Laskazeski and Nick Percat battle it out for the title. Championship leader Laskazeski(left) has a comfortable 53 point lead over Percat(below)

and with only 61 points to play Laskazeski can only lose it if he has a disaster. .read more

Provisional Formula BMW 2009 race calendars published. Preparations for the forthcoming Formula BMW season are running flat-out. The provisional race calendars for the three international young-gun series have been announced, and according to these calendars, Formula BMW will hold ten of its race weekends as part of the support programme of the FIA Formula One World Championship. click here for each calendar

Mathias Beche-Aussel is set to stay with Asia Racing Team Motorsports for the Formula Asia 2.0's finale. The 22 years old Swiss driver is currently 2nd in the championship, will rejoin the Macanese Zhuhai based team for the last race of the season extending his relationship with Team Manager Philippe Descombes. Felix Rosenqvist still leads the Championship with 155 points, 45 points ahead of Beche but with 100 points up for grabs at Shanghai, the ART Motorsports team and their driver believe they still have a chance to win the title.

Marinescu triumphs at Macau. Formula BMW Pacific ended it’s 2008 season with the 16th and round of the season Macau's 6.117-kilometre "Guia circuit". As part of the support programme of the World Touring Car Championship season finale and the legendary Formula 3 Grand Prix, no less than 21 drivers battled it out for the win in the final race of the season. In a close battle, guest entrant Mihai Marinescu (RO) took the win from his Motaworld team-mate Michael Christensen (DK), who won the FBMW Europe Rookie Cup and now put the icing on the cake with a podium finish. Gabriel Chaves was the best-placed FBMW Pacific regular with fourth while Meritus driver Alexander Sims had some bad luck. After starting in third he was involved in a collision that dropped him to the back of the field. He then put in a strong recovery drive as he fought his way back up to finish eighth, setting fastest lap in the process. The title had been decided earlier in favour of Ross Jamison.

In the fourth Formula BMW World Final, held from 5th to 7th December at Mexico City's "Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez" (MX), the winner will be granted a unique reward, he will get the chance of testing with the BMW Sauber F1 Team. To date, eight teams comprising a total of 20 drivers have been confirmed for the event, with all three series being represented on the grid. Two of these drivers are local hero Esteban Gutierrez (MX), and Alexander Rossi (US), who can both look back on a successful season: Gutierrez secured the title in FBMW Europe while Rossi took ten race wins in FBW Americas. Numerous rookies that have completed their maiden single-seater season in 2008 also want to shine in the Formula BMW World Final in order to make their dream come true: a test at the wheel of a Formula One car. Formula BMW Europe Rookie Cup winner Michael Christensen will race in Mexico as will Gianmarco Raimondo (CA), who secured the Rookie Cup of the Formula BMW Americas. Simon Moss, who won the Formula BMW Pacific Rookie Cup, also travels to Mexico to take the next step on the motor racing ladder.

Juno Racing finishes 3rd in V de V 6 Hours at Estoril. Rob Garofall, Richard Bernans and Chris Ward brought the Counter Solutions backed Juno SSE-CN home in 3rd on the last lap of the 6 hour event, ahead of former Spanish F3 Champion and Nissan World Series driver Ander Villarino. The British constructor made a significant mark on the predominantly French championship with 4 Juno’s in the top 10 with a starting grid of 59 cars. FPA runner-up Tom Bradshaw shared a French run Juno with former radical ace Lee Atkins bringing the car home in an impressive 8th place, coming from 28th on the grid.

Strakka Racing’s Nick Leventis and Peter Hardman were testing at Valencia in Spain last week in the team’s Aston Martin DBR9. They also used the test to try out Zytek Automotive’s Ginetta-Zytek ..read more

Asia Racing Team Motorsport’s Mathias Beche and Rio Haryanto shared the spoils in the Formula Asia 2.0 Non-Championship Round at Shanghai last weekend. Beche won the opener from pole but lost out to his team-mate Haryanto in the second..read report

Former champion Barry Horne will return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB in 2009 when he takes on a driver-coaching role for Team Parker Racing. Horne was the inaugural Carrera Cup GB champion in 2003 when he raced for Stuart Parker's team, and he has maintained strong links with the team ever since. Now, having raced in Germany over the last two seasons, Horne has accepted an invitation to act as a driver coach across the team's four-car squad. "We go back a few years," said Horne of the team, having raced Caterhams very successfully with Team Parker Racing before stepping up to the Carrera Cup GB. "We had something like 38 podiums from 40 races in Caterhams and the Carrera Cup in 2002 and 2003." Now, Horne's extensive experience will be put to good use by Team Parker Racing as the team chases a fourth drivers' title as well as defending it's 2008 team championship crown. "I'm really looking forward to it," said Horne, who spends much of his working week as a driving consultant at the Porsche Driving Experience Centre at Silverstone. "It will be good to work with the young guys and help nurture the next crop of Carrera Cup racers."

Formula Renault UK front-runner Menasheh Idafar tested at the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit in France earlier this week with the Epsilon Euskadi team. Not only did the test mark the 17-year-old’s first ever experience of the Le Mans track, it was also his maiden appearance at the wheel of a Eurocup Formula Renault car. Joining around 25 other drivers, Menasheh gained vital mileage in both dry and wet conditions and during Tuesday’s morning’s run he produced an excellent ninth fastest time. While enjoying the experience of the Bugatti Circuit, a regular venue on the Eurocup Formula Renault race calendar, Menasheh also learned a lot from working with crack Spanish outfit Epsilon. Driver coach Matt Shawyer, who accompanied Menasheh was impressed, “He did a very good job during both days. On Monday, Menasheh ended up inside the top 15 which, considering he’d never even seen the circuit before, was a very good effort. Tuesday morning’s session was the best in terms of times and his placing, he ended up ninth overall and just eight 10ths of a second off the quickest lap. It was good experience for Menasheh, not just for the differences with the braking of a Eurocup car compared to a UK specification car but also for him to start to learn European tracks like Le Mans.” Menasheh’s next test is at Valencia on 15th/16th December where he will once again drive for Epsilon.

Sir Frank Williams CBE Endorses Karting for the Disabled at enABLE 08. One of Formula One’s most successful team owners Sir Frank Williams CBE , has fully endorsed the free Karting for the Disabled seminar which will take place at the very first enABLE show at Coventry ’s Ricoh Arena on 28&29 November 2008. “I fully support this initiative which is opening a new route for disabled participants to become involved in competitive motor sport,” said Sir Frank. “With the oxygen of publicity provided by British success in Formula One, it is a great time to be encouraging everyone, regardless of ability or capability, to enjoy full engagement in motor sport.” . read more

Atlantic Championship President Vicki O'Connor and Vice President of Operations John Brunner joined series owner Ben Johnston in Savannah to get a sneak preview of the two-mile road circuit at Hutchinson Island that will host the 2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda season opener on March 15. . Both came away extremely impressed by the responsiveness of the track officials to make the facility race ready for the 2009 Atlantic and GreenPrix USA season openers, as well as the enthusiasm of Savannah residents and local businesses to once again host a world class racing event after more than 10 years. "They're making progress, for sure," Brunner said. "It's a motivating place to go because the people who live there and the business leaders are so supportive of this event. The track is awesome. It's so fast. The drivers are going to love it. I think this is going to turn into one of our marquee events. I think everybody is really going to enjoy it."

Condor Motorsports has signed up Max Lefevre for it’s 2009 Atlantic campaign. Frenchman Lefevre logged roughly 650 miles in three days of testing with the Condor team at Buttonwillow Raceway last week. He impressed the team with his feedback and ability to adapt to car changes, while he was also impressed by the team's performance to the point where both parties agreed to join forces for the 2009 season. The team expects to field two to three entries next year in the Atlantic Championship. "It was a pleasure to work with Max," said Condor Motorsports Team Owner Carlos Bobeda. "I was not only impressed by his driving ability, but also his professional approach. He never put a wheel wrong in all the laps he turned. Max has achieved good results in the European lower formulas, so there was no doubt in my mind that he would do well in the test. However, his performance in the more powerful Atlantic car was far superior to the expectations I placed on him. He adapted very quickly to the race track and the Atlantic car was turning competitive times from the onset. The whole team is excited to have Max in our driver lineup for 2009. He is definitely someone to watch."

US RaceTronics has been among the busiest teams in the Atlantic Championship, having tested four different drivers since the conclusion of the 2008 season last month at Road Atlanta. Last week at Buttonwillow Raceway, Colombian driver Sebastian Saavedra became the fourth driver to test for USRT, logging more than 225 miles in a one-day test. "Sebastian was very quick right out of the box," said USRT owner Shane Seneviratne. "His lap times were very competitive, and by the third session, he seemed to hit his stride. Once he established a good baseline, we worked on getting him faster and to get the car more to his liking. With some tire strategy he became faster. I was real pleased with his performance and his feedback.” Saavedra from Bogota, Colombia raced in the German ATS Formula-3 Cup in 2008, taking second in the championship.

On Sunday, December 7, Atlantic series president Vicki O'Connor and communications and promotions director Anne Roy will attend the prestigious Autosport Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on behalf of the Atlantic Championship. The annual event brings together the most influential personalities and decision-makers in the world of motorsports to celebrate outstanding personal and team achievements from the past season. Awards are voted on by the readers of Autosport magazine and include the Young Driver of the Year, International Driver of the Year and Rookie of the Year among many others.

2007 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Champions Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood have been signed to drive a Mini Cooper S for RSR Motorsports for the 2009 KONI Challenge season, which will open with the KONI Daytona 200 at Daytona International Speedway on January 23. Based in Mesa, Arizona, RSR Motorsports campaigns three Mini Cooper S entries in the ST Class of KONI competition. The ride with RSR Motorsports marks another new opportunity for Burrows and Hopwood, who have impressed since moving into the KONI Challenge ranks. Despite their rookie status in 2007, Burrows and Hopwood took a record number of podium finishes racing a BMW 330i on the way to a remarkable Championship. The duo's stock rose further during the 2008 KONI Challenge season as their quick adaptation to front wheel drive saw Burrows and Hopwood score two wins to end the season second in the drivers championship. The move to the Mini represents a new challenge for the two, who first forged their fast friendship in the Spec Racer ranks.

F3 Euroseries Championship runner-up Edoardo Mortara is to test a World Series by Renault later this week at Valencia After a strong season in which the VW-powered driver led the F3 Euroseries for more than half the year, the 21-year-old French-Italian is building up experience ahead of 2009. The Valencia test with the Ultimate Signature team will allow him to sample the 500 horsepower 3.5 litre car for the first time. "I'm very grateful to Volkswagen for allowing me to test this car," said Edoardo. "I think it will be extremely interesting experience, which will allow me to add to my knowledge. I've never driven this type of car before, so I don't know quite what to expect, but with the amount of power available it should be a lot of fun! We've had a great season this year with Volkswagen, and I look forward to building on that success in the future."

F1 Force India driver Vitantonio Liuzzi set the quickest lap at the Speedcar test yesterday(Tuesday) at the Dubai Autodrome. Also present was F3 Euro Series Champion Nico Hulkenberg who drove the newly evolved Speedcar for the first time. The young German did well, lagging only by 0.3s behind Liuzzi. Other drivers at the test included Stefan Johansson, Mathias Lauda, Mike Rudolph and Christopher Zoechling. Stefan Johansson said, "It was nice to get back in the car again this week to get acquainted with the equipment. I am happy to be back in the Speedcar Series, and I'm very much looking forward to Season 2. Today was a reasonable day considering I only got a handful of laps in, but the times were close to the front runners and we did not get to run on new tyres" The youngest driver of the Series, 20 year old Dubai based Christopher Zoechling said, "The car was great with lots of performance and torque. It takes a lot of experience to control a car of that weight and understeer. I'm looking forward to being able to go up against some of the greats from the world of motorsport like Jacques Villeneuve, Johnny Herbert and Jean Alesi.

CR Scuderias’ 2008 FIA GT Championship ended on Sunday when Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell finished fourth in the final round of the series at the all new San Luis circuit in Argentina. The team’s second car driven by Chris Niarchos and Tim Mullen was ninth.

Team Modena are delighted to announce that they will be entering a Ferrari F430 GT in the LM GT2 category of the 2009 Le Mans Series and, entry permitting, the Le Mans 24-Hour race itself. Having won three out of five LMS races in the GT1 category this season, hopes are high the team can continue that form into 2009. Already in discussion with a number of candidates for the race seats, the team hope to be able to announce the driver line-up in the near future.

In soaring temperatures the first race at the new Potrero de los Funes circuit pushed the Scuderia Ecosse team to the limit throughout the final round of the 2008 FIA GT Championship during an exciting and incident packed race that thrilled the large and enthusiastic Argentinean crowd. With first corner traffic throwing the GT2 category into a muddle Fabio Babini took advantage of the chaos to skilfully move up through the field and on to the tail of the early leaders. However, lap 18 saw Fabio pick up a puncture to his left rear forcing an earlier than planned pit stop and driver change to Jamie Davies. Before this incident Fabio was well placed in fourth position but the subsequent delay caused by the puncture and pit stop effectively ended the team's hopes of a podium finish. Jamie tried hard to maintain the earlier pace set by Fabio before handing the car back to Fabio for his final stint. As the flag fell they crossed the line in 7th securing fifth in the 2008 GT2 Championship Immediately after the race Stewart Roden said, "It is a real shame that we suffered a puncture so early on in the race because the car was in great shape and we had the pace to really challenge the front runners. It should have been a great result for us. Pirelli did a good job again with consistent tyres and the set up we achieved suited this amazing new track. Once again, elements out of our control put paid to a strong finish here at the season finale. It has been a tough season with close racing throughout but we will be back next year ready to fight for the top spot again!"

Shea Holbrook from Florida was named as the first recipient of the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Scholarship for the first phase of the Women in the Winner’s Circle (WWC) Foundation Driver Development Academy. ...read more

The 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will have a new team in 2009. Juncos Racing, a three-car effort based out of Fort Pierce, Florida, will run rookies Michael Furfari and Sean Burstyn, with Walt Bowlin contesting the Masters Class Championship. ..read more

Exactly 40 days from now, a new life will start for the Volkswagen drivers at the Dakar Rally that is being staged -- for the first time -- in South America from 03 to 18 January. For a little over two weeks they will have to subordinate their days to the demands of the world's toughest rally in extremely difficult conditions. There is no doubt about the fact that for the teams in the four Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 vehicles the road to success can only be travelled with uncompromising discipline. "Highly detailed and professional planning is indispensable at the 'Dakar'; this also applies to the daily routines of the drivers," says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. The German duo, Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk, will contest the "Dakar" in the Race Touareg for the first time. But both are intimately familiar with the irrefutable principle of the cross-country classic, "Expect the Unexpected". As varied and unpredictable the tracks of the 9,578-kilometre route may be, as well-organised are the day-to-day activities which the drivers and co-drivers experience on the 14 legs of the "Dakar" - with recurring rituals and duties, as a "peek behind the scenes" of the team of Dieter Depping and Timo Gottschalk shows. Read more

Push to Freedom fundraising Motorbike ride. 23rd November 2008. .A group of bikers braved the elements on Sunday, facing wind, rain and snow in the attempt to raise the awareness and vital funds for a new organisation, dedicated to helping our injured service men and women in their social and recreational needs.Push To Freedom was set up by a number of serving and ex-military personnel, who decided that they wanted to do something within this field. They have already announced in June this year that they intend to complete a 150mile hand/bicycle ride in a memorial tribute to those injured and who have lost their lives. The event will be taking place over the D-Day anniversary week, following the route of the allied forces through out Normandy. In addition to this, a select number of the team will attempt to kayak across the Channel starting from Portsmouths D-Day Museum to Caen. Tom Chilton(pictured) is one of the many famous faces that has shown their support for the group and is taking part in the week-long event next year including the cross-channel kayak. For further information, please see www.push2freedom.co.uk.

Michael Lyons rounded off a highly successful 2008 in fine style at the Historic Sports Car Club awards evening on Saturday, 22nd Novembe. The driver from Felsted receiving five trophies in recognition of his exceptional year. Held at Whittlebury Hall near Silverstone, the ceremony, which had former GP driver Tony Brooks as guest of honour, brought the curtain down on a great season of historic racing for Michael. Not only did he win the Historic Formula Ford Championship at the wheel of a 1971 Merlyn Mk11A last month, he was victorious in two classes of the Classic Racing Cars Championship in two separate machines – a Merlyn Mk10 F2 and the aforementioned Mk11A. In addition, Michael won the F5000 Class in the Derek Bell Trophy and he was also awarded a Marque accolade as the driver who produced the best performance all year at the wheel of a Merlyn. Speaking at the awards, Michael said: “It’s been an outstanding year and I’m obviously delighted to receive five awards. Winning the Formula Ford title was the big highlight for me but there were so many other high-points over the course of the year. The HSCC organises fantastic events and I want to thank everyone involved with the club for a tremendous season’s racing. I also want to take this opportunity to thank my mum and dad as, without their help, support and guidance I wouldn’t be celebrating such a successful year. Huge thanks to my engineer Ritchie Box too for doing such a fantastic job with all of my cars.”

Away from the HSCC events, Michael Lyons has this year been racing in the Formula Renault BARC Championship with Hillspeed and also made the step-up to the full Formula Renault UK series earlier this month during the four-round Winter Championship. There he secured a best race result of 10th during the final round and is now focused on competing in the full Formula Renault UK Championship in 2009. “It’s been a superb year for me and now we want to step up a level but to do that we need to attract more sponsorship”, said Michael, “Formula Renault UK is a huge championship and so many drivers have gone on to Formula One from it. Now we’re working hard to secure the budget to race in Formula Renault UK next year – we’d love to hear from any sponsors!”

The 2009 Australian Formula 3 Championship calendar has been announced and it will race on eight tracks in four states and returns to three circuits that the series has not visited for some time. It features a mix of high-downforce, slow-speed circuits and some of the quickest tracks in the country, extending the capabilities of the F3 cars in the quest for the CAMS Gold Star. Sandown Raceway, Winton and Wakefield Park all return to the championship after sustained absences. The Clipsal 500 Adelaide will open the series between March 19 – 22 with the following seven rounds spread evenly. Wakefield Park will form an Anzac day celebration between April 24 – 26, before the series returns to the hallowed Phillip Island GP circuit on the third weekend in May, a now traditional date for Australia’s top ‘wings and slicks’ series on Australia’s quickest track. The series halfway point will be contested at Winton between June 26 – 28, Formula 3 returning to the tight and twisty rural circuit for the first time in five years. Another now-traditional date – July’s Eastern Creek Raceway round – is scheduled for round five before a potentially final fling at Oran Park raceway, a drivers favourite, is set to be contested between August 29 – 30 as round six. The third running of the Formula 3 SuperPrix (for the John Bowe Trophy) held at Symmons Plains will be the penultimate round on October 17 – 18. T he season finale’ will be held at Sandown Raceway in Melbourne’s suburbs, the track, like Winton returning to the series after a five year absence. The Australian Formula 3 Championship will again play a key role within the Shannons National Motor Racing Championships, the series hosting seven of the eight rounds scheduled.

TeamVodafone have edged one step closer to the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship title with drivers Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes sharing the podium at the penultimate round of the series at Tasmania's Symmons Plains Raceway on Sunday. Whincup won both of the 50-lap races to take the round win with teammate Lowndes performing the rear gunners role to finish second in each race.

Andretti Rebounds for Third in A1GP Sepang Feature After Big Crash in Sprint Race. The Team USA driver Marco Andretti was involved in a race-ending crash at the start of the Sprint race, but rebounded to record a third-place finish in the Feature race during round three of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Sepang, Malaysia. Marco Andretti, said of the incident, “You can say its unavoidable but at the time I thought everyone was going and I could only see two rows ahead of me. I couldn't see ahead of the whole field. I was about to grab fourth gear, and as soon as rear tires were hooking up, that was needed to stop the car. There was no hope. In the States you either go or you don't. Here, they went and then stopped. No one was to blame, it was just racing. But ultimately I crashed out two cars. " However in the Feature race things went much better,"The start was a bit of survival and I used the PowerBoost when everybody was close together and we needed the track position. The boys did a good job in the pits and then we weren't threatened from behind, but I had nothing on these guys in front so I was just enjoying the car and Sepang. It's a great circuit."

It was a disappointing day for A1 Team Great Britain and Danny Watts at Sepang for round three of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, the team leaving Malaysia with no points after technical problems hit them in both races. There was a red flag in the Sprint race after a start line shunt involving India, USA and Brazil. After the restart team GBR's race ended when Danny came into the pits stuck in first gear due to a fault in the ECU. In the feature race Danny made a slow start off the line fell to fifth behind teams Ireland, Portugal, Lebanon and Malaysia. He then lost a lap replacing his nose after a clash with Loic Duval. This was followed by a further stop to fix a brake problem with 6 laps to go. Danny Watts on the Sprint race: "Everything appeared to be okay before the race was red flagged, but when we got going again for the restart, it wouldn't change up from first gear. So we had to pit and found that it was a problem with the ECU. We managed to get out again at the end for some installation laps just to check everything was okay ahead of the Feature Race. It's disappointing, but these things happen in racing." On the Feature Race he said: "I didn't get the clutch control quite right at the start and just got swallowed up early on. After that I got involved in a dog fight with Lebanon and we both lost out running wide, then to compound matters I got sandwiched in going into turn 9 and touched the back of France losing my front nose. The only consolation was that we were quick and just missed out on fastest lap. But overall, it's been a bad day in the office"

Hitech at least got a podium in the first race of Superleague Formula at Jerez over the weekend when Tristan Gommendy brought the FC Porto car home in second place. However it could have been a 1-2 if Adrian Valles Liverpool FC car, which led from the start, hadn't developed an electrical problem on the last lap, a problem that cost him a certain win..

James Walker has won the final Superleague Formula race of the season after a great drive in the second of the day's two races at Jerez. Racing for Borussia Dortmund, the Jersey driver stormed to victory despite missing all of the practice and qualifying sessions while he waited for his car to be prepared. James started race one from the pitlane as his car’s steering column came loose on the way to the grid. Fast repairs got him underway and he took a good 14th place. Starting Race 2 from third, James lost a place at the start and then another to Antonio Pizzonia, but he held onto fifth place. James pitted early and got back out onto a clear track so he was able to do what he did at the last World Series race in Barcelona: bang in some fast lap times and jump the guys ahead of him as they pitted! After the pit stops James was up to second place, working hard to close the 10-second gap to the race leader, Alessandro Pier Guidi in the Galataseray car. He pulled the gap right back to zero then, as he went for his 'push-to-pass' button to go for the lead on the back straight, the Galataseray driver spun and James sailed into first place. He came under a bit of pressure from Pizzonia but kept his head and finished the race comfortably, taking the win.

Beijing Guoan has won the Superleague Formula championship title after finishing ninth in the opening race at Jerez yesterday( Sunday). Driver Davide Rigon drove a steady race from the rear of the grid to finish ninth, earning enough points to clinch the crown. Liverpool FC's Adrian Valles led off the start and by the time everyone had taken their compulsory pit stops he had a 10 second lead. However on the final lap, with victory almost assured he lost fule pressure and handed the win to AC Milan's Robert Doornbos. Drama also struck Corinthians driver Antonio Pizzonia. The ex-Formula 1 driver crossed the line in second place but receive a post race 30 second penalty for making his pit stop outside the prescribed window (lap eight to 20). This allowed FC Porto's Tristan Gommendy to clinch second ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's Duncan Tappy.

Nick percat, driving for Sonic Motor Racing was the winner of the penultimate round of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship at Symmons Plains today(Sunday). His win closed the gap on Championship leader Paul Laskazeski to 53 points with just one round remaining, although with just 61 points available Percat’s chances are pretty slim.

A1 Team Ireland became the first nation to score two victories this season, as Adam Carroll dominated the Sepang Feature race in Malaysia. Fillipe A took an excellent second place for Portugal while Marco Andretti finished a great third for the USA from eighth on the grid. Ireland now leads the championship heading into the Christmas break. In the Sprint race Neel Jani became the fifth different race winner the season as A1 Team Switzerland took victory in a dramatic race. As the cars came in formation towards the rolling start, an incident involving USA, Brazil and India brought out the red flag. Switzerland controlled the re-start and made a slick pit-stop to take a comfortable win in the hot and humid conditions. France’s Loïc Duval finished second ahead of a charging Earl Bamber for A1 Team New Zealand.

Hitech secured pole position for the penultimate round of the Superleague Formula at Jerez this weekend. Spaniard Adrian Valles in the Liverpool FC car, currently third in the standings following two wins so far, won the shoot out against AS Roma to take the top spot. His Hitech team-mate FC Porto’s Tristan Gommendy, winner last time out, lines up third. Valles and the Liverpool squad are 62 points behind championship leader Beijing Guoan but their driver spun early on in the qualifying session and will start from the back of the grid. The Hitech team need victory in both races, each worth 50 points, with Beijing finishing lower than ninth to clinch the title. The grid for race two is completely reversed from the result of race one, leaving the winner to start from the back of the grid.

KSO, promoter of the FIA WTCC, and Russian manufacturer AVTOVAZ, signed a letter of intent in Moscow to promote the participation of LADA in the championship. The agreement also includes the commitment of both parties to organise a WTCC event in Russia from 2010. KSO, general manager Marcello Lotti commented: "This deal is a great honour for us and we are ready to support AVTOVAZ in the preparation and homologation of their new Priora racing car. Welcome, LADA!" Boris S. Aleshin, president of the AVTOVAZ Group added: "We sell now 160,000 cars per year and we intend to increase these figures; motorsport is a good mean to promote our products. Our goal is to be in the middle of the pack during our first WTCC season, and then we will be working to improve. We are really ambitious!" As to the possibility to bring the WTCC to Russia, Lotti said: "We will be working together with the FIA and RAF (Russian National Sporting Authority) to identify a suitable street circuit and a date for the 2010 season. Our priority is to race in Moscow." LADA was represented in the 2008 WTCC by independent team Russian Bears Motorsport that entered three 110 2.0 cars for Jaap van Lagen, Viktor Shapovalov and Kirill Ladygin.

MGP, promoter of the WTCC Race of Morocco, have unveiled the layout of the track in Marrakech that will host the third meeting of the 2009 World Touring Car Championship on May 3^rd 2009. The 4.54-km circuit has already been subjected to several tests and inspections, pending final FIA homologation. Its construction, along Boulevard Mohammed VI and Route de l'Ourika, is already under way under the supervision of Groupe MENARA. An exotic backdrop between the red city's legendary wall and snow-capped Atlas Mountains in the distance, will quickly make it one of the most attractive circuits in the world. "The circuit layout will allow for fast and challenging driving, giving fans and TV audiences an exciting performance," commented MGP president Ali Horma.
Detailed map is attached to the downloadable PDF file.

Yvan Muller's World Touring Car title had a lot of media coverage in France. TV news and major newspapers have all reported how he won France's second motorsport world championship of the season after Sébastien Loeb's fifth consecutive World Rally Championship. Muller is the sixth French driver to be crowned world champion after Alain Prost (F1), Didier Auriol and Loeb (Rally), Yannick Dalmas and Jean-Louis Schlesser (Sportscars). The season is not over yet for SEAT Sport's new WTCC champion. He will take part in the Race of Champions on December 14th, forming a two-world-champion team with fellow regional Loeb. Muller will then participate in the Dakar Rally at the wheel of a buggy prototype built by Philippe Gache.

Glen Wood won the first race in the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship when pole sitter Paul Laskazeski

lost out in the opening race of the weekend when he came together with CAMS Rising Star Scott Pye.

Switzerland and Ireland took a pole position apiece for tomorrow’s races in Sepang, Malaysia. Neel Jani put in a phenomenal lap time of 1m 47.154s to give Switzerland pole position for tomorrow’s Sprint race at the Sepang International Circuit. France’s Loïc Duval will start alongside him on the front row with New Zealand’s Earl Bamber taking advantage of the new qualifying PowerBoost system to post the third fastest time.Adam Carroll took the Feature race pole for A1 Team Ireland with a 1m 47.124s ahead of Great Britain’s Danny Watts in second, both on PowerBoost. Lebanon’s Daniel Morad put in a fantastic lap to take third, the nation’s best ever A1GP qualifying result...read more

In the Formula V6 Asia Series’ first visit to the Shanghai International Circuit, James Grunwell of The Pizza Company Team Qi-Meritus won Round 9 from second palced Kevin Chen of Champ Motorsport. .

A new racing category for Corvettes will be included in the 2009 BFGoodrich Long Distance Championship. The Corvettes will race at the Nurburgring in a category called the Corvette Competition Cup featuring the 2009 Corvette C6 ..read more

A Masters tradition is to start the season with two Track Days at Goodwood, and for 2009 that’s what they are doing. The Track Days will still happen on the Friday and Saturday 27-28 Februaryplus they will also be showcasing Masters and its suppliers and drivers can get their medical done and your HTP inspection. Read on

CAMS Rising Star Scott Pye was quickest in practice today(Friday) in the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship round at Symmons Plains in, Tasmania…read more

Round three of A1GP World Cup of Motorsport got underway at the Sepang International Circuit this morning with France’s Nicolas Prost starting the day as the quickest rookie and Great Britain’s Danny Watts ending the day quickest overall in Malaysia…read more

Two new teams planning to enter the 2009 British Formula Ford Championship in Britain next season. Linton Stuteley hs joined forces mechanic Tom Parker to form Enigma Motorsport, who will run two cars. The other newcomer is Beacon Racing/Staffordshire University team which will run 3 cars. This team has been formed by Staffordshire University motorsport technology degree lecturer Mike Farnworth as a real-life racing experience for the students..read more

Volkswagen Racing UK has joined the Energy Efficient Motorsport Programme (EEMS) as a campaign partner. EEMS seeks to place a premium on the efficient use of resources and to encourage the development of alternative fuels and powertrain technologies, and put energy efficiency at the heart of modern motorsport without comprising the sporting spectacle. 'The Volkswagen Racing Cup has been at the forefront of developing alternative fuels for motorsport,' said Melissa Wright. 'It was in our championship, in 2002, that a turbodiesel Golf scored the first-ever British race victory by a diesel. Since then there have been many more diesel wins, and we have also pioneered the motorsport application of Volkswagen's TSI turbo/supercharger technology. We are very pleased indeed to have joined forces with EEMS to further the cause.'

Hankook will once again be title sponsor of the Volkswagen Racing Cup in 2009. It will be the fourth consecutive season that the Korean-based tyre company has supported the championship. Hankook will supply slick and wet-weather tyres to all competitors, which, says Melissa Wright of Volkswagen Racing UK, will delight them: 'Hankook tyres are extremely popular with the drivers because not only are they excellent value but also they perform brilliantly on the track. Hankook's paddock support is second to none and their enthusiasm for the Volkswagen Racing Cup is superb. We are very much looking forward to working with Hankook again.' Hankook motorsport manager Mike Patterson added: 'We are delighted to be supporting the Volkswagen Racing Cup once again. It is a superb championship and a great showcase for our tyres.'

Donington Park played host to Daniel Lloyd’s latest ELF Renault Clio Cup test outing yesterday, Thursday. At the wheel of his Team Pyro run car, Daniel emerged from Thursday’s test as the fastest of the Clio drivers taking part. With a wide variety of machinery on track at the circuit, including Formula Renault and F3, it was difficult for anyone to string together a series of uncompromised laps but Daniel was still very pleased with his day’s work. “Donington went well, it was an open pit-lane so there were a lot of different cars on track which made getting clear laps quite difficult”, said Daniel, “We were still quick though and we tried a few different things with the car too which worked so we’re very pleased with the progress we’re making.” Daniel has already secured backing for his debut season in the Clio Cup from West Yorkshire businesses Propack and The Workplace but he is hoping for additional sponsorship so he can embark on a full pre-season testing programme.

Cosworth will celebrate its 50th year in the sport at Autosport International in January. To mark the occasion, Cosworth is moving across from the trade exhibition to display to the general public at Europe’s largest motorsport show for the very first time. “Amongst the products at Autosport International will be the firm’s new supercharger conversion for the Mazda MX5,” said company spokesperson Yusuf Islam. “This product recently won the Global Media Award at the SEMA automotive show in Las Vegas.” Cosworth are celebrating five decades of engine manufacture this year, half a century after the first engine, a Formula Junior power unit, was developed. In between, Cosworth engines have won 196 F1 Grand Prix, the famous Cosworth DFV scoring 155 of these wins over a 24-year lifespan. The DFV became the the most successful engine in F1 history, winning titles with the likes of Jackie Stewart, James Hunt and Mario Andretti. Cosworth have also won countless World Rally, British Touring Car and Indy Car victories, as well as developing technology for road cars manufacturers such as Ford and Mercedes, culminating in the infamous Ford Escort Cosworth and Mercedes 190E 2.3-16.

POWERnights have postponed their next events until further notice due to the economic downturn. The last event in August did reach expectations, with high grid numbers and spectators. “POWERnights is all about providing a great show for the public, and we recognise the importance of the drivers and their teams forming strong grids to make POWERnights a success,” said POWERnights Series Director Roger Etcell. “With rising costs, and a squeeze on budgets, we are aware that all potential participants will be looking hard at when and where they will compete next year. The races held at POWERnights are non championship, invitation events and while POWERnights has received positive feedback from all parties, we feel that in this economic climate we may not be able to attract the number of entries necessary to make the POWERnights events viable next season. Sponsorship is also a key element and in these difficult times commercial commitment will be even tougher to secure. We have therefore taken the hard decision to postpone the series until there is an upturn in the economic outlook and return with a POWERnights programme that will be even bigger and better. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank our sponsors, partners, competitors, marshals and spectators who have supported POWERnights and ask you all to keep an eye on the event website at POWERnights.com for future announcements.”

Wayne Boyd will make his debut at the Johnny Herbert Karting Challenge on Sunday by joining the ex-F1 winner and current Speedcar star to contest this year’s event which takes place at The Raceway in Docklands, south-east London. The 2008 British FFord Champion will join a host of top names from the world of motorsport in the popular charity event with all proceeds going to the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance. For 18 year-old Wayne, the Johnny Herbert Karting Challenge marks a welcome return to karting since he left competitive racing in Northern Ireland in 2007 to concentrate on single-seaters. The charity event, which has taken place annually since 1994, will see Wayne pitched head-to-head with other star names in a celebrity shoot out. The main three- hour endurance race will take place after practice and qualifying and a Young Guns shoot-out at midday. Among the celebrities joining Wayne and Johnny at The Raceway include Renault F1 Team driver Lucas di Grassi, former F1 driver Riccardo Patrese, Jamun Racing team-mate James Cole, Champ Car World Series driver Dan Clark, ITV reporters Ted Kravitz and Louise Goodman, Freddie Hunt, athletes Darren Cambell and Ewan Thomas, actress Tina Hobly and snooker champion Steve Davis….to name a few. The event takes place on Sunday (23rd Nov) The Raceway Docklands Thames Barrier, 3 Herringham Road, Charlton, London SE7 8NJ. Doors open to public at 9.00 with the young Guns Shoot Out at 12:15 followe by the 3 hour Endurance Race at 1300.

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport drivers visited the world famous Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre outside Kuala Lumpur this morning, in the lead up to this weekend’s race’s at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. ..read more

Mateusz Adamski will join Asia Racing Team (ART) Motorsports for the 5th round of 2008 Formula Asia 2.0 at Shanghai. The 17 years old from Poland has completed two seasons in Europe but is a newcomer in Asia. The Macanese Zhuhai based outfit is looking for more success an impressive 1-2-3 at Bira in Thailand. Speaking about his newest signing, Team Manager Philippe Descombes added, "Mateusz is a welcome addition to the team. I'm certain he will be a great asset to ART over the coming weekend. It goes to show what an exciting and international championship this is to have aspiring drivers from so far and wide taking part". ART’s regular drivers Rio Haryanto, and Yoshitaka Kuroda will partner Adamski during the weekend.

Firestone Indy Lights engines will undergo a modification for 2009. The 90-degree crankshaft used in the engines since the series' inception in 2002 has been changed to a 180-degree crankshaft. "We primarily made the change to make the car sound more like they have single-seater racing engines," said Roger Bailey, executive director of Firestone Indy Lights. "The change will help the car's performance as well. It doesn't really change the horsepower, but the drivers will see an improvement in the power-band in the mid-range. And that will help our cars get off the corner better." So far the modified engine has been both reliable and consistent. "It pulls more off the corners," said Richard Antinucci, the 2008 series runner-up who tested recently with the new spec engine. "And it's a lot quieter in the cockpit. I was pleasantly surprised by that."

IndyCar Series drivers Buddy Rice and Dan Wheldon are scheduled to compete in the 12th annual SKUSA SuperNationals Nov. 20-23 in Las Vegas. They will be joined by 2007 Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year Phil Giebler and Firestone Indy Lights veteran Bobby Wilson. Wheldon, Rice and Wilson will compete in the TaG Pro class, while Giebler is entered in the SuperPro class. "Karting is something that I'm very passionate about, and I have to say all the young guys that are aspiring to join the IndyCar Series and compete in the Indianapolis 500 are going to be desperate to beat us this weekend," Wheldon said. "Our offseason is very long, and this is a perfect time for me to get back into what I consider an incredibly competitive environment. I'm going to enjoy myself and have a good weekend, and I'm always proud anytime I can fly the colors of Panther Racing and the National Guard."

A1 Team New Zealand have their sights firmly set on a return to the pointy end of the field this weekend when racing gets underway at Sepang in Malaysia for Round Three of the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport. Stepping back into Black Beauty for A1 Team New Zealand is Earl Bamber who has plenty of experience at Sepang, in both Formula BMW and Formula V6 Asia. This weekend he expects the heat to be one of the leading factors for drivers, particularly in the closing stages of the Feature Race. plus Bamber describes the layout of Sepang as a "very physical track. There are long sweeping corners that really work the driver's neck, as well as some tight, slow speed hairpins"

Sam Bird’s F3 race at Macau had looked very promising in the Qualifying race. Come the main event last Sunday howerer it all went awry as Roberto Streit collided with his Manor Motorsport run car putting him out on the opening lap.

The Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship gets back on track this weekend in the penultimate round Symmons Plains in Tasmania. It’s now 2 months since the last race and Paul Laskazeski leads the Championship by 74 points from Nick Percat and he could clinch the title this weekend..read more

Tasmanian will see a resumption of the Australian Mini Challenge this weekend at Symmons Plains where the will be two local drivers for the fans to support, multiple Australian Champion Paul Stokell and 2005 Targa Tasmania winner Jason White. read more

As the Formula BMW season nears its close, just one race remains in Formula BMW Pacific at Macau, the focus shifts to the formula BMW World Final, to be held at the "Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez" in Mexico City on 5-7 December 2008 with the winer getting a test in a BMW Sauber F1. Eight teams have entered a total of 20 drivers from Formula BMW Europe, Americas and the Pacific. Amongst them are Esteban Gutierrez (MX), and Alexander Rossi (US), both having won titles in Europe and the Americas respectively. Others travelling to Mexico include FBMW Europe Rookie winner Michael Christensen (DK), his peer from the Americas, Gianmarco Raimondo (CA) plus Simon Moss (ZA) Rookie Cup winner from the Pacific series.

Fabio Leimer set some quick times in the Formula Master test at the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo in Valencia this week, posting a fastest lap of 1:26.604, bettering last September's Spanish F3 pole (set by Jaime Alguersuari -1:30.766) by more than four seconds. The young Swiss was joined by Sergey Afanasiev and Vladimir Arabadzhiev for JD Motorsport as well as Tomas Pivoda for Iris Project. One-time 2008 race drivers Simon Trummer and Mihai Marinescu were also present for Iris Project and Pro Motorsport respectively. Five other drivers also took part in the test. Formula BMW's Tiago Geronimi acquitted himself well, posting the second fastest time yesterday with JD Motorsport, whilst Italian Pietro Gandolfi drove for Pro Motorsport. Trident Racing continued its evaluation of Rodolpho Santos, following his first test with the team in Imola ten days ago, and ran Formula Renault Suisse Champion Christopher Zanella alongside him. 2008 Italian Formula Renault Champion Pal Varhaug also returned for Jenzer Motorsport.

Team Moore Racing (TMR) have signed Andrew Prendeville to drive the Xtreme Coil Drilling machine for TMR in the Firestone Indy Lights Series in 2009. "We are excited to have Andrew join our team," said Tom Wood, TMR co-owner. "He has great skills as a driver, and with our top-flight racing team, we think that will be a winning combination in '09. Watching him race last year, Andrew is a winner." Prendeville will be entering his third season of Indy Lights competition. "I am really looking forward to the 2009 season with Mark Moore and the whole team," Prendeville said. "After testing with Mark, I think that we can work very well together and fight for podium finishes. We still have lots of time before the season starts so my focus will be on testing, and building a solid chemistry with everyone on the team." The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights series gets underway April 4-5 with a doubleheader on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport heads to Malaysia this weekend for round three of the 2008/09 Season on 21 – 23 November, with home favourite Fairuz Fauzy looking to keep his team top of the leader board at the Sepang International Circuit.

With just one race remaining in the 2008 FIA GT season the Scuderia Ecosse team was in determined mood as they set off for the San Luis province of Argentina and its first-ever race in South America. The final race of the Championship will take place this weekend at the Potrero de los Funes a brand new semi-permanent circuit which will ensure that all of the teams taking part will be on an equal footing. Before heading out to San Luis Fabio Babini said, “I’m really keen to get back behind the wheel of the race car, 35 days is far too long a period for me to go without racing. After our bad luck at Zolder I am hoping for a good result from this race. I think the new circuit will be a superb challenge and as ever, I know that the Scuderia Ecosse team and Pirelli will do a great job, especially with this being the last race of the championship.” Jamie Davies added, “I’m really looking forward to Argentina and the last race. From the pictures I've seen the circuit looks quite challenging and should be great fun to drive. Our speed was very fast at Zolder and hopefully we can and turn the progress we have made in the last two races into a podium finish.” Team Principal Stewart Roden commented. "It is really exciting going to the new Potrero de los Funes circuit it looks really interesting. The team did a great job in Zolder and we were unlucky not to finish on the podium, both drivers were right on the pace so I hope we can do the same in Argentina. Pirelli have done a fantastic job for us this year and we have been making steady progress at every race so it would be great to finish the season on a high. However, with this being a new circuit, making sure that the car has the right race set-up will be crucial and with temperatures expected to hover around 30 c throughout the race the weather will be an important factor.”

Conor Daly has won the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda Championship at the finale in October. As part of the prize package, he will receive a free test with World Speed Motorsports in a Pro Formula Mazda. Daly said, "I was so honoured to accept the Skip Barber National Prize from Mazda. Now I can't wait to start getting ready for the 2009 season by testing with World Speed Motorsports! Throughout this test I am going to learn a lot for next season and that will be very beneficial. “ The World Speed Motorsports Rising Star Award has been helping young racers move up the open wheel racing ladder for years. World Speed continues to train and develop future champions, and is hard at work testing in preparation for a full season in the 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. The BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda is the first of the three-step ladder system that includes Star Mazda and the Atlantic Championship. Each year's champion is awarded a fully paid season in the following year's Star Mazda series, a sponsorship package valued at more than $350,000.

The Norwegian Autosport Foundation, Norges Bilsportforbund, has given Anders Krohn the prize "Autosport Driver of the Year" 2008. On his 21^st birthday, November 15th, the successful racing driver accepted the applause from over 500 Autosport friends during the foundation's annual prize giving ceremony. It was Krohn's dominant victory in the U.S. based Formula 2000 Championship Series that was the main reason for giving Norway's biggest Autosport award to the 21-year old.

Team Aluminos off to Las Vegas for their season Finale in the 12th annual Superkarts! USA SuperNationals held at the Rio Hotel and Casino. Aluminos will run 20 drivers in seven different divisions including 2 all the way from New Zealand, Daniel Bray(pictured) and Brad Alexander …read more

Ahead of round three of A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Sepang, Malaysia this weekend, the local team members put down their spanners, turned off their laptops and picked up paintbrushes for the A1 Team Malaysia Outreach programme, the team’s social responsibility arm. read more

Tony Kanaan claimed his eighth Granja Viana title when he teamed up with Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Giaffone, Renato Russian and Luciano Burti on Nov. 15 to win the Granja Viana 500 - a 500-mile kart race in Sao Paulo, Brazil - for the eighth time in its 12 years. The event, held at the Giaffone family's venue, featured 65 karts. IndyCar Series drivers Vitor Meira, Mario Moraes and Raphael Matos also competed. A second Kanaan kart included co-drivers Cristiano da Matta and Antonio Pizzonia.

The 2009 IndyCar Series season opens April 5 with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg in Florida. The race will be telecast live at 2 p.m. (EDT) by VERSUS. The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season begins with a doubleheader race weekend April 4-5 at St. Petersburg.

Kevin Mills Racing has secured promising Welsh youngster Alex Jones to drive one of its three works-supported Spectrum chassis in the 2009 British Formula Ford Championship. Jones, 20, enjoyed a successful maiden season in the Ford-backed championship's Scholarship Class in 2008, winning the class on six occasions - four of those wins at the wheel of a KMR Spectrum. "We are very pleased to be continuing our relationship with Alex in 2009," said Kevin Mills, "and fully expect him to be a championship contender. KMR will be continuing its development programme with Borland Racing over the winter, in Australia and in the UK, and will be looking to continue our winning form." KMR adopted the Australian chassis only at the beginning of the '08 season, and its Spectrum was the first alternative chassis to break the Mygale victory-lane stranglehold when Adrian Campfield's machine won at Brands Hatch in July. Jones's track career began in 2004 in karts; he was British National TKM Open Champion in 2006. He ended his maiden Formula Ford season third in the Scholarship Class and with a best overall race finish of eighth.

The all-new Juno Formula Ford chassis set competitive lap times during its first dry-weather runs at the Snetterton last week. Test driver Tom Bradshaw did a best lap of 1m 10.7s, around half a second shy of the top Formula Ford race lap at June's championship meeting. "We would have been pleased with a time of 1m 11.5s," said Juno chief Ewan Baldry, "so to achieve what we did with tyres which were past their best was very encouraging. Tom told us he felt there was clearly more to come from the car, and from him. All things considered we feel we have a car with which we will be able to compete." In addition to Porsche Carrera Cup Scholarship-winner Bradshaw, the recently crowned British Formula Ford Scholarship Champion, Chrissy Palmer, enjoyed some wet laps in the new car, as did kart star Daniel Cammish. "We have no confirmed driver line-up yet for 2009," said Baldry, "but there are more people keen to test drive the car. We are really buoyed by its performance so far and, given that we have the advantage of being a fully works-supported effort, we believe that our rate of development will be hard to rival." The Juno will be in action again at the British Formula Ford Sampler Day at Silverstone on 2 December

Mihai Marinescu won the Formula BMW Pacific finale at Macau Grand Prix on Sunday, the first time the series has raced at the famous Guia Circuit. Second was his Motaworld teammate Michael Christensen while third went to Japan's Kimiya Sato driving for Eurasia Motorsport.

Ollie Millroy's race in the Pacific FBMW series at Macau had started off badly when he hit the wall in qualifying. This if course meant he had to start Sunday's race from the back of the grid. Undettered he drove a great race was up to 10th when the red flags came out ending his climb through the field.

Hitech Racing saw their main podium hope at the Macau GP, Roberto Merhi, end his race in the barriers in Sunday's race. Walter Grubmüller did however bring his car home in eighth while Max Chilton drove through te field from the back of the gridto 14th.

Magura-backed James Theodore has now topped two championships, in karts and cars. Last weekend (8/9 November) he sealed the Formula Renault BARC Winter Series at Rockingham with victories in both races after taking a win and a second in the opening round at Croft the week before. This was on the Saturday.At 6am on Sunday, he set off for the Glan Y Gors kart circuit in North Wales, where he completed a perfect weekend by winning both his heats, and the final, to lift the club’s Senior Max Championship trophy. “It was busy weekend” James said. “It was a small but very strong field (at GYG) and in the space of two weeks to win a kart and a car championship, that’s not bad is it?”

Western Bulldogs AFL star, Jason Akermanis and eight time PGA Tour event winner, Stuart Appleby, will make their circuit racing debuts in the Australian Mini Challenge at Symmons Plains Raceway, Tasmania this weekend, November 21-23...read more

CAMS MOTORSPORT PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR: Livewire Mini Challenge racer, David Turner has been nominated for the 2008 CAMS Motorsport Personality of the Year, presented by Shannon’s Insurance.To vote and go into the draw to win a signed Mark Webber print, click the following link – voting closes November 28 at 5:00pm: http://www.cams.com.au/content.asp?PageID=About&ObjectID=671

It has been confirmed that a small trace of cannabis was found in a sample from Tonykart Junior driver Flavio Camponeschi which he provided to the stewards at the CIK-FIA KF2 World Cup at La Conca, Italy in September. Tony Kart team manager, Paul Spencer,has asked his driver what had happened and Flavio said he had attended a party, where a small amount of the drug in a ‘joint’ had been passed around. With an uncharacteristic loss of judgment, he momentarily smoked it and immediately regretted doing so. Cannabis can stay in the body for 80 days,which is why it was found in his system. Flavio deeply regrets his actions and wholly accepts the CIK’s punishment – a 6 month ban and the loss of his World Cup victory. Paul Spencer said, “What he did was utterly stupid. Here at the Tonykart Junior Team we deplore the use of drugs but I think we need to apply some common sense to the situation. We cannot condone his behaviour and that will be dealt with internally. However, Flavio has shown great remorse and is undergoing further education on the dangers of drugs. He has also promised to use his experience to explain to young kart racers why drugs have no place in a champion’s life. He has also offered to work closely with the CIK-FIA Anti-Doping Commission to publicise their doping awareness and prevention campaign.” Flavio says, “I wish to apologise to everyone –my fans, the team, my competitors, the officials, my family and especially, Mr. Robazzi (the owner of Tonykart). I was naïve and selfish. That one moment has undone so much hard work and I am genuinely sorry for that. I will do everything I can to repair the damage I have done

Manor Motorsport didn’t have much luck in the 55th Windsor Arch Macau F3 Grand Prix today(Sunday) it’s lead driver Sam Bird was involved in a first lap collision with Roberto Streit putting him out the race. Manor’s other driver Jon Lancaster, making debut at Macau, finished in 11^th.

Tom's Team driver Keisuke Kunimoto has won the 55thWindsor Arch Macau F3 Grand Prix Edoardo Mortara, driving for Signature Plus came second , despite clipping a wall, while Brendon Hartley brght his Carlin Motorsport car home in third after climbing up from 20th on the grid .

Yvan Muller claimed the 2008 FIA World Touring Car Championship. One year after losing the title to Andy Priaulx. SEAT Sport's Frenchman clinched the title by finishing third in today's(Sunday) Race 1. His team mate Gabriele Tarquini - the only other man still in contention to win the title - had to settle for second. If the Championship belonged to SEAT, the day belonged to Chevrolet. The Lacetti took a clean sweep with pole and two wins, the first for Alain Menu and the rsecond for Robert Huff. A great way for the Lacetti to wind up it’s season before it is replaced in 2009 by the the new Cruze. Huff's win in Race gave the Briton third place in the Drivers' Championship, only one point short of Tarquini and ahead of the outgoing champion Priaulx. The second race was one of the craziest ever seen, with James Thompson 's Honda, eliminated in a collision with Augusto Farfus ' BMW when only one lap separated him from his second win of the season. Sergio Hernández and Franz Engstler shared the honours in the Independents' Trophy, with Proteam Motorsport's Spaniard was crowned champion of the class.

Alexander Sims put in a great drive in the Pacific Formula BMW race at the Guia Street Circuit in Macau today, Sunday, 16th November. After being delayed at the start when his team mate crashed in fromt of him, Sims dcame through from last to seventh before a red flag curtailed his superb driver through the field.

With his season’s racing completed, Alexander Sims is now eagerly awaiting the evening of Sunday, 7th December, when he will find out if he has been chosen as the 2008 recipient of the McLaren Autosport BRDC ‘Young Driver of the Year’ Award.Selected as one of just six drivers short-listed to take part in a two-day evaluation at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk earlier this month, the Formula Renault UK Vice-Champion took the wheel of a Formula 3 car, an Aston Martin N24 racer and a spectacular DTM touring car. He then undertook an interview process with an esteemed panel of judges. The annual McLaren Autosport BRDC Award is the UK’s most prized motor racing accolade and has been won in the past by some of the sport’s biggest names including Jenson Button and David Coulthard. Should Alexander become the 2008 award winner he will win a cheque for £50,000 and a test in an Aston Martin GT1 sportscar. The biggest prize, however, will come in the form of a Formula One test in a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One car.

Edoardo Mortara has won the qualification race at the Macau GP and will therefore start Sunday's Windsor Arch Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix from pole. The Signature Plus driver started the race from third on the grid, but got into second behind leader Keisuke Kunimoto before the Lisboa Bend at the start. After a Safety Car period to clear the stranded car of James Jakes from the side of the track after he collided with Brendon Hartley at the start, Mortara bided his time , closing up on the leader. By the seventh lapMortara was onto Kunimoto’s gearbox, getting into his slipstream on the run down to Lisboa, to pull alongside and take the lead under braking for the turn. He then opened up a small gap which he held to the flag to win by a second. “It was a good race today,” said Mortara. “Once I created a gap it was not so important to push, so I controlled the race. I am really happy for this victory, for myself, Signature and Volkswagen.” Kunimoto held onto second finishing just ahead of Roberto Streit in third, Oliver Turvey fourth and Sam Bird fifth. There was huge disappointment for poleman Carlo van Dam, who retired on the first lap after he glanced off a wall getting a puncture as a result. To m ake matters worse as he toured round towards the pits he came together with fellow Dutchman Renger van der Zande at the San Francisco Bend which eliminated him from the race.

Hitech Racing didn't have a good start to the Macau GP, a first lap accident in the qualifying race today(Saturday) eliminated Max Chilton at the first corner. He was one of 8 drivers who never made it around the first lap. Austrian Walter Grubmüller brought his Franks-backed Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA home in 15th while rookie Spaniard Roberto Merhi, slipped back from his starting position of 6th tom 17th at the flag after he stalled on the line.

James Winslow will start the 55th running of the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix from 11th position after rebounding from adversity early in the running of the event. The Australian Drivers Champion faced early dramas after a broken roll bar badly hurt the handling of his Ombra Racing Dallara F307 Mugen Honda and left him to battle to 22nd on the grid for the qualifying race. But a stout charge forward in the 13-lap heat race sent things back on track and gives the British driver a real shot at a strong top six result in the feature Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix Race tomorrow. “11th is a lot better than where we started and gives us a real chance for a strong result in the Grand Prix tomorrow,” Winslow said following the Qualifying race. The front wing of the car broke at the first corner after contact but I raced with the damage. Hopefully we can come though and get inside the top six tomorrow. I think we have the pace.”
Macau Grand Prix – Qualification Race Results
1. Edoardo Mortara (Signature Plus) 29:20.769
2. Keisuke Kunimoto (TOM’S Toyota) + 1.189s
3. Roberto Streit (Raikkonen – Robertson Racing) + 2.904s
4. Oliver Turvey (Carlin Motorsport) +3.364s
5. Sam Bird (Manor Motorsport) +3.984s
11. James Winslow (Ombra Racing) +26.786s

Tandersport got the jump on the opposition at Mallala last week when started testing with driver Ben Crighton for the 2009 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship. The New Zealander drove the #42 TanderSport Dallara F307 – Mercedes Benz car that Leanne Tander drove to five wins in 2008. ..read more

The great & the good of the BRSCC will be gathering at the Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday 22nd November for the annual dinner dance & awards presentations. Hosted by Louise Goodman and debonair man about town, Rick Smith, many BRSCC champions and class winners will be in attendance to collect their well deserved pots.

The British Formula Ford Championship is once again to throw open its doors to prospective competitors. For the third successive year the Silverstone National circuit will be the open-track venue for the Ford-backed championship's successful 'sampler day', providing a vital opportunity for would-be Wayne Boyds to meet the teams and to drive the cars. More than 60 drivers attended the event last season and Sam Roach, of championship promoter RacingLine, hopes for a similar number at this year's event on 2 December: "We are laying on an open circuit for all the 2008 British Formula Ford teams - as well as prospective teams - and it's their opportunity to showcase themselves. We are also inviting competitors to register to attend so that they can meet the teams and sample a modern Formula Ford chassis on a world-class circuit." The sampler day is open to all drivers aged 16 and over holding at least a kart licence. "We aim to make it an informal yet extremely valuable exercise," added Roach. "In addition to the test drives, there will be a training seminar and body analysis tests, and of course we will be able to provide all the 2009 championship information which competitors, teams and sponsors require to enable them to make their plans." The newly crowned British Formula Ford Champion for 2008, Wayne Boyd, will be at the event also to claim one of his valuable prizes - a Formula 3 test with the Fluid Motorsport team. Registration forms can be downloaded from the British Formula Ford website at BRITISH FORMULA FORD

BRSCC members are once again entitled to free entry to Autosport International. For 2009 members can choose which day they want to attend from any of the four days of the Show, which runs from Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th January, at the NEC in Birmingham . To apply for your free ticket log-on to AUTOSPORT INTERNATIONAL 2009 then click Trade Show and then ‘Trade Visitors Pre-register here’ in the top right hand corner. Follow the steps from there. You will need to have your BRSCC membership number when applying and you will need to be a current member of the BRSCC at the time of the Autosport Show. Therefore if your membership expires before January you will need to renew it beforehand. If you are not already a BRSCC member you can still join the Club and claim your Autosport Show ticket. Just download an application form from the website BRSCC

After taking two podium finishes on his debut in China, Danny Watts will race for A1 Team Great Britain in Sepang, Malaysia, next week. After scoring a 16 points in Chengdu, China on Sunday, A1 Team Great Britain is now looking ahead to Malaysia, the third round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, which will take place next weekend at Sepang. Danny Watts: "I am delighted to be representing A1 Team GBR again. We had a strong start in Chengdu last weekend and it's obviously important to continue that form in Sepang. The aim has got to be to target a couple more podiums, but we have already shown we are competitive, so race wins must be our primary goal from now on. I will do my upmost to achieve these goals for A1 Team GBR and move us higher up the Championship table" Katie Clements, Team Principal: "I am still overwhelmed by the achievements of the team and Danny from China and we are heading to Malaysia with a very positive mindset. The aim is to score another good haul of points and take another step up the championship table."

Pit Lane Productions has confirmed transmission details of the Formula Ford Festival 2008 television programmes. Three separate shows will be aired across Sky Sports and Motors TV. Sky Sports will air a stand-alone programme on December 4th featuring the Duratec/Zetec action from the weekend, with the heats and semi-finals included as well as the all-important final itself. In addition, Sky Sports will air a dedicated Kent report, lasting for 40 minutes, in its popular weekly World Motorsports show. This will include the heats and semi-finals along with the Festival final. Motors TV will be broadcasting a specially-made show that will include the Duratec/Zetec and Kent finals and will, like the Sky Sports shows, be full of action and interviews.

The Formula Ford races at the Anglesey Circuit Club meeting on Sunday 30th November will be for the University of Central Lancashire Trophy . The winners of both Post89 and Pre90 will get a FREE double header race entry fee credit to use at an Anglesey meeting in 2009. There will be trophies for the first three in each class and the overall winner will hold the new University of Central Lancashire Trophy for twelve months, until it is competed for next year. Race entry is £150 for two races and the Saturday test day is half price at only £90.

The Motorsport Safety Fund's 2008 charity Christmas card is a chilly reminder of the valiant work carried out by Britain 's motorsport marshals, year in, year out, whatever the weather. It features a composite of two photographs taken at a wintry Lydden by lensman Steve Williams. In the foreground is a Jaguar marooned at a marshals' post and partially camouflaged by falling snow. Behind are five long-suffering marshals looking typically cheerful, despite the freezing conditions. The cards are priced at £6.50 for 10, including envelopes, postage and packing and are available from: Motorsport Safety Fund, Penny Farthing, Heythrop, Chipping Norton OX7 5TW. An image of the card can be viewed in the Publications section of the Fund’s website; www.motorsportsafetyfund.com

The final race of the year for CR Scuderia is a trip to San Luis in Argentina and a brand new race track, the “Lago Potrero de los Funes”. This is an important race for CRS as the team wants to end the season on a high note, in the same way the British GT and Formula Renault seasons ended. The drivers have a new circuit to learn and, with no extra track time allocated, it’s going to be the fast-learners who have the upper hand. Bucharest race-winners, Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell, are hoping the transatlantic trip will bring about a change in their recent luck which reached a low-point when Bell was fired off at the start of the Zolder race. “I really hope we can make it past the first corner this time,” said Kirkaldy. “Argentina is a very long way to go for something like that to happen again. Since Bucharest we have quite probably had the fastest car out there but for one reason or another we haven’t had the results and it’s very frustrating. The guys had to do an all-nighter after Zolder to get the car repaired in time for the freight deadline so I hope we can go out there and finish of the season with a good result for them.” The teams’ two GT2 Ferraris, along with over 10 tonnes of freight, were loaded straight after the last race at Zolder and have now safely arrived in the port at Buenos Aires, 7000 miles away. From there the freight containers hit the road again for the 450 mile journey to San Luis where the team will start the process of carefully unloading the cars and the kit in readiness for the race next weekend. The race weekend at San Luis follows the usual FIA GT format: practice and qualifying on Saturday with the two-hour race starting on Sunday at 1315hrs.

Former Racing Member Malcolm Snook has written a book that not only covers his exploits as a ‘club racer’ but also his life as a dare devil and explorer. Malcolm started his BRSCC career in a Merlyn MK17A in pre 74 FF and went on to race in numerous Formula Ford s in the Champion of Brands, the Champion of Combe and of course the Formula Ford Festival. Before starting a career in advertising, specifically to raise the money to fulfil his dream of car racing (which started when aged 13 watching F3, James Hunt, Roger Williamson, Dave Walker, Bev Bond et al at Crystal Palace and Brands), he was a full time skydiving instructor. After racing cars, and after winning the Yamaha advertising account for his agency Malcolm switched to racing motorcycles with some success! Latterly, Malcolm has been on an arctic expedition and is currently a long distance sailor. Malcolm’s book can be purchased on-line at www.trafford.com/07-2592

Fluid Motorsport Development has won an important early stage of British Formula Ford 2009 - the race to sign the first driver. They have signed 17 year old kart star Ben Barker to drive one of their Van Diemans for the coming season. "The Van Diemen looks like the car to have for 2009," enthuses Ben, "and I have known the team for years, so it's all very positive. I have tested other single-seaters but Formula Ford is a more involving chassis, and requires more control from the driver. I can't wait to get racing and get on the pace."Fluid boss Lindsay Allen, who is looking to run a three-car Formula Ford squad in '09 alongside its F3 operation, is confident that his team can carry its winning form into next season. "I think the Van Diemen is now better than the Mygale," he says, "and the test programme we are putting together will help us maintain that edge. I have known Ben since he started karting at age eight or nine and have watched him progress over the years; he has great talent and will be an asset to the team." Fluid enjoyed success in 2008 not only in Formula Ford but also in the British F3 International Series, in which the team's Jay Bridger - a graduate of Formula Ford himself - won the National Class championship title.Suffolk-based Barker is the son of successful single-seater and saloon car racer Carolyn Barker, and is a graduate of the Super 1 and Junior/Senior TKM karting series. He is backed by race shipping company Cars Motorsport.

Hitech Racing’s rookie driver Roberto Merhi took sixth place in qualifying for tomorrow’s Qualifying race in the Macau GP. Regular drivers Max Chilton and . Austrian Walter Grubmüller ended up in 13th and 19th repectively .read more

Volkswagen Racing Cup teams championship winner SlideSports has vowed to return to the series in 2009 to defend its title, and also to bid for outright honours in the drivers championship. SlideSports boss Mark Jenkins has already re-signed 2008 race winner Mike Kurton to the team and is in talks with several other drivers. The team will again field its successful Golf GTIs, plus an all-new car for Kurton. This season's teams championship win was all the more notable for it being SlideSport's maiden year in the series 'It was a steep learning curve for us,' says ex-F1 mechanic Jenkins, 'but iron does not become steel until it's been through the fire. We will be back, armour-plated, in 2009 and looking not only to take the teams prize again but also the drivers championship. 'We are investing in our equipment, technology and presentation for the coming year and are looking forward to continuing in what has become an excellent and very successful championship.'SlideSport's other race winner in 2008 was James Walker, whose Chek Whyte-backed TDI Golf finished on top at Rockingham. Its third man, promising 17-year-old James Griffiths, drove his Golf GTI on to the podium at Silverstone in his debut season. SlideSports nabbed the teams championship by a 12-point margin from the RP Motorsport team, which was led by drivers championship victor Joe Fulbrook.

Dean Smith was testing a World Series by Renault single-seater last week at Paul Ricard in the South of France. Driving a Fortec Motorsort prepared car he ended up 13th fastest in the wet morning session and eighth in the dry during the afternoon..read more

MENU ON POLE again with a last gasp effort that set a new lap record of 2:30.285, in the process, nearly one second faster than his 2007 pole. The Chevrolet man beat the outgoing world champion Andy Priaulx by 0.17 seconds as they crossed the line together a few seconds before the session ended. Five different drivers sat on pole during the session. Yvan Muller gave a big boost to his title hopes with third fastest lap, while the only other contender for the crown, Gabriele Tarquini, had to settle for eighth after a incident put an end to his efforts. The top-three Chevrolet-BMW-SEAT sequence was repeated by fourth, fifth and sixth, Robert Huff, Augusto Farfus and Jordi Gené respectively. It was good for Huff, who is after third place in the championship but disappointing for Farfus, who had topped the three previous sessions and saw his hopes vanish on his last qualifying run when he hit the wall at the Solitude Esses. The two N.technology Honda cars failed to make the top ten; James Thompson posted the 11th fastest time, 1.4 seconds off pole while local hero André Couto was16th. Tom Coronel was forced to skip most of the session because the SUNRED team were still working to repair his car after a rash in second practice, however he managed to join after the second red flag in time to go 17^th. Once again Sergio Hernández claimed the Indepedents' pole position, ousting Franz Engstler in the late stages of the session.

Stevenson Motorsports To Race A Brand New Chevrolet Camaro In The Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series. In 2009, this independent team from Jacksonville, North Carolina will expand into the KONI Challenge Series, running a brand new Chevrolet Camaro built by Bill Riley's Riley Technologies located in Mooresville, North Carolina. Mike Johnson is the team manager for Stevenson Motorsports. "We are genuinely excited about being among the first to race the all new Chevrolet Camaro in KONI Challenge." Johnson said, "Bill Riley is one of the top builders of race cars anywhere and we know that when he delivers chassis number 001 to our team we will already have a head start on the competition." The rebirth of the Camaro street car - with styling very reminiscent of the 1969 model - provides an exceptional opportunity for the Stevenson team to add even more lines to the pages of the Camaros glorious history.

Final qualifying the 55th Macau Grand Prix saw Tom’s Team driver Carlo van Dam take pole in the dying minutes for Saturday's Qualification Race. He beat Manor’s Sam Bird’s time before Bird was penalized for passing under yellows dropping him down to 5th. Carol van Dam's team-mate Keisuke Kunimoto took second at Bird’s expense with Edoardo Mortara, driving for Signature Plus third. Double R’s Roberto Streit was fourth ahead of Bird. In yesterday’s session Edoardo Mortara had snatched provisional pole but ended the session with a damaged car after he crashed into a rival. With just more than one minute to go in the afternoon session hehit the stranded car of Masaki Matsushita, who had spun into the middle of the road after hitting the barriers at Police. Carlo van Dam was second fastest with Streit third. Final qualifying Times

Menasheh Idafar returned to the cockpit of his Hillspeed run Formula Renault UK car at Snetterton this week for his latest test, just four days after the finale of the 2008 Winter Championship. Driving alongside a full complement of potential 2009 rivals the British-born Bahraini was in excellent form and produced a best lap of 1m 05.2 seconds using unofficial times. “We couldn’t have expected a better performance from Menasheh”, said Hillspeed driver coach and former British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star Matt Shawyer, “He was very quick on Wednesday and produced a really good performance. He’s making a lot of people sit up and take notice which is great, everyone can see what he’s capable of.” With less than six weeks remaining until Christmas, Menasheh’s 2008 programme is starting to reach a conclusion but further test outings are expected in due course.

J.R. Hildebrand will race in Firestone Indy Lights once again in 2009, this time for Andretti Green Racing/AFS Racing, the team which took Raphael Matos to the title in 2008 . Hildebrand moves from RLR Andersen Racing where he finished fifth during his debut season with one win at Kansas in April. "I'm ecstatic to have the opportunity to drive for Andretti Green Racing this year in the Firestone Indy Lights," Hildebrand said. "It's quite clear that the team earned their spot at the top of the championship standings last year for a reason. I feel with the experience I gained in 2008 combined with the success the team had that we will be one of the teams to beat next year."

John Quartermaine is the latest driver to reveal plans to race in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB in 2009. The saloon car racer has acquired Tony Gilham’s 2008 car and plans to challenge for the pro-am1 category. Quartermaine has three decades of experience behind him and has won a range of championship and races since his first race in 1977. His first taste of the Carrera Cup came when he raced the VIP pro-am2 car early in 2008. "Since driving the guest car at Donington I knew exactly what I wanted to do for 2009," said Quartermaine. "Having raced for some while in the VW Cup now is the right time to try something a lot more serious." Quartermaine confirmed his plans following a test in the Gilham car at the recent Carrera Cup sampler day at Silverstone. "Currently the car is being tided up before I undertake further testing." Backers for the campaign will include Quartermaine's own company, Future Events.

BMW team Germany's Augusto Farfus set fastest lap in today's test session at Macau with a lap of 2:33.624. Second and third were James Thompson's Honda and Nicola Larini's Chevrolet. 0.08 and 0.16 seconds behind respectively. The session was red-flagged after only four minutes, when Jaap van Lagen lost control and crashed his LADA at the "R" bend on his first lap out of the pits. As soon as the test resumed, Yvan Muller posted a lap of 2:35.117 that stood as the fastest until halfway, when times began to drop dramatically.The fastest lap was then improved seven times, with Thompson, Farfus, Gabriele Tarquini, Muller and Félix Porteiro taking turns on top. Porteiro was the first driver to break the 2:34. barrier, completing a lap in 2:33.815 with only two minutes left. However, during the last minute, he was demoted to fourth as Farfus, Thompson and Larini crossed the line. Championship contenders Muller and Tarquini were the fastest of the SEAT drivers, in seventh and eighth position. Sergio Hernández topped the Independents setting the 16th fastest lap overall, only one tenth faster than Franz Engstler, while local hero André Couto clocked the 18th best lap on his first outing in the N.technology Honda Accord

GP2 rookie Will Bratt produced a great performance on only his second ever run in one of David Price Racing’s cars at Paul Ricard on Tuesday,(11th Nov), and is now in talks with the British team regarding a full-time drive in the F1 support championship in 2009. Will ended the test second fastest with a 1m 15.749 secs.
He is in the process of putting together a package of support to finance his 2009 season. He’s proven he has the ability and speed, now he just needs the opportunity and backing. “GP2 is the only place I want to be in 2009”, said Will, “Finishing second fastest during the test was great and I know I can be a consistent front-runner in GP2. I’ve proven I’ve got the pace and the ability and now I want to capitalise on that. Given the backing and support of investors and/or a manufacturer programme, I know I can win in GP2.” Running strongly inside the top six during the wet morning session, despite his inexperience at this level, he was then rewarded with his second fastest time during the afternoon.
Will added: “I felt very comfortable indeed in the DPR car, the team has been fantastic to work with and I want to thank David Price for enabling me to show what I can achieve at this level. We’re going all out to secure a GP2 drive for 2009.”

DPR in serious talks with Bratt regarding GP2 Asia race outing. DPR team principal David Price has confirmed his squad is in serious negotiations with Will regarding a race drive in the 2009 GP2 Series but he is also keen to secure the services of the driver for at least one outing in the current GP2 Asia Series. “The whole team is absolutely delighted with the performance Will produced at Paul Ricard, to end the day second fastest was a fantastic effort and he clearly has a lot of ability”, said Price, “The team did a good job and Will was very professional. We’re very keen to talk to Will about filling one of our race seats in 2009, we held conversations after his first test with us and we’re even more focused on trying to get a package together with him now following yesterday’s run. It would be great to get him in a DPR car for a couple of GP2 Asia races as well – we’ll see what happens.”

Twelve young women drivers accepted invitations from Lyn St. James to participate in the 15th class of the Women in the Winner’s Circle (WWC) Foundation Complete Driver Academy, which is a comprehensive educational and training program for talented women race drivers who aspire to the professional levels of motorsports. ..read more

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport unveiled plans for the new street track at Lippo Village, Indonesia where the A1GP race will be held on 6th to 8th of February 2009 . ..read more

While the A1GP race went on at Chengdu, last weekend there was also a lot happening in the paddock both during and in the build up ...read more

Volkswagen returns to the Formula 3 Grand Prix in Macau18 years after clinching victory with Michael Schumacher. Five drivers, Edoardo Mortara from Italy, Mika Maki from Finland, the Chinese Congfu Cheng, Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium as well as Nicola de Marco from Italy, will try to follow in his footsteps in the VW Dallara F308 this weekend (13-16 Nov). "Three wins in the F3 Euro Series and two in the German F3 Cup are a good tally for the two-litre engine from the Volkswagen Group. To close off the season, Volkswagen returns to the most famous Formula 3 race of all - the Macau Grand Prix," says VW Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. "The track demands a powerful engine with good driveability; at the same time, driving skills are more important in Macau than on most other race tracks." Two qualifying sessions determine the grid positions for the first race, which then decides the starting order for the crucial second round. The Signature team is entering three VW Dallara F308 cars for Mortara, Red Bull Junior Mika Maki and Congfu Cheng. RC Motorsport will run Laurens Vanthoor and Nicola de Marco.

Universal Motoring History has turned its comprehensive film archive into a free online motoring history resource for all serious car enthusiasts. The archive consists of more than 500 classic films from around the world from the 1890s onwards and can now be enjoyed for free 24 hours a day at www.auto-history.tv.

Graham Carroll's Championship winning Formula Ford engine, which was sealed prior to the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy, has been examined by the MSA Scrutineers in the presence of engine builder Steve Patten and was found to be 100% legal. Graham is now on the look-out for a sponsor to help him move on in his career.

Yesterday ‘theGrid’ stated that Robert Foster Jones had won the Silver Cup at Sarno. This was an error, Robert actually dominated the concluding round of the championship, it was Mackenzie Taylor who was the overall winner of the cup. We apologise for the error and any confusion - Ed

Brands hatch hosts it’s final racing event on Saturday 15 November with the Britcar 'Into the Night' race at the Kent circuit. The race will be held over 90 minutes and a large grid of cars is expected. In Class 1, the current leaders are seven times winners Kevin Clarke and Wayne Gibson driving a BMW M3. Tom and William Gannon are top of Class 2 witha Honda Integra followed closely by Tim Saunders in a Civic Type R. Support races include the Victor Meldrew Trophy, Lotus on Track Elise Trophy and Open Sports & Sports Racing Tickets are from £10 with free entry for children aged 12 and under.

The IndyCar Series will not be at Surfer’s Paradise in 2009 . It was unable to come to agreement on a long-term scheduling solution with representatives of the annual Gold Coast Indy event in Australia. The IndyCar Series made its debut at Surfers Paradise last month in a non-points race where Ryan Briscoe claimed victory. During the race weekend, IndyCar Series executives met with event organizers and government officials to discuss various date and commercial options for 2009 and beyond.. "We are disappointed that we could not find suitable solutions for both the IndyCar Series and Gold Coast Indy organizers but it was not due to lack of effort," said Terry Angtsadt, president of the commercial division for the Indy Racing League, the sanctioning body for the IndyCar Series. "Chairman Terry Mackenroth and general manager Greg Hooton rolled out the red carpet for the IndyCar Series last month and they are to be commended for their efforts in conjunction with the Queensland government." "We appreciate the efforts and support of the organizers and the government to North American open-wheel racing dating back to its debut at Gold Coast in 1991, but we will move on offering our competitors one of the most diverse and challenging schedules in all of motorsports. The 2009 schedule features 10 oval races, three permanent road courses and five temporary circuits, including the debut of the IndyCar Series at Long Beach and Toronto."

Australian James Davison, received the Sunoco Most Improved Driver Award and $10,000 prize money at the Indy Racing League Championship Celebration held at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. James received the award after returning from commentating on the IndyCar Series at Surfers Paradise. Davison was competitive from the outset in Indy Lights in 2008 however he was unable to convert his speed into results due to unfortunate circumstances. Later James qualified on Pole at Nashville , leading half the race, won in the rain at Mid Ohio and secured a close fought 2nd place at Kentucky Speedway. Other highlights included qualifying on the front row and leading the Firestone Freedom 100 at Indianapolis, and starting on the second row and running in the top 3 at the demanding Milwaukee Mile.

Macau’s Rodolfo Avila will be aiming for a top result this weekend in the new Macau GT Cup at the Macau Grand Prix(Nov 13-16). The newly-crowned Asia Supercar Challenge champion makes his sportscar debut at Macau in a Ferrari 430 GT. Speaking about his first GT race in Macau Rodolfo said, “This is my home race. Macau has always been very special for me so I want to perform as well as we can. There are a lot of cars in the grid so for sure there will be some very competitive drivers. Most of them have more experience in tin tops but I will do my best to make sure I’m up there with them. I hope everything goes well and I can finish in the top 5 or even a podium”. Avila had a chance to drive the Mastercar Italy’s Ferrari 430 at the Franciacorta Circuit in Italy before the car was shipped to Asia . “I can say my new car is much better than the car I drove all year (360 Modena GT). I hope the car will behave well in the Guia Circuit. Macau is a very tricky circuit, with limited opportunities for overtaking so qualifying will be more important than ever”. Macau GT Cup Qualifying will take place at 10.50 on Saturday, while the 10 lap race will get underway at 10.30 on Sunday.

The 2008 Porsche Club Championship and Porsche Open seasons ended in style on Saturday November 8th, with an awards dinner at the Hilton Puckrup Hall Hotel near Tewkesbury . Jeremy Clark was awarded the Club championship title he sealed at Spa-Francorchamps and Paul Winter claimed the Open Drivers title, both winning a one-off drive in the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB courtesy of Porsche Cars GB. “It was a great night,” said Clark of the awards dinner, “it was nice to be somewhere with everyone and not have to worry about going racing! The organisers did a great job and it was the perfect end to the season.” Other trophies went to Paul Follett for Rookie of the Year from the Porsche Open plus he also won the prestigious Bill Taylor Handicap trophy at Brands Hatch in the summer. A much-valued Porsche Open award is the ‘Spirit of the Series’ trophy, which went this year to Mark Chilton. In the Porsche Club Championship, a tough title battle was fought for the team trophy, which ultimately went to Summit Preparation who prepared the cars which finished second, fourth, seventh and tenth in Class One.

Robert Foster-Jones has won the final round of the Silver Cup at Sarno near Naples. He didn’t just win it, he did it in style with fastest time in qualifying, two wins in the heats, and the Pre-final. To cap it all he won the final after he was embroiled in a bit of controversy when Italian, Anniello Smarrazzo. pushed him off on the last lap to cross the line first! Then 30 mins later the the stewards decided to penalize the Italian and hand Robert his deserved victory.

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will be returning to Australia in Season Five. The series has signed a five year deal with the organisers of the street circuit in Surfers Paradise and will go there in 2009 for its first race. “We wanted to go back to Australia and this is the ideal venue for our series. A lot of people have worked hard on putting this deal together, and now it has come to fruition it is very exciting. I am aware we are being given a perfect opportunity to showcase our series to the Australian fans, who have been great supporters of both the series and their own team. Australia has a rich motorsport heritage and I know our tv fans worldwide will be delighted to have this spectacular race on our calendar,” said A1GP Chairman, Tony Teixeira.

More people than even before saw the action in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB during 2008 as a total audience of 325,000 attended the 10 rounds of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship. As a permanent support race to the BTCC, the Carrera Cup benefited from continued massive growth in race day attendances as the season's live audience grew by an impressive 21% over the 2007 figures. In turn, the 2007 crowds were up 20% on the 2006 levels. Figures released by the BTCC media office underline the fantastic appeal of the BTCC race days, which now rival many major Premier League football matches. The biggest crowd of the season was at Oulton Park in Cheshire when a massive 35,000 fans visited the track to make it the venue's biggest event of the decade.

Jean Alesi set the fastest lap time at the Speedcar Series test session at the Dubai Autodrome. Canadian Paul Tracy began the morning with the quickest lap,before Uwe Alzen pushed Alesi in a battle to set the pace. They were soon joined by Vitantonio Luizi and Christian Jones in the fight for the quickest lap. The afternoon session saw Johnny Herbert running a hot lap that got the competition going again. In the last push before the flag came down, Alesi, Gianni Morbidelli, Heinz Harald Frentzen, Chris Buncombe, Christian Jones and Bertrand Baguette dogged each other around the track, most of them setting their best laps on that stretch. Local favourite Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum set the 9th best lap, just a tenth of a second behind Tracy. World GT Champion, Fabrizio Gollin made good time with the 4th fastest lap. The younger talent Sakon Yamamoto, Chris Buncombe, James Grunwell and Laurent Steiger spent the day getting accustomed to the Speedcars along with local drivers Khalid Al Zarouni and Karim Al Azhari as well as Eric Charles who ran a few laps in the promotional car. The next and last test session will be held at the Dubai Autodrome on 23-24 November, 2008 before the start of Season 2 on 4-6 December, 2008.

This weekend sees the BMW drivers in the FIA WTCC competing for points and victories for the final time this year. While the BMW drivers can no longer challenge for the title at Macau, history shows that BMW should never be written off,6 of the 8 touring car races held on the 6.117-kilometre track since 2004 have been won by BMW. Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK): "Obviously this will be the first time for ages that I have gone to Macau with no chance of winning a title. I suppose in some ways I can enjoy my favourite circuit a little more as I shall not be thinking about anything other than the races. It is difficult to find a driver who doesn't like this track." Jorg Muller (BMW Team Germany): "Macau is always a highlight for me. The circuit is as unique as the atmosphere. The teams are closer together here than anywhere else. I like street circuits in general, as they are very unforgiving. It goes without saying that my big goal is to stand at the top of the podium again at the end of the season."

The final round of the 2008 South African National Formula Vee Championship at the Pro Tour Investchem Race Day at Kyalami saw Trevor Bland win pole and both heats whatever the weather threw at him.

2009 Formula Mazda Challenge Schedule Announced. The Molecule Formula Mazda Challenge series presented by Star Mazda announced the 2009 race schedule at their series official banquet. The series will be racing at all of the best tracks in the west. Infineon Raceway, Mazda Raceway, Thunderhill Raceway, and Miller Motorsports Park with nine weekends scheduled for thirteen races. For 2009 the series will once again be inviting the Pro Formula Mazda, Standard Formula Mazda, and the Formula E powered by Mazda to compete in separate classes within the championship. The season opener will be a double header at Infineon Raceway February 14th-15th.

Árón Smith is the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup champion after coming second in both races at Rockingham on Saturday, 8th November. In the first, Round 3, he followed PH Motorsport’s Phil House across the line while in Round 4 he was headed by Amery Motorsport’s Dave Newsham.

James Calado has won the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Winter Cup series with a victory in Round 7 followed by seventh in Round 4 at Rockingham on Saturday(8th Nov). The Fortec Motorsport driver clinched the title by just 3 points Manor Competition’s Henry Surtees. Hillspeed’s James Theodore took the Renault BARC Class title, winning both Saturday’s races in the priocess..

Formula Renault squad Hillspeed claimed a second successive winter Championship at Rockingham on Saturday, 8th November when their BARC Class driver James Theodore won oth races and the BARC Class title. Their senior F Renault UK drivers also faired well with Meneshah Idafar taking a good fifth place and Michael Lyons climbing from 16th to 10th in Round 3..read report

Manor Competition’s Henry Surtees missed out on the 2008 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship by just 3 points despite a fourth and a second place finish in Rounds 3 and 4 at Rockingham on Saturday.

Scott Malvern, who spent last season working on the British Formula Ford Championship-winning cars of Jamun Racing, has realised his dream of going behind the wheel of one of the squad's Mygales.The 19-year-old completed more than 100 laps of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on Friday (7 Nov) and impressed the team by quickly getting down to on-the-pace lap times. Scott will test again for Jamun later this week and has also joined a growing number of Formula Ford hopefuls planning to attend the championship's 'sampler day' at Silverstone on 2 December. "It was fantastic finally to get behind the wheel of one of the cars I have helped to engineer," said former karter Scott. "Obviously I knew that the Jamun Mygale was a good car, but it wasn't until driving one that I realised just how unbelievably good it really is. My aim for next year is raise the budget for a British Formula Ford Championship drive; I have further tests planned and I will be talking to teams at the Sampler Day at Silverstone." Malvern has 10 years of karting under his belt and, like former Formula Ford front-runners Ben Clucas and Duncan Tappy, is a former Project One Racing team member; he is backed by Lamberhurst Corporation and Lynne Baines. Scott is one of dozens of prospective Formula Ford 2009 contenders lining up to take part in the Silverstone Sampler Day. Championship co-ordinator Penny Mattocks reports brisk interest in the event from both the UK and abroad. All the top teams from 2008 plan to attend, as well as newcomers Hillspeed Racing, which will be giving the new Juno chassis a public airing.The sampler day is open to all drivers aged 16 and over holding at least a kart licence. Prospective participants must register in advance; registration forms can be downloaded from the British Formula Ford website at www.britishformulaford.co.uk

David Brabham, already the recipient of two 2008 Most Popular ALMS Driver awards, voted for by ALMS fans and Motors TV viewers, he has now topped the Autosport Magazine’s list of elite LMP2 drivers for 2008. Delighted to be given the number one spot by the world’s best-selling motorsport weekly, Brabham commented: “This is mega. I haven't been in the top two of the acclaimed Autosport top 10 for a while, so I am very honoured. This year was definitely one to remember as I have been working hard to improve myself using the techniques that Brabham Performance Clinic teaches, so I will continue to get better for next year’s P1 programme with Acura and the Patrón Highcroft Racing team.”

Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship winner Adam Christodoulou claimed his prize on Friday last week(7th Nov) when he tested a Formula Renault 3.5, 425hp racing car as used in the World Series by Renault. read more

Daniel Lloyd continued to test his brand new ELF Renault Clio Cup car during official winter testing at Rockingham on Friday, 7th November. Once again he was second fastest just as he was last week at Croft. Daniel best time of 1m 30.962 seconds (77.12mph) was set in the final session of the day. Session one, in wet conditions, had him fifth fastest time before improving to fourth during the second of the day’s test runs on a damp track which dried towards the end. In the final outing he leapt to second fastest on his last lap. “It was a good day really, to end up second fastest wasn’t bad at all”, explained Daniel as he reflected on his second ‘official’ test outing in a Clio. “In the second session we started with slick tyres on the front and wets still on the rear but then midway through we changed to full slicks. The last run was the best as it was properly dry. There’s still plenty more time to find in both me and the car but I’m pleased with how everything is going. It’s a great start and I’m really enjoying driving the Clio. Next season is obviously a long way off but the time will fly so we need to work very hard to ensure we’re as close to the pace as possible.”

Former BTCC racer Patrick Watts is joining the Masters Top Hat grid in 2009 in a Ford Mustang. After concentrating on historic rallying for several seasons, including winning the British title in another classic Mustang, Patrick has decided to return to racing in 2009 and has acquired the 1965 Mustang last raced in Masters Top Hat by Rupert Clevely. "I’ve bought the very nice Appendix K Mustang to do a few Top Hat races next year," said Watts. "I'll still do a few rallies in my original Sunbeam Tiger, but DTV333C will be sold to the highest bidder over £30,000, in order to appease the present Mrs Watts." Watts plans to race in major events such as the Masters Historic Festival at Brands, Donington and Spa. "And I'd love to do the Goodwood Revival if I am deemed old enough or famous/infamous enough," he said. "The Mustang has only done three races including winning its class at Spa in September, so it must be good." Masters’ Christopher Tate said: “This is great news! To have a driver of Patrick’s calibre, another former BTCC racer, competing with us is a feather in our cap, proving once more that the races for Top Hat pre-1966 saloons are the cream of the historic touring world. Now, just maybe we should persuade former BTCC champion Frank Sytner to add to his Grand Prix Masters outings and come out and give Patrick a race some time!”

Mackenzie Taylor has won the inaugural Silver Cup in the KF2 category at the kart meeting in at Sarno yesterday.

‘Hamilton effect’ hits Silverstone as ticket sales soar for the British GP Silverstone was inundated last week with fans booking tickets to see newly crowned Formula 1 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton at the 2009 F1 Santander Britisg GP on 19 – 21 June. The reaction from fans since the dramatic season finale has been staggering. In the week following the Brazilian Grand Prix (3-9 November) the circuit has sold just under 22,000 tickets, almost ten times the weekly average at this time of year( about 2,500 tickets were sold during the equivalent week in 2007). Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone, said, “The reaction from fans since Brazil has been incredible. We always notice an increase in sales when Lewis wins, or indeed if any of the British drivers do well, but the level of demand for tickets last week exceeded all expectations.”

The Karting Show at Autosport International will be the only exhibition to showcase the recently launched EasyKart Cadet. With the entire EasyKart range also on display from the Bromsgrove-based company, anyone interested in a stress-free way to start karting can find out how to get onto the starting grid at the NEC Birmingham, 8-11 January 2009...read more

Filipe Albuquerque claimed A1 Team Portugal’s maiden victory in the A1GP at Chengdu in China in the Feature race this afternoon(Sunday). Portugal took the lead after the first round of pit stops and held off the charge from A1 Team Ireland’s Adam Carroll in the closing stages. Great Britain’s Danny Watts took the final podium position after starting on pole but dropping back after his two mandatory pit stops. Adam Carroll drove a faultless race to take victory for A1 Team Ireland in the Sprint race. On his A1GP debut Team Netherland’s Robert Doornbos was second, while Danny Watts held off a fierce challenge from Switzerland’s Neel Jani to claim the final podium position for A1 Team Great Britain pic - a1gp.com

Menasheh Idafar brought his Hillspeed run Formulal Renault home in an excellent fifth place in Round 3 of the 2008 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship at Rockingham on Saturday. In the During the final round of the series Menasheh ended up in 16th place after getting caught up in incident with several other cars…read more.

Adam Carroll claimed Ireland’s first ever pole position for Sunday’s Sprint race at the Chengdu International Circuit with a 1m 15.423s. A1 Team Netherland’s Robert Doornbos put in a great lap to start alongside Ireland on the front row of the grid with reigning champions Switzerland third.Danny Watts took the Feature race pole on his race debut for A1 Team Great Britain with a blistering time of 1m15.325s. Carroll put in another good performance to claim his second front row spot of the day, posting a time just 0.0.03s adrift of Watts in an incredibly close-fought session. Filipe Albuquerque’s great run in the dying moments of the session boosted Portugal to third.....read more

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear currently has an ad running in Autosport that is part of a multi-faceted effort to attract new drivers internationally. This ad is being run in conjunction with our new partner, iRacing.com, the Official Simulation Service of the series and directs interested parties to a new area on our web site – www.StarMazda.com/newdriver. This 'landing page' offers a comprehensive overview of the Star Mazda Championship and the opportunity to sign up for a free month-long virtual test drive of the Star Mazda race car on a number of the tracks – both road courses and ovals -- that the series will visit in 2009. Additional elements of this new driver program, as well as other unique opportunities presented by the Star Mazda/iRacing partnership, are under development and will be announced in coming weeks.

The A1GP cars had their first practice sessions today at the Chengdu International Circuit in China and Neel Jani emerged as the quickest in the official afternoon session on a 1:16.349secs . In the morning's session for rookies and developing nations Nicolas Prost (1: 16.722s) was the fastest of the rookies just behind India's Narain Karthikeyan (16.710s) who was making up for lost time after missing the season-opener at Zandvoort.

The RML AD Group has signed an a new deal with Mazda and race engine specialists AER bringing an end to their partnership with MG and kicking of a new era for RML and the Mazda-Lola Coupé. read more

Liz Halliday joined fellow lady racers Zoe Wenham, Anna Walewska, Rachel Green, Rachel Davies, Jenny Anderson, Amy Barker and Karen Andrews to help raise over £5000 for Children In Need after their ladies team tcame third in Nigel Mansell’s charity karting event last weekend. ..read more

The FIA has approved the changes to the 2009 World Touring Car Championship's calendar. Two race meetings - Oschersleben and Okayama - have been postponed by one week, to September 6th and November 1st respectively. The most important change concerns the Italian event that has been moved from Monza to Imola and will take place on September 20th

Chevrolet's Robert Huff, SEAT Sport's Rickard Rydell and BMW UK's reigning World Champion Andy Priaulx are likely to be fighting for third position in the Champioship, Rydell has won two races so far, against the one for Huff and Priaulx. However the Chevrolet driver is one point ahead of the Swede while Priaulx is five points adrift.

Bulgarian youngster George Tanev will join Proteam Motorsport for the championship final at Macau. Tanev, who previously took part in the ev

ents of Oscherleben, Imola and Monza at the wheel of a Petrol GT Racing Team BMW 320si, will replace Stefano D'Aste at the wheel of one of Proteam's two BMW cars, joining Sergio Hernández, current leader of the Independents' Trophy.

The FIA have rejected applications by Macau-based RPM Racing to enter two cars in the FIA World Touring Car Championship final race meeting that will take place at Macau, on November 16th. The decision issued by the Bureau reads that: "both cars are not in keeping with the spirit of the FIA Super 2000 regulations."

Chevrolet's 2009 WTCC contender, the Cruze, continued its testing and development programme with a first public appearance at Estoril in Portugal on Monday and Tuesday. The test followed private sessions at the MIRA proving ground in the UK and at Guadix in Spain. The test and development programme will continue throughout the winter at different tracks across southern Europe. The Portuguese test also marked the very last time the current Chevrolet Lacetti was used in testing. The successful Lacetti will bow out at the season's final races in Macau, after which the team will only concentrate on developing the new Cruze.

Atlanta-area businessman Ben Johnston has purchased Atlantic Racing Series, LLC from Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe. Along with the new owner comes a new calendar featuring new venues and a return to circuits that were used in the past. 2009 will start early for the teams on March 11th at Johnston’s own track, the 1.98-mile road course on Hutchinson Island in Savannah followed by the Sebring 12 Hours, also in March.The next two events include Miller Motorpsorts Park (May 17) and New Jersey Motorsports Park (June 14). Then the 3.56-mile Autobahn Country Club circuit in Joliet, Illinois (July 25) followed by the popular road course in Lexington, Ohio on August 8. Trois-Rivieres in Quebec gets the series on August 16, then the Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta on Sept 27 with the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on October 11, 2009.

The final round of the 2008 LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car championship could have been anti-climatic as planning permission issues prevented the circuit from running the planned double header event. Instead of a four-way fight for the title, Rhys Lloyd was declared champion before the race started. But 30 drivers made their way to a wintry Donington Park to provide an excellent spectacle..

Nick Sanderson finished up is Ford Fiesta Championship season with a good second place giving him enough points to end the season in third place overall in the Championship..read more

Mark Charteris rounded off his Classic Clubmans title year with a dominant lights to flag win in the Haggis Trophy at Silverstone..

The Maranello UK Kart team had a succesful first round of the Winter Series at PFi last weekend with many new drivers coming to the fore among them Jamie Croxford in KF1..

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport drivers played football this morning (6 Nov)against local side the Chengdu Blades as part of the build up to this weekend’s race. The Chengdu Blades are a professional Football Club competing in the Chinese Super League and are owned by England's Sheffield United.

Former champion Barry Horne will return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB in 2009 when he takes on a driver-coaching role for Team Parker Racing. Horne was the inaugural Carrera Cup GB champion in 2003 when he raced for Stuart Parker's team, and he has maintained strong links with the team ever since. Now, having raced in Germany over the last two seasons, Horne has accepted an invitation to act as a driver coach across the team's four-car squad. "We go back a few years," said Horne of the team, having raced Caterhams very successfully with Team Parker Racing before stepping up to the Carrera Cup GB. "We had something like 38 podiums from 40 races in Caterhams and the Carrera Cup in 2002 and 2003." Now, Horne's extensive experience will be put to good use by Team Parker Racing as the team chases a fourth drivers' title as well as defending it's 2008 team championship crown. "I'm really looking forward to it," said Horne, who spends much of his working week as a driving consultant at the Porsche Driving Experience Centre at Silverstone. "It will be good to work with the young guys and help nurture the next crop of Carrera Cup racers."

2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup champion Ben Winrow set the fastest time among national Clio Cup champions when they had their prize test in the Megane Trophy race car at Paul Ricard onTuesday,(4th Nov). Winrow was among seven Clio Cup champions and leading drivers from around Europe invited to test the 3.5-litre, 330hp car by Renault Sport Technologies, as a prize for winning the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup. After starting the day using wet weather tyres as the circuit dried from overnight rain, Winrow continually lowered his lap times on the 2.39-mile track as the morning progressed. The early part of his final run on new slick tyres was hampered by traffic, but once in clear air he improved his old-tyre time by almost one-second to a best of 1min 33.071s (92.32mph average). Winrow's time was a full eight-tenths of a second ahead of the next best Clio Cup champion. Having completed 49 laps in the Megane Trophy, Ben Winrow commented: "It was great to experience the Megane Trophy and a really enjoyable day at a fabulous facility. The car is very easy to drive because the paddle-shift gearbox means you can concentrate on finding the braking point and taking the correct line. The driving style is completely different to the Clio Cup car I have been used to. With the Clio, which is front-wheel drive, you aim to carry as much speed as possible into the corner. In the rear-wheel drive Megane you stamp on the brakes, turn in and then get back on the power. My first taste of the Megane has gone really well and racing in the championship is an option I would consider."

The Star Mazda Championship and Goodyear have announced a five-year extension of the tyre manufacturer's title sponsorship of the hugely successful driver development racing series and Goodyear will be the exclusive provider of tyres for the series. With the recent announcement of a similar five-year extension of series title sponsorship by Mazda North America, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear has now created a stable and secure environment for the future growth and expansion of the series. “The future of open wheel racing in North America is in good hands with this series,” said Bob Shaffer, Goodyear’s sales account manager for sports car racing. “We’re honored they have made our Goodyear radials their tire of choice.” For 2009, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will feature an 11-weekend, 13-race schedule that includes races on road courses, street circuits and ovals. Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will be sharing the spotlight on major race weekends with ALMS, Grand-Am, the Atlantic Championship, NASCAR and ARCA, as well as two double-header weekends where Star Mazda will headline. All races will be broadcast prime time on SPEED TV in the U.S. and on various sports TV networks overseas such as SkySports in the U.K. Total value of the series’ prizes, with money paid down through 15th-place in the championship, is $1.5 million, including contingency awards from other series sponsors such as Goodyear, iRacing.com Quartermaster Clutches, BBS Wheels, VP Fuels, Performance Friction Brakes and Staubli dry break systems.

The Ford GT40 will be the Event Marque at Road America's Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman on July 16-19, 2009. Every year vintage car enthusiasts gather at Road America to celebrate the beauty and performance of the world's greatest racecars. Over 1,000 entries are showcased in 10 race groups, track touring and the Concours d'Elegance over the four-day weekend. The Road & Track Concours d'Elegance features a Friday night racecar convoy from the track to downtown Elkhart Lake. The cars then line the streets for judging and spectator viewing. Sports cars are featured on Saturday night. As event marque, the GT40 will be celebrated with a feature race, showcase cars, displays, GT40 enthusiast activities and special guests. GT40 owners interested in participating should contact Road America for registration information by visiting the www.roadamerica.com or by calling 800/365-7223.

Anders Krohn recently completed his first tests in Indy Lights and the Pro Formula Star Mazda.The 20-year old, who won this year's U.S. Formula 2000 Championship taking 9 wins for Andersen Racing, got the chance to test a Firestone Indy Lights car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The test at Putnam Park Road Course in Indiana saw Anders up to speed very quickly. "It was a true pleasure getting to know Anders and allowing him to test one of our Firestone Indy Lights cars," said Sam Schmidt, team owner. " Even without a considerable amount of big car experience or a great deal of laps, he was immediately quick and provided excellent feedback to the team. He is certainly mature beyond his years and will no doubt be successful in whatever series he competes in for 2009." Next for Krohn was a test in the Pro Formula Star Mazda with Andersen Racing at Sebring. Said Dan Andersen about Krohn's first Star Mazda outing; "At our recent test at Sebring, Anders Krohn once again showed everyone why he is such a rare and special driver. On used tires, and on a track that was very green, Anders got within one tenth of the best time our previous drivers ever did at Sebring. After changing to new tires, he dropped his time to more than a half second quicker than our team's previous best lap around Sebring. His speed on cold tires, his ability to learn a track quickly, and his feedback with his engineer all point to a driver with a great career ahead of him. We are working hard and are hopeful that we can have Anders on our 2009 Star Mazda team because he will win races and be a contender for the championship in his rookie season in Pro Star Mazda." ended Dan Andersen.

Brian Frisselle, the 24-year-old American who scored a pair of breakthrough Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series victories this year has joined the No. 10 SunTrust team of Wayne Taylor Racing as co-driver with Italian Max Angelelli for the 2009 season. Frisselle drove in the 2008 Rolex Series with Mark Wilkins on the AIM Autosport Ford Riley team. He and Wilkins scored AIM's breakthrough back-to-back wins in August. "Brian is a winner, plain and simple, and with SunTrust Racing being all about winning championships, that makes Brian the perfect choice to join Max as co-driver in 2009," said Wayne Taylor.The SunTrust team finished sixth in the final standings, it’s first time outside the top-three in five Rolex Series seasons. The SunTrust team next takes to the track for testing Nov. 11-12, and again Jan. 2-4, at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The 2009 season begins Jan. 24-25 with the traditional Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Mackenzie Taylor took an excellent 2nd place at La Conca in the inaugural Silver Cup in southern Italy. Held at two tracks, the first at Muro Leccese in Puglia and the second at Sarno in the suburbs of Naples.

AIM Autosport have announced that Mark Wilkins will be at the wheel of the No. 61 Ford Riley and for the 2009 season where he will be joined by former team mate Burt Frisselle. …read more

Lewis Hamilton’s Formula One World Championship victory makes history as not only the youngest ever F1 champion but, in succeeding Kimi Räikkönen, secures back-to-back world titles for Formula Renault UK champions. Since becoming a single-chassis formula in 2000, the single-seater series has produced two World Champions and McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen, while 2008 F1 runner-up Felipe Massa was the 2000 Formula Renault Italy champion. Räikkönen was the inaugural champion when the Formula Renault 2.0 car was introduced in 2000 as the sole car to be used in the UK series. Hamilton, after making his car racing debut in the 2001 Formula Renault UK Winter Series, finished third in 2002 before romping to the title in 2003. Both drove for the Manor Motorsport team, which now competes under the name of Manor Competition. Championship Manager Simon North said: “On behalf of everyone involved with the Formula Renault UK Championship, I would like to pass on our congratulations to Lewis on a fantastic achievement. It was five short years ago he was winning his first car racing title with us and to see his progress is very rewarding.”

Kelvin Hassell is preparing himself for his best season yet in the 2009 CAMSO V8 Championship. The 30-year-old claimed nine podium finishes during 2008, including three wins, securing him 5^th overall in the title chase. Hassell, who has completed two seasons in the European championship, is looking to use a Roots V8 Racing Dodge Charger next season with the same high-powered 5.7 litre Chevrolet V8 engine he used this year, courtesy of Eastbourne’s MWR/AHM Ltd. “We’ve had a great run of successes this season,” said Hassell. “We have proven that we can run at the front of the field and intend to improve our results for 2009. Thanks to Hailsham’s Ready 2 Race and Roots V8 Racing for their continued support throughout the season, and to MWR/AHM Ltd. for providing our race-winning engine.” The 2009 CAMSO V8 calendar is yet to be announced, as negotiations are yet to be finalised to secure UK rounds for the championship. Hassell also plans to take part in events away from the oval tracks. “I’m hoping to compete in some of the Stock Hatch rounds next season,” said Hassell, who raced at Thruxton in his father’s Citroen Saxo in August. “However, my priority is the CAMSO V8 Championship. I’m also hoping to exhibit the car at Autosport International in January at the NEC, Birmingham. It would be my third year at the show and I always love meeting and greeting people and having the opportunity to talk about the cars. I also hope to return to the Eastbourne Motor Show next summer with the Eastbourne and RAM Motor Club. We managed to make a big noise with the CAMSO V8 for the last two years! Everybody loves the car, and the noise when it starts up always turns heads.”

A1GP is in China this weekend at the Chengdu International Circuit in Sichuan province in the south west of the country for round two of the series. The season opener at Zandvoort, run in the wet, saw Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy break his team’s duck with a first victory in the Sprint race, whilethere was a feature race victory for A1 Team France’s Loïc Duval..read more.

The 2008 FBMW Americas Champion, Alexander Rossi made a clean sweep of Rounds 16 and 17 in Brazil. Racing as part of the support for the Brazilian GP Rossi totally dominated winning both races from pole and setting fastest laps during each race.

This weekend sees the start of the Star Mazda Winter Series and Series Official Ben Hettema expects a healthy grid. "We will have close to 20 cars on track, and a dozen of those cars are Pro Formula Mazdas." Billy Goshen will be back for his second season after completing a full season in the 2008 Star Mazda Series where he picked up a podium and 3 top five finishes. which should make him sharper than ever. Goshen Motorsports has also entered Japanese F3 driver Toshihiro Deki in the Winter Series. "This is the home track to many of the registered competitors, and some of these guys have 50 or more days a year on this track," mentioned Eric McCombs Series Administrator. The younger driver expect to be the favorites for these events, but they could be surprised by some of the regular Molecule Formula Mazda Challenge drivers "Patrick O'Neill who has won more than one local championship has a shop right next to turn 11, and he is on the track anytime it is available. Also 2008 Star Mazda Master's Champion Chuck Hulse has threatened a late entry, and Hulse has won at Infineon Raceway many times." The Star Mazda Winter Series is comprised of 6 races over 3 weekends. The next two weekends will take place at Phoenix International Raceway in December and January on the 1.5 mile road course

Ryan Dalziel steered Rangers to a top-five Superleague Formula finish in Round 5 of the inaugural championship at the Italian circuit of Vallelunga. The Scottish racer finished fifth in Sunday's first race followed later in the day by another strong showing with a seventh place finish in the reverse-grid race. Dalziel's hopes for a strong qualifying place in the Rangers car took a dent when he was forced to miss most of practice due to a mechanical issue. Regardless, the 26-year-old lined up tenth on the grid on Sunday morning and wasted little time in making up places at the start. He was soon up to sixth, where he remained through the majority of the 45-minute race until some late-pressure applied to the AS Roma entry ahead paid off and he duly put Rangers into fifth. Lining up 14th for the second race, courtesy of a reverse-grid based on results from the opening race, Dalziel again found himself charging through the field thanks to a blend of sharp racing from the Scot and a competitive set-up. While there was action throughout, Ryan avoided some of the incidents around him to keep out of trouble and post a seventh place finish for Rangers -- who now sit 13th in the Championship Points table, Vallelunga undoubtedly their strongest Superleague Formula outing to-date. The races were won by Beijing Gouan, the current series leaders, and FC Porto respectively.

The Secretary's Challenge race, run as part of the Walter Hayes Trophy meeting at Silverstone, was won by Nick Whale driving a Porsche 911GT3. Second, in a Porsche 996 Cup car was Piers Masarati with Lawrence Tomlinson 3rd in a Ginetta G50.

Biggest cheer of the race went to Bill Postins in an Austin A40 who was a little bit down on straightline speed to the leaders! In the Haggis Trophy race Mark Charteris won comfortably in his Mallock MK20B, crossing the line 28 second up on second placed Mike Evans Mallock Mk16. Ginger Marshall was third in a Bowlby MkII. The Formula Ford 2000 race saw Andt Huxtable win in a Van Dieman RF83 from Oliver Thorpe's Royale RP27 by just over a second. Lawrence Denne came third driving aVan Dieman RF82 .

Kieran Vernon was unstoppable in the Ginetta races held at Silverstone on Sunday. He won the opening race in the morning by less than a second from Gary Simms after the pair had destroyed the opposition. Third placed Peter Dignan was 25 seconds behind at the flag. In the second race Vernon won again, this time with 9 seconds in hand over Mark Davies with Simms third.

In the HSCC open wheel race held on a wet Saturday afternoon, Sandy Watson had qualified his Chevron B39 on pole but then proceeded to spin off on the warm-up lap at Maggots. He did it again on the opening lap at the same spot before completing is hat-trick on lap two, after which he retired. This and the greasy conditions left the race open to anyone who could 'stay on the black stuff'. Jamie Bradshaw duly obliged in his Chevron B47 winning by 8 seconds from Michael Mallock's Mallock B9. Oliver Thorpe was a distant third in a Royale RP27 .

Hillspeed had a mixed weekend in the 2008 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship. UK Class drivers Menasheh Idafar and Michael Lyons didn't get teh finishes they hoped for bute BARC runner James Theodore came away leading the standings in his class.

Daniel Lloyd was right on the pace at Croft on Friday, 31st October during official ELF Renault Clio Cup winter testing, setting the second fastest time. Running alongside a number of drivers who are expected to be rivals when Daniel makes his full competitive category debut in 2009, he ended with a time of 1m 37.419 seconds (78.52mph). “Croft was really, really good and I was very happy with our pace in the last session on Friday”, said Daniel, “It was wet all day as it kept raining on and off but later in the last session we were able to put some slick tyres on the front as it started to dry a bit. I was second fastest when everyone went into the pits to put some slicks on. We came in with about six minutes left and went back to second fastest again. The car was great and the team did a really good job. I’m getting more and more comfortable with the car every time we test, it’s been absolutely mega.” Although not competing in the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup itself due to budgetary restraints, Daniel will once again take part in the championship’s official test day at Rockingham International Super Sports Car Circuit in Northamptonshire this coming Friday, 7th November.

Conor Daly won the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone yesterday. The Team USA Scholarship driver came through murky and damp conditions in the Final to take the win by 1.2 seconds from Josh Fisher and Michael Vergers. His team-mate and Formula Ford Festival winner Josef Newgarden had led early on before he skated across the gravel trap at Brooklands on the second (and third!) lap handing the lead to Graham Carroll. Carroll then led from Vergers who had Daly right on his tail so that when the former went wide into Brooklands Daly slipped by into second which swiftly became first when Carroll left the road at Luffield on the eighth lap. This left Daly in front with Vergers second as the safety car came out to clear up the numerous cars lying around the track. Racing continued with just 4 laps remaining and Daly open out a small gap to Vergers who was under pressure from Josh Fisher who took just a lap to get by and secure second place. Peter Dempsey was fourth after a great drive from 13th on the grid while fifth was David Grady .(Silverstone pics Richard Pascal 11/56 Motorsport)

Damon Hill, President of the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) and the last British driver to win the Formula 1 World Championship, was joined by 1979 Formula 1 World Champion Jody Scheckter, 1981 British GPrix winner John Watson and more than 200 fans on Sunday to cheer on Lewis Hamilton at a private screening of the Brazilian Gr and Prix in the BRDC Clubhouse at Silverstone. Hamilton of course finished the Brazilian GP in fifth to become the youngest ever Formula 1 World Champion. Speaking at the end of the race Hill, commented, “It was a fantastic atmosphere here at Silverstone and such an exciting race. It has put Britain right back there at the top. A British driver as World Champion, driving for a British team – now we can look forward to an unbelievable British Gr and Prix here at Silverstone in June. We are looking forward to welcoming Lewis back to Great Britain as a World Champion.It was despair with two laps to go. We couldn’t believe what we were watching because we thought ‘how’s it gone wrong at this late stage?’ and then, on the last corner, Glock was overtaken and we were suddenly back in the frame again. Poor Felipe Massa and Ferrari were up and down, everyone here was up and down - it was just a tremendously exciting race. The rain at the end seemed to throw Glock incredibly. Lewis at one point had got it wrong but actually it turned out to be Timo that had made the mistake. My congratulations to Lewis, Lewis’s family and to McLaren - it is so good to be celebrating a British world champion.”

Árón Smith leads the ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup after winning the opening two rounds at North Yorkshire’s Croft circuit on Saturday, 1st November. PH Motorsport’s Phil House and Total Control Racing’s Alex MacDowall took a second and a third place each to stay within reach of the title ahead of the climax at Rockingham on Saturday, 8th November.

Will Bratt took a fine second place in the final round of the FIAT Spanish 3 Championship on Sunday at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. In the first race on Saturday he came home in fifth after a great race from ninth on the grid.

James Calado and Henry Surtees (pictured) shared the spoils in the first two rounds of the Formula Renault UK Winter Cup at Croft on Saturday, 1st November.

Menasheh Idafar put in a terrific race performance during the opening round of the 2008 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship at Croft in North Yorkshire on Saturday, 1st November, to secure a top 10 finish on his competitive category debut

Gianmarco Raimondo secured the Formula BMW Americas Rookie Championship with a fifth-place finish in the final race of the season in Brazil.

Alexander Sims has confirmed he will race at Macau on 15th/16th November, when he debuts in the Pacific Formula BMW support race as part of the Windsor Arch 55th Macau Grand Prix weekend. The plan is for Alexander to learn the track at the wheel of a Meritus-run Formula BMW during the support race of the 2008 event with a view to then returning to Macau in the headline invitational F3 race a year from now. “We travel to Malaysia for a two-day test in the car at the Sepang Formula One track at the start of next week and then we head over to Macau”, explained the Wansford based ace, “I have never driven a Formula BMW before so that will be a new experience for me but I’m confident we should be up to speed pretty quickly. The only reason we’re doing the BMW support race is to gain experience of the Macau circuit ahead of a return next year for the Formula 3 race. Macau is an isolated place in the sense there are so few opportunities to run there so this chance is an important one for us to take.”

Manor Competition’s Henry Surtees won his first Formula Renault UK race at a very wet Croft on Saturday, 1st November, during the opening round of the 2008 Winter Championship

The British Formula Ford Championship is once again to throw open its doors to prospective competitors. For the third successive year the Silverstone National circuit will be the open-track venue for the Ford-backed championship's successful 'sampler day', providing a vital opportunity for would-be Wayne Boyds to meet the teams and to drive the cars. More than 60 drivers attended the event last season and Sam Roach, of championship promoter RacingLine, hopes for a similar number at this year's event on 2 December: "We are laying on an open circuit for all the 2008 British Formula Ford teams - as well as prospective teams - and it's their opportunity to showcase themselves. We are also inviting competitors to register to attend so that they can meet the teams and sample a modern Formula Ford chassis on a world-class circuit." The sampler day is open to all drivers aged 16 and over holding at least a kart licence. Prospective participants must register in advance with the championship co-ordinator, Penny Mattocks [p.mattocks@racingline.com] "Registration forms can be downloaded from the British Formula Ford website at www.britishformulaford.co.uk

The award winners from the 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup GB were celebrated during the championship's annual awards dinner at the Whittlebury Hall near Silverstone on Saturday evening. Along with cheques for over £60,000 in end-of-season prize money, the keys for three brand new road-going Porsche 911s were presented to overall champion Tim Harvey, pro-am1 winner Nigel Rice and Stuart Parker of Team Parker Racing, winner of the teams' championship. Each of the three key awards winners now has the use of the 911 for a year. The awards for second and third overall in the championship were presented to Michael Caine and Sam Hancock, while Tony Gilham was presented with the award for runner-up in pro-am1. In the pro-am2 category, Glynn Geddie and Tommy Dreelan collected their awards. In the teams' championship, Team Parker Racing won the top award, with Jota Sport in second and Red Line Racing was third. Two special awards were also presented and it was Charles Bateman who was announced as winner of the 'most improved driver of the year' award. Meanwhile, a new THB Clowes Mechanics' Award of £3000 went to the crew at Team Parker Racing.Finally, the BARC Marshals' Fund benefited by £2000 from the raffle organised during the evening.

Martin Plowman had his first test on an oval track last week and passed his Indy Lights Rookie Test at Homestead Miami in the processs..read more

Junior TKM 4 Stroke star Sean Babington has had a stellar year, winning four major titles and he attributes part of his success to the superb, Magura 908.1 brake. He said, “Without a doubt the Magura brake we fitted at the end of last year has made a big difference to our results”. The lightweight, four pad self-adjusting 908.1 system allows for harder, faster and later braking and is suitable for a wide range of classes, from TKM to Rotax. In 2008, Magura users have taken countless wins - and Sean has clearly demonstrated that it provides major gains over rival systems.Sean added, “Since fitting the brake, we have won the TKM GP, the ‘O’ Plate, the TKM Festival and the Super 1 National Championships - what more can I say?”

2008 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Champion James Winslow will contest the Macau Grand Prix in two weeks time. Fresh from a final-race win at the Nikon Indy 300 F3 Challenge, Winslow will team up with Italian outfit Ombra Racing in a Dallara F308 Mugen Honda for the event. It will be Winslow’s second start at Macau following his debut at the event as the Asian F3 champion in 2006. British F3 champion Jamie Alguersuari will drive for Carlin Motorsport whilst Japanese title winner Carlo Van Dam will drive for the TOMS Toyota team. Amongst the 30-strong field are cars from teams including Raikkonen Robertson Racing, ART Grand Prix, Signature and Hitech. ”I’m very pleased to have been invited to compete at Macau – it’s not an easy race to qualify for because all the leading drivers from every F3 championship around want to show who’s the best in the world,” Winslow said.”I’m looking forward to getting there to show how good Australian F3 has become and putting in the best possible performance.
It’s going to be a big couple of months for me with the A1GP drive with Team GBR and then Macau but I can’t wait.” Prior to his Macau adventure, Winslow will fly to Chengdu, China, to represent his nation in round two of the 2008 – 09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season. Nikon Indy 300 F3 Challenge event winner John Martin will again represent A1 Team Australia.

A1GP Chengdu, China is the next stop on the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport calendar, and the final freight and chassis for the event left the UK on Saturday. The cars for A1 Teams Great Britain, India and Mexico will be on the plane to join the 17 others but A1 Team Pakistan will have to miss the next two races in China and Malaysia while the A1GP Powered by Ferrari car is readied for its Seat Holder and driver, Adam Khan. The problem arose after the chassis did not provide the 23-year-old with a comfortable and, therefore, safe racing environment. “Not every driver is the same height and, while Adam is perhaps taller than average, he is no different to some of the world’s successful racing drivers. It is just unfortunate our chassis needs changes to be made to it to allow Adam to race to the best of his abilities. These will be made and we look forward to seeing his Season Four race debut in Taupo,” said A1GP CEO, Pete da Silva.The other team that will have to wait until A1GP Taupo, New Zealand on 23-25 January 2009 to appear on the track is A1 Team Germany. The Series Two champion is undergoing a management restructure with Rolf Beisswanger, who has a vast knowledge of motorsport having worked in it for many years, as Team Principal

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