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News Archive  October 2011

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04/11/2011

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31-10-11

Formula Pilota China:  Asia Racing Team will have Argentinean driver Eric Lichtenstein in the team for the Formula Pilota China Series Round 9 & 10. Lichtenstein will race alongside the team’s regular drivers; Luís Sá Silva, Chi Cong Li and Tin Sritrai. 17-years old Lichtenstein proved himself one to watch this season in only his first year of formula racing, finishing 5th in the Round 6 of the championship. The Argentinean driver skipped Ordos event but he has been testing in Europe.The Shanghai track is unknown from most of the paddock. Shanghai Tianma circuit is short and narrow, almost a “mickey-mouse” track, where it will be difficult for the Formula Pilota China cars to reach top speed. Hence the importance for Asia Racing Team drivers to be in the front in Qualifying and ensure the best possible grid positions for Race 1. Speaking ahead of the weekend, the driver sponsored by “Restaurant De Marco” and “Que Rico” said “I don't know the circuit and this is my first time with the team but I hope to adapt quickly and get onto the pace. The competition will be strong but I hope to put in a good performance.” Team Manager Philippe Descombes added, “We will miss Zhang Ran this weekend but Eric is a welcome addition to the team. He has already shown himself to be extremely quick and we are looking forward to working with him.”

MRF Championship: India’s Zaamin Jaffer starred as the best of the homegrown talent in the Delhi Championship with MRF races at the brand new Buddh International Circuit over the weekend, 29th/30th October, with a fantastic showing as part of the support package to the inaugural Airtel Grand Prix of India. Accompanying the FIA Formula One World Championship for its first visit to the sub-continent, the 21-year-old had to battle severe sickness throughout the weekend but performed superbly to attain a sixth place finish in race one on Saturday and an even better top five result on Sunday. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography    Read report

F3 Australian Drivers Championship leader Chris Gilmour faces perhaps the sternest test of his championship-challenging credentials this week when he tackles the imposing Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit, in Victoria. Gilmour leads title rival James Winslow by exactly 20 points ahead of the season-ending back-to-back rounds at the Island and Symmons plains this next fortnight – but the veteran of 113 F3 race starts has never won outright at the series’ quickest track. Pic: Dirk Klynsmith / Graphic DAK photos    Read more

Formula Renault: Manor Competition will field a three car line-up for the upcoming Protyre Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship ‘Finals Series’ which begins at Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk this coming weekend, 5th/6th November. Category front-runner Jordan King remains at the New Ollerton team for the six-round championship – previously known as the Winter Series – and will be joined by Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain race winner Nick McBride and Protyre Formula Renault BARC graduate Hector Hurst. King concluded his maiden campaign eighth in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship after a season in which he showed terrific pace, albeit one hampered by some misfortune. Desperately unlucky to miss out on a maiden race victory during round 11 of the main championship at Snetterton back in August, when he was punted out of the lead on the penultimate lap, King will be keen to put that right next weekend. Australian driver McBride arrived in the UK this year off the back of almost a full year-out from racing, having competed in his national Formula Ford series in 2009. Enjoying a hugely competitive maiden British Formula Ford campaign, the 20-year-old from Melbourne concluded the year a superb third overall after taking one race win and a string of podiums. He also celebrated rostrum success in the EuroCup series and finished third in the Formula Ford Festival. Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship graduate Hurst starred on his car racing debut back in April with a tremendous top five finish in the opening round of the season. Rapid throughout the campaign, the 19-year-old from Lymington in Hampshire rounded out the championship with a run of top finishes in which he matched his season’s best with fifth place in the penultimate outing.“We’re delighted to welcome Nick and Hector to the team and obviously very happy to continue working with Jordan for the Finals Series”, said Manor Competition team principal Tony Shaw, “It looks like being the strongest ever entry for the championship, which is fantastic news, so we’re looking forward to seeing how well our three guys go against such tough competition.The standard is sure to be incredibly high but we’re looking to redress the balance after such a difficult season in the main championship. We lost the chance of several podiums this year, and a first win for Jordan, due to some bad luck so hopefully we can put that to bed. We’re hungrier than ever to compete for podiums and wins!”Snetterton will host the first four rounds of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship Finals Series this coming weekend with the remaining two races set to take place at Rockingham mptonshire on 12th November. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography   

Josh Webster will make his competitive debut in the national Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship during the six race ‘Finals Series’ which begins at Snetterton in Norfolk this weekend, 5th/6th November, having signed a deal with race-winning squad Mark Burdett Motorsport. Just a couple of weeks since the conclusion of the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship, in which the 17-year-old ended the season as runner-up with three victoriesl, Josh now prepares to take on his toughest challenge yet in a current specification FR 2.0 car.  “It’s fantastic to have this chance to race in the Finals Series in a UK car, I’m really happy to be back out so soon after the end of the BARC season”, said Josh, “This is a perfect opportunity to learn the new car and get as much experience as possible as we prepare for next year, the aim is to do the full UK championship in 2012 if we can raise the budget so this is all about getting ready for that.It’s going to be a major learning curve for me, we’ve only had limited testing time in the car and I’ve never raced on the 300 Circuit before, but we’ll be giving it our all as we always do. I’m pleased to be working with Mark Burdett and his team, they’ve had some good success in the main championship this year and I’m sure we’ll develop a good relationship.”  Over 30 cars are expected for the opening event in East Anglia, including a dozen or more entries from Europe. The Finals Series will be contested over six races in total, four at Snetterton this coming weekend and then two more a week later on 12th November, at Rockingham. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography   

Hillspeed will have  capacity three-car entry into the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault UK Finals Series at Snetterton this coming weekend. Running a trio of Tatuus FR 2.0 cars in the BARC Class of the renamed ‘Winter Series’, the Hathersage team will retain promising first-year prospect Sean Walkinshaw to compete alongside racing novice Joe Kibbler and Spanish driver Victor Jimenez. Walkinshaw, who will celebrate his 18th birthday two days before the start of the Finals Series, improved strongly during his debut year in the main Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship with a best result of 13th place at Thruxton and two further top 14 finishes.Jimenez, for whom 2011 marks only his second year of single-seater racing, switches to Hillspeed for the Finals Series having ended the main summer season 16th overall in the standings. The 27-year-old from Madrid achieved a best race result of sixth during the opening weekend at Donington Park. Kibbler, who resides in Sutton Coldfield, is a complete racing novice so will be very much diving in at the deep end in the Finals Series with a superb grid of over 30 cars expected. The 21-year-old’s only prior experience of race circuits is from track days but his maiden test outings have gone well. Commenting on the three-car line-up, team principal Richard Ollerenshaw said: “We’re absolutely delighted to continue working with Sean, he’s shown an immense amount of promise during his first year of racing and he’ll only continue to improve further in the Finals Series.Victor delivered some fantastic performances in Formula Renault BARC this season and we’re very pleased to have secured a deal with him – we’re confident he’ll be a strong contender. It’s always great to start working with a rookie driver and so far Joe has adapted well. He does face a very steep learning curve but we’ve no doubt he’ll progress strongly at Snetterton and Rockingham.”

Ginetta Jnrs: For the Ginetta Junior Winter Series, which will run alongside Formula Renault at both Snetterton and Rockingham, reigning driver and team champions Hillspeed will field a car for 14-year-old rookie William Palmer – son of MotorSport Vision boss Jonathan and brother of GP2 Series racer Jolyon.Having debuted as a complete novice during rounds 11 and 12 of the main Ginetta Junior campaign at Snetterton in August with the Derbyshire squad, the Bedford-based teenager made two further appearances before the end of the season at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit – where he attained a career best result of eighth – and at Silverstone for the championship finale. Since debuting in Ginetta Junior at the beginning of 2010, Hillspeed’s record has been outstanding having taken Tom Ingram and Seb Morris to the last two driver championships, Morris to last year’s Winter Series title and having also claimed this year’s team championship. With Palmer, Hillspeed sees yet another young driver with the potential to go on and attain similar success. Ollerenshaw added: “It’s a pleasure to continue working with William for the Ginetta Winter Series, in only three race meetings in the main championship he proved his worth against drivers with much more experience so the future looks very bright indeed for him. The rate of improvement so far has been outstanding, we’re certain that will only continue over the next couple of weekends.”

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: As well as a share in over £60,000 end-of-season prize money, James Sutton, Jonas Gelzinis and Simon Leonard picked up the keys for new road-going Porsche 911s during the annual awards dinner for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at the Runnymede-on-Thames Hotel in Egham on Saturday evening (29 October). Overall champion Sutton, Pro-Am1 winner Gelzinis and Leonard of SAS/Redline, winner of the teams' championship, all now have the use of the 911 for a year. The big prize money winners were headed by Sutton, who picked up a cheque for £15,000 in addition to around £10,000 won across the 19-race season. Michael Meadows and Stephen Jelley collected cheques for £10,000 and £6000 respectively for finishing second and third overall in the championship. Meadows also claimed the special award for the 'most improved driver of the season' along with a further cheque for £1000. Sutton paid tribute to the strength of his opposition in the most competitive season in the history of the Carrera Cup GB. “There were more drivers than ever to beat and that made it very special for me,” said Sutton. Meadows, meanwhile, was a worthy runner-up. “I worked very hard on my consistency and it’s been a great year for me. I spent a lot less time in Ray’s office,” he added, referring to series clerk of the course, Ray Sumner. Jelley said he had loved every minute of the season, apart from the final race weekend at Silverstone when he lost his chance of the title. “It’s been a fantastic year and the guys at Team Parker Racing have worked so hard for me,” he said. Gelzinis stepped up to collect the Pro-Am1 title, while Rory Butcher and Ahmad Al Harthy took second and third places in Pro-Am1 and a share of the £13,000 end of season pro-am1 prize fund. “It was a fantastic year for me,” said Gelzinis, who will step up to the Pro category for 2012. “Next year I will push like hell,” he promised. In Pro-Am2, George Brewster, Keith Webster and Richard Denny shared £9000 in prize money. “This is special, particularly after missing it by two points last year,” said Brewster. Celtic Speed is only a small team but they did a great job this season.” In the teams' championship, SAS/Redline won the top award, as Parker with Juta finished second and Team Parker Racing took third. The three top teams in the championship also won £7000, £4000 and £3000 respectively. Stuart Parker, boss of the teams that finished second and third, dedicated their success to Dan Wheldon, the Indycar driver who lost his life in an accident earlier in October. “I raced karts with Dan and then we graduated into Formula Vauxhall Junior together,” said Parker. “I spent many happy times with Dan and he was such a great guy. I dedicate our success this year to him.” Finally, the BARC Marshals’ Fund benefited by over £1500 from the raffle organised during the evening.

Formula Ford: A new star has appeared on the Australian motorsport horizon: James Spicer.  The student, from Dural in Sydney’s north, secured the 2011 NSW Formula Ford Rookie of the Year title at Eastern Creek on October 23 – with one round still remaining. Spicer, racing with the Anglo Australian Motorsport team, has been the dominant newcomer in the entry level State open wheeler series. To date he has amassed almost twice as many points as his nearest rival (currently 250 to 134), and can’t be beaten in the final round at Wakefield Park in November. But what makes Spicer’s performances this year even more noteworthy is his lack of prior racing experience. Most young racing drivers graduate to cars after several years and dozens of races in karts, but Spicer made the big step with just four kart events under his belt. Driving a 1992 Van Diemen, he qualified second and scored two seconds and an eighth in the first round aces at Wakefield Park in April. He qualified second again in the second round at Eastern Creek in June, and finished second and fourth in the two races that were contested (the third wasn’t held due to delays in the race program). Spicer made the Formula Ford establishment sit up and take notice at a wet Wakefield Park, where he qualified AAM’s 2007 Spirit on pole position in only his third car race meeting. A best race result of third in the Kent class, with two DNFs caused by other drivers, was character-building, but he put that disappointment behind him at the latest round by winning his first race. He qualified second-fastest in class and finished midfield in the first race (actually the postponed third race from the previous Eastern Creek round) after copping a drive-through penalty while running third. He made amends in the second race, first taking advantage of incidents that befell the faster but ineligible Fiesta-engined cars, and then battling past two other Kent cars to take the outright victory! Another two class wins in the remaining races capped his most successful race meeting. While Spicer’s 2012 racing plans have yet to be finalised, his education will take a familiar path with a motorsport-oriented engineering course at Wodonga TAFE. “My ultimate aim is to drive professionally at the top level, such as V8 Supercars or something similar,” he said. “That’s a long way off, of course, but I’ve had a fantastic first year and gained a lot of wheel-to-wheel racing experience. At the last round I got a drive-through penalty for crossing a line on the link section of the North Circuit a couple of times. That was disappointing because I was third outright at the time, but I learnt my lesson! Now I’m working hard to raise funds for next year’s racing.”

Karts: Nathan Harrison gave everything he had in pursuit of a second British Championship crown in the finale of the national Super 1 Series at Three Sisters near Wigan. Unfortunately he was denied by the narrowest of margins but he can hold his head high as he prepares to jet off to Dubai in the quest for one last trophy in 2011. Pic: Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net   Read report

FIA GT: Nissan will be heading to Argentina for the tenth and final round of this year's FIA GT1 World Championship this weekend aiming for nothing less than a double-Championship victory, after emerging from September's tricky race double-header in China with flying colours.Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr, in the no.23 JRM Racing Nissan GT-R, enter the race weekend at the beautiful and picturesque Lago Potrero de los Funes circuit in San Luis as leaders in the GT1 Drivers' Championship standings, whilst JRM sit a close second in the Teams' Championship. With an expectation that the track should be well favoured to the GT-R, and a successful trip to the Far East fresh in the memory, confidence is high amongst the drivers. Read more

29-10-11

JK Racing Asia Series Championship leader, Lucas Auer, has regained his pace to claim pole position for this weekend at Buddh International Circuit. Rounds 13 & 14 of the Series are held as part of the 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix of India at the newly built circuit in Greater Noida, India .  The four fastest drivers were within half a second from one another with Auer of Eurointernational clocking a 2:00.522 during the 30 minute session. He was consistently on pace and managed to set his first and second best times.  “We are back on pace. We had a good car, really good set-up. The pressure came in where we wanted it. I found my line and compared to yesterday I changed it to be a bit like the Formula 1 lines. For me it was a perfect Qualifying. Two pole positions, so we are getting back. I am positive but I have a lot of competition from the other drivers. We are all within one tenths so anything is still possible but we are on pole and we are happy for that. Afterwards we will think of the race and push again” said Auer with a satisfied smile.  The Austrian’s teammate, guest driver Lorenzo Camplese, will line the grid in second after a 2:00.564. Winner of the past six races, Afiq Ikhwan of Meritus.GP takes third next to the Season’s first race winner, Nabil Jeffri of Petronas Mofaz Racing.  “I am very happy with the results and want to thank the team for making me happy. I led the qualifying for a while and I finished just behind my teammate. It was all very close within one tenth of a second. I am happy, I am positive and I am looking for a podium” smiled Camplese. Ikhwan commented, “The session didn’t go so well. I was stuck behind a lot of traffic. The car was good but traffic held me up. For sure it will be hard with two Eurointernational drivers in front but I will try my best and give them pressure”. For Jeffri, the session started out not too well but he made up the pace towards the end to claim fourth. “It was okay. The first few laps I was not on pace at all but in the last few laps I think I found something no one else has found yet. So I will use it during the first race and hope to win it”.  Meanwhile, Raj Bharath is calm and excited about the prospects of racing in front of his home crowd. He did what he set out to do and was happy with the outcome of the Qualifying session. “ The drivers have a lot to prove this weekend with the Formula 1 paddock watching them. It is the penultimate weekend and the top three drivers are all pushing to claim the crown. The winner will also receive a GP2 test in the Caterham Team AirAsia GP2 car during the official GP2 pre-season tests in 2012.  

28-10-11

JK Racing Asia Series : Having experience and knowledge on their side, Eurointernational is confident of a good showing this weekend for Rounds 13 & 14 of the JK Racing Asia Series. The team is at the Buddh International Circuit as part of the 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix of India, home of JK Racing Asia Series’ title sponsor JK Tyre & Industries. Speaking to Eurointernational Team Principal, Antonio Ferrari on his driver and the upcoming weekend, he says, “I think this is the best track for him. It is a track no one has run and we have enough experience and knowledge to prepare a car in unknown tracks, so I am really comfortable. All Formula 1 tracks are very big for the car. I see the track is wide so it will be more important to find the right line on the long corner, the one that looks like a 360 turn. For example in turn 3, but not because it’s a blind corner but because you can get two to three cars abreast and you don’t yet know which is the best line” said Ferrari.  Team driver, Lucas Auer heads to the circuit as the Championship leader and will be locked in an ongoing battle with Afiq Ikhwan, winner of the past six consecutive races. Both drivers are multiple race winners with Auer taking five back to back wins in Sepang and Indonesia in the first part of the season. Auer had a tough weekend in Singapore but showed that despite his troubles, damaging his front wing, he still managed to clock the fastest time in Round 12. The team and driver both are looking to continue on the pace that they had but are hoping for better luck, even getting two lucky golden elephants to help them out.  Qualifying is scheduled to be held on Saturday morning, 29th October with Round 13 in the afternoon. Round 14 is scheduled for Sunday, 30th October at noon. On three occasions the JK Racing Asia Series will support Formula One Grand Prix, in Malaysia, Singapore and the newly built circuit in India.

Formula Renault:  Archie Hamilton will compete in the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault UK Finals Series. The six-round series will take place at Snetterton on November 5/6 and Rockingham on November 12. Over twenty cars are expected for the event, with entries from Formula Renault UK, Formula Renault BARC and Formula Renault Eurocup teams. Archie will compete in the BARC class with Fortec in the car he drove throughout the summer season. Archie Hamilton: “I have definitely more to get out of the Formula Renault. I was struggling on power until the last round at Silverstone so my focus for the winter series is to win as many races as I can and win my first single seater title. It’s going to be very different – we had twelve races over seven months so having six races in eight days is going to present a different challenge. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: On the eve of the 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholarship evaluation, Ben Hetherington, the 2011 Scholarship winner reflected on his first season in the Carrera Cup and his first visit to the overall podium in the final race of the season at Silverstone. “It’s been a very tough year and a bit of a roller coaster,” said the 19-year old racer from Hulme Walfield in Cheshire. “The Carrera Cup is so competitive that you can’t afford to be off the mark at all. To finish the final race at Silverstone on the podium was just amazing.”  Hetherington says that winning the Scholarship was a massive boost in his bid to make a career as a professional sports and GT racer. “It’s a superb scheme that is bringing young talent through into a very professional and competitive championship. I’ve learnt so much this year and the podium at Silverstone shows just how much I’ve learnt.”  Already, Hetherington is planning to return in 2012 for a second season in the Carrera Cup GB. He has raced with Redline Racing alongside championship one-two James Sutton and Michael Meadows and Ben says that the elevation of 2010 Scholarship winner Meadows into a race winner and title contender this season is a clear pointer. “Michael has demonstrated the benefit of winning the Scholarship and then doing a second year in the Carrera Cup,” said Hetherington. “This is definitely a two-year programme for me. I look forward to putting all that I’ve learnt into practice next year. You’ll now arrive at a circuit in your second year and know just what to do.” The four drivers selected as finalists for the 2012 Carrera Cup GB Scholarship are Jody Fannin, Tom Ingram, Daniel Lloyd and Ollie Milroy. They will undergo an evaluation process at the Porsche Experience Centre at Silverstone on Monday (31 October), including driving the latest 450bhp 911GT3 Cup car on the Silverstone National circuit.

The Porsche Club GB brought its 2011 race activities to a fitting close with an awards dinner at the Hilton Puckrup Hall Hotel near Tewkesbury on the evening of Saturday October 22nd. Class and overall winners were honoured for the Porsche Club Speed Championship, the Porsche Club Championship and the Porsche GT3 Cup challenge, with the evening hosted by the Club’s motorsport coordinator Steve Kevlin and awards presented by Chris Clark, Chairman of Porsche Club GB Motorsport, Geoff Turrell, MD and General Manager Marketing and Sales for Porsche GB, and Michael Meredith of Michelin. “This has been a very competitive but also fair and friendly season for all our series,” said Kevlin. “We’ve had a high standard of competition with series being settled right at the end, all our motorsport has been conducted in a great atmosphere, and we’ll be aiming to deliver more of the same in 2012.” Graham Rose clinched the Porsche Club Speed series for the third season in a row and the fourth time overall, Rose now the most successful driver in the history of the series. New for 2011, and unknown to the competitors until the evening, was the Improvers award, given to the driver with the best improvements between practice and competitive times – which went to Don Peach, who shared a Class Four 924 with Justin Mather. The Porsche Club Championship was clinched in the final race of the season by Mark Sumpter, who took the Class One title on his way to the overall crown just beating 2010 champion Chris Dyer. The teams’ title went to Leeds-based Strasse, who prepared cars successful in each class of the series and thus out-scored every other team in points, the award accepted by Strasse co-founder Dave Forrest. The best Improver award, for paces gained in the races compared to qualifying position, appropriately went to Strasse-run Dave Botterill, who just pipped newcomer Karim Moudi.Driver of the Year in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge was Oly Mortimer, the young Scot the pacesetter all year but put under pressure by Graham Mundy in the races late in the season. Fittingly, Mundy took the Improvers award having dominated the final meeting of the year winning two of the three rounds on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.

Karts: Kart racer Samuel Oram-Jones impressed in the Formula BMW Talent Cup test at Brands Hatch this week as he evaluates his options for 2012. During a day made up of six different sessions on track, broken up by a number of debriefs, Sammy was quick and consistent - and he quickly got to grips with the car. Prior to his BMW test at Brands Sammy was testing in Italy at the Lontano circuit in a KF3 kart with crack outfit, Intrepid, as part of the Intrepid Driver Programme (IDP). The Pro Performance-affiliated youngster ran for four-days in total and ended up quicker than the current KF3 champion!  pic: BMW Motorsport   Read more

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East:  Ahmad Al Harthy and the Oman Air Racing Team will take part in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East – which includes a FIA Formula One World Championship support slot at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi on 12th/13th November. The 30-year-old, from Muscat in Oman, has raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship over the past couple of years and recently concluded his second season in the Championship with third in the Pro-Am 1 driver standings. Thanks to the continued commitment of his sponsors Oman Air, Nawras, National Bank of Oman, Brand Oman, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs and Oman Ministry of Tourism, Ahmad’s attention and focus is on his debut in Porsche GT3 Cup Middle East. “Continuing to race over the next few months will help to keep me sharp, something that will be really important ahead of the 2012 championship in Britain – if we have the chance to go back next year of course! Porsche GT3 Cup Middle East has grown rapidly over the last couple of years, it’s very well organised and I’m delighted to be part of it. We intend to proudly fly the flag for Oman.” Now entering its third season, the 2011/2012 Middle East campaign will see the brand new 2012 version of the Porsche 911 GT3 car raced for the first time anywhere on the globe. Following the opening event in Dubai in early November will come Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend. Porsche GT3 Cup Middle East will then be contested over a further four events with two races at each venue. Visits to Sakhir in Bahrain and Reem in Saudi Arabia are expected. Ahmad added: “It’s certainly a great honour to be one of the first drivers in the world to sample the brand new 2012 model of the Porsche 911. The car I’ve raced in the UK this year has been incredible to drive, any improvement on that will be just sensational. I can’t wait for the first test.”  Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi will host the inaugural test day this Sunday, 30th October.  Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

Formula Renault BARC: Hector Hurst, the Lymington-based driver has taken time out to reflect on his maiden year in car racing, the 19 year old having endured a tough debut year in the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship with Scorpio Motorsport, but now that the ‘dust has settled’ he is happy with the pace and potential he has shown.  Hurst is now set to compete in November's Formula Renault Finals Series, before aiming for a campaign in the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2012.   Read more

WTCC: Rounds 21 & 22 of the FIA WTCC will take place in China, at Shanghai Tianma Circuit next week. This is the first time the WTCC has visited mainland China, the event was originally scheduled to take place at Zhaoping's Guagdong International Circuit. The Shanghai Tianma Circuit opened in 2004 and has already hosted several rounds of the China Touring Car and Superbike Championships. It is located in the Sheshan Songjiang district, in the Western outskirts of Shanghai. The racetrack is 2.06-km long, meaning that the WTCC competitors will take part in two 25-lap races, the longest ever since the World Championship was revived in 2005.

Last week at Suzuka, Robert Dhalgren clocked the fastest lap in the second race. It was the first fastest lap set by Volvo in WTCC and will result in the Swedish car being 20 kilograms heavier in China. According to the calculation of the success ballast based on the lap times set in the three previous events (Oschersleben, Valencia and Suzuka) the Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T remains the reference car and will be carrying an extra 40 kgs. The gaps between the Cruze and the BMW and Volvo is of 0.5 seconds that equates to 20 kilos of extra weight; the SUNRED cars will be 10 kg lighter.The only model allowed to a weight reduction in China will be again the BMW 320si (-20kg).

Michel Nykjær has become the first driver to score a hat trick in the Yokohama Trophy during the current season at Suzuka. The Dane put his SUNRED SR León 1.6T car on pole on Saturday and then drove to a double victory on Sunday, taking fastest lap in both races.These results were worth 23 points that propelled Nykjær to third in the standings, four points behind Norbert Michelisz and 15 from the leader, his fellow countryman Kristian Poulsen. "It was great to deliver such good results. My car was perfect and I was even able to chase the Chevrolet cars, something that doesn't happen every day to an independent driver," said Nykjær who claimed his first WTCC podium in Suzuka's Race 1 ahead of the reigning World Champion Yvan Muller.

Hong Kong driver Philip Ma Ching Yeung will make his comeback in the WTCC at both the Shanghai Tianma Circuit and Macau. Ma will drive a Proteam Racing's BMW 320si that was driven by Fabio Fabiani until the last race in Japan, which means that he will be eligible for the Jay-Ten Trophy reserved for cars complying with the 2010 WTCC technical regulations. 48-year old Ma is one of Hong Kong's most experienced and successful racing drivers, having scored a number of victories in GT and Touring Car competitions, including two Macau Super Car races and the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Class B title.Ma made his first WTCC appearance last year at Macau at the wheel of a Honda Accord. As for Fabiani, he will race at Shanghai in the Team Engstler's BMW 320si previously driven by Charles Ng at Suzuka, while the latter will switch for the two events in China to the BMW 320 TC previously entrusted to Marchy Lee and Masaki Kano.

The WTCC Race of China at the Shanghai Tianma Circuit will also feature the eighth and final round of the China Touring Car Championship, a decider for the 2011 championship in both categories. With 25 points still to be awarded, Chang'an Ford's driver Zhen Zuowei has staked a serious claim on the Super Production title, having built a 23-point margin ahead of Lu Jiajun who is at the wheel of a KIA Forte run by the 778 Auto Sport; Lu's second place is threatened by other Ford racers Jiang Tengyi and He Xiaole. Inside this class Shanghai Volkswagen's men Wang Riu and Gao Huayang are split by 11 points while fighting for the Turbo Group in the Polo 1.6T cars.The fight for the Production class, reserved for 1.6 litre cars, is closer. Ma Qinghua (Hyundaï i30) leads by 8 points from Lin Lifeng (Nissan Tiida), while Liu Yang (Hyundaï i30) lies third, a further 8 points adrift.

Historic Rallying: There are now just five weeks to go (Saturday 3 December) before the Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire hosts a stage of the highly spectacular Roger Albert Clark Rally for historic cars.The R.A.C, named in honour of Seventies British rally great Roger Clark, is run in the same spirit as the famous Lombard RAC Rallies that wowed huge crowds throughout Britain from the Sixties into the Eighties.The recreation is acknowledged as one of the ‘blue riband’ events for Europe’s booming historic rallying scene with close to 100 crews set to contest the event in a mouth-watering line-up of competition-tuned Ford Escort MKIs and MKIIs, Porsche 911s, Vauxhall Chevette HSRs, Lancia Stratos and Fulvias, Saab 96s and Mini Coopers as well as other favourite models of cars from the era. And now Croft can release more details about its R.A.C Rally date (Sat 3 Dec).Its special stage – incorporating much of its race track – will be run first at 4.01pm and again at 4.19pm on the day. Competitors will pass through it twice on each run meaning spectators will see the cars in action four times. Prior to the action, the cars will begin arriving at Croft at 3.20pm as they ‘clock in’ to an on-event Service Park that will be in the circuit’s paddock. This will enable the public to chat with the competing drivers and co-drivers and get a close-up look at the cars which were handled in their heyday by some of the world’s most famous rallying names such as British heroes Roger Clark, Russell Brookes and Tony Pond plus Scandinavian aces Markku Alen, Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist, Bjorn Waldegard, Pentti Airikkala and Timo Makinen.Tickets to see the R.A.C Rally in action at Croft will cost just £10 (payable on the gate) with admission for children aged 15 and under FREE. For more details call the Croft Circuit office on 01325 721815 or visit the www.croftcircuit.co.uk website.

27-10-11

GP3: Wednesday saw the final day of the first post-season GP3 test in Barcelona, with Atech CRS GP completing two days of fundamental development work at the Catalunya circuit in Spain in preparation for an assault on the Grand Prix support programme next season. Briton Nick Yelloly returned into the GP3 series car after a recent successful foray into Formula Renault 3.5 races while Hungarian Tamas Pal Kiss also rejoined the team, after racing with the David Hayle-led outfit team in Formula Renault UK in 2009 and GP3 last season. They were joined by a new driver into the three-car line-up, American Ethan Ringel, 17 from Windermere, Florida, who has arrived in Europe following a successful season in Formula Enterprise 4, winning four races.  Read more

Other News: Derek Bell will celebrate his 70th birthday on 31 October 2011. One of the most successful drivers for Porsch was born in Pinner, Middlesex, Great Britain in 1941, Bell is considered to be one of the most versatile and popular racing drivers of his time. “Derek Bell made motorsport history with Porsche. Whether it was in a 917, 936 or 956 – he was always one of the fastest and above all most reliable drivers. Derek Bell won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times for Porsche. He won the World Championship twice. For that we owe him our gratitude and great respect,” said Matthias Müller, Chairman of the Board of Management of Porsche AG. Derek Bell began his racing career with Lotus in 1964, and by 1969 had reached the F1 starting grid. For the 1971 season, Bell drove the Porsche 917 and 908/03 racing cars for the Porsche-Gulf team, forming a successful driver duo with Jo Siffert. This was followed by appearances in the Porsche 934 and 935 in 1976 and 1977 before he took his place on the Le Mans starting grid as a works driver in the 924 Carrera GT. In 1981, together with Jacky Ickx in the Porsche 936/81 Spyder, Bell won the first of his total of four overall victories at Le Mans in a Porsche. 1982 saw the beginning of the Group C era with the Porsche 956, during which time he made his mark as one of the most successful endurance drivers of all time. Together with drivers such as Jacky Ickx, Stefan Bellof and Hans-Joachim Stuck, he won not only numerous overall victories in the Types 956 and 962 but also the World Sportscar Championship in 1985 and 1986. Derek Bell remains in close contact with the Porsche factory, continuing to undertake ambassadorial duties for the Stuttgart-based sportscar manufacturer; for example at the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and at this year’s Corso to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the car. Bell has also remained faithful to the Porsche brand off the race track: he can often be seen on the roads of Britain driving his classic 1981 Porsche 924 Carrera GTS.

26-10-11

Grand-Am: Winning GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series team AIM Autosport has joined forces with FXDD and 2010 GT Champions Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal to form AIM Autosport Team FXDD for a season-long campaign in pursuit of the 2012 Rolex Series GT Championship in a new factory-built Ferrari 458 Italia GT Grand Am.Assentato and Segal will co-drive the new Ferrari in their fifth full season as teammates but their first in a Ferrari and with AIM. The AIM Autosport Team FXDD collaboration brings together two multi-race winning GRAND-AM Rolex Series efforts—AIM in Daytona Prototype competition and FXDD in GT since 2008—as the first effort to officially announce a 2012 program in a new Ferrari 458 Italia GT Grand Am.  Read more

Road to Indy: This Friday and Saturday sees the Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy Open Test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Oct. 28- 29). The test honours late Sam Schmidt Motorsports Firestone Indy Lights team manager, Chris Griffis, who died unexpectedly on Sept. 12. The test will put the talents of each series in the Mazda Road to Indy program on display as teams begin preparation for the 2012 season. All series will receive an hour-long session in the morning and the afternoon on the IMS road course circuit. The event is open to the public. Fans may watch from the stands at the South end of the Speedway.

Formula Renault BARC: Callum Bowyer has been improving consistently as the year  progressed, so it was only fitting that he should save his finest performance of the 2011 Formula Renault BARC season until the Silverstone finale. There he took a fourth and a sixth place finish to secured himself a top ten championship finish.  Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Nissan GT Academy: This year saw 16 wannabe racers from across the USA travel to Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix, where each was put through their paces in a bid to uncover the next Nissan GT Academy champion. Halliday, joined by US stars Danny Sullivan and Tommy Kendall, used her experience behind the wheel to whittle down the finalists across the five-episode series before naming the 2011 champion.They will hope to follow in the footsteps of virtual racer-turned-sportscar driver Lucas Ordoñez who finished on the podium at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.   You can now watch all five episodes of this year’s Nissan GT Academy USA, featuring expert judge Liz Halliday, by visiting  www.lizhalliday.com/pages/multimedia/audiovideo.aspx

Other News:Brands Hatch has joined forces with original 'Stig' Perry McCarthy for a one-off opportunity at its Christmas Grand Prix Ball on Friday 23 December. The former F1 driver, who has experienced his fair share of highs and lows in motorsport, will welcome guests on arrival before sharing amusing anecdotes about his career after dinner. Perry, who was the first man behind the mysterious character 'The Stig' on BBC Television's Top Gear, is renowned not just for his speed and determination on track, but for his sense of humour and sideways look at life. His quick wit and ability to deride himself, and others, has entertained all over the world. McCarthy began his motor racing career in the lower formulas, working his way through Formula Ford and Formula 3000 before stepping up to Formula One in 1992 with the Andrea Moda F1 team. Post Formula One, the London-born driver turned his attentions to sportscars, competing in the famous Le Mans 24 Hours on several occasions.Perry's autobiography, ‘Flat Out Flat Broke’ is acknowledged as one of the most insightful views into the struggles of an aspiring racing driver and his after-dinner speeches recall his challenging ascent through the ranks. McCarthy's speeches are fast paced and include stories about his role as the Stig, his rise to F1, some misadventures at 200 miles per hour and comic sketches on Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Nigel Mansell, Murray Walker and of course, Jeremy Clarkson. Places for the Christmas Grand Prix Ball are available on Friday 23 December for just £55 + VAT per head.

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MRF Championship: Howard Fuller will race on the Formula 1 support bill this weekend (28/29/30 October) when he competes in the MRF Delhi Championship at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. The Surrey racer has been invited to take part in the event along with a host of other highly rated opposition, including Formula Renault 2.0 UK series regulars Alice Powell and Jordan King. Fresh from his team leading season at Hillspeed in the Formula Renault BARC series, Fuller will also face familiar opposition in the shape of his Indian team-mate Zaamin Jaffer. Eight Indian drivers are expected to take on the international field of young talent at the prestigious event, with a total of 20 drivers set to compete. Fuller ran well during pre-event testing, despite the car being completely new to him. The drivers will be piloting identical Van Diemen single-seater chassis that boasts a 1.6 litre Ford Duratec Engine. It is effectively a Formula Ford car with ‘slicks and wings’ and has been rigorously tested by a host of professional drivers, including India’s biggest F1 star Narain Karthikeyan. “It’s an honour to be racing in India and to be a part of the country’s first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix,” said Fuller. “It is a really strong line up in terms of talent so I am looking forward to the challenge very much. It is just a shootout for the two races over the weekend and all the cars will be identical, which is something I haven’t been able to enjoy so far this season. It is just a really exciting prospect and will be a great way to close out the 2011 season – I just can’t wait to get out on the track and to get a taste of the Formula 1 paddock too.”

JK Racing Asia Series:  The battle for the first JK Racing Asia Series Champion title continues at the new Buddh International Circuit between Lucas Auer and Afiq Ikhwan. Only nine points separates the duo heading into Rounds 13 & 14 where they will be watched by millions of Formula 1 fans during the 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix Of India.  Eight new faces will join the JK Racing Asia Series (formerly known as Formula BMW Pacific) line-up over the weekend, with six Indian drivers in India ’s own race teams. Meco Racing will announced the participation of Rahil Noorani, Shashank Ravishankar, Mohit Ahuja and Sarosh Hataria. While its ‘sister’ team Meco’s Ministry of Speed, will have Vishnu Prasad and Sandeep Kumar.  Another driver flying the Indian flag is Akhil Khushlani ,no stranger to the FB02 cars, having participated in the Formula BMW series from 2007 to 2009. Khushlani will make his return with Meritus.GP as a guest driver. Joining for the first time is Italian driver Lorenzo Camplese who will partner with Austrian wonder-boy Auer in Eurointernational. Seventeen year old Camplese is currently in his second season of Formula Abarth European Series.  Couple that with the intense heat and new tarmac and the Buddh International Circuit will rev up the intensity of the Championship battle. All eyes will be on the current Championship leader after he had a less than stellar ending to his Singapore GP weekend. Many aksed if he is cracking under pressure but those in the paddock and who are close to the young driver know it was just bad luck. They have confidence that the 17 year old, will bounce back to take charge of the weekend in India . But it won’t be easy, as Meritus.GP driver, Ikhwan, is coming off two very successful outings and six back-to-back wins. The Malaysian is quickly catching up to Auer and has closed the gap to only nine-points. Third in the points is Petronas Mofaz Racing driver, Nabil Jeffri, who just celebrated his 18th Birthday. Being presented with the winning trophy would be a nice Birthday present if he can repeat his performance at the start of the season when he won the first race of the year.  The only other driver within a chance of winning the Championship is Australian Duvashen Padayachee. The Eurasia Motorsport driver finally broke the duck in the last race claiming his first podium finish. Padayachee is eager to end the season on a high and with six races to go, he will need all the points to continue to challenge for the title. Four rookie drivers are behind Padayachee in the points, and with only 11 points separating them. Petronas Mofaz Racing’s Irfan leads the charge, eight points ahead of compatriot and teammate Hiqmar Danial while the youngest driver in the mix, Akash Nandy fends off Freddie Ang in eighth.  Eurasia Motorsport drivers tally up the top ten with Champion karter Aaron Chang in ninth while the lone female driver, Natasha Seatter shares tenth with Thailand ’s Pasin Lathouras.

GP2: James Calado, the 2011 GP3 Series runner-up, is to step up to GP2 next season with the championship-winning Lotus ART Grand Prix squad. The 22 year-old Racing Steps Foundation-backed driver will partner GP2 returnee and Sauber Formula 1 reserve Esteban Gutierrez. Calado earned the RSF-sponsored drive on the back of an impressive rookie season in GP3 in which the Worcestershire racer claimed six podiums, including a win and two fastest laps on his way to second place behind Lotus ART team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Calado's performance in the recent end-of-season GP2 test at Jerez, in which he finished fifth in the final session, was also instrumental in clinching the Lotus ART deal. "It's absolutely tremendous news and really good to get things sewn up in good time," said James Calado."There's a lot of really strong competition for the Lotus ART GP2 seats so to get the drive alongside Gutierrez is very flattering and a real feather in my cap. I was really impressed with the team's approach in what was an extremely tough season in GP3 this year. They worked so hard to get on top of the problems that all the teams were experiencing with tyres in the first half of the season and that gave me and Valtteri the chance to show our true colours. With Formula 1-type tyre options being introduced into GP2 next year, tyre management is going to be the key to how you perform. So having Lotus ART's expertise and professionalism behind me is going to be a big plus, for sure," he added. "GP2's going to be a lot tougher than GP3 for certain and Esteban Gutierrez, with a year's experience behind him, is going to be a pretty challenging team-mate to race against.But as a team we showed what was possible in GP3 and I'm hopeful we can do the same in GP2." Lotus ART boss Frederic Vasseur also welcomed the continuing tie-up between the team and the Racing Steps Foundation. "We were very impressed with James in GP3. He had a very mature approach and played an important part in developing a race-winning car that enabled us to finish on top in the driver and team championships.I believe James has a lot of potential and I think we will work well together to realise that potential for James and for the team." Calado had his second stint in a GP2 car at the most recent test at Barcelona on October 20. He is also slated to take part in the one-off end-of-season GP2 race at Abu Dhabi next month.

Formula 3: Rochester racer Aaron Steele is celebrating after securing a Formula Two test drive at the end of a dominant season in the MSV F3 Cup. "After a mixed Oulton Park weekend, mechanical problems prevented a usual flowing weekend, but receiving the formula two test was a really great moment!” said Steele. “I had mechanical problems in race 1, so it all came down to getting a great result in race 2” explained Steele. “Starting last I knew it was going to be a fun challenge. I got off to a fantastic start and by the end of the first lap was up to fourth place; on lap 4 I took the lead and never looked back, building up almost a 40 second gap between myself and the second place finisher, not bad after starting last.” The last race weekend at Silverstone saw Steele secure the Sunoco Grand Am 200 Challenge prize which will see him head out to America in January to take on international talent at the support race for the legendary 24 hours of Daytona. This weekend tops the season off with a great opportunity as he will head out to Spain in December to take on the 425bhp single seater. “During the podium presentation the announcer said 'and the winner of the Formula Two test drive', at which point there was a massive bigger cheer from all the crowd watching.I wasn't expecting it to be announced at that point and it was a bit of a shock but it just added to the great win I just had and was the cherry on top of a great season!  I can't wait to put the F2 car through its paces, it's going to be much quicker than the F3 car I'm used to but I'm sure I can adapt well as I have done previously when I tested an A1GP car.” Further details of the test are yet to be confirmed but it is expected to take place at Barcelona or Jerez in December.

RAC Future Car Challenge: 1996 World Champion, Damon Hill OBE, will drive for the Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) in the Royal Automobile Club’s RAC Future Car Challenge from Brighton to London on Saturday 5 November 2011.Hill joins the growing number of motoring personalities and celebrities taking part in the event – including Quentin Willson (TV presenter and magazine columnist), Gordon Murray (former F1 designer), Kevin McCloud (Grand Designs TV programme presenter) and Radio 2 presenter, Sally Boazman (aka Sally Traffic), who will present the 'People's Choice Award' The GFEI is a partnership of the independent UK-based charity FIA Foundation, the UN Environment Programme, the International Energy Agency and the International Transport Forum. The GFEI is sponsoring and entering the Future Car  Challenge  in order to promote improvements in vehicle fuel economy and cuts in CO₂ emissions, which can be made using cost effective technologies already in  widespread use. The GFEI places a particular emphasis on achieving further improvements in fuel economy with the conventional internal combustion engine (ICE), and making those improvements available to all drivers, not just here in the UK, but worldwide.  Hill will drive a Skoda  Fabia Greenline II, one of two diesel-powered ICE category cars entered by the GFEI team which perform well below the 110g/km CO₂ limit stipulated by the organisers. The GFEI has also entered a SEAT Ibiza Copa Ecomotive. Damon Hill says: “Big improvements in fuel economy can be made with technologies that are readily available right now. There is so much more that can be achieved even with the internal combustion engine. That’s why I’m driving for the Global Fuel Economy Initiative. Cars which are much more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly should be available to everyone.” Entering the Challenge exclusively for the GFEI, Hill is not backing any specific make of car, or fuel economy technology. As a partnership of international agencies, the GFEI is independent of any manufacturer.

Live coverage of the 29th annual Supercross de Bercy hits Motors TV screens this weekend (October 29-30). As one of the most anticipated dates on the global SX calendar the event boasts an impressive entry list, with former King of Bercy winner Justin Barcia, MX2 front-runner Tommy Searle and American star Kevin Windham just a few of the top-line riders set to take to the jumps at the Parisian arena. Motors TV is delivering extensive coverage of the event, with a catch-up featuring Friday's best bits followed by live action from both the second and third days. Commentary duties are handled by Paul Malin, who will be joined by several special guests over the course of the event. A regular World Motocross commentator and multiple British MX champion, Malin was part of the winning team at the 1994 Motocross of Nations. Saturday 29th - 10.30am: Day 1 Highlights, Saturday 29th - 7.00pm: LIVE Day 2, Sunday 30th - 2.00pm: LIVE Day 3.  The motocross action doesn’t stop there though, with highlights from this year’s RHL Beach Race at Weston-super-Mare following Saturday’s Bercy coverage (10.45pm). The Beach Race attracts scores of competitors to contest an enduro across the dunes, and provides the perfect complement to our weekend of off-road action.

24-10-11

ILMC: Official factory Corvette Racing driver and 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Olivier Beretta will join Larbre Competition for the final round of this season’s Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China on November 13. The 41-year-old Monegasque and former F1 driver joins the #50 Corvette C6.R crew of Patrick Bornhauser and Julien Canal who, along with Gabriele Gardel, have already helped Larbre Competition secure this year’s GTE-Am ILMC Teams’ title with a round to spare. The team is no stranger to Zhuhai having raced there on six occassions already, while Beretta’s sole outing at the Chinese venue in 1999 enhances their knowledge still further. Olivier Beretta: “I had the opportunity to work with Jack Leconte’s team during the Le Mans Test Day when I drove the Larbre Competition-prepared Corvette while the works cars were still in Long Beach. There have been chances to race with the team before but somehow different programmes and dates have always got in the way. Larbre has won many global championships and do an excellent job representing GM in the ILMC. Zhuhai finally offered me the opportunity to drive for them so it was an easy decision when Jack called to ask. I also know Patrick and Julien quite well. They’re two good drivers with experience so I’ve got high hopes of challenging for victory.”   Jack Leconte, Larbre Competition Team Principal: “It’s fantastic that Olivier will be joining Larbre Competition at Zhuhai next month. His level of experience with Corvette makes him the ideal candidate to bolster our driver line-up as we aim to celebrate a fine 2011 campaign by winning the final ILMC round of the year.”

V de V: Reigate's Nick Padmore and Belgian co-driver, Jean-Lou Rihon secured their maiden win in the French V de V Championship at Magny-Cours on Saturday evening. The result, coupled with their ever-improving form and results this season, takes the Team TFT pair from 4th to joint-1st in the championship. Padmore was on form right from the outset and on Friday night qualified the Norma M20 FC in P3 for Saturday's floodlit 6-hour endurance. Despite picking up a stomach bug and feeling physically drained, Padmore held position for the first hour of the race but took the lead before handing over to Rihon at the two-hour mark. Rihon rejoined in 2nd position but soon got back into the lead and pulled away, before coming in for a splash and dash pitstop for fuel during the safety car period. He completed his stint with a solid drive in 2nd position and handed over to Padmore for the remainder of the race. With 40 minutes on the clock to go, Padmore took the lead again and posted a series of consistently quick times to win the race by a staggering four laps. Nick Padmore: "That was an amazing race and I'm really pleased for everyone at Team TFT - we really deserved this win. Our pace and performance has been improving race on race and it was only a matter of time before we took to the top step of the podium but we've taken another big step forward this weekend.I felt really ill and I was really struggling at the start of the race but I somehow managed to put it to the back of my mind and keep it together. Jean-Lou (Rihon) was really impressive in the car and did a great job chasing down the leader and pulling away, which set me up perfectly for my final stint. I can't wait for Estoril - we have run very well there in the past few seasons and our package is better than ever so our aim now has to be to win the championship." Padmore and Rihon will be out to carry the momentum through to the final round of the French V de V Championship which takes place at Estoril, Portugal on 18th - 20th November.

Other News: A consortium comprising Capita Symonds, Populous and DIMTS (Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System Ltd) has been appointed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to prepare a plan and business case for a new multipurpose race circuit and regeneration project in Mumbai, India. The venue will be designed and constructed to meet Grand Prix standards. Initially the consortium’s scope of work is to identify the potential location for the circuit and associated development in Mumbai and around the city. This will be followed by the development of a business case and plan that will assess market demand and the potential opportunities and risks for the sites. The Capita Symonds, Populous and DIMTS team will be working with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) to ensure that all aspects of the scheme meet the licensing and regulatory requirements of national and international motor sport on four and two wheels for all future events.Capita Symonds and Populous have delivered designs for some of the world’s most famous sporting venues, including the London 2012 Olympic Stadium and the surrounding Olympic Park, Wembley Stadium, Wimbledon Tennis Ground, Oval Cricket Ground, and Silverstone

F2000: Teething problems with Nathan Morcom’s brand new Rondo RFR put the young Australian on the back foot at the F2000 Championship finale at Watkins Glen. Morcom drove a brand new RFR in the last two racesof the season following a string of mechanical mishaps with his 2006 Van Diemen, but teething problems with the replacement chassis kept him well off the pace. pic Dennis Valet  Read report

Formula  3: Facu Regalia was forced to retire on the first lap in the  third race of Formula 3 Euro Series at Hockenheim. on Sunday . The Mücke Motorsport  driver, who was tenth in both races on Saturday, started 12th on the grid in a race that ended for the Argentinean after a few hundred meters. “I made a good start, because I could overtake another rival. However, when I approached turn 2, I lost control while braking. Firstly I thought it was a mechanical problem, but after we checked my car´s telemetry and it showed there was a bump, and I braked exactly there, losing control and colliding with Laurens Vanthoor and Carlos Muñoz. It was impossible to avoid them”, Regalia explained, adding, “this weekend was a fantastic experience. Obviously I would prefer to have finished today too, because I improved every lap. But this happens in motorsport, and I prefer focus on the positive”.

DTM: 2011 was a perfect season for Audi in the DTM

23-10-11

DTM: Jamie Green won the DTM finale at Hockenheim driving a Mercedes. The Brit dominanted the 38 lap race after having taken the lead from the start. Second place went to the newly-crowned DTM champion Martin Tomczyk in an Audi, the German finishing 7.620 seconds down on the winner. Miguel Molina (Audi) rounded out the podium with his maiden podium finish in third place. Behind in fourth was Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) with Gary Paffett fifth for Mercedes, Mattias Ekström crossed the finish line in sixth place for Audi to take  the runner-up spot in the Championship. Read report

Formula 3: Roberto Merhi celebrated his Championship winning season in the F3 Euro Series with victory in the final race of the at Hockenheim. The already-crowned champion from Spain won from the top rookie Nigel Melker and Daniel Juncadella of Mücke Motorsport. For Marco Wittmann (Signature), finishing fourth was enough to clinch the runner-up spot in the Championship. Merhi took the lead from the start, defending his first place in the opening stages from Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport). The Swede, who won yesterday’s afternoon race, retired following an accident on lap nine. Melker inherited  second place, followed by Wittmann and Juncadella. Soon after that, Juncadella overtook Wittmann for the final podium positon. However, third place wasn’t enough to beat his rival in the battle for runner-up spot in the drivers’ standings. Behind Wittmann, novice Carlos Sainz jr. finished the race in fifth place.

Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup : Daniel Lloyd produced undoubtedly his best performance of the year at Hockenheim in Germany on Saturday, 22nd October, to win the final round of the 2011 Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup – the British racer’s second victory of the season.In a wonderfully action-packed encounter, in which the lead of the race changed hands on numerous occasions and the top three or four were rarely covered by much more than a couple of seconds, the 19-year-old delivered a fantastically determined drive. Pic: Volkswagen Motorsport   Read report

Formula 3: Facu Regalia made his Formula 3 Euro Series debut with Mücke Motorsport yesterday(Saturday) and came away with two 10^th place finishes. The19 year old qualified 12th for race one and made a good start, “despite those cars are difficult. Unfortunately, I had to brake when I approached Turn-1, because I had to avoid a collision with a rival. It meant to lose one or two places”,regalia explained.  However he then recovered to to take10th at the flag.  “My times at the end of the race were as good as drivers´ times fighting for podium, and I was at least half-second faster than drivers in front of me”, Regalia said.  In race two, Regalia was 10th on the grid and he made yet another good start. But, as happened in the morning, a collision put him back down the field.  He then completed a fine recovery drive, avoiding accidents and incidents to cross the finish line 10th once again. “I feel more confident with Mücke´s Dallara-Mercedes, and my improvement is obvious. For me it´s very important to finish every race, because I need accumulate mileage with this car and it would be a problem to retire”, he added.  The third race of this weekend is today(Sunday).

Formula Ford: Cameron Waters has won the 2011 Australian Formula Ford Championship at the Armor All Gold Coast 600 with one round still remaining. It was a difficult weekend for the 17-year-old who needed just a sixth place finish in the final race of the weekend to win the title. This he did despite starting from  the back of the grid, to become the youngest ever Formula Ford champion. "It's just an awesome feeling to win the championship before the last round. It's been a great year; there have been some downs, but a lot of ups, it's just awesome to be an Australian Formula Ford champion," Waters said. "It was a long 11 laps in that final race, I really should have wrapped it up yesterday, but we got there in the end” For once Waters didn't feature in the round results as Jack Le Brocq dominated the weekend taking  two race wins to move into second in the championship, while Tom Williamson and race one winner Liam Sager rounded out the podium. Read report

WTCC: Alain Menu and Tom Coronel claimed one win apiece in WTCC's first visit to Suzuka , an event that was blessed by a couple of close races and a good crowd. In the first one, after four of his potential competitors were eliminated in a couple of crashes and thanks to his fair play agreement with Yvan Muller, Menu was able to pull out and created a gap that nobody was able to fill. In the second race Coronel managed to resist the pressure from Muller and finally clinched his first victory in the ROAL Motorsport BMW. The second one for him in WTCC after that he scored in 2008 at Okayama, which proved that racing in Japan provides him with some extra motivations. In terms of the championship fight Huff cut his gap from Muller by three points; the latter has still a 13-point lead with 100 points to be awarded. Michel Nykjær won both races in the Yokohama Trophy and, most important, claimed his first, and well deserved WTCC podium. The championship will resume in Shanghai, China, on November 6th for rounds 21 and 22. Norbert Michelisz lost his ten place in the first race after the Stewards of the meeting imposed him a 30-second time penalty for overspeeding during the rolling start. The same penalty was awarded to Tarquini, Barth, Villa and Oriola, even if they have all finished out of the points.

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DTM: Spaniard Miguel Molina will start from pole in the final DTM race of the season at Hockenheim. The 22-year old  completed a lap in 1:32.717 minutes. For Molina, it was the second pole in the DTM. “For me, Hockenheim is something very special as I have driven my first DTM race here. I am very happy with my second pole. At Oschersleben, it was really close. Fortunately, it was a little bit more clear today”, said the Audi driver. British Mercedes-Benz driver Jamie Green will  start from second after a lap just 0.203 seconds short of Molina’s time. After qualifying, Green said: “I am still happy. My lap was very good and I had a fair chance of claiming pole. But then, Molina did a very, very good lap and he was quicker. In the race, I still have very good possibilities from second place on the grid.” New DTM champion, Martin Tomczyk, set the third fastest time to share the second row with fellow Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller. The battle for runner-up spot in the championship is between Canadian Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz), who  will start  from sixth behind Audi’s Timo Scheider. Spengler’s main rival, Mattias Ekström (Audi) will start four places further down the grid from tenth. In the drivers’ standings Spengler has 51 points, Ekström has 49 points. Mercedes-Benz driver Ralf Schumacher had hoped for a better result to conclude his season. The German failed to make it into the top ten and ended up 13th. His fellow Mercedes-Benz driver David Coulthard suffered the same fate, starting from 16th.

GP2: Caterham Team AirAsia concluded a 2011 GP2 test program with American driver Alexander Rossi, who finished P2 in Barcelona yesterday. The team worked closely with both Alexander and Rodolfo Gonzalez on set up this morning whilst the track dried following overnight rain. Alexander provided the team with lots of good feedback, happy with his car he finished the early session eighth after traffic held up his new tyre runs. A determined final session this afternoon proved what the American is capable of. With some long race simulation runs he made an impressive lap early on to sit P1 for the majority of the session. His lap time was only squeezed off the top spot in the latter stages of the day by Stefano Coletti to mark the end of post-season testing with a strong P2 position.The team now have a quick turnaround before the freight leaves next week in time for the Final 2011 GP2 race supporting the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix 11th - 13th November 2011.Phill Spencer (Team Manager): “We spent a lot of this morning working on set ups whilst the track dried after rainfall last night. Alexander solidified his relationship with the team today, he has been happy with the car it was just unfortunate that two out of his three runs on new tyres this morning were held up by traffic otherwise he'd have been P2, but he has done a brilliant job finishing the day with a very strong run to finish P2 cementing everything ahead of Abu Dhabi and we are all very pleased with how things have gone here.”  Alexander Rossi (Best Lap: 1:29.808 / Total laps: 73): “I am so thankful to Tony, Riad, Din and all of Team Lotus for their confidence in me. The test was very good, the team is the utmost professional and I feel very priviledged with my association with Caterham and Team Lotus. We missed out a bit this morning with early temperatures, but that's the way things go sometimes. We decided to take a bit of a risk this afternoon and went for it as soon as the session went green because we knew temperatures would rise during the afternoon, but it worked out for us so it was a good call. We did some new tyre runs and a race simulation which I was very happy with. I think that was the highlight of the day. All in all this has been a great GP2 experience it's getting better every time, so I am very pleased and very grateful to everyone who has made this possible.”  Humphrey Corbett (Chief Race Engineer): “It's been a mixed day today we did a lot of background information work, simulation and tyre work on both cars that will help us for the future. Alexander finished the day P2 which is very satisfying, especially as he did it at the start of the session which was not necessarily the best time to try for but we thought it would simulate a qualifying time period. He drove exceptionally well and he was very happy with the race run we did. With Rodolfo we did some tyre temperature work which was very useful, he kept it on track and drove well so we are happy with that.”

Formula 3: Masters winner Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport) had to wait a long time before he could finally celebrate a victory in the Formula 3 Euro Series. In Round 26 at Hockenheim however he finally took the chequered flag in first place. Champion Roberto Merhi (Prema Powerteam) came home second ahead of Daniel Abt (Signature). From seventh place on the grid, Felix Rosenqvist needed no more than three laps to overtake Carlos Muñoz (Signature) and move up into first place. After Muñoz was called into the pits for a drive-through penalty due to a jump start, Merhi and Abt took over second and third. With his fourth place, Marco Wittmann (Signature) scored two more points than Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam), who came home sixth behind the best rookie Nigel Melker (Mücke Motorsport). Thus, the German is now eight points ahead of Juncadella, his only rival in the battle for second place in the championship.

Roberto Merhi (Prema Powerteam) won Round 25 of the Formula 3 Euro Series at Hockenheim, just ahead of Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport), his tenth victory of the season. Moreover, his victory clinched the teams’ title for Prema Powerteam. Laurens Vanthoor (Signature) claimed third place while Marco Wittmann (Signature) made a step towards the  runner-up spot in the championship by finishing fourth. The start was the key to success for the Spaniard, taking the lead from pole position. Rosenqvist, who started second, was overtaken by Vanthoor, but claimed back second place before the end of the opening lap. For most of the race Rosenqvist  stayed within a second of leader Merhi, but never got close enough to mount a serious attack. German Marco Wittmann took the chequered lag in fourth while Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam) came seventh, Wittmann is now six points clear of Juncadella in second place in the points with Nigel Melker, the best rookie of the year, no longer in with a chance of the runne -up spot after finishing sixth. Merhi: “My start was one of the best of the year. After that, I was able to pull a slight gap until my front tyres started to wear out, which allowed Felix to close up. However, it was enough for victory.” Rosenqvist : “This was already my sixth second place this year. Slowly, it is getting a little bit frustrating. At the start, I had a problem with the handbrake and lost one place.” Vanthoor: “At the start, I was able to overtake Felix, but on the opening lap, I already found out that I wasn’t able to select sixth gear. I had to drive the entire race without sixth gear. Just before the end, I made a slight mistake and Marco Wittmann came really close. After that, I only concentrated on bringing third place home.”

Formula Ford: Jack Le Brocq and Liam Sager shared race victories on Saturday at the Armor All Gold Coast 600 during round seven of The Australian Formula Ford Championship, as the battle for the title continues. Sager's victory in race one was the first of his career and he backed it up with second in race two, pressuring Le Brocq all the way to the line. Both races produced plenty of drama with Nick Foster and championship leader Cameron Waters crashing out in separate incidents. Foster failed to finish both races and lost second in the championship to Le Brocq, while a mistake from Waters in race two will see the championship battle continue.  Read report

After their good showing at the 40th Formula Ford Festival with Chrissy Palmer; 'The King of Shaves' racing team will enter the MRF Delhi Championship with Chrissy Palmer and James Thorp. The cars will be managed by JCR-Sterling Motorsport.  Palmer has been racing Ma5da MX5's in the UK while Thorp was 3rd overall in the BARC Formula Renault Championship.  Kourosh Khani will drive the James Crofts Racing entry and Philippe Layac will drive the Rendez Vous Racing car.

WTCC: Alain Menu claimed his third pole position of the season at Suzuka and extended Chevrolet's domination in this year's qualifying sessions. The Swiss and his team-mates have won all the ten pole positions so far. Reigning champion and current point leader Yvan Muller set the second fastest lap, while his arch-rival in the title fight, Rob Huff could only manage fourth position on the grid for tomorrow's Race 1. Huff lost third to Robert Dahlgren in the final seconds of Q2 by only eight thousandths of a second.  This is the second time Dahlgren managed to squeeze amongst  the top three after he qualified second at Oschersleben.

Q1 - The session kicked off under a threat of rain and yet most of the top drivers sat in their pits during the early stages. Tom Coronel posted a 53.943 after three minutes, but immediately afterwards out came the red flag for the first time when Mehdi Bennani's BMW got stranded at the outside of the East Shortcut. As action resumed Yvan Muller went quickest with a 53.893, leading a bunch of drivers into the top ten, Huff, Dahlgren and Menu plus Gabriele Tarquini amongst them, the latter failing to make the cut due to a small clash with Menu. Michel Nykjær improved to 53.725 before the red flag was waved again after Pepe Oriola's SUNRED crashed heavily at the exit of the last turn, which spoiled Tarquini's attempt once again. The session resumed for a four-minute spell in which Colin Turkington set the fastest lap (53.672) while Tarquini eventually managed to make the top ten. The last spot for Q2 - and pole position for Race 2 - was won by Darryl O'Young who kicked Javier Villa off top spot. The following drivers advanced to Q2: Turkington, Nykjær, Tarquini, Menu, Dahlgren, Monteiro, Muller, Huff, Coronel and O'Young.

Q2 - The second part of the session was not very eventful. Most of the drivers managed to set their best time on the first lap out of the pits, with Menu (53.443) leading Muller (53.492) and Huff (53.520). Only Coronel and Dahlgren were able to improve on their last attempt. The Dutchman climbed to a provisional fourth position with a lap of 53.601 that eventually became the fifth when Dahlgren stopped the watches on the time of 53.512. This was good enough for him to qualify in hird, splitting the Chevrolet trio. Nykjær qualified in seventh position, best of the Yokohama Trophy.

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Sports 2000: Craig Mitchell was in action at the Formula Ford Festival last weekend in the March Racing Academy Sports 2000 Championshiper qualifying in seventh Craig then made a good start and kept pace with the leaders tpo finish an excellent third.  pic Mike Lambert at Grid Shots   Read report

Formula Ford: Championship leader Cameron Waters dominated qualifying to take pole position for round seven of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at the Armor All Gold Coast 600 today. The 17-year-old wasn’t put under any real pressure, setting a quick time early one to finish up nearly 8 tenths of a second ahead of his nearest challenger.  That challenger was his teammate Garry Jacobson, while Liam Sager set an impressive time to finish third fastest.It's Waters' fifth pole position of the season and puts him in an ideal position ahead of races one and two tomorrow at the Gold Coast Street Circuit.   Read more

Formula 3: Prema Powerteam’s Roberto Merhi can look forward to a relaxing finale in the 2011 Formula 3 Euro Series at Hockenheim, the Spaniard winning the title on the penultimate race weekend at Valencia. The battle for second position, however, is far from being over. Three drivers still have the chance of finishing as runner-up, Marco Wittmann (Signature), Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam) and rookie Nigel Melker (Mücke Motorsport). Wittmann and Juncadella will travel to Hockenheim tied in the points with 256 and five wins a-piece while Nigel Melker, who has already won the rookie title, is a further  35 points behind. Meanwhile, the battle for the team title is not over although Prema Powerteam is the clear favourite needing just 3 points to clinch the title. Four drivers will make their debuts in the series this weekend, Sandro Zeller (Jo Zeller Racing), rookie Artem Markelov (Motopark), Facu Regalia (Mücke Motorsport) and rookie Carlos Sainz Jr. (Signature).

As the 2011 Formula 3 Euro season approaches its finale, the administrators of the series are working behind the scenes on plans for new partnerships. Following discussions, the Formula 3 Euro Series and Kumho Tire have announced that their sponsorship deal expiring at the end of the year will not be extended. “With Kumho, the Formula 3 Euro Series loses an always loyal partner,” said Walter Mertes, the Formula 3 Euro Series’ Managing Director. “On the other hand, it also gains the partnership with another promising global player of the tyre-manufacturing industry. But it speaks for the partnership with Kumho that the parties involved succeeded in splitting up in amicable fashion. I would like to thank all those involved at Kumho for their always exemplary and cooperative approach.”  Negotiations with a new tyre partner for the 2012 season are about to be completed and will be announced as soon as the new deal has been signed.

GP2: Jolyon Palmer is looking forward to the forthcoming GP2 Finals race in Abu Dhabi next month after enjoying a productive two days of testing in Barcelona this week (Wednesday and Thursday).  The 20-year-old from Southwater, West Sussex, tested for two different teams at the 4.655km Circuit de Catalunya, beginning with current teams’ champions Addax followed by British squad Carlin.On both days Jolyon impressed, finishing 11th and 10th fastest respectively in a highly competitive 26-car field. He also used the track time to run race simulations in preparation for the final GP2 race of the year – a non-championship round in November at the Yas Marina circuit supporting Formula One. Speaking after the first test day Jolyon said: “We’ve been mainly concentrating on long, high fuel runs for race preparation. I did two runs and we tried some set up changes to help with tyre degradation. The testing was positive and I still finished in P10 overall so I can be quite happy with my day." Commenting on the second day Jolyon added: “We again did back-to-back long runs and learnt something for the set up. The pace on the runs was good so all in all I am very happy.”  Jolyon, who enjoyed a string of top 10 results during his debut season in the series, is next in action on 12/13 November in Abu Dhabi for the GP2 Finals race.

Karts: Jack Barlow delivered an intelligent Champion’s drive to secure the Ginetta Super One Junior Rotax Championship and hand his team yet another national title. The highly-rated youngster has enjoyed a stellar season with the Sheffield squad, and last Sunday (16 October 2011), claimed his twelfth podium of the season and put the overall victory beyond the grasp of his nearest rival. Pic Chris Walker/Kartpix    Read report

WTCC: Chevrolet driver Alain Menu set the fastest lap in today's test session at Suzuka. The Swiss was clocked at 53.605 with only a couple of minutes left in the half-an-hour session knocking Volvo's Robert Dahlgren from the top of the timesheets. Only a few minutes earlier Dahlgren had set a lap of 53.722 that was the fastest until Menu came along! This sudden change of leadership was only talking point in the first session on Suzuka's East Circuit which promises close competition in qualifying tomorrow. Rob Huff posted the third fastest lap on 53.861, followed by Tiago Monteiro (54.177), Yvan Muller (54.200), Tom Coronel (54.409) and Gabriele Tarquini (54.448). Rallyman Toshihiro Arai set a promising eighth best lap of 54.479 on his first outing in a WTCC car and emerged as the best of the Japanese contingent. Competition was equally tight in the Yokohama Trophy, with Darryl O'Young setting the pace (54.615) from Colin Turkington (54.643) and Michel Nykjær (54.721), the three of them covered by only one tenth of a second.The session was disrupted once by the red flag after five minutes,when Norbert Michelisz's spun off at the Anti-banked curve ripping his front bumper apart in the process.

The WTCC Race of Japan will receive extensive TV coverage all around the world, including live broadcasting in Japan, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. In Japan, Gaora Sports will broadcast both races live, with special focus on the Japanese drivers. they will also broadcast a dedicated magazine on Saturday 29 October. The TXN network, comprising of six Japanese regional broadcasters (TV Osaka, TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, TV Setouchi, TV Hokkaido, TVQ Kyushu Housou), air daily news in their Neo Sport evening news. They will also broadcast a 75-minute highlights on Saturday 29 October. European WTCC fans will be able to follow Saturday's qualifying (8:15 CET) and Sunday's races (7:00 and 8:30 CET) live on Eurosport. In the Americas, Speed Channel 2 will broadcast both races on a delayed basis, while Televisa Deportes will broadcast both races live in Central America.

The joint race meeting of the WTCC and China Touring Car Championship taking place at the Shanghai Tianma Circuit on November 6th, was launched yesterday at the track. During a crowded press conference, the vice chairman of China Motorsport Federation (FASC) Wan Heping, the deputy director of Shanghai Sports Bureau Cheng Yiping, the president of the Shanghai Automobile Sports Federation Zhao Yinghua and CTCC promoter Xia Qing presented the event to a large representative of local media. "Shanghai has a strong motor sport tradition and hosting the WTCC event will result in a huge impact on local media and fans. This international race meeting will also have positive effects in enhancing the image of Shanghai as a modern and international metropolis," said Cheng Yiping.

Hong Kong-based Corsa Motorsport will take part in the WTCC event at Macau, running a Chevrolet Lacetti for local racer Filipe Clemente de Souza. "We are proud to represent our country in our home race meeting," said team principal Reuter Wong. "Our team is very young, the first Hong Kong-based race outfit, but we are well prepared. It was not easy to get ready for our first appearance in WTCC, but we were able to go through. We are confident that Filipe's experience on the Guia circuit will help to achieve decent results."De Souza, 35,has competed several times in the Macau Grand Prix supporting series, claiming a second position in the 2008 Macau Interport Race. 

Truck Racing: Brands Hatch was visited by the spirit world yesterday (Thursday), bringing warnings of strange activities at the circuit on Sunday 30 October as the final round of the 2011 Delphi British Truck Championship is staged. Two scary-looking trucks provided a taste of what’s to come as they tore round the track at frightening speed! The annual October Truck Racing event has always been one of the most popular on the calendar, and attracts a huge family audience who come to watch the 1,000bhp machines competing wheel to wheel at 100 miles per hour. Three thundering truck races and a number of support races, including Pick-Up Trucks, will take place on the Sunday. Whilst the action on circuit will be thrilling, the activities away from the track will be chilling, as the Brands Hatch venue will be transformed into the spookiest of settings to celebrate Halloween weekend. The scary fun on offer will include a haunted ghost train, pumpkin carving, a creepy birds of prey display, free face painting, a haunted house and a broomstick race. Kids and their parents can also seek out friendly spooks in a Ghost Hunt to win prizes! All children under 13 will be admitted free of charge if they’re accompanied by an adult, and they will be entered into a trick or treat lucky dip if they arrive in costume.Hoping to tame one of the ‘monster’ trucks is West Kingsdown’s Steven Powell, the recently crowned Class B champion. Steven’s brother Graham also races and stepped up to the premier Class A this season. “It’s always good to race at our local circuit”, said Graham. “I won the Class B championship before and Steve has carried it on – he’s very happy to secure the title. We’re hoping to keep it in the family for some time.” Adult tickets for Halloween Truck Racing at Brands Hatch on Sunday 30 October are available in advance for £17 online, with free entry for children aged under 13. For more information, call 0843 453 9000 or visit www.brandshatch.co.uk

Goodwood: Following the recent announcement of provisional dates for next year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival, the Earl of March is now able to confirm these 2012 dates.The 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed will take place from Friday 29 June to Sunday 1 July, the same weekend that the world’s largest celebration of motoring culture has been held over the last three years.  The 2012 Festival promises to be packed with action and excitement as the planet’s most glamorous racing machinery and famous drivers gather together in the beautiful surroundings of Goodwood Park. The 2012 theme for this world renowned motor sport event will be announced shortly. The Goodwood Revival is confirmed for the weekend of 14-16 September 2012.  The sell-out Revival is truly a magical step back in time, celebrating the halcyon days of motor racing as it used to be, with all of the accompanying spectacle and glamour of the era.  Competitors and spectators alike dress in period fashions, with the finest sights and entertainment of the pre-1966 era for all to enjoy.All of the 2012 Goodwood motor sport events promise a spectacular array of cars and motorcycles, plus star drivers and riders, and plenty of other attractions for spectators of all ages. Tickets for the 2012 Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival can be ordered from 31 October on www.goodwood.com/motor sport/ , or via the Ticket Hotline : +44 1243 755055

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DTM: A month after its unveiling at the Frankfurt International Motor Show the Audi A5 DTM will make its first public appearance on a DTM weekend. Audi factory driver Tom Kristensen will present the new 460-HP race car for the 2012 season to the fans at Hockenheim. The eight-time Le Mans winner and former DTM racer will be driving a lap in the brand new coupe before and after the DTM race on Sunday.   

Formula 3: Facu Regalia will make his debut in Formula 3 Euro Series this weekend. After dropping out of the finale of Italian Formula 3 championship at Monza due to engine issues in testing last week the Agentinean will switched to the F3 Euro Series at Hockenheim with Mücke Motorsport. “After my problems at Monza, where I couldn´t race because my engine didn´t work properly, I´m glad to race in Germany. This chance is an incredible one, and I want to thank it to all the people who made it possible”, Regalia explained, adding, “my motivation is very high. I´m aware this meeting is a new challenge for me because its level is really strong. Anyway I want to compare with Nigel Melker and Felix Rosenqvist, all season drivers for Mücke Motorsport and backed by Mercedes. My car´s engine, built by Mercedes, is different from FIAT-built one used in Italy. Concerning tyres, I was told they are softer too. Fortunately I know Hockenheim from my formula BMW Europe times and that´s important”. On his objectives, “I will try to know my car during free practice sessions held on Friday. It´s an important meeting for my career in motorsport, and I need to be focused, to keep calm and finally I´ve to improve my confidence with new engine and tires”. The Formula 3 Euro Series begins with free practice for 2 hours on Friday morning followed by a 30 mins qualifying session in the afternoon before two races on Saturday and one on Sunday.

GP2: Craig Dolby made an impressive introduction on his GP2 Series test debut at Barcelona today by ending the afternoon session as top rookie after setting the eighth fastest time. The 23-year-old Briton, who finished runner-up in the 2009 and ’10 Superleague Formula championship, put his experience of powerful single-seaters to good use at the Spanish Grand Prix venue on the first of two consecutive days running with the Arden International outfit. His best effort of 1m31.042s was less than 0.3 seconds shy of the afternoon session’s second quickest time after completing just 20 laps throughout the three-hours. Despite the single-make series’ car, seen as the final stepping stone before Formula 1, being similar in size to its Superleague counterpart, the significantly increased cornering speed and lightness of the Dallara-built GP2/11 ensured that Dolby spent much of the morning session familiarising himself with its unique characteristics around a circuit that he hadn’t visited since 2007. Rather than set headline-grabbing lap times in the best of the early cool conditions which would prove the fastest of the entire day, Dolby instead opted to save both sets of new tyres for the afternoon session having had time to acclimatise fully to his new surroundings. That would prove a wise decision when a puncture compromised his morning's tyre allowance further. Craig Dolby: “Overall it’s been a great first day behind the wheel of a GP2 car. Adjusting from four years in Superleague Formula has taken a bit of time but I’ve made progress on each occasion we’ve been out on track. There’s certainly a lot extra to come tomorrow as I become more comfortable with the car. Most of the guys I’m up against have raced, or at least tested, the car before so it was great to get amongst them and set the eighth fastest time this afternoon.Tomorrow’s forecast suggests there could be rain in the morning but if there’s a window of dry running I’d like to get out there on new tyres to maximise the best of the faster, cool conditions.”

Karts: After celebrating two European titles in less than two months with Paolo De Conto in KZ1 and Sami Luka in KF2,  the Energy Corse team has continued its series of successful results! The recent outings of the team, managed by Michele Panigada, finished with several international victories in the German Championship at the WSK Master Series as well as the Thomas Knopper Memorial.  Read report

As the 2011 season heads into the final stages,time has come to make an assessment of young Indonesian driver Sean Gelael's performance over the year. The Sean GP team has had a very busy schedule, with almost 15 meetings, mostly in Europe, over the last few months. Read report

Other News: The MIA has announced that Lola and RML are the ‘classroom’ locations for their Race Engineering School over the weekends of 26/27 November and 3/4 December. The School is open, and valuable, to all Race engineers, their employers, and engineering under-graduates and graduates. Employers want engineers who can ‘hit the ground running’ with the latest knowledge and techniques - this School delivers just that by making on-track race management ‘come alive’ by answering questions not found in any textbook.Race Engineering, the most demanding jobs in motorsport, calls for a special blend of ‘formal’ engineering knowledge plus hands-on, practical skills from ‘doing the job’. This is a real challenge which the MIA, and the motorsport industry, are working to overcome.The Course tutors, Dan Walmsley of Strakka Racing and Jay Davenport of MW Arden GP3, are world class, winning, young race engineers. Who better to learn from than those who currently succeed in the role they teach?

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Karts: Jack Barlow scooped the Ginetta Super One Junior Rotax crown at Three Sisters last Sunday (16 October), adding to an already impressive tally of victories; including the Kartmasters Grand Prix and Rotax Cup titles. Pic Chris Walker/Kartpix  Read report

MRF Formula – Indian GP: Racing driver Zaamin Jaffer is little more than a week away from the start of the biggest adventure of his motorsport career to date, his competitive debut in MRF Formula 1600 – a support category to the Airtel Grand Prix of India, the country’s first ever FIA Formula One World Championship event. Born and raised in Mumbai, the 21-year-old cannot wait to return to his homeland next week where the eyes of the world will be on the Buddh International Circuit on 29th/30th October as the stars of Grand Prix racing do battle around the 5.1-kilometre New Delhi track. Zaamin recently travelled to Chennai in India to take part in a pre-event test session, his maiden run in the MRF chassis he will race next weekend. Producing consistently quick lap times, the outing went very well and Zaamin feels justly confident ahead of the Delhi Championship with MRF races at the brand new Buddh circuit. His first experience of that track will come next Friday, 28th October. “I really can’t wait for this”, he commented, “For me the whole year comes down to this one event, it’s going to be off the scale for India and a really proud moment for me to be racing at my country’s first ever F1 meeting. I’ve never raced in India before so that’s going to make everything even more special – it’s so important for my career too, I really want to lead the way as the top Indian driver.” Having just completed his first season in Formula Renault in the UK, Zaamin has accrued some good experience of ‘slicks and wings’ action having previously competed in the non-aerodynamic world of Formula Ford.  The car utilised in the Delhi Championship with MRF is similar to the Formula Renault machinery Zaamin has been used to this season, running on full slick tyres and with wings front and rear to create requisite downforce. The Van Diemen chassis is powered by a 1.6-litre Ford engine. Pic: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Formula Renault: Howard Fuller produced a stunning double drive at Silverstone last weekend in the final rounds of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC.  Driving for one of the smaller teams in the championship, qualifying has at times been difficult and so it proved with Howard ending up on rows seven and nine respectively for the two races. However after two good races he had improved significantly ending the day with nonth place in both events, the first subsequently becoming eighth after Khourosh Khani was disqualified.  Read report 

Renault 3.5: It was at the Barcelona circuit in front of 62,000 enthusiastic spectators that the curtain fell on a rollercoaster season for Nelson Panciatici. Yet it had started well with a podium in the opening race in Alcaniz and promising performances during the first races at Spa Francorchamps and Monaco.  read report

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Formula Ford’s new era dawned at Brands Hatch over the weekend when the first of the new-for-2012 chassis was given its maiden public outing with the newly crowned Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Champion of Britain, Scott Malvern, at the wheel. Malvern’s demonstration runs came during the Kent circuit’s traditional Formula Ford Festival, at which the first team to make public its plans to buy a 2012 Formula Ford EcoBoost was revealed: Dutch squad Geva Racing, which will run at least one Mygale car in the British series next season. “The new Formula Ford was well received, not least by Scott, who thoroughly enjoyed driving it,” said Sam Roach of championship promoter RacingLine. “It is great news that Geva Racing will be running in Britain next year with the new car. Many of our other teams, plus some newcomers, are discussing their orders with Mygale, Van Diemen and Ray and there will be further announcements in the coming weeks.” The new-generation Formula Ford uses a production-based 1.6-litre Ford EcoBoost direct injection, turbocharged engine, limited to producing around 165PS and 220Nm, and mated to a six-speed sequential transmission with mechanical shift mechanism. With safety uppermost in everyone’s mind, the all-new Formula Ford is the first racing car of steel spaceframe construction in the world to comply with the FIA’s rigorous safety standards and receive its stamp of approval.“The new car is really very good,” said Malvern after his laps. “It’s nicely balanced and feels good to drive straight out of the box, with loads of potential. I’m looking forward to helping with the development and fine-tuning the details.”  pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

Club Racing: This Saturday (22nd October) the BRSCC Midlands Centre will become the first organiser to run a ‘club’ meeting on Silverstone’s new 1.85 mile International Circuit. The BRSCC Competitions Director Drew Furlong said, “It is a privilege for the BRSCC to be breaking new ground by running the first ‘club’ meeting on the new International circuit. This will also allow our competitors to experience and enjoy the facilities of the Silverstone Wing. This is in a long line of firsts that the BRSCC has enjoyed at the circuit”. Full details of Saturday’s meeting can be found HERE.

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The BRSCC North Western Centre will be running a Winter Raceday at Anglesey on Sunday 27th November. To give as many people as possible an opportunity to race before the end of the season there will be four wide ranging categories: Formula Ford 1600, Sports/Saloon cars, Caterham Type Sports Cars & Two Driver Enduro. The race entry fee for each category is £175 with the exception of the Two Driver Enduro, which is £195. These fees include a qualifying session and double-header for each category. Entry forms and Supplementary Regulations can be downloaded at ANGLESEY WINTER RACEDAY. Information and a booking form about testing, which will be available on Saturday 26th November can also be found there.

The Motorsport Safety Fund has its annual Christmas card available for sale. This year the Fund has selected 'Blue Thunder', John Ketchell's dramatic depiction of Emilio Materassi's Bugatti T35C, en route to victory in the 1927 Targa Florio, for their 2011 charity Christmas card. Ketchell admits to being enthralled by cars since he was a child; he is the proud owner of a 440bhp replica Ford GT40. He still lives in Preston, Lancashire , where he trained in the 1960s and then worked as a professional illustrator, before becoming a full-time artist. The cards are priced at £6.50 for 10, including envelopes, postage and packing; they are available from: Motorsport Safety Fund, Penny Farthing, Heythrop, Chipping Norton OX7 5TW. An image of the card can be found here MOTORSPORT SAFETY FUND CHRISTMAS CARD

GT Asia Series : Twenty-five Supercars from the GT Asia Series will be on display at the Tap Seac Square in Hong Kong on 12-13 November 2011. The cars are all part of the Macau GT Cup held during the 58th Macau Grand Prix at Guia International Circuit. Cars on display include the Audi R8 LMS, Ferrari F458, Porsche 997 GT3 R, Lamborghini LP560, Ford GT GT3, Aston Martin Vantage N24, Ginetta G50 and the Lotus Evora GT4. There will be an opening and autograph signing ceremony on Saturday, 12th November at 3.00pm (local time) with some drivers confirmed to attend. The GT Asia Series, will for the first time since 2009, be holding a Championship round as part of the Macau GP’s GT Series. The GT Asia Championship winner will be crowned at the event and the Season Finale will be a fantastic one to watch as there is a three way battle for the Championship. Defending his Championship, Dilantha Malagamuwa has always been strong at the Macau circuit. But with the current Championship leader Mok Weng Sun thirteen points ahead and third placed Eddie Yau still in with a chance to win. Mok will need only six points to secure the 2011 GT Asia Series Championship but bragging rights of winning in Macau is always something drivers strive hard to get. So, it will be an all out battle for victory! The GT Asia Series continues in Macau on 18-20 November 2011 for the Season Finale during the 58th Macau Grand Prix.

LMS: Following its unveiling at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show in March, the Peugeot 908 HYbrid4 underwent its first track test at Estoril on October 11. One month after its shakedown run at a private PSA Peugeot Citroën venue on September 16, the 908 HYbrid4 underwent its first genuine track test at Estoril. The car completed a little more than 300km in the hands of Nicolas Minassian, Stéphane Sarrazin and Alexander Wurz. ”Our aim wasn’t to put a lot of kilometres on the clock, but to verify that all the chief functions performed,” reports Peugeot Sport’s Technical Director Bruno Famin. ”It was important to analyse the data of each run to be sure we understood the results before moving on to the next step. The system functioned well and responded as predicted, which was very satisfying. At the same time, we started to make a few adjustments to the car’s basic set-up. It worked well, so that’s very positive.” Nicolas Minassian: “I had the good fortune to drive the original demonstration hybrid car in 2008 and I am proud to have been the first person to drive the 908 HYbrid4. It’s extremely interesting to work on a project of this scale which no doubt paves the way for the future of motor racing. As a driver, it’s very rewarding to be in a position where you can learn and play a part in the development of new technologies.” Stéphane Sarrazin: “We were able to work through the complete test programme, so that was fantastic. It was interesting to work with the engineers to identify the ideal compromises and, of course, get acquainted with the system, since the project is only in its early days. You can feel the extra power and it will be up to us to harness or adapt it in the most competitive way possible. We will need to strike the right balance. We’re looking at a lot of things and exploring several avenues.” It was at Silverstone in 2008 that Peugeot Sport took the wraps off its hybrid demonstration car based on the 908 HDi FAP. The intention of that initial project was to get a grasp of the different challenges associated with this new technology in order to carry it over to the new car which would make its debut in 2011 within the framework of the technical regulations announced at the end of 2009.This track debut was more than encouraging and the 908 HYbrid4’s test programme is poised to continue with a second run soon at another circuit, as well as further bench testing.

Mini Challenge: Chris Knox became the 2011 Mini Challenge Champion, after another action packed weekend at Snetterton. The Scot secured three podium finishes and victory in the first of the weekend, while Ant Whorton-Eales made it a double celebration for ExcelR8 by clinching the Club Class crown too. The remaining two races were won but Lee Allen and Chris Smith.   Read report

Radicals: Both the overall and class titles in the Dunlop Radical UK Cup were up for grabs as the championship arrived at Snetterton for the season’s finale. Mark Smithson and Stuart Moseley clinched the overall crown after finishing second in class in race one, while Shaun Balfe and Roger Bromiley claimed the SR8 title after the second. Overall victory spoils for the day however were shared by Terrence Woodward/Ross Kaiser and Manhal Allos. Read report

It was celebrations all round in the Marks Electrical Racing pit at Snetterton, as Mark Smithson and Stuart Moseley clinched the Dunlop Radical UK Cup title in the SR3, in the teams inaugural year. Read team report

Bradley Ellis secured his eighth top 10 Dunlop Radical UK Cup finish with eighth in class in round 13 of the series around the new Snetterton 300 circuit on Sunday, October 16. The sportscar ace was looking strong to seal his season with another Supersport podium when the low oil pressure safety switch cut the engine, dropping the Supreme Racing Radical SR3 to the back of the field.   Pic Oliver Read  read report

There were wins for both Terrence Woodward/Ross Kaiser and Tony Wells/James Littlejohn at Snetterton in the final rounds of the Radical UK Championships, but the title slipped from Terrence and Ross’s grip.  read report

Sports 2000: Mike Jenvey was racing in the March Racing Academy Sports 2000 Championship at the Formula Ford Festival last weekend. Leading the Championship by 14 points prior to the race last week Mike only had to finish in the points to secure the title. Sadly a broken bolt on the alternator mounting caused the belt to fall off, taking the oil pump belt and crank position wiring with it and his Championship hopes. Read Mikes story..

David Pittard, completed his final Sports 2000 race of the season over the weekend at Brands Hatch with another podium finish. Brunel University student Pittard qualified 3^rd overall and first in his class, He then had a hard fight in the race before overheating rear tyres dropped him to third in his class at the flag.  Read report

Formula Renault:  He might not have come away with the results he would have liked – or, indeed, the results that he deserved – but Warwickshire car racing rookie Jordan King nonetheless took sufficient positives and encouragement from the 2011 Formula Renault UK season finale at Silverstone to leave him confident for the future. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Josh Hill wrapped-up his first season of Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship racing at Silverstone National Circuit on Sunday, as the best placed of Manor Competition’s three drivers in the overall standings thanks to a consistent final weekend. Farnham-based Hill has shown some superb racecraft and determination this season and rounds 19 and 20 were no exception – the second of the two outings, in particular, a highlight with an excellent fifth place finish from ninth on the grid.pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read Manor Motorsport Report

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Richard Plant claimed top rookie honours in the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB championship after a truly stunning drive in the final round of the season at Silverstone on Sunday.The 21-year-old has been in contention for the accolade throughout the campaign, but it all came down to a wonderful climax in front of a huge crowd for rounds 18 and 19 of the series. Plant didn’t disappoint, taking a seventh and spectacular fourth place finish from the double-header showdown to secure top rookie status for the season.  Read report

Just one week after he concluded his inaugural season in endurance racing, Freddy Nordström has enjoyed a successful return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship. Held at Silverstone circuit last weekend (15th-16th October) the season finale of the prestigious championship saw Freddy contest the Pro-AM 1 category. Armed with his GT Marques run Porsche machine Freddy set out a number of goals ahead of the weekend, which he was pleased to achieve. Read report

Charity: TGR Motorsport have announced that they will be supporting the charity, UK Youth (www.ukyouth.org).  There is already a great connection between motorsport and UK Youth as the President of the charity is none other than Nigel Mansell. TGR Motorsport hope to benefit the charity by organising fun days, fundraisers  etc., the aim of which is to raise money for UK Youth and in turn provide awareness through utilising our assets and crew.  For example they will be able to display team cars and the young people will be given a chance to sit and be photographed in a "real" racing car plus they can offer hot laps in the passenger seat and more… The main intention is to provide education beyond the classroom for the teenagers to become team members on race weekends, as TGR would like to offer the opportunity for them to become our future racing engineers. Both drivers and team will be on hand for autographs, questions and information.   UK Youth was established in 1911 to enable young people to learn the skills and competencies for life. The charity works with a wide range of organisations to reach young people and provide them with varied and accessible opportunities to learn, develop their skills and gain confidence. Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal has been Patron for more than 5 years and Nigel Mansell OBE is the President of UK Youth. Nigel is a passionate supporter of UK Youth and attends all of their major events, runs fundraising events and is hugely generous to the charity in many ways. Much of what the charity does simply wouldn't happen without his continued backing. "I have been fortunate to benefit from the support of some very special people. Sadly too few young people get this kind of have access to this type of support, we must celebrate young people’s achievements and their contribution to our communities."

17-10-11

A statement by the President of the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC), Derek Warwick - On behalf of the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC), I wish to extend my sincere sympathies to Dan’s wife Susie and their boys Sebastian and Oliver, as well as the rest of his family and his team following the tragic news of his death in a racing accident yesterday at Las Vegas in the final Indy Car Series round of the year. The BRDC is extremely proud of Dan and all that he achieved and was achieving in the United States. He was undoubtedly one of the great talents of his generation as his racing results testified. Two victories in the Indy 500 put him in a very select group of drivers and having won the Rookie of the Year honours in 2003 it was no surprise that he should win the Indy Car Championship in 2005. Dan followed this in 2006 by winning the BRDC Gold Star, beating the likes of Jenson Button, Mark Webber, David Coulthard and Dario Franchitti to this coveted award. Dan was a true professional and a great ambassador for the sport. He was highly focused in the way he approached his racing and a real perfectionist. He pushed himself, and those he worked with, hard to produce results that were worthy of his talents and that fed his insatiable hunger to win. With his film-star good looks and athletic prowess, it was no wonder that the American public took him to their hearts. In the BRDC we will remember Dan as a great racing driver who was very much involved with the Club and our circuit at Silverstone during the formative years of his career. Dan was, for many years, part of the BRDC ‘Rising Stars’ young driver programme. So proud of this recognition was he, that even after qualifying to be a Full Member of the BRDC he chose to remain a Rising Star, as he felt it represented what he was and helped the Indy Car world understand where he was set on going; to the very top. As a young driver Dan was also a finalist in the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award on two occasions, which was proof, if it was needed, that great things lay ahead of him. When Dan did eventually become a Full Member of the BRDC he commented at the time, “To be included in a group of such great names makes me feel very special. I will do everything that I can to represent the BRDC in a way that makes you all very proud.”  Dan Wheldon was a great ambassador for the BRDC and motor sport generally. He will be hugely missed.

Formula Ford Festival: Scott Malvern capped a superbly successful season with victory yesterday in the BRSCC’s Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. The 22-year-old from Essex qualified on pole and won his heat, quarter final and semi-final races before beating Dutch driver Steijn Schothorst to the chequered flag by 0.4s in the Duratec final. It was a brilliant swansong performance by Malvern for the Jamun Racing team, with whom he had already won the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Champion of Great Britain in dominant fashion. “It couldn’t have gone any better for me,” said Scott. “This was the one I wanted to win all year. The plan was to try to run away and hide and I nearly achieved that. I struggled a bit for pace early on in the final but was just able to keep Steijn behind. It’s a great end to my Formula Ford season.” But Malvern’s joy was dampened by the news from the USA of the death in an IndyCar crash of 33-year-old Dan Wheldon. Like Malvern, Wheldon’s junior career was nurtured in Formula Ford; Wheldon was Formula Ford Festival runner-up in 1998, finishing behind the driver who would go on to become World Champion in 2009, Jenson Button. “I went to bed last night over the moon,” said Scott, “and woke up to the news about Dan. It’s very hard to take and a double blow coming so soon after the death of Martin Hines. They will both be missed by British motorsport.” “Everyone in the Formula Ford community is shocked and saddened,” said Sam Roach of Formula Ford promoter RacingLine. “Dan Wheldon was a driver of whom everyone connected with Formula Ford was proud. Our thoughts are with his young family and his many friends in the sport.”

Dan de Zille raced to a competitive top 10 finish during the Final of this year’s Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit on Sunday, 16th October – capping off a strong season of action for the 24-year-old from Jersey.  Read report

Radicals: With the title already safely in James Abbott’s hands, Darron Anley’s SR3 and the PR6 of visiting Swede Jesper Westerholm took the victory spoils at the season finale of the Performance Direct Radical Clubmans Cup at Snetterton. Read report

F1600: Wyatt Gooden remained perfect in F1600 competition, taking his fourth win of 2011 in just four starts, and his second win of the day at Watkins Glen for Quantum Racing Services in a Van Diemen/Honda. The bigger story however, was the inaugural Championship, which went to Bill Valet, who finished third in a nail-biting slip-streaming battle among a number of cars, including closest points rival Tim Kautz, who had to settle for sixth place in the season finale. Pic Valet read report

F2000: Kyle Connery took his sixth win of 2011, and second of the day, to end the F2000 Championship Series season with a daring move on 2011 Champion Remy Audette on a restart in round 14. Connery would run away from the pack, although the race did end under caution. Connery’s sweep of Watkins Glen vaulted him to third in points, winning Rookie of the Year for CC Autosport. Rob Nicholas won the Masters Class, finishing second ahead of Audette in a 33-car field.  Pic: Dennis Valet  read report

Formula Renault BARC : Dino Zamparelli is the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Champion after finishing third, and taking the bonus points for fastest lap, during a hugely entertaining final race of the season at Silverstone National Circuit on Sunday afternoon. Off the back of being named one of the six finalists for this year’s McLaren Autosport BRDC Award just over a week ago, the first time in the championship’s history a driver from its ranks has been included, the 19-year-old made his eighth visit to the podium to take the title by nine points from chief rival Josh Webster. .  Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Hector Hurst ended his first season in car racing with a hugely positive weekend in the final rounds of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship, read report

British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star Josh Webster just missed out on claiming the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship title at Silverstone over the weekend, , despite racing to his third victory of the season and claiming a double podium.   read report

Archie Hamilton had a mixed closing weekend at Silverstone with a retirement in the second race, but a season best of second in race one.A new engine solved a shortage of power that Archie has suffered from in preceding races, and in both official practice sessions on Thursday, Archie was top of the time sheets. In qualifying, traffic and red flags made a bit of a lottery for grid positions with Archie setting third and sixth fastest times for the two races. A great start put Archie ahead of Dino Zamparelli into second place in the first race. Archie backed out from the first corner battle with team-mate and title-contender Josh Webster but kept close, waiting to capitalise on mistakes which unfortunately didn’t materialise. He crossed the line in second place to claim another trophy, his fifth of the twelve race season.Race two showed promise with another excellent start, and Archie taking champion Zamparelli off the start line for a second time this weekend. A daring move at the first corner sent him wide and onto the grass but he recovered and still managed to gain a fourth position. From there Archie pushed Khani ahead hard, hoping to force a mistake. After eight laps of wheel to wheel action Archie made his move. Khani, his championship rival for fourth, moved over, pushing Archie onto the kerb which damaged the car, losing its front wing with the impact. With no downforce Archie had no choice but to retire.

In a race he described as ‘the biggest of my career’, Matt Mason defied the odds to take a superb first ever car racing victory on live television during the final weekend of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Silverstone also played host this weekend to the final two rounds of the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship, in which Hillspeed fielded its three regular runners Howard Fuller, Zaamin Jaffer and Sean Walkinshaw. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Staverton based racer Jack Dex was in action at the Protyre BARC Formula Renault season finale, competing with newly formed race team SWB Motorsport. Jack  was looking to secure his most competitive result to date after qualifying in 15th and 13th for the two races on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Race one started slightly behind schedule due to an incident in the previous race, nonetheless, starting in 15th Jack worked his way through the pack by lapping consistently. An overall result of 10th gave Jack his season best finish and 11 crucial points to add to his championship total. After the race Jack said; “I feel like I have been improving at every round this year and Silverstone was yet more evidence of that. It has been a steep learning curve, at Thruxton and now here we have shown we can compete in the top 10.” Race two on Sunday afternoon saw Jack make a great start and keep right on the tail of the cars ahead. An early attempt at an overtake saw him have a coming together with another competitor which resulted in bent front wishbones. Although this didn’t bring Jack’s race to an end, it did seriously affect his pace and made controlling the car a nightmare.  “It was a great result on Saturday and a great race, it was the closest I have been to the ultimate pace, it was a shame we couldn't match this today but I raced hard for every position. It was a shame to come together and bend the tracking so early on.” Jack finished the Championship in 15th position and is now looking ahead to the winter to rest and recuperate. When reflecting on the weekend, Jack commented; “I loved racing on the ToCA package. It was fantastic to race with such a big crowd and to be on live TV. I would like to thank all the guys from Midland Quarry Products, JD Excavations and Whilton Mill for coming to the event and supporting me and SWB Motorsport for providing them with superb hospitality as well as a faultless racing car for me.”Now that the season has come to an end, Jack will undergo keyhole surgery on his ankle and once he has recovered testing will commence in preparation for the 2012 Championship.

Formula Renault: Fortec Motorsports’ Alex Lynn took his twelfth win of the year and team-mate Oliver Rowland his fourth at Silverstone in rounds nineteen and twenty of the CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship. Lynn’s victory in the first race ensured he became the 2011 champion, and Rowland’s victory and fastest lap in the final race sees him finish as runner-up to Lynn.The newly crowned champion’s twelfth victory of the year also saw him break the championship’s record of wins in a season, which had previously held by James Matthews since 1994.Essex-based Lynn dominated the first race of the day, leading from pole position and crossing the line over six seconds ahead of Rowland, who passed Daniel Cammish (Mark Burdett Motorsport) on the first lap. Read report

Formula Vee: Daniel Reynolds ensured that his family’s trek from their hometown of Canberra across the continent to Perth, some 4000 kms away, was worth the effort when he convincingly won the CAMS Formula Vee National title last weekend, driving the Vintage Vee Dub Supplies Sabre 02.Daniel had not seen the Barbagallo circuit prior to opening practice, but was quickly at the top of the timesheets. He qualified in pole position by a margin of almost quarter of a second and cruised to a six second victory in the opening eight lap race. Another comfortable win and a second place by 0.03 seconds in heats two and three ensured Reynolds would start the final from position one. He quickly established a lead of about four seconds and then maintained that to take the chequered flag and the National title. “We’re absolutely rapt to take the win,” said Daniel. “The Vintage Vee Dub Sabre 02 was fantastic all weekend and I want to thank my folks for the great preparation and the huge effort to get me over here for the event.” Not to be outdone by his son’s star driving efforts, Daniel’s dad (and chief mechanic) Chris took home the silverware for Best Presented car. Anyone who has had the good fortune to see the Vintage Vee Dub Supplies Sabre 02 up close will attest to the fact that it is presented more like a show car than a racecar! Chris explains, “The thing is that the Sabre is so consistent that we don’t have to change anything on it during a race meeting. So once I put fuel in it and set tyre pressures, all there is to do from one race to the other is clean and polish!” Attention to detail is what wins races and championships. The Reynolds family is a great example to anyone in motor racing. They prepare their cars meticulously and Daniel focuses on driving consistently and mistake free.Borland Racing Developments and Sabre Formula Vee Racing Cars congratulate Daniel and his family on a well deserved victory!

Ginetta Jnrs: Niall Murray rounded-off the 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship season with an extremely hard-fought win during round 20 at Silverstone National Circuit on Sunday afternoon, taking the victory a mere 0.096 seconds clear of champion Seb Morris. The second half of the season has undoubtedly been incredibly strong for Murray and his Beacon Racing team and after a run of six straight podiums, the younger brother of former British Touring Car Championship racer Eoin concludes his rookie campaign on the mainland fourth in the standings. Second place for Hillspeed driver Morris, added to third from Saturday’s race, boosted his podium tally to 16 for the season while HHC Motorsport’s Charlie Robertson took third to end his maiden season in cars as Championship runner-up.  Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Ginetta Junior Champion Seb Morris made an already remarkable season more so at Silverstone National Circuit over the weekend, 15th/16th October, by adding two further podium finishes to his final season tally – meaning he ends the 2011 campaign with 16 rostrum visits from 20 race starts. Every superlative has already been used to describe the 15-year-old’s thoroughly dominant second year in car racing. Having sealed the title at Brands Hatch a fortnight ago, the Marford-based driver headed into this weekend’s championship finale aiming for more podiums and he achieved it with third place in round 19 and second in round 20 – the latter a mere 0.096 seconds shy of the win. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Charlie Robertson capped-off a fantastic debut season in cars with his ninth podium of the year at Silverstone on Sunday, 16th October at the final round of the 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship. The 14-year-old from Whyteleafe in Surrey took sixth place in the first of the weekend’s races on Saturday which was enough to clinch the Championship runner-up position. Third place in round 20 put the icing on the cake. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Ginetta Junior Championship squad Hillspeed is celebrating after claiming the 2011 team’s title during the final race of the season at Silverstone on Sunday, 16th October – a set of terrific results securing the Hathersage outfit its second crown in as many events. Added to the driver’s championship the team won with 15-year-old Seb Morris two weeks ago at Brands Hatch, this weekend’s team success is just as important to Hillspeed principal Richard Ollerenshaw in only the squad’s second year in Ginetta racing. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Declan Jones concluded his maiden season in the 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship at Silverstone last weekend in fine form, with a strong showing in rounds nineteen and twenty. Declan, who made the step up to the Ginetta Junior Championship for 14-17 year-olds this season, after several successful years in the Formula Kart Stars Series and in the Super One Rotax Series, was slowed by severe engine problems last time out at Brands Hatch. However with no such issues this time he was able to show great pace around Silverstone’s 1.639-mile National Circuit. Read report  Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Ginetta GT Supercup: Adam Morgan will graduate to the high-profile British Touring Car Championship in 2012 after scooping a fully-funded prize drive in the UK’s most popular motor racing series by claiming the inaugural Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup title at Silverstone on Sunday. Finishing second on the road to Tom Sharp in the 27th and final round of the season, Ciceley Racing’s Morgan also bagged the bonus score for fastest lap to deny Total Control Racing’s Carl Breeze the championship crown by just five points.   Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Having recently been crowned 2011 Ginetta G50 Cup Champion – his second car racing title in as many campaigns – Tom Ingram now has even more reason to celebrate, after being selected for inclusion on the MSA Academy’s prestigious Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE).The government-funded AASE is a human performance-enhancing and educational initiative aimed at developing participants into elite athletes capable of competing at the very highest level, catering for 16-18-year-olds and running alongside their sporting programmes.A sports science course, it is designed to teach students how to improve their athletic prowess and achieve competitive advantage, helping talented drivers to attain excellence and realise their full potential by focussing upon academic theory and practical and vocational learning.AASE athletes partake in various workshops and training courses delivered by motorsport specialists. Students receive three separate qualifications within the AASE framework – a Level 3 NVQ in Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance, a Level 3 BTEC National Certificate in Sport (Performance and Excellence) and an MSA Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Motorsport. “It’s a real honour to be chosen by the MSA to participate in the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence,” enthused Tom, already a BRDC Rising Star. “I feel this will help me greatly in my racing career, and I’m very much looking forward to learning from industry experts and not only gaining valuable knowledge but also improving my fitness and my diet.”

Wednesbury’s Total Control Racing missed out on claiming the 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup title by a mere five points at Silverstone National Circuit on Sunday, 16th October, with team driver Carl Breeze incredibly unlucky to lose, what would have been, a deserved championship win.  Read report

Porsche Carrera Cup GB:  In a dramatic final race of the season at Silverstone on Sunday (16 October), George Brewster (Celtic Speed) was confirmed as Pro-Am2 champion in the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB. With eight wins from 19 races, the Scottish racer was the benchmark for the category but was only confirmed as champion at the very end of the season. On the opening lap of the deciding race, contact with another car tipped Brewster’s 911 GT3 Cup into a spin and he had to make a pit stop to change a rear puncture before fighting back to score enough points to beat Keith Webster to the title. Brewster joined the Carrera Cup part way through 2009 and contested a full season in 2010 when he finished second in Pro-Am2 to Glenn McMenamin.“There have been so many highs and lows this season,” he said. “We started on a high with a double win at Brands Hatch and kept up the momentum from there. Then we hit a mid-season blip and we went to the Nurburgring and got taken out after 20 seconds. We had small problems at Thruxton and Snetterton and all these little things cost you. I’m very pleased how it has all turned out,” he said. “It’s been well worth it after a disappointing 2010. The competition is absolutely intense but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.The championship is very well organised; there is a great bunch of guys and the racing is very hard and very competitive. I don’t know what you have to do to get to the front of this championship and so I’ll settle for Pro-Am2!”

The SAS/Redline team has won the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB team championship with the cars of James Sutton and Michael Meadows. The team’s fourth title was secured in the penultimate race of the season at Silverstone on Sunday. The Cleveland-based team has contested the Carrera Cup GB since the championship started in 2003 and has always finished in the top three of the teams’ contest, previously winning the title in 2004, 2007 and 2009. Redline Racing is the most successful team in the nine-year history of the Carrera Cup GB with 66 wins from 179 races to date. Team boss Simon Leonard paid tribute to his entire team at the conclusion of a season that included 37 finishes from 38 starts for the two SAS-backed cars, scoring five wins and 20 podiums. The team’s only non-finish was the result of an accident for Sutton at the Nurburgring in June. “It’s a fantastic achievement for the whole team,” said Leonard. “It is what we’ve worked for all year and the boys have done a fantastic job.It’s all about the whole team,” he continued. “The boys have put together very good cars and James and Michael have driven superbly. Without the support and backing of SAS none of this would be possible. We wanted to win both the drivers’ and teams’ championships and it all came together very well.”

James Sutton says that winning the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB title is the greatest achievement of his racing career to date.Sutton, who will celebrate his 26th birthday later this week, won the crown for the second time in five seasons after a superb campaign for the SAS/Redline team. In a thrilling conclusion at Silverstone on Sunday (16 October), Sutton pipped team mate Michael Meadows and Stephen Jelley to the title after an incredibly hard fought season.Sutton scored three wins and a further 11 podiums in the 19-race season and said that it was a fiercely competitive season. He first won the Carrera Cup title in 2007, his first season in the championship, and finished runner-up in 2009. The London-based racer says that this has been the toughest season in the Carrera Cup GB.“It was a very tough season and I consider this the biggest achievement of my career so far, based purely on the people I’ve had to compete against. To finally come away with the title feels fantastic. We had to work hard to make this year happen in the first place. I’ve struggled to keep pace with Michael Meadows; he’s been driving so well. Stephen Jelley, Euan Hankey, Sam Tordoff, Richard Plant, Ben Hetherington and Jonas Gelzinis; those are the people I’ve had to try and beat week in, week out, and it’s not easy. It’s a very good feeling.  Immediately after the final race at Silverstone Sutton said the victory had yet to sink it. “I was waiting for the phone alarm to go off and wake up again in a Travelodge on Sunday morning all over again,” he said. “After the race I felt numb. Over the last couple of laps it felt like someone else was driving the car!”

Oman Air Racing Team star Ahmad Al Harthy concluded the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship at Silverstone on Sunday, the way he started it six months ago – standing on the Pro-Am 1 podium to finish the season third in the driver standings. Rounding off a truly memorable campaign with his 12th podium of the year, having finished third in Pro-Am 1 during the 19th and final round, the 30-year-old ends his second season driving a Porsche 911 thrilled with the progress he has made, having taken two wins along the way. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Team Parker Racing’s leading squad clinched second place in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB teams’ championship in the finale at Silverstone. The Parker with Juta line-up of Stephen Jelley and Euan Hankey cemented the team’s runner-up spot, although Jelley was unfortunate to fail in his mission of claiming the drivers’ title. Even so, over the course of the 2011 season, Jelley and Hankey each won five races to give Team Parker Racing 10 wins in total from 19 races. That compares to the three and two wins respectively for the series champion and runner-up, but Leicester driver Jelley and Somerset man Hankey had to make do with third and fourth in the championship. Read team report

BTCC: Matt Neal has won the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after coming out on top against his Honda Racing team-mate Gordon Shedden in a nail-biting final race of the season at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire yesterday (Sun 16 Oct).read report

Matt Neal has paid tribute to his Honda Racing Team after scooping the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone last weekend. A victory, a second place and an eighth position were enough for Neal to take his two-litre turbocharged Honda Civic to title glory, just eight points ahead of his team-mate Gordon Shedden. "What an incredible feeling," says Neal. "It has been such a tough fight this season, not only with all the rivals on the grid but from my team-mate 'Flash' Gordon too. It has been nip-and-tuck all the way between all of us and for the title battle to come down to the final race was so tense.  Winning it is a great reward for all the team and we have had the most consistent car across the season. The engine has been sweet and the chassis has been strong at every circuit we have gone to. I have to thank everyone at Honda (UK) for giving me such a great platform to perform with and that is what has given us this championship."  Neal took his eighth win of the season at Silverstone and that set him up to clinch the crown for the third time in his career in the final race. He said that the victory had been the key to his weekend, but also paid further tribute to team-mate 'Flash' Gordon too. "I never thought I would win this once, let alone three times," adds Neal. "We have the new Honda Civic coming out for next season and we are going to work hard on that, and Flash is improving every step of the way, so the package should be great next year too. We'll both be pushing hard, but I think it would be great for him to get one. He deserves it."  Shedden said that he had a taste of the title showdown and is looking forward to another challenge for the title in 2012. He won the second race of the weekend and backed that up with a podium in the opener, but it wasn't quite enough for him to overhaul Neal in the final reckoning. "Finishing first and second is a reward for the effort we have put in for the whole season," says 'Flash'. "We have worked so hard. I am getting closer to claiming the overall title and I am on Matt Neal's heels now. When you see how happy everyone is in the whole team, it’s just mega, you can't be disappointed though even though I didn't take the crown.  We have had a great car, Honda's support has been monumental and we've taken a clean sweep of all the trophies on offer for success in the British Touring Car Championship this season. How can that be a bad year? All we have to do is go out there and repeat it in 2012…"

Silverline Chevrolet driver Alex MacDowall enjoyed a competitive conclusion to his second season in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone on Sunday, 16th October, by chalking up a hat-trick of points finishes to end the year ninth in the title standings. Scoring in each of the weekend’s three races for the fourth time this year, the Carlisle driver did a great job fighting with the might of the turbo-powered runners to post fifth place in round 28, ninth in round 29 and then fourth position in round 30 – just 0.3 seconds shy of the podium. Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Andrew Jordan achieved his target of securing third place in the Independents’ Trophy for Pirtek Racing during the final weekend of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at Silverstone (15/16 October).read report

Super GT: A third victory of the season, his second in succession, saw Benoit Treluyer bow out with honours at the final round of the Super GT campaign as he and Autech team-mate Satoshi Motoyama secured the runner-up spot in the Championship.  Read report

Caterham R300: Motorbike road racing star, Guy Martin, will be the guest driver in the final rounds of the Caterham R300 Championship at Silverstone this weekend (October 22) in what will be his first race on four wheels.Martin, a works rider for the Relentless TAS Suzuki Team, has won the Ulster GP six times, seven consecutive Scarborough Gold Cups and scored 13 Isle of Man TT podiums. The 29-year old will join a packed grid of 300bhp-per-tonne, race-prepared Caterham Superlight R300s for two 30-minute races.  The guest appearance has been made possible by ELAS, an employment and health & safety business support company, which sponsors both Caterham Motorsport and Martin.  Martin was due to make his Caterham racing debut at Snetterton last season but was sidelined by an accident.He said: “I’m really looking forward to it. Racing a Caterham Seven must be the closest thing to racing a bike that there is on four wheels and, from what I’ve seen of the races I’ve watched in the past, they’re every bit as frenetic as us bikers, so I should fit in just fine.”

Karts: Title-winning British and European karting outfit Prima Racing has expanded to add Rotax and Honda Cadet divisions to its ranks – with a wealth of experience set to ensure that the trophies keep on coming. Prima has already established itself as a regular front-runner in the Super Cadet/Mini 60, Comer Cadet and WTP Cadet classes, but the launch of Rotax and Honda Cadet arms will add two further strings to its bow. The Honda Cadet element will be overseen by Rob Monger – father of 2010 and 2011 Super 1 Champion Billy– whilst the Rotax operation is set to be run by Ian Hawkins. “Rob will be spearheading the Honda Cadet side of things, along with myself and Paul Munn,” revealed Prima Racing team manager Jamie Croxford. “Rob last year mechanic’d his son Billy to the Honda Cadet British Championship, with six victories and four further podium finishes from 12 rounds. In charge of the Rotax division, Ian ran his own very successful Rotax team a few years ago, finishing second in the British Championship in the Junior Rotax class for two consecutive seasons. Add into the mix my experience, too, from previously working in Mini Max and Senior Rotax with RL Racing, and between us, we have a lot of knowledge in that area. Both new departments will share the same work ethic as the rest of the Prima Racing team – which is to settle for nothing but the best.” Places are available at Prima Racing at both Honda Cadet and Rotax level for 2012, as well as in the Cadet and Super Cadet classes. For more information, please contact Jamie Croxford at jamie.primaracing@yahoo.co.uk

Race Retro, Europe’s premier International Historic Motorsport Show, will be celebrating the Porsche marque, thirty years of the Group C Porsche 956 and thirty years of the Honda Racing Corporation, when it returns to Stoneleigh Park, Coventry,  from 24-26 February 2012,From the 1948 birth of the iconic 356, the first sports car to bear the Porsche name, to the current-model 911 GT2 RS, Porsche has relentlessly pushed the performance envelope. Committed to technical excellence and continual improvement, Porsche has immersed itself in motor sport, and the lessons learnt and advantages gained are passed directly to its road cars.Porsche’s motor sports heritage across the decades will be well represented at Race Retro, with a number of static race and rally displays plus  guest appearances by Porsche race and rally stars and ‘The Porsche 956 at Thirty’ celebration.

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BTCC: Jason Plato put in one of the best drives of his career in the second of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Silverstone, but despite climbing 18 places it wasn’t enough to secure the championship title for the Oxford-based ace. A puncture on lap 11 of the first of the day’s three races jeopardised the reigning champion’s chances, despite a remarkable comeback over the past two meetings at Brands Hatch and Rockingham.Plato gave it his best shot, climbing from 25th on the grid to reach an astonishing 7th overall in the second of the day’s races in a bid to keep his dream alive, but his decisive, clinical drive wasn’t enough to beat Matt Neal to the title.“We had some pretty bad luck,” Plato said. “But that’s racing, and we always knew Silverstone would be difficult as it’s impossible to overtake the turbocharged cars on fast circuits. We know we’ve got a great car and Silverline Chevrolet/RML are the best team in the business, we gave it our best, and we took it to the final meeting – a lot of people weren’t expecting that.” The third of the day’s races folded more in the Silverline Chevrolet team’s favour – the reverse grid system putting Alex MacDowall on pole and JP third on the grid. A slow start from MacDowall saw Tom Chilton take advantage, but he still managed a solid fourth, while Plato gained a place to take the second step on the podium. Plato’s team-mate finished in the points in all of the day’s three races – seventh in Race One and ninth in Race Two – a solid result for the 20-year old Cumbrian.

F2000: A last lap pass on Tim Minor gave Kyle Connery his fifth win of 2011, and Remy Audette finished third behind Minor to make his 2011 Championship official in a morning 12-lap race at Watkins Glen, run after an aborted non-race attempt on Saturday. Connery fell back early but worked his way up to second, closing in on Minor to grab the lead on the last lap. For Connery, a win at Watkins Glen accompanies victories at Road Atlanta, Mid-Ohio and Mosport.  Pic Valet read report

F1600: After a non-race on Saturday following an opening-lap incident, F1600 Formula F Championship Series competitors got round nine of the 2011 season underway on a cold-but-dry Sunday morning at Watkins Glen. Wyatt Gooden, driving a Van Diemen/Honda for Quantum Racing Services, led from pole for his third win, by just a nose, of 2011, in just three starts, in a shortened race due to a crash on lap seven. Pic Valet  Read report

Formula Renault:  It came down to the very last race of the very last round of the 2011 CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship to secure the top three positions in the table and, after a tough start to the weekend for the Atech Reid GP team all drivers needed to push hard on track to secure those very last valuable championship points on offer. None more so than Tio Ellinas who, after starting from grid 6 in both races today has fought hard to catch down the championship lead, narrowly missing out on count back points to finish the third in the championship.  Read report

Ginetta GT Supercup: Camberley’s 20 year old racer Tom Sharp went into the last meeting of the year, at Silverstone, with a chance of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup championship. Even though he won both races he just missed out on the title by 9 points despite winning 9 races over the season, more than anyone else!. pics: Chris RobertsWiderViewPhoto.com  read report  

Porsche Carrera Cup GB : Nick Tandy, James Sutton and George Brewster were the big winners in the final round of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Silverstone today (Sunday 16 October). While Tandy made it three wins from four starts, Sutton clinched the overall title and Brewster claimed the Pro-Am2 crown in a superb finish to the best season so far for the Carrera Cup GB. Sutton ran second behind Tandy all the way to the flag to win the title for the second time as his team mate and title rival Michael Meadows ran third before having to pit with a front puncture. Meanwhile, Brewster had to fight back from a first lap knock and subsequent puncture to win the Pro-Am2 title. In the final race of the season, Jonas Gelzinis bagged another Pro-Am1 win and Keith Webster dominated Pro-Am2.  Read report

GT: Every winner of GT Academy has a very hard lesson to learn after graduation. As a gamer you can crash your race car, press the reset button and rejoin the race. When you are racing for real a crash is a very different prospect. Jann Mardenborough, the 20-year-old British winner of GT Academy 2011, has been racking up the podium places in the GT4 Nissan 370Z, collecting all the signatures he needs for his international racing licence that will allow him to race in the 2012 Dubai 24 Hours. Last Saturday reality decided to bite back at the virtual-to-real racer. Competing in a round of the GT4 European Cup at the notoriously tricky Zandvoort Circuit in Holland, Jann was out on track during the practice session when he suddenly found himself upside down. “Coming into the last corner I got a bit loose and just couldn’t catch it in time,” Jann explained afterwards. “It all went by in a flash but I didn’t get hurt at all and to be honest I am just annoyed with myself.” The Nissan 370Z went off the track backwards and then rolled over before landing hard, back on all four wheels. Jann was immediately taken to the Medical Centre on site where he was pronounced fully fit and cleared to race. Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for his race car. Suspecting a bent chassis Bob Neville and the RJN Motorsport team decided to call it a day and head back to the UK. “I think Jann has just demonstrated that the reality of being a racing driver isn’t easy,” said Bob. “We work the drivers hard as we are training them to compete at the highest level, just as Lucas (Ordonez) did at Le Mans this year. It was good to see that Jann had a typical racing driver’s reaction to his accident; he was furious with himself! It was also good to hear the scrutineers tell us that our car has a fantastic roll cage. It was a big impact and Jann walked away unscathed, which is always the most important thing.” Jann will now dust himself off and prepare for his next race with the words of Bob Neville echoing in his head. “If you don’t go off every once in a while, you are not trying hard enough.”

F2000/F1600: Series officials from the F2000 Championship Series and F1600 Formula F Championship Series have adjusted the weekend’s schedule following “non-races” due to opening lap incidents on Saturday at Watkins Glen International. In F1600, a big turn two crash caused a long stoppage, and the race will be run on Sunday morning 9:50 local time. The grid will be based on Saturday’s qualifying with Wyatt Gooden in a Van Diemen/Honda leading Championship contenders Bill Valet and Tim Kautz to the green flag. The race will also be just ten laps, instead of 12. The afternoon race will run as scheduled at 2:10, with grid order set by fast laps in race one. Meanwhile, in F2000, a 35-car field took the green flag with Tom Fatur making heavy impact into the pit lane separator. Fatur walked away, but massive damage to the armco led to a red flag. That race will go at 11:25 local time on Sunday, also shortened by two laps, from 14 to 12. Remy Audette, who will clinch the 2011 Championship when the green flag flies, is on pole. pic Janice Eakin

This year’s Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship will go down to the wire during a nail-biting final round decider at Silverstone today , Sunday, after Josh Webster raced to a superb lights-to-flag victory during round 11. The Fortec Motorsport driver, who headed into the event 19 points adrift of Dino Zamparelli at the top of the standings, is now just 10 behind the series leader after easing to a four second win over team-mate Archie Hamilton – second place marking the latter’s best finish of the season. Importantly, Webster also bagged the two bonus points for setting fastest lap.  pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup: Tom Sharp took his eighth win of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup season at Silverstone National Circuit on Saturday, 15th October, to keep his outside hopes of the 2011 title alive – third place for championship leader Carl Breeze though, added to the bonus point for fastest lap, means he continues to head the standings from second place finisher Adam Morgan. Sunday’s title decider will provide an incredible grandstand finish for the Ginetta GT Supercup, only four points separating Breeze and Morgan with Sharp 19 points shy of the series lead after his terrific victory. Whichever of the trio is crowned the first champion of the G55 era, they will also win the amazing prize of a funded drive in the British Touring Car Championship next season. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  read report

Carl Breeze’s bid to win the 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup title, and with it a prize drive in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship next year, is still well on course after finishing third at Silverstone National Circuit on Saturday, during round 26 of the season. The Total Control Racing driver, who went into the weekend eight points to the good at the top of the standings for his Wednesbury-based team, did look set for a potential victory challenge but contact from long-time rival Nathan Freke on lap one ended those hopes. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Ginetta Junior

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Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Nick Tandy claimed a double pole position for the final two rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB during qualifying at Silverstone today. There were dramatically contrasting fortunes for the three title contenders as Michael Meadows and James Sutton shared second and third places, but Stephen Jelley had a torrid time and will start down in seventh and ninth places for the two races. Jonas Gelzinis twice headed Pro-Am1, while it was honours even between Pro-Am2 contenders Keith Webster and George Brewster who shared the category pole positions.With the ambient temperature steadily rising, it was generally the first part of the session that delivered the best times and Tandy (Nationwide/Motorbase) judged the situation perfectly to break the 56s mark and take pole for round 18. He then posted a second best lap of 56.107s to complete a double pole, without needing to use his second set of tyres. At the end of the session he went out on his second set of tyres and did one lap to scrub them in. “It all went to plan,” said Tandy. “We planned the traffic quite well and the car was perfect for the two laps we needed.” Things were almost as good for Meadows and Sutton, who both did two strong times on their first sets of tyres and didn’t even run their second sets. Those tyres will be scrubbed in on the green flag laps for the race. “We thought it might be quick at the start of the session, so we pushed very hard straight away,” said Meadows. “It’s very good for us.” Sutton was equally pleased to run strongly in qualifying. “There is still a long way to go but I’m very excited,” he said. All three drivers should be in good shape on tyres as the races progress into the later stages. A gaggle of quick drivers led the chase of the top three, headed by Sam Tordoff (Team Parker Racing) for the opening race. “We just chipped away and I’m happy to be P4; it’s back where I need to be,” said Tordoff. P4 for the second race went to Ben Hetherington (Oman Air/Redline) after a strong session while Gelzinis (Juta Racing) was fifth overall on both grids to head Pro-Am1. “That was okay; we have consistent speed,” said Gelzinis. Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed) was second in Pro-Am1 with ninth and eighth places overall. “I got two good laps on the first set of tyres,” said Butcher as George Richardson (Motorbase Performance) and Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman Air/Redline) shared the third places. The driver in most trouble in qualifying was Stephen Jelley (Parker with Juta) who lost out in traffic and ended the session with only seventh and ninth places. That leaves Jelley a long way back from title rivals Meadows and Sutton and with a mountain to climb if he is to challenge them for the title. In Pro-Am2, Webster (Redline Racing) and Brewster (Celtic Speed) maintained the championship status quo by taking a pole position each. “I did nothing on my first set of tyres so I went out on the second set and went quicker,” said Webster. Brewster was content to have retained his slender points’ advantage over his rival. “One pole each is okay and we’re cool with that. We know it is going to be very close,” said Brewster. Close behind the title rivals came Steve Parish (Motorbase Performance) and Richard Denny (Parr Motorsport).

Formula Renault: This weekend at Silverstone has proved all too familiar for the Welsh based team, Atech Reid GP. From the first to second qualifying sessions today the team and drivers have worked endlessly to find what little pace is needed to bridge the gap to the front of the pack but, it seems so far at least, whatever has been tried an tested from this morning has not worked.The grid for the first and second race is relatively unchanged with championship hopeful Tio Ellinas starting from grid 6 in both races. The championship is still up for grabs this weekend and if the 19-year-old Cypriot can pressure Lynn into a mistake in the races anything can happen.“If I had gone only two or three tenths quicker I would have been on the front row.” Ellinas stated. “The field is so close so in the racing it will make things interesting. But the team is staying really positive and we will not give up until it is all finished.” Teammates Dan Wells and Oscar King will start 11th and 12 in the first race and 11th and 10th in the second. “I suppose one thing we can take from today is that from the first to second qualifying session we improved in pace.” Dan stated. “ I don’t know what little consolation prize that is but I am looking forward to coming through the field tomorrow.” The time sheets have not been closer this year and although the championship finale is on the Silverstone National circuit, only one second covered the drivers in the first session of the day, and only 8 tenths of a second covered the entire Formula Renault 2.0 UK grid in the second qualifying session this afternoon. Returning to the Atech Reid GP team this weekend, Oscar King added “Qualifying has been disappointing today but, if I tweak a couple of things in my driving I should be able to move up the grid tomorrow. There will be plenty of opportunities to pass on this circuit and that’s what I am focused on now.”

F1600: In split dry and wet sessions, Ryan Leach and Wyatt Gooden posted fast times in F1600 Formula F Championship Series season finale practice on Friday at Watkins Glen International. Ryan Leach led the morning’s dry session in the Spectrum/Honda for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing, with 25 cars posting times, before Wyatt Gooden paced a very damp track in a Van Diemen/Honda for Quantum Racing Services in a sparsely attended afternoon session. Leach is coming off a second place finish at Lime Rock, his best of the year.“The car had a good balance everywhere in the first session. I guess we’ll see what the weather does the rest of the weekend,” said Leach, who added he does not have much rain experience as a major weather system threatens to dump rain on Watkins Glen for the entire season finale weekend. Second on the morning time sheets was Championship contender Tim Kautz, in the Braeburn Thermostats Piper/Ford. Kautz trails Bill Valet in the points battle, with Valet only able to post a time good enough for 12th. Both drivers took home wins at Watkins Glen in June. “We didn’t even try to put in a lap,” said Valet. “We scrubbed tires and shook down the car. I’ve been here before in the rain and it didn’t make sense to push the car this morning. We need to play it safe before qualifying.” Other notables included David Clubine, third quick, ahead of Jeremy Grenier and Gooden. Steve Oseth was sixth with Jim Oseth, Erik Shepard, Mike Scanlan and Chris Keller, in a Piper/Honda, rounding out the top ten. Keller drove from the back of the field to a top ten at Watkins Glen in June, and is a former Formula F National Champion. Eyes are also on Colin Thompson, who crashed during the first practice. Thompson, like Leach, is coming off his best finish of the year at Lime Rock and is currently leading the competition for an end-of-season Alegra Motorsports F2000 test, awarded to the top placing driver under the age of 21 in final points. Thompson’s Swift/Honda will be ready for Saturday qualifying.The afternoon practice session, run under incredibly damp conditions, saw Gooden lead Jim Goughary, Leach, Shepard and Dan Pyanowski.  pic Valet

F2000: Thirty-three F2000 cars put in a few laps in a dry morning practice session before the skies opened at Watkins Glen International for the rest of the day. Championship leader Remy Audette was quickest in the dry, and will clinch the Championship tomorrow as the green flag drops for race one of the double header season finale weekend on Saturday. Hours later, on a full wet race track, Audette was fastest yet again in a session that did not see full attendance. More cars are expected to push the field pass the 35 mark as a few drivers and teams missed the day’s sessions. However, weather conditions are expected to be less-than-positive, with more rain, cool temperatures and heavy win predicted. “We did two laps in the dry and then it started raining,” said Audette. “We had rain tires sitting in the pits but there was an issue fitting them on the wheels with our new brake calipers. I am looking forward to the rain, it’s a lot of fun, but you need to be careful.” Audette added that the fitment issues with his wheels are now fixed. The Canadian ran away from a tough F2000 field in the rain at Mosport in 2010, winning by 20 seconds in a half-hour race. 20011 Masters Class Champion Tim Minor was second fastest behind Audette in the limited dry running, and did not run the rain session. “There’s too much to lose,” said Minor. “I don’t need more practice in the rain, and if it continues to rain the track is going to change anyway.” Minor already had put a full wet set up on his No. 88 Van Diemen.Rob Nicholas was third fastest in his first appearance since Watkins Glen in June, sporting a new aero package on his Van Diemen. Nathan Morcom, meanwhile, has moved to the RFR chassis after contesting the previous rounds of the year in a Van Diemen for Primus Racing. Another storyline for the weekend is the a big battle for second in points amount Minor, rookies Kyle Connery and Robert La Rocca, and two-time 2011 race winner Chris Livengood. Livengood did not go out for the rain session, and has sat on pole at Watkins Glen twice. Additionally, Livengood said that he would rather have a full wet or full dry race, instead of a drying track or a situation in which it starts to rain during the race, as it did to open the season in April at VIR. pic Valet

GP2 racer Jolyon Palmer has been invited back to test for the Barwa Addax team in Barcelona next Wednesday (19 October), before joining Carlin the following day as testing for the F1 feeder series resumes. The 20-year-old Briton enjoyed a productive outing with 2011 GP2 Team Champions Addax at the Jerez circuit two weeks ago, ending the day inside the top ten. Thursday will mark Jolyon's first experience with the Carlin team, who enjoyed an encouraging debut season in GP2 this year. Jolyon, who put in a series of impressive performances during his rookie GP2 season in 2011 with Arden, said: "I'm happy to be back at Addax after a good run at Jerez and I'm looking forward to working with Carlin for the first time. They have proven themselves to be quick in their first season of GP2." Official GP2 testing takes place on 19/20 October in Barcelona, Spain.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Ahmad Al Harthy is the final Porsche Carrera Cup GB racer of the season to benefit from Michelin’s on-going support of the championship by winning a set of tyres this weekend at Silverstone. In his second season in the Carrera Cup GB, the Omani racer has been a leading contender in the Pro-Am1 category and is battling with Rory Butcher to try and take second place in the final category standings. Al Harthy races for the Oman Air/Redline team and enjoys great support from his home country. Having been the control tyre supplier for the Carrera Cup GB since the championship was created in 2003, Michelin is once more supporting the teams and drivers with the award of a complete set of slick racing tyres at each event. Before the start of testing, a name is drawn from a hat to receive the tyres, with a value of more than £1200.

Formula 3: Facu Regalia terminated his 2011 season in Italian Formula 3 championship earlier than expected. Regalia approached last round at Monza confident but concerned about engine problems. Last time out he took  his maiden pole position at Mugello before retiring because of water leak- when he was leading, his car has not been the same since! After a  terrible day yesterday in free practice with a new engine where Regalia was the third from last he decided to call it quits.. “We decided to end our season in Italy. It makes no sense to race here given the circumstances. I was the fastest driver on track during pre-season testing and now I am two seconds off pace. Our chances to achieve good results during this weekend were very slight. My repaired engine was worse, because it didn´t improve my Monza´s performance one week ago”, Regalia explained. “I want to thank all support of my family, sponsors, friends and fans, who backed me in hard moments. Despite my two podium finishes, at Imola and Vallelunga, it was a season quite hard for me”, Regalia added. His next race will be his is debut in the Formula 3 Euro Series at Hockenheim next weekend when he will drive Mücke Motorsport´s Dallara-Mercedes.

Formula Renault: Paul Loup Chatin, the 2010 Euroformula Volant, had a difficult weekend for the final round of the Eurocup Championship in Formula Renault 2.0, on the Barcelona track .In practice Paul Loup was only able to get in one lap because of two yellow flags, result: a 36th place! Chatin did not give up in the race though and he fought his way back up to 13th place, not enough to get into the points however.On Sunday, Paul Loup had a physical problem which handicapped him to the point where he was only able to set 15th best time in qualifing before climbing up to 9th in the race.If the meeting in Barcelona was a disappointment, the season overall remains more satisfying with the Chatin improving in each race. In the ALPS Championship he ended up 3^rd while he was 9th place in the Eurocup. For a first year in the discipline, Chatin achieved his objective with 6 podiums and 3 victories in the ALPS and a podium and victory in the Eurocup. “I’m happy with my first season, even though we all strive for more”, says Paul Loup, “I would have liked to have finished on a higher note but that’s the way it is. I want to thank the physio from the French team who got me back in shape to defend my hopes on the Barcelona track, as well as the whole TECH 1 team who did some good work throughout the season giving me a competitive car. I have to keep working on the qualifiers which are very important because even with a very fast rhythm in the race it’s difficult to reach the top 5 to score the major points. My favourite moment of the season will be, without a doubt, my first victory in Eurocup! I will now hand over to the next winner of the Euroformula Volantand I wish them all the best for next year.”Indeed, the names of the semi-finalists for the “EUROFORMULA VOLANT 2011” are now known, they are Boris BOUVIER, Andréa PIZZITOLA, Jordan PERROY, Victor SENDIN, Kasper KROGH, Pierre SANCINENA, Jonas RODRIGUES, Anthony MICOUD, Simon GACHET, Clovis ROUX, Alexandre COUGNAUD, Thomas VERHEYDE and a substitute  Amaury ROSSERO will all compete on the 9th and 10th November next on the La Châtre circuit.

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Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup : Hockenheim hosts the final round of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup next Saturday, 22nd October, where Daniel Lloyd will be aiming to end his first season of pan-European competition on a high as he bids to seal a top three championship finish. Planning to challenging for victory at the wheel of his 2.0-litre bio-CNG VW, the 19-year-old goes into the 10th round of the campaign just three points shy of third place in the driver standings and within reach of the coveted Vice-Champion’s position. Although a race winner from earlier in the season, the teenager has unfinished business where the top step of the podium is concerned – he was robbed of a second 2011 victory during the previous event at Oschersleben when punted out of the lead of round nine on the penultimate lap. Driving superbly in very difficult wet conditions, Daniel once again proved his class and thoroughly deserved, what would have been, his rightful win. That’s in the past though – the talented Briton’s sole focus now is on Hockenheim. “It really has been a fantastic season so far, the championship is so professional and really well run by the guys at Volkswagen Motorsport”, he commented, “The racing has been absolutely mega all year, especially in the last race at Oschersleben. Obviously, it was frustrating to be taken out of the lead but we showed again we’ve got the pace to win in this championship – hopefully we can at Hockenheim.You always want to end each season as strongly as you can to carry the momentum through the winter”, he added, “Hockenheim went fantastically well for us during the first round back in April, if we can repeat that level of performance again I’ll be really happy.”

DTM: 43 pole positions, 31 fastest race laps, 34 victories and five champion’s titles – that’s the  impressive track record of the Audi A4 DTM since its debut in April 2004 at Hockenheim. The venue at which AUDI’s top seller contested its first DTM race will now also see the final grand appearance of this successful model.  The DTM finale at the Hockenheim on October 21-23 will mark the 84th and - for the time being - last race for the Audi A4 in the DTM. In 2012 a new set of regulations will come into effect in the DTM for two-door coupes. The A4 DTM will be replaced by the A5 DTM which will do a "trial" lap at Hockenheim together with its future competitors directly before the start of the DTM race.  The finale itself promises to deliver plenty of action despite the early title win by Martin Tomczyk from Audi Sport Team Phoenix. Mattias Ekström, the 2004 and 2007 DTM Champion, is only two points behind Bruno Spengler and has a chance of taking the runner-up spot, particularly since the Swede is in supreme form at the moment. He won three of the last four races and finished as the runner-up once.  For Ekström’s squad the race at Hockenheim will still be about winning the team title. Before the last race Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline has a five-point advantage and therefore has a chance of winning this title for the third time, after 2004 and 2007. All points scored by Ekström and his team-mate Mike Rockenfeller will add to the team’s tally. Their rivals are Gary Paffett and Bruno Spengler. The "Rookie of the Year" title has already been decided. It will go to Edoardo Mortara from Audi Sport Team Rosberg.  Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich is now faced with the task of forming the squad for the 2012 season. Therefore, every single driver will give everything at the finale to leave a good impression and to recommend himself for the new A5. 

Formula Renault BARC : Karting graduate Max Robinson will make his car racing debut during the final event of the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship this weekend at Silverstone National. Running on the support package of the BTCC, the last two rounds of the season will be witnessed thousands of spectators at trackside and hundreds of thousands more through the live TV on ITV4 and ITV4 HD. Newcomer Robinson, who will make his single-seater debut in a car entered by students from the National College for Motorsport, is relishing the prospect of competing at such a huge national event and intends to make the most of the opportunity. The 19-year-old, who away from the racetrack is a CNC Machine Programmer for AEM Products, a provider of composites for the FIA Formula One World Championship, comes to cars from karting.“I’m really looking forward to the weekend”, said Robinson, “Everything will be completely new to me, I’ve not even done a standing start before, but I’m excited about the whole experience. I’ve had a few test days at Silverstone and Rockingham, they’ve gone well but I know the race weekend will be really tough. If I can just bring the car home in both races I’ll be happy.” Following on from the recent deal for Anton Spires and the return to action of James Theodore, Robinson’s signing brings the number of entries to 22 – confirming the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship’s place as the best subscribed junior single-seater category in the UK. Dino Zamparelli,  a finalist for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, goes into the weekend leading the Championship by 19 points from Josh Webster. James Thorp and Kourosh Khani are also in with a slight chance of the championship.

Henry Surtees Foundation : David Pittard is joining the host of racing stars taking part in the Henry Surtees Foundation Kart event at Buckmore Park on the 20th October. The event, organised by former F1 world champion John Surtees, will help raise funds for the Henry Surtees Foundation as well as providing the top six drivers with some of the best prizes ever offered at a UK kart meeting. Speaking ahead of the event, David said: "I had the pleasure of racing Henry right at the start of my racing career and to lose such a Talent just reminds you that Motorsport is so dangerous. The idea of bringing an event to boost young drivers careers and raise money for the foundation is a brilliant idea by John Surtees, really giving something back to the sport to find the next British formula 1 driver!" David, who was always impressive during his karting career is relishing the chance to return to Buckmore: "I am really looking forward to getting back in a Kart and Buckmore park is one of the best Kart tracks in the UK. I am always looking for ways to support charities, and having recently completed the London to Brighton Bike ride in aid of Garden House Hospice, this high profile event is the logical follow on.”  Surtees, who set up the Henry Surtees Foundation in memory of his son, said: “Our event is there to give racers at varying levels of their development the chance to come together on similar karts at one of the most testing and exciting kart circuits in the  country. The prizes are career enhancing, as will be the experience of competing against some of the best drivers in Britain. It will be competitive and there will be some great racing on show. It should be enjoyable for all involved.” The Henry Surtees Foundation was set up with the mission to assist people with accidental brain and physical injuries, provide education and training in technology, engineering and fitness & to advance young people by developing their skills and capabilities so that they can participate in society as independent and responsible individuals.The event takes place on Thursday the 20th October at Buckmore Park Circuit. For more information and to come and support David gobto: http://www.henrysurteesfoundation.com

Le Mans: Toyota will compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2012 with a new hybrid power sports car. Its return to the world’s most famous endurance race will be with a new LMP1 chassis designed, developed and produced by Toyota Motorsport in Germany, equipped with a hybrid petrol powertrain engineered by Toyota in Japan. Participation at Le Mans will be one of a number of races Toyota proposes to enter in the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, a competition that will enable it to further explore the potential of its world-leading hybrid technology. The new team will be based at Toyota Motorsport’s Cologne headquarters and it is expected that the new car will be rolled out early in 2012 for an extensive pre-season testing programme. Further details about the team will be announced later. Tadashi Yamashina, Toyota Motor Corporation Senior Managing Officer and Toyota Motorsport Chairman, said: “Toyota has entered Le Mans before, but by using our hybrid technology this time will be a completely new challenge. We want to write a new chapter in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours, as in the FIA World Endurance Championship, through our use of hybrid technology.In addition, we aim to learn from the experience of competing in such a challenging motorsport environment to enhance our production car technology. Le Mans is a legendary race and I would like to thank the ACO and the FIA for their constructive and positive co-operation over the last few months.Toyota Motosport’s current motorsport projects are unaffected by the announcement of the new racing programme and will continue as before.

WTCC: The 19th and 20th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take place at Suzuka's East Circuit next week. This is the fourth consecutive visit of the WTCC to the Land of the Rising Sun, however it is the first time that the Race of Japan will take place at Suzuka. From 2008 to 2010, the Japanese event was at Okayama where BMW scored three victories (Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus in 2009, Colin Turkington in 2010), SEAT two (Rickard Rydell and Tom Coronel in 2008) and Chevrolet one (Rob Huff in 2010). The switch to Suzuka was mainly due to logistics needs, however the WTCC will not run on the full 5.8-km Grand Prix track, but on the 2.2-km East Circuit, for two 23-lap races.The last time Suzuka hosted another FIA World Championship event besides the Formula One Grand Prix of Japan was twenty-two years ago: the Suzuka 480 Kms counting towards the 1989 World Sportscar Championship.

What Yvan Muller and Rob Huff have in common with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna? Answer, they are racing for the same team, fighting for an FIA world championship and facing a crucial confrontation on the Suzuka circuit in Japan. In 1989 Prost and Senna were pretty much in the same situation. When the McLaren drivers arrived at the Japanese Grand Prix, the Frenchman was leading by 16 points ahead of his team-mate who needed two victories at Suzuka and Adelaide to keep his hopes alive. On the 47th lap, while Senna was chasing Prost for the lead, the two McLaren cars made contact at the chicane. Prost retired, while Senna rejoined and took the chequered flag first, but was later disqualified for cutting the chicane, which crowned Prost champion. A year later things got even worse , but that’s another story!  Taking into account that Muller and Huff exchanged a few attentions in some of the previous races (Porto and Donington), should we expect a similar ending at Suzuka? Chevrolet Europe Motorsport Manager Eric Nève commented: "It is an exceptional situation to have drivers of the same team as the only title contenders. We will try and manage this in the fairest way possible by providing them the best cars and conditions to defend their chances. There won't be any team orders. They will race each other hard, but it has to remain fair. I am sure we are going to see some exciting racing and I'm confident that Yvan and Rob will be able to avoid a close like that of the 1989 Japanese GP !"

For the next WTCC event at Suzuka the BMW 320 TC and SUNRED SR León 1.6T cars will be running on heavier weights compared to the Valencia meeting. According to the calculations  based on the lap times set in the three previous events the Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T remains the reference car and will be carrying again 40 kilos ballast. The gaps between the Cruze and the BMW and SUNRED cars are of 0.5 and 0.6 seconds respectively, meaning that the German machines will be laden with 20 kilos and the Spanish ones with 10 kg.The Volvo C30 will run again on its minimum weight (1150 kg) just like in Valencia, while the only model allowed to a weight reduction in Japan will be the BMW 320si (-20kg).

Compensation weight Suzuka

+ 40 kg Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T

+ 20 kg BMW 320 TC

+ 10 kg SUNRED SR León 1.6T

± 0 kg Volvo C30 Drive

- 20 kg BMW 320si

Formula Renault 3.5 Daniël De Jong rounded-off his debut season in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Barcelona in Spain last weekend, 8th/9th October, with an outstanding drive to ninth position in the final race – his first top 10 finish in the category and maiden points score. No sooner had the final event of the World Series by Renault campaign concluded, Daniël was back on track at the Circuit de Catalunya for the first officially timed post-season collective test as teams and competitors prepare for 2012. Running with the International Draco Racing team on Tuesday, , the teenager delivered fourth fastest time during the morning session with his best lap of 1m34.260 seconds (177.8 km/h) placing him a mere 0.3 seconds shy of the outright pace. In session two, Daniël was just outside the top 10 with a time of 1m34.661 seconds (177.0 km/h) – overall for the day he was ninth. “I had a great time in the test with Draco, it went really well and in the first session we were really fast”, he commented, “After such a good weekend in Barcelona, it was good for my confidence to be quick again in the test so I’m very happy with that.”    Pic Renault Sport Media    Read Daniel’s race report

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The season finale for the F2000 Championship Series and F1600 Formula F Championship Series will see the inaugural SOS Children’s Village Cup awarded to the driver in each Series who scores the highest number of points over all four races at Watkins Glen. SOS Children’s Villages – the official charity of both Series - is the largest organization in the world that provides long-term care for orphaned and abandoned children."It is an honor to have these Cups named to recognize the work that SOS Children's Villages is doing. The F2000 Series and F1600 Series are driving awareness of SOS and this will allow us to serve more children around the world and in the United States. I thank all of the drivers and supporters of these series." said John Allen, CEO, SOS Children's Villages - USA.For over 60 years, SOS Children's Villages has been dedicated to providing family-based, long-term care to children who can no longer grow up with their biological families.They also focus on preventing the conditions that cause children to be orphaned and abandoned.Through its Children’s Villages and Family Strengthening Programs, SOS impacts the lives of over one million people each year, with facilities all over the world, including three in the United States.In F2000, following a sweep of both Watkins Glen races in June; Remy Audette is, as usual, the man to beat for the SOS Cup. Chris Livengood, however, is in striking distance, some 26 points adrift of the Canadian, Audette. Kyle Connery could factor in too, 55 points behind. On the F1600 side, the race for the award is similar to that of the Championship, Tim Kautz and Bill Valet separated by just four points. John Robinson looks on from 33 points back, as does Colin Thompson, with Forrest Hull a point behind.Following the final races of the season on October 16, two SOS Children’s Village Cups will be presented at the Series award ceremony.

The Australian Formula Ford Championship will take to the streets of Surfers Paradise this weekend for round seven on the series at the Armor All Gold Coast 600.After a short break, the penultimate round of the championship is guaranteed to produce some exciting racing and plenty of action. The race for the championship is still on at the front and theirs is plenty to play for right the way through the field. Synergy Motorsport Spectrum driver Shae Davies will be excited about racing on the streets of Surfers Paradise and will be looking to continue his strong run of form. The Main Beach resident continues to improve with each outing and will be one to watch next weekend. Championship leader Cameron Waters(left) has the opportunity to wrap up the title at the Gold Coast 600 and will be eager for another win. The Sonic Motor Racing Services driver has been busy since the last round at Phillip Island, driving at Bathurst in the Shannons Mars V8 Supercar after winning the Shannons Supercar Showdown reality TV series. Current third place sitter Jack Le Brocq will be looking for a good result on the streets of Surfers Paradise. The Victorian has been in the UK racing in the British championship in preparation for next season. In total 19 drivers will make up the gird for the seventh round of the series with the cars taking to the track for the first time on Friday morning ahead of races on Saturday and Sunday.  Read Full story

New Circuit: Gary Thompson helped officially open Taiwan’s all-new Penbay International Circuit in spectacular style last weekend when he got behind the wheel of a two-seater Formula 1 car. The 19-year-old Dubliner, who has spent this season contesting the Japanese Formula 3 Championship, became the youngest driver to pilot an F1 car in Taiwan, after accepting an invitation to offer distinguished guests passenger rides at the 3.5km circuit’s opening.  It was also an opportunity for Thompson to catch up with team personnel from KCMG who, having overseen his 2011 single-seater campaign, were now sampling their first taste of running Formula 1 machinery. It was also a new experience for the thousands of fans in attendance. Of course this was just another day at the office for Thompson who, despite the wet conditions, enjoyed his time behind the wheel of the Minardi F1x2 which produces in excess of 700bhp thanks to its Cosworth V10 engine.Gary Thompson: “The car has a lot of power which can be difficult to exploit in the wet, but I know the circuit and KCMG CEOs enjoyed the wheelspin regardless! I’ve been racing in Asia for the past three seasons so to be the first person to drive a Formula 1 car in Taiwan is personally extremely rewarding. Penbay International Circuit is a great venue with a lot of potential in a part of the world that is really beginning to embrace motor sport. Everyone at the track did a fantastic job to get it up to standard in time for the event. You never know, I might be back here one day putting my local knowledge to good use!”

Karts: After clinching a superb top six final placing at the conclusion of the 2011 Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship at Ellough Park Raceway, Luke Whitworth has staked his claim to being the most improved driver in Britain. Pic Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net  read report

Ricky Flynn Motorsport won an unprecedented sixth consecutive Super One title at Whilton Mill last weekend (9 October 2011) when Callan O’Keeffe put the KF3 Championship beyond his rivals’ grasp. The young South African has dominated the series, standing on the podium no less than eleven times. He has also been in impressive form internationally, claiming the runner-up spot in the CIK/FIA World Cup for KF3. “It has been another fantastic year for us,” said RFM owner, Ricky Flynn. “What other team can boast such a legacy of success?”  Adding: “These results are the product of a lot of hard work, second-to-none preparation and professionalism from everyone in the team. On top of that, it is our ability to get the most out of our drivers and give them the best kit with which to go out and get the job done, that sets us apart.” In his debut season with the team, O’Keeffe’s team-mate Connor Jupp claimed 4th overall in the Super One KF3 Championship and 3rd in the CIK/FIA European KF3 Championship. Darius Karbaley, on a limited international programme, underlined his potential with 12th overall in the CIK European title race while in his maiden year in the KF2 class and Europe, Sam Macleod finished 4th in the CIK/FIA European series.  “Callan and Connor both listened, learned, applied the instructions they were given and enjoyed the benefits of this process. Sam laid down an excellent marker for next year with strong performances throughout the year and similarly, for Darius to finish 12th in one of Europe’s toughest Championships is a great achievement. More experienced drivers would be really chuffed with that. He and Sam both put down strong foundations on which they can build in 2012.”  The RFM driver line-up for 2012 is now being considered and evaluated. If you would like the opportunity to compete with the team, please email Ricky at rflynn51@aol.com.  Pic Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net

Superleague Formula Series has been forced to pull out of its scheduled trip to China later this month after terms between the championship and local authorities could not be reached.The nations cup series was expected to contest rounds in Beijing on October 29/30 and Shanghai a week later, before also making its first appearance in South Korea on November 12/13. But with negotiations at deadlock, the championship has been left with no other option than to abandon the Asian races and end its 2011 campaign early. Competitions Director Robin Webb: “While everyone at Superleague Formula recognises this is an unsatisfactory outcome for the thousands of fans, it was simply not possible to travel to China with certain details still to be agreed. That this announcement has come so close to the first scheduled event is testament to the championship’s tireless attempts to stage the races as planned, especially after the warm welcome we received in China last season. Naturally I am as frustrated as anyone that the championship will not be visiting Asia this year. I would like to reassure fans however that plans are already well advanced in putting together a much-improved package for 2012, announcements on which will be made in due course.” 

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Karts: Strawberry Racing is concerned to hear of claims that its drivers have been using ‘special’ chassis in national and international competitions. Strawberry Racing Team Manager Warwick Ringham says: “It’s come to my attention that some rival engine tuners and team-owners have suggested that we use different chassis to those supplied to our customers. This is completely untrue. I can categorically state that we race exactly the same karts as the ones we sell to all our clients. At every race we have entered, our chassis have always passed scrutineering by conforming 100% with the regulations. “To back this up, Strawberry Racing is prepared to sell any of its team karts at the end of any meeting we compete at. Anyone wishing to purchase a complete rolling chassis is welcome to come and see me or my colleague David Gregory during an event, leave a deposit and collect the kart after it has left Parc Ferme and the balance has been settled.”  He added “For drivers concerned that their current engine tuner is blaming the chassis - not their own handiwork - we invite you to try a Cream Racing Engines-prepared motor. We believe you’ll feel and see the difference.”

F1600: The inaugural season finale for the F1600 Formula F Championship Series is set for a thrilling showdown at Watkins Glen this weekend, with Bill Valet and Tim Kautz going head to head for the Dangerous Cargo Cup. Valet leads the standings over Kautz by 10 points, with 110 up for grabs at Watkins Glen. However, with drops calculated, Kautz jumps to the top of the F1600 standings by 13 points. Meanwhile, 26 other entries will try to play spoiler in what has been an ultra-competitive season. Who has the edge? When F1600 visited Watkins Glen in June, Valet won on Saturday in the No. 83 Swift/Ford and Kautz took home first place on Sunday. Since then the Championship contenders have matched each other point for point. pic Valet  Read more

The F2000 Championship Series finale happens this weekend, with the Series’ second visit of 2011 to Watkins Glen International for rounds 13 and 14 of the year’s campaign. Remy Audette will clinch the Championship when the green flag flies for race one on Saturday, but the race for wins, rookie of the year, and second in points will rage on among a 35-plus car grid as the leaves start to change in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Audette swept Watkins Glen in June, winning both races before literally running away with the 2011 Championship. Audette hopes a repeat performance is in order.  pic: Valet    Read more

BTCC: The final round of the DUNLOP MSA BTCC takes place at Silverstone this weekend in association with Honda Racing with five drivers still in with a chance of being crowned 2011 Champion. Silverstone caught up with the five title contenders to get their thoughts on the weekend ahead. Honda Racing Team driver Matt Neal currently heads the championship with 225 points. Neal is more determined than ever to clinch the title: “I am approaching the weekend with a primary goal that one of us must win for Honda. Failure is not an option!” Sitting right on Neal’s tail, Gordon Shedden and Jason Plato both head to Silverstone with 220 points. Looking ahead Shedden said: “It’s been a great season for Honda Racing, already double champions, but now we need the icing on the cake - the Driver’s Championship. Both Matt and I will be giving 110% to make sure a Honda crosses the finish line first at Silverstone.” Defending champion, Plato would love to retain his crown at Silverstone, but knows it will be tough. “It’s exciting, really exciting, because with the number of points available, we’re still in with a shout. We’re going to give our seatbelts an extra tug and throw everything at it. My team, Silverline Chevrolet, has left no stone unturned. They’ve all put in 100% to make sure everything is perfect. One of my mantras is ‘if you’re going to get wet, might as well go swimming’, so we’re going to get our wet suits on,” commented Plato. Mat Jackson currently sits fourth in the Championship, 36 points behind leader Neal. The Airwaves Racing driver, who is also locked in a two-way battle for the Independents Trophy with James Nash, said: “I know that a lot of people have written off my chance of winning the outright title, and I except that it’s a tall order, but while it’s still mathematically viable, then as far as I’m concerned it’s all to play for. Silverstone will suit our car, it’s one of our stronger circuits on the BTCC calendar as a team and I really like it there. The Focus should perform well on the super-fast straights and we’re hopeful of a strong finish to our season.” Rounding off the quintet of title hopefuls, Triple Eight Racing driver James Nash is just seven points behind Mat Jackson and is looking forward to the finale at his local circuit. Nash commented: “Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits. I had some early success here, particularly in my Formula Ford days, so it’s always good to come back and recall those memories. It's my local track too - I only live about 20 minutes away, so it’s nice that more of my family and friends can come along. Coming into the final round still in with a chance of the overall Championship is fantastic. We actually led the way early-on and I think most people thought we'd fall by the way, but we haven't and I think that is testament to the strong team we have at Triple Eight. Of course, my main chance of silverware is in the Independents with just Mat Jackson and me left to battle for that one. Mat's a tough and tenacious competitor, so I'll be taking nothing for granted. The game plan will be the same as always - going for wins. It's how we got here and I see no reason to change now." For those planning to arrive early, Silverstone will also be screening the F1 Korean Grand Prix in the Paddock Bar and on the giant screens from 07:00hrs.

Less than a month ago, Silverline Chevrolet driver Jason Plato’s chances of winning the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship were looking slim. Very slim, indeed. But when life’s full of opportunities, the last thing you do is give up, and as the build up to the BTCC’s inevitably dramatic climax at Silverstone on Sunday 16 October, Plato finds himself just five points adrift of championship leader, and his historic arch-rival, Matt Neal. Plato is also tied on points with Neal’s Honda team-mate, Gordon Shedden. Heading into this weekend, Plato reflects on the season.  Read more

Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship racer Ahmad Al Harthy cannot wait for the final event of the 2011 season at Silverstone this weekend, 15th/16th October, where’s he’s aiming to round-off his hugely successful campaign with yet more Pro-Am 1 podium finishes.Going into the final two races of the season, rounds 18 and 19, third in the Pro-Am 1 standings, the Oman Air Racing Team driver’s first goal is to maintain his top three championship placing – but off the back of his second career Pro-Am 1 race win last time out, the runner-up position is still possible. “We’re going to Silverstone with the same aim we always do, try the best we can and do the very best job possible”, said the 30-year-old, “Winning at Brands Hatch was amazing, the conditions were so difficult with the incredible heat that weekend so it made the result even more satisfying. “It was a very important moment for me and all of my sponsors and supporters, they’re the reason we’re here racing in such a prestigious championship. If we can end the year third in Pro-Am 1 I’ll be very happy indeed although we do have a chance at second place. That will be extremely tough to try and achieve but it is a possibility, so we’ll be going for it.”  After being declared ‘Driver of the Weekend’ just under two weeks ago at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, the challenge at Silverstone’s short National Circuit will be an altogether different one. Ahmad, who has travelled to the UK early for a test today, is confident of a strong conclusion to the season though where he will once more race in support of the Omani National Association for Cancer Awareness

Karts: The Tony Kart Viper Elite chassis is definitely the choice of Champions when it comes to the TKM classes. Last Sunday (9 October 2011) Toby Sowery and Joe Porter won the 2011 Junior and Extreme Super One titles respectively, using Vipers.Created specifically for the TKM classes, the Italian-made frame features a permanent front torsion bar and 50mm rear axle. In the hands of many drivers it has demonstrated its exceptional build quality, handling characteristics and race-winning performance.Boasting a host of features, including; 30mm chrome moly tubing, adjustable front and rear ride height, CNC-machined, self-adjusting hydraulic brake, magnesium wheel rims and engine mount, plus Tony Kart’s trademark stunning looks, the Viper Elite has won several of the most prestigious TKM titles this year alone.   “We would like to congratulate Toby and Joe, plus of course everyone who has raced a Tony Kart Viper Elite or Clubman to victory this year,” said Strawberry Racing’s Warwick Ringham. “We believe it is the best kart for the TKM classes and these drivers, using Litchfield Motorsports-prepared engines, have proved that point, in the best possible way. Congratulations also go to Dave Litchfield and his team, our engine partner in TKM, for the brilliant work they’ve done and results achieved.”

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Road to Indy: Top young drivers from around the world interested in competing in the 2012 Mazda Road to Indy will get a jump start on the season when INDYCAR hosts a two-day test open to USF2000 National Championship, Star Mazda Championship and Firestone Indy Lights teams at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course on Oct. 28-29. Testing will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET) both days with each series receiving a 60-minute session in the morning and a 75-minute session in the afternoon. Top Star Mazda teams participating in the test include JDC Motorsports (winner of the 2011 driver championship with Tristan Vautier), Team Pelfrey (winner of the 2011 team championship), Andretti Autosport (winner of the 2011 Rookie of the Year with Sage Karam), Juncos Racing (the 2010 driver championship winner with Conor Daly) and AIM Autosport (2008 driver championship winner with John Edwards). Also on track will be Linares Racing and The Racing Company. Drivers interested in testing with one or more of these teams are urged to contact the teams directly as soon as possible to make arrangements. Read more

Masters Historic Racing:  A number of Masters Historic Racing competitors are celebrating becoming the first-ever champions in the organisation’s history after the championship –deciders at Spa-Francorchamps. The 2011 season marked Masters’ first year with recognised championship status and ran points-scoring competitions for GP Masters, World Sportscar Masters (WSM), Pre-66 Touring Cars and Gentlemen Drivers Pre-66 GT cars. Each champion receives a TAG-Heuer watch as recognition of their season-long achievement.

GP Masters - Richard Barber (Fittipaldi F5A) secured the GP Masters crown despite a tough weekend at Spa to end the season three points ahead of Rowland Kinch (Arrows A4) and historic racing newcomer Andrew Beaumont (Lotus 76/1). 1st – Richard Barber – 30 Points, 2nd – Rowland Kinch – 2, 3rd – Andrew Beaumont – 23 

WSM - The metronomic Porsche 911 RSR of Mark Bates claimed the WSM title after a dominant season in his class. Fellow Porsche pilot Paul Howells took the runner-up spot, while the stunning Ford GT40 of David Forsbrey was third, shared on occasions with its preparer, Gelscoe Motorsport’s Andy Newall.  1st – Mark Bates – 54 Points, 2nd – Paul Howells – 38, 3rd – David Forsbrey – 35

Gentlemen Drivers - The popular Gentlemen Drivers’ Pre-66 GT Cars championship boasted huge grids and tremendous racing all season. The ex-Jackie Oliver Lotus Elan of established driving partners Michael Schryver/Simon Hadfield took the title, Hadfield often leaping between the Elan and Leo Voyazides’ AC Cobra. Two more drivers who have shared cars for many years, Sean Walker and Ian Flux, took second in their Lotus Elan, while the experienced Rob Hall secured third in the title race with his AC Cobra after an outright win at Donington Park.

1st – Michael Schryver/Simon Hadfield – 41 Points,  2nd – Sean Walker/Ian Flux – 24, 3rd – Rob Hall – 21

Pre-66 Touring Cars - The Mann name, famously connected with Ford touring cars in the 1960s through Alan Mann Racing, returned to its winning ways in 2011. Henry Mann, Alan Mann’s son, took a maiden outright win at Oulton Park in March and went on to win the Pre-66 Touring Car title from Mini ace Nick Swift by just four points. Swift won his class, while fellow Mini racer Philip Burgess secured third.

1st – Henry Mann – 37 Points,  2nd – Nick Swift – 33, 3rd – Philip Burgess 27

Ginetta Juniors: Seb Morris secured the Ginetta Junior Championship title at Brands Hatch, but the runner’s-up spot is still to be decided this weekend at Silverstone. Morris (Hillspeed) has been in superb form all season, and added the Ginetta Junior title to his 2010 Winter Championship crown, clinched at the back end of last year. Now, with the pressure off he comes to Silverstone to try to take two more wins to add to the 12 that he has already.Only George Gamble (TJ Motorsport) and Charlie Robertson (HHC Motorsport) have bettered him and they are the ones scrapping for second place with just 28 points splitting them, once you take dropped scores into account. Gamble won at Thruxton back in May, by mere fractions of a second, to become the first person to stop Morris’ winning run, but has been only an occasional winner since. Robertson scored a breakthrough win at Croft in mid-season and followed that up with success at Rockingham as well. Robertson has proved to be fast and feisty all season, but it is points that are needed this weekend, not just pure speed. The battle between him and Gamble will be intriguing. It isn’t just about the championship, though, as there are a few drivers eager to end their seasons on a high. Reigning Irish champion Niall Murray (Beacon Racing) won at Brands Hatch and is after more victories before the season is done, while Max Coates and William Foster (Tollbar Racing with WIRED) have shown speed this season as well. Myles Collins (HHC Motorsport) raced well at Brands but spun out of the lead when under huge pressure from Brad Bailey (TJ Motorsport), although it was a turning point for Collins who hadn’t led before. He will be eager to repeat that pace this weekend, while Sennan Fielding (TJ Motorsport), Declan Jones (TJ Motorsport) and Tom Howard (Tollbar Racing with WIRED) will all be keen to be at the head of the field.The championship may have been won, but don’t think that is going to detract from the action this weekend. It will be as intense as ever.

Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup:  Three drivers head to Silverstone this weekend in with a crack at the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup title. For Carl Breeze, Tom Sharp and Adam Morgan it is a crucial weekend.After two wins for Carl Breeze (TCR) and one for Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) at Brands Hatch, the pendulum has swung back in favour of Breeze. The first year of pitching the new 3.7-litre G55s against the 3500cc G50s, has been a huge success with excellent racing across both classes. Tom Ingram secured the G50 crown at Brands, but Breeze, Morgan and Tom Sharp all come to Silverstone in with a chance of the title. Sharp can feel the man most deserving after a run of six wins at the start of the season, but Breeze has been around the block a few times and has used his experience to good effect,  even when he hasn’t won, he has scored well. Morgan, another multiple winner this season, has crept into contention, and he was helped at Brands when contact between Freke and Sharp caused Tom (IDL) to go off the road. Freke has been racking up the wins this season as well and while he is 48 points adrift of the leader Breeze, he still has a slim chance of winning the title.Predicting a champion is well-nigh impossible, but Breeze perhaps has the edge, if only because he has been racing for so much longer than his title rivals and knows what is required of him. In the G50 division, Tom Ingram has taken the crown in his Plans Motorsport car. He was ecstatic at Brands: "It’s absolutely phenomenal, I’m lost for words”, said Ingram, “It’s fantastic to win the championship. This isn’t only me, there are so many people behind the scenes I have to thank for making this year happen. It’s a huge team effort, massive thanks to Plans Motorsport and to all my family. All of us have given up so much to win this championship, we’ve been living off 12p supermarket meals for the past four months just so we can go racing. It’s such a family effort and such a team effort, it’s great everything has come together a round early – we’re going to celebrate now!”But still looking for wins are Aaron Williamson and Jody Fannin who are covered by just 29 points and each is determined to end the season as the class runner-up.

British GT : Gregor Fisken helped Trackspeed retain the 2011 Avon Tyres British GT Championship Teams’ title at Silverstone on Saturday where a battling performance in the season finale saw him just miss out on another podium finish.    An impressive year for the Scot and co-driver Tim Bridgman ensured the pair entered last weekend’s season finale also still mathematically capable of winning the hotly-contested championship crown, albeit heavily reliant on results going their way elsewhere.But while they were ultimately not forthcoming, Fisken nevertheless felt delighted to record another solid result, especially at a circuit not entirely suited to the characteristics of his Trackspeed-prepared Porsche 997 GT3 R. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  read report

Tim Bridgman might have just missed out on a fourth Avon Tyres British GT Championship podium finish of 2011 at Silverstone last weekend but the result still helped his Trackspeed squad retain the Teams’ title as this year’s campaign came to an end. Read report

Blancpain Endurance Series:  Phil Quaife delivered a stand-out performance in the Blancpain Endurance Series season finale at Silverstone last weekend, despite his impressive drive ultimately going unrewarded. The Kent racer, who has plied his trade with CRS Racing in the Le Mans Series for much of this season, made the transition from Ferrari to McLaren look effortless at the British Grand Prix venue where development of the factory-supported #60 MP4-12C GT3 continued in the three-hour enduro. Read report

Ginetta Challenge: Mark Davies and Stuart Pearson won their respective classes in the Ginetta Challenge at Silverstone at the weekend, as the final races of the season provided plenty of drama. Provisionally, the drama at Silverstone secured Mark Davies the G40 class title from Sean Huyton while Stuart Pearson won the G20 division ahead of Gary Simms.  Read report

HHC Motorsport drivers Rick Parfitt Junior and William Burns took two impressive results apiece at Silverstone in the final rounds of the Ginetta Challenge. William, in just his second Ginetta Challenge event, went the wrong way on tyre choice in qualifying and was forced to start at the back of the grid, 34th. He made a brilliant start in the opening race and worked his way through the pack on the first lap and despite having not raced on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit before, and his relative inexperience of Ginetta G40s, his pace was extraordinary. By the end of the 20-minute race, William was an astonishing third!  Behind him, Rick bagged 13th place after battling his way past G40s and G20s alike but a down-on-power engine meant that he wasn’t able to work his way up with the leading battle.However, with the engine problem rectified, he shone in race two as Rick started 22nd on the grid and wriggled his way up to fourth place and William, having started even further back (last on the 34-car grid), charged his way up the order to fifth place, meaning that they passed 47 cars between them. It was an excellent performance by both drivers and one that rounded out their season on a high note. read more

Karts: Toby Sowery clinched the Ginetta Super One Junior TKM Championship with a dominant performance at the series’ final round at Whilton Mill, last Sunday (9 October).  The highly-rated 15-year old also created history by achieving the rare feat of winning two separate national series in the same season – after wrapping up the Easykart UK Junior title, a fortnight earlier.Pic Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net read report

William Taylforth scored his first victory in the Bernie Ecclestone supported Formula Kart Stars Championship in dramatic fashion at Ellough Park recently. Snatching victory at the last corner helped push William into seventh place in the final MSA British Cadet standings for 2011.

In its first season of UK and international competition, Strawberry Racing’s motor preparation division Cream Racing Engines has won numerous races and titles; including 2011 Ginetta Super One Rotax Championship, Kartmasters (Jnr and Snr Max) and Rotax Cup (Jnr and Snr Max). Now Cream is happy to supply brand new or ex-works Rotax Max motors, or rebuild your current engine – regardless of what chassis you use – with exactly the same attention to detail as their own race team engines. Complete new engines are now available. Each has been fiched, dyno run-in and tested and comes supplied with exhaust, fiched carburettor, coil and air box. Senior £2,195 plus VAT, Junior/ Mini £2,090 plus VAT.  Alternatively new, fiched engines that have been also dyno run-in and tested, can be supplied with radiator, air box support and fuel pump at £1,775 plus VAT for Senior, £1,700 plus VAT for the Junior and Mini classes. Short engines can be supplied fiched, dyno run-in and tested, with coil from £1,550 plus VAT for Senior, £1,475 plus VAT for Junior/Mini. Full rebuilds for Junior and Senior Max motors start from £460 plus VAT. This includes all internal parts except balance shaft. Dynamometer running-in and evaluation is priced at £75 plus VAT. Ultrasonic carburettor cleaning, set-up (inclusive of new gasket kit) is just £50.00 plus VAT. Strawberry Racing uses the multiple championship-winning Tony Kart Racer EVRR chassis and OTK products.

Formula Renault 3.5: American Alexander Rossi is the 2011 World Series by Renault - FR 3.5 series Rookie Champion and secured third place in the Drivers’ Championship at the season finale in Barcelona. His team, Fortec Motorsports, took 2nd place in the Constructors’ Championship.On Saturday, Rossi brought home 12 valuable championship points with his 4th place finish from the opening race.  read report

10-10-11

Formula Ford: Six months ago at Silverstone, Scott Malvern, Geoff Uhrhane and Jeroen Slaghekke shared the race victories in the opening rounds of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain on the Silverstone National circuit. This weekend, on Silverstone’s Grand Prix track layout, the same trio of drivers shared the spoils in the concluding races of the 2011 season to give the championship a symmetrical send-off. All three of the Silverstone races offered barnstorming excitement and a great display of driving skills from the front-runners, with Uhrhane beating Slaghekke to victory on Saturday after Malvern’s demise with mechanical problems, Champion Scott bouncing back on Sunday morning to take his 18th win of the British season, and Slaghekke securing victory in the grand finale on Sunday evening, and with it championship second. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Newly crowned Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Champion Scott Malvern has been selected for the second year running as a finalist in the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, the richest junior-driver prize in UK motorsport. Jamun driver Malvern, 22, is one of six being pitched against one another to decide the most promising racing talent in the country. At stake is a £100,000 prize and a McLaren F1 test. The judges, led by BRDC president Derek Warwick, will assess the half-dozen hopefuls at a Silverstone test day in November. Ex-Formula Ford racer Emil Bernstorff is one of Malvern’s rivals; like Malvern, Bernstorff raced for Jamun, taking seventh place in the championship in 2010. “I'm delighted,” said Scott. “This vindicates what was seen by many to be a risky strategy in returning to Formula Ford this season, having had such a brilliant 2010. If I hadn't dominated this category in my second season I would have been thought of as a failure. “I've done the job I set out to do. It was in the back of my mind that I could earn a second crack at the award but I never take anything for granted. A big thank you to the judges for selecting me and a massive thank you to the Jamun Racing team and all of my supporters for helping to get me here. I am really looking forward to the competition and intend to enjoy every second of it.” The other finalists are Alex Lynn, Oliver Rowland, Tom Blomqvist and Dino Zamparelli. The McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner will be announced in December. Pic Dennis Goodwin

Dan De Zille produced three tremendous race performances during the season finale at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 8th/9th October, to wrap-up the campaign sixth in the driver standings. Qualifying went well for the Jerseyman with the sixth fastest time, just 0.3 seconds shy of pole position, and the first of the weekend’s races on Saturday proved to be classic Formula Ford at its very best with overtaking at almost every corner. Read report

Formula 3: Anglo-Bahraini racer Menasheh Idafar produced the stand-out performance during the penultimate round of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday with a truly remarkable drive from 19th on the grid to fourth place. Menasheh and the T-Sport team had some extra support for the final weekend of the season with a group of lucky competition winners from St Matthias Primary School in Malvern, Worcestershire, attending the event as special guests. Following an educational visit to the school back in May, during which pupils were set a challenge of designing a racing buggy, 12 youngsters were selected to have produced the best work. Along with the prize of visiting the home of the British Grand Prix to watch Menasheh in action, they also had the chance to see their own names on the livery of his Dallara-Volkswagen. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Double R Racing enjoyed a strong ending to the 2011 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series during the final event of the year at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 8th/9th October, with Scott Pye, category rookie Mitch Evans and Pipo Derani all racing to top results. In two of the three encounters at the 3.66-mile track, the Woking squad emerged as the best of the Mercedes-powered teams; first with a fantastic second place finish for Pye in Saturday afternoon’s race and then a superb top four finish for teenage ace Evans in the final outing of the season. Added to those was a great fifth place result for Derani in the rain-affected second race of the weekend.   Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Dutch racing driver Bart Hylkema concluded his maiden season in the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series pleased with the progress made after a positive outing at Silverstone over the weekend. The final race meeting of the season for the T-Sport driver didn’t start as he wanted with set-up issues in both testing and qualifying. In race conditions though, the 21-year-old performed well with a 13th place finish in round 28 and a similarly strong 14th spot in round 30 – the last race of the year.   Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Felipe Nasr concluded his exceptional 2011 motor racing season by increasing his tally of podium finishes to 17 at Silverstone at the weekend, in the finale of the British F3 Series. Having sealed the title two meetings ago, as the 12th Brazilian driver to become British Formula 3 Champion, the 19-year-old was able to go into the final three rounds without any pressure on his shoulders. .   Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

VW Racing Cup: For the second year in succession, Steve Chaplin has been crowned the champion of the Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants. The Gloucestershire-based Beetle racer clinched the title at Silverstone yesterday (Sunday) with a seventh-place finish in the championship’s penultimate round, and then rounded off his season in perfect style with a win in the finale. It was a fitting end to a remarkable year for the 46-year-old, who now hopes to pursue a career in GT racing. Steve moved ahead in the championship after its summer visit to Zandvoort, where he scored twin wins to add to his earlier Snetterton victory. A further win followed at Rockingham, and now Silverstone, and in addition he scored a further four podium finishes. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Blancpain Endurance Series:  Since finding himself at the wheel of the BMW Z4 GT3 of the Marc VDS Racing team, Maxime Martin has enjoyed some great successes. Pole holder in the recent 24 Hours of Spa for his first official few laps at the wheel of this car, he won, together with Bas Leinders and Markus Palttala, the round of the Blancpain Endurance Series held at Magny-Cours. And this weekend, on the fast British Silverstone circuit, the young Brussels based driver had every intention of carrying on in this vein. pic Dennis Goodwin  Read report

2010 GT Academy winner Jordan Tresson became the second of Nissan’s graduates to win an international championship. Along with his RJN Motorsport team mates, Alex Buncombe and Chris Ward, he took the Nissan 370Z to the GT4 title in this afternoon’s season-closing Blancpain Endurance Series race at Silverstone.Consistently strong performances from the entire RJN Motorsport team throughout the season meant that all the driving crew had to do to seal the Blancpain Endurance Series GT4 Championship was to finish the race.  Aside from one tense moment early on when Alex Buncombe pitted so the team could solve a small problem with a sensor, everything ran like clockwork and the new champions have just been crowned.“It felt like a long race today but it is great to finish it as champions,” said Jordan.  “To win it in my first full year is fantastic so thanks to Nissan, to RJN, all of the mechanics, the drivers, everyone! They have all been so supportive to me.  I’ve learnt so much this year and enjoyed the battles we have had on the track.  It hasn’t really sunk in yet but I think it will hit me tomorrow. What else can I say other than great season, great year, great feeling!” Alex Buncombe joined Jordan in summing up a fantastic season for RJN Motorsport and the Nissan 370Z. “We knew what we had to do today,” said Alex. “Of course it’s a shame we couldn’t push but we knew we had to do a safe job and bring the car home.  The Spa 24 Hours was definitely the highlight of our year as we won the hardest race of the season. We had some great fights along the way, especially with the Lotus boys.  The car has been a pleasure to drive and always kind to its tyres. I am delighted for the entire team.”  The man in charge at RJN Motorsport and a very important figure in the GT Academy family is Bob Neville, who tonight is a very happy man.I’m still soaking it all up,” said Bob. “It feels good to take the Nissan 370Z to a Championship win.  Jordan has done an amazing job this year, especially when you consider that he only won GT Academy in 2010.  He has been so consistent and done exactly what we asked him to do at every step of the way.  He has improved throughout the year and shown that he is a great team player. Great job!”

Formula Renault 3.5 : Nick Yelloly underlined his pace in Formula Renault 3.5 with second place overall in the final round of the series at the Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday In only his third World Series by Renault weekend, the talented Solihull 20-year old demonstrated that his recent rise from GP3 was justified with his second podium position of the weekend.The Williams de broe and Merito-backed top rookie driver commented: “I couldn’t have dreamed that I would have had such a fantastic result in only my sixth race in Formula Renault 3.5 and I must thank the team, Pons Racing for providing such a competitive car. It is particularly rewarding for them to have such a strong result on their home track and today especially the car was superb. We elected to make some changes yesterday and the team translated all of my requests into producing a perfect car for qualifying and the race.”  During early morning qualifying the GP3 graduate was just 0.052 seconds adrift of Anton Nebylitskiy, thus joining the Russian on the outside of the second row, improving on his previous best starting position of fifth at Paul Ricard. There was a chaotic start to the 26-lap final counter as front row driver and eventual champion, Robert Wickens crashed with his team mate, Jean Eric Vergne. This left Albert Costa out front from Nebylitskiy and Yelloly, who started from fourth on the grid, these three holding station until the ninth lap when Yelloly made his move on Nebylitskiy for second. Costa extended his lead to 5.9 seconds to Yelloly, who was in turn 3.5 seconds clear of Nebylitskiy. Two laps later Nebylitskiy came under pressure from Nick as he surged into second place on lap 11. A lap later the gap between the leading duo was 6.3 seconds and Yelloly was hauling in Costa with the latter losing 2.9 seconds on the following lap. The pit window opened shortly after and as Costa pitted, Yelloly took up the running on lap 14, with Costa emerging from the pits in sixth. After Nick’s own pit stop on lap 17, he rejoined the field in third, however, after the whole compulsory pit stop cycle, he resumed in second again behind Costa, 7.1 seconds behind the leader and 8.3 seconds clear of Brendan Hartley. Yelloly was still on a charge, closing the gap to Costa with every tour posting consistently fastest laps until on lap 23, the margin 4.7 seconds, and it all to play for. With just three laps remaining, Nick lost fractions of a second when the yellow flag was shown, but then closed up to Costa on the final tour to finish an enthralling race as top Briton, just 4.4 seconds behind the leader, in second place. Yelloly will stay on in Spain and head straight into the official two-day series test running with ISR, the operation behind the Red Bull Junior Team, which starts on Tuesday.

Carrera Cup GB: Four ambitious young racing drivers have been selected as finalists in the fourth year of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholarship Programme. Created and run by Porsche Cars GB, the 'Carrera Cup GB Scholarship Programme' will provide £80,000 to the selected driver to use as a significant element of their budget for the 2012 Carrera Cup GB season.The four finalists, chosen by an expert panel from a strong array of applicants, will now be put through a rigorous evaluation process at the Porsche Experience Centre at Silverstone in late October, including driving the latest 450bhp 911GT3 Cup car on the Silverstone National circuit.

The four finalists are: Jody Fanning; aged 18 from South Godstone, Surrey, 2011 season: Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup

Tom Ingram; aged 18 from High Wycombe, Bucks, 2011 season: Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup

Daniel Lloyd; aged 19 from Huddersfield, West Yorks, 2011 season: VW Scirocco R-Cup

Ollie Millroy; aged 21 from Esher, Surrey,2011 season: Formula Renault UK Championship

The identity of the 2012 Carrera Cup GB Scholar will be announced in early November.

BTCC: Silverstone is preparing for a bumper crowd at this weekend’s final round of the DUNLOP MSA BTCC at Silverstone, in association with Honda Racing. As an incentive for fans to get to the circuit early and make the most of the season finale, the Northamptonshire venue has announced a host of entertainment and ‘breakfast-special’ offers that it will be laying on for race day (Sunday 16 October). Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits Limited, said, “In addition to being the last round of the season, there are five drivers still in with a chance of winning the title on Sunday, so we’re expecting a big crowd here at Silverstone. We have an action-packed timetable, with non-stop racing throughout the day, including three BTCC races – the first of which gets underway at 11:45hrs. It’s a relatively early start and we’ve lined up plenty of entertainment for fans wanting to get to the circuit early. The entertainment is also designed to help stagger arrival times and ease traffic flow into the circuit.The entertainment starts at 07:00hrs on Sunday morning, when we’ll be showing the Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix live in the Paddock Diner, followed by the Rugby World Cup at 09:00hrs. Elsewhere, funfair rides will be free between 08:00 and 09:30hrs for all children. We are also offering a number of ‘breakfast-specials’ in the Paddock Diner between 07:00 and 09:00hrs on Sunday morning. Children aged 15 and under will be able to eat for just £1* and all adults ordering a Club breakfast will be entitled to a free tea or coffee.”

Alex MacDowall is determined to deliver the strongest performance possible at Silverstone this coming weekend,  to enjoy a positive conclusion to his second season in the Dunlop MSA BTCC. The final three races of the year, rounds 28, 29 and 30, will be incredibly challenging for the British Racing Drivers’ Club Superstar and his Silverline Chevrolet team due to the fact the short, 1.64-mile track will favour the power advantage of the turbo engined cars. Alex’s normally aspirated 2.0-litre Chevrolet Cruze, which proved much more competitive at the technical Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit just over a week ago, will struggle to compete in a fair fight with the turbos but he’s going to try as hard as possible to extract every last bit of performance.“Silverstone will be a struggle but I’ll be going into the weekend with a lot of determination to do as well as we can”, said the 20-year-old, “It is a power circuit, and the three long straights definitely favour the turbos, but if it’s wet then we’ll stand a much better chance. I don’t think we’re going to see hot temperatures like we did at Brands, which is a shame as that did help us a lot.“I’ll start the weekend with a light car (no success ballast to run) so I will try and use that to my advantage in qualifying and race one. Jason (Plato –team-mate) is in the title hunt but hopefully there won’t be too many team orders that could affect me. It is mathematically possible for me to finish seventh in the championship, it’ll be tough but that’s what I’m aiming for.” During the baking hot race meeting at Brands Hatch last weekend, Alex was able to secure his third podium result of 2011 with a terrific performance in the opening encounter. Running a very close second behind Plato, having moved up from third at the start with a good getaway, the Cumbrian unfortunately had to drop back a place on the final lap due to concerns over a potential puncture.Even so, his return to the rostrum was richly deserved but the misfortune that has blighted his year raised its head once more in races two and three, an engine blow-up and gearbox woes leading to a brace of non-finishes.Added to difficulties in free practice with an alternator failure and then a down-on-power engine in qualifying, which was changed by the RML mechanics ahead of the weekend’s first race, Alex had plenty of disappointment to contend with. He didn’t let his head drop though so, hopefully, the determination he’s shown all season will be rewarded with three points scores at Silverstone.

Truck Racing: Brands Hatch will be overcome by ghosts and ghouls this month (Sunday 30 October) as the Kent circuit hosts a weekend of Halloween festivities for all the family – the biggest event of its kind in the county. This special themed event features a whole range of activities and displays, from ghoulish creatures to a display of birds of prey and a ghost hunt. The transformed circuit will also feature a ghost train, ‘Terror Zone’ incorporating a fun fair, Halloween disco and thriller dance routines, plus much more! Visitors to the circuit are encouraged to dress in festive costumes and there will be prizes for kids that enter into the Halloween spirit. The weekend is sure to be a big hit with children and grown-ups on the last weekend of half-term. The track action is set to be just as unmissable as giant racing trucks battle it out during the final round of the Delphi British Truck Championship. The series features many drivers local to the circuit and is sure to be a thriller! There’s also a support bill including close action in the Pickup Truck Racing Championship, the frantic Legends Cars Championship and spectacular BARC South East Saloons. The busy on-track schedule will be the perfect complement to the weekend’s festivities! Tickets for Halloween Truck Racing at Brands Hatch on 30 October are available in advance from £17, with free entry for children aged 12 and under. For more information, call 0843 453 9000 or visit www.brandshatch.co.uk

Formula Renault: As the 2011 Formula Renault UK Championship races towards its conclusion, Jordan King is going from strength-to-strength, with his latest outing around Brands Hatch GP circuit yielding his second-best result of the campaign – although his performance deserved even more.  Read report

Karts: Following a strong performance that yielded a double podium finish at PF International, Nathan Harrison will head into the final outing of 2011 in the fiercely-contested national Super 1 Series as the hunter in the battle for the British Championship crown – and that is exactly the way he likes it. Pic: Graham Smith/TSR Productions  Read report

09-10-11

British GT: A brilliant performance from Phil Glew and Chris Holmes gave the Lotus Sport UK team something to celebrate as the Avon Tyres British GT Championship drew to a close at Silverstone.  Starting from GT4 pole position the #48 Lotus Evora lead the class from the off, with their nearest competitor the #50 Ginetta of Denis/McDonald running close with them in the early stages. As the race wore on Glew pulled away only for the field to be closed up by a 20 minute safety car period midway through the race. Holmes would maintain the lead to take the chequered flag and GT4 win. Holmes who had only driven the car for the first time the day before was delighted with the result: "Brilliant stuff, I Really enjoyed the race. Phil drove the wheels off it to enable me to have a comfortable stint and I really got to learn the car." Team mate Glew enjoyed the race which rounded off a positive year. "What a great end to the season, the team is awesome, the car has been brilliant and all my various team mates this year have done a great job."  The #49 Lotus Evora of Freddy Nordstrom and Leyton Clarke was unlucky not to finish the race after looking like they were set for a podium finish. Heading in to the race Nordstrom and Clarke had an outside chance of taking the GT4 title but an unknown problem saw the car grind to a halt in the closing stages of the race, ending any chances. Nordstrom commented: "I'm a bit disappointed with this weekend; car issues and then breaking down at the end of this race cost us the chance of the GT4 title." Clarke was similarly disappointed: "It's been a bit of a rubbish weekend with the car failing at the end of the race, but that's racing!" Team manager Gary Ayles had mixed feelings about the result, “Phil and Chris did the job and were fastest across the weekend. Followed by the win, I couldn't ask for much more really! I thought we were on for a win and a third but the car failed on the last few laps. The team will be looking into why that occurred.” Looking back over the season Ayles commented: ”All the drivers we've had with us this year have done a fantastic job! Roll on next season!”   Pic:  Chris Gurton Photography

As the final race of the 2011 season came and went, racing ace Freddy Nordström is now reflecting on his inaugural season in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship. read report

Australian GT: An overall round win at a treacherous Mt Panorama on Saturday has left Klark Quinn as one of two drivers still in contention for the Australian GT Championship. With two races remaining at Sandown next month, Quinn is now the only driver with a mathematical chance of beating Mark Eddy, who leads by 46 points.Second placings in both 30-minute races earned the V.I.P. Petfoods driver 107 championship points, one more than Eddy. Gold Coast-based Quinn’s chances of narrowing the deficit to his Victorian rival weren’t helped by constantly changing weather at the 6.2km public road circuit on the outskirts of Bathurst.In the first race, run on a damp track, Quinn’s Mosler MT900 was no match for the Mercedes SLS driven by Peter Hackett. The Mercedes, fitted with the latest electronic driver aids, was clearly superior on the slippery surface. When the weather turned fine for the second race later in the day, Quinn continually lost ground to Eddy’s Audi R8 LMS on Mt Panorama’s two long straights.Having lost the championship lead after failing to finish one race at Phillip Island last month, Quinn now needs Eddy to return the favour for him to have a realistic chance of taking the title.  Read report

Renault 3.5 : Nick Yelloly returned to the Formula Renault 3.5 podium in the opening race in Spain this weekend finishing second in the rookie class and sixth overall. Preparing for only his third weekend in World Series by Renault, the 20 year-old was an impressive second fastest in the collective test on Friday ahead of Saturday morning’s qualifying at the Circuit de Catalunya.The Solihull star repeated his stunning pace of Silverstone and Paul Ricard, setting the seventh fastest time, despite struggling to get a clear lap in the double red-flag affected, half-hour session. In the race, the Williams de broe and Merito-backed Formula Renault 2.0 winner was quick off the line and got up to fifth on the opening lap before being tipped into a spin by an over-optimistic move by another car on lap 26 of 29. Such was his advantage however, Yelloly lost just one place and went on to take his third top six finish in the series, and his fourth podium position from five races. The GP3 racer, who set the bar with a superb performance in the opening two weekends, has once again underlined his ability as one of Britain’s brightest young racing prospects and looks set to secure another top six finish in the final round today. Yelloly commented: “We tried a different set-up in Friday’s free practice, which wasn’t really to my liking so we switched it back for the second and the car was much better managing a promising second place. In qualifying this morning I really struggled to get a clear lap in between two red flag periods and ended up seventh. It’s very hard to overtake here and I knew that qualifying would be crucial to get a good finish. I made a good start to get up to fifth but over the last 20 laps or so, the rear tyres went off and I was suffering with oversteer. I lost a place to Korjus when we touched, but I’m happy to have taken another podium finish in the rookie class in only my fifth World Series by Renault race. Now we’ll study the data, then consider our options with regards to set-up for tomorrow’s qualifying and aim for another top six finish and podium to round out the season.”

Britcar 24 Hours: Regular Britcar runners Sarah Bennett-Baggs and Jensen Lunn were joined by Adam Sharpe and Steve Maher as they headed for the Britcar 24hr race at Silverstone last weekend in what became an incredible story of perseverance by the team to get the Adrian Flux BMW to the finish. On the Monday before the race, regular drivers Sarah and Jensen were informed by Strata21 that their regular BMW E46 had been sold and that they were to run in a completely new car recently purchased.   Read report

Formula 3: Menasheh Idafar produced an excellent drive during round 28 of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit this afternoon, Saturday, 8th October, before an unfortunate drive-through penalty cost him a well deserved 12th place finish.Starting the race down in 18th position due to major oversteer problems in the morning qualifying session, the 20-year-old multiple podium finisher was determined to get a good start and did just that with a fantastic getaway. pic jakob Ebrey Photography     read report

08-10-11

British GT: The #48 Lotus Evora of Phil Glew and Chris Holmes will start the final race of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship in GT4 pole position following a strong effort in the closing stages of qualifying.The Lotus Sport UK drivers lapped quick enough to finish just 0.006 seconds faster that the Scuderia Vitoria Ginetta of Denis/McDonald.Holmes who only drove the car for the first time yesterday said: "I'm really getting to grips with the car now, so fingers crossed it says dry as I've had no running in the wet!" Glew was happy with the performance of the car and admitted there is further room for improvement despite taking pole position. "The car is amazing, I didn't even get a clear run. There is still time in the car to be found."  Meanwhile team-mates and GT4 championship contenders will start from fifth place in class, just one place from title rivals Belshaw and Clutton. A slightly downbeat Clarke admitted after the session, "The car wasn't great, but it's a long race so we can see what we can do." Team mate Nordstrom said "I'm disappointed with fifth place but we will be on it for the race!" Team Manager Gary Ayles was happy with GT4 pole position: "Really pleased with both cars, sterling effort from all drivers. We asked Phil to go quicker in the #48 car on the radio - and he did it! Mega job." The final race of the season will start at 15.55. Live timing is available at http://static.sportresult.com/federations/fia/gt1/index.html?class=avon/.

Dunlop Radical UK Cup:  Bradley Ellis heads into the final Dunlop Radical UK Cup rounds at the Snetterton 300 circuit on October 15&16 aiming to seal his 2011 season with a trio of podium finishes. A solid performance in the penultimate series rounds at his newly-adopted home circuit of Donington Park back in August saw Ellis and teammate Andy Cummings take a healthy championship points haul with two top 10 finishes in the Supersport category. The double-header season finale will see Ellis return to race at the challenging Norfolk track, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, for the first time in three years. In 2008, his British GT guest appearance gave the Ford GT a victorious UK showcase, dominating proceedings with an outright win and second place finish – only missing out on the double race spoils thanks to a 30 second pro driver pairing penalty.  Despite only contesting select series rounds, the Supreme Racing duo lie seventh in the championship following some impressive results including two podiums. Having missed three rounds of the Radical UK Cup, Ellis is not in the hunt for the championship at Snetterton. But that doesn’t stop the 2007 British GT Champion having high aspirations of a third and final trip to the rostrum. Ellis commented: “I’m really looking forward to getting back in the Supreme Racing Radical SR3 at Snetterton. After such a long summer break we’re going to need to take our time to get acclimatised before we push for the final rounds but we had a really good test session at Snetterton earlier this year so that leaves us in good stead.With the Radical rounds arriving late in the season I am sure the new track will be rubbered-in while there has also been some improvements to the kerbing, which will make things a lot better. The new 300 circuit is quite technical so it will be interesting how the other driver pairings fare as it may well fall in our favour. We’re not in the championship fight as we haven’t done every round, but it would be great to get our third podium of the year. It’s slightly unrealistic to think we can win as Andy is still in his first Radical season and year racing at national level. He’s done immensely well and improved massively with every round. He naturally just needs more time in the car but it won’t be long before we’ll start winning as we certainly have the basis for a strong partnership. That said you never know what can happen in the races. More than anything I’m looking for a consistent end to the season before I look at my options for the winter and 2012.”

WTCC race winner and 2009 British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington will rejoin the Wiechers-Sport team for the next two events at Suzuka, Japan and Shanghai, China. The 29-year old Northern Irish has spent the current season in the Scandinavian Touring Car Cup, where he ranked fifth in a BMW 320si. However, he also took part in WTCC's British event at Donington Park, in a Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC. After qualifying fifth, Turkington was involved in incidents at the start of both races; in spite of this he managed to finished twice tenth.
Turkington's car will be supported by Aviva-Cofco, Simon Machell, Chief Executive of Aviva Asia Pacific, commented: "The World Touring Car Championship is a prestigious global motorsports event and the races in Japan and Shanghai China serve as a great platform for us to enhance the awareness of the Aviva brand in Asia. We will be inviting over 300 customers and partners to the event in Shanghai. This allows us to connect with them via our shared passion for teamwork, innovation and performance. We look forward to treating them to a unique experience." Turkington added: "I'm delighted to be racing for Aviva-Cofco Wiechers-Sport. I've had successful races for Aviva in Macau and Okayama and I can't wait to get back in the car and drive for them again, especially because when I raced for Wiechers-Sport earlier this season at Donington we were the fastest BMW and fastest in the Yokohama Trophy."  Dominik Greiner, Team Manager of Wiechers-Sport, said: "It's great to be working with both Colin and WSR and we are pleased to be representing such a leading global brand in Aviva-Cofco. Colin is a fantastic driver and one of his strengths is to be able to get accustomed to new circuits very quickly. As Suzuka and Shanghai are new track for all the drivers, we are confident that he can put this skill to good use to secure good results."

Former GP2 driver Hiroki Yoshimoto will make his first appearance in the FIA World Touring Car Championship at his home event in Suzuka on October 23. The 31-year old Yoshimoto will be at the wheel of a seventh SUNRED León 1.6T car run by the Spanish outfit SUNRED Engineering, alongside regular drivers Gabriele Tarquini, Aleksei Dudukalo, Michel Nykjær, Tiago Monteiro, Fredy Barth and Pepe Oriola. "I'm really excited to join such a successful team as SUNRED in such a competitive championship as WTCC. I have to thank my sponsors SDI and Dechau for giving me this opportunity and I will do my best to be up to the task for the races at Suzuka," said Yoshimoto who built himself a solid reputation racing in Formula 3, GP2 (with two podium results between 2005 and 2006) and, most recently, in the Japanese Super GT.

Masaki Kano will make his comeback to the World Touring Car Championship for his home race meeting at Suzuka on October 23. The 35-year old Japanese racer will take the wheel of the BMW 320 TC run by the German outfit Engstler Motorsport and entered under the DeTeam KK Motorsport banner. A car that was previously driven by Marchy Lee in Brazil, Belgium and Italy, and by Russian driver David Sigacev in Valencia. Kano has become a regular competitor in WTCC Asian events, making occasional appearances with Engstler Motorsport in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

German outfit Engstler Motorsport will expand to four BMW cars for the WTCC events in Asia. Besides the two Liqui Moly-sponsored 320 TC cars of team principal Franz Engstler and Kristian Poulsen, and the KK Motorsport 320 TC that will be driven by Masaki Kano at Suzuka, a BMW 320si with the 2.0L normally aspirated engine will be entrusted to Hong Kong driver Charles Ng on his maiden WTCC participation. After building himself a solid reputation in drifting, the 27-year old Ng began his racing career in the States where he won the 2009 Skip Barber Mazda Challenge; last year he claimed the Asian Touring Car Series title in a Honda Integra. After Suzuka he will also race at Shanghai and Macau.

After securing the 2011 WTCC Drivers' and Manufacturers' titles with three race meetings still to be held, the Chevrolet team have confirmed their three-driver line up for the next season: Yvan Muller, Rob Huff and Alain Menu who are currently first, second and third in the championship's standings. 2012 will be Muller's third season with the American brand, while it will be the eighth for Huff and Menu who are racing for Chevrolet since the WTCC kicked off, back in 2005.  Chevrolet Europe Motorsport Manager Eric Nève commented: "I am happy we can announce our 2012 driver line up ahead of the last, decisive rounds of this season. It makes perfect sense for us to keep them onboard. Rob, Alain and Yvan are not only three top class drivers, committed and professional, they are also excellent ambassadors of our brand. They can now travel to Asia with even clearer minds."

Ginetta GT Supercup: Tom Sharp went into the latest round of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup championship at Brands Hatch leading the championship.After a cool summer we had a final hot weekend with the air temperatures of up to 29C, with the drivers and teams all trying to keep cool.Once the action got underway it was a good start to the weekend for Sharp as he qualified second for the first race, just being piped to pole in the last minute by close rival Carl Breeze.A closely fought first and second races of the weekend saw Sharp finish both in races in second place, finding it difficult to overtake on the GP circuit. In the final reverse race of the weekend on Sunday Sharp started 4th but quickly came through the pack and by lap two was on the back of the leader. Heading into the Hawthorne corner on the grand prix loop Sharp, with the momentum, made his move around the outside of Nathan Freke, who forced Sharp onto the marbles and off the circuit and heavily into the tyre wall at approx 120 mph causing substantial damage.As Sharp commented "Obviously I'm disappointed to lose the championship lead so late in the year and I can't help but think the incident was avoidable, there have been numerous times where me and Nathan have gone side by side and I've given him room and as soon as I needed some he ran me off the track" After the meeting the IDL team have checked the car and have been able to repair it as the core chassis was undamaged. pic by Chris Roberts/WiderViewPhoto.com

ALMS: This is hardly Christophe Bouchut’s first international title, but by becoming the LMP2 Champion of the American Le Mans Series, he has claimed a first crown on the American continent. The cherry on the cake, in a year when Christophe is celebrating thirty years in motorsport, was that the title came along with a first category win at the Petit Le Mans, one of the leading races on the endurance calendar. Read report

07-10-11

Historics: On the Saturday of the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours (16th June 2012), the magnificent cars of the Group C era will be vying for race honours in the annual historic support race run by Motor Racing Legends. The Group C cars last ran at Le Mans in 2010, when a front row of all Silk Cut Jaguars led a mind-boggling grid that included Spice, Sauber Mercedes, Nissan R88C and Porsche 962 among the front-runners. While the 2011 Le Mans Legend, last June, saw a star-studded field of 61 cars from  the fabulously evocative 1949-65 era, such is the enthusiasm for Group C that they’ve been invited back for 2012. The grid of Group C cars which will take to the track just a few hours before the start of next year’s modern 24 Hours is being put together by Group C/GTP Racing. Says Bob Berridge of Group C/GTP, “We are committed to ensuring that Group C attends some of the major historic festivals held throughout Europe, and we are thrilled to be adding to this a support race for what is arguably the greatest race in the world, the Le Mans 24 Hours. Given the level of interest from ‘new’ Group C car owners, it looks certain that we will enjoy another significant increase in grid numbers for 2012.” Meanwhile, Duncan Wiltshire of Motor Racing Legends, the company behind the Le Mans Legend, the annual historic support race at Le Mans, comments, “While we like to pick a different era for the Le Mans Legend each year, there is no doubt that Group C cars have a huge following, and provide some tremendously exciting on-track battles for the hundreds of thousands of Le Mans spectators. We have no doubt that June will see another race to remember.” The precise entry criteria for the Le Mans 24 Hour Group C support race will be advised in due course but, in the meantime, potential competitors should contact Zoë Copas
atGroup C Racing
on +44 (0) 7824 393839.

Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship leader Dino Zamparelli has helped make history for the thriving single-seater category by being the first ever driver from its ranks to be named a McLaren Autosport BRDC Award finalist. The prestigious accolade, which is now in its 23rd year, has been synonymous with identifying the very best talent in Britain and the list of past winners is a veritable who’s who of the top single-seater drivers to have graduated to international racing. Jenson Button, Paul Di Resta and David Coulthard are all previous recipients of the award, as is multiple IndyCar Champion and Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti. Proving Formula Renault BARC’s position as one of the UK’s most important junior categories, the inclusion of Zamparelli in this year’s finals is a huge moment for the club-level championship and confirmation of its ever-growing stature. The evaluations will take place at Silverstone in November.Zamparelli said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to be one of the finalists. It’s really good publicity for the BARC Championship, drivers now know they can race in Formula Renault BARC – which is very cost effective – and have a chance of getting through to the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. I’ll approach it like I do every race, I’ll go out there to enjoy it and do the best I can. I’m not going to have a gung-ho approach, I just want to be as relaxed as possible, enjoy the whole experience and make sure I learn a lot from it too. It’ll be great having the chance to drive so many good cars.” pics Jakob Ebrey Photography

Silverstone battle royal in prospect between Zamparelli, Webster and Thorp. Just a week now remains until the final two rounds of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship take place at Silverstone next weekend 15th/16th October as support to the BTCC. Going into the event, Zamparelli leads with a healthy 19 point advantage over his immediate rival Josh Webster with fellow contender James Thorp a further 22 points adrift. Mathematically, Kourosh Khani can win the championship but his chances rest on misfortune for the aforementioned trio. Antel Motorsport’s Zamparelli, has taken four wins so, while Webster is a double winner this year . Third placed Thorp, the only driver affected by the category’s ‘drop score’ ruling, does have a huge task on his hands to overturn the top two but, having won at Donington Park and Croft earlier in the year, he has the pace and ability to enjoy Silverstone success.

Provisional 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Points (after Rd10 – inc. Drop Score):
1st Dino Zamparelli / Antel Motorsport 243pts
2nd Josh Webster / Fortec Motorsport 224pts
3rd James Thorp / MTech Lite 202pts
4th Kourosh Khani / Scorpio Motorsport 184pts
5th Archie Hamilton / Fortec Motorsport 168pts
6th Kieran Vernon / Fortec Motorsport 149pts

Ginetta Jnrs: Silverstone hosts the season finale of the 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship next weekend, 15th/16th October, where newly crowned champion Seb Morris is planning on making the most of his last two races in the category. Having sealed his second car racing title at Brands a week ago, the pressure is off the Marford driver for rounds 19 and 20 so he’ll be able to go out and enjoy the racing knowing his goal has already been accomplished. Graduation from Ginetta Junior into a higher category is a certainty for 2012 so Seb will undoubtedly want to try and end his association with the championship by adding to his already remarkable tally of wins and podiums.From the 18 races contested, the Liberty Properties and Legat Owen-backed star has taken 11 wins and three further podiums – with six pole positions in qualifying along the way. “The pressure is off as far as the championship goes so I just want to go out, enjoy the weekend and do the team proud – they’ve been fantastic all season”, said The King’s School, Chester pupil, “I’m really happy with the way the season has gone as a whole, we’ve had loads of wins, there have been ups and downs, but we got there through a lot of hard work.If qualifying goes well next weekend then hopefully we can get on the podium or even take a win but my biggest priority is to enjoy the last two races. There should be a great atmosphere and a really big crowd at Silverstone, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Morris to support ‘Breathtakers’ charity at Thruxton this Saturday. While the Ginetta Junior Championship finale is still a week away, Seb will be in competitive action this weekend, on Saturday at Thruxton Circuit for a specially organised charity kart race. Raising funds for the Breathtakers charity, the teenage ace will join drivers from a variety of motor racing categories, including Formula 3, Formula Renault, Porsche Carrera Cup and touring cars, for the race which will get underway at 13.00 tomorrow afternoon. Breathtakers, which supports sufferers of Obliterative Bronchiolitis, was founded in 2007 by Lynne Thompson whose daughter sadly has the condition. OB is a rare and limiting form of non-reversible obstructive lung disease which occurs in both children and adults following injury to the lower tract.

Ginetta GT Supercup: Jamie Orton, current leader of the Caterham Superlight R300 Championship, will make his Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup debut at Silverstone National Circuit next weekend, 15th/16th October, with top team Total Control Racing. Orton, who has been competing in Caterhams for the past few years, is eyeing a step into GT racing in the near future and, as such, will race a Ginetta G55 as team-mate to current GT Supercup points leader Carl Breeze at the Wednesbury-based squad. “I wanted to do this round to see if it’s something I should do next year”, said Orton, “I like sprint racing and one-make championships, they’re what I like to race in, and I do like GT-style cars. Other than the Caterhams I have done a Radical race and just did the Britcar 24 Hours as well in a Marcos so I’ve got other experience. But I’m going into this with open eyes and no expectations! It really is a case of deciding what to do, this is a hobby for me – it’s for fun and to see where I can take it. I’m not under any illusions there may be some paid, professional career out the back of this, it’s about enjoying the racing and if next weekend goes well we might do the Ginettas next year. It’d be great to try and get some sponsorship in to help with next year as well – I’m open to offers!” The car to be driven by Orton is the very same which has been piloted Tim Harvey, Marino Franchitti and Patrick Watts. TCR team principal Lee Brookes is absolutely delighted to have agreed a deal for Orton to sample the Ginetta G55 for the first time and hopes it could lead to a potential association with the talented racer next season. “We’re really delighted to have the second car back out next weekend”, said Brookes, “Jamie has proven to be really quick and talented in Caterhams, his record this year speaks for itself, so we’re sure he’ll take to the Ginetta quickly and have a good weekend. Hopefully, if all goes well, he’ll come back next year and do the full championship with us.Obviously it’s a big weekend for TCR with Carl (Breeze) in the fight for the championship. Anything can happen, and it’s really close between the top four – any one of them could win it. We’re more determined than ever to get the job done, we’ll be giving it our best shot and we know Carl will too.” After next weekend’s Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup outing, the season finale, Orton will return to the cockpit of his regular Caterham Superlight R300 to try and clinch the 2011 title with the climax of that championship taking place on 22nd/23rd October – at Silverstone’s International Circuit.

The Porsche Carrera Cup GB heads to Silverstone (15/16 October) for the closest finish in its history. Just three points split Michael Meadows, Stephen Jelley and James Sutton going into the final two races of the season and with a 27-car grid it promises to be a sensational conclusion to the season. It is not only the overall title that is to be resolved, although Jonas Gelzinis is now Pro-Am1 champion, George Brewster and Keith Webster are battling for the Pro-Am2 title and the teams’ championship will also be decided at Silverstone. SAS/Redline has a useful advantage and strong finishes for Meadows and Sutton in the opening race will seal the title for the Cleveland-based squad. The big story is the overall title race as Meadows and Sutton go head-to-head with Jelley (Parker with Juta). With one score to drop, it leaves Meadows and Jelley level on points with Sutton just three behind. If any of them finishes ahead in both races, that should be enough to settle it. “It’s going to be very tough,” said Meadows, who has enjoyed a superb season. “We’re all going to be giving it everything,” Jelley, meanwhile, is revved up to take the fight to the SAS twins. “It’s really winner takes all, which is fantastic,” he said. “It’s going to be a hell of a weekend.” Sutton reckons that the weekend will throw up a surprise or two. “It never runs smoothly and there is always one final twist,” said the 2007 champion. “I can’t imagine that this one will be any different.”  Of course, there are plenty of other drivers who want to win races this weekend, including Nick Tandy who arrived in the championship in style at Brands Hatch in the Nationwide/Motorbase entry. The Porsche Supercup racer will be hard to beat. Add in Euan Hankey (Parker with Juta), Richard Plant and Sam Tordoff from Team Parker Racing, Ben Hetherington (Oman Air/Redline) and Kieran Vernon (Nationwide/Motorbase) and the stage is set for two epic races. In Pro-Am1, Gelzinis (Juta Racing) is confirmed as champion but Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed) and Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman Air/Redline) are battling hard for second. However, it is still very close in Pro-Am2 where Brewster (Celtic Speed) has a slender advantage over Webster (Redline Racing). “Nothing is won, but we’re in good shape and it is for us to lose,” said Brewster. “It’s all on Silverstone and I think we’ll have a good clean fight there,” countered Webster. Other leading runners in Pro-Am2 include Steve Parish (Motorbase Performance), Yucel Ozbek (Redline Racing) and Richard Denny (Parr Motorsport). The overall points’ situation is: Michael Meadows; currently on 282 but has to drop a score of 10 points, Stephen Jelley; currently on 272 with 0 to drop, James Sutton; currently on 270 but has to drop 1 point. Overall scoring system: 20-18-16-14-12-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 to the first 15 finishers plus 1 point for pole position for each race a 1 point for fastest lap in each race. The Pro-Am2 points’ situation is: George Brewster; currently on 121 but has to drop 11 points. Keith Webster; currently on 118 but has to drop 13 points.Pro-Am2 scoring system: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 to the first 10 Pro-Am2 finishers plus 1 point for Pro-Am2 pole position for each race and 1 point for Pro-Am2 fastest lap in each race.

Formula 3: With a wealth of history, and the best young drivers competing in a unique setting around one of the most challenging city street circuits, the Macau Grand Prix, or FIA F3 Intercontinental Cup, is regarded as the impressive culmination of the Formula 3 season. Volkswagen returns to next month’s glittering season finale, which takes place 17-20 November, to defend its crown after consecutive victories in 2009 and 2010, bidding to become the most successful engine manufacturer in the event’s history. Drivers from the European and Asian Formula 3 championships, including newly crowned British F3 champion, Felipe Nasr, and ATS Formula 3 Cup Champion, Richie Stanaway, are among 15 drivers from 12 nations, who will compete around the 6.120 km (3.803 mile) street circuit, powered by a near-210 bhp Volkswagen engine. Reigning British F3 champions, Carlin, travel out to Macau with a four-strong driver line-up led by Brazilian Felipe Nasr, who claimed the 2011 championship at Rockingham last month. He is joined by championship runner-up Carlos Huertas from Columbia, the Dane Kevin Magnussen, who finished the championship in third place, and Jazeman Jafaar from Malaysia. Hitech Racing, who also contests the British Championship with Volkswagen Power, have submitted entries for Pietro Fantin from Brazil, Portuguese driver António Félix da Costa, and Hannes van Asseldonk from the Netherlands.Following Edoardo Mortara’s back-to-back victories with the Volkswagen customer team Signature in 2009 and 2010, the French Euro Series team will field German duo Marco Wittmann and Daniel Abt, Colombian Carlos Muñoz and Belgian Laurens Vanthoor, who finished as the runner-up last year. A new addition to the team is Carlos Sainz Jr., the son of World Rally Champion and Dakar winner Carlos Sainz. The 17-year-old Spaniard is a rookie at the Formula 3 Grand Prix, but not to the Macau circuit. The Red Bull Junior shone as a guest entrant last year, clinching victory at the Formula BMW Asia-Pacific.The Motopark team will field two drivers, Japanese Kimiya Sato and Jimmy Eriksson from Sweden, while the ATS Formula 3 Cup is represented by Frits van Amersfoort’s championship winning team, who completes the Volkswagen-powered line-up. Richie Stanaway, the dominating champion in Germany’s highest-ranking formula racing series – like van Asseldonk, Eriksson, Fantin, Magnussen and Sainz – will contest the event for the first time.

Double R Racing has a new website, http://www.doublerracing.co.uk/_www.doublerracing.co.uk is now live online, featuring a wealth of information and background on the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series team.Designed and built by industry-leading new media specialists Racecar, the completely overhauled portal will provide regular news updates regarding the Woking squad’s racing and testing exploits along with everything else you’d expect from one of the country’s top teams.Racecar has produced some sensational downloadable wallpapers for the multimedia section and there’s a fantastic ‘heritage’ gallery featuring the famous faces from Double R’s past – including 2007 FIA Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, current Grand Prix star Bruno Senna and Double R’s 2006 British F3 Champion Mike Conway. cAs you’d expect, the site has a regular Twitter feed and link to the Double R Racing Facebook page along with extra content, such as an area promoting the team’s dedicated F3 simulator and one for the squad’s high-profile partners – Mercedes-Benz, Dallara, Hewland Engineering, V4 Wood Flooring and Formula Merchants. www.doublerracing.co.uk

BTCC: Andrew Jordan says that securing third place in the Independents’ Trophy is the major target for Pirtek Racing in the final weekend of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at Silverstone (15/16 October). Andrew will race his Vauxhall Vectra for the final time in the deciding three rounds of the 30-race season at the home of British motor racing. Heading to the final round, Andrew lies sixth overall in the BTCC drivers’ standings and third in the Independents’ category. Meanwhile, his Pirtek Racing team mate Jeff Smith is also looking for a strong finish to his first season of racing at this level. However, Andrew believes that the nature of the Silverstone National Circuit will make it a tough weekend for the Vectras. “It’s a power circuit and we’re the slowest of the turbo cars in a straight-line with the current regulations,” he admits. “So I think we’ll be up against it. We could do with something to mix it all up and some rain might be really good.” With the overall BTCC title now a three-way battle, Andrew reckons that there could be high drama at Silverstone. “The championship is going down to the wire so anything could kick off and we’ll need to try and take advantage of that. The main aim for Silverstone is to make sure we finish third in the Independents.”

Team ES Racing had some positive results from a tough weekend at Brands Hatch for the latest rounds of the Dunlop MSA BTCC as it tackled the full GP layout on an unusually warm October weekend. Saturday was a day to forget for the team; despite the free practice sessions interrupted with problems, Chris James headed in to Qualifying in a positive mood. Unfortunately for the Luton-based driver it was to prove disappointing after a part failure led to the front wheel coming off the car at a high-speed section of the circuit.“The wheel coming off at 130mph was really frustrating, I thought at first it was just a puncture but then the suspension and brakes dug into the ground causing the car to spin and flip me into the wall. Said James, before adding “This obviously caused considerable damage and we were all bitterly disappointed.” The resulting damage meant the team had a tough job ahead of them to get the car race ready and worked through the evening until midnight before heading back to the circuit at 6am on Sunday. “I cannot praise the team enough, there was fantastic morale and it was a great team effort” said James.Sunday saw another heat-wave and an eventful first race would see James finish in 20th position from 29th on the grid. The second race saw the turbo cars back in control of the race meaning James would finish in 25th position. The final race of the day saw a spirited drive by James as he fought the works Chevrolet of Alex MacDowall for position. Despite the RML Chervolet driver passing the #78 Lacetti James would fight back and take position back from MacDowall. As the laps counted down James kept John George and Chris Swanwick at bay to finish 19th. Pic Chris Enion

Croft Circuit has put tickets for its 2012 round of the Dunlop MSA BTCC on sale at a special pre-Christmas rate.The North Yorkshire venue has been allocated a provisional date of Sat 23/Sun 24 June on next year’s calendar. The annual fixture traditionally provides fans in the North East with their only opportunity of the year to see Bthe BTCC on their doorstep. Croft has just confirmed that tickets ordered by 16 December this year will cost just £20 (Sunday) and £30 (weekend). There will also be a discount on camping prices at £10 per pitch per night including unit, car and two people. Tickets to see the BTCC at one of the most popular fixtures on the calendar will surely make for the ideal stocking filler

More top class motor sport to come at Croft in 2011 as the venue has been selected to host the final round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship and British Rallycross Grand Prix on the weekend of 5-6 November.

Britcar: Nicholas Mee Racing rounded off its victorious 2011 Aston Martin GT4 Challenge winning season with a Class 3 victory and second overall in last weekend’s gruelling Britcar 24hr race at Silverstone. Dan de Zille was joined by drivers Karsten Le Blanc, Christiaen van Lanschot, and Robert Nimkoff who together completed 560 laps of the 3.6604-mile GP circuit in the NMR Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 to finish behind the winning McInerney team’s Class 1 GT2 Ferrari 430 and just one lap ahead of the 3rd-place-finishing Class 3 Lotus Evora of Marcos Racing International.  Read full report

Britain’s most gruelling endurance race, the Britcar 24hr, took place last weekend proving a test of teamwork and endeavour for serving and ex-serving soldiers who entered the MX-5 Forces Car to raise the profile of five British Armed Forces Charities. Cheered on by representatives from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, Army Air Corps and RAF Typhoon Display Team and their chosen charities, the MX-5 production car 86 finished 10th in class and 24th overall out of 60 competitors, proving the skill and dedication of the team against purpose-built race cars.read report

06-10-11

Sports 2000: Craig Mitchell the Glasgow based Sports 2000 Duratec race car driver was once again back on the podium after the penultimate round of the March Racing Academy Sports 2000 event at Silverstone on Saturday 1st October, this was a great result and helped cancel out some of the problems which forced the car to retire with a gearbox issue at the previous event.   Pic  Mike Lambert Read report

BTCC: Pirtek Racing will field a pair of new NGTC Honda Civics for Andrew Jordan and Jeff Smith in the 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Team principal Mike Jordan confirmed that the Team Eurotech-operated squad has ordered two cars from Team Dynamics ahead of the coming season. “This is the start of a new two-year partnership with Pirtek and that has given us the confidence and stability to make a major investment,” said Jordan senior. “We are delighted and excited to announce that we will run two new Civics to the Next Generation Touring Car regulations,” he continued. “We will have exactly the same car as Matt Neal. We looked seriously at several options for doing our own car, but we wanted the best car for the start of the new season. That’s as good as it gets.” Jordan has always enjoyed a close relationship with Team Dynamics, which dates back to racing BMW M3s 20 years ago.Andrew, meanwhile, can’t wait to start running the latest Honda Civic. “I’m very excited,” he said. “We’ve straight away put ourselves in the best car on the grid for next year. I’m looking forward to working with Team Dynamics; I think we’ll work very well together and they will be very open with us. I think there will be quite a few envious people when they see that we are in the new Honda. I think it will be the best car on the grid. I’d like to think we’ll be consistently near the front and consistency is something I want to concentrate on.” Smith will stay with the team to build on a successful learning season in the BTCC. “I’m very pleased that Jeff has enjoyed his first BTCC season to the extent that he is stepping up to a new car as well. He has had what you would expect of a debut year in the BTCC and the aim for 2012 is for him to be a regular front-runner,” said Mike Jordan

Formula 3: Leading Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series team Double R Racing is aiming to end the 2011 season on a high at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit this weekend, 8th/9th October, off the back of its most successful outing of the year at Donington Park a fortnight ago.The Woking-based squad, headed by legendary F3 figurehead Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt, will arrive at Silverstone fielding a three car entry featuring regular drivers Scott Pye(pictured) and Pipo Derani and series newcomer Mitch Evans. Double R achieved its second race victory in as many events at Donington Park with Finland’s Valtteri Bottas, the 2011 GP3 Series Champion. Australian racer Pye, who took his first career F3 victory at Rockingham last month, book-ended his Donington weekend with fourth and fifth place finishes but was robbed of a potential runner-up spot to Bottas in round 26 due to contact and a subsequent retirement. Derani also enjoyed a strong outing at Donington, taking a season-best second place finish during the horrendously wet final race of the weekend. In addition, the Brazilian achieved a top 10 placing in the first race to boost his chances of a top 15 championship finish in his maiden season. “Donington was a strong weekend for us, it was great to follow-up Scott’s win at Rockingham with another one at Donington for Valtteri – he showed his class”, said team principal Hieatt, “We know we have a quick car and Scott and Pipo are improving all the time, so we’re confident of a good run this weekend to end the season on a high.” New Zealander Mitch Evans, a front-running force in the GP3 Series this year, will make his British F3 debut with Double R this weekend and after an impressive run in official testing at Silverstone last week, the 17-year-old is expected to make a big impression in the UK’s premier single-seater series. Posting the sixth fastest time in the opening session, Evans – who was a consistent front-runner and a race winner in GP3 this year – concluded the day eighth overall on combined times and should be a considerable threat his weekend. All three Double R drivers finished in the top 10 in the opening run of the test, with Pye eighth and Derani 10th, and those times proved to be their quickest of the day. Overall, the 2010 British Formula Ford champion was 10th with his South American team-mate 13th fastest.  “We’re delighted to have Mitch joining Scott and Pipo this weekend”, added Hieatt, “It’s important to end the year with a flourish and hopefully we can do just that. All three drivers are capable of very strong results at Silverstone – there’s no reason why we shouldn’t see each car in the top 10.”

ILMC: Larbre Competition sealed their second successive Intercontinental Le Mans Cup title at last weekend’s Petit Le Mans with a runner-up finish at the Road Atlanta circuit’s American classic guaranteeing them the championship with a race to spare. The team was on-track as early as September 24th in order to participate in the private test session held during the weekend prior to the event. After a total of four days running, during which 1,400kms were covered, they were able to enter the race with a perfect set-up on the #50 Corvette.  Julie Sueur  Read report.

Karts: Formula Kart Stars drew the curtain on its 2011 season at Ellough Park in Suffolk with a typically warm welcome from the Beccles and District Kart Club and some excellent racing in wonderfully warm weather conditions.As was the case in 2010 numerous competitors in the Formula One Management backed Championship complimented the host club on their efforts over the weekend with a hog roast, live music and a skydiving display and if the atmosphere off track was electric the action on track was equally dazzling. Daniel Ticktum took MSA British Cadet title while Championship stalwart Josh White sealed the Mini Max crown.  Pic Chris Walker/kartpix.net  Read report

Ryan Anderton proudly sported the prestigious number ‘3’ plate on his Fusion Racing kart at the end of the final outing of the 2011 Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship at Ellough Park Raceway – and he confessed that it was an ‘awesome’ feeling.Pic Chris Walker/kartpix.net  Read report

Ginetta Jnrs: HHC Motorsport took a third win of the Ginetta Junior Championship season at Brands Hatch on Sunday after a fine performance by Charlie Robertson. The win made up for disappointment in race one when Charlie was tagged into a lurid slide on the opening lap. Charlie’s win came from third on the grid but he lost ground at the start and was bundled back into fourth place. He charged back into contention and moved past Jake Giddings for third at Druids on lap two and then he overtook Brad Bailey for second. A lap later, Giddings and Bailey moved back ahead of Charlie, but the Caterham-based school pupil powered back into contention and when his race-leading team-mate Myles Collins spun when under pressure from Bailey, Charlie nipped past the pair to grab the lead. Charlie then had to withstand pressure from newly-crowned champion Seb Morris, which he did in fine style to win by 0.181 seconds. Read report

GTs: For the second time in her career, Beitske Visser took part in a car race. At the wheel of a Praga R4S GT1 at the Dutch Supercar Challenge, she discovered the legendary circuit of Spa during the Racing Festival. After her spectacular victory at Assen, everybody was waiting to see what the Dutch karting champion would do. Once more, she created a stir by climbing on the podium!  Read report

Ginetta GT Supercup: Fergus Walkinshaw is heading for his last Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup battle of the year on 15&16 October as the final season rounds are staged at Silverstone. Walkinshaw, who hails from just outside Chipping Norton, will be hoping to conclude his first Ginetta Supercup season by improving on his best fifth place class finish and taking a clean sweep of race results across the weekend. Despite a challenging outing at Brands Hatch last weekend, the Silverstone Racing School Instructor once again proved his pace and potential with a strong qualifying session and a charge through to eighth in class from the back of the grid for round 24. After qualifying sixth, a puncture put him out of the running for round 23 and a brake issue spoiled his third and final race of the weekend. Putting Brands Hatch firmly behind him, Walkinshaw goes in to the seasonal finale on home ground as a promising front runner. Although the 20 year-old hasn’t raced around the Silverstone National circuit for over three years, Walkinshaw can boast significant experience around the 1.64 mile layout and lay claim to setting the Ginetta Junior lap record in 2008. He will tackle two 30 minute feature races in place of the usual trio of 20 minute Ginetta Supercup events. Already set for mid-week testing, Walkinshaw will fine tune the set-up of his self-constructed sportscar under the auspices of Century Motorsport with the ultimate aim of returning to the Ginetta podium following his notable success in the Junior series.“The final championship rounds at Silverstone should make for an interesting end to the season,” said Walkinshaw. “I have been around the circuit quite a few times and I held the Ginetta Junior lap record, so I’m really looking forward to returning to my home circuit and seeing what I can do in my Ginetta G55.The Silverstone National circuit is a really good track and I’ve probably done more testing miles around there than anywhere else. I’ve already tested the G55 this season but that was before I moved to Century Motorsport.I’ve put the disappointment of Brands Hatch firmly behind me. Each race weekend demands a new focus and I head to Silverstone with the aim of equalling my top five class result, although it would obviously mean a lot to take a podium to finish the season on a high.”

05-10-11

Formula Ford: Ben Norton dominated the 2011 Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 Carnival last weekend, qualifying the Wiltshire Motorsport College Spectrum 011 in pole position and setting the fastest lap on the way to a comfortable race victory. In the ultra competitive Formula Ford 1600 category, Norton claimed pole by over half a second, which is a close as his competitors got to him all day. His race pace was half a second a lap faster than his rivals and he cruised to a seven second win in the 15 lap race. “What a fantastic way to end our racing season!” enthused Norton after the race. “The Spectrum has been the car to beat all year. Between the College team and Kevin Mills Racing, we scored more race wins, pole positions and fastest racing laps than any other chassis, so to be able to take out the Carnival is a fitting result. I’d really like to thank my family and the Wiltshire College team for the opportunity to race the Spectrum and I’m pleased to be able to deliver the results they deserved,” he added. Although many miles away from England, Spectrum designer and constructor, Michael Borland, has closely followed the action at Castle Combe. “Everyone at Spectrum Racing Cars is proud of what Ben, Wiltshire College Motorsport and Kevin Mills Racing has achieved this year. The cars have obviously been very well prepared and the drivers have done the job required of them. Our congratulations go to everyone on another terrific season and we look forward to more strong results in 2012!” he said.

Sports 2000: Mike Jenvey was in action in the last weekend at Silverstone in the March Racing Academy Sports 2000 Duratec Championship, running as support to the Britcar 24 hours.  After qualifying on pole Jenvey became embroiled in a battle for the lead with Robert Oldershaw which was settled after the race when Oldershaw was givena  1 second penalty for overtaking under yellows handing the win to Mike.  Read Mike’s report 

Arriving at a gloriously sunny Silverstone as a support race to the renowned 24hr Britcar endurance race, David Pittard and his Pittard M-Sport team hoped to put the memory of a disappointing Oulton Park Sports 2000 race behind them, and close the gap on the leader in the Championship standings. Read report

Ginettas: Finesse Motorsport driver Aaron Williamson enjoyed unprecedented success at Brands Hatch at the weekend by taking a clean sweep of three wins in the Ginetta G50 Championship. Aaron qualified for the first race in fifth position but after two laps hit the front from eventual championship winner Tom Ingram. In his second race starting from pole he never looked back leading all fourteen laps of the Grand Prix circuit. The third race being a similar story apart from the intervention of the safety car on two occasions. The 19 year old becomes the first person this season to win three Ginetta G50 races in one weekend. Ginetta Junior driver Jake Giddings had a mixed weekend. Qualifying second on the grid for race one he lead for four laps in an exciting race between the top ten runners that saw numerous lead changes, until running wide at Paddock Hill bend and eventually finishing fifth. In the second race Jake started from seventh finishing a credible fifth in what was another action packed race that saw several cars ending up in the gravel. Finesse Motorsport heads off to Silverstone in two weeks time to compete in the final meeting of the BTCC season. We would like to thank: Cowley Road Garage, Glenn White, PWM Recycling, Finesse Paving & Civil Engineering and Viridor. Photographs supplied by Graham Holbon

Jody Fannin had a character building weekend at the Brands Hatch GP circuit where he struggled with a car that was off the pace. He qualified in a strong third place and was looking forward to a good showing, but in race one, just a few hours later and on the same tyres, found that his car was a handful and strangely off the pace. His best lap was 1.4 seconds off his qualifying effort while the rest of the field were lapping at similar or quicker times to theirs. He brought his Ginetta G50 home in a frustrated fifth place. The Team Pyro mechanics worked late into the night making major changes to the car in a bid to resolve the issue, but in race two on Sunday morning, although the car was slightly better, the inherent issue remained and sixth place was the result. Once again a major change was made to the car which improved it marginally but another sixth place was all that Fannin could manage. After checking the differential load back at base, Team Pyro found that it was way below the minimum recommended by Ginetta and it explains the lack of pace over the weekend. On the bright side, the MSA Academy student remains the only Ginetta GT Supercup driver to have finished every round, so added to his points tally. "I was hoping for more wins this weekend to add to my first car racing win on the Brands GP circuit last year, but the whole weekend was a struggle which is disappointing. I'm sure we'll bounce back though!" said Fannin.  pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

Formula Renault: The Spa Francorchamps circuit was the backdrop for the final round for the ALPS Championship in Formula Renault 2.0. Three drivers were still in the running, of which two are alumni from the Euroformula School, Paul Loup Chatin, the “Euroformula Volant” 2010 and  Yann Zimmer, and Javier Tarancon. Leading the championship in the hills of the Ardennes, Paul Loup Chatin showed his form from the first free practice, but his two main rivals for the title were never far behind. Despite a best time with his first set of new tyres, Chatin didn’t manage to pull it off in the second and finished in 5th place just behind Zimmer but in front of Tarancon. The strategy for Saturday’s first race was simple. Paul Loup needed to stay ahead of Tarancon and follow Zimmer to the finish to consolidate his position at the top of the table. Unfortunately, he had to abandon the race with a flat tyre three laps from the finish and lost 4th place.  Zimmer and Tarancon went on to finished in 2nd and 6th place respectively.  The final race would therefore decide the Championship and despite a good 5th place, Chatin had to concede to Tarancon and Zimmer, and take third in the ALPS Championship final. Paul Loup Chatin: “Losing a championship because of a flat tyre is really frustrating, especially when it’s a driver who collides with you. I was on track to win the championship but circumstances decided otherwise, particularly in the second race where I twisted my front wing on the very first bend which made steering right difficult. It’s part of the race. Regardless, I’d like to thank my team for their very good work once again.”  There was no disappointment for Laurent Fradon, the Director of the Euroformula School, on the contrary: “To have two students on the final podium of the ALPS Championship is reason to celebrate for the whole school. I understand Paul Loup’s disappointment because the title was just within his grasp. To lose it in that last moment is very frustrating. It’s a tough experience which will certainly make him stronger. Yann’s second place is a great satisfaction, we have followed him all along the season and he has been producing the results, he has a great future in front of him, on a par with Paul Loup. Congratulations are due all round!”

Renault 3.5:  Nick Yelloly will make a welcome return to Formula Renault 3.5 this weekend to contest the final season rounds at the Circuit de Catalunya with Pons Racing. Preparing for only his third World Series by Renault (WSR) race weekend after joining the premier single-seater category at Silverstone, the Solihull star has set the bar with impressive pace and performance. The 20 year-old proved his potential from the moment he got behind the wheel of the Pons Racing Formula Renault 3.5 at Silverstone in August. Setting the second fastest time in only his first practice session was followed with a sixth place finish in his inaugural race, but unfortunately the result was disallowed when the car was deemed to be underweight owing to a suspected faulty re-fuelling machine. Undaunted, Yelloly went one better to finish fifth with an equally impressive performance at Paul Ricard last month, and secure his third podium finish in the rookie category. Now the former Formula Renault 2.0 race winner and 2009 Michelin Formula Renault UK Winter Cup vice-champion is fully focused on securing double top eight results to conclude his 2011 season in style after recently completing his first GP3 season with Atech CRS GP. While continuing to evaluate his options for 2012, following the World Series by Renault season showdown the Williams de broe and Merito-backed driver will stay on in Spain and head straight into the official two-day series test running with ISR, the operation behind the Red Bull Junior Team. Yelloly commented: “The Pons team had always indicated that if I could deliver the results at Silverstone and Paul Ricard they would want me to do the final round, and thankfully we had two good strong performances. And so, thanks to my father and my sponsors, we've been able to commit to Barcelona and I can't wait to get there. I have raced at the Circuit de Catalunya before, in GP3 this year and of course testing, but never in anything as powerful as a Formula Renault 3.5. It would be nice to finish the 2011 season on a high and if I can get two top eight finishes I'll be over the moon. Qualifying will be critical as overtaking in such high-powered cars is going to be pretty difficult. There are only two main overtaking areas as the track features a lot of mid-speed corners. This year's championship is particularly competitive so I'm very happy with the results so far - to beat a current Formula One driver is pretty cool. There are several F1 test drivers out there, many of whom have three or four years experience in WSR, so it's always a tough challenge but I'll aim to pull together another strong result."

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Richard Plant secured a points paying position in race two of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch, ending of a largely unfortunate weekend for the 21-year-old on a positive note. Plant had previously enjoyed the best weekend of his career at Brands Hatch after taking three pole positions and three race victories on his way to winning the Formula Palmer Audi title in 2009, but luck deserted him during the penultimate round of the Carrera Cup season.   Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography read report

04-10-11

La Carrera Panamericana: Busy time ahead for Sarah Bennett-Baggs who lined up to enter the Britcar 24hr at Silverstone last weekend. Sarah was part of a 4 driver team to campaign her Adrian Flux sponsored BMW E46 alongside her regular co-driver Jensen Lung, plus Ryan Hooker and Adam Sharp run by Strata21. Sarah was one of only two lady drivers taking part in the 100 grid car event.This weekend Sarah will be flying off to Detroit, USA to pick up a classic Porsche racecar and drive it down to Mexico to compete in La Carrera Panamericana in late October. The great historical Mexican road-race runs from 21st to 29th October this year. Her Pan-Am co-driver is car journo and author Johnny Tipler who wrote the definitive book on La Carrera Panamericana, published by Veloce in 2008. Their specially-built 914s are down for Historica A+ where their main rivals are Porsche 356s, BMW 2000s and Alfa Romeo Giulia Supers. Powered by 2.0-litre flat-4 Type 4 VW motors, the Team Pan-Am 914s have the chassis set-up and flared wheelarches of the Porsche 914/6 GTsimilar to the work’s competition cars of 1971. Wild and arduous as ever, the Pan-Am race lasts 7 days and covers 2,000 miles up the mountainous spine ofMexico, on a mix of special stages and transit sections, culminating in theendless straights of the northern cactus prairies, and echoing much of the original 1950s route. There’s no let-up. At each night’s stopover the host city is in full-on fiesta mode, with thousands thronging the streets. Sarah and Johnny already have the backing of travel agency Journey Latin America, with support from Motul Oil, Highgate House decals, and Duel, the Dutch Porsche specialists, Michelin Tyres and Adrian Flux Insurance Services they would welcome support from companies seeking publicity or simply being linked with this feisty event. Says Sarah, ‘you can have decals on the cars and the transporter, plus badges on our race-suits, and it’s not too late.  "Its all a little bit manic, but I cannot complain, this weekends endurance will be good training for the long hot days we spend on the La Carrera Panamericana in a few weeks time, I am really looking forward to both events, it will be a proper adventure!" Follow Sarah on Twiiter at SBB911  

Formula Renault: Formula Ford front runner Dan de Zille will be teaming up with Fortec Motorsport to do the Renault Winter Series this November. After three years of Formula Ford and some very impressive Sports-car racing results, automotive engineering student Dan has his sights set on testing his skills at a higher level. Richard Dutton of Fortec commented” The Winter Series is a great opportunity for drivers to get a feel for the Renault Championships and learn to qualify and start”  The Winter series events start the first weekend of November with an intensive weekend of four races at Snetterton followed by an event at Rockingham the following weekend with a further 2 races. Dan will also have the benefit of three days solid testing leading up to the first round at Snetterton so there will be lots of track time to get used to the new car. “The main difference with the car is getting used to the down-force, the Formula Ford cars have no downforce and the Formula Renault cars have both slicks and wings.Since Dan was a front runner in Formula Ford, I see no reason why he should not do just as well in Formula Renault, there will be plenty of data to look at and he will have strong teammates to compare against, he will also have the same technician working alongside him throughout whom he can trust and rely on.” The first event will be at Snetterton on 5th November. After his seat fitting last week Dan commented “I am very excited about the Renault Winter Series, Fortec have a good reputation and I am looking forward to the new challenge, new faces and learning all about the new car, testing my driving ability on a higher level”

Leading Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship team Manor Competition rued a highly unfortunate, and ultimately costly, mix-up during round 18 of the season at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 2nd October, when Jordan King missed out on a near-guaranteed podium.Starting fourth on the grid for the second race of the weekend, the Warwickshire teenager made a good start and immediately gained ground by passing Tio Ellinas around the outside at Paddock Hill Bend to move into the top three.Running competitive lap times, King then benefitted from a drive-through penalty for championship leader Alex Lynn – a result of jumping the start – and so moved into second place at the end of lap two. Then followed the drama as the lead Manor driver himself made an unscheduled pit visit at the end of the subsequent tour after mistakenly thinking he had a drive-through himself.   Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read more

Porsche Club: Caroline Lucas won the 2011 Bill Taylor Memorial event, an annual highlight of the Porsche Club GB motorsport calendar won on handicap by a driver at a selected race meeting. For 2011 that race meeting was the finale of the season on the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, and the trophy went to Invitation class runner Lucas, a long time Porsche supporter who had also won the trophy in 1993 and 1995 and was actually competing in a 2.7 911 previously raced by Bill Taylor. “It’s been off the mantelpiece for a while but it’s lovely to have the trophy back!” said Lucas about the trophy, a carved model of one of Bill’s cars. “We have owned this car for about two years, and had wanted to buy it for ages, so it is really fitting to win the trophy with one of Bill’s cars. I’m going to have to come back next year now and defend it.” The trophy was awarded for the most consistent driver compared to a handicap time established after qualifying. Over the three 25-minute races Lucas came out on top of the 40-plus competitors in the 21st running of the Trophy competition in what was only her third racing outing in over ten years.

Ginetta Challenge: Optimum Motorsport is looking good for two Ginetta titles as its drivers, Mark Davies and Gary Simms, head their classes with two races remaining at Silverstone this weekend. After a season of cracking racing in the Ginetta Challenge, Mark Davies arrives at Silverstone leading the championship having overhauled Sean Huyton at Donington Park last time out. There, Davies took two wins on a wet road for Optimum Motorsport although his second win was purely a class victory as the G40s, on slicks, were left behind the fleetest of the older G20s. Gary Simms, like Davies an Optimum Motorsport driver, won from 10th on the grid, his first ever overall win! That put him into the class lead and Davies ahead in the G40s, and this is a championship which doesn’t involve dropped scores – what you score, you keep.With two rounds remaining. Davies is 21 points ahead of Huyton and looking to add this year’s championship to his 2009 crown, but Sean is certainly not out of contention. He will be a pace-setter here and his Academy Motorsport-run car will be one to watch. He needs to be ahead of Davies in both races and he needs a large number of cars between him and his title rival – or he needs Davies to have a drama. Clive Richards (Colards Motorsport), three times a winner this season, lies third ahead of Mike Robinson who has been unlucky not to win a race this year and there are just 10 points between them, so that will be another fierce fight. Add in Brazilian driver Thiago Calvet (Optimum Motorsport), who flies in from Brazil for each race and was on the podium for the first time at Donington, Yorkshireman Richard Sykes (HHC Motorsport) and Ginetta Junior graduate Ryan Ratcliffe (Piranha Motorsport) and there will be some great tussles at the head of the field. And in the G20 class, Simms leads former BRSCC XR Challenge Champion Stuart Pearson by the slender margin of just two points. With points on offer for pole position, and two lap times needed to set two race grids, things are as important in the qualifying session as in the race, but this will go down to the wire. Had it not been for an engine problem at Brands Hatch in June, Simms may be leading by a greater margin, but here he knows he has to keep out of trouble and stay ahead of Pearson. Two fantastic races are in prospect as the Ginetta Challenge title is decided. Whoever comes out on top as the champion will have richly deserved it.

Kieren Clark is set to race at Silverstone in the Ginetta G40 challenge, with support from the Silverstone based Formula One hospitality group Aspire. Clark is to pilot a Ginetta G40, run by the Cheshire based Track Cars Service race team, in the one make series, as a precursor to a full season for Kieren in the 2012 British GT championship. “It’s a good opportunity for me get out on track with the Ginettas, the drivers are all fighting for championship places, so it will be a challenge. This year I have been focusing on driver coaching, both sports cars and single seaters, so I will get a good chance to put my teaching into practice.“ Kieren has been working with the TCR team all season, who commented, "We are really happy Kieren agreed to race in the last round at Silverstone with us. He's been helping our drivers develop with the Ginetta. We have no doubt Kieren will do a good job for us. He's very committed to helping us get to the top. I would like to thank the Aspire group for helping me get to the position of taking part in this race.” commented Kieren, “Next season I am focusing on being part of the high profile British GT series. I am talking with teams, and with some very tasty cars on the grid from Ferraris, Audi R8’s to Aston Martins, it’s really exciting. I am still looking to bring on board a few more partners, who will have the chance to use the GT races as part of their marketing and advertising. With the media interest and TV coverage, the potential is enormous.”

BMH 4 Hour Relay: Following on from a successsful ‘down to the wire’ finale to their season at a rain lashed Knockhill, where Oliver Barnard took the title by 1 point from 2009 champion Chris Bray, some of the MG ’Trophy’ drivers came out again to defend their resounding 2010 win in the BMH 4 hour relay race at Snetterton on Sunday. Read report

VW Racing Cup: Steve Chaplin stands on the brink of a second successive Volkswagen Racing Cup title as the FUCHS Lubricants-backed championship heads to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit for a thrilling conclusion to the season this Sunday (9 October). The 46-year-old from Gloucestershire arrives with a 32-point advantage after a spectacularly successful season with the Complete Utilities-run ‘Herbie’ Beetle which has netted him four race wins and four additional podium finishes. A finish anywhere in the top seven in the first of the weekend’s races will ensure he retains the crown. However, there are still three men who could yet deprive Chaplin of the title - Joe Fulbrook, the 2008 and ’09 title winner; James Walker and Aaron Mason. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read more

VLN: Having dominated the diesel class of the Nürburgring-based VLN racing championship all season, the Kumho-shod Peugeot RCZ Team Nokia’s white-coloured car No.545 driven by Michael Bohrer, Stéphane Caillet and Jürgen Nett has clinched overall class victory in the series, with two races still to run. Between them, the team’s two cars (one white, one black) have achieved 11 podiums, six victories and four one-two finishes in just eight races. Car No.545’s constant successes currently place it sixth overall among the championship’s hundreds of runners – an astonishing achievement for a 2-litre diesel car.

Superleague Formula Series could introduce a brand new chassis in time for the 2013 season with steps already being taken to find a suitable partner. With the current crop of bespoke single-seaters, built by Elan Motorsport Technologies in time for the inaugural 2008 campaign, due to enter their fifth year of competition in 2012, the nations cup series feels the time is right to begin evaluating its next generation of racing cars. Any new chassis will have a tough act to follow: the crowd-pleasing DP09’s distinctive character, screaming V12, 750bhp and push-to-pass systems has ensured on-track action is seldom anything less than exhilarating as drivers battle wheel-to-wheel.While Superleague Formula will be consulting a number of proven suppliers in the coming months, championship officials recently visited Lola where they were treated to a glimpse of its World Senior Car. Combining state-of-the-art F1 technology with Lola’s expertise in delivering cost-effective one-make chassis, the World Senior Car has the potential to perfectly fulfill Superleague Formula’s requirements. Steve Farrell, Superleague Formula Technical Director: “Lola Group has an incredible pedigree in international motorsport which made them the ideal starting point in Superleague Formula’s search for a new car. The championship has always been different from the mainstream. We would be looking for something exciting and distinctive, but most importantly driver-friendly whilst maintaining a tight control on parts and running costs. “The amazing diversity of projects being undertaken at Huntingdon has helped the Lola Group prove they are capable of successfully tackling new challenges. The glimpse we saw of their World Senior Car gives us confidence in knowing that they perfectly understand our requirements.”

LMS: Pegasus Racing added the Teams’ title in the Le Mans Series Formula Le Mans category to the Drivers’ crown that Mirco Schultis, Patrick Simon and Julien Schell had clinched at Silverstone. At Estoril the team from Strasbourg scored its fourth victory in five races in 2011. and more importantly booked its ticket for the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours. Read report

Britcar: This weekend saw three Jota prepared Mazda MX-5s start what is considered the most gruelling test of car endurance: the Britcar 24hr race at Silverstone race circuit and 24 hours and 1,830 miles later cross the finish line in formation.  The Mazda Financial Services, Sparco and Motul backed Mazda MX-5 GT car was driven by racing drivers Mike Wilds, Mark Ticehurst and Owen Mildenhall, with journalists driving production Car 75 and members of the British Armed Forces in Car 86 raising money for five Forces charities. Read report

Formula 3: Cooper Tires British Formula 3 competitor Bart Hylkema is focused on a strong end to his maiden season in the UK championship when the final event of 2011 takes place this weekend, 8th/9th October, at Silverstone. The 21-year-old from The Netherlands has enjoyed a great first season in F3 – initially making the Rookie category his own with win after win before choosing to graduate to the headline International Class. Even though the Rookie title was within reach after a dominant first half of the campaign, Bart opted to make the challenging step-up to the main class at the midway point of the season in order to try and improve as quickly as possible. Fully satisfied that decision was the correct one for his career development, the T-Sport driver’s view has been borne out with ever-improving pace and some terrific battles in recent races.“I’m very happy with how things have gone since the move to the A Class”, said Bart, “It was quite a jump in at the deep end but it was definitely the right decision for us. I’m enjoying the racing much more and although the results aren’t there just yet, we know they’ll come. Last Wednesday, 28th September, the F3 competitors took part in their final test of the season at Silverstone as preparation for this coming weekend’s three races. Although the day proved tricky in terms of finding an optimum set-up, the Dutch driver remains confident of a big improvement for the championship finale. “The test was a bit of a struggle for us to be honest, the morning wasn’t very good on the whole for the team but by the end of the day we had made progress”, said Bart. “Silverstone is a great track, I really do like it and it is one of the British circuits I have experience of so I’m really looking forward to racing there again. It’s one of the hardest tracks to put together a really good lap on but very satisfying when you get it right. Hopefully we can have a strong end to the season.”

Sunoco GRAND-AM 200 Challenge:  Aaron Steele made history this weekend as he became the first driver to secure the Sunoco Grand-AM 200 prize which will see him head to Daytona Beach, Florida to compete in a supporting role to the internationally renowned Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway race.  read more

Ginetta Jnrs: Declan Jones took two top-ten finishes during rounds seventeen and eighteen of the 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship at Brands Hatch last weekend, despite severe engine problems that left him down on power.   Read more

Welsh teenager Seb Morris won the Ginetta Junior Championship title in style at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 1st/2nd October, with a double podium finish during rounds 17 and 18 of the season. Still aged only 15, he has added this to his 2010 Winter Series Championship success. Jakob Ebrey Photography Read more

Seb Morris’s Ginetta Jnr Championship win for Hathersage-based Hillspeed over the weekend sealed the crown with a performance that underlined the 15-year-old’s and the team’s dominance and also marked the second back-to-back success with Tom Ingram having won the championship for Hillspeed in 2010. Including Morris’ Ginetta Junior Winter Series triumph last November, Richard Ollerenshaw’s squad has won the last three titles up for grabs – not a bad return for a team that only debuted in Ginetta racing at the start of 2010. Read team report

It was an emotional moment, he confessed, as he climbed from his Plans Motorsport car at the end of race three at Brands Hatch and ascended the podium to collect his trophy – and as Tom Ingram reflects upon his superb title glory in the 2011 Ginetta G50 Cup, he admits that it has always been very much a family effort.   pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Super GT: The combination of Satoshi Motoyama’s feisty performance and an on-form Benoît Tréluyer proved unstoppable at Autopolis last weekend as the Motul Autech duo clinched their second Super GT victory of the campaign to bounce back into title contention, ensuring the fantastic season-long duel will be decided at the final round in Motegi on October 15/16. Read report

ALMS: Robertson Racing survived a chaotic 14th annual Petit Le Mans to come home 12th in class and 26th overall as the curtain came down on their 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron season.Andrea Robertson, David Murry and Melanie Snow produced a mistake-free display at Road Atlanta aboard the #40 Ford GT in what was perhaps their toughest sportscar outing of the year.   Read report

03-10-11

BTCC: An unprecedented five drivers – Matt Neal, Jason Plato, Gordon Shedden, Mat Jackson and James Nash – will all go into the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship’s nail-biting final round of 2011 at Silverstone in a fortnight’s time (15-16 October) still able to be crowned Champion following yesterday’s penultimate three races of the season at Brands Hatch. Oxford’s Plato won both of yesterday’s first two races from pole position in his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze to move briefly past Neal and Shedden to the top of the standings.Both his Honda Racing Team rivals needed to make pit stops to have punctured tyres replaced on their Civics in the first race and could only manage seventh and eighth spots in the second. But in the day’s final encounter, contested by a record-equalling 29-car BTCC grid, they struck back as Worcestershire’s Neal led Fife’s Shedden across the line to achieve a 1-2 result for their Honda squad. Plato was back in sixth meaning Neal had regained the championship lead – the 11th time it has changed hands this season.  read report

A scorching performance to match the hottest October sunshine on record saw Jason Plato keep his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship dreams alive, with back-to-back victories in the day’s first two races at Brands Hatch. The Oxford-based racer not only won the first two races in pure textbook style, leading from the first corner to the very end, but he also added to his points tally with an amazing pole position on Saturday, scoring the fastest ever qualifying time on the Brands Hatch GP Circuit. New lap records in both the first and second races meant an astonishing points haul, lifting him from 24 points adrift of Honda Racing’s Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden to just five points by the end of the day’s proceedings. Both Hondas suffered punctures in the first race of the day, meaning they finished out of the points, leaving the door wide open for Plato to take advantage, achieving his seventh and eight victories of the season.“We’ve got the car set-up just perfectly,” said Plato. “It was unbeatable out there today, thanks in no small part to the fine-tuning we did in free practice. It was amazing in qualifying, amazing during the races, and the performance really shows why the team at RML are the best in the business for preparing Touring Cars. Despite the challenges we’ve faced this year, the Cruze is the best Touring Car I’ve ever driven, and the hard work we’ve put into the set-up has really paid dividends.”The incredible comeback leaves the championship wide open heading into the final round of the 2011 season, which takes place at Silverstone, Northants, on Sunday October 16.  The third race saw Plato start from 10th on the grid thanks to the everse-grid. Plato battled through the field, initially picking off Nick Foster’s BMW and Tom Onslow-Cole’s Ford, before an incident involving Andy Neate’s Ford Focus and Tom Boardman’s SEAT allowed Plato to capitalise, finishing sixth overall.

The Honda Racing Team is celebrating sealing two of the major honours in the 2011 BTCC after last weekend's three races at Brands Hatch. By finishing first and second in the final race of the weekend, drivers Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden have helped the firm secure the BTCC Manufacturers/Constructors title, and the Honda Racing Team has also collected the HiQ Teams’ Trophy. Now two of the major accolades are in the cabinet, Neal and Shedden will now go toe-to-toe for the Drivers Championship in the final rounds of the year at Silverstone on October 15/16. Neal’s sixth victory of the year means he will go into the showdown in two weeks’ time sitting on top of the table with Shedden tied for second place but only five behind his team-mate.

Losing the chance of a podium finish through no fault of their own made it an incredibly frustrating time for Andrew Jordan and Pirtek Racing in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch over the weekend (1/2 October).  Read report

DTM: Audi’s Martin Tomczyk is the new DTM champion. In the ninth round of the season at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, the German wrapped up the title by finishing third. Victory in the penultimate round of the 2011 season went to his fellow Audi driver Mattias Ekström. Having started from pole position, the Swede crossed the finish line ahead of second placed Portuguese driver Filipe Albuquerque who took his best DTM result to date. In fourth place, Timo Scheider completed the 1,2,3,4  for Audi. Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz) was classified seventh. Read report

Porsche GT3 Cup:  Oly Mortimer clinched the 2011 Porsche GT3 Cup Driver of the Year award after the final rounds of the season were held over the weekend at Silverstone as part of the Britcar24 event. Mortimer went into the final three races with a slender 3 point advantage over Graeme Mundy despite securing 7 wins from the 10 races in the season so far. A failure to finish at Croft back in April meant the season went down to a nail-biting finish in the final race of the season on the new Silverstone Grand Prix track. Read report

Graeme Mundy recovered from not setting a time in practice to taking two wins in the final three Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge races of the 2011 season at Silverstone over the weekend, but it wasn’t enough to stop Oly Mortimer claiming the Driver of the Year title in the final round.  read race report

Porsche Club Championship: Mark Sumpter claimed the 2011 Porsche Club Championship title at Silverstone, third place in the final race of the season enough to see him outscore reigning champion Chris Dyer by just four points after seventeen races. Dyer did all he could, winning Class Two in all three races, but it was not enough to deny Sumpter’s Paragon Porsche 911 the overall crown. “I raced this car in the mid-1990s and never won anything with it” said Sumpter, who raced the oldest car in his class, “but now we have it back we have worked hard to develop it and have squeezed very drop of performance out of it. Next year we’ll be out in some more modern machinery.” Sumpter won Friday’s race, with Saturdays’ two final rounds going to Ben Demetriou and Mark McAleer.  Read report

Ginetta Jnrs: Newly crowned Ginetta Junior Champion Seb Morris confirmed his title success with a strong drive to second place at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, while victory for Charlie Robertson marked his third win of 2011. As on Saturday, round 18 took place in searing heat with the Indian summer truly taking hold over Kent throughout the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship weekend. Making the action evermore challenging for the teenage racers in Ginetta Junior, Robertson and Morris headed home Niall Murray and Brad Bailey in a true grandstand finish – just 0.3 seconds covering the top four.  Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Charlie Robertson took his most hard-fought victory of the Ginetta Junior Championship season at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday afternoon with a superb performance on his first ever race weekend at the demanding 2.3-mile track. In absolutely baking hot conditions, the 14-year-old chalked up his third win of the campaign in round 18 thanks to an outstanding final lap where he soaked up immense pressure from second year driver, and newly crowned champion, Seb Morris. . Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup points leader Carl Breeze and championship rival Adam Morgan took a win apiece at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday as G50 Cup runner Tom Ingram superbly wrapped up the class title with one event to spare. Breeze’s lights-to-flag success in round 24 in the morning, his sixth of the year, consolidated his place at the top of the overall championship following on from his similarly strong round 23 victory on Saturday afternoon. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Fergus Walkinshaw did well to salvage an eighth place class finish in round 24 of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup despite a disappointing debut race weekend around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. The 20 year-old battled back after a puncture in race one to work his way through from 16th on the grid to 11th and eighth in class in race two, only for a brake issue to cause him to run wide into the gravel while lying seventh in class and ninth overall in race three. Read report

Total Control Racing’s Carl Breeze will go into the final rounds of the 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup leading the championship standings after securing two victories and another top five finish at a scorching hot Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 1st/2nd October. Ahead of the Silverstone season finale two weeks from now, Breeze heads the title race by eight points after an impressively strong outing for the Wednesbury squad. Adding to his Saturday win with another fine victory in round 24 on Sunday morning, the TCR ace was in contention for yet another podium in round 25 but had to settle for fifth in the end.   During the weekend’s AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK action, TCR’s James Dixon was one of five drivers able to win the championship but a tough event – mainly affected by an uncharacteristic midfield qualifying performance – meant he and the team unfortunately missed out.  Read team report

Porsche Carrera Cup GB : Oman Air Racing Team star Ahmad Al Harthy secured his second Pro-Am 1 race win of the season at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit this afternoon, Sunday, 2nd October, during round 17 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship – a fantastic drive also netting him the ‘Driver of the Weekend’ accolade. After taking his 10th podium of the year on Saturday, the 30-year-old was eager to keep the momentum rolling heading into Sunday’s 17-lap race and he did just that to consolidate third in the Pro-Am 1 standings and move to within 14 points of second place with just two races left to run. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Stephen Jelley scored a crucial fifth win of the season at Brands Hatch, and in doing so the Team Parker Racing driver has put himself in pole position for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB title heading into the final round at Silverstone. Jelley was third in race one before his win in race two to promote himself to second in the points standings. But with each driver’s worst score discarded under championship regulations, Parker with Juta-entered Jelley moves level with points leader Michael Meadows, and then gets the verdict with five wins to the two of his rival. Read Team Parker report

Britcar: The Nissan PlayStation® GT Academy endured a challenging time at the Britcar 24 Hours (1/2 October 2011). After qualifying a strong seventh overall , second in class, for the Silverstone endurance event the RJN Motorsport run 420bhp Nissan 370Z GT4 race car was running in a competitive fourth place early on. Experienced Nissan driver Alex Buncombe handed over to latest European GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough who was quickly recording competitive lap times. But as the 20-year-old started his fifth lap, the car lost all oil pressure and coasted to a halt. It was disappointing for Chris Ward and American GT Academy winner Bryan Heitkotter who despite showing impressive practice pace didn’t get to race.The 370Z was recovered to the pits where the RJN Motorsport mechanics elected to retire the car. “We were looking good for a strong finish,” said team principal Bob Neville. “This is only our second retirement in 26 races this season so we’re not used to this kind of disappointment, especially as the car was so competitive during qualifying and the start of the race.” Jann Mardenborough added: “It’s disappointing but you have to take the rough with the smooth and I have been lucky enough to experience many highs since winning GT Academy. I can also take encouragement from today, having put in some good lap times both in the heat of the day and in the dark.” The weekend did end up being a celebration for GT Academy. The first gamer-to-racer champion Lucas Ordoñez and his Signatech Nissan teammates won the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup LMP2 title after a strong finish in the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, USA. The result continues the fairytale story for the Spaniard who has proved the full potential of the GT Academy programme.

Clio Cup: Paul Rivett (Lumison BlueSquare Data/Stancombe Vehicle Engineering) secured his third victory of the year in determined fashion to end the 2011 AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK season as champion in its season finale, also securing his third Clio Cup title, more than any other competitor that has ever entered the series.  read report

A dramatic weekend for Scuderia Vittoria in the final round of the AirAsia Renault Clio UK Cup at Brands Hatch featured another stunning performance from series newcomer Ant Whorton-Eales, but bitter disappointment for Luke Wright. Lichfield teenager Whorton-Eales raced to fifth position and fastest lap in race one, a superb achievement against drivers with vastly more experience. He backed that result up with seventh place in race two, recovering from a mistake earlier in the race. Read report

Formula 3: Roberto Merhi has wrapped up the Formula 3 Euro Series drivers’ title. At the Ricardo Tormo circuit he won by 17.436 seconds from Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam). Rookie champion Nigel Melker (Mücke Motorsport) rounded out the podium in third place. For 20-year old Merhi, this is his maiden title in single-seater racing. Merhi took the lead at the start and drove a safe victory home. This was his ninth race win of this season. The new champion was followed home by Juncadella, who withstood the pressure from Melker and Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport) in the closing stages to finish second. As Marco Wittmann (Signature) came home fifth, Juncadella is now tied on points with second-placed Wittmann in third place of the drivers’ standings. Roberto Merhi (Prema Powerteam): “I am really happy having wrapped up the title in my home race at Valencia and with a victory on top of that. This is a very important step in my career and together with my title in the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, it has been a fantastic year for me. In today’s race, I was particularly nervous in the last couple of laps, although I was undisputedly in the lead.”  Marco Wittmann has earlier claimed victory in the second race of the weeked crossing the finish line ahead of second-placed Kimiya Sato (Motopark) and Juncadella . Merhi ended up fifth.  The first race was won by Nigel Melker, the Dutchman finishing ahead of Rosenqvist and Merhi.

ILMC: After an incredibly intense and hazardous race, Peugeot won at Petit Le Mans in the United States for the third year running to secure a second Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Manufacturers’ title, ahead of November’s final race in China.  Read report

The Signatech Nissan team has won the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup LMP2 title after a strong finish in yesterday’s Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, USA.  The team started the season focused on a single goal: to win the title.  The fact that it is ‘mission accomplished’ with one more race remaining is testament to the work that has been put in by every single member of the team. Read report

Allan McNish’s run of atrocious luck in this year’s Intercontinental Le Mans Cup continued on Saturday in the Petit Le Mans sportscar race. McNish partnered by Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello retired his Audi R18 TDI on safety grounds with 90mins to run in the 1,000-mile race – the penultimate round of the ILMC.The McNish/Kristensen/Capello turbo diesel Audi started from fourth place on the capacity 53-car grid with McNish aiming for a fifth personal Petit victory and Audi’s 10th in the annual 394-lap race. But Kristensen’s V6-engined Coupé lost a lap and dropped to 41st after 37mins following an unscheduled pit-stop to replace the front nose bodywork section and a punctured left tyre following contact with a slower GT car. McNish took over with almost two hours on the clock and had recovered to sixth just 50mins later only for a car to run up the back of his Audi under braking for a corner pushing him in to another car. Two separate pit-stops were necessary to change the right rear suspension and clutch – plus right hand sidepod damaged earlier in the race – costing the McNish/Kristensen/Capello Audi 63mins for repairs with Capello resuming 44th. Ultimately McNish stopped with an hour remaining placed 31st with steering issues – a legacy of the earlier multiple collisions in the race. “It’s another disappointment for the three of us,” reflected Allan. “There were a lot of cars on track and so we knew traffic was going to be an issue. Tom had contact early on which put us behind but we were coming back well until I was hit. I had to brake very hard when a car came across in front of me. A car hit me up the back, pushing me into the car in front of me and I spun. We later withdrew the Audi on the grounds of safety after problems with the steering – a result of all the ‘hits’ the car had suffered. It’s really disappointing for Tom, Dindo and I because we all felt that we had a good car and one that we could take the fight to win the race.” At mid-distance the Peugeot of eventual winners Stéphane Sarrazin/Franck Montagny/Alexander Wurz narrowly led the “sister” Audi Sport Team Joest R18 TDI of Timo Bernhard (D)/Marcel Fässler (CH)/Romain Dumas (F) – the Audi having started from second place but held a one-lap advantage at one point.With just over seven hours gone, Dumas was squeezed over by Montagny as the Audi attempted to overtake. While trying to avoid a collision with the Peugeot, Dumas brushed a GT car and hit the retaining wall heavily – the Frenchman uninjured but his R18 TDI too badly damaged to continue. 

Formula Renault: Fortec charger, Oliver Rowland took two comprehensive lights to flag victories on Sunday, in rounds seventeen and eighteen of the CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship, at a sun-drenched Brands Hatch. Read report

FIA:  Bosnia and Herzegovina has pledged itself to the FIA’s Action for Road Safety campaign with a programme intended to educate the country on the enormous benefits of wearing seatbelts and fitting child restraints. BIHAMK, the Balkan state’s sport and mobility automobile club, in cooperation with transport police and the Ministry of Communication and Traffic has launched the ‘Buckle-up – Seatbelts Save Lives promotion, aimed at drivers who choose to drive without seat restraints. Research undertaken by the World Bank suggests that only 20-30 per cent of drivers, 10-20 per cent of front seat passengers and less than 10 per cent of rear seat passengers use a seatbelt or child seat. The main goal of the campaign, therefore, will be raise awareness of the critical importance of using restraints, with the initial aim of improving compliance to at least 50 per cent across the board. Getting the message across will involve an intensive media campaign taking place in all major Bosnian cities, including video spots and radio jingles, the distribution of CDs containing seatbelt videos and the production of hard-hitting educational brochures. During the first two weeks of the campaign, Bosnian traffic police will be reminding drivers of their legal obligation to wear a seatbelt. After that time they will take a more punitive approach in an effort to change attitudes. Action for Road Safety is the FIA’s response and leading contribution to the challenges raised by the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety, the aim of which is to prevent five million road deaths and countless serious injuries over the next ten years. Last year over 4,000 people were killed on Bosnia and Herzegovina's roads, and another 100,000 seriously injured, of whom a quarter have suffered a permanent disabling injury. The research suggests 20 per cent of these fatalities and serious injuries would have been avoided were the vehicle occupants wearing seatbelts or strapped into child-seats.

02-10-11

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Stephen Jelley swept to victory in round 17 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch on Sunday (2 October) to set up an incredibly close championship showdown with Michael Meadows and James Sutton over the final two races at Silverstone later this month. From the start of the race, Nick Tandy (Nationwide/Motorbase) went clear, but a rear puncture ended his race after six laps and it was Jelley (Parker with Juta) who moved ahead to take a very important victory as Meadows (SAS/Redline) and Euan Hankey (Parker with Juta) completed the overall podium. When Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) went out with a puncture, Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman Air/Redline) took Pro-Am1 victory and the ‘driver of the weekend’ award. Richard Denny (Parr Motorsport) drove a fine race to win Pro-Am2, while Celtic Speed clinched four podium finishes to earn the ‘team of the weekend’ award.  Read report

Formula Renault: Tio Ellinas has secured two podiums this weekend at round 9 of the CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship at Brands Hatch.The Cypriot finished third in race one and capitalized on a drive through penalty served to Fortec driver Alex Lynn to finish second in race 2 and has since closed the gap on the championship to 27 points. Ellinas is still in contention for championship glory as we head into the last round of the season at Silverstone in just two weeks time.  Read report

Formula 3: Facu Regalia had another hard race today at Mugello in the Italian F3 Championship. Starting 8th on the grid as Sunday´s race is a reverseof qualifying. “I made a good start, because I have nearly overtaken both Edoardo Liberati and Michael Lewis. However, Prema´s driver blocked me and I nearly went out. I was eight just following my rival´s slipstream, but I couldn´t to overtake them. My engine was a problem under these circumstances. And understeer increased in the slipstream at the end too”, Facu explained afterwards. Finally finishing in 8th place which wasn´t much consolation after he had led yesterday. Now he looks torward the next test of Italian Formula 3 championship at Monza in three days time. “I´m working hard, and my pole position proves that. Just bad luck prevented me to achieve my maiden win too. Next Wednesday we need to keep our hard working. It´s mandatory to get a good engine there, and we must improve it during collective testing. Monza is a kind of track which I like. I was fastest in preseason”.

ALMS – Petit Le Mans: The penultimate round of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup has been a week full of challenges for OAK Racing. After both the Le Mans-based team’s LMP1 OAK-Pescarolos were involved in major free practice incidents, their mechanics and engineers worked flat-out to ensure that both cars were able to line-up in the best possible condition for the American sportscar classic alongside the sister LMP2 machine. That effort was rewarded last night at Road Atlanta, Georgia, where all three cars took the chequered flag after 1000 miles of racing. The #24 entry of Olivier Pla, Alexandre Prémat and Jean-François Yvon finished just outside the overall podium places in fourth – second in the unofficial petrol class – whilst Matthieu Lahaye, Guillaume Moreau and Pierre Ragues in the #15 came home sixth in LMP1 (fourth in the ‘petrol’ category). Meanwhile the #35 car of Frédéric Da Rocha, Patrice Lafargue and Jacques Nicolet picked up fourth position in LMP2.  Read full report

At the final round of the American Le Mans Series, and the penultimate Intercontinental Le Mans Cup round, Aston Martin Racing scored its second consecutive podium as it finished a superb third overall and the best-placed petrol car at Petit Le Mans. The 007 car finished just one lap behind the 2nd placed diesel car.  Read report

After having secured the Petrol LMP1 pole position and 6th place on the grid, the Rebellion Racing team was confident for the 14th Petit Le Mans race. The first hours of the race perfectly matched the team’s expectations with Andrea Belicchi battling at the front of the race for second place with the Oreca Peugeot, aided by brilliant strategy calls by the team in the management of the safety car periods in the early stages of the race. After 2h30, a contact in the traffic with a GT Ferrari sent the #12 Lola-Toyota into the gravel at turn 5 of the Road Atlanta circuit with a damaged rear left wheel and bodywork. Andrea Belicchi was able to recover the car to the pits for repairs by the team. The team changed the rear end and front bodywork and Neel Jani was sent back on track with fresh tyres. The #12 Lola-Toyota lost seven laps with this incident. Neel and Nico Prost recovered from 10th to 5th place having never giving up during their stints. They suffered no mechanical issues and only had to add fuel and change tyres for the rest of the race.Bart Hayden, Team Manager : “ The car ran faultlessly and showed strong mechanical reliability and good pace. The crew were exemplarory in the pitstops and the engineers made all the right strategy calls. The final classification could have been better for us, but that kind of race incident is part of racing. We have scored important points today in the ILMC Teams’ championship, we have strengthened our fourth place and third place is still reachable.”

Formula 3: Facu Regalia had a mixed day at Mugello yesterday. After  earning his first ever pole position in Italian Formula 3 championship during qualifying in the morning, he was forced to retire in the race  due to mechanical problems. In the morning he had been the fastest man on track thanks to the lap time of 1:39.226beatinh his team mate Edoardo Liberati by two tenths of a second. However in the weekend’s  first race he was less happy. “I made a good start, but I kept my first place. I had an awesome race pace, because after five laps I increased my lead up to four seconds. But my car had a water leak since the beginning of the race. We don´t know what is the reason. My engine almost raised 130ºC, and finally in I had to retire in lap 6 while I was first ”, he  explained afterwards, adding,  “It´s frustrating. But my weekend was perfect, and I know I tried my best every time on track. Just circumstances beyond my control prevented me to achieve my first win here. Tomorrow I will be 8th on the starting grid and, again, I will try my best”. 

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Lithuanian racer Jonas Gelzinis became the first 2011 champion to be crowned in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB after round 16 of the season at Brands Hatch on Saturday (1 October). With his tenth Pro-Am1 win from 16 races, Gelzinis took an unassailable lead in the Pro-Am1 category with three races left to run. The 23-year old from Kaunas started karting at the age of seven and first came to race in the Carrera Cup GB for the 2010 season when he finished second in Pro-Am1. This year he returned with the family-run Juta Racing team and built on the experience gained in his first season in the UK. “I have really enjoyed the season,” said Gelzinis. “I have not always been as consistent as I would like to be, but I have good speed. Nurburgring was one of my best races because I had never driven on the track before.” Gelzinis now says that he wants to try and move up to fifth in the overall championship. “I have one more target now and that is to overtake Richard Plant in the overall standings,” he said. Currently, Plant is 10 points ahead. However, Gelzinis and the team have already turned their thoughts to the 2012 season and are planning another campaign in the Carrera Cup GB. “Next year I want to come back and join the Pro category and fight for the championship,” he said.

Nick Tandy raced to victory in round 16 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch on Saturday as James Sutton lead a determined chase in second place. With fellow title contenders Stephen Jelley and Michael Meadows finishing third and fourth, the championship battle remains finely balanced.  Read report

Scorching hot temperatures at Brands Hatch yesterday,Saturday 1st October, led to one of the most demanding races of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship season – one in which Oman Air Racing Team driver Ahmad Al Harthy thrived to take second place in Pro-Am 1.read report

Formula Ford: Jamun Racing, whose driver Scott Malvern has already clinched the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, will field a six-car squad in next weekend’s (8/9 October) season finale at Silverstone. Joining Malvern and his regular team-mates Nick McBride, Jeroen Slaghekke and Spike Goddard in the team for the championship’s first races on the new Silverstone Grand Prix track will be Australian Formula Ford star Jack Le Brocq and South African Formula Ford Champion Robert Wolk. Read more

Ginetta GT Supercup: Pole position qualifier Carl Breeze took a superb lights-to-flag victory during round 23 of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup at a sweltering Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Saturday, (1st Octobe)r, to overturn Tom Sharp for the all-important championship lead.Now heading the standings on gross and net scores, the latter taking into account the category’s double ‘drop score’ ruling, Breeze’s fifth victory and 15th podium of the season meant a near-perfect start to the weekend for the Total Control Racing driver with two more races to come. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography    Read report

Carl Breeze moved back to the top of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup points table after taking his fifth win of the season at a sun-bathed Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Saturday, 1st October, for Wednesbury-based Total Control Racing. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography   read team report

Ginetta Jnrs: Seb Morris has been crowned 2011 Ginetta Junior Champion after winning round 17 of the season at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Saturday, 1st October – the final result though remains provisional until tomorrow due to an unresolved judicial matter. In scorching hot temperatures, the 15-year-old Hillspeed driver raced through from fifth on the grid to claim his 12th win of a truly dominant season ahead of Beacon Racing’s Niall Murray and privateer entrant Max Coates. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

BTCC: Lady Luck was not on the side of Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship squad Team ES Racing at Brands Hatch as a mechanical failure ended Chris James’ qualifying run on his first flying lap yestreday. In the unusual October scorching heat the teams took to the Brands Hatch GP circuit this morning in Free Practice 1, James would complete 10 laps on scrubbed tyres finishing the session in 27th place. Free Practice 2 would see a further 7 laps completed on old tyres. James headed positively in to qualifying and was half way through his first flying lap when a hub failure would lead to the Chevrolet Lacetti losing a wheel for the second time this year. Talking about the incident James said: “I was happy with the setup and happy with all of the corners up until the accident. I had managed to find a great line through paddock and was positive of a solid lap.” As the #78 Lacetti headed around the GP loop and on to one of the fastest parts of the circuit the mechanical failure pitched James off the circuit and in to the barrier, at the same time the car would see panel damage as the stray wheel impacted with the side. Following the recovery of the car to the pitlane it was clear there wasn’t going to be a quick and easy fix, 1 hub failed completely and two studs missing from the opposite side following the incident. “It’s frustrating to have another mechanical failure, we replaced all of the hubs after Snetterton and have double checked with RML that we aren’t using the wrong torque settings. We’re at a loss to know what is causing the failures.” Looking forward to Sunday the team have a busy evening working to get the car race ready but have no doubts as to being on the grid tomorrow. "We're up against it but we'll be there" say James. pic PSM Images

Formula Renault: Atech Reid GP driver’s Tio Ellinas and Dan Wells have started their race weekend on the Brands Hatch circuit on the right foot. Both drivers will start race one and two today inside the top 5 in this weekend’s round 9 of the CERTINA Formula Renault UK 2.0 Championship. New comer to the team, Geoff Uhrhane rounds out the field for tomorrows races but is confident that he will improve on his starting positions today. ‘I knew that is what going to be a tough ask starting the season so late.’ The Australian stated ‘But this weekend is a test for me, I am looking to improve every time I jump into the car and that has been the case so far. It is very different to a formula ford, even though I know the circuit quite well but I am really looking forward to the racing tomorrow.’ Ellinas was top of the time sheets in both sessions today but was pushed to third in the dying stages of what has turned out to be a very similar starting grid for all drivers this weekend. None the less the 19 year old Cypriot is confident that he can produce another weekend of podium finishes.  ‘I always want to be inside the top 3 at the beginning of the race weekend.’ Ellinas stated. ‘I have achieved this goal but now I want to win the race. We only have this weekend and then Silverstone to round out the championship and I still have more fight in me and will push until the last lap of every race to chase the championship points down.’ Dan Wells’ stellar and consistent performance in both qualifying sessions today will see him start race one and two in P5. A red flag incident in Q2 interrupted the Salisbury drivers’ best lap but he is feeling optimistic about the racing tomorrow. ‘I am really pleased with P5 today but I know there is more pace in the car and in me. I have been improving on my lap times, competiveness and consistency the whole season and I will really be pushing for a podium finish tomorrow.’

01-10-11

Carrera Cup GB : Drivers interested in the 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup GB will have the perfect chance to sample the latest 450bhp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup during an exclusive Sampler Day at Silverstone on Monday 31 October. From 1.30pm onwards, the Silverstone National circuit will be available exclusively for teams from the Carrera Cup GB to offer test sessions to prospective new drivers. In 2012 the Carrera Cup GB will continue to be Britain’s fastest one-make race series, with a prime support slot to the British Touring Car Championship and a superb TV package, headlined by over five hours of live TV coverage on ITV4. With superb back-up from Porsche Cars GB and an unrivalled hospitality centre at every round, the Carrera Cup GB is the ideal choice for ambitious rising stars as well as drivers wanting to compete at a very high level in British motor sport. All of the leading teams will be on hand for the Sampler Day and anyone interested in testing a car should contact the teams directly.  Contacts

Petit Le Mans: Andrea Belicchi in Lola-Toyota N°12 secured the first place non diesel car in the qualification session for the 14th edition of the Petit Le Mans.With a lap time of 1'10''123, the Italian driver also secured 6th position overall on the grid. Andrea Belicchi, driver of Lola-Toyota #12: “ I'm really happy to get the « pole position » of the petrol cars because the petrol LMP1 field is very strong here with the best teams from both the ILMC and the ALMS, maybe the strongest this year. We were not able to attend the pre-race tests last weekend because we were racing in Portugal for the Le Mans Series championship win, so I'm pleased with the work we've done on the car with Nico and Neel and the team since arriving on Tuesday. I'm very confident for the race“.

With another enthralling American Le Mans Series set to draw to a close this weekend at Petit Le Mans, Aston Martin Racing will start the race from 8th (3rd in the unofficial petrol class) in the grid of 58 prototype and GT racers. Fresh from the factory team’s popular victory at Laguna Seca two weeks ago, the 007 DBR1-2 will begin its fight from the fourth row of the grid. Stefan Mücke (D) set a fastest time of 1:10.485, just three tenths of a second behind the fastest petrol competitor around the 2.54 mile Road Atlanta circuit in the Lowe’s sponsored LMP1 car. A second V12-powered DBR1-2 – run by official partner team Muscle Milk Racing – will start the 10 hour or 1,000 mile race from 11th after Klaus Graf set a time of 1:10.948 in a frantic qualifying session.  Petit Le Mans also forms the penultimate round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, and so plays host to a fleet of diesel-powered LMP1 racers. Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell said: “I am happy with our position today; it is a long race tomorrow and we’ve had a good amount of running to acclimatise ourselves to this circuit.The drivers are reporting that the car’s setup is about optimum at the moment, and we will aim to stay out of trouble on what will be a very busy circuit.” Mücke who qualified the car said: “I had a bit of traffic during the qualifying period, but no surprises there. The car ran really well, it was perfectly balanced and I have to say thanks to the team as they have done a brilliant job. I think we have to be happy with P3 in the ‘petrol’ class, we are not far off the pole petrol. It’s a long race and I am really looking forward to it.” Drivers, Adrian Fernandez (MEX), Harold Primat (CH) and Mücke completed an initial practice session on Wednesday afternoon ahead of three further sessions on Thursday. The final session of the day gave the team an opportunity to test the DBR1-2 in night conditions, part of which, was an obligatory 3-lap qualifying stint for each driver. A final opportunity to perfect the car’s set-up came five hours before qualifying. The Gulf-liveried V12 coupe and its Muscle Milk Racing sister car both completed each practice session within the top 11. Aston Martin Racing was also represented in the GTE AM category by official team partner Gulf AMR Middle East. The outfit qualified its Vantage GT2 6th in class. The 10 Hours of Petit Le Mans gets underway at 11.30 (EDT) on Saturday 1 October and will draw to a close when the leading car completes 1,000 miles (approximately 394 laps), or when 10 hours has passed. Television coverage of the race will be shown live on ESPN 3.

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