The Grid

British GT front runner Bradley Ellis will make his FIA GT debut at Monza, Italy, this weekend for rounds five and six of the championship on 23 & 24 June 2007. The recently turned 20-year-old will be racing with Team RPM but, rather than sharing the car with his usual team mate Alex Mortimer, the pair will be racing head to head for the first time. Currently lying fifth in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, Ellis will chariot the Team RPM Dodge Viper Competition Coupe alongside experienced FIA GT racer Ed Morris. Although it will be his first guest FIA GT race, Ellis will benefit from his 2004 Formula Renault Italia and Monza race experience. Ellis commented: “I’m really looking forward to my first FIA GT race with Ed, we should make a good pairing and I hope we do well. There’s a few differences compared to racing in the British GTs, particularly to running on a completely different compound with Michelin tyres, but I’m confident I’ll get to grips with the car in practice.”

EURO STARS AT BRANDS FOR FORD'S 40TH. Dutch driver Henk Vuik Jr and Norwegian kart champion Anders Krohn will be joining the British Formula Ford Championship regulars on the Brands Hatch grid next month. Vuik and Krohn - both of whom are frontrunners in the Dutch and Benelux Formula Ford series - will be racing Duratec-powered Mygales prepared by top Netherlands team Vuik Racing. Their arrival in the Ford-backed British series brings to eight the number of nationalities represented. "With drivers from Japan, South Africa, France, Finland, Ireland and now Holland and Norway joining the Brits on the grid, the British Formula Ford Championship is becoming an increasingly important international arena," said Sam Roach of championship promoter RacingLine. "Even more exciting is that there are yet more nationalities due to join us later in the year." The growing strength of the championship's international appeal is all the more appropriate given that the 14/15 July Brands Hatch rounds of the championship mark 40 years of Formula Ford - the first-ever race was held at the Kent circuit on 2 July 1967. Vuik is no stranger to Brands - he contested the Formula Ford Festival there last October in a Zetec-engined car. Henk has been a top-10 finisher in the Dutch Formula Ford Championship every year since 2003 and currently holds sixth overall in both the Dutch and Benelux series. His 19-year-old team-mate Krohn is second overall in the Benelux championship following a race win at Zandvoort and podium finishes at Spa-Francorchamps. Anders last season won his third Norwegian kart championship title in four years. Leading the British Formula Ford Championship runners to Brands will be 19-year-old Jamun Racing Mygale driver Callum MacLeod, who has six wins under his belt from eight starts.

Sarah Bennett-Baggs, Tony Brown & Don Grice fought tough class opposition in the 4hr Britcar Night Race at Spa Francorchamps in the ADRIAN FLUX sponsored M3 BMW but finished a credible 12th overall and 3rd in class. read more

PLANS are being formulated for a 2007 Clio Cup Winter Series. Scheduled to take place across the first two weekends in November, the races may take an alternative format to previous seasons. The series will run alongside Formula Renault UK.

ACTION from round two at Rockingham will be shown on Motorsport UK next Sunday, 1^st July. The show, which is broadcast at midnight, includes a feature on racing father-and-sons. Clio Cup racers Jamie Cleland, Jim Edwards Jnr and Andrew Jordan all contribute.

ONLINE coverage of the Clio Cup has had a successful launch. Race footage from ITV Sport is uploaded onto www.renaultsport.co.uk and can be viewed after joining the Renaultsport community. The action is free to watch and benefits from its 24-hour availability.

More than 160,000 free tickets have already been requested for the World Series by Renault meeting at Donington Park on September 8th/9th. Tickets for the UK leg of the seven event series became available online on Monday, 21st May, with fans flocking to the official website to place their order. Early demand suggests last year’s attendance of more than 92,000 over the weekend could be exceeded in 2007. Supplementing highquality racing are demonstrations by the double World Champion ING Renault F1 Team. Test driver Jonathan Cochet will pilot the victorious R26 in two exhibition runs on Saturday and two on Sunday, giving fans the chance to see last year’s F1 title-winning car at close quarters. Headlining the racing action is World Series by Renault, featuring 425hp Formula Renault 3.5 single-seater racing cars, reaching speeds of up to 180mph. Completing the World Series by Renault package are Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Mégane Trophy. Formula Renault UK and ELF Renault Clio Cup support the International action. H i s t o r i c Re n a u l t parades, Formula One simulators and the F1 pit-stop challenge cater for all interests.

Less than a week after their race in Canada, Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) competitors are back in the U.S. for round seven of the 12-race schedule at the Mid-Ohio track in Lexington, Ohio. The KONI Challenge Series shares the weekend's card with the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve, with the GS race Saturday, June 23 and the ST race Sunday, June 24. read more

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear race at this weekend's Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank Competition in the Star Mazda Championship is so close and fierce that seven drivers are just one victory away from taking the lead. Read more

The 2007 season of the FIA GT Championship will get underway again this weekend with the fourth round, at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, near Milan, in Italy. This historic and extremely popular track, the fastest visited in the season, has hosted the Championship on six previous occasions, the most recent being the thrilling season-opener in 2005. read more

Guthrie Racing's Indy Pro Series team and driver Sean Guthrie are headed to the cornfields of the Midwest and the "Iowa 100," to be held Saturday, June 23, at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. This is the eighth race on the Indy Pro Series' 2007 schedule, kicking off a summer swing that will take them to many other Midwest venues in Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky. Read more

Patrick Carpentier will have a new teammate this weekend for Round 7 of the 14-race Grand-Am Rolex Series schedule to be run at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Kris Szekeres of Hartland, Michigan has joined the SAMAX Motorsports team for this Saturday's 400 kilometers run and will be on board for the following event in Daytona. Carpentier is happy to return to Mid-Ohio. The Canadian driver has always enjoyed success at the 3.634-kilometer road course. In six Champ Car starts between 1997 and 2003, he finished five times in the top seven with three consecutive podium results: a third place in 2001, a much publicized win in 2002 and a second place finish behind then teammate Paul Tracy in 2003.

Niall Quinn lies fourth in the German Formula BMW Championship heading to the third race weekend event of the season at Norisring, Nuremberg, this weekend.The 18-year-old from Dunboyne is heading into the unknown as the Norisring circuit is partly made up of public road and, as such, is not available for testing. Quinn is optimistic that his capacity for learning circuits will stand him in good stead against some of the second year German series drivers."I'm usually pretty good at picking up the particular tricks of new tracks so hopefully this one will be no exception," said Niall.

Apotex Scorpio Motorsport will see Richard Keen return to the team and the Formula Renault UK Championship for Oulton Park this coming weekend. Commenting on the news Richard said “Apotex Scorpio are a great team, everyone works well together and is pushing hard for a result. The hard work paid off last time out with my teammate Will Bratt so I’m pleased that circumstances have allowed me to return to the team. Hopefully we can continue with the form the team showed at Croft!” Apotex Scorpio Motorsport team boss Jon Pettitt was equally pleased to be welcoming Richard back to the team saying “Richard did a great job for us at Rockingham so I’m very pleased to have Richard back in our car at Oulton Park. Richard and Will should give us a good strong line up for the Oulton weekend

Sebastian Vettel claims F1 record on debut! The BMW Suaber F1 team's third driver Sebastian Vettel was called upon to replace Robert Kubica for the United States GP. After a qualifying brilliantly in seventh position, the World Series Formula Renault 3.5 leader went on to finish the race in eighth place, thus becoming the youngest driver in F1 history to have scored a point! Sebastian will celebrate his 20th birthday on July 3…

World Series Formula Renault 3.5 regular Guillaume Moreau was at Le Mans and shared driving duties with former F1 drivers Jean-Marc Gounon and Stefan Johansson. Gounon finished runner-up to Johansson in the 1997 edition of the 24 Hours. The car started 7th and remained in the Top 10 for more than four hours. Then it dropped to 43rd, due to petrol feeding and oil leak problems. The three drivers recovered 18th during the night but were forced to retire after the works Courage’s AER engine broke early on Sunday morning. read more

Zolder Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Mégane Trophy race results confirmed
The Royal Automobile Club of Belgium's sports tribunal has reviewed the appeals submitted by Henki Waldschmidt (Prema Powerteam) and Ralph Meichtry (Race Performance) at the end of Zolder meeting. Both appeals were rejected, which means that results are now confirmed.

Miguez and Eurointernational part company. Rumours of a split between Celso Miguez and Eurointernational that were circulating prior to Monaco have now been officially confirmed. The Spaniard hopes to continue racing in the World Series Formula Renault 3.5, but number of places available are limited, to say the least. Antonio Ferrari's team is due to announce the name of Alessandro Ciompi's new team-mate in the next few days. Zsolt Baumgartner in the R26 at Budapest! The first Hungarian to have raced in a F1 World Championship GP, Zsolt Baumgartner is a hero in his home country! With twenty races to his name for Jordan and Minardi, his best result is still an eighth place at the 2004 United States GP. As part of the World Series by Renault, Zsolt will make his big comeback behind the wheel of a F1 car. And not just any old F1 car, as he will be driving the double World championship-winning R26! He will be taking turns behind the wheel with Jonathan Cochet, the Renault F1 Roadshow driver.

Double win for Kechele in NEC Formula Renault 2.0. The 2007 Formula Renault 2.0 North European Cup came under starter's orders at the end of May on the Zandvoort circuit. German driver Franck Kechele (Motopark Academy) took a clean sweep, winning both races. His team-mate Tobias Hegewald ended the weekend in 3rd position in the overall standings, whereas Oliver Oakes now lies 5th.

Spanish success in the Italian Formula Renault 2.0 championship. Roberto Merhi (Jenzer Motorsport) took his first win of the season at Spa-Francorchamps. Felix Porteiro's protégé finished ahead of Brendon Hartley (Red Bull Epsilon) and Martin Plowman (Prema Powerteam). Penalized in the first race for an illegal manoeuvre on Hartley at the start, Jaime Alguersuari made up for it the following day by notching up a clear victory, ahead of Andra Caldarelli (Prema) and Fabio Leimer (Jenzer). Waldschmidt remains championship leader, with precious little to choose between the chasing pack of Plowman, Hartley, Merhi and Alguersuari!

Ultimate Motorsport will make their debut of the legendary Monza Grand Prix Circuit this weekend as the British F3 International Series heads to Italy for its second overseas race of the season…read more

During his preparations for the fourth round of the German ATS Formula 3 Cup, Frédéric Vervisch is proud to announce an agreement with Brooklyn. Brooklyn is a family-owned Belgian company with seven shops in Belgium: in Ostend, Bruges, Knokke, Roeselare, Waregem, Ghent and Kortrijk. Soon, another shop will open it’s doors in Antwerp. In it’s shops, Brooklyn offers high-quality clothing and the latest fashion trends.

Silverstone’s motorcycle racing heritage is to be honoured by a full grid of two-wheeled racers at the Silverstone Classic, in association with Bonhams, on July 27-29….read more

The Aston Martin Racing and InterContinental Hotels & Resorts DBR9 which triumphed at the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race, held last weekend, is set to appear before British fans at the Goodwood Festival of Speed over June 23-24. The winning Aston Martin Racing DBR9 -- numbered 009 -- was driven to GT1 class victory and a remarkable fifth overall by David Brabham, Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner after 24 hours of non-stop competition, characterised by changeable conditions and several safety car periods. On Sunday, after a gruelling 24-hours, Brabham expertly guided the DBR9 over the finishing line in torrential rain to take the chequered flag and in doing so, secured Aston Martin's first triumph at Le Mans since 1959. Brabham will now drive the DBR9 at the Goodwood Festival, up the famous hill route, in front of an anticipated record number of spectators.

The F3 Euro Series is heading into the third meeting of the year. On the 24th of June Prema will be competing on the high speed German street circuit of Norisring, Nurnberg. Prema has many good memories of this track in the past, when they won an unforgettable race in 2003 with current F1 driver Robert Kubica. The Vicenza based team is looking for a repeat result with Renger Van der Zande and Michael Patrizi, who were both unlucky at the last round at Brands Hatch.

The 2007 Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda swings back into action this weekend with Sunday's Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank and points leader Raphael Matos (#6 ProWorks) will be looking to return to Victory Lane after a two-race absence…read more

Three weeks after the team's impressive 1-2-3 finish at Snetterton, Carlin Motorsport head to Monza in Italy, for the ninth and tenth rounds in the 2007 British F3 championship. The Hampshire based squad will be hoping to replicate the dominant performance that saw the team take its previous 1-2-3 finish at the historic track in 2005. The Monza circuit hosted arguably three of the best British F3 races that season, all of which were won by Carlin Motorsport…read more

Dominic Storey of New Zealand, who finished 4th in the 2006 Formula BMW Asia Rookie Cup, makes his debut this weekend in the Formula BMW UK Championship for Rounds 9 and 10 at Oulton Park.Storey joins Australian Sam Abay, runner-up in the Formula BMW Asia Driver Classification last year, who has been contesting the British series since the start of the season and currently lies 11th in the Driver Classification.

Malaysian Jazeman Jaafar (Team Meritus) is looking to continue his impressive season at Sepang International Circuit this weekend following his excellent debut Formula BMW Asia last month where he took 2 wins from 4 races to go top in the title chase. Rounds 5-8 of the 22-race 2007 Formula BMW Asia season will be held as part of the SuperGT weekend from June 22-24 on the full 5.542km circuit. Despite the Malaysian’s 33 point lead, with arguably the most competitive field the series has seen since its inception in 2003, there are plenty of drivers ready and able to knock Jazeman off his lofty perch. Indian Rookie and BMW Junior Akhil Khushlani (Eurasia Motorsport) is another driver who has made a stunning Formula BMW Asia debut, proving consistency is everything. His four 5th place finishes have put him 2nd in the Driver classification and top of the Rookie Cup leaderboard. Currently 3rd and 4th in the Driver standings and returning for a second season, Indonesia’s Zahir Ali gave new Team TARADTM its first FBMW Asia victory last month, while Jazeman’s Meritus team mate and former BMW Junior James Grunwell has one win under his belt and is quick around the Sepang GP track, having set the fastest lap there last season, and taking a pole position.

Automatic Racing's Jep Thornton and Jeff Segal drove to their second podium finish of the KONI Challenge season during Saturday's Grand Sport race at Mosport International Raceway. Their third-place finish in the No. 09 Fresh from Florida BMW M3 has given them plenty of momentum heading into this weekend's race at Mid-Ohio. Thornton started the race, working his way up to third during his stint and staying out of the pits longer than the other teams. The late pit stop to hand over to Segal was just enough to get the No. 09 BMW to the finish line without an additional stop for fuel. "It was a bit of a surprise. We weren't the fastest car on track because we had some setup issues, but my late pit allowed Jeff to stay up front," said Thornton.

The EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank, June 22-24, will kick off the 2007 racing season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course featuring separate races for Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype and Grand Touring (GT) classes. Nineteen Daytona Prototypes will light up the June night as the sports cars do battle on the 13-turn circuit during Saturday evening. A Sunday mid-day contest is slated for twenty-seven high-performance, production-based GT machines. "We're pleased to open the 46th season of racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series," said Michelle Trueman Gajoch, president of TrueSports, Inc. "Their unique situation of high car counts has enabled us to run four races this year [Rolex Series and KONI Challenge Series] instead of the traditional two, affording our fans more weekend racing action and excitement than ever before."

Memorial Day weekend at Lime Rock Park, the Subaru Road Racing (SRRT) proved the potential of its Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT spec.B racecars by winning the Street Tuner (ST) class race. Chuck Hemmingson and Kristian Skavnes won the Koni Challenge in their #111 car, leaving them 10th in the standings despite only running a limited schedule. SRRT's four drivers - Dave Rosenblum/Davy Jones in car #141 and Chuck Hemmingson/Kristian Skavnes in car #111 - are confidently looking forward to the Mid-Ohio round in the Grand-Am circuit on June 21-24. Hemmingson and Skavnes had great success there two years ago driving Subaru Impreza WRX STI racecars for the team in the SCCA Runoffs®, finishing 1-2 in the competitive Touring 2 class. The Koni Challenge EMCO Gears Classic 2007 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is the seventh stop on the Koni Challenge tour this season - the fourth Koni Challenge race in which the SRRT will participate. During the last year, SRRT has attracted considerable attention by earning pole position in its first race this season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in April, logging a 4th-place finish at Laguna Seca, setting fastest race laps at both Laguna Seca and Lime Rock, and winning the Lime Rock Park round.

CHIMAY IS BACK! DON'T MISS ‘THE LAST GREAT ROAD RACE’. To all Top Hat and Masters Members. You must not miss the wonderful Chimay ‘Historycar’ Festival! It’s back on the calendar - and now it’s in less than a month’s time on 13-15 July.If you want to race on this historic circuit get your entries in to the Masters office or call the Masters office for an entry form The Top Hat Masters programme is:as follows: · A One Hour race for Top Hat & Oldies but Goldies running together, a A One Hour race for Cloth Cap and finally there is the ‘Chimay Trophy’ - which will accept most front- engine touring, sports and GT cars right up to 1979, running on treaded tyres. Each Chimay race caters for either 1 or 2-driver teams - and each race has its own 30 minute practice/qualifying session. The Top Hat management team will be in place; the local authority and the RAC Belge are in full support of the meeting; Practical points:- Scrutineering is on Friday 13th July, Qualifying will be run on Saturday 14th July and the races will all be run on Sunday 15th July

James Blyth put in a stunning performance competing in the 6^th and 7^th rounds of the Mini Challenge when it went overseas to the famous and daunting Spa circuit in Belgium

After his first victory in Pau, France two weeks before, Chris van der Drift achieved two podium finishes in International Formula Master over the weekend. And this was despite problems being experienced with the performance of his race-car on the Czech Republic’s 5.403m long Brno circuit. The two 3rd placings brings 21 year old Van der Drift within 2 points of the present No2 in the championship.

The grid for rounds 9 and 10 of the Lloyds TSB insurance British F3 International Series will swell to 34 with the addition of three entries in the Invitation Class. Italian drivers Matteo Chinosi and Federico Glorioso will compete in their Ombra Racing Mugen Honda powered Dallara's and they will be joined by Dutchman Dominick Muermans in the Swiss Racing Dallara Opel-Speiss. Chinosi and Glorioso are both competing in the German Formula 3 Cup, with Chinosi currently 6th in the overall drivers championship and Glorioso in 11th after six races. Muermans is competing in the 2007 International Formula Masters Championship with Ombra Racing.

The Formula V6 Asia returns to Sepang International Circuit in a few days to race alongside the Super GT International Series. The last event left the teams wanting more as they raced on the shorter North track of the circuit Marchy Lee and Seth Ingham came out on top with Hong Kong driver M.Lee taking a pole to flag victory during the Super Sprint, whilst the American driver Ingham won the incident filled Grand Race He is currently leading the Drivers championship while Team Meritus have taken an early lead in the Team Championship with 35 points Second, 7 points behind Ingham is Satrio Hermanto while there is a three way tie for third. Indian Parthiva Sureshwaren, Taiwanese Hanss Lin and M.Lee. all have 16 points. Although M.Lee is still not confirmed as he is fighting to make a full recovery from the broken wrist he suffered in the first corner incident at the last event. A fitness test later this week will determine whether or not he is able to participate. This time, the drivers and teams will have great support from the excitable Super GT enthusiasts spurring them on to make the upcoming Formula V6 Asia an explosive outing to watch.

The fifth round of the 2007 DTM this coming weekend in Nuremberg is the championship's only race on a temporary street circuit. It will take place three days after the calendrical beginning of summer.

Caltex Racing's Russell Ingall will return to one of his 'happy hunting grounds' when he heads to the Hidden Valley Raceway for the SKYCITY Triple Crown, Round Six of the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series, in Darwin, Northern Territory this weekend. When the series first headed to the 'Top End' in 1998 it was Ingall who was victorious. During his nine visits to the Hidden Valley circuit he has recorded six race victories. Caltex Ambassador Craig Lowndes became the first non-SBR Ford driver to win a round for the manufacturer when he took out the corresponding round last year. Lowndes comes into the weekend with confidence following his second place in the final race of the previous round at Eastern Creek two weeks ago. He and team-mate Jamie Whincup have taken the challenge to the championship leaders over the past two rounds and as a consequence have moved into sixth and third respectively in the standings. Whincup, who is the only Ford driver to have won in 2007, has contested three rounds at the Hidden Valley circuit. His best performance coming last year when he finished 12th overall aboard the #88 Caltex-backed Falcon. James Courtney made his Darwin debut last year finishing just outside the Top Ten. Given the previous success of his SBR team at the venue the ex-Formula One Test driver is confident of another good performance on the 2.9km circuit this weekend. Practice begins on Friday afternoon followed by the three-segment qualifying session on Saturday morning. The first of three 42-lap races will be contested on Saturday afternoon. The round will be highlighted by a two races on Sunday.

The visit of the Apex Tubulars Porsche Club Championship to the famous Grand Prix circuit of Spa Francorchamps in Belgium is a highlight of the season for the drivers, and two close races saw James Neal and Paul Livesey travel back to the UK with outright wins under their belts. Marcus Carniel and Ben Demetriou shared Class Two honours, while Neil Harvey and Mark Taylor continued their Class Three battle with a win apiece.

ELF Renault Clio Cup racer Michael Doyle took a stunning victory on his debut appearance in the Italian Renault Clio Cup Championship on Sunday, 17^th June. Doyle, who turned 20 the next day, won the second of the weekend’s two races at Belgium’s legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

At Snetterton on Sunday the BRSCC Sports Duratec race was won by Tom Wills in a GunnTS9. Richard Johnson was just 0.31secs behind in a Van Dieman RF5C with Harry Chapman third in a Lola TMS. In the two Dunlop TVR Tuscan Challenge races David Mason and Tim Hood each won a race. Dareen Dowling was second and Dean Cook third on both occasions, although in race one they were a long way behind Mason. Ian Fewings came out on top in both the Super Silhouette races where if you didn’t have a Tiga VXR you couldn’t get a look in! In race one Fewing’s Tiga just held off Lea Wood’s similar car by 0.252secs with Dave Longhurst’s Peugeot 206 third in the only non Vauxhall on the podium. In race 2 Mark Jones was second in another Tiga with Lea Wood third. Neil Slark won the Mighty Mini’s encounter from Chris Morgan and David Berney while Peter Crewes won the Xtreme class and Gary Patterson the Super Mighty Mini race. In the Sports Pinto event Andy Mathew’s Shrike P16 held off the Swift DB2 of Jim McDougall to take the win by 0.59secs. Third was Mike Fry in a Royale RP37.

Two dramatic Apex Tubulars Porsche Open races at Spa yielded two different winners - Paul McLean winning an incident packed race one on Saturday while Rupert Lewin and co-driver Markus Paltala drove through from the back of the grid to claim Sunday's 50-minute race. Mike Donovan kept clear of trouble to take two second places, while Steve Rance twice took fourth and Class Two victory while Mark Chilton dominated Class Three

Team Australia will enter this weekend’s Cleveland Grand Prix on a high after topping the timesheets in testing at the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake. Australian Will Power set the fastest time of the day around the spectacular 4.048-mile (6.515-kilometre) road course, one of 11 cars testing at Road America yesterday...read more

Tamworth’s Martin Plowman slashed the Formula Renault Italia Championship lead thanks to his stonking efforts in rounds five and six at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium, on 15 & 16 June. Plowman clinched third in round five after an astonishing drive from 11th on the grid and followed that with an inspiring drive from 32nd to finish 11th in round six. Plowman’s performance scythed Henkie Waldschmit’s (NL) lead from 50 points to 20 and leaves the British driver in a strong second place overall with seven rounds to go.

Sean Walker took his Promatecme run ex Jarier March 782 BMW to 2 wins in the European Formula 2 Championship at Nurburgring GP circuit at the weekend. Testing had seen some typical Nurburgring weather, with a sharp shower and a quickly drying track giving unpredictable conditions for the 20 minute session. Nevertheless Sean was soon up to speed on his 1st competitive outing in the car, which has been totally rebuilt by Silverstone - based Promatecme. The ex British F3 driver qualified the car in second place behind seasoned campaigner Martin Stretton, and trailed him for 3 laps before making a decisive move on the pit straight which put Sean into the lead, which he was able to increase to 2.8 seconds by the flag, taking fastest lap along the way. This result gave Sean pole for the second race, but a tardy start due to confusing red light signals saw him back in 5th place, with Stretton once again taking the lead. Sean was up to second by the end of the first lap and started eating into the 4.5 second gap. He caught Martin after 9 laps, and overtook the leader with 2 to go, crossing the line 1 second ahead, setting another fastest lap along the way. Next outing for the March is planned for Brands Hatch at the Autoglym HSCC Historic Festival 30th June.

After successfully completing his first 6 races in the British F3 series, Max Chilton has had his application to upgrade his competition licence approved. He can now enter the Championship Class of the series in his Arena Motorsport run Dallara Mercedes Benz. Max made his single seater debut back in April, just a day after his 16th birthday. Up until now he has been competing in the Invitational Class of the series and has managed to finish all of the six races he has entered so far to qualify for the senior class in the Championship.

Team BRM and driver Paul Pittam have decided to part ways following the recent fourth round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship. In a mutual decision between the team and Pittam’s management, the pair will split immediately to allow Pittam to follow other opportunities within the sport for the remainder of the season, and for 2008. ”It’s a shame that things have not gone the way that the team and Paul expected at the start of the year,” Team BRM Formula Ford Manager Mark Rundle said. ”Coming into the season both parties had high expectations on the kind of results we anticipated and it’s disappointing that they haven’t been achieved. ”By leaving us now Paul is able to conserve his budget and look towards a driving future in another category in the near future. This was a mutual decision that was in the best interests for both the team and Paul.” Team BRM are currently talking to a number of drivers to fill the seat of the second car as a team-mate to existing driver John Magro, for the remainder of the 2007 Australian Formula Ford Championship.

Niall Breen, from Dundalk, has been selected as the Dunlop Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Month for May.Niall secured this award by achieving fourth place in race one and second place in race two at the British Formula 3 International Series event at Bucharest in Romania on the 19/20 th May. It's not as if confirmation were needed, but Niall then went on to even greater achievement at the very next round of the Championship at Snetterton on 2/3 June; where he gained an outright win

Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Indy Pro Series driver Chris Festa ran two Indy Pro Series races at the weekend at Indianapolis as a support event at the US Grand Prix. In race 1 of the Liberty Challenge, Festa, from a 15th place starting position on the grid, battled an ill handling car but improved his position a few spots to finish 11th. The second 18-lap race took place on early Sunday, as the Festa started from 11th spot on the grid with a much improved No.9 CareCentric Target car, but made a few costly mistakes in his exuberance to post a strong finish. A spin in the final laps dropped him to a 14th place finish in race no.2 of the Liberty Challenge. Festa and the CareCentric Target team are still chasing a win this season but are fifth in the Indy Pro Series Championship standings with 167 points. Alex Lloyd is the leader with 340 points, thanks to a record five race winning streak, while rookie Hideki Mutoh is in second spot with his first win this weekend in race no.1 of the Liberty Challenge and 236 points.

Carl Edwards beat Martin Truex Jr. to win the NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. It broke a long dry spell for the Roush-Fenway team driver, marking his first victory in 52 races. Edwards had to overcome an early race penalty for speeding on pit road which knocked the driver outside the top 25 at the time. He came back to control the latter stages of the event though a series of green-flag pit stops that scrambled the field. He wound up beating Truex to the line by 3.668 seconds. Edwards averaged 148.072 mph in the race that saw 22 lead changes among 11 drivers and four cautions for 16 laps.

The Grand Prix of Cleveland announced today that LaSalle Bank is the new presenting sponsor of the event, which will officially be called the Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank. The annual Northeast Ohio tradition returns to Burke Lakefront Airport on June 22-24. "It is a pleasure to welcome LaSalle Bank as the presenting sponsor of the newly-named Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank," said Michael T. Lanigan, CEO of the Grand Prix. "Having the support of the business community is vital to the success of our event, so could not be happier LaSalle Bank has chosen to make this investment in the Grand Prix. We are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with LaSalle Bank"

NEW STAFF MEMBER AT BRSCC HQ. Carole Jackson joins the BRSCC HQ team as Race Entry Administrator, reporting to Sharon Smith the Competitions Manager. Carole lives locally in Snodland and joins us from Invicta Telecare where she was an office administrator for a call centre. The BRSCC would like to welcome Carole and wish her the best of luck in her BRSCC career.

POWERNIGHTS. Entries for the new Thursday evening motor racing series POWERnights have opened and twelve categories for the three Thursday evening events this August have been announced. Racing at POWERnights will be by invitation for various groups of race cars. A total of 4 race groups will feature with double-header races at each event and each race is for open invitation races and NOT rounds of a championship or other series. Each race is run to a 10 minute plus 1 lap format with the second of each double-header race run in reverse finishing order to the first race results! The entry fee for the day is just £250 (up to 30th June) (£300 late entry after 30th June) per race car and entry packs are now available at www.brscc.co.uk/powernights

The first POWERnights event will be staged at Silverstone on Thursday 2 August with the second at Donington Park on Thursday 9 August, and third at Silverstone on Thursday 30 August. Each of the events will be open to the public from 5pm following a full day of testing and qualifying. An eight race, non stop race programme will begin at 6pm, with a post race prize giving paddock BBQ and entertainment open to all spectators and competitors.

BRSCC RACING @ ROCKINGHAM . The second of the BRSCC's Rockingham events takes place this weekend and as ever it will be an action packed weekend! In addition to the newly sponsored MAC Tools SCSA V8 Trophy and Pick-Ups there are 6 races on the Saturday featuring the BRSCC Enterprise EDGE Club F3 Championship, the BRSCC Club Formula Ford MS Championship and the ever popular Legends Cars Championship. There are a further 10 races on Sunday with the Max 5 Mazda Championship joining the SCSA’s, Pick-Ups, Legends & Formula Fords. Tickets are priced at just £10 in advance (booking fees apply) and £15 on the gate - kids go free so Sunday promises to be a great day out for all the family. For tickets call 01536 500500 (option 8) or visit www.seetickets.com Tickets are valid for both days of the meeting. Saturday only tickets are £5 and are available on the day – they cannot be ordered in advance. Passenger rides for spectators on Sunday will run from 9am for 45 minutes and then the action starts at 10am.

ODDS & EVENS AT OULTON . Due to a last minute cancellation at the BRSCC event at Oulton Park on 30th June 2007, all Formula Ford competitors have the opportunity of competing in a never tried before ‘team’ competition. All competitors will be divided into Odd and Even number teams. There will then be a race for all Class A & B competitors with points being scored 20, 19, 18, 17….. Similarly for Class C, D & E, they will have their own race with points being scored as above.

Grids for each of the races will be based on the best lap time by each competitor in their respective Carphone Warehouse Networks races earlier in the day. The winning team will be the team accumulating the most points over the two races. The winning Team members will all receive a £10 voucher against their next race entry fee.

The entry fee for this one off event is £85.00 and competitors are advised to indicate their willingness to compete in this race by emailing Sharon Smith at sharon@brscc.co.uk.

RESULTS ON-LINE. A detailed results report for each BRSCC meeting is available via the BRSCC website shortly after the event. The report includes qualifying times, grid positions, fastest laps, final results and a lap by lap analysis for every competitor for both the qualifying session and race. The results can be accessed via the calendar section of the website. Just click Archive in the right hand corner of the calendar page. The direct link is www.brscc.co.uk/calendar

Hitech Racing heads out to the fifth round of the Lloyds TSB Insurance British Formula 3 International Series at Monza this weekend, looking for a double win to extend its lead in the title chase. Estonian Marko Asmer has won five of the eight rounds so far and holds a commanding 48-point lead in the points standings. Asmer has won at every round so far this season, including a double victory at Donington, and will be hoping circuit knowledge will stand him in good stead when he returns to the home of the Italian Grand Prix. His young team-mate Walter Grubmüller has recovered from his crash at Bucharest in May and hopes to put the disappointment of Donington behind him, as he bids for his first podium. The 18 year-old F3 newcomer had looked good for a strong points-scoring finish in the last round despite stalling on the grid. He recovered in race two and made up good ground so heads to Monza looking for two top-ten finishes to move him up the order.

Oulton Park Island Circuit, the most challenging and picturesque venue on the Formula Renault UK Championship calendar, awaits Manor Competition this weekend, 23rd/24th June, as host to the ninth and 10th rounds of the 2007 season.

Hywel Lloyd took a second victory in the 2007 Formula Renault BARC Championship e at Oulton Park Island circuit on Saturday, (16^th June), extending his lead at the top of the FR2000 Class drivers’ standings to 6 points. Second was Alpine Racing’s Dean Stoneman with Eurotek Motorsport’s David McDonald third. Full report.

Indianapolis, Round 6 of the Formula BMWUSA championship played out before a massive crowd at the Indianapolis. The spectators were treated to a classic Indy slipstreamer and Alexander Rossi was in the thick of the action throughout. The young Californian drove his heart out and his sixth place finish was in no way indicative of his sterling performance...read more

The Audi of Biela, Pirro, Werner came out winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours. Although the win was convincing it came at the cost of two of the three Audi cars that crashed out during the race, leaving the sole #1 Audi Sport Team North America R10 TDI to fight at the front for the final few hours. "I think this is the most difficult win we have had here so far," said Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Audi Sport Competition Manager, "There was a lot of competition from Peugeot, and also Pescarolo who did a great job the whole race and over the weekend, and there was pressure on us from the beginning right to the end so we couldnt lose a second without thinking what that meant for us."

Aston Martin dominated the LMGT1 class and the #009 Team Aston Martin driven by David Brabham, Rickard Rydell, Darren Turner eventually took the victory after being pushed hard by the other Aston Martin entries and the remaining Corvette of Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen.

The LMP2 category was won by Team Binnie Motorsports Lola-Zytek B05-40 driven by Bill Binnie, Allen Timpany and Chris Buncombe....read more

Esteban Gutierrez (Team Autotecnica), of Monterrey, Mexico, took a commanding win in Round 6 of the 2007 Formula BMW USA Championship at the Indianapolis. Taking the victory from his sixth consecutive pole, he finished 2.234 seconds ahead of Daniel Morad (Eurointernational) in the 15-lap racet. Gutierrez continues to lead the Rookie point standings after his second win of the season and stands second to Morad in the Overall point standings.read more

Cram Competition's Jerome D'Ambrosio completed a masterful weekend in Brno with a second win in yesterday's International Formula Master (IFM) race. Proving once again that overtaking is infinitely possible in this class of single-seater racing, the 21-year-old pushed his Formula S2000 all the way to the top from eighth place on the grid. Italy's Giuseppe Terranova finished second despite overtaking his Alan Racing teammate Salvatore Gatto at the start for the lead. The Italian lost his first place to D'Ambrosio after the Belgian got a better re-start following a safety car period. Third place went to J.D Motorsport's Chris van der Drift for the second time this weekend. The Dutchman enjoyed an on-track battle with D'Ambrosio for most of the race, providing superb entertainment for the Czech Republic fans at the track, before settling for third.

Daniel Morad would run a smart race on Saturday and use tactics to move from his P3 starting position and take the flag for in Round 5 of the FBMW Championship . The lead would swap a number of times over the course of the race with Morad always in the hunt. In the clsoing laps Morad had enough of a gap over third place to set his sights on the leader. He would make his move with two to go and stretch out a lead to come across the line with a 0.740 secs up.

J.J. Yeley claimed his first pole in the Nascar Nextel Cup by laying down time at 187.505 miles per hour at Michigan International Speedway. "I try not to get into the whole confidence thing of running good and running bad, but there is a confidence with the team where everyone works a little harder and things work more smoothly," said Yeley, whose previous best qualifying effort was second at Texas last year. "It takes a team effort to be competitive on Sunday. There are so many things that can happen that are out of your control but can ruin your day." Jimmie Johnson was second bv just 5/1000ths of a second while his teammate Kyle Busch qualified third.

Hideki Mutoh took pole position for the Indy Pro Series Liberty Challenge at Indianapolis, Round 6 in the Series by lowering the series track record by three-tenths of a second. Second was Alex Lloyd

As the Formula BMW UK Championship 2007 heads to Oulton Park next weekend, rookie Oliver Webb (Carlin Motorsport) will be looking for local support to help him onto the podium for the first time this season. After a best-placed fifth in Round Two at Brands Hatch, Webb has working been hard in preparation for a strong finish this weekend on home soil, at Oulton Park. The 16-year-old racer from Knutsford has competed here once before in the T Cars Championship and loves the character of his local track. After finishing third overall in the 2006 T Cars Championship, the teenager is now relishing the challenge of the single-seater Formula BMW racing series. Webb currently lies fourth in the Rookie category and tenth in the overall Championship standings. With only 21 points between him and third placed Rookie, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs the 92 points on offer at each race meeting means there is still plenty to race for. The battle at the top of the Championship is also heating up. Swede Marcus Ericsson (Fortec Motorsport) heads the pack coming into Rounds Nine and Ten, after consistent performances have seen him finish every race in the top five. He will be desperate to add another win to his tally next weekend and hold off the charge of Josef Kral (Double R Racing) who, after a non-finish in Round One, is now the top 2007 race winner so far with four victories under his belt from eight races. He is slowly edging closer to Ericsson and now sits third, just 46 points behind the leader. Fresh from his maiden victory at Thruxton, Henry Arundel (Fortec) is striving to convert his 2006 Rookie title into an overall Championship victory. Currently placed just 10 points behind team-mate Ericsson, he is certainly still in the hunt with 10 races remaining.

Close racing was the order of the day for International Formula Master’s (IFM) fleet of 30 racers today with Cram Competition’s Jerome D’Ambrosio taking the first win of the weekend. The 21-year-old fought hard throughout the race, overtaking Pablo Sanchez Lopez for third at the start, before working his way up to first despite strong opposition from Chris van der Drift and Maximilian Goetz.

Mexico’s Esteban Gutierrez (Autotecnica) stayed as hot as the bright summer sun and scored a record fifth and sixth consecutive pole positions in today’s qualifying for Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2007 Formula BMW USA Championship at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gutierrez’s best two laps of 1:38.406 and 1:38.597 minutes around the 2.605-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix circuit bested the 18-car field in the 30-minute session. 15-year old Gutierrez won Round 2 and leads the Rookie point standings. Maxime Pelletier (HBR Motorsport Team USA), a second-year Formula BMW USA driver, will start Rounds 5 and 6 second for the 16-year old Canadian’s career best Formula BMW USA qualifying effort. Daniel Morad (Eurointernational), the 2006 Formula BMW USA Rookie champion and winner of three of this year’s previous four races, will start third in both races. Morad, who has never qualified less than third this year, leads the Overall point standings. Ricardo Favoretto (HBR Motorsports Team USA) will start from his best qualifying this season in fourth in Round 5 and Philip Major (Autotecnica) took fourth for Round 6. Alexander Rossi (Hearn Motorsports) grabbed the fifth starting position in both Rounds 5 and 6.

Tom Boardman, the 2005 SEAT Cupra Champion, will return to the series at Oulton Park (June 23/24) in a New Leon Cupra. Racing for the Triple R team, Boardman will be eligible to score points as he looks to compete in all of the remaining rounds in the 2007 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship

ROADSPORT MEN FACE COMBE BATTLE. Some old faces are set to return to the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge next Sunday (24 June) when the championship heads for Castle Combe. It's the first visit to the Wiltshire venue by the Roadsport brigade since 2004

Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) competitors will travel north of the U.S. border this weekend for the first of two Canadian races this season, where championship points leaders from both divisions will look to step onto the top step of the podium for the first time in 2007 at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario

The 2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship reaches its halfway point at Oulton Park on Sunday 24 June, and having led the 30 round series since the very first race Jason Plato will be aiming to extend his advantage at the top of the Drivers’ table.

Metcalfe aims for a strong finish at Oulton. Following perhaps his most difficult race weekend of the 2007 season at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire almost a fortnight ago, Formula Renault UK star Jeremy Metcalfe heads to Oulton Park Island Circuit next weekend, 23rd/24th June, hungry for success

Will Bratt also has high hopes for Oulton next weekend. Having thoroughly dominated rounds seven and eight of the 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship two weeks ago, taking a double pole position and faultless pair of race victories, Will Bratt heads to Oulton Park Island Circuit next weekend, 23rd/24th June, aiming to carry the momentum forward and continue his excellent run of form…

Adelaide fans of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the CAMS Gold Star will have further reason to cheer when a local driver lines up on the grid at Mallala raceway later this June. Jesse Wakeman, from the Adelaide Hills township of Kersbrook, will make his Formula 3 debut at Mallala (round 4 of the 2007 series) driving his recently purchased Dallara F301 – Spiess Opel race car, between June 30 – July 1. Wakeman’s own JR Motorsport team will prepare the car, however experienced outfit R-Tek F3 will provide engineering assistance at the circuit to quicken the ex-Formula Vee racer’s learning curve. Jesse’s car – that will compete in the National Class for the 1999 – 2001 generation F3 cars – has plenty of local pedigree having won the Australian F3 Championship in 2004 for Adelaide based Team BRM, with Karl Reindler behind the wheel.

Dillon Battistini leads the Asian F3 Pacific Series from Henri Karjalainen by three points only with Moreno Soeprapto 35 points behind the leader. A total of 64 points are available over the final race weekend at Zhuhai on June 23-24 making it a three way battle for Series honours. Battistini has moved to Aran Racing for the final event whilst Karjalainen remains with Team Goddard alongside Moreno Soeprapto. Dado Pena rejoins the series with JA Motorsport and he will make if a four way battle for race wins at Zhuhai. Karjalainen dominated the first round of the series held at Zhuhai last January and he is hopeful of retaining that form for the finals. Battistini is hoping the change of team will bring back his winning ways whilst Soeprapto is confident he can take the fight to the leading two drivers.Paul Ip has all but wrapped up the Promotions Class Championship whilst Robin Tato impressed on his series debut in Sentul and he is expected to improve further in Zhuhai.

Mood Brands is pleased to announce an exclusive partnership with Champ Car Atlantic team Jensen MotorSport. Beginning in Cleveland June 22nd - 24th, Drive Energy Soda logos will be featured on both Jensen MotorSport race cars of drivers Tom Sutherland and Frankie Muniz."What a thrill to extend our existing relationship with Champ Car by sponsoring such an up and coming team," said Brion Ware, President of Mood Brands. "Drive will be all over the track in Cleveland, on Tom and Frankie's cars along with our Official Energy Soda of the Cleveland Grand Prix sponsorship. There is a terrific match between the Drive Energy Soda and Jensen MotorSport brands", said team owner Eric Jensen. "The celebrity and youth of our drivers is a good match for the brand positioning of Drive Energy Soda, and the lifestyle events that our team frequently hosts will provide race fans a good opportunity to sample Drive product." Drive Energy Soda and Jensen MotorSport are also planning a launch event in Cleveland, as well as continued sponsorship at the Toronto and Edmonton races on the Champ Car schedule.

Lola kicks off it first day of qualifying at Le Mans with Bill Binnie (USA), Allen Timpany (GB), Chris Buncombe (GB) for team Quifel-ASM Team in their Lola B05/40 AER taking second in LMP2...full report

The Formula Renault 2.0 Italia is back in action this weekend (15-16/05). After the first two rounds of the season that both took place at Vallelunga, the circus is moving out of the confines of Italy to the prestigious and fascinating Spa circuit. On this track, Prema will be heading into the weekend as championship leaders thanks to Henkie Waldschmidt who is in command of the Championship, after his good results obtainedfrom round 2. Martin Plowman is hot on his heels in equal second place, while Andrea Caldarelli, who was able to put behind him a string of negative results to take a strong 7th place in race 1, was the victim of a multiple car crash, only a few seconds after the start in which his car barrel rolled heavily damaging his car. The first race at Spa will unusually take place on the Friday afternoon while race 2 is on Saturday morning.

Meyers Investment Group Join Forces with Alexander Rossi. Following his early season successes in the Formula BMWUSA championship, it was announced today that Alexander Rossi would receive a further boost going into this weekend’s US Grand Prix event with new partner the Meyers Investment Group. “I’d had some good races so far this year so my confidence was already pretty good for the Indianapolis event,” said Rossi, “but with people of the caliber of the Meyers Investment Group putting their faith in me my level of confidence is now sky-high.”Managing Director of Investments, Mr. Ken Meyers, was equally enthusiastic. “Everyone here at the Meyers Investment Group is happy to get behind Alexander.” He said. “Normally our focus is upon aiding our clients and ensuring the growth of their portfolios. To instead be able to help enhance the career of such a young and talented individual – as Alexander clearly is – gives us all an immense satisfaction.” Rossi currently lies sixth in the championship in what is a remarkably close title-fight.The Meyers Investment Group, based in Grass Valley, CA, has been serving businesses and individuals across the nation for over 17 years. Rounds 5 & 6 of the FBMWUSA championship take place this weekend at Indianapolis as part of the support package for the Formula 1 US Grand Prix.

Ben Morley made a a one-off appearance in the fourth round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Eastern Creek last weekend (June 10 and 11). The reigning NSW State Champion and Icon Motorsport driver agreeing a last minute deal thanks to sponsor Powerhouse Global Logistics and help from the Icon Motorsport. Morley said. “The whole aim of making this appearance in the Australian Championship was to test the water, and see whether or not I could be a front runner, and I proved that I was capable of being a front running contender.” Morley qualified a respectable 8th but it all went wrong in race 1 when, in an attempt to swerve out of the way of a car ahead of him he spun off the circuit, causing substantial rear-end damage after hitting the wall. Race 2 showed more promised however. After starting from the rear of the grid he climbed through the field to finish 8^th. Continuing his impressive form in race 3, Morley made it to 4th place, even battling for a podium spot until a lapped car got in the way forcing him off the track, net result , seventh place. Although he had some bad luck, Morley’s weekend was a success and he had proven himself a contender.

Team West-Tec has signed Andy Meyrick to race in Spanish F3 alongside its multiple race winner, Christian Ebbesvik. A one-off initially, there is an option to make the move permanent to continue and finish the season if all goes well at Albacete next weekend. A frontrunner in 2006 in UK BARC Formula Andy is also a regional Formula Ford champion in 2005. After a short test at Silverstone, when he quickly found the pace, Andy was comfortable in the car and looking forward to Albacete. Andy Meyrick: "Although I have been keeping my hand in racing historics, taking a podium place at the recent Historique Grand Prix de Pau, I am looking forward to getting back into mainstream single-seaters as well as graduating up to Formula 3."

AGR driver Dario Franchitti was quickest at yesterday's (June 13th) IndyCar Test at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course outside Lexington, Ohio. Franchitti’s average speed over the 2.3 mile track was 120.130 mile per hour, set during the last hour of the test. "The new surface was a worry coming into this test, because I hadn't driven here," he said afterwards, "but it was no problem at all. It's just smoother, with good grip levels, so that was really nice." Team Penske's Helio Castroneves was second-quickest with a speed of 119.952 mph and Franchitti's AGR teammate Marco Andretti came third with a 119.951 mph. Rahal/Letterman driver Buddy Rice was fourth, with Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon fifth.

Rounds 9 and 10 of the 2007 Formula TR PRO Championship in the 1600 Series and the 2000 Series were conducted at Buttonwillow Raceway Park over the June 9-10 weekend

For the first time in LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car history, the grid was split. With Cadwell having a smaller grid capacity, we just had too many cars to all play together. This didn't do much for the grid sizes but did a few drivers a chance of an outright win where they wouldn't normally have one

Chris Levett maintained his five point lead in Class A of the 2007 Delphi British Truck Racing Championship, following rounds four and five which were held at Pembrey race circuit in south Wales this weekend. In Class B, David Ball extended his Championship lead to nine points.

Rodolfo Avila looks to score at Brno After a remarkable exhibition in the streets of Pau, Macanese racing driver Rodolfo Avila is ready for a tough weekend at Czech Republic’s Autodrom in Brno which will feature both the fifth and sixth race of the International Formula Master (IFM).At 5.403km long, the East Europe circuit is one of the longest tracks on this year’s IFM calendar, with only Monza able to claim a longer lap. All the drivers will have to exploit the superb chassis of the Formula S2000 and push extra hard in the 15 corners to ensure a good lap time. Macanese motorsport ambassador wants to score his first points of the year.

On June 24th 2007 the Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series will return to the home of the Italian Formula One Grand Prix for the first time since 2005. Two races on Monza’s 5.7km circuit will test the skills of the teams and drivers to the max. read more

Ryan Lewis finished in fifth place in the second race of the Portland double-header last weekend. After a fantastic podium finish in race one, Ryan was pleased to bag more points in race two and leaves Portland in high spirits.“I think we had a great car today," said Ryan. "We made a call on the start to change a roll bar setting which really helped when it was a bit greasy in the beginning, but in the end hindered us a little bit in some of the corners with a bit too much understeer. Overall the car was really good and I found it very easy to drive. I found myself keeping the pace with the guys in the front, but unfortunately I pulled a bit of gap on the restarts. It's good to come away this weekend with some solid points in the bag."

Champ Motorsport is optimistic about the upcoming Formula V6 Asia race at Super GT weekend and feel that that the good outing they had at the opening race in Sepang International Circuit will be bettered in two weeks time.The Zhuhai based team were almost on pace with the rest of the leading field but could not find that little bit more to gain the advantage. Their Taiwanese driver Hanss Lin managed to climb on the podium in third after the second race, but a regulated 30-second penalty for starting from the pit-lane demoted him to fourth.

The fourth round of Formula Nippon was held at Okayama International Circuit for the first time. Despite a major trouble at the start, three machines who led the race from the beginning dominated the podium. As a result, Ronnie Quintarelli (INGING) earned his first career victory dramatically since debuting three years ago, and becoming the fourth different winner in four races this season….read more

Tom Kristensen has been cleared to race at Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend. The Dane, who is looking for his eighth victory in the event, has been given the go-ahead to race alongside Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish in the #2 Audi Sport North

As the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) continues, BMW head for the next round of the championship at Brno in the Czech Republic. Set impressively into the open countryside of Southern Moravia, the "Automotodrom Brno" follows the lie of the land and stands in stark contrast to the narrow city circuit of Pau (FRA), the venue for the previous two rounds of the WTCC. The BMW drivers are looking forward to the circuit, which promises plenty of opportunities for overtaking. Covering a distance of 5.403 kilometres, the track includes numerous climbs which will compound the effects of any additional weight in the car far more strongly than a flatter circuit would. This means that Brno will present a particular challenge both for World Championship leader Andy Priaulx (GBR) of BMW Team UK and for Augusto Farfus (BRA) of BMW Team Germany. Following their successful performances in France both drivers will be first to carry the maximum ballast load of 60 kilos. Farfus' team-mate Jorg Muller (GER), who won one of last year's two races in Brno, will be taking an extra 45 kilograms on board his BMW 320si WTCC. With Felix Porteiro (ESP) having scored four championship points in Pau, BMW Team Italy-Spain is hoping for another good result in Brno. His team-mate Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) already gave a clear indication of his ability to handle the circuit when finishing second in the first round at the "Automotodrom Brno" in 2006.

As the 2007 Formula BMW USA Championship enters Rounds 5 and 6 this weekend as under card for the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the fight for the title is looking to be a battle between last season's Rookie champion Daniel Morad (Eurointernational) and this season's Rookie sensation Esteban Gutierrez (Autotecnica).

Liam Kenney's third win of the 2007 Formula TR Pro Series 2000 Championship helped boost the 15-year-old rookie to fourth in the standings at the halfway stage of the title fight following Rounds 9 and 10 at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, 9th-10th June.

Ashley Walsh took out round honours at Eastern Creek raceway this afternoon, winning all three races after qualifying fastest yesterday, a great result for the CAMS Rising Star as he strives toward pushing back up the leader board…read more

BRSCC Powernights series is expected to kick-off in August. If sufficient interest is out there then it is hope the LMA Euro Saloons will take part at the Donington meeting on the 9th of August..

The sweeping and high-speed Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium hosts the Apex Tubulars Porsche Open series this coming weekend, June 16^th / 17^th, and the powerful Porsches will really show what they are capable of around the classic Grand Prix circuit over their two races.

Canadian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton’s first races in a single-seater car in the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship saw the karting star make a seamless transition for car racing. It took the Tewin-based sensation just nine races to record his first win as he finished a close third overall in competition with some of Britain’s best drivers…read more

With less than four weeks to go until the 2007 FORMULA 1™ Santander British Grand Prix, 6-8 July, Lewis mania has officially hit Silverstone..read more

At Pembrey the Kumho BMW Championship race was won by Garrie Whittaker from Dan Stringfellow by just 1.1 seconds. Third was James Perrott. In the BARC Clubmans Cup Paul Freeman did the double in his Ardmore winning on both Saturday and Sunday. Adrian Lester was second in race 1 2.5 seconds behind the leader with Clive Wood third. ON Sunday in race 2 Daniel Gibson took the runner-up spot 1.9 seconds behind Freeman. Reece Wood was third a further 4 seconds up the road. In the Max 5 races Paul Sheard and Jonathon Greensmith shared the honours with a win and a second place a-piece. Sheard winning race 1 by 0.5secs while he was just 2 tenths of a second behind Greensmith in race 2.Peter Harper won the Classic Clubmans encounter from Keith Whyman and Mike Evans.

The Apex Tubulars Porsche Club Championship visits Europe this coming weekend (June 16^th / 17^th) with the series regulars taking on the challenge of the famous Spa-Francorchamps Grand Prix circuit in Belgium. The championship points battle is presently closely poised, with Class One leader Mark McAleer tied on points with Neil Harvey from Class Three, and this weekend's two races will see both eager to score points and take the overall lead.

John Hammersley speaks about the crash in the LMA Euro Saloons Pembery last month..read more

The HSCC were at Snetterton over the weekend and it was Frank Lyons who did the double in the Derek Bell Trophy races, his Lola T332 beating Simon Diffey’s Chevron B28 in race 1 and Dwyer’s Lola T400 in race 2. Matthew Watts was third in both events driving a Brabham BT29. Nelson Rowe won the Historic Formula Ford race in his Crossle 20F from the Lola T200 of Neil Fowler with 3.9 seconds to spare. Third in a Merlyn Mk20 was Westie Mitchell. In the Historic Saloons Jonathon Gomm came out on top in his Lotus Cortina ahead of Les Ely’s BMW2000 and the Mustang of Nigel Vaulkhard but only just. The winners margin was just 1 second. Charles Barter continued his winning ways in the 70s Road Sports, his Datsun 240Z beating Paul Anderson’s Porsche 928 by just 0.319secs. Rory Stockbriodge completed the podium in third with his Lotus Europa. In the Classic F3 races Richard Trott won the first race in his Chevron B43 from Keith White’s Ralt RT1. In the second race Benn Simms came through to win in his March 803B with White again second. Peter Williams was third in both races in an Argo JM6.

Team G.FRO's Star Mazda Championship effort grew to three cars beginning in the series' fifth round at Portland International Raceway with the recent signing of race-winner Lorenzo Mandarino, 20, for the remainder of the season. Adding Mandarino to the already talented duo of Ron White, 25, and Tyson Sy, 19, Team G.FRO's three-car squad proved to be a potent combination this past weekend as the team scored two top-sixes with White and Sy in a grueling rain-soaked event at Portland. read more

Oliver Jarvis was again in action at the weekend, 9th-10th June, racing his TOM'S Toyota Dallara in Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2007 All-Japan F3 Championship. With the series moving to the Okayama International Circuit, Jarvis picked up his sixth podium finish of the season with a second place effort in Round 7 on Saturday before scoring a fifth place finish in Round 8 on Sunday. Jarvis, who boasts eight straight top-five finishes in Japan this year, held on to his second place standing in the title battle trailing series leader Roberto Streit by just one point approaching half-distance (115-114). Saturday's 18-lap seventh round was won by Japan's Hiroaki Ishiura with Jarvis second and Koudai Tukagoshi in third. Tukagoshi proved to be a consistent force over the weekend, the Japanese racer celebrating victory the following day after 25 laps with Jarvis finishing off the podium in fifth.

Canadian Daniel Morad (Eurointernational) increased his hold on the overall points lead in the 2007 Formula BMW USA Championship with a win in Round 4 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada. The win was his second of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, third of the season, and fourth career Formula BMW USA victory for last season's Rookie champion. Starting from outside the front row the BMW Junior driver from Toronto finished 9.243 seconds ahead of teammate Sebastian Saavedra (Eurointernational) in the 14 lap race. Proving every race is close and competitive, Morad's margin of victory is the largest in FBMW USA history. Both Saavedra and third-place finisher Philip Major (Autotecnica) had career-best finishes. Yannick Hofman (Eurointernational) finished fourth and Robert Thorne (Team Apex Racing USA) rounded out the top-five. With this win, Morad extends his lead over Gutierrez in the Overall championship points, with Saavedra in third. Gutierrez leads the Rookie points with Jeffrey Petriello second and Favoretto third.

Robertshaw Racing duo Michael Doyle and Alan Taylor are preparing for a major event by taking part in a Clio Cup race at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit on 16^th/17^th June. Although it takes place in Belgium, the race is part of the Italian Clio Cup…read more

Kevin Lacroix and Robert Wickens each won a race in the Atlantic series at Portland over the weekend

The last British driver to win the FORMULA 1™ World Championship, Damon Hill, was among the first to congratulate Canadian Grand Prix winner and F1 World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton on Sunday, after the young Brit put in a stunning performance to win his first ever Grand Prix..read more

Alexander Rossi drove for all he was worth at the Canadian Grand Prix in the Formula BMWUSA race. For fourteen grueling laps he fought his racecar whilst under constant pressure, but the Californian teen never put a wheel wrong. In Utah the previous time out his feisty drives netted him a podium and a fourth place, so it was perhaps a shame that all his hard work in Montréal was rewarded with just 10^th position...read more

Devin Cunningham raced his #33 Discovery Channel/AIM Autosport Mazda from 10th on the grid to victory at Portland International Raceway in Round Five of the 2007 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear.

Adam Carroll finished the latest round of DTM in 16th position, the same place where he started on the grid despite running in the top 6 for the majority of the race. At the start, the 24 year old from Northern Ireland, made two places but it was to be short lived, as cars around him crashed out. Despite avoiding the tangle, Adam went into the gravel and lost a couple of places. Throughout the race he worked his way up to as high as 4th before his 2 mandatory pit-stops. But a drive through penalty for 3 miles per hour over the pit-lane speed limit put paid to his best result of the season so far. "I made a good start and moved through the field but Paul Di Resta and Mike Rockenfeller went off and I ended up in the gravel too. I pushed as hard as I could throughout the race but my tyres didn't last long and I was struggling to stay on track. I kept pushing very hard and managed to keep the Mercedes at bay. My pit stops went well but it was a real shame I got the drive through penalty

Jeff Gordon wins rain-shortened Nascar race in Pocono. The race started nearly two and a half hours late before rain started to threaten once more at the halfway point in the race.. That gave Gordon the chance to gamble on a pit strategy and put in in position to win when the red flag came out after 107 laps due to rain. “We had a great race car, we just needed track position," said Gordon, who led 26 laps, but gave credit for the win to his crew chief. "Steve Letarte - he won this race today. We had a great race car, but without track position and without a great, risky call like that...I can't believe we won this race." It was Gordon's fourth win in the past seven races and his fourth career Pocono win to move into a four-way tie for second on the all-time winners list with Tim Richmond, Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip. Bill Elliott, who finished 37th on Sunday, leads the way with five career wins. Despite being the second shortest race so far this season, it will be a memorable one for Gordon. "We've had some drama this year in our wins," said Gordon, who padded his championship points lead to 242. "When we do it, it's in dramatic fashion. I'm just so proud of all of my guys. What a great way to finish this day out. I didn't think we were even going to get out on the race track today. I still don't believe it." Ryan Newman finished second

The Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Presented by Joe's Sports and Outdoor was won by Sebastien Bourdais and his ewman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team, their 100th Champ Car victory. For the first time in Champ Car history, the race started from a standstill rather than the traditional rolling start. Every driver was able to get going cleanly which set the tone for the caution free day that saw Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald's Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) cruise to his third straight win. Justin Wilson was second after leading early on. "It's good to be on the podium again," said Justin. "The #9 CDW/RSPORTS team did a great job all weekend and I'm really proud of them. The start went well. I got a little too much wheelspin, but with the inside line I just braked at the same time as Robert which made it pretty simple. For the first stint things were working really well. I was just cruising really and very comfortable with the car. In the second stint I was expecting to pick up the pace, but it never happened which was surprising. We'll have to look at the data to see if we can figure out what happened, but ultimately we weren't quick enough for Sebastien today."

Signature team driver Edoardo Mortara has claimed his debut win in the Formula 3 Euroseries at Brands Hatch. The French-Italian started race two from pole position, having finished eighth in race one, and conserved his advantage to the finish despite constant pressure from championship leader Sebastien Buemi. The result means that Edoardo, in only his second year of racing cars, extends his lead of the rookies championship. The 20 year-olds first win in his fourth Formula 3 race has also boosted his overall championship prospects. Sébastien Buemi (Mücke Motorsport) was second ahead of Kamui Kobayashi (ASM Formule 3) in third.

Romain Grosjean (ASM Formule 3) took the spoils in the third season round of the Formula 3 Euro Series. At the 1.929 kilometres long Indy circuit at Brands Hatch, the Frenchman was 1.139 seconds faster than British driver, James Jakes (Manor Motorsport). Kamui Kobayashi (ASM Formule 3) scored his first points of the season for finishing third. Grosjean had the best start and pulled over towards the middle of the track. Franck Mailleux (Manor Motorsport), who started from second place, also drove towards the middle and thus the two collided. While rookie Mailleux was out, Grosjean took the lead as pole-sitter Jakes had problems getting away. Grosjean didn’t lose the lead until the chequered flag was out, celebrating his second victory of the season. As points leader Sébastien Buemi (Mücke Motorsport) only finished seventh, race winner Grosjean also took over first place in the points’ standings of the world’s toughest junior racing series. Behind James Jakes, Kamui Kobayashi and Nico Hülkenberg (ASM Formule 3), Tim Sandtler (Jo Zeller Racing) surprised by finishing fifth. Romain Grosjean (Manor Motorsport): “I had a good start. Just before the first corner, Franck Mailleux and I tangled, but fortunately, that didn’t cause any damage to my car. At the first corner, I was in front. When you are leading in the first corner here, you normally win the race when you don’t make any mistakes.”

Manor Motorsport, the sole British entrant in the Formula 3 Euroseries, saw a realistic bid for victory in the third and fourth rounds of the season at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit unfortunately thwarted over the weekend, 9th/10th June; although Yorkshireman James Jakes did record a well deserved maiden podium and first ever category pole position...read more

Jack Clarke took his maiden Formula Palmer Audi win in Round 11 of the championship at Brands Hatch, as Tim Bridgman finished second to extend his lead to 20 points. Bridgman had already moved into the championship lead for the first time after taking a dominant fourth victoryof the season in Round 10. Saturday was a day of firsts for in Round 9 Jolyon Palmer took his first single-seater win, second-placed Jack Clarke netted his first podium in the series and Matt Hamilton came third and secured a podium finish in his first race back after suffering a broken leg.

Tim Bridgman put in an early banker lap in qualifying for the 10th round of the 2007 Visma Formula Palmer Audi Championship at Brands Hatch to secure his second pole position of the season.
Bridgman, who had already taken second on the grid for Round 9, set a time of 45.385 seconds on the Indy circuit in warm sunny conditions within the first few minutes, a time which couldn't be beaten by anyone else as the clock ran out. Jolyon Palmer enhanced his reputation as a Brands Hatch expert by taking pole position for the ninth round on the Indy circuit. The 16-year-old set a best time of 44.796 seconds around the 1.2-mile circuit to top an astonishingly close qu

Home	^News	^Features	^Calendar	^{News Archive}	11/56 MotorSport
Home	^Reports	^Gallery	^Links	^Classified	11/56 MotorSport