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News Archive October 2006

05/04/2007

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Tim Lewis continues to win in the ALfa Romeo Championship and Andy Page(pictured) and Graham Presley continue to complete the podium places. Lewis's Sudsprint took a conclusive win at Oulton Park on Saturday taking the flag with over 12 seconds to spare on Page in second while Presley was third a further 8 seconds up the road.  In the Club F3 race Shane Kelly in a Dallara F397 beat Jon Gray's Dallara F304 by 5.759 seconds. Stuart Gough was third 20 seconds behind the winner. In the NW Formula Ford Class A-B race John Hutchison just pipped Mark Chadwick to the flag by a mere 0.454 seconds with Chris Chisnall third 4.5 seconds behind.  The FF1600 Class C-E series had twp races  with Lee Hannam winning the first from Chris Walsh and Nigel Dolan. Hannam's Reynard winning by 0.289 seconds. In the second race Tom Bradshaw took the honours in a Reynard FF86 with Neil Boardman second and Robert Whelan third.  Torsten Keen won the Ford Fiesta race from David Abbot by just 1.705secs with Brian Roper third (pictured right)while in the Ford Saloons Stuart Whyte won the race in dominant fashion in his Escort Cosworth, the gap to second placed Steve Scott being 21 seconds while Malcolm Wise was third 52 seconds off the lead. In the Ford XR Challenge race Michael Blackburn in a Fiesta beat the Escorts of Mike Wright in second and Andrew Lennie in third.

Snetterton held a two day BARC meeting at the weekend with the Classic Saloon and Touring cars  providing much of the action. In the IBIS Packaging Solutions Group 1 Touring car race David Howard took his second win of the weekend today(Sunday) when he beat Roger Stanford top the line in his XJ12. Third was Mark Fowler in a Capri. Howards first win came a day earlier in the York Fitness Post Historic race when he beat Andy Gill's Mustang by just over a second. Stephen Primett was third in an Escort. In the Waxoyl Classic Thunder Kevin Williams won on Saturday in a Sierra Cosworth from Trevor Coller in a Ford Sapphire and David Mepham in a Rover SD1. On Sunday Gerard Faber's Camaro crossed the line 2 seconds up on Kevin Williams Sierra with Collar completing the podium places. The Pre-93 Touring Cars race, held on Saturday was won by John Willcocks from Andrew Busby and Tony Gorman, all in BMW M3's. While Nikki Welsby and Michelle Nixon took a win a-piece in Formula Woman. Wellsby was second in race two on Sunday with Suzanne Dignan third while Lucy Redding and Kirsty Jeffrey completed the podium on Saturday.

The Classic FF1600 Championship saw Steve Hare take a win on Saturday and a second place on Sunday.  Behind him on Saturday was Oliver Robinson who turned the tables on Sunday beating Hare to win with just 4 tenths of a second in hand. In the Easytrack Production BMW races, again one on Saturday and one on Sunday Liam Crilly and John Thorne were the winners respectively. Second on both days was Jeremy Clark with third going to Andy Schulz on Saturday and George Haynes on Sunday.

The phenomenal success of this year’s UK Formula Ford Championship has prompted the relaunch of the Formula Ford Winter Series. The Ford-backed series will feature four November races, two over the popular Walter Hayes Trophy weekend at Silverstone – already a magnet for Formula Ford racers – and two the following weekend at Brands Hatch. 
There will be three separate classes: one for the new and increasingly popular Duratec 1600 cars, and Clubman and Scholarship sections for drivers of Zetec-engined machines. There will also be a Winter Rookie award for drivers new to Duratec power. 
Sam Roach of championship promoter RacingLine said: “Formula Ford has enjoyed larger grids this season than any of the UK’s leading single-seater series and there is considerable demand already for places on the 2007 grid. The Winter Series has traditionally been an opportunity for prospective drivers to try out for the coming season and early indications are that it will be very popular.” 
Further details and a Winter Series registration form can be downloaded from www.ukformulaford.co.uk

Nick Sanderson,Scottish XR2 Champion of 2005 is scheduled to return to the series this weekend at Croft

Britain’s youngest-ever Le Mans competitor, Ed Morris, is to follow in his father Graham’s wheeltracks and race a Caterham. The Kent-based 18-year-old is to tackle the Cosworth Caterham Masters races at Monza in Italy next weekend (30 Sep/1 Oct).
Morris Jnr will drive a Hyperion Motorsport-prepared Caterham development CSR 260 in the twin one-hour races and, says his father, he is looking forward to an enjoyable outing. “We’ve had a lot of bad luck this season in sports cars,” says Graham, “and Ed and I are looking to put some fun back into things while we decide what to do for 2007. Caterhams have been dear to my heart ever since I raced a Vauxhall-engined car in the early 1990s.” 
Ed began his track career at age eight in karts and progressed to GTs via junior rallycross and kit car racing. He made it to Le Mans in June this year, two days after his 18th birthday, not only becoming the youngest Briton ever to enter the 24-hour classic but also the youngest in the world to tackle the event at the wheel of a sports-prototype. 
Morris will find himself in the midst of a battle royal at Monza between the Hyperion/Acre Jean pairing of Rob Jenkinson/Nathan Bell and Colards Motorsport duo Clive Richards/Richard Hay. Each squad has clocked up four Masters race victories. 
Richards and Hay lead the championship by a 20-point margin, with Sarah Reader and Oliver Bull holding third spot overall

JHR Racing Developments’ Michael Doyle and TCR’s Mark Speller won the Armor All  Driver of the Day awards for rounds 15 and 16 respectively. Doyle had his second podium finish in successive races, while Speller recorded his first Clio Cup win. 

An audience of 581,000 watched the highlights of the Elf Clio Cup round 14 at Snetterton on Motorsport UK recently. The total for the season so far is now approaching four million viewers. Highlights from Donington Park are scheduled for Tuesday, 3rd October, with the two races at Brands Hatch to be shown a fortnight later.

Much will be decided this weekend 23-24 Sept, as the 06 Atlantic Championship contenders take on the  majestic 4.048-mile Road America road circuit in Elkhart Lake. And while most eyes will be at the front of the pack, tracking the battle for the  championship and the $2 million prize between Simon Pagenaud and Graham Rahal, the rest of the expected 23-car Atlantic field gets one more opportunity to shine.         Pagenaud's relentless consistency this season has given him a 12-point lead in the title chase (253-241). The Team Australia French rookie has only one win and one pole to his credit but he's earned six podium results and has finished among the top five in an incredible nine of 11 races. He knows what he needs to do in order to claim the crown -- simply finish ahead of Rahal. But if he just earns a top-three finish in his first-ever visit to Road America he can also secure the title, no matter what Rahal does. If Pagenaud can't manage to finish on the podium or finish ahead of Rahal, well, there are a lot of other scenarios that could play out (see championship breakdown online at www.champcaratlantic.com), but the 22-year-old wants to control his own destiny and proudly bring his team a title in its first year of Atlantic action.

Rounds 11 and 12 of the Skip Barber National Presented by RACER are this weekend at Road America. The title chase for the Skip Barber championship is effectively down to three drivers: Jonathan Goring, Marco Di Leo and Alexander Rossi, with Kyle Lawrence, Alex Doman and Richard Heistand still in with mathematical chances. Just 39 points separate the top three, and with a victory worth 65 points and the drivers scoring only their best 12 of the year's 14 races it's all still up for the taking. Goring and Di Leo each have three wins, while Rossi has two Heistand and Chris Wehrheim (not entered . this weekend) have solo victories. More germane is that this is the second time this year the Skip Barber National has come to Road America. In early July in rounds seven and eight, Heistand took the first race, with Di Leo second. Di Leo then won the second race, Goring in P2.

The Coloni Motorsport F.3000 Rookies' Team will make its debut this week-end in Barcelona, giving an opportunity for the young talented drivers to have an easy way to F.3000. For all the remaining rounds of the Euroseries 3000, Coloni Motorsport will put a car, technically assisted by Coloni itself, at disposal of a young driver who will therefore have the chance to test the fast Lola B02/50 and to distinguish itself on international field. And it will be Johnny Cecotto Jr to launch the project. The son of the former F1 driver, who is currently competing in the German F. Renault 2.0 and Formula 3 Championship, is the first driver selected for the "F.3000 Rookies team.

Filipe Albuquerque (POR/Motopark Academy) has won the Northern European Cup Formula Renault 2.0. The Portuguese driver finished second in the first race on the Salzburgring (Austria) and scored enough points to clinch the title. Victory in race one went to his team mate Sebastien Buemi (CH/Motopark Academy). Mihai Marinescu (ROM/Petrom District Racing) finished in third place. The second race was again dominated by Team Motopark Oschersleben. This time Albuquerque won, followed closely by Buemi. Marinescu scored another third place. After 16 races Albuquerque scored 312 points in 16 races. Chris van der Drift (NZL/JD Motorsport) ends the championship in second place with 267 points while Xavier Maassen (NED/JD Motorsport) was third, having scored 252 points 

The Champ Car Grand Prix returns to Road America, September 22- 24, 2006 for a three-day festival of speed and OktoberFAST celebration. This is Champ Car's last domestic event before the finish the year in Australia and Mexico. The Champ Car World Series will be joined by the Champ Car Atlantics, Mazda MX-5, Cooper Tires FF2000, Skip Barber National, and the Mazda Extreme Street Show. At the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex the Champ Car Rotax Kart Challenge and the Aprilia AMA Supermoto Shoot-Out will run on Friday and Saturday. 

AKA Lemac’s Jeremy Metcalfe will be presented with the DPRAC Cup at Brands Hatch after a brace of top four finishes saw him pip Sam Bird to the prize as the highest-scoring Briton at the four Donington Park races this season 

Michael Meadows joins the Formula Renault UK Championship at Brands Hatch having started the season in Formula BMW, where he lies sixth in the drivers’ standings. Fellow FBMW driver Matt Howson plans to step up to Formula Renault UK with Team Filsell for the final two races at Silverstone in October.

With the eighth round of the 2006 DTM at Barcelona this coming weekend the championship will enter a new country. For the first time ever since 1984, a race will be staged in Spain. Spain will be the 16th country to host a DTM race, including the ITC held in 1995 and 1996. Prior to the race at Barcelona Bernd Schneider (Vodafone AMG-Mercedes) is the overall leader with 54 points ahead of Tom Kristensen (Audi A4 DTM) with 44 and Bruno Spengler (DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes) on 39 points.

Phenom Racing Group team owner Michael Guasch announced today that they have signed Daniel Herrington for the last two races of the Star Mazda Championship. Herrington, who led the early stages of the championship with one victory and three podium finishes was forced to stand down due to financial reasons, will make his debut with the team at Road Atlanta for the Petit Le Mans weekend. Herrington will pilot the Phenom Racing Mazda sponsored by Molecule Labs  Guasch explained. "Daniel has shown that he is championship caliber driver and if he hadn't been caught up in two unfortunate accidents he would still be at the front of the field. Everyone in the organization is excited to have him on our team as we feel this will give us the opportunity to showcase our technical skill and speed."

Two more victories and an unbeaten record at California's Buttonwillow Raceway Park ensured Cark Skerlong achieved his goal of winning the Formula TR Pro Series 2000 Championship on Sunday (17^th). As he has done throughout the 2006 season, Skerlong took pole for Round 17 on Saturday. He followed this up with a flag-to-flag victory beating John Knudsen and Bret MacDonald to the top step of the podium. Carl capped his championship winning weekend with an equally commanding performance in Round 18 on Sunday. He set the pace of the 12-lap race, dicing briefly with John Knudsen, who would secure runner-up in the standings, Skerlongl eventually streaked ahead to claim the chequered flag nearly 12 seconds ahead.  Carl reflected, "It's great to clinch the championship early -- it's one more thing checked off the list that's for sure! Having won the 1.6-litre class last season the goal was to come back to the Formula TR Pro Series and do the same in the 2-litre class and I'm thrilled we met our objectives. Odyssey Motorsports did a great job all year and to win the championship by scoring back-to-back wins over the weekend's pretty pleasing. I'll still be going for the wins in Las Vegas next month but it feels good to have settled the championship before the season finale!"

Jordan Oakes won Formula Renault BARC Championship race at Thruxton on Saturday, (16th September), coming through the field from 5th on the grid. Richard Singleton was second keeping well ahead in the title chasewith just 2 races left. Full report.......... 

ELF Renault Clio Cup drivers Alan Taylor and Steve Wood became the first deposit holders to have an active experience in the New Clio Cup race car during a special demonstration session at the World Series by Renault at Donington Park on Saturday, 9th September. Both drivers have placed a deposit for the car that will race in the Championship from 2007 and took advantage of an exclusive opportunity provided by Renault Sport and its development driver Laurent Hurgon

Bath based Ed Moore (pictured) clinched the BRSCC Club Formula Ford 1600 (MS) Championship with a second place finish at Mallory Park on 20th August. Coming on the back of his 2005 triumphs in the MSV FF1600 Championship and BRSCC National King of Kent’s Cup it has been a successful couple of years for the Motorsport Events backed driver, who also won the inaugural Edwina Overend Trophy in July.

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Ian White the Porsche Club Championship leader took another step towards claming the title this year with his third win in a row and eighth of the season at Oulton Park. Title rival Richard Lambert won Class Two to keep up the pressure…full report

Peter Morris took his fifth win of the 2006 Porsche Open season to win at Oulton Park in an exciting 15-minute 'sprint' race. Porsche veteran Colin Broster returned to take second and win Class One ahead of fellow series visitor Paul Hogarth, who claimed third in his 997……  full report

Newly crowned Pacific F2000 Champion Robert Podlesni has confirmed his plans to move up to the Atlantic Championship in 2007. The 18-year-old from California took four victories, eight podium finishes and four pole positions en route to the title last weekend at the Infineon Raceway.. "It has been a great season in Pacific F2000, against some very tough competitors, and I hope to continue that success in the Champ Car Atlantic Series in 2007," said Podlesni. "My goal is to race in the Champ Car World Series within a few years, and the Atlantic Championship is the next step in that direction. Nothing has been decided yet, but I am talking with several teams and hope to put together a deal before too long." Podlesni will run in the final two Pacific F2000 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October with the Champion's no1 on his Alpinestars/Terminal Velocity/Dave Freitas Racing Van Diemen..

J.R. Hildebrand continued to dominate the Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Championship by winning both of this weekend's races at Mid-Ohio. The 18-year-old has won 11 of the season's 12 races with Cape Motorsports' Van Diemen and clinched the title with two races to run. "We knocked the most wins [in a season] record out of the way and got the championship all wrapped up, so it's been another good weekend," said Hildebrand modestly. "I don't think anybody expected us to be so dominant this season," he continued, "but that's what I had been preparing to do all through the off-season. I've had a great team behind me in Cape Motorsports and I've put a lot of hard work in behind the scenes. I've done pretty much everything I wanted to do and I hope to translate that into bigger and better things for the future."

Cole Morgan also achieved his weekend goals, emulating Hildebrand's feat by claiming two more wins and clinching the Cooper Gold Cup crown for older Pinto-engined cars. Morgan's latest two victories -- maintaining an unbeaten streak this season -- came with a new (to him) team in St. Clair Motorsports, running Mark Defer's usual Van Diemen RF99 chassis while his own trusty Swift DB-6 was being prepared for the upcoming SCCA National Championship event in Topeka, Kan.

At Mallory Park yesterday Peter Sparrow was the winner of the 2CV Championship race just 0.442 seconds ahead of Christian Callander with Richard Hollis third a tenth behind Callander.  In the Ace Deliveries/Hillside Sports Saloons race Mark Primett dominated winning by 16 seconds from Chris Maries Mini Monte CarloType R! Third was the TR7 V8 of Ralph Underwood. In the Classic Clubmans race Peter Harper’s Mallock Mk20B just held of the similar machine of Mike Hickson to win by 0.258secs with Malcolm Jackson third  less than a second behind.  The Classic FF1600 race Steve Hare’s Van Dieman RF81 managed to hold off Paul Walton’s Crossle to win by just 0.737 seconds. Walton also had his hands full with Dave Lowe in a Lotus 69 and Steve Peace in a Van Dieman RF80 who were 1.181 and 1.801 seconds behind the winner in third and fourth respectively. Eddie Wilkins won the Classic FF2000 race ahead of Oliver Hancock and Nicolas Pearce while the Westfield race saw Nick Flowers beat Didier Prongue and Troy Robinson by the smallest of margins, just 0.150seconds. 

At Oulton Park in the Aston Martin Owners Club meeting Adrian Beecroft won the 50s  Sports Car event in his DBR1, 2.004secds up on Chris Adams DB2. Third was Kevin Zwolinski in  Jaguar XK140.  In the Intermarque race the Porsche 933 RS of Brian Robinson to a comfortable victory 7.372 seconds ahead of Phil Bennett’s DB4. Bennett came good in the AMOC’s UBS Aston Martin Classic race for Post 60s cars winning by over 15 seconds from the DB4 Zagato of Darren McWhirter. Third was Peter Foster in another DB4. In the Pre 1960s race a red flag gave Andrew Sharp  the win after a brief two lap affair where he led Adrian Beecroft until the race was stopped. Christian Andrew won the Rawles Motorsport Austin Healey Club race in his Frogeye Sprite. Second just 0.734 secs behind was Andrew Strorer in another Sprite with David Smithies third in a Healey 3000. The Endurance event was another race blighted by a red flag, although it did manage to last 19 minutes(12 Laps) on this occasion. Steven Taylor was declared the winner in his Lotus Elise from the Colbert/Cochrane Sunbeam Tiger.  In the Yokohama Mid-engined Sports car series Steven Taylor’s Elise took the honours ahead of Russell treasures Exige with 1.135 seconds to spare.

John Wilson won the MGCC BCV8 race on Saturday at Castle Combe. Second just 8 tenths behind was Adrian Beer with Rod McArthy third In the Total Butler event Tom Jones  in a MGB Roadster came out on top 9.8 seconds ahead of Simon Hutchinson who just edged out David Brooke by a couple of tenths of a second.  In the Drayton Manor Park MG Metro Challenge race Barry Lake won by 0.380 seconds from Jon Flaningan with Daniel Ludlow third 6.5 seconds up the road. while the MG Trophy race was won by Malcolm Gammons a mere 0.471 seconds up on second placed Colin Robertson. Incidentally one David Coulthard was seventh. Third just a second behind Robertson was Paul Wallace. In the Actman Eyewear MG Midget Challenge race William Smallridge trounced the opposition finishing 29 seconds ahead of second placed Richard Perry. Edward Reeve was third.  The TR Register race was won by Jon Wolfe from Hugh Maund and Martyn Adams. All three were driving TR7 V8's. The Henry Recruitment Thoroughbred Sports Car race was won by Roy McCarthy in a MGB GTV8 . In what was effectively a two horse race he beat the TVR Griffiths of Steve Watton by just 0.512secs while Russell McCarthy was a distant third 20 seconds behind the winner.

In Castle Combe's own Championship races  Bob Higgins (pictured) came out the winner of the Melton Concrete Products FF1600 event. His Van Dieman RF91 just pipping Pat Blakeney's Vector MG95 by 0.899secs. Third 2.2 seconds off the leader was Nick Jones, also in a Van Dieman, but a slightly newer RF01. In the National Mobile Windscreens Saloon car race Keith Murray returned to dominant form in his Audi A4 winning by a comfortable 10seconds. Second was Steve Turvey in an Impreza with Mark Wyatt in an Astra third, less than 2 seconds behind the Subaru.

At Thruxton yesterday Rick Kerry won the Kumho BMW race from Richard Mallinson with 4.7 seconds to spare. Garrie Whittaker was third 10seconds off the leader. In the MGOC Lancaster Insurance race Martin Wills won the Class A-F race in his MG-F , 0.466 seconds ahead of second placed Ian Evans. Nick Dunn was third a further 13 seconds back. In the Class B-Z race Doug Cole beat Scott Tanner by 6.6 seconds with Nick Golhar third. The Pirelli Ferrari Challenge race went to the Ferrari 355 of Witt Gamski with Mark I'Anson second and Charlie White third, I'anson just 1.1 seconds behind the winner at the flag.

The Savesometax.co.uk Special GT Championship race at Castle Combe was totally dominated by Tony Sinclair in a Jade 2, winning by 28 seconds from Howard Spooner in a Jade Trackstar. Third was the Nemesis RME02 of Tony Michael(pictured) . 

Fans, friends and family will take part in a 90minute tribute to the life of Peter Brock at Sandown Raceway on Friday September 22, starting at 2pm. The site of his nine wins in the annual touring car endurance classic, the historic racing circuit will play host to the Peter Brock Sandown Tribute to celebrate the man known by many as the `King of the Mountain'.  Following his State Funeral in Melbourne on Tuesday, the Sandown event gives people from all walks of life the opportunity to remember, reminisce and celebrate the life and racing career of Peter Brock. Included in the celebration of Peter's life will be tributes from his family, his friends and motorsport identities that raced with and against him. Motorsport identities John Harvey, Allan Moffat, Fred Gibson, Mark Skaife and CAMS President Colin Osborne will speak at the tribute. Among the highlights will be a parade of HDT Special Vehicles from a period of Peter's life in the 1980s where he was at his creative best. Brock won his first Sandown endurance race in 1973 and his last in 1984. The two wins bookend a sevenyear period from 1975 to 1981 where he was unbeatable in the race. He sat on pole position a record nine times and made his Sandown 500 debut in 1970 when the race was run as the `Sandown 3 Hour'. Brock made his 29 and last start in 2004 and the front straight was renamed Brock Straight in 1997 when Peter retired from fulltime V8 Supercar racing

The UK Formula Ford Championship takes on a truly international flavour next weekend (23/24 Sept) at Silverstone, with two drivers from Australia joining the championship regulars for the 15th and 16th rounds

The MSA have allocated Championships to the Jaguar Enthusiasts' Club with series for XK, XJS & Powered by Jaguar. They have also suggested that the Club merge their Saloons with the latter series. Since the races featuring the Saloons have been successful and have large fields the club are unwilling to do so and are sticking with the same format as 2006.

British rally legend Gwyndaf Evans is to join the grid of the Volkswagen Racing Cup next weekend (23/24 Sept). The 47-year-old Hankook Motorsports ace has been invited to swap his four-wheel-drive rally machine for the championship’s Polo GTI ‘celebrity car’ for the Silverstone rounds of the championship. Gwyndaf is looking forward to the experience: ‘I’m not entirely sure what I may have let myself in for, but I’m hoping it will be a nice weekend! It was bit of a surprise to be asked because my racing experience is very limited, but I am going to get some tips from Barbara Armstrong and try to enjoy the race.’  Volkswagen Racing Cup co-ordinator Armstrong is a former British Ladies Rally Champion and was once team-mate to Evans with SEAT. Volkswagen Racing UK director Sam Roach said: ‘We are looking forward to seeing him out in the Polo GTI.  It’s a car which has shown promise in the hands of various racing journalists this season, and I think with Gwyndaf at the wheel it is really going to turn some heads.  ‘It’s also nice to see a driver of Gwyndaf’s stature agreeing to compete. Jason Plato raced with us a couple of seasons ago; the other competitors enjoy the chance to share the circuit with them. ’ Evans, from Dinas Mawddwy, won his first rally title in 1988 when he claimed the British Group N crown for the first time. He went on to win the outright British Rally Championship crown in 1996, and was twice more the Group N victor. He is fresh from success on the Ulster Rally, on which the SJR Hankook team driver was the top British Rally Championship finisher. Gwyndaf’s previous racing experience is limited to a sports car event at Silverstone and a saloon outing with SEAT at Brands Hatch.

Fresh from sealing victory in the Australian Formula 3 Championship,  Ben Clucas is to return to Caterham racing next weekend (24 Sep) at Silverstone

The Volkswagen Racing Cup accelerates into overdrive in the coming weeks, with two rounds next weekend (23/24 September) at Silverstone and the finale of the Hankook-backed championship just a week later at Thruxton…

Paul O'Neill will return to the BTCC grid on 24 September in a Vauxhall Astra Coupé. O'Neill, who won his first  BTCC race at  Oulton Park where he often works as an instructor .  O'Neill's car will drive a  bio-ethanol fuelled car with some backing from Energy Efficient Motorsport (EEMS.

After an intense season with six races, SEAT Sport driver Ali Laivola has won the 2006 Finnish touring Car Championship (FTCC) at the wheel of a SEAT Toledo Cupra Super 2000. The experienced Finnish driver made his victory after an extremely competitive season, finishing 28 points ahead of his most immediate rival in the last trace of the season.

With 2006 Formula BMW USA Champion Robert Wickens' name already on the trophy, the series is already gearing up for 2007 by searching for the next set of BMW Junior drivers during a 2 day shoot-out at the Formula BMW Racing Centre in Valencia on Sept 18-19., 18 drivers have received an invitation to Valencia to compete for one of four 2007 $40,000 Formula BMW USA Junior scholarships plus they will also enrol in Formula BMW's comprehensive Education and Coaching Program which includes training in physical fitness, media, racing car set-up and driving technique. Representing the global reach of the  program the  drivers include Zachary Beard, 16, USA; Richard Compollo, 16, Guatemala; Ian Costa, 17, USA; Daanish Dalal, 16, Canada; Ricardo Favoretto, 18, Brazil; Grant Hebner, 18, USA; Timothy Hollowell, 17, USA; Chris Homan, 18, Canada; Alexander Jacovides, 15, South Africa; Martijn Mol, 18, Netherlands; Eric Morrow, 17, USA; Jeffrey Oleen, 16, USA; Jeffrey Petriello, 18, Canada; Robin Stonesifer, 18, USA; Dex Tuttle, 17, USA; Michael Vincec, 15, Canada; Brett Smrz, 15, USA and Kristine Daggett, 17, USA. In addition to the four Juniors that will emerge from the scholarship shoot-out, a fifth scholarship is automatically awarded to the winner of the Rookie Cup from the previous season. Canadian Daniel Morad, the 2006 Rookie Champion, will receive a scholarship for 2007 and return for a second year of Formula BMW USA competition.

From November 24 to 26, the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo will host the second Formula BMW World Final. Young racing drivers from the four regional Formula BMW series will compete against each other with the winner receiving a test drive with the BMW Sauber F1 Team.

Saturday and Sunday 8th & 9th September saw Mickel Racing enter a KB Automotive run MG ZR into the second annual 24hr Britcar race at Silverstone....full story  

As the Formula Woman Novice Challenge Cup heads for its finale at Snetterton on 23/24 September, Championship leader Kirsty Jeffrey finds herself 4 points clear with just 2 races to go. This years Formula Woman Novice Challenge had over 4000 applicants, 1500 attended an assessment day, where 100 women were chosen to compete for 16 places on the grid. With  5 different winners on the top step of the podium to date its certainly been competitive, who'll come out on top, find out in 10 days time.

Pat Barrett, from Los Osos, California made a great start to his professional racing career by winning both of lasts weekend's Pacific F2000 Championship races at Infineon Raceway in the US.  Another winner  at the National Auto Sport Association run event was Robert  Podlesni  who took a pair of podium finishes to clinch the Championship title with two rounds remaining. "I wish I could have won one of the races but we were going for the championship," said Podlesni, who has already four wins this season with his Dave Freitas Racing Van Diemen.

The Saker GT, a new low cost  Sports Car from Dragon Motorsports (previosuly mentioned on 'theGrid' last month  is expected to be on show at a e  number of circuits in the next few weeks for prospective drivers/ team owners to see and drive it. Steve Vince , Dragon 's owner, also plans to be at The Racing Car Showat the NEC  with the car in January. Hopes are high the the car will effectively halve the cost of endurance racing - Plans are also afoot to produce a road going version of the car

Dragon Autosports owner Steve Vince, best known for establishing the Toyota MR2 series, plans to launch a new low cost  Sports Car Endurance Championship. Having recently signed a deal to import the Saker GT car into the UK he intends to launch the SAKER GT CUP to run alongside Britsports in 2007. With cars expected to cost around half  that of a typical Britsports he could be onto something big.

A team of turbodiesel Volkswagen Golf-driving privateers is celebrating an impressive 15th place finish in the UK’s major endurance race, the Britcar Silverstone 24 Hours.The Golf TDI crossed the line yesterday (Sunday) third in its class – and the only diesel-powered finisher – just 62 laps behind the winning BMW sports racer.Lead driver Ken Lark, from Peters Green in Hertfordshire, is delighted by the team’s performance: ‘It was an excellent race, very hard work but really enjoyable. I think it has to go down as the best racing weekend of my life.
‘We had only one real drama, when the battery exploded at 3am out on the circuit. That lost us around six laps and without it we might have made the top 10.’ 
Nonetheless the amateur squad – comprising Lark, John Quartermaine and his son Adam, Michael Neuhoff and Nick Starkey – claimed some notable scalps, including all three Mazda RX8s entered by the British importer. 
The Golf TDI was able to stay out on track for the maximum permitted three hours at a time before pitting for a driver change, while its much more powerful rivals had to stop every hour to take on petrol. ‘It was great to pass all the big sports cars while they were stationary in the pits,’ added Lark. ‘We stopped a total of only seven times… I think the winner made 20-plus pit visits.’ 
The TH Motorsport-prepared Golf was powered by a standard 1.9 TDI engine from a written-off road car. Lark and his comrades are now planning an assault on the 2007 Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Also in action at Silverstone was a Beetle RSi piloted by Dave Turner, Terry Flatt Nick Beaumont, Alex Frick and Mike Gorton, which was classified 28th despite losing around three hours in the pits with a broken driveshaft. Fifty-two cars started the race and there were 35 classified finishers.

Peter Morris won the PMC Trophy Race at Silverstone - fittingly as it was his own company sponsoring the race. A slow starting Paul McLean recovered to tear back through the field and just miss out on catching Morris before the line, while Malcolm Spendlove took his best Open finish with third overall….full report 

Ian White took his seventh win of the 2006 Porsche Club Championship  in the PMC Trophy race at teh weekend. He was chased by Mark McAleer until he retiored. Theny Kevin Harrison took up the chase in the 30-minute race...full story

Freddy Nordstrom (pictured below) took two third places in a strong display at Croft in the latest episode of the Mini Challenge

A crowd of over 90,000 made the 2006 World Series by Renault meeting at Donington Park one of the biggest motorsport events in the UK this year. The two-day event, part of a nine-leg European tour showcasing Renault’s prestigious single-seater and saloon car Championships, drew 34,512 people on Saturday, 9^th September and a further 56,734 on Sunday, 10^th September for a total of 91,246. The crowd equals Donington Park’s previous record set at the British MotoGP in 2004 and is the biggest crowd for a car eventever

Fortec Motorsport’s Sebastian Hohenthal recovered from his disappointing exclusion from the previous race(round 15) of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship by winning Round 16 at the World Series by Renault event at Donington Park. His team-mate Sam Bird, who was second had earlier driven a  faultless race to win round 15. …full report

This weekend coincided with two significant events in global motorsport with successes for two former drivers. Last season’s Formula Renault 3.5 Champion Robert Kubica finished on the podium at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, while 2003 Formula Renault UK Champion Lewis Hamilton was crowned GP2 Champion. Fans will be watching closely in the coming seasons to see if any of the drivers on show this weekend can follow in their illustrious wheel-tracks. ...more

Total Control Racing’s Mark Speller won his frst ELF Renault Clio Cup victory at Donington Park, in round 16 of the seris.on Sunday The 22-year-old climbed up from 5^th at the start to take the lead and beat his team-mate om Onslow-Cole by.345s. In the Saturday race Martin Byford won his third race in a row He won the race by 4.358s Onslow-Cole……full report 

Andrew Deviny won the Mini Se7en race at Croft on Sunday holding off Max Hunter to win by 3.188seconds. Third a further second behind was Paul Thompson. In the Mini Miglia race James Hall just managed to keep Bill Sollis behind him to take the chequered flag by a mere 0.200 seconds. Kelly Rogers wasn’t far behind in third, 0.449 seconds behind Sollis. In the two Mini Challenge races Arthur Forster and Carl Bradley took a win apiece. Forster winning the first from David Shepherd with Fredrik Norstrum third. In race 2 Martin Depper was second with Norstrum third once again. 

At Silverstone on Saturday Chris Yarwood, driving a Tiga SC87 won the Sports Pinto race at the Britcar 24 hours race meeting. Second was Jim McDougall in a Swift DB2, 6.4 seconds behind while third was Oliver Stirling in a Royale.  In the Sports Duratec race Nigel Greensall took his Lola B07/09 to victory 0.6 secs ahead of Richard Johnson’s Van Dieman RF5C. Tom Mills was a distant third, 40 seconds behind in his Gunn TS7

In the second ever run Formula Woman novice challenge cup, Kirsty Jeffrey, 22 from Sandy, Beds. Is currently leading the championship, with just 2 more rounds to go. The fin als rounds wul be held at Snetterton on 23-24th September

Congratulations to Andy Neate on winning the 2006 National Ford Fiesta Championship. Neate took the title after taking 8 wins in the series.

Gary Halcrow’s (pictured ) mission to win all four Snetterton rounds of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge may have failed yesterday (Sat) but the Dorset driver came very close indeed. Halcrow won both of the Roadsport ‘premier division’ races to accelerate into second place in the championship, and also took the spoils in one of the two Roadsport B events, in so doing putting the B class title very nearly beyond the reach of any of his rivals....full report     pic Dave Ayres

At Rockingham today  Gavin Seager and Steve Dance took a win each in the Pickup championship. In race 1 Seager crossed the line 0.042secs up on Dance.Paul Poulter was  third just 0.002sec behind Dance. In race 2 Nic Grindrod was second to Dance by 19 hundreds of a second with Rob Butterfield third.

At Snetterton the Club MS Formula Ford Championship  was scheduled for 3 races yesterday(Saturday), Sadly only one was run after only 4 cars finished the opening race resulting in the final two events getting cancelled. The race itself was won by Lee Mumford in a Reynard FF92 ahead of Stuart Kestenbaum, also in a Reynard and Adrian Campfield's Swift SC93.  

At Croft today(sunday) the PlayStation 2 Ginetta Junior Championship had two races with James Harrison winning the first from Robert Gaffney and James Jefferson. In race two Jordon Williams took the spoils with Gaffney again taking the runner-up spot, this time  from Graham Carroll by just 0.6 seconds 

Fortec Motorsport's Sam Bird set the fastest time in Wednesday's official Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship test at Donington Park Grand Prix circuit in preparation for the series' biggest race meeting of the year supporting the World Series by Renault. The 19-year-old’s time of 1min 30.152s (99.83mph) is almost exactly one second under the lap record set by Joe D’Agostino at last year’s corresponding race meeting. Bird’s team-mate Sebastian Hohenthal was second quickest with Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Markus Niemelä  in third.

This weekend sees the return of the Britcar 24hr Race held at Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. Maidenhead drivers, husband and wife team Gary and Kelly Smith will join their respective co-drivers Sarah Bennett-Baggs and Stuart Plotnek (pictured) along with fellow Britcar racer Anna Alaska to form the 5 driver line-up contesting their MG-ZR. The race which starts at 5pm on Saturday has a 63 car line-up of sportscars, last year the race was won by the Mosler of Shaun Balfe and his team. There are 6 different classes bringing a broad mix of different marks; Porsche, Ferrari, Marcos Mantis V8’s etc. The MG-ZR, car number 81 is in class 3. Qualifying for the race will take place on Friday and all drivers must clear 3 laps both in daytime qualifying and a separate night-time qualifying session to participate. Last year the team finished just outside the top 30 and this year hope to better this but anything can happen in 24hrs!

Nathan Freke edged closer to the UK Formula Ford Championship crown yesterday when he claimed twin wins at Knockhill in Scotland to bring his victory tally for the season to seven....full report

At Goodwood Frank Sytner won the Whitsun Trophy on Saturday driving a Lola Chevrolet T70 Spyder. Second in a McLaren M1B was Nick Whale with Ray Bellem third in a GT40. In the  Goodwood Trophy race Stefan Schollwoeck, driving a Maserati 6CM came out on top 6 seconds ahead of Mark Gillies in a Maserati 4CL while third was Johan Majzub ina Alfa Romeo 308C. 

Dominic Lesniewski  will join Topcats Racing this coming weekend to take part in the Britcar Silverstone 24Hour Race. Racing alongside three team-mates, Dominic will be at the wheel of a Marcos Mantis for stints across 24Hours of non-stop racing at the country’s most famous race circuit, Silverstone.Last year was the first running of the Silverstone 24Hour race, in which Topcats Racing won their class, a feat Dominic is keen to help them repeat.This is not the first time Dominic has raced with Topcats, having driven the car in the Snetterton 3Hour race last year and he is happy to be returning to the team for this exciting endurance event.“They are an excellent team” says Dominic of Topcats, “very organised and focused. Having won last year I am sure we will put in a strong showing this weekend but rather like the TV show of the same name, 24Hours can throw up all sort of surprises! “This will be my first 24Hour race and I am very excited. It requires precise planning on the team’s part and stamina from the drivers and car. I’m looking forward to the experience and the opportunity to increase my knowledge as a great ambition of mine is to race in endurance racing such as Le Mans in the future.” Dominic has already had much success on the track this year with six wins in the Matador Powertec Radical Challenge.

Oliver Turvey (below)won both the Formula BMW races at Knockhill today(Sunday) beating Niall Breen in the opening race and Euan Hankey in the second. Oliver Oakes was third on both occasions

After an eight-week break the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge blasts back into action next Saturday (9 Sept) at Snetterton, with Dorset driver Gary Halcrow hoping to set the seal on what has proved to be an exceptionally successful season. Halcrow arrives at the Norfolk circuit with a 31-point lead in the Roadsport B ‘novice’ division, thanks to seven wins from 10 starts, as well as third place in the championship for the slightly faster Roadsport models. 
His aim for Snetterton is a clean sweep of four race wins, but he knows it’s a tall order. “I won three out of my four races at the first meeting of the year and did it again at Oulton. It would be great to go the whole way and I’m well up for it – I won’t be taking any prisoners.”
But Halcrow will have to overcome some stiff opposition, not least in Roadsport B, in which he was beaten into third place at Cadwell Park in July. His friend and fellow Dorset resident Chris Bialan took the honours in Lincolnshire and will need to finish ahead again to keep alive any hopes of depriving Halcrow of the B-class championship title.Looking to score well on home ground will be Norwich-based Toby Talbot, 25, who made it to third place at Donington in May and who holds sixth overall in the B standings. Jeremy Ellis is likely to be the hardest man for Halcrow to find a way around in the Roadsport class. The Kent-based six-time race winner leads the way by a 36-point margin from Adrian Argyros, with that man Halcrow third overall having clocked up three race wins.

Giovanardi (below) won his first and Vauxhall's 100th BTCC race at Knockhill today. Jason Plato won the opening wet race with Mat Neal taking the final win in a 1,2 ,3 for the Halfords team

At Brands Hatch on Sunday (3-9/6) Dave Rees won an incredibly close Mighty Minis race beating David Berney by just 0.005 secs while third placed Richard lockward wasn't far behind at 0.324secs behind the leader!  The VSR Championship had two races with Dave Longhurst winning the first in his Mitsubishi Colt GTi by 0.262secs from Lea Wood's Tigra VXR, third was Ian Fewings also in a Tigra. In the second race the positions were reversed with Wood taking the win by 0,265secs from Longhurst. Steve Hall was third in an Audi TT. In the Ford Fiesta Championship Torsten Skeen came out on top ahead of Brian Roper by 2.135 secs while Andy Neate came home third. The Ford Saloon race saw Steve Scott win in his Escort Cosworth beating Stewart Whyte's similar car by a healthy 9 seconds. Chris Doherty completed the podium in third.

In the Uniroyal Fun Cup yesterday(Saturday) at Brands Hatch  the Team Honeywell combination of Plimmer and  Fawcett triumphed after 173 laps beating the RSR1 entry of Mardlin and Croydon. The Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship were in action alongside the VW's and Tim Lewis's Sud Sprint won comfortably ahead of Andy Page's Giulietta and the 75 Turbo of Graham Presley. The Dunlop Tuscan Challenge race was won by Marc-William Hockin from Steve Glynn and Graham Walden while Nigel Reuben (left)mopped up the Jedi race beating Russell Small in second and Adam Saward in third.

Ron White (right) pulled off a last lap pass for the second  race in a row to win  the Star Mazda Championship race at Mosport International Raceway in Canada. Joining White on the podium after a rain washed event were Gerardo Bonilla and Michael Potekhen. full story

Win for Simon Blanckley in epic race in the LMA Euro Saloons at Brands Hatch yesterday...full report

Adrian Carrio, of Monument, Colorado, shattered the track record this morning to capture the pole position for Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Cloudy skies loomed over the 2.549-mile Mosport International Raceway but the anticipated rain never materialized as Carrio clocked a time of 1:14.169 (119.354 MPH) in the #14 World Speed Motorsports Rockford Fosgate Mazda to capture his fifth pole position of the season..

A team of Volkswagen Racing Cup drivers is hoping to follow in the diesel-powered wheeltracks of the Le Mans 24 Hour-winning Audi team next weekend (9/10 Sept) when they tackle the UK's version of the classic all-day-and-night race, the Britcar Silverstone 24 Hours.

Mark Wilkins, from Toronto, Canada, kicked off official practice for Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear by lapping under the track record set in 2004 by fellow canadian driver Dan DiLeo. Driving the  AIM Autosport Bluetooth Mazda, Wilkins, who was forced to miss his hometown race in 2005 as he recovered from a boating mishap, lapped the 2.549-mile circuit in a time of 1:14.361 (119.046 MPH)..

Porsche Club Great Britain's two leading race series - the Porsche Club Championship and the Porsche Open - join forces to take to the track in the same race at Silverstone on September 9^th. With a bumper 48-car grid, the event is being backed by Open racer Peter Morris' PMC Midlands company, with a trophy for the winner in each of the Club and Open categories.

A total of 53 deposits have been placed with Renault Sport UK for its New Clio Cup racer, which will be used in the 2007 ELF Renault Clio Cup. Just one month after its launch at Donington Park on Saturday, 29^th July, the 2.0-litre 205bhp car has attracted unprecedented interest from current Clio Cup teams and newcomers in equal measure

Ryan Hooker headed to the penultimate round of the British GTC Championship at Brands Hatch in a strong position in his bid for the GTC Driver title at the weekend….full story

In a thrilling conclusion at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Mi-Jack Conquest Racing rookie Graham Rahal  held off series championship rival Simon Pagenaud in the closest finish of the season, winning the Champ Car Grand Prix de Montreal Atlantic race in dramatic fashion. …full report

Great new Book, The British at Le Mans by Ian Wagstaff.see features

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