Indholdsfortegnelse for 10/06/21 i Autosport

The Baku street circuit has provided some dramatic moments in its short history in Formula 1, and last weekend was no exception. But the tyre blowouts that first spat Lance Stroll into the wall and then cost Max Verstappen victory are not what anyone had in mind. Failures happen of course, but investigations will need to be thorough because cars being pitched into barriers at 200mph is one of the most serious dangers F1 has faced for some time. Almost as surprising as the Pirelli situation was Lewis Hamilton’s error at the final restart. As Alex Kalinauckas shows in our report on page 16, three drivers could have won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and Hamilton was one of them; this time he didn’t take his chance. Whether the race should…

FORMULA 1 October’s Singapore Grand Prix has been cancelled for the second year in a row, leaving Formula 1 to weigh up replacement options including a US double-header. The promoters of the race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit announced last week that they could not welcome F1 due to “ongoing safety and logistic concerns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic”. Singapore has maintained low infection numbers throughout the pandemic by implementing a tough immigration and test-and-trace system, making it impossible to run the event. “To cancel the event for a second year is an incredibly difficult decision, but a necessary one in light of the prevailing restrictions for live events in Singapore,” said race deputy chairman Colin Syn. “We would not be able to deliver a full event experience…

OBITUARY A key player in the McLaren team for nearly four decades, Mansour Ojjeh died last Sunday. He was 68. Ojjeh was a charismatic personality who was much admired in the paddock, and was the quiet driving force behind the rise of the team after Ron Dennis took control in the early 1980s. He provided not just vital investment but also the vision that allowed McLaren to expand into road cars and become the organisation that it is today. Born in 1952 and a French citizen, he studied business and law in California, so was ably qualified to help his Syrian-born father Akram expand the family firm. Techniques d’Avant Garde encompassed interests in construction, aviation, arms and real estate, mostly dealing with Saudi Arabia. A visit to the 1978 Monaco…

FORMULA 2 Formula 2 sensation Theo Pourchaire suffered a broken left wrist in a first-lap clash in the feature race at Baku last Sunday. The 17-year-old Frenchman, who became the youngest second-tier race winner of all time in the previous round at Monaco, was involved in a collision at Turn 3 with Dan Ticktum and Marcus Armstrong. Armstrong was eliminated on the spot, Pourchaire retired in the pits, while Ticktum continued after a change of front wing. ART Grand Prix driver Pourchaire later said he had broken his wrist, while an FIA statement said: “Theo Pourchaire has been taken to The Central Hospital of Oil Workers for treatment of a fractured arm.” That leaves him facing a battle to return to fitness in time for the next round, supporting the…

So happy for Indy 500 victor Castroneves Having been a fan of US open-wheel racing since the early 1990s through all its various iterations (CART/IRL/Champ Car/IndyCar), I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy, excited and emotional with a result than I was after the Indianapolis 500 (apart from maybe when Mark Blundell won at Portland in 1997!). To see Helio Castroneves take victory for the fourth time was such a fantastic result for driver and team, and couldn’t be more deserved for one of the nicest guys in motorsport. It seems hard to believe that 20 years have passed since I met him in the paddock at Rockingham Motor Speedway when CART visited the UK, looking relaxed and smiling, and standing patiently signing autographs and posing, thumbs up, for…

Williams dropped behind Haas in the constructors’ championship after late Baku drama hit George Russell and Nicholas Latifi. Russell sat 14th under the red flag, behind Valtteri Bottas, but a gearbox glitch left him without drive and unable to take the second standing start. He pulled off and stopped in the pitlane. “We struggled in the first stint, but once we got into the groove and got the tyres under control, the pace was pretty decent for us,” said Russell. “It’s frustrating to end things in that way.” Latifilost out after Williams mistakenly told him to stay out on track just before the race was stopped, resulting in a 10-second stop/go penalty (converted to a 30s time penalty at the flag) that dropped him to 16th in the final results.…

They say that lightning never strikes twice, but it did for Hyundai on Rally Sardinia as it saw victory slip from its grasp in a brutal fashion for the second consecutive event, leaving Sebastien Ogier and Toyota to clean up the spoils. Sardinia is known as a car breaker, with its rough, narrow, gravel stages offering the sternest of tests for both driver and machine. This was evident from a simple glance at the results sheet – only four WRC cars completed the 20 stages on the Mediterranean island, such was the high attrition rate. While this rally will be remembered as another one that got away from Hyundai, the dramatic turn of fortune for the South Korean manufacturer shouldn’t take any of the shine from Ogier, who underlined exactly…

FIA FORMULA 2 BAKU (AZE) 5-6 JUNE ROUND 3/8 Juri Vips arrived in Baku feeling that he’d had an unlucky start to the FIA Formula 2 season. After all, for all his pace, he was down in 10th in the points. But the Red Bull Junior left Azerbaijan in a much better frame of mind after winning two of the three races and recording a small bit of history in the process. In a characteristically chaotic round for the F1 feeder series, Hitech Grand Prix driver Vips fought his way to the front of the field to take victory in one of the sprint races and the Sunday feature race – he’s the first driver to win a sprint and feature clash on the same weekend since the former GP2…

NASCAR CUP SONOMA (USA) 6 JUNE ROUND 16/36 The Hendrick Motorsports domination of the NASCAR Cup contest in 2021 continued with a fourth consecutive victory, this time with Kyle Larson earning his first road course win. Although Larson needed to hold off team-mate Chase Elliott in a two-lap overtime to secure his success at Sonoma, his victory never seemed in doubt. Larson started on pole, won both stages and led 57 of the 92 laps. Elliott stayed close for a couple of corners on the start of overtime, but Larson eventually pulled away. “It was not easy,” he said. “Any road course isn’t easy. Just trying to keep it on track is tough, especially when you’ve got two of the best behind you on the last restart, [Elliott] and Martin…

CORONAVIRUS Welsh motorsport has finally been given the green light to restart, with the devolved government permitting outdoor events to take place again. Unlike the rest of the UK, the sport was unable to resume in Wales last year following the coronavirus pandemic, causing all meetings to be suspended from March. In England, racing got back under way in July but just one small, trial 750 Motor Club event was held at Anglesey all year. It had been a similar story in 2021 too – on-track action restarted in April in England after the second COVID-19 wave, but still was not possible in Wales. But, having adopted a more cautious approach, Wales has moved into line with the rest of the UK, and 4000 spectators are now permitted at outdoor…

BRITISH GT Two additional McLaren 720S GT3s will bolster the entry for the British GT Championship’s longest race of the season, the Silverstone 500, this month. Reigning GT4 Pro-Am champions Euan Hankey and Mia Flewitt will step up to the top class in the Team Rocket RJN machine that won the opening round of last year’s series at Oulton Park for their first of three appearances this year. The Anglo-Swedish pair, who were the only full-season Pro-Am entry in GT4 last year, will also enter the two-hour races at Spa and the Donington Park season finale. Flewitt said: “Stepping up from GT4 was always the plan for this season, but it’s been a challenging year so far to make it happen. I’m forever grateful to all who have helped and…

FORMULA FORD 1600 Bill Bray’s unusual Lanan 1604 Formula Ford made a winning comeback last weekend at Cadwell Park, almost 30 years after it last competed. The last of four chassis built, it had “a short but chequered history” according to Bray, who founded Lanan with school friend Robin Webb and racer John Bright. Two future stars of American single-seater racing drove the car in period, including 1996 CART champion Jimmy Vasser, who raced it in the wet 1990 Formula Ford Festival but was taken off by Steffen Nielsen in his heat. IndyCar team owner Bryan Herta also tested 1604 in 1991, but elected to race a Reynard with Lanan. “The correct decision,” admitted Bray. The car took class victory in the hands of Simon Jackson at Cadwell on Sunday…

CADWELL PARK HSCC 5-6 JUNE Four Formula Ford wins for Lincoln speed merchant Cameron Jackson and three victories each for Benn Simms and Kevin Kivlochan characterised the Historic Sports Car Club’s annual Wolds Trophy event. Jackson knew he’d been in a fight though, for young Yorkshireman Sam Harrison pushed him incredibly hard over the Classic and Historic era races. Indeed, Harrison had nosed his Elden ahead of the Winkelmann driver moments before he crashed out of their final scrap at Charlie’s. Jackson and Harrison were separated in Saturday’s Historic set when Harrison’s left-rear wheel came loose. Merlyn men Matt Wrigley and Horatio Fitz-Simon (pursued by a light oil haze) led the chase from Over 50s victor Brian Morris (Lola T202) and Danny Stanzl (Elden), who brushed Fitz-Simon’s rear tyre in…

PICKUP TRUCKS Race 1 George Turiccki Race 2 Michael Smith BRITISH TRUCK RACING Races 1, 2 & 3 Ryan Smith (Mercedes Actros) Race 4 Martin Gibson (MAN TGX) Race 5 Mark Taylor (MAN TGA) LEGENDS Races 1 & 4 John Mickel Races 2 & 5 Will Gibson Race 3 Stephen Whitelegg Race 6 Paul Simmons MINI CHALLENGE TROPHY Race 1 Matthew Hammond Race 2 Joe Wiggin INTERMARQUE SILHOUETTES Race 1 Steve Burrows (Vauxhall Tigra) Race 2 Ray Harris (Ginetta G40r) KUMHO BMWs Races 1 & 2 Brad Sheehan (E46 M3) MG OWNERS’ CLUB Race 1 Steve McDermid (ZR) Race 2 William Sharpe (ZR) CITROEN 2CVs Races 1 & 2 Pete Sparrow (below) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

For any young adult, trying to make it onto the grid is tricky, but for those who have an impairment it can seem a world away entirely. Kudos, then, to Sarah Thomson, who demonstrated last weekend at Snetterton that such obstacles do not mean an end to the motor racing dream by making her debut in the Porsche Club Championship, despite being deaf. It’s a remarkable achievement in itself when the combat of racing is such a sensory experience. Thomson wears a bonebridge implant behind her ear, which is attached to her skull. It effectively transmits sounds through her bone and, after undergoing three five-hour operations to gain some hearing, she can cope well in one-on-one situations. But the bonebridge can’t be worn under a racing helmet, which means innovative…

SHELSLEY WALSH BRITISH HILLCLIMB 5-6 JUNE Alex Summers was the hero of the day at Shelsley Walsh on Sunday as a fantastic day of hillclimbing delivered two British Hillclimb Championship top 12 run-off victories for the local ace. On a day that started damp and steadily dried, it was Top Ess that delivered the toughest challenge as the damp hung under the trees for a long time. During the day it claimed four victims, including run-off contender Simon Moyse (Gould GR59). The first run-off fell to Summers by a handy margin of nearly half a second as his 24.07s climb earned him his first championship win of the season with the Cosworth-powered DJ Firestorm. “There is usually grip as you turn in when it’s like that,” he said of the…

1 MOTOGP 21 RRP £49.99 Website motogpvideogame.com Feel the rush on two wheels with the latest MotoGP video game which is available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch and PC. Take control of your favourite rider or create your own team and guide them from Moto3 to the premier class via some of the world’s greatest circuits. 2 FORMULA 1 Car by Car 1990-99 RRP £50 | Website evropublishing.com The latest F1 car by car book from author Peter Higham is a comprehensive look at every team that competed during the 1990s. Perfect for those who have the previous instalments or who grew up watching F1 in this era. 3 F1 2010-19 SEASON REVIEWS RRP £89.99 (DVD) | Website dukevideo.com Relive all the best action from the last…

LE MANS 24 HOURS/WEC/ELECTRIC GT The LMDh prototype class and FIA Electric GT Championship are among the options for BMW as it plots its factory future in motorsport beyond the end of its 2020-21 Formula E Championship campaign. And it is pretty much certain that there will be one, according to the man at the helm of BMW Motorsport. Markus Flasch, who is now in charge of BMW’s competitions department, stated last week that he envisages the German manufacturer having a motorsport involvement at a higher level than its ongoing customer programmes in GT3 and GT4, and with the entry-level M2 one-make racer. Evaluation of what exactly that will be is already under way as the marque’s involvement in FE with the Andretti team moves towards its conclusion with the…

FORMULA 1 Formula 1’s flexi-wings saga fizzled out at last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix when Mercedes and Red Bull did not follow up on their threats to protest each other. F1 teams have faced scrutiny over their rear-wing designs since Lewis Hamilton’s “bendy wing” comment, referring to the Red Bull, at last month’s Spanish GP, prompting the FIA to introduce new rigidity tests from next week’s French GP. Azerbaijan was the final race where teams taking advantage of the loophole could run the designs, but they were still subject to threats of action over their legality. McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl said early in the weekend there would “need to be action” if teams were seen to be running flexing wings. The FIA fitted yellow locator stickers to the rear…

WEC Ferrari will continue its long-standing relationship with the AF Corse when its Le Mans Hypercar comes on stream for the 2023 World Endurance Championship. Manufacturer and team will again join forces to run the new prototype, just as they have done with a succession of GT cars over the past 15 years. The Ferrari LMH prototypes will be entered under the Ferrari-AF Corse banner in what was described on Monday’s announcement as a collaborative effort between the team and the Competizioni GT department masterminding the new programme. The confirmation of AF was labelled “an important step towards the debut of our LMH in the WEC” by Ferrari sportscar racing boss Antonello Coletta. “We are happy to have a reliable partner like AF Corse with us for this project,” he…

LE MANS CUP Colin Noble fended off Matt Bell for victory in an extraordinary UK whitewash of the top positions in last weekend’s Le Mans Cup round at Paul Ricard. Noble, driving the Nielsen Racing Ligier JSP320 started by Tony Wells, ambushed the Cool Racing Ligier of Bell for third, before taking second from Dominik Schwager’s Rinaldi Racing Duqueine. This became the lead when Josh Skelton’s Cool Ligier caught fire in the pits. Following their final stops, Noble came under staunch pressure from Bell, but held on to win by a little over a second. First-round winners Tommy Foster and Michael Benham finished just over one second shy of the podium in fourth, with Foster right on the tail of the United Autosports Ligier that Wayne Boyd had taken over…

Sporting podiums are not always packed with smiling faces. In some contests, only victory will do. The losers’ medals from football finals often apparently cannot be located years after the event, or so goes the oft-trotted-out explanation of many ex-professional pundits. Silver and bronze Olympic medals are mighty achievements to the individual recipients, but will not be recorded in history with the same crowning achievement as the golden champion. Then there are victory celebrations being used for political point scoring (in many cases even hosting sporting events is intrinsically linked to politics) or tarnished by controversy. Formula 1 has plenty of experience of the last example. Last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix podium was packed with positivity. Only the most ardent Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton fans would have been hard-pressed…

Thierry Neuville defended the reliability of the Hyundai i20 Coupe following Ott Tanak’s Rally Sardinia retirement, but admits that lessons can be learned for the team’s new 2022 Rally1 car. For the second rally in a row, Hyundai went from dominating an event to salvaging a podium as Toyota capitalised on the South Korean marque’s misfortune to score a 1-2 in Sardinia. Neuville had surrendered the lead in Portugal two weeks before through damaged suspension after an error, and admits that the i20 is more fragile in rougher conditions compared to the Toyota. But he believes that the rock Tanak hit in Sardinia would have caused terminal damage to any of the WRC field. “After looking back at what happened on Saturday, if you see the size of the stone…

WTCR NURBURGRING (DEU) 5 JUNE ROUND 1/8 Jean-Karl Vernay gave Hyundai’s all-new Elantra N TCR an impressive debut victory as he and 21-year-old team-mate Luca Engstler pushed the South Korean carmaker back to the top of the World Touring Car Cup after a difficult 2020 season, with a convincing 1-2 on the Nurburgring Nordschleife. French driver Vernay, a race winner in Romeo Ferraris’ Alfa Romeo Giulietta last year, qualified on the front row despite new-car troubles limiting his practice. He then made a peach of a start to get the drop on Honda’s Nestor Girolami, who was starting from pole position for the second year in a row at the grand 15.77-mile circuit. Girolami reckoned his unsuccessful defence against Engstler on the dash to Turn 1 was “aggressive but fair”…

WTCR NURBURGRING (DEU) Race 1 Tiago Monteiro (above) Munnich Motorsport (Honda Civic Type R TCR) Race 2 Jean-Karl Vernay Engstler Motorsport (Hyundai Elantra N TCR) NASCAR CUP SONOMA (USA) Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet Camaro) NASCAR XFINITY SERIES MID-OHIO (USA) AJ Allmendinger Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet Camaro) EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES PAUL RICARD (FRA) Roman Rusinov/Franco Colapinto/Nyck de Vries G-Drive Racing (ORECA-Gibson 01) POWERED BY For full results visit motorsportstats.com…

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB The iconic blue-and-yellow colours of Duckhams are set to return to motorsport this weekend at Snetterton on the car of two-time Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Dan Cammish. The company enjoyed a longstanding partnership with the works Van Diemen squad in Formula Ford, and countless future stars spent the early stages of their careers racing in the distinctive livery, including Formula 1 drivers Mark Webber, Eddie Irvine and Jan Magnussen. Now Cammish is set to carry the colours as he returns to the Carrera Cup with the Redline Racing squad, after spending the past three seasons driving for Team Dynamics in the British Touring Car Championship. “I am really looking forward to working with Duckhams and Porsche Centre Preston,” said Cammish. “The Redline Racing team is…

HISTORICS A rare Lotus 23C was given only its second outing in many years at the Historic Sports Car Club’s Silverstone meeting last month. In the hands of Ed Thurston and Charlie Jones-Best, the car raced in the Guards Trophy having previously competed at the Goodwood SpeedWeek event last October. The 23C is owned by Tony Best and spent many years in a private collection in the US. It is said to be one of only six built in period, of which only four are thought to remain and it may be the only one currently in the UK. The main difference to the far more common 23B are flared wheel arches to accommodate bigger wheels and tyres from Formula 2 in the period. This example originally ran as an…

GPR TROPHY The GPR Trophy made its debut at Snetterton last weekend, with seven Audi TT cars prepared for the opener. The arrive-and-drive series was launched to provide a hassle-free weekend for newcomers wanting to make their first foray into car racing. FF Corse founder Anthony Cheshire, who has been key in setting the series up, said: “Our main business is FF Corse Ferraris and taking people on competitive trackdays. “There comes a time when there is an urge to scratch that itch for racing. It’s not right to do it in a Ferrari because of the nature of the cars and the licence requirements. So we have the Audis here.” The TTs run 1.8-litre turbo engines, with a standard ECU remapped to deliver 240bhp. More cars are being built…

HISTORIC FORMULA FORD Races 1 & 2 Cam Jackson (Winkelmann WDF2) CLASSIC FORMULA FORD Races 1 & 2 Cam Jackson (Winkelmann WDF2) HISTORIC FORMULA FORD 2000 Qualifying heat Ben Glasswell (Reynard SF77) Race 1 Andrew Park (Reynard SF81) Qualifying heat 2 Adrian Reynard (Reynard SF79) Race 2 Benn Simms (Reynard SF77, below) ’70s ROAD SPORTS Race 1 Kevin Kivlochan (Morgan +8) Race 2 Julian Barter (TVR 3000M) HISTORIC ROAD SPORTS Races 1 & 2 Kevin Kivlochan (AC Cobra) HISTORIC FORMULA JUNIOR FRONT-ENGINED Races 1 & 2 Peter de la Roche (Lola-Ford Mk2) HISTORIC FORMULA JUNIOR REAR-ENGINED Races 1 & 2 Adrian Russell (Lotus-Ford 22) CLASSIC CLUBMANS Races 1 & 2 Mark Charteris (Mallock Mk20/21) JUSTIN HALER TROPHY HISTORIC F3 Races 1 & 2 Benn Simms (Chevron B17) For full results…

SNETTERTON MSVR 5-6 JUNE Father-and-son duo Richard and Sam Neary completed a perfect four from four at Snetterton in the GT Cup to continue their impressive run of form. Neary Sr dominated the first sprint race in his Mercedes-AMG GT3, and the battle for second was where the action took place. Lucky Khera passed John Seale in a similar Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for second in the dying stages, Seale’s day getting worse when Grahame Tilley snuck his Nissan Nismo GTR past at Riches for third. Following a combined Neary effort to win the first pitstop race, their Team Abba Racing victory streak continued when Neary Jr stormed to a 48s win in the second sprint race. Khera was once again runner-up, after sweeping around Paul Bailey’s Brabham BT62 at Turn…

KNOCKHILL SMRC 6 JUNE Chris Middlehurst won the David Leslie Trophy as the National Formula Ford 1600 Championship played a starring role in the first Scottish circuit racing event of 2021 at Knockhill last weekend. Having topped pre-event testing, opening free practice and qualifying, Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum driver Alex Walker had dominated the weekend, taking his third win in four races in an opening encounter that was red-flagged after team-mate Megan Gilkes got beached on the exit of the chicane. Middlehurst’s Van Diemen crossed the line in the lead at the time of the red flag, but it was Walker who took the win on countback. Come the second race, Middlehurst got the jump on polesitter Walker and led throughout, with the top three – which included the Low…

Jean-Karl Vernay is a man in demand at present. Combining his race-winning first WTCR appearances as a Hyundai factory driver with the Nurburgring 24 Hours last weekend, the 2017 TCR International champion is the only member of the manufacturer’s WTCR roster who will appear in the inaugural season of Pure ETCR that kicks off later this month at Vallelunga. But the 33-year-old’s career might have gone in a totally different direction had his title-winning Indy Lights campaign in 2010 resulted in an IndyCar seat for 2011. Victory on his debut with Sam Schmidt Motorsport on the streets of St Petersburg was the first of five on his way to the crown, with a best finish of third on the ovals. But even with the $1.5million put up by Lights to…

WEC Toyota’s Le Mans Hypercars have been pegged back for this weekend’s Portimao 8 Hours World Endurance Championship round on the arrival of Glickenhaus in the series. The Japanese manufacturer’s GR010 HYBRIDs have taken a double hit under the Balance of Performance for the Portuguese event. The two GR010s will run 26kg heavier – 1066 rather than 1040kg – at the Algarve Circuit than at last month’s Spa 2021 WEC opener. They will also be allowed 515kW rather than 520kW, a reduction of approximately 7bhp at peak power. The two Pipo-engined Glickenhaus 007LMH non-hybrid prototypes will be allowed the full 520kW and run at the 1030kg minimum weight prescribed in the regulations for two-wheel-drive LMH machinery. The BoP table tweaked last week has also reduced the amount of energy per…

DTM The DTM’s first races under GT3 regulations next week at Monza will run to a reduced duration of 50 minutes to minimise the risk of cars running out of fuel. Although the series is going through a major overhaul after ditching the Class 1 ruleset, it is carrying forward its previous format of two races per weekend, each lasting 55 minutes plus a lap. Concerns were raised by the Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW team about cars being able to cover the full distance at a power-sensitive track such as Monza due to an aggressive Balance of Performance set by the DTM, which significantly pushes up the fuel consumption. As a result, the DTM says it has taken a ‘proactive measure’ by cutting both Monza races by five minutes, ensuring that…

OBITUARY Vince Woodman, who died last Wednesday aged 83, nine years after suffering a stroke in the British Racing Drivers’ Club Clubhouse at the 2012 British Grand Prix, was among the most able and best-loved saloon car racers of a golden era. Businessman-racer Woodman’s ability to engage with clients and commitment to service were reflected in the immaculate preparation standards in the establishment of VMW Motors near Bristol. By 1970, at 33, he was England’s youngest Ford main dealer. Racing showcased this. After hillclimbing locally, Woodman started circuit racing at Castle Combe in 1965 with a Lotus Cortina, then switched to Broadspeed Escorts. He graduated to the British Saloon Car Championship in 1971, finishing runner-up from the 1300cc class in an Escort-BDA carrying VMW’s blue-and-white livery. He also racked up…

The science of aerodynamics and the particular impact it has on Formula 1 cars has always offered interesting opportunities for debates. To make it straight and simple, every driver and F1 engineer would dream of having all the downforce in the corners (grip-limited areas) and the lowest downforce level on the straights to get the maximum possible top speed. But in life there is always a cost, and in aerodynamics the cost of downforce is drag. With fixed wings, as stipulated by F1’s rules, there is no easy way to be in the sweet spot for each sector of a race track, and this is why overtaking has been so difficult. It goes some way to explaining why the DRS (Drag Reduction System) was introduced to improve the show. So…

“I don’t feel like we’ve stolen this pole position.” That was Charles Leclerc’s assessment in the Baku paddock, shortly after topping qualifying for the second time in two races. His reaction was understandably different compared to Monaco, given the potential heartbreak he faced that did indeed arrive the following day, but the circumstances of the two qualifying sessions were bizarrely similar. Both Q3s were ended early, only in Baku Leclerc wasn’t the one in the wall, and Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz Jr weren’t the first to have crashed. Q1 ended up lasting just over 40 minutes, as Lance Stroll and Antonio Giovinazzi caused separate red flags by striking the barriers at the fast Turn 15 left, the corner heading downhill at the end of the second sector. The Aston…

Pirelli believes the left-rear tyre failures that struck Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen in Baku may have been caused by debris on track. Both Stroll and Verstappen crashed out after suffering tyre blowouts on the main straight in separate incidents, which put Pirelli under scrutiny. Verstappen was cynical in the aftermath of the crash, predicting that Pirelli would pin the failures on debris, and felt that was “a bit hard to accept”. “I wasn’t stressing the tyres,” said Verstappen. “It felt comfortable and I didn’t feel any vibrations before it let go.” Speaking to Autosport after the race, Pirelli F1 chief Mario Isola said the early evidence pointed towards debris being the cause, but explained that a full investigation would follow. “It was sudden deflation both for Lance and for…

NURBURGRING 24 HOURS NURBURGRING (DEU) 5-6 JUNE Yet again, the infamous ‘Eifelwetter’ plagued the Nurburgring 24 Hours when the Nordschleife enduro had to be interrupted for the third time in four years. With the race eventually slashed by a record-breaking 14.5 hours, it left the competitors with the shortest edition ever and so there was little time to be wasted for the 121 cars that started the race. But as the contest restarted under still-foggy conditions, risk management was pivotal. It was in these circumstances that the Manthey Racing crew led by Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen excelled when others failed. “Kevin got up to his masterpiece today,” said former team owner Olaf Manthey, who celebrated his squad’s seventh victory in the event. The Porsche 911 GT3-R ‘Grello’ came out…

EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES PAUL RICARD (FRA) 6 JUNE ROUND 3/6 G-Drive Racing won the third round of the European Le Mans Series in emphatic fashion, with Roman Rusinov, Nyck de Vries and Franco Colapinto beating reigning champion United Autosports and dominant series leader Team WRT for victory at Paul Ricard. Yifei Ye grabbed the lead in the WRT Oreca early on and proceeded to build up a substantial gap over Rusinov throughout the opening stint. A full-course yellow around the first pit window and a safety car at the halfway mark wiped out the championship-leading team’s advantage, which brought the United Oreca to the fore, albeit under pressure from G-Drive. United’s Job van Uitert was hunted down by fellow Dutch racer de Vries and was forced to surrender the…

MOTOGP BARCELONA (ESP) 6 JUNE ROUND 7/19 Prior to the Italian Grand Prix last month, Miguel Oliveira couldn’t even buy a top-10 finish in the 2021 MotoGP season. Though team-mate Brad Binder showed flashes of speed with a fifth in Portugal, the start to the campaign had been difficult for KTM. Despite being one of only two manufacturers allowed to develop an all-new engine for this year, KTM didn’t really bring anything radical to the party for the tests and opening rounds in Qatar. In addition to struggling to get the RC16 bike out of the corners, its problems on the way in were compounded by Michelin’s front tyre allocation in the early rounds being generally too soft for what the KTM needs. But the might of the Austrian marque…

TRIBUTE TO McCOSH Legends teams paid tribute at Brands Hatch to former racer Gerard McCosh, who died of cancer in February. They paraded behind the Scottish farmer’s car, driven for the occasion by his friend Andrew Donald, with McCosh’s trademark soft toy mascot Napoleon the pig firmly in place. What made the tribute unique was that all the other cars on a 30-plus grid boasted identical pink piglets. The popular driver’s partner Jane and daughters Millie and Claudia attended the commemoration, and a fundraising appeal was launched for Macmillan Cancer Support. Race number 69, always carried by McCosh, has been ‘retired’ from the championship. ANGLESEY The Race of Remembrance will make a return this November after being cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The poignant event features an…

EUROPEAN DRAG RACING OFF The FIA European Drag Racing Championship event scheduled to take place at Santa Pod Raceway in September has been officially cancelled again due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The FIA event at Tierp Arena in Sweden in August has also been cancelled, but both venues will seek to hold events under national rules and permits on those weekends. NEW VEHICLES FOR BRSCC The British Racing & Sports Car Club has unveiled a new dedicated Rescue Unit vehicle, as well as a Jaguar XF Sportbrake safety and course car provided by club partner runyourfleet.com. Both vehicles, which were showcased at Mallory Park last month during the British Superkart Championship meeting, underline the club’s commitment to safety and efficiency. BRITCAR’S DROUGHT OVER Nicole Drought will return to Britcar action…

BRITCAR New pitlane protocols will be implemented for the Britcar Championship’s Oulton Park meeting this weekend following an incident at the previous round. Last month at Snetterton Jonathan Beeson’s VW Golf was hit by another car in the pitlane and sent back towards the pitboxes before slamming into the side of the stationary Praga R1 of Jack Fabby. Although no one was hurt in the incident, an immediate investigation was launched and new pitstop regulations were approved last month by Motorsport UK. The new rules mean cars will travel at 40km/h (25mph) instead of 60km/h and vehicles have to park at a 45-degree angle in a specified pitbox, as opposed to parallel with the pits. There is also a limit on the number of mechanics allowed to work on the…

STEPHEN LICKORISH GROUP NATIONAL EDITOR We are blessed with some brilliant places to watch motorsport in the UK, such as Brands Hatch’s Paddock Hill Bend, but one of the very best has to be Knockhill. Whether it’s watching the cars power out of the final hairpin or seeing them flying over the kerbs at the chicane, you’re able to get incredibly close to the action. The undulating nature of the circuit means that from almost any vantage point you can see a whole sequence of corners and the compact lap makes for a short wait before the cars pass by again. Given the continuing restrictions on overseas travel, perhaps this is the year to take a trip to Fife in Scotland instead. You won’t be disappointed. STEFAN MACKLEY DEPUTY NATIONAL…

BRANDS HATCH BARC 5-6 JUNE Reigning champion George Turiccki and Michael Smith had plenty to celebrate after scoring a win each when Pickup racing returned to Kent for the first time since the end of 2019. Two hard-fought but clean races also provided an example of how to do it compared with a lack of track discipline displayed by a number of other series, including the headline British Truck Racing Championship, on a 23-race weekend. Four drivers took turns in the lead of race one of the Pickups and, although Turiccki spent the most time in front, it was only in the last lap or so that he had a significant advantage. Mark Willis, Reece Jones and Smith filled out the top four, although for a while a dozen cars…

GT CUP Race 1 Richard Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) Races 2 & 4 Richard Neary/Sam Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) Race 3 Sam Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) 7 RACE SERIES – 1600 Races 1 & 2 Jay McCormack Race 3 David Yates 7 RACE SERIES – 420R Races 1, 2 & 3 Phil Jenkins CLUBMANS SPORTS PROTOTYPES Race 1 Clive Wood (Mallock Mk23) Races 2 & 3 Cody Tree (Phantom P94) PORSCHE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP Race 1 Peter Morris (Porsche 997 C2S, below) Race 2 Simon Clark (Porsche Cayman S) GPR TROPHY Race 1 Jack Sycamore Race 2 Neil Huggins 911 CHALLENGE Robert Hollyman For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

Three drivers have left an indelible mark on the Porsche Carrera Cup GB over the past six seasons. Each of them has been a dominant champion; each secured the crown a round early; and each was the unquestioned benchmark when it came to qualifying and race pace. But only one of Dan Cammish, Dan Harper and Harry King had ever been on the grid at a time. Until now. Cammish’s unfortunate winter exit from the Team Dynamics British Touring Car squad through no fault of his own allowed him to return to his Porsche roots and take on King, the most dominant of the three Carrera Cup megastars, setting up a mouthwatering battle with two titans of the category facing off against each other for the first time. For Cammish…

Henri Pescarolo (#42 Frank Williams March 712M), Graham Hill (#2 Rondel Racing Brabham BT36) and Ronnie Peterson (#36 works March 712M) head the field at the start of the 50-lap final of the 1971 Jochen Rindt Memorial Trophy at Thruxton. Heat two winner Pescarolo was initially outdragged by Hill, but soon found a way past only for his engine to fail four laps into the race. Veteran Hill was then locked in a brilliant battle with rising star Peterson to the flag. The Swede sliced by in the closing stages, then on the final lap was delayed by a backmarker, allowing Hill to win by 0.6 seconds. For classic Formula 2 DVDs head to dukevideo.com/Other-Formulas/F2 For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…