Indholdsfortegnelse for 07/09/23 i Autosport

There have been times in recent years when Ferrari has been (rightly) criticised for not making the most of the machinery at its disposal. But the home team’s performance at the Italian Grand Prix last weekend was the opposite – and made the Monza event one of the best Formula 1 races of 2023 so far. Ferrari saw an opportunity, committed to a bespoke package at the high-speed track, and made Red Bull fight for victory (see pages 14 and 27). It was brilliant to see Carlos Sainz put up a proper defence against Max Verstappen, even if it probably did harm his overall race. His wasn’t a drive to a delta time, letting a faster car by to minimise delay; it was an old-school one with hope, if not…

FORMULA 1 Formula 1 organisers are poised to decide whether Italy will continue to host two races per season. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola and Italian GP at Monza both have contracts in place until 2025. The Imola event is propped up by funding from the national government, while Monza is due to splash the cash on new facilities – including larger tunnels under the track, improved hospitality and grandstands – to appease championship top brass. Amid growing competition from prospective host nations, and suggestions that other European venues such as Spa and Zandvoort may have to rotate, the chances of Italy continuing to double up appear remote. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said: “I want to thank Imola, because the organisers were ready to take a chance in…

Reigning MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia miraculously walked away from this frightening incident on the opening lap of last Sunday’s Catalan Grand Prix at Barcelona, which he had led from pole position. The Italian highsided his Ducati out of the Circuit de Catalunya’s Turn 2, and ended up landing in the middle of the track as the oncoming pack terrifyingly rode towards him. Brad Binder suffered “every rider’s worst nightmare” when he ran over Bagnaia’s leg. In what could have been a season-ending incident, Bagnaia emerged without any serious injuries. At the time Autosport went to print, Bagnaia was expected to be able to contest this weekend’s San Marino GP at Misano.…

Myles Rowe clinched the USF Pro 2000 title on the IndyCar undercard at Portland last weekend with a race to spare, and with it a $664,500 scholarship to step up to Indy NXT in 2024. The 23-year-old Georgia-born New Yorker beat some highly rated opponents from North America, Europe and Latin America in 2023 and won five races with Pabst Racing. Rowe is backed by IndyCar series owner Roger Penske and has been supported by the Force Indy diversity programme. He is the first African-American to win a major open-wheel title in the US, 46 years after Willy T Ribbs won the Star of Tomorrow FF1600 crown in the UK.…

EXTREME H The brains behind the electric Extreme E series have launched a new Extreme H competition for 2025, and the new hydrogen-powered off-road concept has been awarded world championship status by the FIA. Extreme E first revealed plans to create a pioneering hydrogen-powered offshoot in 2022, with a prototype vehicle completing a shakedown last month. Now Extreme E organisers have laid the foundations for Extreme H to launch in 2025 with the series receiving FIA championship status for its inaugural year. The intention from both parties is for Extreme H to then join the FIA’s portfolio of seven world championships from 2026. “Eventual accreditation as an FIA Championship and then an FIA World Championship means we would be amongst the top tier of global motorsport categories, and Extreme H…

To the Tifosi screaming his name underneath the Monza podium, he was a god. To the muggers he chased down on the streets of Milan later that night, he was justice incarnate. To the members of the Formula 1 press corps listening to his reflections on the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, he was the same charming, erudite Carlos Sainz. Was this his best F1 race weekend performance, this writer asked him? You know how his childhood hero-turned-racing rival Fernando Alonso would have answered… Sainz’s reply, wonderfully predictably, was as down-to-earth as ever. “Well, I’m not sure in F1,” he said. “I’ve done other strong weekends in F1 that maybe got a bit unnoticed when I was in the midfield, where I felt I extracted everything out of the car. Of…

He so nearly did it. Max Verstappen, eyeing a ninth pole position of 2023, fell just 0.013 seconds short of grabbing another one at Monza. There was to be no denying the driver of Saturday: Carlos Sainz. With Sergio Perez once again falling short to end up fifth behind the impressive George Russell – at a track where Mercedes’ ongoing drag problem was seriously exposed, Lewis Hamilton qualifying eighth – and the out-of-sorts Charles Leclerc, the pole battle boiled down to two. After the first runs in Q3, Leclerc was still a factor – 0.032s behind Sainz and with Verstappen third, 0.067s further back. Leclerc ran ahead for the second attempts on soft tyres, which followed all the drivers using hards in Q1 and mediums in Q2 as per the…

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell celebrated their new Mercedes contract extensions with a five-second penalty apiece for their respective clumsiness in close-quarters combat. The censures had no effect on their finishing positions, and Mercedes still managed to claim fifth and sixth after lacking efficiency down the straights. Russell outqualified and finished ahead of his team-mate, albeit in a lonely race that had its foundations in his first-lap escape from the McLarens and Alex Albon. After his sole pitstop, Russell elected to pass Esteban Ocon at the pit exit while cutting the first chicane, and did not cede the position back to the Frenchman, costing him 5s. This made little difference to Russell’s race, since he was already well clear of the growing train of cars behind Albon and the gap…

Valtteri Bottas managed to convert his alternative strategy into a top-10 finish, and captured the final point for Alfa Romeo in the process at the expense of Logan Sargeant. Bottas was one of only three drivers – along with Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen – to start on the hard-compound tyre, and stuck it out until the end of the 25th lap, when he made his sole pitstop for the medium rubber. He fell to 16th but, with many of the lower-midfield runners conducting two-stop strategies, managed to move up the order to sit on the cusp of the points. His lap 43 overtake on Sargeant proved to be the clincher for his first point since June at Montreal, as the American suffered with balance issues and struggled to keep…

A lex Palou dispatched a perfectly executed strategy to win the Grand Prix of Portland and capture his second IndyCar title in three seasons. With the win, Chip Ganassi Racing star Palou wrapped up the title with one race remaining, becoming the first driver in 16 years (Sebastien Bourdais, 2007) to clinch the Astor Challenge Cup before the season finale. “It’s been an amazing season,” acknowledged Palou. “We just had fast cars everywhere, and we’ve been able to maximise our results even on the bad weekends, and to finish here at Portland with a win feels amazing.” With the title tucked away, he goes into this weekend’s round at Laguna Seca, a track he dominated in 2022, with zero pressure. “We have one race left that we won there last year,…

FORMULA 3 MONZA (ITA) 2-3 SEPTEMBER ROUND 9/9 Gabriel Bortoleto sealed the Formula 3 title at Monza, albeit in a somewhat unconventional manner. The 18-year-old Trident-run Brazilian, who is part of Fernando Alonso’s A14 Management stable, secured the championship after both his title rivals failed to secure pole. Either Prema Racing’s Mercedes F1 protege Paul Aron or Campos Racing’s newly announced Red Bull Junior Pepe Marti needed to score the two bonus points for pole to be in with a shot. But after a chaotic qualifying session, which featured three red flags before ending prematurely, Bortoleto was crowned as Trident team-mate Oliver Goethe secured pole. Bortoleto lined up eighth on the reversed grid for the sprint race on Saturday and put in a sensational drive in a thriller won by…

GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE SPRINT CUP HOCKENHEIM (DEU) Race 1 Ricardo Feller/Mattia Drudi Attempto Racing (Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II) Race 2 Raffaele Marciello/Timur Boguslavskiy ASP (Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo) PORSCHE SUPERCUP MONZA (ITA) Harry King Lechner Racing GT4 EUROPE HOCKENHEIM (DEU) Race 1 Hendrik Still/Max Kronberg W&S M’sport (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4) Race 2 Alexander Hartvig/Nathan Schaap Allied Racing (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4) POWERED BY For full results visit motorsportstats.com…

MOTOGP BARCELONA (ESP) 3 SEPTEMBER ROUND 11/20 The 2023 Catalan Grand Prix very much displayed the light and shade of MotoGP. On the one hand, you had the historic Sunday for Aprilia as it achieved a dream 1-2 with Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales. On the other, you had the horrible Turn 1 pile-up instigated by Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, and the frightening incident for his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia. The latter’s massive highside of Turn 2 on the opening lap was bad enough, but the subsequent collision between Brad Binder’s KTM and Bagnaia’s leg was truly sickening. In the space of a few seconds, the destiny of the 2023 championship was thrown on its head. An immediate red flag allowed Bagnaia to be attended to on track before he was taken…

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB Former Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Tio Ellinas will return to the series later this month at Silverstone with the Toro Verde squad. Ellinas claimed the 2018 Carrera Cup title in his second season after switching across from a single-seater career that featured GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5 victories. Since his title success, the Cypriot has spent a couple of years in the Formula 1-supporting Porsche Supercup, but is now making a return to the Carrera Cup GB for the final two events of the campaign. Several key figures at Toro Verde were also part of the Slidesports team that guided Ellinas to the 2018 honours, including David Fairbrother, who Ellinas is taking over from. “Returning to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB will be an exciting…

FIESTA JUNIOR Jenson O’Neill-Going, son of Jamsport team principal Jamie Going, will make his Fiesta Junior debut at Donington Park this weekend. O’Neill-Going has been a familiar face in the paddock for most of his life, building his off-track experience while more recently also racing in Junior Rotax karts. He has just turned 14, and will now contest the final two rounds of the Fiesta Junior season aboard a Mk6 ST150 ahead of a full attack in 2024. “Jenson has been at nearly every Fiesta race weekend since 2013,” said Going. “I’m bursting with pride that, after 10 and a half seasons being around the team, it is finally Jenson’s turn to represent the team and show everyone what he’s capable of. I just want him to go out there,…

MODSPORTS MG Owners’ Club championship leader Will Sharpe plans a more relaxed racing season in 2024, focused around his newly-acquired Modsports-spec MG Midget, if he can seal the MGOC title this year. After being a frontrunner in an MG ZR, Sharpe switched back to his Midget for this year’s MGOC championship. He has dominated the ‘Abingdon’ class and holds a narrow overall points lead over multiple champion Steve McDermid ahead of the last two rounds at Silverstone and Pembrey. The Nottinghamshire driver acquired a Modsports Midget earlier this year, with the 1963 model built and raced by its late owner in Scandinavia as well as being given occasional outings in Britain and Ireland by David Smith. It retains a 1460cc A-Series engine breathing through twin SU carburettors. After debuting it…

DONINGTON PARK BARC 2-3 SEPTEMBER Caterham celebrated its 50th anniversary in style with a weekend of glorious weather, thrilling slipstream feasts and dramatic title deciders during its season-closing festival at Donington Park. Despite one further round of the Seven Championship UK to come, when it makes a guest appearance on the British Touring Car bill later this month, Lewis Thompson provisionally wrapped up the title in Caterham’s premier category as outgoing champion Aaron Head secured a hat-trick. Thompson led from pole in Saturday’s opener, with Head climbing from sixth to battle Thompson and Stephen Lyall. A heavy crash for Finlay Cooper exiting the final chicane necessitated a red flag for barrier repairs, following which Head and Lyall swapped places at the front of an eight-car train. Head prevailed to take…

RALI CEREDIGION BRC 2-3 SEPTEMBER Five years since James Williams embarked on his first event in the British Rally Championship, the Welshman claimed his first win in the series on home soil on last weekend’s Rali Ceredigion. Williams and co-driver Dai Roberts crossed the finish ramp in Aberystwyth with a battled-scarred Hyundai i20 Rally2, a testament to their efforts to claim the rally win and the hugely challenging stages that made up the 100-mile, two-day closed-road event. The overall rally lead was first claimed by Meirion Evans and then by reigning BRC champion Osian Pryce but, with neither registered for BRC points, Williams had to manage the desire to win the event outright against his championship chances. And both were looking like they were on the rocks after the second…

BOOK REVIEW FOR FLUX SAKE: BEERS, FAGS AND OPPOSITE-LOCK RRP £25 There are characters in motorsport who have defied the norm and generated something of a following due to their uniqueness. In the corporate world of professional motorsport it’s harder to spot these individuals, forced as they are to toe the line. But they still exist in national racing, even if there may be fewer of their kind around than in previous eras. One of the most infamous characters is Ian Flux, who’s been involved with motorsport since the 1970s and was something of a stalwart on the track until only recently. Speak to anyone in the UK paddocks, and almost all will have a tale to tell about Flux. Alongside Motorsport News editor Matt James, Flux’s anecdotes and stories…

The T87/50 was the first Lola to truly make an impression in the International Formula 3000 Championship. From just one win prior to 1987, Lola scored four victories and works driver Luis Perez Sala finished as runner-up. It therefore was an important machine for establishing the Huntingdon constructor in a battle hitherto dominated by March and Ralt – and for Perez Sala, who picks his launchpad to Formula 1 as his favourite car. Perez Sala, who became the third Spaniard to score a world championship point when he finished sixth in the 1989 British Grand Prix, has happier memories of the T87/50 than the Minardi-Cosworth M189’s cramped cockpit. “It was not as powerful as F1, not as good in terms of braking power and speed on the corners,” reflects Perez…

FORMULA 1 Mercedes has renewed the contracts of its Formula 1 drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to keep them under lock and key until the end of the 2025 season. It is understood that Russell already had paperwork in place for 2024, and that his services have been extended for another year, albeit he is now likely to be on more lucrative terms. Therefore, the main talking point is Hamilton, who has renewed his commitment to the Three-Pointed Star as he chases a history-making eighth world title. Even if he doesn’t win the championship again, Hamilton will break a Michael Schumacher record. The German completed 11 campaigns with one squad: Ferrari from 1996 to 2006. Should Hamilton see his new deal through to completion, he will have managed 13…

FORMULA 1 Injured AlphaTauri Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo is unlikely to return to action until the Qatar Grand Prix early next month. The Australian fractured a metacarpal in his left hand in an FP3 shunt at the Dutch GP, the third event of his comeback after being ditched by McLaren for 2023, and has undergone surgery in Barcelona. But Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who loaned out third driver Ricciardo, reckons the forthcoming Singapore (17 September) and Japanese (24 September) rounds will come too soon for the eight-time GP winner. “Certainly Singapore, I don’t think there’s any chance he’ll be ready for,” said Horner. “It would be optimistic for Japan. But I think his recovery is going well. He’s got obviously immobility of the hand and he’s into…

FORMULA 4 European Formula 4 teams are set to compete in Macau this November. They will take part in an additional event organised as part of the celebrations for the 70th running of the Macau Grand Prix the weekend before the GP itself. Top Speed, the Shanghai-based entity that promotes the F4 UAE and Formula Regional Middle East series, has been given a slot after taking over the rights to F4 South East Asia, which has been dormant since the COVID crisis in 2020. The F4 SEA series will be for the Tatuus T-421 chassis used in Europe, and kicks off at Zhuzhou in China before the non-championship invitational event at Macau and two rounds at Sepang. China’s F4 series, for the first-generation Mygale chassis, was given the Macau GP…

Ask fans what they think of new teams joining F1 Amid the discussions regarding potential new teams joining Formula 1, nothing has been mentioned about the views of the fans. One objection spoke of the increased risks to safety, but some of us with seemingly longer memories than team principals recall grids of 30 and the need for pre-qualifying due to the number of teams attempting to compete in F1 at that time. But of course, as it ever is with the grand prix circus, it’s all about the money, never mind that there are some interesting potential new additions to F1 who would have the ability to add value and variety, but all the principals can see is a cut in their share of the takings. The amounts required…

Many of Monza’s famous corners sadly looked rather different this time. Just six weeks earlier, this part of northern Italy was struck by a series of severe thunderstorms. These were so ferocious that the wind felled approximately 10,000 trees in Monza’s former royal park, according to event officials. Two storms in four days between 21-24 July did the real damage, with wind speeds clocked at over 60mph, well over gale-force level. The uprooted trees fell domino-like as they hit others nearby. This was exacerbated by drought conditions that have impacted much of Italy in recent years, weakening tree roots. The falling branches and trunks also badly damaged Monza’s track barriers, although the circuit’s asphalt surface and kerbs escaped harm. The photographers’ perch where Autosport heads for the start of FP3…

Prior to last Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland, Rinus VeeKay’s season-best finish for Ed Carpenter Racing was 10th, scored at the Indianapolis 500. But the 22-year-old Dutchman delivered an aggressive, elbows-out performance to charge from a mid-pack starting spot to finish sixth. VeeKay had surged into the top 10 by the end of the opening lap and provided some breathtaking passes in the march forward, which included a too-close-for-comfort move that led to Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson going off course at one point. Additionally, VeeKay was the highest finishing driver to start the 110-lap race on the softer alternate, red-sidewall Firestone tyres. Ironically, he finished directly ahead of Ericsson despite their early-race run-in. “Starting 13th, I knew we could do a bit better,” VeeKay explained. “Tough to get those…

GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE SPRINT CUP HOCKENHEIM (DEU) 2-3 SEPTEMBER ROUND 3/5 Victory, pole position and a fourth place ensured that Attempto Racing Audi pair Mattia Drudi and Ricardo Feller made substantial gains in the Sprint Cup standings as GT World Challenge Europe returned from its summer break at Hockenheim. The Italo-Swiss duo came into the weekend 18 points adrift of ASP crew Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy and, despite the Mercedes combo winning race two, left the German track just 9.5 points behind heading into the final two rounds. Drudi and Feller prevailed in the opening one-hour encounter on Saturday and profited from a rare retirement for the ASP Mercedes to breathe new life into the Sprint Cup title battle. “I took care of the tyres because it was…

NASCAR CUP DARLINGTON (USA) 3 SEPTEMBER ROUND 27/36 In a NASCAR Cup playoff opener filled with drivers making mistakes, Kyle Larson’s turned out to be the least detrimental. The Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet star came out on top of a fierce battle with the 23XI Racing Toyota of Tyler Reddick over the final 31 of 367 laps and held on to win the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Larson, who hit the wall a handful of times while rim-riding in the turns, grabbed control of the race late in the final stage, when he beat Reddick off pitroad during a caution caused by a spin involving Ryan Newman. The restart came with 51 laps to go, and Larson held on through two more late-race restarts before securing his third win of…

It’s no exaggeration to state that Nicky Catsburg has had a year any sportscar driver would envy. He’s won his class in three major 24-hour races, including one outright, and achieved the virtually unprecedented feat of securing a world championship title in July. When you also factor in his GT class title in the Asian Le Mans Series aboard a Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4, the amiable Dutchman has claimed major successes aboard four different brands of car. “It feels strange,” concedes Catsburg. “You have some years where you are begging for a win, you do a good job but you just never can get that result. When it started with winning Asian Le Mans this year, I was like, ‘We won now, the rest of the season will probably be…

BRSCC The British Racing & Sports Car Club plans to a hold a new event at Silverstone later this year that showcases how people can get involved in motorsport, either as a driver or volunteer. Driven by Racing on 18-19 November will give people the chance to sample a range of cars – around the circuit’s National layout – that feature in BRSCC categories. But it will also provide the opportunity to understand the role of rescue crews, marshals, race control staff, race admin workers and scrutineers with a series of active demonstrations. The event is free to attend and, during the online registration process, areas of particular interest can be selected. “It’s trying to use our resources in the best way to promote what we do as a club…

MSVR The latest Brands Hatch ‘festival’ event drew a horde of Porsche enthusiasts and their cars to Kent for eight races last weekend, plus track and static displays. With the South Bank spectator area filled exclusively by Porsches, there was no doubt which marque was being celebrated. Two races for the Porsche Club Championship were highlights of the track programme, and these were won by Mark McAleer and Kevin Harrison, who threatened McAleer’s opening victory but spun on oil dropped at Paddock, promoting Pete Morris to the runner-up spot. Harrison was rewarded with a win in race two, with McAleer not far behind, but the ever-present Morris was third and takes a points lead to the finale at Snetterton. Boxster class wins in these races were shared by Christian Walker…

BRITISH HILLCLIMB The calendar for the 2024 British Hillclimb Championship has been revealed with 14 events once again scheduled, including a double visit to Doune, while a deal has been secured to enable Avon tyres to be used during the campaign. Ten venues across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands will hold events next year, with the only notable change being that Doune in Scotland gains a second event in September and Loton Park drops to hosting just the finale. The season will start at Prescott on 20-21 April, with the Loton finale in late September. Harewood, Shelsley Walsh and Prescott join Doune with two visits, while single events are at Craigantlet, Gurston Down, Bouley Bay, Val des Terres and Wiscombe Park. Although the Avon factory will close…

CATERHAM SEVEN UK Races 1, 2 & 3 Aaron Head CATERHAM SEVEN 310R Races 1 & 3 Hugo Bush Race 2 Taylor O’Flanagan CATERHAM SEVEN 270R Races 1 & 2 Freddie Chiddicks Race 3 Marc Jones CATERHAM ROADSPORTS Races 1 & 2 Rob Kennerley CATERHAM GRADUATES – SIGMAX/SIGMA 150 Race 1 Will Stilwell (Sigma 150) Race 2 James McCall (Sigma 150, below) CATERHAM GRADUATES – SIGMA 135 Races 1 & 2 Ben Wheatley CATERHAM ACADEMY White Henry Speeks Green Nick Highton CATERHAM ACADEMY AUTUMN TROPHY Jonathan Emery CSCC MAGNIFICENT SEVENS Race 1 Stephen Nuttall (Caterham Supersport) Race 2 Christian Pittard (Caterham 7 CSR) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

CADWELL PARK EQUIPE 2 SEPTEMBER Rob Cull and his TVR Grantura claimed Equipe GTS honours at Cadwell Park last Saturday after a duel with MGB driver Lewis Saunders during the opening salvo. Cull had begun to build on his lead until lap four, when “I turned in a bit too early as I felt I had grip, but it just kept going and I went off onto the grass.” The TVR still managed to retain a solid second. Saunders was in the clear, but Cull managed to reduce the deficit before the pitstop window. Saunders was the first to stop, with Cull following a lap later – he got out back in front, with Saunders losing time on his out-lap due to some errant backmarkers, and still had over two…

PRESCOTT BRITISH HILLCLIMB 2-3 SEPTEMBER Wallace Menzies won the British Hillclimb Championship for the fourth time in a row with a measured performance at Prescott last Sunday during the penultimate weekend of the season. Menzies could not quite match the pace of Scott Moran and Matthew Ryder but delivered a fourth and a third place in the two championship run-offs, which were more than enough to settle the title with one weekend remaining. After his accident at Shelsley Walsh in August, Menzies remained slightly on the back foot for the second visit of the season to the Gloucestershire venue, but needed only one modest finish to make sure of the title he has led from the start. In the day’s opening run-off, Ryder – in the Gould GR59 he shares…

From the Silverstone Festival to the Goodwood Revival. This is a good time for historic racing enthusiasts. Like Silverstone, Goodwood is celebrating its 75th birthday this year. Unlike the home of the British Grand Prix, the fabulously flowing West Sussex venue hasn’t had a continuous history as a race circuit. Esteemed motorsport historian Doug Nye explains on page 10 how Goodwood rose, went (semi) silent and then revived to become one of the most highly regarded tracks in the country. The current Duke of Richmond, who made it possible, shares his memories of the highs and lows in our column (p9). Also part of this special celebration, Marcus Pye gets a rather different view of Goodwood – from the cockpit of a Spitfire. We know such a piece isn’t the…

Nobody on Goodwood’s start/finish straight on 18 September 1998, for the inaugural Revival’s opening ceremony, will forget Ray Hanna’s arrival in Supermarine Spitfire MkIX MH434. Swooping from above Madgwick, he followed the track the ‘wrong’ way and buzzed event host the Earl of March, exiting the chicane in the Bristol 400 from which his grandfather launched the circuit 50 years previously. From the pit top commentary box I heard the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine’s roar from my right and was agog to look down into the camouflaged warbird’s cockpit as it passed beneath us and the grandstand, perhaps 20 feet above the ground! Never has a celebration of freedom been more aptly introduced. The Civil Aviation Authority took a dim view, yet New Zealand-born Hanna, 70, the ex-RAF Red Arrows aerobatic…

FORMULA 1 Felipe Massa will not attend Formula 1 races as a series ambassador while his legal battle against the outcome of the 2008 world championship continues. It has been mutually decided that the Brazilian’s presence is no longer appropriate while he is challenging officials who apparently knew at the time that Nelson Piquet Jr crashed deliberately in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to affect a drivers’ title ultimately decided by a single point in favour of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton over Massa. Massa’s representatives have also written to the FIA and F1 to demand an urgent response to the outlined legal case. They deem the summer break period and personnel being on holiday as no sound reason for both parties failing to provide a formal response to the claims. The…

FORMULA E Formula E race winner Oliver Rowland will return to Nissan for the 2024 campaign following his mid-season split with Mahindra this year. The Briton spent three seasons with the Japanese manufacturer during its tie-up with e.dams, during which time he claimed four pole positions and five podiums, including his sole FE win in Berlin in 2020. Rowland (right) moved to Mahindra for the 2022 campaign but secured just one podium, before enduring an even more difficult campaign this term, finishing in the points on only two occasions. The 31-year-old and the team agreed to part ways after the Monaco E-Prix due to the lack of results, and now he has been confirmed at Nissan alongside Sacha Fenestraz. “I’m really excited, it’s a bit of a homecoming for me,…

FORMULA 2 Formula 2 unveiled its new-for-2024 car at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, and it comes equipped with F1-style aerodynamics that series chiefs hope will improve the junior category’s racing spectacle. The new chassis is Dallara’s fifth car developed for GP2/F2, spanning back to its inaugural season in 2005, and features multiple visual cues similar to the current generation of F1 car. The new front wing features upturned endplates to minimise the overall vortex turbulence generated, while the opening of the floor appears to be much more pronounced to indicate deeper venturi tunnels under the car. These all mirror the current F1 developments, but where it deviates slightly is in its visually striking rear wing. With a crescent-shaped top plane, the wing has been produced to enhance the DRS…

FORMULA 2 Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has said that a decision will not be taken on a surprise potential move to Formula 2 for protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli until his Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine season has finished. Antonelli, who won two Formula 4 crowns in 2022, is leading the FRECA standings with four rounds to go with Prema Racing, and there are suggestions that the 17-year-old Italian could bypass Formula 3. Wolff warned of the perils of pressure on young drivers. “There is always the risk that if you create too much hype around a young driver, that he’s not left in peace to do anything,” he said at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. “We see how FRECA goes, then will take a decision what to…

INDYCAR Linus Lundqvist sat on the sidelines for the majority of this season despite being the 2022 Indy Lights champion, but three IndyCar starts have landed him a lauded seat at Chip Ganassi Racing for next year. The 24-year-old Swede’s trio of starts came with Meyer Shank Racing, with a best finish of 12th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in August. But he put the paddock on notice during his debut on the streets of Nashville after advancing into the Fast 12 in qualifying. “I kept in touch with everybody during this year, kept reminding them that I’m a champion and that I want to have a seat,” said Lundqvist. “But I don’t think it started to really be serious until after Nashville. That was what made them…

“Car-los! Car-los! Car-los!” Simple, but effective. The tifosi’s cheers for Monza third-place finisher Carlos Sainz rather drowned out the Dutch and Austrian national anthems being played to celebrate the actual winner of last Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen may have achieved a unique piece of F1 history with his record-setting 10th consecutive win, but he is so remarkable that it has become almost unremarkable. Sainz was this race’s clear star. The Spaniard had just edged Verstappen to pole position for Ferrari’s home race, and he got to enjoy the first-place grid slot for rather longer than he would have expected. That was because the race start was delayed by more than 20 minutes thanks to Yuki Tsunoda having to stop his smoking AlphaTauri ahead of the Parabolica…

A clash between the two McLarens underlined a difficult Italian Grand Prix afternoon where a straightline speed deficit cost the cars in traffic. Oscar Piastri preserved his qualifying advantage over Lando Norris to retain his seventh position at the start, and got ahead of Alex Albon’s Williams before the Anglo-Thai repaid the favour a lap later. Piastri began to fall away, prompting Norris to strongly hint at a positional swap between the two cars. Norris’s wish wasn’t quite granted, although he was allowed the earlier pitstop to use as an undercut opportunity at the end of lap 22. A lap later Piastri tried to emerge from his own stop ahead, but Norris had a nose ahead into the first chicane. The Aussie couldn’t get his car stopped in time to…

FORMULA 2 MONZA (ITA) 2-3 SEPTEMBER ROUND 12/13 Theo Pourchaire put one hand on the Formula 2 title at Monza when main rival Frederik Vesti crashed out of the feature race. Prema driver Vesti had taken victory in Saturday’s sprint, but his failure to score on Sunday means ART ace Pourchaire heads into the final round in Abu Dhabi 25 points clear with 39 on offer. Victory in the feature race instead came for Vesti’s rookie Prema team-mate Ollie Bearman, the Ferrari protege taking his fourth win of the season in a superby controlled, albeit much disrupted, affair. Poleman Pourchaire held the lead off the line, but Bearman got alongside through Curva Grande and was in front by the Roggia chicane. In the pack behind, Vesti was forced onto the…

PORSCHE SUPERCUP MONZA (ITA) 3 SEPTEMBER ROUND 7/7 Bastian Buus took the 2023 Porsche Supercup title in the most dramatic way after spinning, dropping to the back of the field and landing a time penalty at Monza. The Danish Porsche junior arrived in Italy needing only to finish 11th to claim the crown from two-time champion Larry ten Voorde. Given he had been out of the top four just once to this point, this appeared to be a mere formality to put a full stop on the campaign. But as it turned out, that couldn’t have been further from the case. After qualifying ninth and avoiding trouble on lap one, Buus spun next time round at the Rettifilo amid a melee sparked by Loek Hartog, dropping his Lechner Racing car…

INDY NXT PORTLAND (USA) 3 SEPTEMBER ROUND 11/12 Briton Louis Foster went flag-to-flag with a dominant win in the Indy NXT race at Portland in his Andretti Autosport car. The polewinner was unchallenged while claiming a 7.86s victory over Nolan Siegel (HMD Motorsports). “We made a good start and then built a good gap in the first seven laps,” said Foster of his second win of the season. “From there, it was just managing my tyres in case there was a late-race safety car. Keep my push-to-pass up. It was an amazing race.” A melee kicked off the 35-lap race when a three-wide fight for the lead entering Turn 1 ended with Foster getting through and a massive pile-up involving seven cars, including championship leader Christian Rasmussen along with second…

As Nicky Catsburg is at pains to point out, he’s only one cog in the Corvette Racing machine that has proven such a potent force in the 2023 World Endurance Championship. Co-drivers Nico Varrone and Ben Keating have certainly played their part in tying up the GTE Am crown with two rounds to spare. “I’m always lucky enough that I’m surrounded by really good, talented people and that obviously helps a lot,” says Catsburg, who regards his team-mates as “outstanding in their class”. As he sees it: “Nico is the best Silver, Ben is the best Bronze. That’s what kind of makes it easier when you have a complete package like that.” “I’M ALWAYS LUCKY ENOUGH THAT I’M SURROUNDED BY REALLY GOOD, TALENTED PEOPLE” Popular Texan Keating’s reputation as one…

EQUIPE Tom Burgess brought out his ex-British Saloon Car Datapost-liveried Ford Fiesta for the first time in three years when he contested the Equipe 70s race at Cadwell Park last weekend. The car has raced at some Classic Touring Car Racing Club events in the past, and has made several appearances at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting, with plans to return next year. “Andy Priaulx, Karun Chandhok and Alex Buncombe have raced it too, but we haven’t had it out since Goodwood in 2020,” said Burgess after taking second overall and a class win on his first visit to the Lincolnshire circuit. Meanwhile, former motocrosser Graham Moss scored his first-ever car race win when he topped the Equipe Libre contest at Cadwell in only his fourth ever outing. “I had raced…

FORMULA JUNIOR Rising single-seater star Samuel Harrison, who sealed the Historic Formula 3 title at Croft last weekend, gave the unique Rennmax BN1-2 Formula Junior chassis what may have been its best ever result at the Silverstone Festival. Harrison took the Rennmax to third and sixth places in the two races at Silverstone at the end of last month. The 1962 car was built in Australia by Bob Britton as a near copy of a Lotus 20 and is now owned in the UK by Adrian Holey. Harrison drove it for the first time in testing just before the Silverstone Festival and said: “It’s lovely. It goes round the corners well, but we’re struggling down the straights a bit.” The teenager has previously enjoyed Formula Junior success in a Brabham.…

This season in the GB3 Championship hasn’t been too bad, but we’re really hoping to end the year on a high. The pace has always been there, so now there are just a few things we’d like to improve on. Now that we’ve got our first win of the year at Silverstone, I think we look quite strong, so hopefully we can carry that forward. We’ll see how we do but, at the minute, I’m quite happy with everything. This is my second season in GB3 with JHR Developments. We had a decent weekend at the Oulton Park opener – I struggled a bit in race two but, apart from that, we had good pace. At Silverstone I was a bit at fault as I had a decent qualifying, a…

CROFT HSCC 2-3 SEPTEMBER Ben Tinkler, Graham Fennymore, Callum Grant and Samuel Harrison clinched Historic Sports Car Club titles with Saturday Croft victories, then doubled up on Sunday. The duels between Grant and Benn Simms were breathtaking crowd-pleasers, like the Historic Modsports and Special Saloons races in which Paul Sibley wrung everything from his MG Midget to defeat snarling monsters. Simms (Jomo) took the Historic Formula Ford 1600 flag fractions ahead of new triple champ Grant (Merlyn Mk20A) on Saturday, but red flags reversed their order with Oliver Chapman’s Lola stranded exiting Clervaux, its front-right wheel horizontal. Parts were helicoptered in to repair it for Sunday’s race, which lasted seconds when a tangle with Canadian Tony Cove at the chicane triggered a caution. After seeing Simms and Grant both make…

CADWELL PARK EQUIPE GTS Rob Cull (TVR Grantura Mk3) EQUIPE LIBRE Graham Moss (Daytona Cobra, above) EQUIPE 70s/PRE-’63 & 50s David Wenman/Andrew Wenman (Morgan +8) MG BCV8s Race 1 Neil Fowler (B GT) Race 2 James Wheeler (B GTV8) COCKSHOOT CUP Race 1 David Morrison (MG Midget) Race 2 Mark Wright (MGF) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com RALI CEREDIGION (BRC) 1 James Williams/Dai Roberts (Hyundai i20 N Rally2); 2 Callum Black/Jack Morton (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +1m15.8s; 3 Garry Pearson/Daniel Barritt (VW Polo GTI R5); 4 Ioan Lloyd/Sion Williams (Peugeot 208 Rally4); 5 Kyle White/Sean Topping (Peugeot 208 Rally4); 6 William Mains/Tomos Whittle (Vauxhall Nova). JBRC Lloyd/Williams. For full results visit: britishrallychampionship.co.uk…

The 1959 Formula 1 world championship bursts into life at Monaco as Jean Behra’s Ferrari gets the jump into Gas Works. Behind him in the frame, from left to right, are Maurice Trintignant (32), Tony Brooks (50), Phil Hill (48), young Bruce McLaren (22) and a determined Jack Brabham. Hidden behind Behra, Stirling Moss’s Rob Walker Cooper would eventually lead until his Colotti gearbox failed him. Behra retired with engine trouble, but Brabham pressed on to score his and the works Cooper team’s first victory, from the Ferrari of Brooks and Trintignant’s Walker Cooper. For classic motorsport DVDs and downloads head to dukevideo.com For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

Goodwood’s Motor Circuit, like other ex-RAF Second World War aerodromes repurposed for car racing in peacetime, was not Britain’s grandest venue in its contemporary era. Aintree, with its imposing horse racing infrastructure, claimed that crown. Yet the hospitality lavished upon visiting sporting greats by the petrolhead ninth Duke of Richmond & Gordon – Brooklands race winner and aviator Freddie March, for whom Castrol R was as much the elixir of life as champagne – made it the most sociable. Parties at Goodwood House, his family seat since 1697, and cricket matches outside in the park, made it a magnet for the world’s top drivers, sporting cognoscenti and socialites. That tradition continues in the care of his grandson Charles, the 11th Duke, who as the Earl of March achieved his dream…

In its heyday, make no mistake, the Goodwood Motor Circuit always occupied a very special place within the burgeoning British motor racing scene. While it never hosted a world championship grand prix, it provided a much-loved stage for the infant British motorsport industry to strut upon. While active racing was pursued there for 18 years, 1948-66, the Motor Circuit’s subsequent test and sprint-only career saw it survive with little change – other than inevitably ‘crumbling around the edges’ – for a further 30 years, 1967-97. But then – due to the single-minded enthusiasm, enterprise and drive of the Goodwood estate-owning family’s scion, Charles March, now the Duke of Richmond & Gordon – would come Revival… By contemporary international standards, Goodwood in period was only ‘a medium-speed aerodrome course’, yet a…

RACING CLASSIC SPORTS CAR CLUB This season is one of celebration for the Classic Sports Car Club as it commemorates 20 years since it first held its own race meeting. The club has progressed a long way from then and has become of the UK’s most popular race organisers, catering for a diverse mix of cars, ranging from the 1960s to the present day. From that initial full event at Croft in 2003, a first series emerged the following year – Swinging Sixties remains one of the club’s most bountiful to this day, enjoying some huge grids featuring a plethora of 1960s machinery. Classic K also caters for FIA Appendix K machinery of a similar era, while slightly newer cars fit into the Future Classics division. The club is rounding…