Indholdsfortegnelse for 25/10/18 i Autosport

Even he probably wasn’t sure if it would ever happen, but Kimi Raikkonen finally scored the first Formula 1 win of his second Ferrari career at Austin. And what a fine drive it was, too. With two of the best overtakers in the business – Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton – chasing him hard, Raikkonen held firm to add to the nine Ferrari victories he scored in his ‘first’ F1 career. Some were quick to argue that the success proved the doubters wrong, but what it really did was to underline the frustration many have had with the 2007 world champion. Raikkonen is capable of great things, but hasn’t produced that form often enough since his return to F1. There can be no doubt that he has been outperformed by…

WTCR Sweden’s crack tin-top outfit will again attempt to conquer World Touring Cars in 2019 when the Cyan Racing squad that ran Volvo’s title-winning WTCC effort joins the World Touring Car Cup in collaboration with Geely automotive brand Lynk & Co. Cyan operated the Volvo entry that claimed the 2017 WTCC manufacturers’ crown and ran Thed Bjork to drivers’ championship honours, and revealed last month it was working on a new touring car project with Lynk & Co, which is owned by the same group as Volvo. It disclosed no further details about the nature of its programme, although this was expected to be based on TCR framework. The squad unveiled its TCR challenger, based on Lynk & Co’s 03 saloon model, last Friday and revealed the car will be…

BTCC The AmD Tuning team has bought two British Touring Car Championship Honda Civic Type R FK2s from Eurotech Racing and will field the hatchbacks next year. AmD will also work alongside new team Trade Price Cars, which has taken over the Audi S3s AmD ran last year. The two MG6s AmD entered in 2018 will now move on to new owners along with their TOCA BTCC Licences (TBL) – the permits needed to take part. AmD bought the two Hondas (below) and the associated TBLs from former Eurotech team principal Jeff Smith. No drivers have been confirmed yet and the squad is in discussion with sponsors. AmD team principal Shaun Hollamby said: “It was a big move for us to expand to a four-car team and, after a successful…

TYRE ALLOCATION TRACK STATS LENGTH 2.674 miles NUMBER OF LAPS 71 2017 POLE POSITION Sebastian Vettel 1m16.488s POLE LAP RECORD Sebastian Vettel 1m16.488s (2017) RACE LAP RECORD Sebastian Vettel 1m18.785s (2017) THEMES TO WATCH HAMILTON’S TITLE SHOT PART TWO Lewis Hamilton didn’t manage to seal his fifth world title in Austin, but has every chance of doing so in Mexico City. He needs to score just five more points, even if Vettel wins, to be sure of the crown. If he’s 50 points or more ahead at the end, he’s done it. RED BULL’S CHALLENGE Max Verstappen has enjoyed a very strong run of form since his early season mishaps. Having won in Mexico City last year, and also coming close in Austin, he could be a factor this weekend…

Raikkonen proves he’s still got it Some eyebrows may have risen in the Ferrari boardroom after Kimi Raikkonen’s stunning win at Austin. Arguably the world’s most popular grand prix driver, dignified in victory or defeat, devoid of any embarrassing podium posturing and above all, at 39, still a brilliant driver and match for anyone on his day. Throw in the obvious good relationship he has with Sebastian Vettel, his willingness to be a team player and the post-race outpouring of emotion from the Ferrari team joining in with the Italian national anthem, one wonders whether replacing him with the unproven Charles Leclerc is premature. Hopefully, as he did on his F1 comeback with Lotus in 2012, Kimi will embarrass some of his fellow drivers and better resourced teams next year.…

THE UNEXPECTEDLY CLOSELY FOUGHT QUALIFYING BATTLE between Mercedes and Ferrari almost produced another of modern Formula 1’s most frustrating anomalies – a pole position that never was. Like Michael Schumacher at Monaco in 2012 and Juan Pablo Montoya at Monza seven years earlier, had Sebastian Vettel found the extra pace needed to overturn his 0.061-second deficit to Lewis Hamilton, a grid penalty would have denied him a legally won pole position. Vettel effectively lost the qualifying battle a day earlier when he was done for speeding under red flags. But with just one hour of dry running on a chilly afternoon to prepare, the Ferrari was surprisingly competitive in qualifying. Initially, Hamilton had the advantage and outpaced Vettel by 0.088s on the first runs, with Valtteri Bottas a further three…

Racing Point Force India’s Esteban Ocon and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen were disqualified from the United States Grand Prix for fuel-related technical infringements. Ocon, who finished eighth on the road, was thrown out for exceeding the fuel-flow limit of 100kg/hour on the opening lap of the race. Magnussen, who was a place behind Ocon, was excluded for exceeding the maximum fuel allowance of 105kg. These exclusions promoted Brendon Hartley and Marcus Ericsson to ninth and 10th places respectively, as well as elevating the other Force India of Sergio Perez to eighth. Force India team principal Otmar Szafnauer explained that his team’s data showed Ocon’s car had briefly experienced a surge of fuel, but corrected itself before the lap was done. “What happened was that there was a spike of flow…

Sebastian Vettel called for “common sense” on Formula 1’s red flag regulations after being hit with a three-place grid penalty for speeding after a stoppage during FP1 in Austin. The red flag was deployed because of gravel dragged onto the track by Charles Leclerc spinning and recovering. Vettel was coming through the Turn 6 right-hander at the time, and immediately reduced his pace. While the onboard footage shows he clearly drove safely, he fell foul of the regulation demanding a driver be above the acceptable delta time at least once in each ‘mini-sector’ that makes up the lap. “There should be common sense with the rules that we have,” said Vettel, who was second fastest in qualifying but had to start fifth. “Lining out 27.7 seconds precisely as not complying…

SUPER GT AUTOPOLIS (J) OCTOBER 21 ROUND 7/8 A first victory of the season for TOM’s Lexus LC 500 pair Ryo Hirakawa and Nick Cassidy at Autopolis took them level on 67 points with Jenson Button and Naoki Yamamoto at the top of the Super GT standings. Only the Motegi finale remains. In qualifying, Honda dominated as the NSXs locked out the top three spots – headed by Tomoki Nojiri and Takuya Izawa and rounded out by Button/Yamamoto. Best of the rest was LC 500 duo Kazuki Nakajima and Yuhi Sekiguchi in fourth, and Nakajima made a great start to pass Button right at the lights. Cassidy started fifth and took until lap seven to snatch fourth from Button, by which time Nakajima was challenging for the lead. At the…

For almost as long as I can remember I’ve loved motorsport. Probably my oldest memory is getting a telling-off from my dad for moaning about wanting to go home from my nan’s to watch the 1979 Argentinian Grand Prix in colour. She only had a black-and-white telly and that simply wouldn’t do! Despite this, and my fanatical devotion to making sure that I’d scoffed down my Sunday lunch to ensure I was on pole position on the sofa for whenever Grand Prix was on TV, my love of motorsport was hardly indulged. I can’t help but feel a pang of envy when I hear tales of how friends’ and colleagues’ families would cart them off across the country and Europe to see their heroes in action, while I was left…

A ‘realignment of its motorsport strategy’ was the euphemism Audi deployed when it announced the termination of its World Endurance Championship programme in late October 2016. Although the main focus of the communique was to telegraph a switch to Formula E and a renewed commitment to the DTM, it also spelled good news for Audi’s two-time DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom and his EKS World Rallycross team. While it was non-committal about supporting EKS in the series, it explicitly confirmed Audi’s interest in “the exciting topic of electrification being on the agenda in rallycross”. Further developments suggested that Audi was ready to increase its involvement. Less than three months later it revealed that it was upgrading its support for newly crowned World RX teams’ champion EKS, elevating it to full factory-backed…

MINI CHALLENGE Mini Challenge champion Ant Whorton-Eales and runner-up Nathan Harrison drove a Motorbase Performance British Touring Car Championship Ford Focus at Snetterton last week as part of tyre supplier Dunlop’s prize package. For Whorton-Eales, who took part in the entire 2017 BTCC in an AmD Tuning Audi S3 and tackled one round in an MG in 2018, it was the second time he had won a prize outing. He took part in Dunlop’s annual prize test in 2016 after claiming the Renault UK Clio Cup crown. “It was great to test a proven race-winning car,” said Whorton-Eales, who was 23rd in the 2017 BTCC standings. “Motorbase has come a long way in developing this car in the two years since my first test.” He was joined at the test…

WALTER HAYES TROPHY Multiple Historic Formula Ford 1600 champion Callum Grant will drive the most modern machinery in his career so far when he fields a Van Dieman RF91 in the Walter Hayes Trophy. Grant, the 2012 and ’16 Historic Sports Car Club FF1600 champion, will drive the car owned by Roger Arnold. The Bolton driver – who helped spectators pull fellow competitor Nelson Rowe out of his burning car at Cadwell Park earlier in the year – was one spot out of qualifying for the final of the Walter Hayes Trophy last year in his Merlyn Mk20, and with more modern machinery he is hoping to cross the threshold. “I was one place off the final last year with a historic car,” said the 24-year-old. “So I’d like to…

CLASSIC SPORTS CAR CLUB The Classic Sports Car Club has unveiled its 11-round 2019 calendar, which includes a headline first visit to Dijon. Grand Prix and ex-F1 circuits have become a semi-regular fixture on the club’s schedule. The addition of Dijon, from October 4-6, follows a first meeting at Magny-Cours last weekend for the season finale and a return to Spa – which holds its place next year – in June. Club director David Smitheram said: “It’s the usual CSCC thinking where we want to offer the members something new. We’re running out of UK circuits to try for the first time, so we looked at where else we haven’t been that’s within a sensible distance.” Angelsey’s International circuit will also get its first run out with the CSCC next…

BRANDS HATCH BRSCC OCTOBER 20-21 In between the semis and the Formula Ford Festival final, it was hard to find any neutral who really believed that poleman Niall Murray – a man with two Festivals, two National championships and a Walter Hayes Trophy to his name – would be beaten. Josh Smith confounded all expectations, though, taking the lead on the last lap to claim his biggest win yet, a result that meant as much to his Oldfield Motorsport team as it did to the Cumbrian himself. The build-up to the final had been far from plain sailing for the 19-year-old, who finished 12th in the National championship this year. He’d tested only in the wet on Wednesday – missing dry running later in the week – but nevertheless claimed…

The Festival heats and semi-finals provided a taste of things to come as the eventual top two of Josh Smith and Niall Murray were drawn together at each stage. While Smith laid a marker with pole for their heat, it was Murray who came out on top in both. Team Dolan’s Murray passed Oldfield Motorsport man Smith for the lead of heat one into Druids, but only built his seven-second winning margin after Smith slowed in the second half of the race with a broken front upright. That allowed last year’s Festival runner-up Keith Donegan to catch and pass Smith to claim second, despite carburettor problems causing his engine to stutter exiting corners. Smith completed an all-Van Diemen podium, holding off a train comprising the Rays of Carter Williams (Don…

INDYCAR The prospect of Fernando Alonso racing on some of America’s most iconic road courses next season has diminished after Zak Brown confirmed that his McLaren team will not compete full-time in IndyCar in 2019. Speculation mounted that double Formula 1 world champion Alonso would find either part or full-time refuge in IndyCar, after he announced in mid-August that he would not race in F1 next year. Alonso made positive comments after testing IndyCar’s 2018 aerokit car for the first time with Andretti Autosport in September at Barber Motorsports Park. But issues surrounding a McLaren entry’s engine-supply deal put the possibility on ice. The tentative plan was for McLaren to run a Chevrolet-powered car using Andretti Autosport engineers from Harding Racing’s headquarters, in order to prevent an exchange of intellectual…

All seemed very right with the world as we stood around, chatting, in the Osterreichring A paddock that glorious Friday morning in August 1986. “Good to be back at a proper circuit, isn’t it?” said Bernie Ecclestone. He spoke for all of us. The weekend before, Formula 1 had ventured for the first time to the Hungaroring, and if these days it is apparently regarded by many drivers as something of a classic, its tortuous turns and chicanes did not sit well with that generation. “I should have brought a bloody go-kart,” growled Alan Jones. Now, though, we were back to the swooping Osterreichring, a place savoured – and feared – by all who ever raced there. In Hungary the fastest race lap, set by Nelson Piquet, had been a…

Romain Grosjean is now two penalty points from a one-race ban after being punished for hitting Charles Leclerc on the first lap of the race. The clash occurred at the end of the back straight after Leclerc went side-by-side with the Force India of Esteban Ocon into the braking zone for the Turn 12 tight left-hander. Grosjean, behind, locked up and hit the Sauber. The stewards’ report noted that Grosjean had “lifted and braked early because of the positions of the cars in front” but they had to recognise that contact occurred. They stated that the relatively mild penalty was applied “in recognition of the circumstances”. Grosjean has now collected 10 penalty points over the past 12 months, but will lose one of those the day after the Mexican Grand…

MOTOGP MOTEGI (J) OCTOBER 21 ROUND 16/19 Is Marc Marquez the greatest racer in grand prix motorcycle in history? It’s a question that’s been asked plenty of times in 2018, and will only be repeated more after the Honda rider sealed his fifth MotoGP title with three races to spare by winning the Japanese Grand Prix. In truth, Marquez’s 2018 crown – one that draws him level with fellow Honda great Mick Doohan – has been in little doubt since he rebounded from colliding with Valentino Rossi in Argentina to score three wins on the trot in America, Spain and France. There was a brief spell in the middle of the year when Ducati pair Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo threatened to make the championship fight interesting again, but the…

“You can’t read anything into testing”, “Valencia isn’t a street track”, “old or new tyres”, “power modes”, “track limits” – if it weren’t for the series-specific terms, one could have assumed that the Formula 1 paddock had stopped off at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo for a few days of extra testing before heading to the United States Grand Prix and not Formula E. With the new Gen2 cars – LED-halo-shod, looking gorgeous and sounding ever more like jets as their massive aero-kits catch the wind – and their technology capable of lasting a whole race distance came an air of secrecy. But what was clear is that many paddock sages think the field has converged ahead of FE’s fifth season. And if that proves to be the case when the…

There is no official committee ruling on how you accrue a track list but, as your secondary school teacher would have said, if you cheat you’re just cheating yourself. As far as I’m concerned the track has to be active. This means either a race or a test is taking place. It may be that you are testing at the track yourself. A track that is closed doesn’t count – you can’t pull up next to the gates at Mugello or somewhere and claim that you’ve been. And the track needs to be in contemporary use. I’ve walked the remains of the banking at Brooklands (below) scores of times, but it doesn’t mean I’ve been to the track at Brooklands. Racing ceased there in 1939 and, unless you are currently…

CLIO CUP INTERNATIONAL Max Coates hopes to rebound from his Renault UK Clio Cup title defeat by winning the Clio Cup International Final race at Paul Ricard next month. The Team Pyro driver had headed the UK Clio Cup standings for much of the season, but was beaten to the crown in the Brands Hatch finale by James Dorlin. However, Dorlin could yet lose the title if an appeal to the National Court from Paul Rivett (over his exclusion from race two at Silverstone) is successful. But Coates now has his eyes set on winning the newly constituted French event on November 3/4, which will feature top drivers from Clio Cup championships around the world. Initially, the top six in this year’s UK Clio Cup were invited but that has…

750 FORMULA Olly Collett debuted a new self-designed bodyshell for his Falcon 750 Formula car at Snetterton earlier this month, and hopes to make it available to more drivers with the same chassis. Collett, 21, who gained work experience with the Williams F1 team and is currently studying for a Masters in Mechanical Engineering at Southampton University, designed the sleeker panels using a SolidWorks CAD/CAM software package. The shell features carbonfibre and has been built in conjunction with Collett’s father Ben’s newly established Carbinium Engineering concern, based in Norfolk. “We’ve evolved the shape, improved the car’s aerodynamics and taken more than 20kg from its weight,” said Collett, who took a fourth and a DNF at Snetterton. “It’s already as quick as anything in the fast corners and we have a…

A busy Festival support programme also highlighted single-seater excitement, and the weekend’s first race provided a preview of the main event when Benn Tilley and Scott Mansell engaged in a titanic battle for Classic FF1600 honours. New champion Tilley steered his Merlyn to another win, but between pole position and victory by 0.016 seconds lay 15 hectic laps. Mansell grabbed the advantage in traffic but Tilley wasn’t beaten, drawing level off the last corner to steal the win by less than a nosecone. Tilley suffered from starting in the shade on a damp pole slot on Sunday morning and fell to fifth before fighting back. He forced an opening at Druids to take the lead from Mansell, who reclaimed it when they met a tailender. As in race one, Tilley…

Fabled for humbling Formula 5000 and F2 opposition to win Derek Bell Trophy races in his Mallock Mk20/21 when conditions favoured the 185bhp, 1700cc Classic Clubmans cars – the temerity of which led to the front-engined sportscars being disinvited from Formule Libre contests – Mark Charteris sourced a freshly rebuilt F2 March 742 in the US and returned with a point to prove. On Sunday the super-competitive Mercedes-Benz specialist scored his first DBT victory in the Elf-liveried car – homage to 1974 European champion Patrick Depailler’s example. He admitted he was very lucky to do so. “We were nowhere near fast enough to win today,” said Charteris, “so I was very surprised when I came round Copse to find Mark [Dwyer] off on the oil, then discovered that Michael [Lyons]…

DONINGTON PARK BRSCC OCTOBER 20-21 The battle for the Mazda MX-5 Championship was decided in dramatic fashion, with Will Blackwell-Chambers trailing Sam Smith by a mere four points going into the third and final race, in which Smith lined up three places ahead of his title rival. Reigning champion Blackwell-Chambers made the most of the skirmish for the lead to get ahead of Smith before oil on the track at Coppice changed the complexion of the title fight. Smith spun into the gravel and retired alongside nine others who were affected by the oil, all of whom were unable to take the restart as they needed to be running when the stoppage was called. It meant Blackwell-Chambers won the title regardless of where he finished. Ben Short took the victory,…

ALGARVE CLASSIC FESTIVAL OCTOBER 20-21 Chris Chiles Jr and Simon Garrad took a superb victory in the GT & Sports Car Cup encounter, one of several dramatic enduros at the Algarve Classic Festival. Their AC Cobra wasn’t the fastest car in the two-hour contest but, on a weekend when many rapid runners in various races hit trouble, they had the best mix of speed and consistency. In damp-but-drying conditions, Jon Minshaw set an awesome early pace in his Jaguar E-type, pulling clear of the field by three to four seconds per lap. He was over 40s ahead of Carlos Monteverde’s similar Big Cat after half an hour when the safety car was deployed and the leader dived in for Jason Minshaw to take over. Chiles Jr and Leo Voyazides both…

A formula known for its scope for innovation, but one that’s remained true to its roots over many decades – the Monoposto Racing Club is still going strong as it celebrates its 60th anniversary. Monoposto originated when racing doyen Frank Tiedeman spotted a gap in the market. An Autosport article he wrote in December 1957 was followed by a meeting on March 3 1958 at the Masons Arms in London with other notable motorsport figures, including journalists Denis Jenkinson and John Bolster. “What they were looking for was a formula that was a bit more single-seater orientated but potentially not as expensive as existing categories,” says John Fox, who recently co-authored a history of Monoposto with Richard Page and Duncan Rabagliati. “And [they wanted] something that would appeal to the…

DON’T MISS INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORT Mexican Grand Prix Formula 1 World Championship Rd 19/21 Mexico City, Mexico October 28 TV Live Sky Sports, Sunday 1730 TV Highlights Channel 4, Sunday 2300 Rally Spain World Rally Championship Rd 12/13 Salou, Spain October 25-28 TV Live BT Sport 2, Thursday 1100, Saturday 0900, 1400, Sunday 0730, 1100. Red Bull TV, Saturday 1345. Live coverage on wrc.com. All live service via WRC+. TV Highlights BT Sport 1, Friday 2200, Saturday 2245, Sunday 2230. Red Bull TV, Friday 2100, Saturday 2100, Sunday 2100. Channel 5, Wed 1900 Porsche Supercup Rd 9/9 Mexico City, Mexico October 27-28 TV Live Sky Sports F1, Saturday 2120, Sunday 1600. Eurosport 2, Saturday 2045, Sunday 1600 World Touring Car Cup Rd 9/10 Suzuka, Japan October 27-28 TV Live Eurosport 1,…

WORLD RALLYCROSS Peugeot has withdrawn its works World Rallycross Championship programme with almost immediate effect. The French marque will leave the series after the final round of the season in South Africa next month. The announcement came alongside news of a range of ‘electrified sports vehicles’ from 2020 for the brand. In a statement, Peugeot cited uncertainty surrounding WRX’s switch to electric cars, which was postponed from a 2020 to a ’21 start date earlier this year, as the reason for departing the sport it entered as a full works operation for the first time this season, having previously partnered Hansen Motorsport since ’14. “Peugeot will concentrate its resources on developing these new vehicles and has therefore decided to withdraw from the WRX championship at the end of the 2018…

FORMULA 2 Ex-Formula 2 driver Santino Ferrucci, who moved to IndyCar after being dropped by the Trident F2 team following a number of misdemeanours during the British Grand Prix weekend last summer, now faces legal action from Trident over alleged unpaid fees. Ferrucci hit team-mate Arjun Maini on multiple occasions during the Silverstone round while driving for Trident, and was subsequently banned for two rounds, equating to four races. He was also fined €66,000 for a separate offence in which he was observed driving between paddocks without wearing gloves – which is stipulated by the regulations – and while carrying a mobile phone. Trident dropped the American from its line-up, replacing him with GP3 racer Alessio Lorandi, but the Haas Formula 1 team retained Ferrucci on its books as development…

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP 346 HAMILTON 276 VETTEL “FINALLY,” SAID KIMI RAIKKONEN AFTER ENDING A RUN OF 111 STARTS WITHOUT A VICTORY by winning the United States Grand Prix. He prefaced that word with a much stronger one, revealing frustration over his long drought that matched those underwhelmed by his inability in recent years to string together race-winning performances when he had the pace and opportunity to do so. But in Austin, Raikkonen drove faultlessly and unexpectedly stole the thunder of Lewis Hamilton, whose coronation as a five-time champion was delayed for at least one more race. And he needed to. Raikkonen held a decent, but not dominant, hand at the start of the race that he had to play to perfection in the critical moments to come out on top. This…

AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS GOLD COAST (AUS) OCTOBER 20-21 ROUND 14/16 Within a handful of action-packed hours on the Gold Coast, Tickford Racing went from scrambling to find a co-driver to breaking a 12-month winless streak. Saturday in Surfers Paradise couldn’t have been a bigger rollercoaster of emotions for the Ford squad. The enthusiasm spurred by a long-awaited upswing in car speed, particularly for the #55 entry that Chaz Mostert put fifth on the grid, was tempered by one of the most extraordinary sequences of events of the Supercars season so far. It all started in a completely different category. James Moffat, set to partner Mostert in the Supercheap Auto Falcon, had an on-track run-in with Glen Wood during Saturday morning’s Porsche Carrera Cup race. The clash then spilled over into a…

THE FIRST CHEQUERED flag of the 2018/19 Formula E season was taken by Audi’s Lucas di Grassi. Given his prowess in the electric championship, that may not seem that remarkable, but the circumstances of FE’s first season-five ‘race’ certainly were. First of all, it wasn’t really a race. At the request of the teams, FE and the FIA allocated a slot on the day-two afternoon schedule to test the new 45-minute-plus-one-lap distance and trial the attack-mode race format. Active sensor loops were added at Turn 5 to simulate the need for drivers to run off-line to access the Gen2 cars’ higher-power mode in races. The cars also lined up in single file in the pitlane – Alexander Sims emerged first to take pole – and went off one-by-one. On lap…

Most good stories start in the pub, and this one begins in The Albion in Kingston-upon-Thames. I was having a drink with Gary Watkins (98 tracks) and, as is often the case, the track list and the subject of who would be first to 100 cropped up. I’d identified a hitlist of potential tracks that would take me to the mark, but was struggling to justify a reason to drive all the way to Lincolnshire for a Cadwell Park clubbie, which was when the idea to race there was hatched. Over the next week or so I’d reached out to the MSA, which sent me the Blue Book, arranged my ARDS at Thruxton, and opened conversations with a couple of friends who own racing cars. Ex-Motorsport News deputy editor Robert…

SILVERSTONE While there are fears that next month’s Walter Hayes Trophy may be adversely affected by rain, following the struggles of some series on the Silverstone circuit in recent months, there is some good news in that from the start of next year races will no longer be won after spending the duration behind the safety car. This has happened twice already this year in high-profile championships. In April’s British GT opener at Oulton Park, Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen won in a Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 after four laps behind the safety car. Earlier this month in BRDC British Formula 3, Josh Mason won at Silverstone. In both of these wet races a victor was rewarded who hadn’t completed a racing lap thanks to a rule in the…

CSCC Mondello Park will feature on the Classic Sports Car Club’s schedule for the first time in the 2019 season. The Special Saloons and Modsports will break away from the other series for a one-off appearance at the venue, with three races at the County Kildare track across July 13-14. Plans to race at the former British Touring Car venue were tabled for 2018, but had to be put on hold due to a date clash. The Special Saloons and Modsports will support the Formula Vee Festival, a charity meeting that raises money for Irish children’s campaign The LauraLynn Foundation. Howard Dawson, who races a Porsche Boxster S in the CSCC Modern Classics series and is acting managing director of both Lola and Mondello, said: “We’ve been talking with [CSCC…

The driver who set the fastest lap of the entire Festival weekend didn’t even get to take part in the final. Michael Eastwell headed the list of big names to fall before the last hurdle when his Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum 011C retired from semi-final one with a broken rear suspension bolt. “Gutted is an understatement,” said a dejected Eastwell, who had finished second in the National Championship this year despite not winning a race. “It’s no-one’s fault – failures happen. “We made a statement this weekend. We had a pole, we won the heat race with arguably some of the best drivers of the weekend in it, like Joey [Foster] who won it [the Festival] last year and Ollie [White] who won the other semi-final. We’ll come back stronger…

SILVERSTONE HSCC OCTOBER 20-21 A week after older brother Dominik won the Radical Challenge in a Silverstone monsoon, Cameron Jackson put the Historic Formula Ford championship beyond Ben Mitchell’s reach with victory on the national circuit. Jackson rejoined the Formula Junior pack the next day, winning from the back to take its Class E crown. But he saved the best to last, snatching the finale from outgoing champion Richard Tarling and Mitchell on the line: 0.031 seconds separated the trio. Poleman Jackson (Lola T200), Tarling (Jamun T2) and Mitchell (Merlyn Mk20) all led, and the races were intense slipstreamers in which Callum Grant and Ben Tusting (Merlyns) and, latterly, Swiss veteran Gislain Genecand (Crossle 16F) also starred. Key in Jackson’s armoury was traction out of Becketts in a car honed…

OULTON PARK BARC OCTOBER 20 Connor O’Brien only needed to stay out of trouble in the Oulton Park season finale to secure the Super Mighty Mini championship, which he did by taking second and fourth places in the closing double-header. “It’s a bit of a surreal feeling,” O’Brien said. “It’s only my second season racing so I didn’t expect to be right up there this early on. Shows a bit of talent I suppose! “With the first race I was hoping to finish as high as I could, and I did get second. In the second one I was quite far in the [championship] lead so I just enjoyed it.” Jeff Smith, continuing his recovery from his British Touring Car Championship crash last year, won both encounters. He led all…

FROM THE ARCHIVE Ayrton Senna is temporarily reduced to the role of spectator after a clutch failure on the spare Lotus-Renault 97T during practice for the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril. This event is now, of course, the stuff of Formula 1 legend: Senna went on to qualify on pole and dominated the rain-soaked race, leading throughout and setting fastest lap on the way to claiming his maiden grand prix victory. Only runner-up Michele Alboreto (Ferrari 156/85) finished on the same lap. The subject of Senna’s attention during his practice hiatus, Stefan Bellof (Tyrrell-Ford 012), played his own minor starring role: after qualifying in 21st place, he battled through to take the final points-paying position in sixth, albeit two laps down. For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN? WHO IS THIS? This gruff bear came a long way for a flightless bird to scale the highest heights. From his early days driving on a tobacco farm, he was soon racing up hills. Spotted by a national programme to find the next international star, he became a junior a long way from home. An avuncular presence took him under his wing, but it was a colonial cousin who gave him his big break. Together they made a great team and he was soon the boss’s official number two. This proved to be the perfect place to pick up the pieces – and a title. A call from home was too good to ignore and he had to be strong in the face of adversity as…