Indholdsfortegnelse for 12/09/19 i Autosport

If ever there was a race that epitomised the changing of the guard within a team, it was last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. While Charles Leclerc underlined his status as a future world champion with a fine win under pressure, his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel made another mistake and then drove across the track, causing another incident. And all this on the team’s home ground at Monza. Leclerc’s victory was not perfect. His move on Lewis Hamilton under braking for the second chicane was marginal and he also ran across the first chicane. Some thought that, following his warning for the first incident, Leclerc should have got a penalty for the second. But he didn’t gain an advantage cutting the chicane – Hamilton got a run on him. What is…

FORMULA 2 Formula 2 driver Juan Manuel Correa’s condition has worsened following his involvement in the accident at Spa that claimed the life of Anthoine Hubert. The American, who is in hospital in an induced coma and is battling leg and spinal injuries, is in a “critical but stable” condition but has developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Correa was initially treated in a hospital in Belgium before being moved to a specialist unit in London last week. Correa’s family issued a statement in the early hours of Saturday morning confirming that he had developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. This is caused by inflammation of the lungs and is treatable, but can cause further health implications in the future. While Correa continues to fight his injuries, his Sauber Junior Team stablemate…

DTM Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 World champion, will contest the final round of the DTM for Honda as Japan’s Super GT manufacturers join the German series in the first part of a two-event showcase. Button will race an NSX for Team Kunimitsu, with which he claimed the 2018 Super GT title along with Naoki Yamamoto, at Hockenheim on 5-6 October. Twelve of the 18 regular DTM cars – from Audi, BMW and R-Motorsport Aston Martin – will then travel to Fuji for the Super GT x DTM Dream Race on 23-24 November. “During my career as a driver I’ve always been an avid admirer of so many different forms of top-level motorsport,” Button wrote on Instagram. “The plan post-F1 has always been to seek out new opportunities and…

EUROFORMULA OPEN W Series champion Jamie Chadwick and exciting Honda junior Toshiki Oyu could contest Euroformula Open next season after both had their first taste of the series at last weekend’s Silverstone round. While Chadwick only drove in Friday’s free practice sessions with Double R Racing, Oyu dominated the weekend by taking both pole positions and winning each of the two races on his European debut with Motopark. Chadwick replaced Jack Doohan, who was on Asian F3 duty in the clashing Shanghai round, but could only drive on Friday because of commitments at Monza with the Williams F1 team, of which she is a protegee. “It’s unbelievable,” she said. “So much downforce, a lot more power than I’m used to. I think it’s a great F3 car – it’s a…

When a new team joins IndyCar, traditionally the rabid fan will hail this as a sign of a series on the rise, the cynics will question how long it will last, while the motorsport world at large will grant the whole matter its undivided indifference. But McLaren’s return to IndyCar is something different altogether. Absent as a works team since the end of the 1979 season, McLaren remained absent as a works team in 2017 – that trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May two years ago was a marketing exercise that involved painting one of Andretti Autosport’s Dallaras in papaya orange. The presence of Zak Brown, Gil de Ferran and Johnny Rutherford – a man who twice won the Indy 500 in a McLaren – was welcome but a…

“A comedy show”, a “clusterf**k… scenario”, “a big mess” – these were just some of the descriptions of the farcical conclusion to Q3. This was Carry On Qualifying. On the decisive first runs, Charles Leclerc outpaced Lewis Hamilton by 0.039 seconds, with Valtteri Bottas just finishing his lap before the session was officially stopped on the timing system (red flags had just been shown trackside, confusingly) thanks to Kimi Raikkonen backing his Alfa Romeo into the Parabolica barriers. What followed when the session restarted was madness. Since the tow at super-fast Monza is more important than ever thanks to the increase in drag caused by the 2017 and 2019 aerodynamic rule changes, track position was paramount. First-out Nico Hulkenberg started the second run craziness, cutting the first chicane in his…

McLaren emerged from the Italian Grand Prix with just one point for Lando Norris’s 10th place thanks to Carlos Sainz retiring from the race with the front-right wheel not properly attached. The team has yet to explain the mistake, which happened after Sainz pitted from sixth place at the end of lap 27. But replays show that the mechanics on the front right corner appeared to struggle to locate the wheel initially. An attempt was made to tighten the nut with the wheelgun, although Sainz then left his pitbox while the red light was still clearly showing. This was likely thanks to automated systems that do not allow the lights to change to ‘release’ if the torque on the wheelnuts is not adequate. “We still need to analyse the detail…

Budget airlines and hire cars are the bread-and-butter of covering motorsport overseas. But when neither is affordable or possible, journalists have to innovate to get the job done. This writer invoked his inner 1970s freelancer – moustache included – to cover the Assen DTM round and Spa 24 Hours for little more than £400. Inspired by racing drivers’ holiday snaps, my cheap road bicycle was my primary transport. Applying rallying tricks, I ran lower tyre pressures to avoid punctures on gravel and the associated repair costs, albeit reducing speed on asphalt. I left Autosport’s office before dawn, equipped with a small rucksack of too few clothes, a computer, notepad, locks, pasta sachets and a battery pack. My water bottle was elastic-banded to the bicycle, with maps, money and phone all…

FIA FORMULA 2 MONZA (ITA) 7-8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 10/12 A dark cloud hung over the Formula 2 paddock after the death of Anthoine Hubert in a crash at Spa the weekend before, but his Arden squad picked itself up at Monza, fielding its other car for Tatiana Calderon and showing that during the darkest times there’s always a way forward. A picture of Anthoine and a front wing bearing his number 19 lay in the garage to show that nobody had forgotten him. Hubert’s former team-mate Callum Ilott was possessed from the off, taking his first F2 pole position, which he dedicated to Hubert, and his own current Sauber Junior Team stablemate Juan Manuel Correa, who remains in hospital after the crash. Ilott was supreme in mixed conditions to nail…

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PORSCHE SPRINT CHALLENGE GB Porsche GB’s new one-make series for the Cayman will appear alongside both the British Touring Car Championship and British GT next season. The new Porsche Sprint Challenge GB category will feature the 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport – which has a 3.8-litre engine that can produce 425bhp – and has a six-event calendar for its inaugural campaign. Three of those will be held at British GT meetings (Silverstone GP and both Donington Park fixtures), two with the BTCC (Silverstone National and Croft), and the other round will take place alongside Porsche Club GB’s two club championships. Each will include two races and there will be classes for Pro and Am drivers. “We have the Porsche motorsport pyramid and we identified that with Carrera Cup GB we only…

BRITISH FORMULA 4 British Formula 4 has launched a Scholarship programme for next season, with the winner receiving a prize package worth more than £35,000. A number of the category’s partners, including engine tuner Neil Brown Engineering, tyre maker Hankook, fuel supplier Carless and racewear company HRX, as well as promoter RacingLine have offered various discounts and free items to contribute to the prize fund. The Scholarship is open to drivers who haven’t raced in the series before and hold a minimum of the International Karting C licence. Drivers can apply via the British F4 website and successful applicants will be paired with a team for an assessment day at Silverstone on 5 November. As well as their on-track performance, other factors will also be assessed including media skills. The…

MASTERS HISTORIC F1 Matteo Ferrer-Aza’s post-1978 FIA Masters Historic Formula 1 Championship hopes hang in the balance following a qualifying shunt at Zandvoort last Friday in which his 1980-spec Ligier-Cosworth JS11/15 was damaged. The 24-year-old Italian, a quadruple winner this season, had lapped quickest when the Cosworth DFV engine in Andrew Haddon’s Hesketh blew entering the Gerlachbocht. Ferrer-Aza hit the oil and water and spun into the barrier, rear-right corner first. The car is an updated version of the machine in which Jacky Ickx finished fifth in the 1979 Dutch GP. “Rob [Hall] and I watched it happen,” said Andy Willis of preparer Hall & Hall. “The impact tore the engine mounts, but the tub is OK. The magnesium beam which sandwiches the rear suspension rockers is smashed. “More serious…

DONINGTON PARK 750MC 7-8 SEPTEMBER Danny Hands ensured that the Formula Vee title will be decided at Oulton Park next month by winning the second race at the 750 Motor Club’s 80th anniversary meeting. A controversial collision had marred Saturday’s opening contest, in which Tim Probert took his maiden victory after 17 years of trying. Graham Gant was on course to wrap things up a meeting early with victory in race two, but he lost places after a clip on the left-rear of his WEV from Ben Miloudi’s Storm at Redgate on lap six of 11. The 2017 champion retired in the gravel while Gant continued, only to retire three laps later when his engine dropped a cylinder. The GAC of Hands and recent returnee John Hughes’ Scarab traded places…

BRANDS HATCH MSVR 7-8 SEPTEMBER Three different drivers topped the podium in a trio of thrilling Radical Challenge races at Brands Hatch as Dominik Jackson and Jerome de Sadeleer continued their season-long title battle. Reigning champion Jackson and Swiss star de Sadeleer set the early pace in race one until they tripped over each other at Stirlings. Former Ginetta GT4 Supercup racer Jac Constable inherited the lead, with Marcus Clutton moving into second ahead of Marcello Marateotto. Marateotto got ahead of Clutton following the mandatory pitstop phase, but an excursion into the Clark Curve gravel reversed the situation. Clutton’s hopes of catching Constable were given a late boost when Jon MacRae’s off at Paddock led to a second safety-car interruption. A one-lap sprint to the finish followed and Clutton seized…

It’s the Monaco Grand Prix, and Brabham’s Nelson Piquet takes his turn for the controversial ground-clearance test introduced during the 1981 season. Controversial, because Brabham had pioneered circumventing the 6cm rule via hydraulic suspension. As this idea spread, drivers pushed a button to raise the rideheight for the test. Piquet crashed his BT49C while leading, so it was Gilles Villeneuve who won a dramatic race in the agricultural Ferrari from the Williams of Alan Jones, with Jacques Laffite third for Ligier. For classic Formula 1 DVDs head to dukevideo.com/F1 For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

BENTLEY TO BUILD ‘NEW’ BLOWERS The supercharged 4.5-litre ‘Blower’ Bentley is set to become the first pre-war car to re-enter production following the announcement of 12 continuation examples to be built in celebration of the marque’s centenary. The original car was conceived by Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin, who sought to produce more power with the introduction of forced induction. Founder Walter Owen Bentley did not support the project, so it was developed in private. But Bentley did build 50 supercharged cars to comply with Le Mans entry requirements. Four cars were developed into prototype specification, featuring a remodelled body. Of those, chassis HB 3403 was bought by Bentley in 2000. That car will be dissembled at the Mulliner workshop in Crewe, digitally scanned and then the continuation models will be built…

The Zerex Special, conceived and built by famed American team owner Roger Penske and then developed by the late Bruce McLaren, will be one of the most significant cars racing at this weekend’s Goodwood Revival. The sports-racing car, built around a Formula 1 Cooper in the early 1960s, was so successful that it was banned by the Sports Car Club of America. It is also the first racing machine engineered by the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing team and was arguably the inspiration not only for the McLaren race cars of the late 1960s and 1970s, but the Can-Am sports-racing car category that rocked North America in the same era. Years of painstaking work and research by owner Greg Heacock from Seattle have resulted in the car being put back together…

Martin Stretton has been one of historic racing’s top drivers for three decades and his eponymous preparation firm is similarly well-known within the industry. Twice a historic Formula 1 champion, Stretton doesn’t feel the need to shout about his success – he’s not an easy man to find online – but his enthusiasm for racing, even for simply driving, exotic machinery remains undimmed. The 60-year old has raced or tested around 350 cars, winning in many of them, and has now racked up four decades of continuous competition. “And I’m not bored yet,” he says. “I bore easily, but there is a fascination in driving any car and trying to get the best out of it.” Stretton’s enthusiasm for motorsport began when he was a child. For a time he…

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FORMULA 1 Mercedes has retained Valtteri Bottas, Renault has snapped up Esteban Ocon, and Racing Point has extended its deal with Sergio Perez. With those teams sorting their 2020 Formula 1 driver line-ups in recent weeks, that leaves Haas with the most significant missing piece, alongside Kevin Magnussen, in the silly season. That’s not because of the team’s competitiveness, but because all other potential vacancies on the 2020 grid – Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Alfa Romeo and Williams – are most likely to go to drivers who already have relationships with those teams via junior programmes, and because the loser of the Romain Grosjean-versus-Nico Hulkenberg battle for the Haas spot has a strong chance of ending up outside F1. The Haas situation is also in the spotlight because it is…

FORMULA 3 Formula 1 is not considering a radical overhaul of its use of sausage kerbs following Alex Peroni’s hospitalisation after a terrifying airborne flip in last weekend’s FIA Formula 3 round at Monza. Campos Racing driver Peroni ran wide at the Parabolica and hit the kerb, flipped and landed on the tyre barriers at the exit of the corner, narrowly missing some marshals. The Australian walked away unaided, before he was taken to hospital for checks and diagnosed with a broken vertrebra. He was in hospital near Monza under observation as we went to press. The kerb was immediately torn up following the F3 race, which then delayed the subsequent FP3 for Formula 1. Asked if the FIA would respond by changing its use of the kerbs, FIA race…

DALLARA Outgoing Mercedes Formula 1 technical advisor Aldo Costa is to join Dallara as chief technical officer. Costa joined Mercedes in 2011 after a long stint at Ferrari, but stepped back from his role as engineering director for the current F1 season. He has remained in an advisory role during a technical reshuffle. Costa has spent more time with his family in Italy this year and will cease working with Mercedes at the end of September. He will begin working for Dallara – which designs the cars used in Formula 2, Formula 3 and IndyCar, and is a partner of the Haas F1 team – at the start of 2020. “After many years working at the pinnacle of our sport, I am excited to be able to contribute some of…

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP As they’ve watched Ott Tanak power to the podium’s top step on half of this year’s World Rally Championship rounds, his rivals have at least drawn hope from this week’s Rally Turkey. The Estonian did score maximum points in Marmaris 12 months ago, but this was because the opposition lost the rally more than the Toyota driver winning it. As this week’s rough gravel rally return neared, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and Citroen’s Sebastien Ogier looked in hope at the potential for cutting Tanak’s 33-point championship lead – and exploiting the Yaris WRC’s only apparent weakness. But there’s bad news for best of the rest, because it seems that Toyota has found a fix for its Turkish trauma. Major suspension work looks to have cured the Yaris WRC’s…

Crowd behaviour sits well on fan’s 10th Monza visit First of all, I want to say what a brilliant battle by Charles Leclerc to win at my 10th visit to Monza, and second what a fantastic experience watching it from the Parabolica with a clear view. It is common for fans to stand on the concrete sections that line the inside of the Parabolica and block everybody else’s view. These actions from the selfish few (of all nationalities) result in everyone standing. I approached one tall guy who was Italian but spoke good English who reacted apologetically and sat down. In turn, others sat down until eventually a vast proportion of the crowd were all sitting, giving them a clear view, and this rare spectacle could be seen on the…

FORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP HUNGARORING (HUN) 7-8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 7/10 After dominating both Formula Renault Eurocup races last time out at the Nurburgring, a rather forlorn Oscar Piastri sat disconsolately in the Turn 9 gravel trap before racing even got under way at the Hungaroring last weekend. That’s if you could call it racing, since torrential rain made Saturday’s opening encounter a pedestrian nine-minute crawl behind the safety car, which was then red-flagged. MP Motorsport’s Victor Martins was declared the winner but only awarded half points, which he was left to rue even more after Piastri scored a full haul of points in the weekend’s second encounter. Since race one had effectively been rendered a non-event, Piastri led the first proper contest from R-ace GP team-mate Alexander Smolyar – either side…

PORSCHE SUPERCUP MONZA (ITA) 8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 8/9 The destiny of this year’s Porsche Supercup took a decisive turn on Sunday at Monza when championship leader Julien Andlauer crashed out on lap two of the 15-lap race. After a troubled qualifying, Andlauer could only manage 13th on the grid while his Lechner Racing team-mate – and nearest title rival – Michael Ammermuller was fourth. Andlauer knew he had to make significant progress through the field and, after a trouble-free start, had made five places on his starting position. But after taking too much speed through the Ascari chicane on the second lap, Andlauer ran wide and clattered the barriers, which forced him into retirement. Ammermuller retained fourth place from the start. Once aware of his team-mate’s retirement, he knew he…

INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN SILVERSTONE (GBR) 7-8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 5/7 Albert Costa and Giacomo Altoe took both wins to stretch their series lead. They led home an Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini Huracan 1-2 in the opener, heading a tight multi-car battle amid two lengthy safety car periods. The sister car did a long first stint in the hands of Norbert Siedler, and co-driver Mikael Grenier emerged from his pitstop just behind Costa. They stayed in that order, despite Costa feeling unwell. Costa and Altoe made it a double the next day, although they finished second on the road. Their additional pitstop handicap dropped Altoe to second just behind Andres Saravia, who was paired with Fran Rueda in their Teo Martin Motorsport McLaren 720S. Saravia got home first but had a one-second…

ENDUROKA Former McLaren and Lotus Formula 1 team boss Eric Boullier made his first competitive appearance as a racer at Brands Hatch last weekend in the EnduroKa series. Boullier took part in two of the four EnduroKa sprint contests last weekend, recording a 13th-place finish in his first outing (race two of the weekend) before being involved in a hard-fought midfield battle in the finale en route to finishing sixth. Aiming to raise awareness for two charities (JDRF UK and The Halow Project), the event enabled the Frenchman and his team to familiarise themselves with the characteristics of the 69bhp car ahead of a further planned appearance at the 500-minute endurance event set for Brands on 16-17 November. “I’m just loving driving the car,” Boullier said. “Collectively, my team and…

NATIONAL FF1600 Three-time Walter Hayes Trophy winner Joey Foster will warm up for this year’s event by contesting this weekend’s National Formula Ford 1600 round at Silverstone. Foster and his Don Hardman Racing team switched from their usual Ray GR08 chassis to a Firman RFR16 at the end of last year for the Festival and WHT. Their plan was to spend this year testing, but Foster had to “knuckle down to get some funding together” and has only tested once at Silverstone. “It’s probably all going to be a bit rushed,” he said. “I think we’ve got to make a new seat, once again. The first test is at 1000, so we have a busy Friday. “Despite not being out testing, we’ve been coming up with ideas on how to…

MORE BRDC RISING STARS Three more drivers have secured a place on the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s Rising Stars scheme. British Formula 4 points leader Zane Maloney, who is from Barbados, has become the first driver from the Caribbean to be selected as part of the programme. Renault UK Clio Cup title contender Jack Young and British GT race winner Ollie Wilkinson have also been chosen as Rising Stars. SPENCER’S OIL-CAP SLIP-UP Rob Spencer was left red-faced after being forced to retire from the second MGBCV8 race at Donington Park last weekend when he forgot to secure the oil-filler cap on his B GTV8. “My feet were slipping on the pedals and I could smell oil, which I don’t normally smell,” he said. “When I pulled up after the formation…

Historic precedent dictates that Jonny Adam will be crowned British GT champion at this weekend’s Donington Park decider. After all, only once in the previous four years – in 2017 – has that not happened and, even then, Adam took race victory on the day with Derek Johnston. And it’s not just the history books that favour the three-time champion and TF Sport Aston Martin team-mate Graham Davidson, as they attempt to overturn a six-point deficit to the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini of Phil Keen/Adam Balon. Coinciding with their new turbocharged Vantage GT3 coming on-song, the Scottish pair have hit form at just the right time by winning two of the past three races, including at the first of this year’s two visits to Donington following Davidson’s first series pole the…

The 750 Motor Club’s 80th anniversary meeting at Donington Park last weekend was a fitting celebration of its past and present. A total of 360 competitors took part in a bumper 26-race meeting across 13 formulas, with the majority of grids close to or at maximum capacity. Many of the races were action-packed, with incidents and crashes at a minimum as just a handful of red flags and safety cars were deployed during the weekend. To mark the anniversary, an ‘80 for 80’ parade took place with a plethora of Austin road and race cars – a staple from the early days of the club – taking to the circuit during the lunchbreak. Giles Groombridge, competitions manager at the 750MC, believes the club is in a strong position but that…

BOOK REVIEW FORMULA 1 TECHNICAL ANALYSIS 2016-2018 RRP £49.00 Giorgia Piola’s latest book, Formula 1 technical analysis 2016-2018, is the single most exhaustive study of grand prix racing technology and aerodynamics that’s currently available to buy. The renowned technical illustrator is indeed an Autosport contributor, but it’s not hyperbole or bias to say that when it comes to lifting the veil on the closed-off and massively complicated arms race in F1, this book sets the gold standard. At the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, Piola marked 50 years on the grand prix beat, having attended more than 800 races. That’s a staggering feat, well surpassing the 500 GP total for which Bernie Ecclestone would gift journalists an honorary media pass. But this release, as made clear by the title, is no…

1) Who, what, where, when? 2) Who is this? More than the obvious answer to a classic question, this national hero remains a gold standard in his sphere. Initially a reluctant observer in his father’s wake, he showed promise on two wheels before demonstrating his skills in a car that often three-wheeled through turns. An avuncular legend gave him a break in the second division, and despite being green he did a hell of a job against the top class. He was over a barrel to make the grade and reared up into the limelight. A switch into a champion’s team took him to the brink, as he did again the following season having switched horses once more. It was a case of being in the wrong place at the…

Aston Martin’s Goodwood glory Aston Martin, points leader Ferrari and Porsche came to Goodwood in September 1959 chasing the World Sportscar Championship. Poleman Stirling Moss’s DBR1 was ravaged by fire at Roy Salvadori’s fuel stop, thus Goodwood’s most successful driver took over the Carroll Shelby/Jack Fairman car and brought it home victorious, landing the coveted crown. Sixty years on, that milestone will be immortalised in daily demos. FAVOURITE FRANCHITTI RACES ANEW Since the 2013 IndyCar shunt that ended the four-time champ’s pro racing career, crowd pleaser Dario Franchitti has adored demonstrating the cars of his heroes and driving the Ecurie Ecosse transporter at the Revival. The lure of racing at Goodwood has tempted the Italo-Scot out of retirement. He shares John Hugenholtz’s Ferrari 275 GT SWB/C in Friday’s charismatic Kinrara…

Just as with modern GT racing, historic endurance events are often decided by the weakest driver in the crew. And if a rich owner isn’t enjoying racing because they aren’t competitive, they can give up altogether. Twenty-five years ago, after one particular customer got frustrated, Martin Stretton decided to set up his own driver coaching school. It runs at Pembrey during the winter and a standard day includes eight clients, working with four coaches. “It started unofficially to help a customer,” confirms Stretton. “I realised there were things I was doing automatically that they didn’t know existed. So I had to break down my own driving, and you have to understand what they can do and what they can comprehend. The big thing is establishing a person’s level and working…

It’s the sound that first alerts you to the fact that something special is happening. It’s a little after 5pm on Saturday in downtown Long Beach on Grand Prix weekend, and a DJ is attempting to build some atmosphere in the lull following Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks display. After a few minutes, he’s drowned out by a snarling retro soundtrack – the V6 turbo of a 1990 Nissan 300ZX being hustled around the famous street circuit to take up pole position for a race sanctioned by the Historic Motor Sports Association (HMSA) for IMSA GTO machinery, in honour of IMSA’s 50th anniversary. The symphony then ratchets up another chunk of decibels as the screeching rotary-powered 1991 Mazda RX-7 reverberates between the high-rise buildings on East Seaside Way, before the…

FORMULA 1 The Italian Grand Prix has finally secured a new contract to remain on the Formula 1 calendar for five more years. F1 unveiled a record 22-race calendar for 2020 two weeks ago, saying the contract with Monza – the only grand prix on the provisional calendar which was yet to conclude a new deal – was “being finalised”. Ahead of last weekend’s race at Monza, F1 chiefs announced that the venue will host a grand prix until at least 2024. The news was revealed during an event celebrating 90 years of Scuderia Ferrari and attended by F1 CEO Chase Carey and FIA president Jean Todt. The 2020 Italian GP will take place on 6 September. Angelo Sticchi Damiani, president of the Automobile Club d’Italia, said that finally securing…

FORMULA 2 The Arden Formula 2 squad’s decision to race on at Monza last weekend following the death of its Renault Formula 1 junior Anthoine Hubert the previous weekend at Spa was “never in doubt”, according to team boss Kenny Kirwan. “We quickly agreed that Anthoine would want us to continue and fight for team points,” Kirwan told Autosport. “After quick discussions with [other driver] Tatiana Calderon and our title sponsor BWT, the decision was made to carry on. “Obviously there was some trepidation when we first entered the paddock on Wednesday morning to start setting up our working area. But the messages of support from the promoter, other F2, F3 and even F1 teams really has lifted the spirits of everyone involved and reaffirmed that the decision to race…

WORLD ENDURANCE The Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar won’t be a hybrid when it starts racing in the 2020-21 World Endurance Championship. That just wouldn’t make sense, claims the British manufacturer. Not, it argues, when the road car packs a 1000bhp punch from its 6.5-litre Cosworth-developed V12. The ‘standard’ Valkyrie does have a rear-axle energy retrieval system, but the new hypercar regulations limit total power to 750bhp. That’s a combined figure for the internal combustion engine and, should the car have one, the electric motor. “We have got a massive V12 that we are going to detune to make it suitable for racing,” explained David King, director of special operations and president of Aston Martin Racing. “We wouldn’t detune it so far [to allow for a hybrid system]; it wouldn’t make…

FORMULA E BMW Andretti has snapped up Maximilian Gunther to its ABB FIA Formula E Championship team for 2019-20 while confirming Antonio Felix da Costa’s exit as a factory driver. The news is an after-effect of the first shot of the 2019 silly season – Andre Lotterer’s departure from DS Techeetah to Porsche, days after his former squad clinched double-title success in the 2018-19 season finale in New York in July. While Lotterer’s decision to join Porsche was not unexpected – the manufacturer wanted an experienced FE racer to partner Neel Jani, and Lotterer was already a factory driver with the marque – it set off a domino effect. Da Costa, who had been a BMW factory driver for six years, has been heavily linked with Lotterer’s vacant seat at…

What began at Monza 11 years ago may just have ended there last Sunday. Charles Leclerc cut a similarly euphoric figure to the other 21-year-old who strode across the bridge to Formula 1’s most iconic podium back in 2008, but the contrast after the latest running of the Italian Grand Prix could not have been starker. What would Sebastian Vettel have given to have emulated his younger self and won again? It feels like the decisive generational shift, one that’s been coming all season. Vettel will have headed to Monza believing all he needed was a clean run and a tifosi-pleasing victory to end his year-long drought. Instead, he finished an anonymous 13th after an unforced error on the sixth lap, which was compounded by a dangerous recovery that was…

The 2019 Italian Grand Prix was Formula 1 at its best – at least for the first 41 laps. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton didn’t trade the lead once but, from the moment the race started until the Mercedes driver’s mistake on the brakes into the Rettifilo chicane on lap 42, through to Valtteri Bottas’s late chase, it was a race on a knife edge. Tense, tight, briefly explosive and relentless, it had echoes of the legendary Michael Schumacher-versus-Fernando Alonso battles at Imola in 2005-06. For 63 minutes, Leclerc could not let up. Save for the two laps on which first the Ferrari driver and then Hamilton pitted, there was never more than 1.589 seconds between them at the end of a lap. On average, the gap at the line…

Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen finished 15th after a dire weekend, with two crashes at the Parabolica and a 10-second stop/go penalty in the race. After the race, Raikkonen said: “My accident yesterday was the start of everything.” He spun on his old-tyre run in Q3 and backed into the wall at the Parabolica. He started from the pitlane after a gearbox change and a switch of spec to the latest Ferrari engine, but the team mistakenly believed this meant he did not have to start on his Q2 tyres. This is only the case if there is a chassis change, meaning he earned the penalty. After climbing to 15th early on, this dropped him to the back. Team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi had a stronger weekend, finishing ninth and claiming his…

BLANCPAIN GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE HUNGARORING (HUN) 7-8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 5/5 At the end of a pulsating season of the newly renamed Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe, FFF Racing Lamborghini crew Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli and Black Falcon Mercedes pair Maro Engel and Luca Stolz ended up level on points. Caldarelli and Mapelli took an eight-point lead over Engel and Stolz to the Hungaroring, but this was reduced to just two after they only managed fifth in Saturday’s opening encounter. This was followed by a charging drive, coupled with a typically rapid pitstop by the FFF crew, that secured fourth place and the title in the final race of the year. With both driving partnerships on 92.5 points, the championship was decided by Caldarelli and Mapelli’s two wins to…

FIA FORMULA 3 MONZA (ITA) 7-8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 7/8 Following the Formula 2 trauma of Spa the previous weekend, the last thing the FIA Formula 3 Championship feeder category needed at Monza was a turbulent airborne crash at over 130mph, or qualifying games that endangered the safety of over 20 drivers. Despite two brilliant virtuoso performances from race winners Robert Shwartzman and Yuki Tsunoda, the weekend will be remembered for the negatives rather than the positives. Qualifying was a total farce. Slipstreaming is worth as much as 0.5 seconds around the Autodromo, so no one wanted to lead the train. With five minutes remaining, the pack bunched together. As Christian Lundgaard led a group of cars on fast laps out of the Ascari chicane, he was greeted with more than…

SUPER GT AUTOPOLIS (JPN) 8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 6/8 Heikki Kovalainen and Yuichi Nakayama scored an unlikely victory for Team SARD in their Lexus LC 500 thanks to a wet tyre gamble amid changing conditions. Jenson Button and Naoki Yamamoto’s defence of their title hit a major setback on the first lap. Yamamoto started their Honda NSX from 12th but was pushed out by the similar car of Hideki Mutoh and shunted head first into the tyre wall. That brought out the safety car for five laps, but polesitter Kodai Tsukakoshi remained in the lead in the Real Racing NSX ahead of Jann Mardenborough in the Kondo Racing Nissan GT-R. Heavy rain forced the safety car to return on lap 34. By this time many of the leading runners had pitted,…

MINI CHALLENGE JCW The son of 1990 British Touring Car champion Robb Gravett is eyeing a Mini Challenge JCW campaign next season after testing the car for the first time at the end of last month. Bradley Gravett, 25, has not raced before but did compete in Super One karting as a teenager. Since then he’s worked with his father’s firm, Ultimate Car Control. Gravett Jr sampled the Mini at Snetterton and now plans more tests ahead of his racing debut next season. “He absolutely loved it,” said Gravett Sr. “He did about 70 laps and it’s all about driving to get used to the environment. It’s a different environment – he drives a lot of different cars and he’s very good at teaching car control, but it’s a big…

GOODWOOD REVIVAL Factory Aston Martin World Endurance driver Darren Turner will join forces with historic ace Simon Hadfield in the Goodwood Revival’s Kinrara Trophy this weekend. Turner will drive the Aston Martin DB4 GT that Hadfield usually shares with owner Wolfgang Friedrichs in the Friday evening race for pre-1963 GTs. Friedrichs and Hadfield have taken successes in the car, including two RAC Tourist Trophy wins at the Silverstone Classic in 2015-16, but this will be the first time Hadfield has shared with a pro. “I’ve raced a DB4 before, but not that one,” said Turner, who is a Revival regular. “The first time I’ll drive it will be in qualifying, but I know Aston Engineering run competitive cars and I’m sure we’ve got a good chance of a result. “I’ve…

ZANDVOORT HISTORIC GP 6-8 SEPTEMBER Nobody has won more Dutch Grands Prix than Team Lotus’s Jim Clark, three in the 1.5-litre era, plus on the Ford Cosworth DFV engine’s debut in the Type 49 in 1967. Thus Andy Middlehurst streaking to victory in both Historic Grand Prix Cars Association pre-1966 races at Zandvoort’s eighth Historic GP event in Clark’s Lotus-Climax 25 was fitting. That the Scot’s chief mechanic Bob Dance prepared John Bowers’ car with the Chapman family’s Classic Team Lotus was icing on the cake. Middlehurst landed Saturday victories in 2015 and 2017, but ‘the watch race’ (Sunday’s carries a magnificent Chopard Zandvoort HGP chronograph prize) had previously eluded him. This year’s success, over 2012 winner Will Nuthall – also focused on finally snaring a coveted timepiece in Giorgio…

CADWELL PARK MSVR 7 SEPTEMBER Robbie Dalgleish and Toby Goodman continued their title fight in the Mini Challenge Cooper Pro category by claiming a win apiece at Cadwell Park. Goodman closed the gap to points leader Dalgleish with victory in the first race, which featured a five-way battle at the front. Goodman led away from pole, but his lead was shortlived, Dalgleish passing both Hannah Chapman and Goodman on the second lap to take first place. But Goodman then wrested back the lead into Gooseneck corner as the race neared the halfway mark. Dalgleish responded by setting the fastest lap, but wasn’t able to find a way by, finishing 0.2 seconds behind Goodman. Chapman remained on the tail of the lead pair – with James Hillery and Dominic Wheatley in…

The Goodwood Revival has become the synonym for historic racing, the most famous event of its kind. But it’s also now evolved into something much bigger: it’s a place to be seen, an event to dress up for. Whether you think that’s a good or a bad thing, there’s a fair chance that many of the spectators lining the banks this weekend, beer in hand, won’t be diehard racing fans. Its appeal has become that large. But, crucially, the on-track action will be spectacular, the machinery will be diverse and many of the drivers are first-rate. To break it all down, Marcus Pye has selected the 10 highlights to look out for on page 6, with Dario Franchitti having saved his return to motorsport for the event, plus daily Aston…

SPA-CLASSIC Rain, fading light and 339 cars descended on Spa in May. The Saturday evening slot at the Classic was reserved for the Heritage Touring Cup, created to mimic the European Touring Car Championship’s flagship Spa 24 Hours. The ex-Stefan Bellof BMW 635 CSi from 1985, shared by Robert Boss and Pascal Goury, looked the part but was forced to retire after only nine of the 17 laps. Photograph by Photo Classic Racing HUNGARORING CLASSIC This 1976 Porsche 934 Turbo shared by Maurizio Fratti and Andrea Cabianca is known for splitting flames. The three-litre Group 4 machine aptly demonstrated this once again in July in the one-hour Classic Endurance race at the Hungaroring. This ‘Jagermeister’ car enjoyed a long career, finishing ninth overall in the 1982 Daytona 24 Hours having…

Martin Stretton has driven some of the world’s greatest cars, from 1924 Delage to grand prix-winning Tyrrells, via Maseratis, Ferraris and Jaguars. Unsurprisingly, he finds it difficult to select a favourite, but it doesn’t take him long to decide which cars he most wants to drive out of those he hasn’t yet sampled. “There are two cars on my bucketlist,” he says. “A proper Porsche 917 coupe – I’ve driven the Ferrari [512] and Lola [T70] equivalents – and the original Lancia D50 GP car.” Porsche’s first Le Mans winner often comes up in such conversations, but the 1954 Lancia (above) is the one that Stretton is most passionate about. “I believe the D50 was a car ahead of its time and was far better than the Mercedes W196,” he…

When you think of international racing teams, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Hundreds of people, all with jobs of equal importance, perhaps? Vast design teams where parts are created, tested and reshaped to save precious milliseconds; engineers boasting years of experience with expertise on the most specific of car details? Then as you move up the pecking order you find race engineers, programmed into the car at all times, monitoring temperatures, pressures and sensors, while race strategists run countless simulations, number crunching constantly. Then finally, the omnipresent team principal, who brings all aspects of the team together like a conductor of a symphony orchestra. In national racing, things are vastly different. Among the hordes of father-and-son, husband-and-wife or one-man-and his-dog teams, there are still those drivers who…