Indholdsfortegnelse for 17/10/19 i Autosport

You won’t have failed to notice the unprecedented price increase of Autosport magazine this month. Like all publishers we are facing the harsh economic realities of our audience shifting to digital, combined with the increasing costs of maintaining a print product. We know many of our readers and supporters value the print publication and we think it has significant value given the broad coverage – from Formula 1 to club racing via rallying and endurance events – and deep analysis, some of which is not offered elsewhere. If you believe the print version is now too expensive then we do have a great value alternative in Autosport Plus, for which there is currently a special offer (see left and page 44). A lot of the content in the magazine, and…

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP It’s not often that testing images stop the world of rallying in its tracks, but Citroen did just that with a radical aero update to the C3 WRC seen for the first time last week as it pulls out all the stops to win the World Rally Championship with Sebastien Ogier. Desperate to get rid of the chronic understeer and absence of asphalt pace on the C3’s last Tarmac outing on Rally Germany during the summer, Citroen worked extensively on its transmission and suspension set-up in Spain last week. But it was a set of new wings, splitters, spoilers and endplates that got everyone talking after seeing the car running for the first time. Citroen tested for three days on asphalt, with Esapekka Lappi completing the first…

EUROFORMULA OPEN Sicily’s historic Enna-Pergusa circuit is to return to the international motorsport calendar next year with a revival of the Mediterranean Grand Prix. The 3.08-mile track, which runs around Lake Pergusa in the shadow of the active Etna volcano, rose to prominence by holding non-championship Formula 1 races under the Mediterranean GP name in the 1960s. The race then became part of the European Formula 2 and International Formula 3000 schedules for three decades. Now the venue, which is often remembered for the 1996 plague of frogs from the lake that interrupted the F3000 round, has been added to the schedule for the Euroformula Open series for Formula 3-style cars, which next year will use the new Dallara 320 chassis. The event means EFO now has two historic grands…

There are few exercises in life that are more time-consuming, more fun, and more fruitless, than plotting ‘what if?’. But let’s entertain that idea here just for a moment. Andrew Jordan will argue that had it not been for his non-score at Donington Park in the second round of the 2019 British Touring Car Championship season then he would be the newly crowned champion. Dan Cammish can make the case that had his brakes not failed on the penultimate lap of the final race at Brands Hatch then he would have converted his last-minute points lead into the title spoils last weekend. And the driver who ultimately lifted the crown, Colin Turkington, can bat both of those cases off by pointing to his collision with Matt Neal in the second…

The turnaround was quite remarkable. Ferrari trailed Mercedes by three and a half tenths after Friday practice. Charles Leclerc wasn’t driving well, while Sebastian Vettel was closer to six tenths off the pace, struggling to get the Pirelli tyres working properly. With no Saturday session to correct the balance, thanks to Typhoon Hagibis forcing organisers to pre-emptively cancel Saturday’s track action, Leclerc was resigned to this gap being representative of Ferrari’s deficit at Suzuka, particularly so considering everyone had to treat FP2 as a back-up qualifying session in case Sunday morning’s running was also cancelled. But it all turned around on Sunday morning, as Ferrari set the pace in every segment of qualifying. Leclerc was ahead in Q1 and Q2, but Vettel came to the fore when it counted in…

Japanese Grand Prix stewards ruled that there should be no penalties for Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly’s collision on what should have been the last lap of the race, the ramifications of which were undone by the result being taken back to lap 52 of 53. Perez’s Racing Point was tapped into a spin after colliding with Gasly and came to a rest in the barriers, after Perez had tried to pass the Toro Rosso for eighth place around the outside of Turn 2. The FIA is investigating the error with the chequered-flag light panel that meant the race results were ultimately taken at the end of the previous lap, allowing Perez to retain ninth, while Gasly finished eighth. Although the incident had theoretically happened after the race was officially…

Scott McLaughlin is fast running out of things to win in Australian motorsport after claiming – alongside Alexandre Premat – a Bathurst 1000 crown he desperately coveted. McLaughlin didn’t leave much behind in central New South Wales. The Kiwi’s weekend in his DJR Team Penske Ford included a provisional pole, a new fastest-ever lap in the Top 10 Shootout, and a well-crafted victory. The only thing he missed out on was the race lap record, Chaz Mostert nabbing that with a 2m04.760s in the closing stages of the 1000km classic. Hollywood lap times were a feature throughout the weekend. With a drop in both aero and engine power coming for 2020, there was a keen sense that any new Mount Panorama benchmark could stand for a long time. That there…

WALTER HAYES TROPHY W Series champion Jamie Chadwick and former British Touring Car title winner Tim Harvey will both contest the Walter Hayes Trophy Formula Ford extravaganza at Silverstone next month. For Chadwick, who is a nominee for the Aston Martin Autosport Young Driver of the Year Award, it will be her second appearerance in the event. As she did in 2017, she will drive with the Ray-equipped Graham Brunton Racing squad. “I absolutely loved the first time I did it two years ago, and I always said I wanted to make sure I raced in it every year,” said Chadwick. “Unfortunately last year it didn’t work out, but I’m really glad I’m able to be back with Graham this time around.” Chadwick made the final in 2017, but an…

GINETTA JUNIOR Will Martin produced a stunning drive from the back of the grid to win the final Ginetta Junior race, after James Hedley had wrapped up the title with victory in race one. Martin, whose tally of nine wins is unmatched this season, crashed out of a wet and gloomy race two – won by Lorcan Hanafin – which finished after sunset on Saturday. That left him 19th on the grid for Sunday’s encounter. A couple of safety-car periods assisted Martin’s progress as he joined the lead pack before performing a cutback on Hedley at Paddock and taking the lead from Hanafin at Druids on the final racing lap before another safety car was replaced with red flags. “The team [Richardson Racing] did a perfect job of getting the…

BRITISH FORMULA 4 It was appropriate that the two leading British Formula 4 title contenders should share the spoils at the Brands Hatch finale. But two of those wins went to Zane Maloney, meaning it was the Barbados-born driver who left triumphant. Given that Maloney and chief rival Sebastian Alvarez arrived in Kent tied on points, a nailbiting conclusion was always in prospect. And sure enough, the title pendulum swung between the two of them throughout the weekend. Initially, it was advantage Maloney. The Carlin driver made a brilliant start and attempted a bold move around the outside of Alvarez’s Double R Racing team-mate Louis Foster into Paddock Hill Bend. There was slight contact between the two as Foster attempted to defend the place, and that sent Foster off into…

SNETTERTON 750MC 12-13 OCTOBER Snetterton’s sinuous 300 circuit played host as more 750 Motor Club 80th anniversary champions were crowned in largely damp and blustery conditions. But breakthrough race victories for Locost and F1000 freshmen Jonathan Lisseter and Robert Welham made the weekend equally memorable. Confidence buoyed, they both doubled up for wins – in Welham’s case in a sensational finale. Lisseter had previously bested at sixth, but his ability to make his SRB entry walk on water either side of Saturday’s safety-car interlude stunned rivals. “All those years of Club 100 karting on slick tyres have finally paid off,” said the Romford man, who – following a grassy scare at Agostini before the hiatus – coolly denied poleman and title protagonist Louis Wall in a one-lap dash to the…

That the 2019 British GT championship ended in acrimonious fashion outside the Donington Park stewards’ office was a shame. As everyone waited to find out whether Dennis Lind would be punished for punting champion-elect Jonny Adam’s TF Sport Aston Martin out of fourth place with minutes to go – provisionally handing the title to Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini pair Jonny Cocker and Sam de Haan – the efforts of Adam and Graham Davidson to overturn a 54-point deficit in the final four races were temporarily overshadowed. Rightfully, the stewards intervened to reinstate Adam and Davidson to fifth, which had the effect of giving them the championship by just 2.5 points. In a year of fine margins, the 0.082s by which Adam beat Cocker to third in race one at Snetterton’s May…

VIDEOGAME GRID RRP £54.99 In the bombastic intro to the not-quite-are-boot GRID, there’s a knowing wink to the rewind tool – which allows you to replay your mistake – that’s become commonplace in racing games. It’s easy to forget that the GRID series debuted this mechanic, considering the recent history of the series is convoluted and it’s been unclear what it’s trying to be. That’s why there’s a new game this year and right off the bat it’s keen to be seen as a true motorsport game – hence why the opening cinematics flash between a Chevrolet Corvette GTE car racing on the streets at night, switching to a NASCAR-esque oval race before finishing on what looks like a national meeting on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. But this…

Mika Hakkinen employs the right-rear Bridgestone of his McLaren-Mercedes MP4/15 as a convenient footrest as he sits out the first practice session of the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix at the A1-Ring, his car having ground to a halt with a fuel-pump problem after managing a solitary lap. Things looked up from then on: the next day Hakkinen clinched his fourth pole position of the season, following this up with victory in the race, 12.535 seconds ahead of team-mate David Coulthard. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari F1-2000) completed the podium a further 18.260s adrift. For classic Formula 1 DVDs head to dukevideo.com/F1 For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

FORMULA 1 Formula 1 is lining up Paul Ricard, Spa and Sochi for experimental reversed-grid qualifying races next year, although scepticism from teams could lead to the trials being put back to 2021. The mooted format is understood to be based on the grid being formed for what would be a sprint race to decide the line-up for the grand prix proper using a reverse order of world championship positions. But this would require unanimous support from the teams to change the 2020 sporting regulations at so late a stage – something that is not a foregone conclusion given ongoing opposition from more than one team. Should those objections remain, F1 and the FIA – which both back the move – could not force it through until the following season.…

INDYCAR Chip Ganassi Racing has expanded to a three-car IndyCar Series line-up by adding Alfa Romeo Formula 1 third driver Marcus Ericsson to join Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist. Ericsson switched to IndyCar in 2019 with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, scoring a best result of second in Detroit and impressing on ovals. While team-mate James Hinchcliffe was retained by SPM for 2020 for its new alliance with McLaren, Ericsson’s IndyCar future was thrown into doubt. But the move to Ganassi to drive the #8 entry keeps him in the Honda engines fold. Team owner Chip Ganassi said: “Marcus brings a lot of unique experience with him having competed in several championships around the world. When you have someone with that type of background, it gives him other points of reference that…

Open letter to the Rally GB marshals and volunteers As Ott Tanak and Toyota celebrate their first British win, one of my main reflections is how the 2000 marshals, motor club members and volunteers once again helped deliver an amazing Wales Rally GB. You make such an extraordinary contribution and the event simply couldn’t happen without you. It never ceases to hit home just how your hard work and dedication can make a difference at motorsport events. This year saw record crowds in attendance since the revival of the rally as the British leg of the World Rally Championship. The new route naturally presented challenges but the size of the crowds and the feedback from the fans goes to show that this is a world-class event and your contribution as…

Take your pick: a rollercoaster of emotions, it can’t be scripted, the stars aligned, it had to be seen to be believed, it isn’t over until it’s over. Regardless of whichever cliche you assign to the 2019 British Touring Car Championship season finale on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix layout, nothing comes close to encapsulating the drama that unfolded for Colin Turkington to win the title. This was a driver who had lost his lead in the standings to Dan Cammish ahead of the final race. He was eight points shy of the Team Dynamics pilot and was staring at 24 cars in front of him on the grid after being hit by Matt Neal into a spin on the opening lap of race two. Even the WSR driver himself…

The official results of the Bathurst 1000 were still provisional as Autosport went to press, pending a hearing into a team-orders charge handed to DJR Team Penske. Stewards launched a post-race enquiry into an instruction given to Fabian Coulthard to slow behind the safety car, which both backed up the field and created a bubble that meant he avoided double-stacking with the winning sister Ford of Scott McLaughlin. It was done under the guise of an overheating problem, mechanics even lifting the bonnet of Coulthard’s Mustang during the stop to ‘inspect’ the engine. Race officials weren’t convinced, first slapping Coulthard with a drivethrough, before summoning the team to the post-race hearing regarding the matter. “After interviewing [DJRTP boss Ryan Story], the driver of car #12 and car #12’s engineer, and…

EVERYONE ALLEGRO AT AUSTIN As a straight swap for Phoenix’s ISM Raceway, the 20-turn Circuit of The Americas road course was a successful addition to the IndyCar Series schedule, producing far more racing and far more intrigue than its predecessor. We can only hope COTA will find the race a sponsor to help secure its future. It was hard for drivers to keep their red-sidewalled tyres alive when pushing for an ‘ultimate’ lap in qualifying, Felix Rosenqvist getting it just right in Q2 with the fastest lap of the weekend, and Will Power saving enough life in his rubber for Q3, doing one run, pitting for a splash of fuel and another set of used reds, and nailing pole. The penultimate turn each lap was an ugly farce however, so…

GINETTA JUNIOR Newly-crowned Ginetta Junior champion James Hedley is targeting a graduation to single-seater racing in 2020. Hedley held a commanding lead in the Ginetta Junior points going into the final round at Brands Hatch last weekend and secured the title by winning Saturday’s opening race. He then helped Elite Motorsport clinch the teams’ championship with a pair of fifth places in the remaining races. Hedley now plans a programme of testing in both BRDC British Formula 3 and British Formula 4 machinery before confirming his plans for 2020. “I’ve got some tests lined up,” he said. “If I’m honest, we’re more likely to do F4 but we might test in F3 too.” Championship runner-up Zak O’Sullivan also looks set to switch to slicks-and-wings, with F4 – either in Britain…

GINETTA GT4 SUPERCUP Multiple Mazda MX-5 champion James Blake-Baldwin made his debut in the Ginetta GT4 Supercup at Brands Hatch last weekend, with a view to a 2020 programme. In wet conditions, Blake-Baldwin qualified his AK Motorsport-run car fifth of the 20-strong entry before scoring a best finish of fifth in race two. That was rewarded with a front-row position for the reversed-grid race three, but Blake-Baldwin was forced to start from the pitlane after suffering an intermittent cut-out on the way to the grid. “The MX-5s are hugely competitive but I feel like we’ve ticked that box,” said Blake-Baldwin. “We haven’t got anything more to prove, so this is something to get our teeth into. “AK have done an amazing job to set the car up. We’re just working…

ALFA ROMEO The Alfa Romeo Championship will move across to the 750 Motor Club next season, having run with the British Racing and Sports Car Club since the series was founded 37 years ago. The Alfa category has suffered shrinking grids in recent years and organisers hope that a change in club, along with other measures, will encourage more entries. Grids have averaged 15 cars so far this year and, at some events, the Alfa Romeos have been paired up with the struggling Porsche championship. In a bid to lower costs, entry fees will be reduced following the switch to the 750MC and there will be two fewer race meetings next year. “We’ve had an issue the last three or four years where our grid numbers have been going down,”…

McLaren fans remember the 1998 season with relish as the year Mika Hakkinen prevailed in dramatic circumstances over Michael Schumacher at Suzuka. But it was also a significant year for McLaren in sportscars, as Tim Sugden and Pink Floyd manager Steve O’Rourke gave the F1 GTR the perfect send-off by winning the British GT Championship’s GT1 class. Remarkably, it remains the last time that a McLaren won a British GT title, but this year the manufacturer came closer than ever to changing that – despite not scoring any points in GT3 until the fourth race of the year. McLaren won the fiercely competitive Blancpain Endurance Cup in 2016 with its previous-generation 650S GT3, driven by an all-pro line-up comprising Rob Bell, Come Ledogar and Shane van Gisbergen, but the 650S…

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB Before the Brands finale, only George Gamble at Silverstone had denied champion Dan Harper a race-one Porsche Carrera Cup GB win. But Josh Webster joined that elite group with an impressive victory in Kent. Webster qualified on pole and was never headed throughout a race held in tricky damp conditions, but had Harper right on his tail. “I think we went a little too high on tyre pressures and a bit soft on rollbars, so we were really quick at the start, but I was trying to manage the tyres at the end,” Webster admitted. “It was really tough – even though it’s not warm, I had sweat dripping down my eyes!” Harper surged from seventh on the grid to second, surviving a moment after contact…

GINETTA GT4 SUPERCUP The Ginetta GT4 Supercup title fight may have been close coming into the weekend, but its destiny was rarely in doubt as Harry King dominated the races. King’s closest challenger, Will Burns, boosted his own chances by claiming pole position by just 0.05 seconds on a drying track. But in worsening conditions, King pulled off a breathtaking outside pass at Graham Hill Bend on the opening lap of the first race to take a crushing 11s win. Burns was best of the rest but admitted he “had no answer” to King with too stiff a set-up, adding that the margin of victory was “a bit embarrassing”. The order was unchanged in race two, but Burns was at least able to keep his Rob Boston Racing car in…

1 PHIL KEEN Getting Balon to challenge for the title in his first year in GT3 machinery was a huge achievement. Keen was dominant at Snetterton, opportunistic when he needed to be – see Brands Hatch – and faultless all season. Not for the first time, he would have been a worthy champion. 2 GRAHAM DAVIDSON Firing it off on the final lap at Oulton Park was clumsy and he picked up a potentially costly penalty for contact at Spa, but responded brilliantly to Silverstone disappointment with Donington pole, and won Brands by beating Balfe off the line. A far more rounded package than in 2018. 3 JONNY ADAM Blotted his copybook with a rare accident at Silverstone while battling for victory, but was the only pro to make an…

INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORT NASCAR Cup Round 32/36 Kansas Speedway, USA 20 October TV Live Freesports, Sun 1900 NASCAR Xfinity Series Round 30/33 Kansas Speedway, USA 19 October Formula Regional European Round 8/8 Monza, Italy 19-20 October Brazilian Stock Cars Round 9/12 Cascavel, Brazil 20 October MotoGP Round 16/19 Motegi, Japan 20 October TV Live BT Sport 2, Sun 1315 UK MOTORSPORT Silverstone HSCC 19-20 October XL Aurora, Historic FF1600, Guards Trophy, Historic Road Sports, 70s Road Sports, Formula Junior, Historic F3, Classic F3/Classic FF2000, Historic FF2000, Classic Clubmans, Historic Touring Cars Donington Park BRSCC 19-20 October BMW Compact, Mazda MX-5, Open Sports, TCR/Touring Car Trophy, ClubSport Trophy, Alfa Romeos, Porsches, Civic Cup, Track Attack Snetterton MSVR 19-20 October F3 Cup, MINI Challenge, Radical SR1, Production BMW, Racing Saloons, Z Cars…

1) Who, what, where, when? 2) Who is this? This new town boy remains an iconic figure to this day. He came in from the cold to tackle the big pond and was fast-tracked into the top tier. At the champion’s behest he was given a chance, but when they didn’t take up his option it was left to an old man to ride to the rescue. It was an inspired move and he brought home the bacon when opportunity knocked. Despite his pace he knew his place and played the role well. He was a class apart when times got tough and he drove a truck like a maestro and no one else could. But it all fell apart just as it was about to click. He may have…

FORMULA 1 Controversy struck the Japanese Grand Prix after the race when the points-scoring Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg were protested by Racing Point after finishing sixth and 10th respectively. The FIA was directed to seal and impound both Renaults’ electronic control units and steering wheels to allow the protest to proceed. Racing Point questioned the legality of the Renaults over an alleged pre-set lap-distance-dependent brake-bias adjustment system. Representatives of both teams and one from the FIA technical department convened with the Japanese GP stewards on Sunday evening, and the stewards determined that the protest satisfied all relevant parts of the International Sporting Code and is admissible. Renault has agreed to this point, but the next step will take some time to establish. This is because the stewards…

BTCC Title-winning British Touring Car Championship team BMR Racing has paid tribute to Subaru as its four-year deal to field the Levorg model in the series has come to an end. Ash Sutton took a BMR-run Levorg to the BTCC drivers’ title in 2017. The factory team has taken 21 race victories over the past four campaigns, with Sutton claiming the Subaru’s sole win of the 2019 season on its swansong appearance at Brands Hatch last weekend. Of those 21 successes, Sutton has scored 13, Colin Turkington five, Jason Plato two and James Cole one. Levorg drivers have appeared on the podium on 55 occasions during the same period. The team says that changes to the technical and aerodynamic regulations of the series mean that it is getting harder to…

FORMULA 3 The life of the 2012-19 Dallara Formula 3 car drew to a close last weekend with a pair of slipstreaming thrillers in the Euroformula Open finale at Monza (above). The car was supplanted on the governing body’s ladder for 2019 by the new FIA Formula 3 Championship machine, but continued to race on for one more season in the Japanese F3 series and EFO – the latter introducing the Spiess and HWA powerplants used previously in FIA-spec F3 competition, while its spec Toyota engine used up to 2018 was phased out. Both Japan and EFO will switch to the new Dallara 320, which sports a halo but which continues the philosophy of the old F3, for the 2020 season. Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, George…

Formula 1 drivers don’t like discussing their driving style. That’s particularly true when it comes to limitations that they either understand but do not want to accept publicly, or have not yet got their heads around. But it’s a significant factor that can explain why even the drivers capable of being world champions can be superhuman one day, average the next. For some drivers, though, it is a fascinating topic, particularly once they’ve reached a little distance from their grand prix career. In his latest book, Jenson Button: How to be an F1 driver – a broad and fast-paced look at what it takes to be a grand prix topliner – the 2009 world champion touches on how car characteristics interacted with his default driving style and what conditions he…

The mood in Ferrari’s camp after Friday practice at Suzuka was downbeat. Having finished 0.356 seconds off the pace, in a session that doubled up as a back-up for qualifying due to Typhoon Hagibis forcing cancellation of the Japanese Grand Prix’s Saturday running, Charles Leclerc – Ferrari’s form man since the August break – declared Ferrari to be lacking grip, saying his deficit to the Silver Arrows was “more or less the real picture of the weekend”. Except it turned out to be far from the real picture. Yes, Mercedes ultimately won the race – the team’s 12th victory in 17 races – thanks to Valtteri Bottas nailing the start and Sebastian Vettel fluffing his, but that result misrepresents the true picture of Sunday in Japan. Ferrari turned Friday’s form…

The simmering tension behind the scenes between Williams and Robert Kubica boiled over at Suzuka, as he criticised the team post-race for removing its upgraded front wing from his car before qualifying. Both Kubica and team-mate George Russell ran the sole example of Williams’s upgraded front wing during Friday practice, and Kubica expected to keep using it after outpacing Russell in FP2, but Williams decided not to run it on either car. Kubica then crashed heavily on his out-lap in Q1, before finishing last in the race having started from the pits in a spare chassis. “Friday was very good,” Kubica told Polish television. “First time for a very long time. We changed the front wing. It wasn’t supposed to be better and on the second car it did not…

By some margin, Jason Plato has the most victories in British Touring Car history. But his pursuit to become the first driver in the series to chalk up a century has been derailed over the past few seasons. He had scored just two in the past four campaigns, and came perilously close to making it two winless years in a row. In the final race, however, he put things right. The two-time champion has looked more competitive since returning to front-wheel-drive machinery in the Vauxhall Astra, after a torrid time at the wheel of the Subaru Levorg GT. But there have been silly mistakes – including twice getting a drivethrough penalty for overshooting his grid box at the race start. At Brands, though, he was imperious up front. With the…

EUROFORMULA OPEN MONZA (ITA) 12-13 OCTOBER ROUND 9/9 After eight years of use across Formula 3 competition, the 2012-19 generation of Dallara was retired by the Euroformula Open championship at Monza last weekend. The popular car was given a fitting send-off in the first race; a slipstream classic with a seven-car lead battle. Double R Racing’s Linus Lundqvist took pole but started badly, handing the lead to Carlin’s Teppei Natori. The Japanese driver briefly pulled away, but was soon reeled in. Euroformula champion Marino Sato made his way to second and then traded positions with Natori for several laps. He made it stick on the final tour to score his ninth 2019 win. His Motopark team-mate Yuki Tsunoda had started 12th, but made some stunning moves to join the lead…

“Bloody hell, Tim Cindric is gonna win this championship, isn’t he?” one reasonably unbiased media member exclaimed at Texas Motor Speedway, as Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi flashed past the chequered flag less than a second behind Team Penske man Josef Newgarden. “That’s the second time in two weeks that he’s managed to pull something out of his ass that gets Newgarden ahead of Rossi.” It’s fair to say that Rossi shared that observer’s sentiments, and it’s not hard to see why. At Detroit, last year’s championship runner-up had been leading race one when Penske president and Newgarden tactician Cindric had called in his man from third place… just a lap before the full-course yellow flew for second-placed Scott Dixon crashing out after making a rare error. The field bunched, Newgarden…

1 ALEXANDER ROSSI As Andretti Autosport’s lead driver now, he must shoulder some blame for when his car set-up was lacking, but on pure driving he was the best. Had he been luckier, or Newgarden less lucky, he would be AA’s first champion since 2012. 2 JOSEF NEWGARDEN After inconsistency in 2018, Newgarden scored eight top-fives this year to back up four wins. The champion isn’t our number one due to a couple of unforced errors and the fact that two victories owed much to superior strategy. 3 COTT DIXON Initially caught off guard by pace of team-mate Rosenqvist, Dixon did what true champs do – he learned from the hotshot and regained the edge. But two driving errors and two mechanical DNFs blew up his hopes of a sixth…

CASTLE COMBE Castle Combe Saloon Car championship rivals Simon Thornton-Norris and Matt Parr intend to race in other series next year. Thornton-Norris clinched his third overall Combe Saloon title last month driving a Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart, and has also competed in the UK Time Attack Championship in a Mitsubishi Evo. Next year he plans to prioritise Time Attack. “Primary would be Evo [and] Time Attack, and secondarily here [Combe Saloons],” he told Autosport, “but if they don’t clash at all then I’ll do both.” Peugeot 106 GTi driver Parr, who dominated Class C as well challenging for overall championship honours before finishing as runner-up to Thornton-Norris, is keen to try his hand in national series. “I’d love to move on and do something nationally, like Mini Challenge on the TOCA…

RENAULT UK CLIO CUP There has been no shortage of penalties during a frantic Renault UK Clio Cup season, but few had the significance of the one awarded to Jack Young in the first race at Brands Hatch. Young was handed a drivethrough for overlapping Anton Spires on a safety-car restart, a move not permitted by the regulations. As he didn’t visit the pits before the end of the race, it was converted into a 30-second time penalty. Suddenly, a solid fourth place behind Brett Lidsey, James Colburn and chief title rival Max Coates became a 12th. Suddenly, a decent lead over Coates became a one-point deficit. After being hit by former team-mate Jade Edwards at Silverstone, Coates knew it would be a tough ask to take the title and…

The simmering battle in the GT4 Supercup’s Am class reached boiling point in a tumultuous season finale as the title protagonists twice crashed into each other. “He just went for a real last-lap, last-corner lunge and took us both out,” said Nathan Heathcote after he and points leader Colin White ended race one in the Clark Curve gravel. “He braked really, really early,” retorted White, the champion in 2015 and 2016, “so I pulled across and went down the inside of him. But when I got halfway he then turned in on me.” The clerk of the course sided with Heathcote, slapping White with two penalty points on his licence and the loss of six championship points – a net result almost the same as if one-time British Rallycross champion…

Endurance races have been part of the 750 Motor Club’s sporting programme since the inaugural Birkett Six Hour Team Relay run at Silverstone in 1951. In recent seasons, mini-enduros have peppered its championship meetings, large entries satisfying racing members and teams’ aspirations of greater track time while offsetting the rising cost of circuit hire. Saturday’s Roadsports Series event attracted 40-plus entrants, ranging from a Vauxhall Nova GTE and Mazda MX-5s through SEAT Leons and a plethora of BMW M-series models to Michael Price’s Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport, effectively the polesitter after Luke Sedzikowski/David Whitmore (BMW M4) used qualifying for Club Enduro practice. There was drama at the start when David Drinkwater’s VW Corrado on P3 stalled and was clipped by fourth-row starter Matt Wallis’s SEAT, but the 45-minute race went…

1 TOM CANNING Surpassed expectations following an ordinary debut year in Toyota and Mercedes machinery. He also rebounded from a pointless start to become the benchmark Aston Martin GT4 driver. Mature beyond his years – seen in his patient stalking of Smith at Spa – and has the potential to go a long way. 2 JAMES DORLIN/JOSH SMITH Dorlin was found wanting a few times in qualifying, and Smith culpable for the Spa DNF with an overly forceful defence on Canning, but otherwise superb. Dorlin was the year’s start king with ballistic opening laps. Surely favourites if they return together next year. Nothing to split the pair. 3 SEB PRIAULX Andy’s lad lived up to the name in his rookie GT campaign. Soaked up co-driver Maxwell’s knowledge to extract the…