Indholdsfortegnelse for 14/11/19 i Autosport

Opportunities to drive current Formula 1 machinery don’t come around very often, so Karun Chandhok and Autosport jumped at the chance to drive one of Lewis Hamilton’s 2019 Mercedes W10s. The fact that the car has taken another constructors’ and drivers’ double for Mercedes this season underlines its quality and, as Chandhok points out on page 16, it doesn’t disappoint. Thanks to McLaren, 2018 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Tom Gamble also got a taste of F1 recently with his prize drive in a 2013 MP4-28 (see p24). The Award test is always a great reminder of how special the cars are – and what a great moment it is for young drivers to get their first experience of F1. Alexander Albon was beaten to the 2014 Award by George…

WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP Jenson Button could return to the Le Mans 24 Hours as soon as next year in the LMP2 class after setting his sights on a hypercar seat in the World Endurance Championship. Since departing Super GT, the 2009 Formula 1 world champion is yet to finalise any racing plans for 2020, but says a second Le Mans outing is “definitely” on his radar as he sets his sights on WEC’s new flagship class, which will come into force in the 2020-21 season. Button said: “In the future, I will definitely race in Le Mans again. I’m very excited about the new regulations and in the future it will be a great series. If I did it next year, it would be to get used to Le Mans…

DTM The DTM has presented a futuristic vision for a “revolutionary” touring car series that could run in support of the category. While the DTM is currently evaluating hybrid technology that is expected to be a spec component for the 2022 season, it has now unveiled a concept for cars “powered by battery or hydrogen fuel cell technology” that could result in a “1000bhp car capable of speeds of 200mph” – a 400bhp increase on 2019. The DTM currently has a mandatory pitstop in its racing format for tyre changes, but the DTM’s vision for the new series is that the 40-minute race would have a pitstop to recharge. This would be completed by “large industrial robots” that would change tyres and remove and replace the battery or hydrogen tank.…

MACAU GRAND PRIX Dan Ticktum has the opportunity to score an unparalleled Macau Grand Prix treble this week, but the Carlin driver must overcome the challenge that will be provided by the new FIA Formula 3 cars. The big change for 2019 is the machinery, as the generation of Dallara that Ticktum won with over the past two years with the Motopark squad has been replaced. Macau will now feature the new FIA F3 car, born out of a new championship formed by merging the GP3 Series and European F3, the latter using the same cars as Macau previously. Only 10 teams were admitted to the new series, and Motopark missed out. Ticktum’s strongest opposition will likely come from the top two in this year’s F3 season. Ferrari juniors Robert…

At last, a victory by someone other than Toyota in the World Endurance Championship! But was Rebellion Racing’s win in Shanghai last weekend really what the series needed? Yes and no. Yes, because an unbroken run of victories for the Japanese manufacturer has been sucking the life out of the WEC. No, because the series doesn’t require a dominant win by one team simply being transposed with an equally dominant victory by another. That’s what we got over four hours of racing around the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday. Rebellion had its only previous overall victory in the WEC, at Silverstone in August 2018, handed to it in post-race scrutineering. The latest win was as good as presented to the team on a plate, too. The Shanghai race was Rebellion’s…

2010 MERCEDES MGP W01 Best result 3rd Constructors’ championship 4th Drivers’ championship Nico Rosberg 7th | Michael Schumacher 9th 2011 MERCEDES MGP W02 Best result 4th Constructors’ championship 4th Drivers’ championship Nico Rosberg 7th | Michael Schumacher 8th 2012 MERCEDES F1 W03 Wins 1 Constructors’ championship 5th Drivers’ championship Nico Rosberg 9th | Michael Schumacher 13th 2013 MERCEDES F1 W04 Wins 3 Constructors’ championship 2nd Drivers’ championship Lewis Hamilton 4th | Nico Rosberg 6th 2014 MERCEDES F1 W05 HYBRID Wins 16 Constructors’ championship 1st Drivers’ championship Lewis Hamilton 1st | Nico Rosberg 2nd 2015 MERCEDES F1 W06 HYBRID Wins 16 Constructors’ championship 1st Drivers’ championship Lewis Hamilton 1st | Nico Rosberg 2nd 2016 MERCEDES F1 W07 HYBRID Wins 19 Constructors’ championship 1st Drivers’ championship Nico Rosberg 1st | Lewis Hamilton…

AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS SANDOWN (AUS) 9-10 NOVEMBER ROUND 14/15 Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes won a dramatic Sandown 500, on a weekend when Scott McLaughlin was crowned champion amid a fresh storm of controversy. For the second year in a row, Triple Eight was untouchable at the Melbourne circuit, although it wasn’t quite a repeat of the flawless performance that locked out the podium back in 2018. This time there were a couple of blots in the copybook, starting when Garth Tander made a rookie error on the run to Turn 1 in his qualifying heat race. Starting from row two in wet conditions, he was too focused on McLaughlin in his mirrors and misjudged his braking marker. The subsequent lock-up sent him clattering into the side of Anton De Pasquale,…

AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS SANDOWN (AUS) Race 1 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight (Holden Commodore ZB) Race 2 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight (Holden Commodore ZB) Race 3 Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes Triple Eight (Holden Commodore ZB) NASCAR CUP PHOENIX (USA) Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota Camry) NASCAR XFINITY SERIES PHOENIX (USA) Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports (Chevrolet Camaro) NASCAR TRUCK SERIES PHOENIX (USA) Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing (Chevrolet Camaro) BRAZILIAN STOCK CARS VELO CITTA (BRA) Race 1 Thiago Camilo Ipiranga Racing (Chevrolet Cruze) Race 2 Bruno Baptista RCM Motorsport (Chevrolet Cruze) SUPER TC2000 BUENOS AIRES (ARG) Leonel Pernia/Damian Fineschi Renault Sport (Renault Fluence) WORLD RALLYCROSS KILLARNEY (ZAF) Niclas Gronholm GRX Taneco (Hyundai i20) EUROPEAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP RALLY HUNGARY (HUN) Frigyes Turan/Laszlo Bagameri (below) Turan Motorsport SE (Skoda Fabia R5) For full results visit…

With three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti racing a Mazda MX-5 in the Race of Remembrance last weekend and Le Mans 24 Hours winner Nick Tandy contesting the EnduroKa race at Brands Hatch this weekend, 1996 Formula 1 champion Damon Hill has also got in on the act. He got behind the wheel of Gray Motorsport’s Ford Ka last week at Brands for a test. “This is going to be raced by a lot of hopeful new boys called Al Most racers, and they’re raising a lot of money for my charity, which is very nice of them,” said Hill. “The charity is called Halow, and they’ve got a JustGiving page.”…

HSCC TO RETURN TO PEMBREY The Historic Sports Car Club has unveiled a nine-event 2020 calendar, capped by the grand prix circuits at Silverstone and Brands Hatch and a return to Pembrey in South Wales. The Pembrey date comes as the venue celebrates the 30th anniversary of its first full season. Club CEO Andy Dee-Crowne said: “We’ve listened to our members and put together a calendar that reflects their wishes. We’ve made some changes to keep it fresh.” F4 RACERS TRY EUROCUP British Formula 4 racers Sebastian Alvarez and Alex Connor both took part in the post-season Formula Renault Eurocup test in Abu Dhabi at the end of last month. F4 runner-up Alvarez competed with MP Motorsport while Connor was testing for his F4 team Arden. Alvarez said: “This car…

BRITCAR ENDURANCE Race 1 David Brabham/Will Powell (Brabham BT62) Race 2 Mike Moss/Ollie Hancock (BMW 1M E82) CITROEN C1 CHALLENGE Old Hat Motorsport (Callum Hutchings/Daniel Bruce) MINI WINTER CHALLENGE Races 1, 2 & 3 Colin Peacock (Miglia) TIN TOPS Race 1 Niall Bradley (BMW E46 M3) Race 2 Rod Birley (Ford Escort WRC) GINETTA JUNIOR WINTER SERIES Races 1, 2, 3 & 4 James Taylor HYUNDAI COUPE CUP Races 1 & 2 Wayne Rockett (below) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

FILM REVIEW LE MANS ’66 UK RELEASE DATE: 15 NOVEMBER For the people who emerged angry after preview screenings of Le Mans ’66, the Hollywood blockbuster starring Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as Ken Miles, there needs to be a reality check. Motorsport is a niche, falling out of favour more and more each day as it becomes harder for the public to justify alongside environmental concerns. Anything that brings racing into the mainstream – let alone gives Miles the limelight – for a positive reason needs to be celebrated, up to a point. Yes, Le Mans ’66 features dialogue that’s hammy and unsubtle at times, it makes liberal use of poetic licence and there are even shots of Bale finding another six inches of throttle travel…

Jacky Ickx (Brabham-Ford BT26), Jackie Stewart (Matra-Ford MS80) and Jochen Rindt (Lotus-Ford 49B) line up on the front row of the Nurburgring grid, moments before the start of the 1969 German Grand Prix. Polesitter Ickx failed to maintain his initial momentum when the flag fell and dropped to eighth place, but he fought back to take the lead from Stewart, set fastest lap and eventually finish almost a minute ahead after the Matra developed gearshift problems. Bruce McLaren (McLaren-Ford M7C) was third, a further two and a half minutes adrift. For classic 1960s Formula 1 DVDs head to dukevideo.com/F1 For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP With ash continuing to fall on Coffs Harbour from the bushfires, it became obvious that the final round of the World Rally Championship was a non-starter. At 1250 New South Wales time on Tuesday, word came from clerk of the course Wayne Kenny. He said: “The clerk of the course, after having considered the information from the fire authorities and other government agencies and after further consultation with the FIA, decides to cancel Rally Australia 2019.” For many, that decision had been glaringly obvious for hours – possibly even days. With every house that burned and, tragically, every life lost in the state, running a WRC round seemed simply preposterous. When the local fire department started talking of a “catastrophic” situation with the flames closing in on…

DAKAR RALLY Double Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso achieved his first podium finish in cross-country rallying in the third of his Dakar Rally preparatory outings with Toyota. Alonso and his co-driver Marc Coma contested the Al Ula-Neom Cross-Country Rally in Saudi Arabia, where the Dakar is being held for the first time next year. They were fourth on the opening stage, having taken a cautious approach, then suffered a puncture on the second day. But they recovered to third place by the end of the event, despite navigation difficulties on Saturday’s final stage. Alonso was 16 minutes behind winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi, a World Rally and Dakar regular. “The final stage was a difficult one, full of rocks and difficult navigation,” said Alonso. “But we had no real issues, and we…

LENGTH 2.677 miles NUMBER OF LAPS 71 2018 POLE POSITION Lewis Hamilton 1m07.281s POLE LAP RECORD Lewis Hamilton 1m07.281s (2018) RACE LAP RECORD Valtteri Bottas 1m10.540s (2018) UK START TIMES Friday 15 November FP1 1400 FP2 1800 Saturday 16 November FP3 1500 QUALIFYING 1800 Sunday 17 November RACE 1710 CATCH THE RACE LIVE SKY SPORTS F1 1530 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA 1700 HIGHLIGHTS CHANNEL 4 2230 TYRE ALLOCATION CHAMPIONSHIP Drivers 1 Hamilton……………………….381 2 Bottas………………………………314 3 Leclerc…………………………….249 4 Verstappen………………….235 5 Vettel………………………………..230 Constructors 1 Mercedes…………….695 2 Ferrari……………………479 3 Red Bull………………..366 4 McLaren……………….121 5 Renault…………………… 83 RACE STATS Previous winners 2018 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2017 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 2016 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2015 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 2014 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 2013 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 2012 Jenson Button McLaren 2011 Mark Webber Red…

Remember that motorsport social-media trend that popped up last month? You were meant to pick a handful of drivers and your followers had to guess what linked them all. Let’s try that here: Jenson Button, Dan Ticktum, Fernando Alonso, Jimmie Johnson and now Tom Gamble. Give up? They’re all part of the increasingly diverse list of names to have driven the McLaren MP4-28 Formula 1 car from 2013 pictured on these pages. Although Aston Martin has taken over for 2019 as a title sponsor of the Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Awards, long-standing partner McLaren returned to Silverstone in October with its 2.4-litre V8-powered challenger to hand 2018 Award winner Gamble a life-affirming, first-ever taste of F1 machinery as part of his prize. The last person to drive…

DRIVERS OF THE EARLY FORD GT40 HAD TO overcome chronic handling instability before the project finally delivered incredible Le Mans success. Then it became, for a time, the seat to have in sportscar racing. Backed by Ford’s immense budget, many great names raced the GT, but who did it the best? 5 PHIL HILL This was a driver who had to deal with the Ford GT40 at its worst. The waywardness of early cars meant hurried tests at MIRA, where a rear spoiler was fitted. Improved performance, however, meant Hill could shine alongside Bruce McLaren for the car’s competitive debut in the 1964 Nurburgring 1000Km. Hill lost 22 minutes in the pits to a blocked carburettor jet, but fought back from 23rd to a staggering sixth until the clutch failed.…

Porsche was the official winner and Ferrari was the on-the-road winner, but the moral winner in GTE Pro in Shanghai was Aston Martin. The British marque lost the victory with a tad over an hour to go, handing Ferrari a class win that then passed over to Porsche drivers Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen in post-race scrutineering. Danish duo Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen had victory snatched from their grasp when their Aston Martin Vantage GTE, 18 seconds in the clear at the time, sustained a puncture. Yet it wasn’t the deflated tyre that cost them the win, rather the full-course yellow virtual safety car that followed. Thiim was still ahead of the rest of the six-car field when he made it to the pits for what would be his…

NASCAR CUP PHOENIX (USA) 10 NOVEMBER ROUND 35/36 A needless spin in the previous race at Texas had left Denny Hamlin’s title hopes in a precarious position heading to Phoenix, the final chance to book a ‘Championship 4’ spot in the Homestead finale. Knowing it was win or bust in the 312-lap event, the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry driver proved untouchable, at times leading by over 10 seconds and lapping the field up to seventh place. A late caution and restart threatened his stronghold, but he survived the three-lap shootout to take his sixth Cup win of 2019 and give himself a chance at Homestead. He will be joined in the deciding Florida race on Sunday by team-mates Kyle Busch (who ended up second) and sixth-place finisher Martin Truex…

SMRC The Scottish Motor Racing Club has announced a seven-round calendar for next year that includes an all-championship away meeting at Croft for the first time. Six rounds will be held at the club’s traditional home Knockhill, with the reversed-layout configuration set to be used just once, having featured twice in 2019. Plans for a two-day “best of Scottish motorsport” meeting in July are also on the cards, with the SMRC’s Rory Bryant optimistic about the future. “It’s something we have been speaking about with competitors since the summer and the main thing they wanted was to do a proper away round for all the categories,” Bryant said. Scottish FF1600 champion Jordan Gronkowski, who took his maiden car win at Croft in 2012, is looking forward to the first full…

BRITISH GT Former British GT4 Pro-Am champions Scott Malvern and Nick Jones are targeting a step up to GT3 next season, having sampled Barwell’s Lamborghini Huracan last week. The test at Snetterton followed Jones’s run in Balfe Motorsport’s McLaren 720S at Silverstone, while both drivers have previously tested the original Mercedes-AMG GT3, which is set to be replaced by an updated model next year. Malvern and Jones, who have raced together since 2014, endured a difficult GT4 Pro-Am title defence with a Team Parker Mercedes this season and lost potential wins at Oulton Park (brakes) and Snetterton (puncture), but came through to win the GT4 class at Silverstone. Malvern, the 2011 British Formula Ford champion, says Jones would make an “informed decision” and was in no rush to decide which…

HISTORIC FORMULA FORD Historic Formula Ford 1600 ace Cameron Jackson will bid to win a third title in a row in 2020, using a third different chassis. After winning the 2018 title in a Lola T200, Jackson took this year’s crown in a Winkelmann but will now contest next season in an unfashionable March 709. In addition, he will double up in the Historic Sports Car Club Classic Formula Ford Championship in a Van Diemen RF80. For his third pre-1972 title bid, Jackson will use the 1970 March of fellow racer Ross Drybrough. The 709 was the US version of the 708 design and only a few were built for export. It was based on the chassis of the 1969 693 prototype Formula 3 car from the fledgling March operation.…

The 2019 racing season may not have finished yet, but attention is already well and truly turning to next year. And this has been exemplified in recent weeks by a number of scholarship shootouts taking place. Most notable of these has to be the Porsche GB Junior programme. The winner receives £85,000 towards their Carrera Cup budget for each of the next two seasons, as well as a range of support, from fitness training at the Porsche Human Performance Centre to trackside help from Porsche’s top engineers. Given what’s at stake, it is no surprise that leading drivers from a wealth of different categories – from single-seater series such as British Formula 4, the junior racing world and sportscar divisions – applied. And this year’s final shootout was the most…

Having claimed four race victories during the regular Ginetta Junior season en route to finishing fifth in the final standings, James Taylor was expected to be a strong contender in the Winter Series at Brands Hatch last weekend, and he did not disappoint. After taking pole position for three of the weekend’s four races, Taylor took a clean sweep of race wins to seal the Winter Series title and add his name to a roll of honour that includes Seb Morris, Jamie Caroline, Seb Priaulx and recently crowned Ginetta Junior series champion James Hedley. Differing conditions threatened to provide variables and challenges over the weekend for all the drivers, but Taylor displayed confidence from the outset. “The car has been set up really well this weekend, both in the dry…

“I don’t even know how it came up in conversation,” admits Dario Franchitti. “We were talking during the Goodwood Revival about what would be fun to do next. “I think it was [journalist] Nick Trott who said, ‘What about Race of Remembrance?’ Marino [Franchitti] had been here before and said it’s a fantastic event.” Like a lot of things that come up by chance, it turned out to be a very good idea. Franchitti was on the grid for this year’s edition of the unique race last weekend. The Scot notes his knowledge of Race of Remembrance wasn’t absolute in advance but the four-time IndyCar champion and triple Indianapolis 500 winner was charmed immediately by the endurance event run by military personnel charity Mission Motorsport. “It was absolutely fabulous,” Franchitti…

1) Who, what, where, when? 2) Who is this? Although diminutive in stature, this legend’s standing remains immense. From sporty stock, racing’s gain was football’s loss, and the trophies came right away. The diamond was discovered and the winning ways continued. After success home and abroad he was hot property and, although he starred, a fading giant was no place for a future great just yet. A return to his roots would be just the ticket, although he would have to fight the team and his stablemate to get his way. When this all became too much he found himself in the right place at the right time only for a wily old-timer to deny him. He responded in style and ruled the roost until a rivalry for the ages…

BTCC Hyundai will be represented on the British Touring Car Championship grid for the first time in the series’ history in 2020 as the Excelr8 Motorsport team enters two brand new i30 Fastback N Performance models. The team has started work on two examples of the coupe-style car, which it aims to have ready for a testing programme in mid-February next year. It is the first time that Excelr8, which only joined the BTCC in 2019, has built its own BTCC car – although it does have a background in building machines for the Mini Challenge UK and it has also exported several examples of the Mini. Although no drivers have been announced, Excelr8 entered the BTCC this term with a brace of MG6 GTs, driven by Sam Osborne and…

PIQUET JR JOINS EXTREME E Inaugural Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jr has signed up to compete in Extreme E, which is set to begin in 2021. Now 34, the World Wide Fund for Nature ambassador joins, most notably, six-time World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier and double DTM title winner Timo Scheider on the drivers’ programme. WEC BRAZIL RACE IN DOUBT The Interlagos round of the 2019-20 World Endurance Championship in Brazil next February is in doubt, with series boss Gerard Neveu warning teams that the promoter of the event, N/Duduch Motorsports, was contractually “late in different parameters” with under three months to go before the revival of the Sao Paulo 6 Hours – last held in 2014. ART SIGNS UP TO EUROCUP ART Grand Prix will expand its single-seater…

Unusually for a press release, Red Bull’s announcement on Tuesday morning that Alex Albon will continue as Max Verstappen’s team-mate in 2020 hit the nail on the head. Team principal Christian Horner’s quote included the phrase “tenacious, fiercely committed racer” to describe the 23-year-old. Both qualities have been on display over the past year or so. Remember, Albon is a driver who, 14 months ago, appeared to be on the F1 scrapheap before he even had the chance to test a car and had signed up to drive for the e.dams Nissan squad in Formula E. What’s happened to him since is a reminder of the role luck can play – and the need for any driver to be ready to capitalise on it. Albon has not been fortunate in…

Every racing driver in the world, in any category, watches Formula 1 and thinks, “I wonder what the car that’s winning the championship must be like to drive.” Drivers in IndyCar, NASCAR, sportscars, Formula E or even historic racing may be happy driving in whatever category they are in and may not yearn to be F1 drivers, but there’s no doubt that all of them would want to know just how good the best F1 car on the planet is. Recently NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon’s face lit up as he spoke about the time he got to experience a Williams-BMW – and that was 16 years ago! F1 has been the pinnacle of our sport now for 70 years and the fact that only a handful of drivers today get…

AWARD JUDGES Derek Warwick, Leena Gade, Andrew Kirkaldy, Jason Plato, Alexander Sims, Ian Titchmarsh, Darren Turner, Kevin Turner, Mark Williams After a 30-year run as the Autosport BRDC Award title partner, McLaren’s final involvement in the programme was Tom Gamble’s Formula 1 test at Silverstone. Over those three decades, the team has placed David Coulthard, Dario Franchitti, George Russell, Lando Norris and now Gamble – plus many more – into a contemporary grand prix car. With the partnership coming to an end as Aston Martin steps up to the mantle for the 2019 shootout and beyond, the Award judges were nervous ahead of Gamble’s test. When we reminded McLaren earlier in the year that it still had a commitment to the prize from last year, we were expecting some sort…

The start was almost the end. Grand Marshal Henry Ford II was surprisingly light on his feet in seeking safety after dropping a tassled Tricolore. Some of his heavyweight machines, however, were tardy. When finally John Whitmore’s Ford lurched into the flow, a surging Ferrari sideswiped it into Ken Miles’s, inches from an irreplaceable headlight. Both pitted at the lap’s end: Miles to have a door ajar slammed shut; and Whitmore for a broken brake pipe. Not for another 24 hours would the (F)ordure hit the ventilateur. Miles had been dreaming of Le Mans longer than most – he was a fell-runner-lean 47-year-old – and working harder at it, too. Since his triage of Ford’s GT, which he reckoned unstable, he had coaxed it to health. He was the ‘car…

Jota Sport dominated LMP2 in China. The ORECA team running in Goodyear colours under its own name for Anthony Davidson, Antonio Felix da Costa and Roberto Gonzalez – together with the Jackie Chan DC Racing machine fielded for Will Stevens, Ho-Pin Tung and Gabriel Aubry – led all bar one lap of the race. The difference between them on the day was essentially former Peugeot and Toyota LMP1 driver Davidson. The Jota-entered ORECA-Gibson 07 finished the four hours 17 seconds up the road from the Chan/DC example. That was about what Davidson put between himself and Stevens over the second half of the opening double stint of the race. Stevens led from the start, briefly getting in among the LMP1s, and was 7s ahead of Davidson after the first stops.…

WORLD RALLYCROSS KILLARNEY (ZAF) 10 NOVEMBER ROUND 10/10 Timmy Hansen and Andreas Bakkerud entered the final World Rallycross round in South Africa separated by a single point at the top of the championship. Starting from the outside of the grid, Bakkerud made the best launch to take the lead of the final on lap one. With the pair split by just two points heading into the final six laps of the campaign, victory for Bakkerud would have been enough to seal the crown. But the Norwegian ran wide at the Killarney circuit’s long Turn 6 loose-surface right-hander and Hansen put the nose of his Peugeot 208 up the inside of the Audi S1. The cars touched, Bakkerud drifting into the wall before bouncing back into Hansen, who was spun around…

BRITISH FORMULA 4 Ginetta Junior driver Casper Stevenson has won the inaugural British Formula 4 Scholarship after impressing in an assessment day at Silverstone last week. Stevenson finished sixth in the Ginetta standings in his maiden season of car racing this year and will receive a prize package worth £35,000. This includes discounts and free items from series partners, such as engine tuner Neil Brown Engineering, tyre manufacturer Hankook, racewear company HRX and fuel supplier Carless. As well as their on-track ability, the 12 drivers battling to win the scholarship were also assessed on their media skills. “It means so much – when my name was called, I couldn’t believe it,” Stevenson said. “It’s a really good accolade to say I’ve won the inaugural F4 scholarship and maybe I’ll get…

BRITCAR ENDURANCE David Brabham says a debut win for the new Brabham BT62 at Brands Hatch last weekend in the Britcar Endurance Championship was a “huge moment” for the revived brand. The 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours winner and former Formula 1 driver teamed up with Will Powell and recorded an historic win in atrocious weather conditions in the one-hour contest on Saturday, despite a misted-up windscreen making visibility difficult. Powell was also leading the early stages of a drier race two on Sunday until the car succumbed to alternator problems. “This is a huge moment for Brabham Automotive, the Brabham name and the history,” Brabham said after taking the win in Saturday’s first race. “To win first time out is just fantastic and it demonstrates the car’s capabilities. “We…

BRANDS HATCH BARC 9-10 NOVEMBER The latest chapter in the distinguished history of Brabham got off to the perfect start as David Brabham and Will Powell steered the new Brabham BT62 to victory in the opening Britcar ‘Into the Night’ Endurance race. Sodden conditions greeted the drivers for the one-hour encounter on Saturday as Powell led the field away from pole, chased by the BMW 1M E82 of Ollie Hancock (sharing with Mike Moss) and Tim Gray’s Praga R1T. A fuse problem and a damaged door dented Gray’s hopes, leaving Hancock to take the fight to Powell, who was struggling with a misted up windscreen. Hancock took over the lead with a fine move at Druids before Powell handed over the BT62 to Brabham at the mandatory pitstops. Moss took…

ANGLESEY BARC RACE OF REMEMBRANCE 8-10 NOVEMBER For much of the 12-hour Race of Remembrance, there looked – barring failures – only one winner. The Rob Boston Racing Lotus Elise, driven by Boston and Peter Mansfield, was on another level. From pole, it had a lead of 50 seconds over its next challenger, having done one mandatory pitstop more, after Saturday’s six-hour first segment. Then in the Sunday’s second half – in bright sunshine – it streaked away further. Even the Lotus unreliability bugbear was absent – the car’s only problems were a slow puncture at the end of Saturday and a small and temporary handling deficiency after contact with a Honda Civic. That was until 20 minutes to go, when Mansfield – supposed to be bringing the car home…

Demonstrating the growth of Race of Remembrance’s reputation, Dario Franchitti was not the only notable name to make their driving debut at the event last weekend. He was joined in the cast by British Touring Car Championship frontrunner Tom Ingram. Ingram, as someone with friends and family in the military, had long eyed the weekend. And, this year, event founder and CEO James Cameron, in Ingram’s words, “collared” him. The Speedworks Toyota driver took part in a Toyota GT86 run by Mission Motorsport, with Speedworks support. It was Ingram’s first time driving at Anglesey in anger. And, like Franchitti, Ingram was mindful of the event’s real focus. “As a racing driver you want to win, but the bigger picture is we’ve got [team-mate] Matt [Stringer] as a beneficiary of Mission…

Adrian Newey is perhaps the best-known engineer in Formula 1, credited with world championship-winning designs for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull over a 20-year period. But the history books might have looked very different if his plans to form an Indycar design consultancy with fellow March engineer Alan Mertens had come to fruition in the mid-1980s. Newey joined March from the Fittipaldi F1 team in 1982 to engineer Johnny Cecotto in Formula 2. He soon set about impressing with his heavily revised 83G sportscar, winning back-to-back IMSA titles in 1983 and 1984. For 1985, March boss Robin Herd appointed him as the chief designer on the Indycar project. “When he walked into the place, straight off the bat the guy pretty much knew what he was doing,” recalls Mertens, who…