Indholdsfortegnelse for 30/07/20 i Autosport

Silverstone is where the Formula 1 world championship began 70 years ago and, in these strange times, it’s great that the famous circuit will host two races in 2020. The British Grand Prix is one of only two races – the other being the Italian GP – that has been a part of every F1 season since 1950, and so much of the F1 circus is based in the United Kingdom. As circuit boss Stuart Pringle tells us on page 16, Silverstone has played a key part in making sure we have an F1 contest to savour this year, which is fantastic. It’s a shame that fans can’t come and enjoy the GP, but it’s the only way the event can work in the current circumstances. And you can still…

NURBURGRING 24 HOURS The baying crowds that usually line the Nordschleife for the Nurburgring 24 Hours will be absent from this year’s rescheduled race. The enduro, set for 26-27 September, will go ahead behind closed doors. The race organiser, ADAC Nordrhein, has been unable to allow spectators to attend as a result of a ban on mass gatherings of more than 5000 people in Germany, which will last until 24 October. The directive was announced in mid-June, but the club has now been able to put in place a financial package that will allow the 48th running of the event to take place. Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and Glickenhaus, along with tyre suppliers Michelin and Falken and track operating company Nurburgring 1927 GmbH & Co, have stepped in to ensure…

OBITUARY Australian driver Neil Crang, a regular on the UK national scene and frequent World Endurance Championship competitor, has died at the age of 70. A native of Melbourne, Crang competed in autocross and rallycross before moving to Europe. While working as a commodities trader in Geneva, he earned the funds to kickstart a racing career in the UK. After completing a Jim Russell course, he made his name in Sports 2000 while running alongside team-mate Ian Taylor in 1979-80. In 1982 and 1983, he contested the British Formula Atlantic series, finishing fourth at Macau in the first year. But his first love was endurance racing. He ran in four major events with a Porsche 934 in 1981 and made the first of five Le Mans starts the year after.…

Marc Marquez’s title defence took a serious knock when he broke his right arm in a heavy accident in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez earlier this month. It was his first retirement since the Austin round in April 2019 and the six-time champion then missed last weekend’s Andalusian GP, while Fabio Quartararo romped to back-to-back wins. Honda team boss Alberto Puig caused controversy when he claimed Marquez’s absence would devalue the MotoGP title won by another rider, telling Spanish TV: “Obviously it gets complicated, but honestly, no matter what happens, if Marc can’t win the championship, I don’t think whoever wins it can feel completely satisfied, or shouldn’t feel completely satisfied, knowing that the number one rider has not been fully present.” This flies in the face of the…

‘Elite sport’ is an important definition when it now comes to hosting events such as the British and 70th Anniversary grands prix in the UK. There are certain dispensations that have been applied for professional sports to take place as the pandemic has progressed, but events must be held under strict conditions. The work completed within Silverstone’s walls is governed by the FIA’s Return to Motor Sport guidelines, but everything outside the track’s immediate perimeter must be tightly controlled by organisers or the events will be under threat of cancellation. That is why the track and Northamptonshire Police have been so stark in their warnings. “The government requirement is that you can run this event if people are not present,” explains Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle. “It therefore flies in…

“We didn’t know what to expect and I thought we looked really good, like we were good at what we did, that we knew what we were doing. With how the team performed, we deserved to get better results. I was so proud it brought a tear to my eye.” The words belong to Justina Williams, whose team in 2019 became the newest addition to the British Touring Car Championship grid. Now the squad she owns, Excelr8 Motorsport, has traded in the venerable MG6 machinery with which it began its BTCC adventure and become a producer of its own weapon: the Hyundai i30 Fastback N. In doing so, the East Anglian team brings a new car maker to the BTCC, it has significantly bolstered its arsenal in terms of management…

Reynard’s reputation for conquering new series went before it. Having won its first race in Formula 3 with Andy Wallace at Silverstone in 1985 and repeated the trick in Formula 3000 with Johnny Herbert at Jerez in 1988, the pressure was on as it geared up for its Indycar debut at Surfers Paradise in 1994. Chief designer Malcolm Oastler was company founder Adrian Reynard’s golden boy and armed with the drawings for what would have been the 1993 Galmer – an evolution of Andy Brown and Alan Mertens’ 1992 Indianapolis 500-winning design – but crucially lacking first-hand experience of Indycar. However, Reynard knew just the man who could provide it: Bruce Ashmore. Ashmore had joined Lola as an apprentice in 1976 while studying mechanical engineering at nearby Cambridge University and…

FORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP IMOLA (ITA) 25-26 JULY ROUND 2/10 David Vidales had been set to make his car racing debut in the Formula Regional European Championship this season, but when that fell through he had to wait until last weekend’s brace of Renault Eurocup races at Imola to make his single-seater bow. But for the 18-year-old Spaniard, the delay paid off as he claimed a double victory for JD Motorsport to become the first debutant to score back-to-back Eurocup victories since a certain Lando Norris in 2016. An impressive getaway from pole earned a lights-to-flag triumph in the opening race, for which Renault Junior and Monza race two winner Caio Collet had no reply. A safety car – called when Petr Ptacek hit the gravel at Tamburello – was of…

BRITISH GT A reduced grid of 21 cars consisting of 12 GT3s and nine GT4s will start the British GT season at Oulton Park this weekend. The championship had announced a capacity 35-car grid prior to the media day in March, featuring 19 GT3s and 16 GT4s, but several cars have withdrawn due to factors relating to the coronavirus pandemic. Both Aston Martin Vantage GT3s due to be entered by 2019 drivers’ title-winning team TF Sport have pulled out. The reduced programme for sister Aston squad Beechdean AMR – which will conduct a round-by-round schedule with team boss Andrew Howard beginning at Brands Hatch instead of its planned two-car entry – means there will be no full-season Aston Martin entry in the premier class for the first time since 2010.…

BRITCAR Former British Touring Car Championship driver Luke Davenport will return to racing this weekend in the Britcar Endurance Championship at Brands Hatch, giving the Ligier JS2 R its UK competition debut. The planned multi-race programme alongside Marcus Vivian will be a first regular programme for British GT4 race winner Davenport since a BTCC qualifying crash at Croft in 2017 left him in an induced coma. The 27-year-old has had irregular race outings since his accident, which also shattered his pelvis, contesting the 2018 Fun Cup 25 Hours of Spa and a Britcar race at Donington Park the same year in an ex-Rob Austin Audi A4 entered by Reflex Racing. Davenport’s return with the Ligier (below), which has its own one-make series in France and in support of the European…

SCOTTISH RENEGADES CUP Scottish Formula Ford 1600 drivers will race in 2020 following the creation of a three-round Scottish Renegades Cup. The category failed to make the revised 2020 Scottish Motor Racing Club calendar, which has been trimmed due to a lack of daylight hours in the new one-day events. The Scottish Renegades Cup, organised by FF1600 regular Neil Broome, will take place over three weekends, with the opening round joining James Beckett’s Heritage series at Oulton Park in August and two rounds at Knockhill. Broome told Autosport: “The Renegades Cup is a great opportunity for FF1600 in Scotland to go racing this year and we feel it is an important part of keeping the category alive for the future. “We’re looking forward to the collaboration with FF1600 people [in…

750MC Four-time 750 Formula champion Peter Bove opened his 2020 campaign with two close-fought victories at Mallory Park. Bove had to overcome Dave Hodkin, the 2013 title winner, who was fast at the start of both races and led in race one before Bove grabbed the initiative at the hairpin on lap seven of 18. Hodkin – in the self-built HRD Mk2 that he debuted at Oulton Park last October – closed the gap that Bove had built up, but the Darvi driver set the fastest lap and capitalised on traffic to seal the win. Hodkin swept around the outside of Bove at Gerard’s on the second lap of race two and held the advantage over his rival until lap 12 before finishing runner-up again. Reigning double champion Mark Glover…

THRUXTON CSCC 25-26 JULY Thruxton came alive last weekend as an unprecedented 400 plus competitors were in action for the Classic Sports Car Club’s first meeting of the year. Torrential rain on Saturday afternoon tested typically eclectic grids and the marshals’ fortitude, as Spire veteran John Cutmore celebrated his unusual Magnificent Sevens victory over the Caterham hordes. The Suffolk driver – at the wheel of a Suzuki Hayabusa-powered RB7 – made his mandatory pitstop under a perfectly timed safety car. Cutmore and Tim Bishop’s Caterham 7 Roadsport arrived together and resumed two minutes later, joining the crocodile headed by runaway leader Stephen Nuttall. The Caterham Roadsport driver had yet to pit and would have to settle for third, more than minute in arrears, as Cutmore headed Bishop. Later, on a…

There are two significant anniversaries for Mike Youles to celebrate this year. In 1990 he won Class C2 at the Le Mans 24 Hours, sharing a PC Automotive Spice SE89C Cosworth DFL V8 with Olindo Iacobelli and Richard Piper, and in 2000 the Oulton Park Gold Cup – which was also a round of the British GT Championship – with Tim Harvey in a PK Motorsport Porsche 911 GT2. Youles was back at Oulton, his local circuit, again last weekend making his Clubmans Sports Prototype debut. “I have raced in sports and GT cars in various championships around the world, I was seventh in the GT class at Le Mans in 2001 and for a while was the fastest car in the race as the prototypes couldn’t use their pace…

MONDELLO PARK IMRC 25-26 JULY Returning to full-time racing after a break of 23 years, Michael Barrable took Ford Fiesta Zetec pole, with less than two tenths covering the top nine cars as the Irish circuit racing season finally began at Mondello Park. However, reigning champion William Kellett was alongside Barrable on the front row and he got the jump and led away. Youth appeared to be able to contain experience as each of Barrable’s attempts to retake the place were rebuffed. But Kellett hadn’t budgeted on a great run out of the final corner by the former Formula Ford 1600 star, who got alongside as they crossed the line and snatched the win, by just seven thousandths of a second! In race two, poleman Ulick Burke, having built the…

FORMULA 1 The 2020 Formula 1 calendar is nearing completion after three new races were announced last week, comprising two classic venues and one new circuit. F1 will return to both Imola and the Nurburgring later this year, while Portugal will also play host to its first grand prix since 1996 when the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao stages its maiden grand prix. Portimao has previously hosted F1 testing and staged a standalone GP2 Series round in 2009. The Nurburgring will host the Eifel Grand Prix on 11 October – two weeks after the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi – before the Portuguese Grand Prix takes place on 25 October. The race near Portimao will form back-to-back rounds with the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on 1 November. It will…

Give young talent a chance Although the recent musical chairs in Formula 1 are interesting, and it is exciting that Fernando Alonso will be back in 2021, it does beg the question: what exactly is the value of the team driver academies? The current Formula 2 (right) and Formula 3 fields clearly have a plethora of real talent and there are several drivers who surely deserve a chance in F1, but it is difficult to see where opportunities will arise. Ferrari particularly has an embarrassment of riches! So I wonder if a different approach needs to be taken. Not with standing the upcoming budget caps, why couldn’t the top teams be made to run a third car? There is space on the grid, as there are currently only 20 cars,…

When the British Grand Prix gets under way, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Lando Norris (and Anglo-Thai Alexander Albon) will become the first Formula 1 drivers to race at their home tracks this season, but they will do so – necessarily – without the benefit of a home crowd. Hamilton is chasing a record-extending seventh British GP victory this weekend, and if he’s victorious in the following 70th Anniversary race he will have eight wins at Silverstone – the record for wins at the same venue, which he already shares with Michael Schumacher’s eight victories at Magny-Cours thanks to his own eight triumphs at the Hungaroring. But as has been much discussed regarding his Mercedes contract extension beyond 2020, Hamilton is surely nearing the end of his career. And a…

GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE ENDURANCE CUP IMOLA (ITA) 26 JULY ROUND 1/4 The opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe season at Imola was, for some, the first competitive outing in over nine months. For Audi and Team WRT, it was a chance to fire a warning shot to the rest of the field as Mirko Bortolotti, Kelvin van der Linde and Matthieu Vaxiviere claimed a largely comfortable victory. That the R8’s winning margin over the GPX Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R of Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell and Patrick Pilet was only 3.4 seconds masks the sheer dominance of the Audi trio, who controlled the race from the start of the second hour after a remarkable stint from van der Linde. The South African took over from Vaxiviere, rejoining in…

MINI CHALLENGE The Mini Challenge is set to feature the largest grid of all the categories appearing at the season-opening Donington Park British Touring Car Championship event this weekend as it makes its delayed first appearance at a TOCA meeting. The Mini series has replaced the Renault UK Clio Cup on the BTCC bill for 2020 and, while it won’t feature the capacity grid expected prior to the coronavirus pandemic, around 30 drivers are still due to compete. “We were originally expecting to be absolutely full, but we’ve had a few people unfortunately pull out,” said promoter Antony Williams. “Considering the backdrop, that’s a sterling effort.” Unlike the other BTCC support series, the Mini Challenge has opted to dramatically reduce its number of rounds this year amid the COVID-19 outbreak.…

CLIO CUP UK Clio Cup UK teams have supported the decision not to run the championship this year following the coronavirus pandemic. The category was due to feature the new fifth-generation Clio and race on the British GT bill this season, but Renault Sport Racing announced last week that the launch of the revised series has been postponed to 2021. This will give teams more time to get to grips with the car, and the new machines are now expected to arrive in September. British teams have been invited to take part in European events later in the year. “We would be better having a good season next year than a poor one this year that would only damage the reputation,” said Richard Colburn, boss of longstanding Clio squad Westbourne…

BARC The British Automobile Racing Club has released the results of a survey that shows large support for the measures the club has taken to get racing back under way. Competitors, marshals, officials and series organisers were asked a range of questions about the club’s opening two meetings of the season, including whether they felt safe and the quality of guidance offered to them about coronavirus. In total, 96.8% of respondents said they did feel safe at the race meetings and, encouragingly, only 1.4% said they were less likely to attend another event in the future because of their initial experience. The BARC also scored strongly in terms of how information about the events was communicated beforehand and 94% felt the club’s COVID-19 guidance covered all of the details they…

MAGNIFICENT SEVENS Race 1 John Cutmore (Spire RB7) Race 2 Colin Watson (Caterham C400) OPEN SERIES/JAGUAR SALOONS Race 1 Jamie Sturges (SEAT Leon TCR) Race 2 Brad Sheehan (BMW E46 M3) NEW MILLENNIUM Jamie Sturges (SEAT Leon TCR) MODERN CLASSICS/TURBO TIN TOPS/PUMA CUP Jake and Andre Severs (VW Beetle RSi Cup) SPECIAL SALOONS & MODSPORTS Races 1 & 2 Andy Southcott (MG Midget-Vauxhall) CLASSIC K Anthony & Ollie Hancock (Lotus Elan ‘26R’) SWINGING SIXTIES Ray Barrow (Chevrolet Camaro, below) FUTURE CLASSICS Stuart Daburn (TVR Tuscan) TIN TOPS Andrew Windmill (Honda Civic Type R Leggera) SLICKS SERIES Ollie Brown (Ginetta G55) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

BRANDS HATCH MSVR 25-26 JULY Enthusiasm among drivers and series personnel was not in short supply when the Ferrari Challenge UK series made its long-awaited return to Brands Hatch. This was despite the COVID-19 pandemic contributing to a drop in entry numbers compared to the total that appeared at the inaugural meeting last year. In May 2019, a grid of no fewer than 20 entrants were attracted to the inaugural round of the series held at the Kent track, while last weekend, the delayed curtain raiser for the one-make category for drivers of the Ferrari 488 Challenge yielded only nine starters. Despite the decline in grid size, opinions of those involved suggest there is still cause for optimism that the series can continue to thrive in 2020 across three further…

KIRKISTOWN 500MRCI 25 JULY The 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland opted for a compact event for its belated Kirkistown season-opener. With just two races each for the four ‘home’ classes, it promised to be a quiet day. However, the small crowd of masked and elbow-bumping club members were treated to some superb racing that promises much for the rest of the season, COVID-19 permitting. Formula Ford 1600 has been a Kirkistown mainstay for the past half century, and the Kent-engined cars didn’t disappoint, despite the relatively small 11-car grid. Alan Davidson started the first race on pole in his ex-Conor Murphy Mondiale, with defending champion David McCullough (Van Diemen RF01) alongside. As ever, the first couple of laps were nip and tuck, with McCullough, Davidson and second-row starter David…

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW HITLER’S SUPERCARS A seven-year grudge match funded by 33million Reichsmark of government investment that bore 11 land speed records and culminated in a six-wheeled behemoth that should have been capable of 375mph thanks to a 44.5-litre V12. The 1930s speed war played out by Auto Union and Mercedes is inescapably connected to a grim Nazi undercurrent, but it remains one of the most compelling chapters in all of motorsport history. As such the tale that begins with Germany rising out of the Great Depression to bear the W25 at Avus and Type A in 1934 has been oft told, yet the one-off, one-hour Hitler’s Supercars documentary broadcast on Channel 4 last Sunday (and available to watch on demand via All 4) – coincidentally as Avro Lancaster PA474 dips…

All aboard (well, almost all) for the driver parade ahead of the 1969 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand. Left to right: Bruce McLaren (McLaren M7C), Denny Hulme (McLaren M7A), Graham Hill (Lotus 49B), Silvio Moser (Brabham BT24), Jo Siffert (Lotus 49B), Jackie Stewart (Matra MS80), Piers Courage (Brabham BT26A), Jochen Rindt (Lotus 49B), Vic Elford (McLaren M7B), Jean-Pierre Beltoise (Matra MS80), Jacky Ickx (Brabham BT26A) and Chris Amon (Ferrari 312). Grand prix debutant John Miles (Lotus 63) isn’t pictured. For classic 1960s Formula 1 DVDs head to dukevideo.com/F1 For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

FORMULA 1 Ferrari has shaken up its Formula 1 technical department in response to its poor start to the 2020 season, with former chief designer Rory Byrne set to move into an increased role. Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has previously ruled out mass sackings after the slump in form, but moved to create a new technical department that was announced last week. The performance development department will be “the cornerstone of the car’s development”, and will be overseen by Enrico Cardile, who has served as Ferrari’s head of aerodynamics. Byrne was part of Ferrari’s dominant team in the early 2000s as chief designer, and has served in a consultancy role at Maranello in recent years, but is now set to join Cardile’s team. “We must react to these shortcomings…

ALEX ZANARDI Alex Zanardi has undergone another neurological operation in a Milan hospital following his June handbike collision with a truck while taking part in a demonstration event near Siena. His condition is now said to be “stable”. The ex-Formula 1 driver and double CART champion had been transferred to the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan last week after his condition worsened while he was in recovery at a nearby rehabilitation clinic. Having already spent nearly a month in hospital in Siena after the incident that left him with serious head injuries, Zanardi remains in intensive care. A statement issued by the San Raffaele Hospital said that Zanardi had been operated on by Prof Pietro Mortini, and that the procedure had been declared a success. “The clinical and radiological tests…

IMSA SPORTSCAR Acura and Penske claimed a drivers’, manufacturers’ and teams’ title triple in last year’s IMSA SportsCar Championship. But their relationship in the Daytona Prototype international ranks will come to an end at the conclusion of this season. Penske returned to the sportscar arena with the Honda brand in 2018 after an eight-year absence. That arrangement, which yielded the title for Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron in 2019, has not been extended by what Acura described as “mutual agreement”. The exact reasons for the failure of the two parties to extend the deal to continue racing the ORECA-based Acura ARX-05s are not clear. But Penske team president Tim Cindric said they “simply couldn’t align on how we should go racing in the future”. Acura only said that it…

“We want to pay tribute to our incredible partners in the Americas and look forward to being back with them next season when they will once again be able to thrill millions of fans around the world.” Chase Carey’s words acknowledged that, in 2020, Formula 1 will not be visiting the Americas. The United States, Mexican and Brazilian races are cancelled because of the ongoing and unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the decision seems understandable given the challenges the coronavirus continues to create, it will have come as a bitter blow to F1 fans in those countries, as well as viewers who enjoyed the racing at those three fine tracks. And there will surely too be one team that is now hurting from their absence: Red Bull. In…

In a normal year, Silverstone would be hosting a varied calendar of events – from the headline British Grand Prix, to British Touring Cars, the World Endurance Championship and the Silverstone Classic, as well as many club events. While smaller national races can be rearranged within Motorsport UK’s restart plans – behind closed doors for the time being – rescheduling the larger championships is more difficult. Two of the circuit’s highest-profile events – the WEC round that had been due to start the 2020-21 season and the 2020 Silverstone round of MotoGP – have been cancelled. But British Superbikes, British GT and the BTCC will be having races at the track this year, although in the case of the latter series – which is now missing the scheduled second visit…

It’s four months overdue, but the start of the British Touring Car Championship is here, and a slightly depleted field will take to the track at Donington Park this weekend for the first of what is scheduled to be nine triple-headers squeezed in between now and mid-November. As reigning champions, Colin Turkington and the West Surrey Racing-run BMW squad have to start as favourites, but there is a high number of unknowns – different driver/car combinations, new machines making their debuts, post-coronavirus rule changes… and people wearing masks. We therefore sat down over a socially distanced telephone line with 1992 BTCC champion and ITV4 expert pundit Tim Harvey to predict what might happen. CAN ANYONE BEAT COLIN TURKINGTON? “The answer is: yes they can,” asserts Harvey. “Particularly in a truncated…

5 QUALITY BRITISH F4 LINE-UP Arguably, not since the first season of FIA Formula 4 in the UK in 2015 has there been quite such a talented line-up in the series as this year. Ginetta Junior graduates Casper Stevenson, James Hedley and Zak O’Sullivan topped the recent official test, but expect second-year drivers Luke Browning, Alex Connor (below) and Roberto Faria to be among those challenging too. 4 THE WHORTON-EALES AND JAMSPORT WINNING COMBO Ant Whorton-Eales and Jamsport have a successful history, the team powering him to the 2016 Renault UK Clio Cup and 2018 Mini Challenge crowns. That partnership has been rekindled for this year as the Mini series moves to the BTCC bill. They will be tough to be beat as 2019 runner-up Nathan Harrison and Clio contender Max Coates…

NASCAR CUP KANSAS (USA) 23 JULY ROUND 19/36 Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin held on for his second consecutive NASCAR Cup victory at Kansas Speedway, having grabbed the lead with 13 of 267 laps to go. His triumph put an end to a streak of three sub-par finishes as he passed Kevin Harvick for the lead and held off a furious challenge from Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski to win. Hamlin led the race following the break between Stages 2 and 3, as the lead-lap cars all pitted. The Toyota Camry pilot was the first to rejoin after stopping for just two tyres. But pile-ups in the following laps – including a multi-car incident triggered by Joey Logano drifting into the back of Harvick – helped Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott into…

MOTOGP JEREZ (ESP) 26 JULY ROUND 2/13 Insert your own cliche about the timely arrival of London buses, as Petronas SRT’s Fabio Quartararo dealt Marc Marquez’s 2020 title defence another hammer blow with a devastating romp to his second successive MotoGP victory in the Andalusian Grand Prix at Jerez. Reigning champion Marquez’s heroic effort to return to action just days after surgery on a broken right arm ultimately had to be abandoned after qualifying on Saturday, leaving the door wide open for Spanish GP winner Quartararo to take command in the championship. After completing his first task by securing a second pole in a row (albeit fortunately, as Maverick Vinales’ faster final effort was scrubbed for exceeding track limits) the start would be crucial for Quartararo. Lining up alongside the…

GINETTA GT4 SUPERCUP Former British GT driver Luke Williams will contest the 2020 Ginetta GT4 Supercup series with Maximum Motorsport, taking the place of reigning Civic Cup champion Lee Deegan. The 2017 National Formula Ford champion most recently raced an HHC Motorsport-run McLaren 570S GT4 last season, taking a best result of third at Oulton Park alongside Tom Jackson. Ahead of the coronavirus pandemic, Williams had intended to compete in the NLS endurance series in Germany, but instead will race in the UK alongside ex-British Touring Car driver and Maximum team boss Stewart Lines. “It’s so last minute I can’t put pressure on getting a result,” said Williams. “We’re not going there to make up the numbers but I can’t really say where we’ll be performance wise, but it’s nice…

CHAIMONGKOL BACK TO F3 Thai driver Sasakorn Chaimongkol will remain at Hillspeed for the 2020 BRDC British F3 Championship. The 20-year-old has already contested the series full-time for the past two seasons, taking his maiden win at Silverstone last year and eighth overall in the standings. He will join Brit Oliver Clarke at Hillspeed, with a further 18 entries set for the opening round at Oulton Park this weekend. CHAPMAN STEPS UP TO JCW Scottish Mini Cooper Cup race winner Hannah Chapman will step up to the Mini Challenge JCW class for two rounds this season, teaming up with LUX Motorsport. Chapman, who last year competed in the Cooper Pro championship, will test at each of the five rounds in the truncated 2020 season, racing at Silverstone and the Brands…

Joe Osborne describes Phil Keen as “weird”. In the most endearing way possible, of course. The McLaren factory driver, who spent last year commentating on Keen’s latest British GT championship near-miss with GT3 rookie Adam Balon, has been a fierce competitor of Keen’s over the years – witness their battle at Snetterton in 2016, which resulted in Osborne being penalised after taking the flag first – and a team-mate too, having finished third in the Pro-Am class at the 2016 Spa 24 Hours with Keen, Oliver Gavin and Jon Minshaw. Osborne is therefore well-placed to judge the merits of a driver many are tipping to win this year’s British GT title after so many close calls in recent years, particularly in the wake of the withdrawal of several expected contenders…

OULTON PARK MSVR 25 JULY Having narrowly missed out on last season’s Radical Challenge title, Jerome de Sadeleer started the new campaign with a win in the opening contest at Oulton Park. He led from the start of race one, with Marcus Clutton in second, as Jac Constable, Jason Rishover and Mark Richards disputed third. Richards suffered fuel pump failure, and after Rishover dived ahead of Constable into Knickerbrook, he then spun back to seventh at Old Hall, promoting Shane Stoney to fourth. A safety car interlude then almost coincided with the pitstop window, but both de Sadeleer and Clutton missed out and pitted a lap later. Constable was the last one to stay out, leaving Stoney in front, from de Sadeleer and Clutton. But the new leader spun off…

CADWELL PARK CMMC 26 JULY Jon and Paul Woolfitt took a win apiece during an incident-filled day for the Northern Saloons and Sports Cars as the Classic and Modern Motorsport Club’s season got under way at Cadwell Park. Andy Robinson qualified on pole for both races in the Ford Falcon V8 Supercar with which he won the Classic Touring Car Racing Club’s Thunder Saloons title last year, but he was beaten off the line by the Woolfitt brothers each time. Jon Woolfitt led all the way in the first encounter to claim victory in his Spire GTR ahead of his brother’s Lotus Exige, but only after the race was restarted following a huge five-car pile-up at the original start. Heading into Coppice bend on the first lap, the Honda Civic…

MONDELLO PARK FIESTA ZETEC Race 1 Michael Barrable Race 2 Ulick Burke FORMULA BOSS IRELAND Race 1 Paul O’Connell (Dallara World Series) Race 2 Cian Carey (Dallara F317) FIESTA ST Races 1 & 2 Alex Denning FORMULA VEE Race 1 Anthony Cross (Sheane) Race 2 Gavin Buckley (Sheane) STRYKERS Races 1 & 2 David Reynolds FUTURE CLASSICS Race 1 Pat Masterson (Toyota MR2) Race 2 Richard Shattock (Honda Civic) LEGENDS Races 1 & 2 Geoff Richardson (above) Race 3 James Holman Races 4 & 6 Jamie Moylan Race 5 Peter Barrable GINETTA JUNIOR IRELAND Races 1 & 2 Jack Byrne SEAT SUPERCUP IRELAND Race 1 Barry English Race 2 Neil Tohill For full results visit: timing.ie KIRKISTOWN NORTHERN IRELAND FF1600 Race 1 David Parks (Ray GR07) Race 2 David McCullough…