Indholdsfortegnelse for 22/10/20 i Autosport

Kimi Raikkonen has been one of the most popular Formula 1 drivers of the past two decades. Amid the sport’s PR and politics his irreverent personality can be very appealing - and he is now the most experienced F1 driver ever, with 323 starts and counting. Autosport has been vocal at times about Raikkonen not always delivering on the incredible ability he demonstrated early on in his career, particularly at McLaren. We stand by the argument that Ferrari kept him for too long – witness Charles Leclerc’s almost immediate, outstanding impact with the team – but there is also no doubt that the 2007 world champion still has plenty to offer a midfield squad. Raikkonen’s experience can help Alfa Romeo try to get the best out of a less-than-perfect machine…

DTM/GT/FORMULA E Jens Marquardt is relinquishing the reins of BMW Motorsport after nearly 10 years. His tenure in the job will end next month when he takes over a new role outside of motorsport at the German manufacturer. The German, 53, became director of BMW Motorsport in 2011 ahead of the marque’s return to the DTM, after a 20-year absence, the following season. He also oversaw an expansion of its activities in the GT racing arena and an entry into Formula E. His reign yielded three DTM titles (far right), a trio of victories in the Spa 24 Hours, and a win in the Nurburgring 24 Hours this year. Marquardt forged a link-up with the Andretti FE squad ahead of the 2017-18 campaign that turned into a full works entry…

AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS The Chevrolet Camaro is coming to Australia’s Supercars series as part of the new-for-2022 Gen3 regulations. Supercars formally unveiled its Gen3 concept last week, with ‘hybrid-ready’ versions of the Camaro and the Ford Mustang (above) locked in for 2022. According to category officials, the regulations will be an evolution of the existing platform, underpinned by more control components to help drive down costs by 30-40%. As promised, the regulations will focus on two-door body shapes, a licensing agreement with General Motors paving the way for the Camaro to replace the Holden Commodore, while the factory-backed Ford Mustang will undergo a Gen3 transformation. Talks to secure IP agreements with other manufacturers are under way. Thanks to the 100mm lower rollhoop and 100mm wider track, the cars will better represent…

Hamilton has already exceeded the record We are seeing a lot of plaudits for Lewis Hamilton equalling Michael Schumacher’s wins record, but he has really already exceeded it. If the Mercedes team had adopted the Ferrari model, he would already have seven championships as Nico Rosberg would not have been allowed to challenge Lewis! Also, who can forget the 2002 Austrian GP, when Rubens Barrichello had to pull over on the last lap to let MS through to win – one race he really didn’t win! There were other races that he was ‘given’ rather than ‘won’. With regard to the best driver ever, it can only be the greatest of a given era. Anything else is meaningless. I am of an age when I can remember your first issues,…

The history of the most Formula 1 World Championship race starts record goes back, rather obviously, to the first race of the inaugural season in 1950. Given its frequent swapping during the championship’s infancy, where the record was often held by several drivers on low totals, we are charting its progression since the first major milestone: 50 races. The first driver to reach this mark had actually officially been F1’s most experienced driver for three years by this point, as Juan Manuel Fangio had held the accolade since his 34th start. But he reached 50 at the 1958 season opener: the Argentinian Grand Prix. He took the record to 51, with his last F1 start at that season’s French GP, before he was joined on that number by Maurice Trintignant at the…

A curious cross between futuristic street-rod – it was road registered – and race car, the tubeframe Mahrya is one for connoisseurs of the obscure. An American one-off of the early 1960s, it is linked with fabricator Bob McKee, who made eponymous USRRC, Can-Am and F5000 machinery in Chicago, yet little is known of its competition history. Apparently raced by Floyd Sable and ‘Salt’ Walther, the Chevrolet-powered device is more notable for its paint job by custom car legend George Barris of Pink Panther and Batmobile fame. Former FIA Historic F1 champion Greg Thornton piloted it to 10th in Saturday’s Whitsun Trophy race.…

Scott McLaughlin finished a somewhat quiet fifth in what may have been his final race as a Supercars full-timer. The Kiwi arrived at Bathurst as the red-hot favourite to repeat his 2019 Mount Panorama win, with the 2020 title safely in his pocket and the rapid Tim Slade as his co-driver. There were flashes of speed in the build-up, too. But when McLaughlin, the Shootout king, fell four tenths to the bad of Cam Waters in Saturday’s single-lap dash, it was clear that his wasn’t the fastest car in the race. Starting from the outside of the front row, DJR Team Penske elected to put McLaughlin in the Ford Mustang for the first stint. The decision was likely a side-effect of the pandemic, which had severely limited Slade’s test laps…

NASCAR CUP KANSAS SPEEDWAY (USA) 18 OCTOBER ROUND 33/36 Since he started fighting at the head of the NASCAR Cup field for wins and titles, Joey Logano has earned himself an unfortunate reputation as a bit of blocker, always placing his Team Penske Ford Mustang just in the right place to advance his cause and hinder that of his rivals. That is exactly what he did in the first race of the playoff semi-finals to fend off an intense challenge from Kevin Harvick and lock himself into next month’s championship-deciding race at Phoenix. A Tyler Reddick wallstrike brought out the caution on lap 221 of 267, meaning the cars made a final visit to the pits for fresh Goodyears. Swift work from the Penske crew allowed Logano to jump leader…

500MRCI The final 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland meeting of the season at Kirkistown was curtailed after qualifying last weekend amid confusion over tighter coronavirus restrictions from the Northern Irish government. First Minister Arlene Foster announced tough new restrictions last week that included the closure of the hospitality sector, and the October school half-term being extended to a fortnight. But the initial guidance stated that outdoor sports would be allowed to continue, and Kirkistown organisers pressed on with planning Saturday’s one-day meeting, which was due to close the season. The first five qualifying sessions took place as scheduled on Saturday morning before the event was abandoned at 1030. Officials at the meeting received word of even tighter rules concerning sporting events that do not involve ‘elite athletes’ from the…

TOURING CAR TROPHY British Touring Car Championship driver Sam Osborne headed a group of newcomers to the Touring Car Trophy and Volkswagen Cup at Donington Park last weekend. Driving the Power Maxed Racing Cupra TCR previously occupied by Trade Price Cars boss Dan Kirby, Osborne qualified third. He set the fastest lap in the first two races and was in contention for victory in both before suffering driveshaft failures. A broken engine mount meant he retired from race three on the green-flag lap. “It was just something to get a bit of seat time in between here and Snetterton [BTCC this weekend],” said Osborne (below). Also joining the TCT field were VW Cup racers Mark Wakefield (Cupra TCR) and Jeff Alden (Honda Civic TCR). Wakefield took two fifth places before…

FORD FIESTAS The British Racing & Sports Car Club’s Fiesta Championship is set to be revamped next year with the introduction of an uprated version of the Fiesta Mk7. The ST Turbo will produce 250bhp from its 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine, over 100bhp more than the current Zetec S Mk7 used in the championship, bringing its performance and lap times close to that of a Renault UK Clio Cup car. The new car also features 17-inch wheels and bigger brakes as well as a new ECU, uprated gearbox and Milltek exhaust. Extensive testing has included several race outings in the category’s invitational class as well as the Clubsport Trophy, which was won by an ST Turbo in Jessica Hawkins’s hands at Donington Park last weekend. “Either converted from a Zetec S…

The Vanwall name is set to return to motorsport with the announcement that six continuation cars will be built, recreating the machine that won the inaugural Formula 1 constructors’ title in 1958 with drivers Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks. The original Vanwall team stopped racing in 1961. Offshore powerboat racing champion Iain Sanderson bought the naming rights from automotive parts supplier Mahle in 2012, and the company is now listed as the Vanwall Group. It is planned that five of the six continuation cars, built by eminent historic race car restorer and preparer Hall and Hall, will be offered for sale for £1.65million plus VAT. Sanderson said: “The Vanwall name is too important to consign to history.”…

SILVERSTONE HSCC 17-18 OCTOBER Championships were concluded and new winners crowned at Silverstone in a fast-moving procession of clean, celebratory races at the Historic Sports Car Club’s Finals meeting. Luke Stevens secured an emotional victory in the Guards Trophy. George Douglas, owner of the winning Ginetta G16, had allowed his younger – and faster – co-driver to run the whole race, and Stevens handed his trophy to an overcome Douglas at the end. Stevens had capitalised on a first-lap spin by polesitter Robert Tusting’s Lenham P69. Both Stevens and second-placed Andy Newall (Chevron B6) timed their pitstops perfectly to stay ahead of the chasing pack. James Dodd, in another G16, was closing on Newall but did not have time to make a move, his father and co-driver Graeme admitting he…

BIKESPORTS Race 1 Charles Hall (Spire GT3) Race 2 Martin Brooks (Radical PR6) F1000 Races 1 & 2 Robert Welham Race 3 Lee Morgan SPORTS 1000 Race 1 Ryan Yarrow (Spire GT3S) Race 2 Rich Miles (Spire GT3) ROADSPORTS Hugh Gurney (BMW E46 M3) BMW CAR CLUB Race 1 Stephen Scott-Dunwoodie (E46 M3) Race 2 Michael Cutt (E36 M3, below) 750 FORMULA Races 1 & 2 Dave Hodkin (HRD Mk2) HISTORIC 750 FORMULA Scratch Christian Pedersen (Austin 7) Handicap Simon Gallon (Austin 7) HOT HATCH Races 1 & 2 Gary Prebble (Honda Civic) CLUB ENDURO Rob Baker/Carl Swift (SEAT Leon Eurocup) For full results visit: 750mc.co.uk…

OULTON PARK FUN CUP Team Axiametrics (Chris Dovell/Kristian Rose/Riley Phillips) PRODUCTION GTIs Race 1 Martyn Walsh Race 2 Simon Hill ST-XR CHALLENGE Races 1 & 2 William Heslop (ST) SUPERKARTS UK Races 1 & 2 Liam Morley (Anderson VM) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com KNOCKHILL FORMULA FORD 1600 Race 1 Jordan Gronkowski (Van Diemen JL012K) David Leslie Trophy Logan Hannah (Ray GR15) SCOTTISH LEGENDS Races 1 & 2 Steven McGill (below) Race 3 Stewart Black NORTHERN SALOONS & SPORTSCARS Races 1 & 2 Jon Woolfitt (Spire GTR) Race 3 Gary Bowers (BMW M135) For full results visit: speedhive.mylaps.com…

INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORT Portuguese Grand Prix F1 World Championship Round 12/17 Algarve Circuit, Portugal 25 October TV Live Sky Sports F1, Sunday 1305 TV Highlights Channel 4, Sun 1830, Sky Sports F1, 2200 IndyCar Round 9/9 St Petersburg, USA 25 October TV Live Sky Sports F1, Sunday 1830 Spa 24 Hours Intercontinental GT Challenge, GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Round 3/4 Spa, Belgium 24-25 October TV Live Sky Sports F1, Sat 1530, 2130, Sun 0600, 1630 Livestream on Motorsport.tv, Thurs 1415, 1755, 1930, Fri 1720, Sat 1400 TCR Europe Series Round 5/6 Spa, Belgium 23-24 October Livestream on Motorsport.tv, Fri 1540, Sat 1040 Formula Renault Eurocup Round 7/10 Spa, Belgium 23-24 October Super GT Round 6/8 Suzuka, Japan 25 October NASCAR Cup Round 34/36 Texas Motor Speedway, USA 25 October…

“Our engine can be good for four more years,”Honda’s Yamamoto tells Marko FORMULA 1 Red Bull could take on Honda’s engine project after the Japanese manufacturer’s exit from Formula 1 at the end of 2021, if its rivals agree to a development freeze. Honda announced last month that it would be quitting F1 at the end of next season, leaving Red Bull and sister team AlphaTauri in search of a new engine supplier for 2022 and beyond. With Mercedes already ruling out a potential link-up with Red Bull, the options seem limited as only Ferrari and the team’s former partner Renault are alternative power-unit suppliers. But Red Bull F1 advisor Helmut Marko has confirmed that the team could stick with the Honda engine. “We would favour, provided the talks with…

FORMULA E/INDYCAR Antonio Felix da Costa’s air miles took a sizeable hit when the pandemic resulted in him visiting seven fewer countries than originally planned on his way to winning the 2019-20 Formula E title. But he’s been racking up the loyalty points again this month by flying between the US and his native Portugal. His trip Stateside was for a seat-fit at Rahal Lanigan Letterman Racing, as da Costa has been called up by the team for his first IndyCar test. He will drive one of the squad’s Honda-powered Dallaras – usually occupied by Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato – at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on 2 November. “I have never hidden the fact that it’s a big dream of mine to come try out an IndyCar,” said…

MOTOGP Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi has been forced out of at least two MotoGP rounds with Yamaha after becoming the first rider to test positive for COVID-19. Rossi felt unwell at his home in Italy last Thursday morning and underwent a quick PCR test, which came back negative, but a second test returned positive. It forced him out of last weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix and the follow-up Teruel GP, which will also take place at the Motorland track. He will not be back until the European GP at Valencia on 8 November at the earliest. Ahead of the previous weekend’s French GP at Le Mans, six members of Yamaha’s technical staff were forced to self-isolate in Andorra after one of them caught the virus. “I am sad and angry…

LENGTH 2.891 miles NUMBER OF LAPS 66 2019 POLE POSITION n/a POLE LAP RECORD n/a RACE LAP RECORD n/a UK START TIMES Friday 23 October FP1 1100 FP2 1500 Saturday 24 October FP3 1100 QUALIFYING 1400 Sunday 25 October RACE 1310 CATCH THE RACE LIVE SKY SPORTS F1 BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA HIGHLIGHTS CHANNEL 4 1830 TYRE ALLOCATION CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS DRIVERS CONSTRUCTORS RACE STATS PREVIOUS WINNERS BEST ALGARVE RESULTS FOR 2020 F1 DRIVERS…

Does Kimi Raikkonen care about any of the above? OF COURSE HE DOESN’T. Raikkonen, the Iceman, has made a career out of not caring. It’s his niche, what makes him a cult hero (a status perhaps aided by his world title triumph being 13 years ago). He’s a driver who says what he thinks, if anything, and doesn’t care if anyone is listening. But this is the thing – Raikkonen has just become F1’s most experienced driver of all time. Even if motorsport wasn’t naturally geared towards statistical salivation, the list of names to have held that accolade is impressive (see panel, p25). To name but a few: Juan Manuel Fangio, Graham Hill… now Raikkonen. Ahead of him clinching the record for world championship grand prix starts, Autosport got the…

The 2020 Formula 1 season has been significantly less bountiful than last year for Alfa Romeo. The Sauber-run team, as with Haas and the works Ferrari squad, is severely undermined by an engine-power deficit. Remarkably, Alfa is holding on to the eighth place in the constructors’ championship that it secured last season, despite taking only three points finishes so far. The real indicator of its lack of results in the current campaign, however, is its points tally, which is currently five, 57 down on its 2019 total. Both Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi have taken a ninth place apiece, with those two results coming in the season’s two chaotic races: the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix and the Tuscan GP at Mugello. In the former, Raikkonen shed a wheel at the…

LOTTERER ENDS LISTER’S WAIT “I owe it all to Andre Lotterer,” smiled Fred Wakeman after the German’s extraordinary pace had cemented his unique Lister-Jaguar coupe’s maiden victory in Goodwood’s RAC Tourist Trophy Celebration. Fellow Le Mans winners – Andy Wallace (third in 2004), Richard Attwood and Tom Kristensen (fifth, 2012 and 2015) and Benoit Treluyer (third last year) – had tried, but Anthony Reid – third at the Circuit de la Sarthe in 1990 – had come closest with seconds in 2008 and 2013, partnered by Justin Law and Chris Harris respectively. The Frank Costin-designed spaceframe Lister was rebodied for Peters Lumsden and Sargent’s 1963 Le Mans assault. Lotterer’s stunning 1m24.735s best in the 3.8-litre straight-six-engined aerodyne secured pole. With the 4.7-litre Ford V8-powered TVR Griffith of Mike Whitaker/Mike Jordan…

There were few moments as shocking in the 2020 Bathurst 1000 as when Jamie Whincup clouted the wall at The Cutting in his Triple Eight-run Holden. Whincup found himself doing battle for fourth spot with Brodie Kostecki shortly after the first round of stops, the Erebus Holden driver no pushover as he defended the early progress of co-driver Anton De Pasquale. On lap 33, Whincup looked to have finally got the job done. He swept around the outside of Kostecki into The Cutting. But, trying to give him plenty of room, he strayed too far off the clean line, sending Whincup into the wall and putting him and Craig Lowndes out of the race. “Obviously Brodie was making it pretty difficult out there – that’s not his fault, he’s entitled…

SUPER FORMULA SUGO (JPN) 18 OCTOBER ROUND 3/7 Reigning Super Formula champion Nick Cassidy claimed his first win of the season at Sugo with a pair of bold overtakes on his two nearest rivals. TOM’S Toyota racer Cassidy ran third behind Ryo Hirakawa and Naoki Yamamoto when a safety car period was triggered by a crash for debutant Sergio Sette Camara. Having missed the opening two rounds due to travel restrictions, Sette Camara bagged a surprise pole for the B-Max team, but lost the lead at the start to front-row rival Hirakawa into Turn 1. Sette Camara initially kept up with Hirakawa, but later faded to the point where he was passed by both Yamamoto and Cassidy on the same lap before pitting on lap 18 of 53. The Brazilian…

DTM ZOLDER (BEL) 17-18 OCTOBER ROUND 8/9 Rene Rast tilted the DTM title battle in his favour with a pair of commanding victories in the penultimate round of the season at Zolder. Having already slashed Nico Muller’s 47-point advantage to just 10 with a double win at the same venue the previous weekend, two-time champion Rast completed another clean sweep of victories to take a 19-point lead in the championship heading into the season finale at Hockenheim next month. During the first part of the weekend, Rast underlined his one-lap pace by qualifying his Team Rosberg Audi on pole position, putting himself well clear of title rivals Muller and Robin Frijns on the grid. The latter chased him hard after the pitstops, but a mistake at Turn 2 allowed the…

HISTORICS Brothers Dario and Marino Franchitti finished ninth and 11th, less than eight seconds apart, in last weekend’s Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy Celebration at Goodwood’s SpeedWeek driving sister ex-works AC Cobra Le Mans coupes – in subsequent John Willment Automotive liveries – with owners Gregor Fisken and Shaun Lynn respectively. Fisken’s car CSX2131 finished seventh on its race debut in the 1963 24 Hours, in the hands of Ninian Sanderson and Peter Bolton. The team was managed by Stirling Moss, recovering from his Goodwood Formula 1 crash the previous year. The car was sold to Willment, for whose team Jack Sears won the British GP-supporting Ilford Trophy race at Brands Hatch and finished fourth in the 1964 TT at Goodwood. Lynn’s sister car CSX2130 was retired at Le Mans…

FORMULA FORD 1600 Jordan Dempsey is set to return to racing in this weekend’s Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch with Kevin Mills Racing, and will also go for a second successive Walter Hayes Trophy win at Silverstone. The 20-year-old, who claimed the 2018 Chinese F4 Championship and two podiums in Asian F3 last season, has not raced since his victory at Silverstone last year and has not driven a car since he attended the BRDC British F3 media day at Snetterton in March with Chris Dittmann Racing. Plans to compete in British F3 or head to North America and race in USF2000 were put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Dempsey is still eyeing victory at the Festival and WHT, which take place on consecutive weekends. “There…

GOODWOOD SPEEDWEEK Volkswagen withdrew its ID.R all-electric prototype from last weekend’s Goodwood SpeedWeek event just two days beforehand, due to the accelerated COVID-19 infection rate across the UK and Europe. The 670bhp ID.R time trial car, which borrows technology from Formula E, holds the outright Pikes Peak hillclimb and electric Nurburgring Nordschleife lap records, and was due to take part in Sunday’s shootout event. VW had targeted adding the fastest recorded lap of Goodwood to its unofficial hillclimb record from 2019. But a statement from the manufacturer explained that Volkswagen was acting so as not to “compromise the health of its employees”. It continued: “The background to this decision is the infection rate of the coronavirus, which has accelerated dramatically over the past few days – not only in England,…

Having provided packed grids of incredibly close racing for many years, Caterham’s championship ladder entered a new era in 2020. Its flagship category for the 420R model was granted official British championship status, taking on the moniker of Seven Championship UK. That was, of course, before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the economic landscape. Entries were hit as some drivers found budgets squeezed or were forced to reappraise their priorities. However, even that was turned into a positive by the manufacturer. While many club-level championships have been contested over only three or perhaps four meetings this year, by pragmatically pairing grids for Seven UK with the second-string 310R category, and the 270R and Roadsport divisions, Caterham has been able to weather the storm and provide its driver-base with five events. “If…

OULTON PARK BRSCC 17 OCTOBER The Axiametrics trio of Chris Dovell, Kristian Rose and Riley Phillips were crowned 2020 Fun Cup champions at Oulton Park, after Phillips snatched the lead from Make Happen Racing’s Chris Walton through Cascades with only four laps left after almost four hours of racing. Walton’s co-driver Harry Mailer had a huge lead in his opening stint, and restored the team’s advantage in his final shift too, after surging ahead of the duelling Phillips and EDF’s Graham Roberts. When Mailer made his last stop, the pressure was on Walton to hold off Phillips and Jay Shepherd/Ed Worthington’s Team 7 WASPP car and, although Phillips pounced, Walton succeeded in retaining second for his first podium. Martin Byford was teamed with Roberts and had numerous late place swaps…

BOOK REVIEW ROFGO COLLECTION RRP £75 Roald Goethe’s fleet of Gulf-liveried racing cars covers evocative marques such as Aston Martin, Audi, Ford, McLaren, Porsche, Tyrrell and more. The ROFGO Collection, as it is known, has been lovingly documented in a new book written by esteemed motorsport historian Doug Nye, who tells the history of the wide variety of machines from Formula 1 to Can-Am, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indianapolis 500 that all have the classic blue-and-orange paint scheme in common. Goethe, a German enthusiast who raced at Le Mans three times between 2011 and 2015, started his collection with the ex-John Wyer Automotive Ford GT40 chassis #1084. It soon snowballed with the help of classic car entrepreneur Adrian Hamilton. Among its number are hits like the Porsche…

Ayrton Senna sits in the cockpit while the needs of his actively-sprung Lotus-Honda 99T are attended to ahead of the 1987 Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. Qualifying and race-finish stats of fifth and fifth might have pointed to a workaday performance from any other driver, but of course it was far from that. After a brilliant start in which he speared past both Ferraris, Senna spent the majority of the race conducting an implacable defence of third and then second place, before the decision to run the full distance on the same set of Goodyears came back to bite him and he dropped down the order. For classic motorsport DVDs head to dukevideo.com For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

FORMULA 1 Star FIA Formula 2 rookie Yuki Tsunoda will complete his maiden Formula 1 test at Imola next month with AlphaTauri amid growing chances of a move to the team for 2021. Honda-backed Tsunoda has been part of Red Bull’s junior programme since 2018, and currently sits third in the F2 standings with Carlin. He needs a top-five finish to secure an FIA superlicence. Tsunoda underwent a seat-fitting in Faenza last week in a 2018 Toro Rosso that he will test at Imola on 4 November. Drivers are required to complete 300km in F1 machinery as part of the process to gain a superlicence, as well as before making any free practice appearances. Tsunoda is considered the strong favourite to replace Daniil Kvyat at AlphaTauri next season, with Honda’s…

INDYCAR SERIES IndyCar Series racer Felix Rosenqvist is set to leave Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of this season to partner Pato O’Ward at the Arrow McLaren SP team in 2021. Multiple sources have confirmed to Autosport that the Swede is on the move from Ganassi, where he made his IndyCar debut in March 2019 at St Petersburg. He is set to replace Oliver Askew, who it was announced last week will not be remaining with Arrow McLaren SP. Rosenqvist has shone on several occasions over his two seasons with Chip Ganassi’s team, starting with his debut race where he qualified third, ahead of team leader Scott Dixon, and led 31 laps before coming home fourth. He took his first pole at the Indianapolis road course, scored two second…

WORLD RALLYCROSS The FIA has launched a tender process to find a new promoter for the World Rallycross Championship in the wake of current commercial rights holder IMG’s decision to step away from the series at the end of the current season. The governing body has committed to the future of the discipline, and is still focused on a switch to electric cars in WRX’s top tier in 2022. The plans had to be revised after manufacturers withdrew from the sport in 2018, while the new electric technical regulations, based around fitting Kreisel-developed electric powertrain kits to current Supercar-style machines, have been postponed by 12 months from the original 2021 start date due to coronavirus-related delays. Reigning champion Timmy Hansen (Peugeot 208, right) and two-time title winner Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen…

EUROFORMULA OPEN BRDC British Formula 3 Championship title contender Louis Foster made a winning debut in Euroformula Open at Spa last weekend on Double R Racing’s return to the series. Foster and team-mate Benjamin Pedersen, who are both competing for Double R in British F3, turned out at the Belgian track after the team missed the previous round at Mugello due to regular driver Ayrton Simmons running short of budget. Foster won the second of the three races, despite only completing six laps across Friday’s trio of free practice sessions. He crashed at Pif-Paf in the first period, and mechanical problems as a knock-on effect of this sidelined him from most of the rest of the day. After finishing seventh in the opening race, Foster was lying third in the…

For lap after lap in the Eifel Grand Prix, it was the same story: the two Mercedes cars shot past Autosport’s media centre vantage point parallel to the pit straight, chased relentlessly by a single rival. Of course, Valtteri Bottas’s off-track mistake and then MGU-H-induced retirement ended the metronomic feeling to the opening phase of Formula 1’s most recent race, but Max Verstappen’s determined pursuit did not change. He hustled his Red Bull RB16 after Lewis Hamilton for the rest of the race, in a different pace league to the rest. It has basically been the same story all year, save for the power issues that struck Verstappen twice in Italy, taking him out of an already unlikely title challenge, although it should be noted that his Monza weekend had…

We all know how the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way we work – and motorsport journalism is no different. For months after the aborted Australian Grand Prix, interviews with Formula 1 personnel were limited to phone and video calls, with face-to-face interaction banned even when racing resumed at the new season opener in Austria. That changed from the Belgian GP, when the strict COVID-secure protocols enacted by the FIA and F1 altered fractionally to include a ‘mixed-zone’ meeting area (strictly by appointment only, with masks mandatory at all times, in a room away from the paddock). And it just so happened that Autosport’s first ‘normal’ interview was with Kimi Raikkonen – famously frustrated by the media… Here’s how we got on. After having to call for assistance in getting…

GOODWOOD MARKS F1’S 70TH Goodwood was used for Formula 1 testing into the 1980s, where this reporter timed Nelson Piquet cutting 63-second laps in a Brabham-Cosworth BT49. He probably went quicker. Seeing F1 missiles of subsequent eras unleashed in F1’s 70th Anniversary features bombarded the senses of those on campus, and gave a strong flavour of the hallowed place to racing fans watching online. Esteban Gutierrez screaming a 2017 Mercedes round at unprecedented speeds opened eyes as the W08’s skid blocks threw sparks, with Marc Gene’s 2009 Ferrari chasing. Ayrton Senna’s 1991 McLaren-Honda MP4/6 generated fervour with Ben Barnicoat up, as did Jenson Button’s 2009 championship-winning Brawn, Martin Brundle’s Sunday drive. Pedro Piquet’s flame-outs in father Nelson’s 1983 title-winning Brabham-BMW BT52 turbocar were spectacular too. Emerson Fittipaldi was reunited with…

The factory Holden era came to a fitting end at Mount Panorama, with Shane van 1000 victory. There wasn’t much in the build-up that suggested their Triple Eight Holden Racing Team Commodore would lead more than 100 laps and win the race. Van Gisbergen and Tander didn’t have any specific problems through practice and qualifying – apart from an awkward moment when Tim Slade turned in on van Gisbergen in the first practice session – but there just seemed to be a small deficit to the outright pace. For the most part everybody was chasing the pacesetting Tickford Ford Mustang from Thursday to Saturday. Cam Waters and Will Davison topped four of the seven practice sessions, while Waters could well have challenged teammate Lee Holdsworth for provisional pole had it…

PETIT LE MANS IMSA SPORTSCAR ROAD ATLANTA (USA) 17 OCTOBER ROUND 9/11 Wayne Taylor Racing scored its third Petit Le Mans win in seven years in a remarkable race in which the regular line-up of Renger van der Zande and Ryan Briscoe, assisted by five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, pounced on a late-race collision between the leaders to swoop past for victory. The latest triumph came despite the adversity of a couple of off-course excursions for Briscoe and a failing alternator causing the Cadillac DPi-V.R’s battery to die while van der Zande was at the wheel, during the antepenultimate round of the 2020 IMSA SportsCar season. Although the turbocharged Acura Team Penske ARX-05s and Mazda RT24-Ps appeared faster than the normally aspirated Cadillacs in practice and qualifying around the 2.54-mile…

WTCR HUNGARORING (HUN) 18 OCTOBER ROUND 4/6 Esteban Guerrieri propelled himself into contention for the World Touring Car Cup with a double victory at the Hungaroring last Sunday, as points leader Yann Ehrlacher won the reversed-grid race. Argentinian Guerrieri rose from fifth in the standings to second after a mammoth haul of 69 points, thanks to a brace of pole positions and race wins, plus a seventh place in race two. That leaves the Munnich Motorsport Honda driver just 22 points behind Cyan Racing’s Ehrlacher with two rounds – six races – to go. Guerrieri was chased hard all the way by Ehrlacher’s Lynk & Co in the first race, as dry weather finally blessed the Hungaroring after a solid day of rain on Saturday. Remarkably, Nestor Girolami scored a…

MOTOGP MOTORLAND ARAGON (ESP) 18 OCTOBER ROUND 10/14 The pendulum swings in the 2020 MotoGP title battle have been so dramatic that any prediction becomes almost totally irrelevant within a day. All weekend at Motorland Aragon, Yamaha looked the strongest – the M1’s ability to instantly switch on the tyres giving its riders a huge leg-up in the cooler conditions. A third top-flight victory Alex for Rins wasn’t on the radar. After its bikes topped every practice session, come Saturday afternoon few would have bet against a Yamaha rider taking to the top step. However, it never looked like that person would be Fabio Quartararo. The Petronas SRT rider suffered two bruising crashes on Friday and Saturday, the latter leaving him hobbling on a crutch after knocking his hip quite…

GINETTA GT4 SUPERCUP Trackday Championship frontrunner Luke Reade is set to contest the final two events of the Ginetta GT4 Supercup season ahead of a planned full campaign next year. Reade has been a winner in the MotorSport Vision Trackdays-run series this season in a BMW 130i run by Graves Motorsport, and it is this team with which the former Mini Challenge racer will step up to the Ginetta category. “When we were talking, the main aim was to do a full season in 2021 and we got a bit excited and we thought, ‘Let’s dip our toe in and do the last two rounds,’” said Reade. “We’re not going there to make the numbers up but we’re also not chasing anything. I’m with a new team to Supercup so…

MAZDA MX-5 SUPERCUP Mazda MX-5 racer Will Blackwell-Chambers will move up to the British Racing & Sports Car Club’s MX-5 Supercup category full-time next season, and is due to make his debut in the final round at Brands Hatch this weekend. The 25-year-old won back-to-back Mazda MX-5 Championship titles in 2017 and 2018, before finishing as runner-up last year. He sits third in this season’s standings aboard his Mk1. “It’s a step up but an affordable step up and logical progression – we’ve not really got the money to go up into Ginettas or something else,” he said. “The Mk1, while being good fun, has started to feel a bit stale. I started racing them in 2012, so eight years and a new championship is in order. With us not…

BRITISH F3’S 2021 CALENDAR The 2021 BRDC British F3 provisional calendar has been announced, consisting of its usual eight events, seven of which will be in support of British GT. The season begins on the traditional Easter weekend at Oulton Park (3-5 April), with further visits to Snetterton, Brands Hatch, Silverstone (twice) and Donington Park (twice) planned, as well as a return to Spa. Twenty-eight races are due to take place over a mix of quadruple and triple-header weekends. NASTY CATERHAM CRASH Caterham Roadsport racer David Morgan was taken to hospital with burns to his hands after an accident in qualifying at Donington Park last weekend. Morgan spun on the Craner Curves and his car was collected heavily by Oliver Smith, splitting its fuel tank and causing a fire. Morgan’s…

Billed as unique, Goodwood SpeedWeek was an event like no other in the venue’s distinguished history, a three-into-one made-for-live-streaming mix of the best elements of the Festival of Speed, Revival and Members’ Meeting events that have underpinned the Dukes of Richmond and Gordon’s estate since 1993, 1998 and 2014 respectively, alongside its 218-year horse racing tradition atop The Trundle, towering majestically over the motor circuit’s Woodcote corner. Desperate times call for drastic measures. The coronavirus pandemic’s slipstream gave everybody who strove to make the concept succeed a bumpy ride, particularly since COVID-19’s comeback threatened to torpedo it with even greater financial consequences. This was for the faithful: sponsors, competitors, Goodwood Supporters’ Association, Road Racing Club and Fellowship members, and brand fans globally. It was imperative that the concept delivered. The…

DONINGTON PARK BRSCC 17-18 OCTOBER The Touring Car Trophy championship battle went down to the wire at Donington Park as Henry Neal prevailed over season-long rival Lewis Kent. The pair had matched each other’s results going into the weekend, with Neal, son of triple British Touring Car champion Matt, marginally ahead thanks to his better qualifying scores. Kent hit back by putting his Hyundai i30N on pole position for race one of the series’ first triple-header but, from the outside of the front row, Neal overcame his ex-BTCC Honda Civic’s startline Achilles’ heel to lead – twice, after a first-corner accident led to a restarted race – following the early skirmishes. From there he drove to an 11-second win as Kent was forced to battle with the Cupras of Max…

SNETTERTON 750MC 17-18 OCTOBER The first Bikesports race of the championship showdown proved to be a duel of tyre strategy on the damp-but-drying Snetterton surface. Charles Hall qualified on pole using brand-new wet Michelins on his Spire GT3, but had opted for slicks come the race just 90 minutes later, while Anthony Ayres started beside him with wets on his Radical SR3. The wets seemed to be the optimum choice initially as Ayres slithered into the lead on the exit of Wilson on the first lap. The pair scrapped for the next tour, Hall making the most of the speed on the Senna Straight before Ayres snatched the place back with the better grip in the sodden Riches right-hander. But, after Hall’s tyres warmed up, he made the same pass…

KNOCKHILL KMSC 18 OCTOBER Logan Hannah claimed her maiden Scottish Formula Ford 1600 victory in spectacular style last weekend, winning the David Leslie Trophy after a race-long battle with reigning champion Jordan Gronkowski. The Graham Brunton Racing Ray driver started from the front row of the grid following a second-placed finish in race one, and set a number of fastest laps throughout the 10-lap affair. Gronkowski, who won the opening encounter by a whopping 13 seconds, led initially but was passed by Hannah around the outside of Duffus on the third lap. But, two laps later, Hannah had a “big moment exiting Clark’s”, allowing Gronkowski to seize back the lead at the Hairpin. The Van Diemen maintained a slender half-second margin over the Ray before Hannah reclaimed the lead once…