Indholdsfortegnelse for 22/04/21 i Autosport

For a sport that often gets criticised for being boring and predictable, Formula 1 has thrown up some brilliant contests in recent months. The Italian, Tuscan, Turkish and Sakhir Grands Prix last year all had their fair share of drama and intrigue, and last weekend’s Emilia Romagna race at Imola continued the trend. Yes, a wet track normally does shake things up and creates exciting moments, but even before it lined up in Italy the grid looked intriguing. How would Red Bull play its cards now that it finally had two cars at the front? Could Lewis Hamilton pull off another miracle and defeat the faster RB16Bs? Who would top the tight midfield scrap? The rain added extra challenges and chaos to the event, and most drivers made an error…

FORMULA 1 The Turkish Grand Prix is tipped to rejoin the Formula 1 calendar this season with the likely cancellation for the second year running of the Canadian GP in Montreal. While the COVID-19 pandemic forced last year’s Canadian race to be scrapped, officials remained hopeful of bringing F1 back to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for 11-13 June. But reports in Canada last week claimed that the decision had been taken to cancel the event, amid concerns over the risks associated with F1 visitors mixing with local circuit staff and volunteers. Tight restrictions are currently in place in Canada, requiring those arriving in the country to quarantine. F1 has been in talks with the government over exemptions for those entering Canada for the race, hoping to gain a break that…

FORMULA 1 Aston Martin is seeking clarity from the FIA over the process behind its Formula 1 aero rule tweaks for 2021 amid frustration over its low-rake-concept struggles. The downforce cuts made by the FIA for 2021 on safety grounds appear to have hurt teams running low-rake cars more than their rivals, with Mercedes and Aston Martin losing out in particular. Aston Martin team boss Otmar Szafnauer (right, below) vented his frustration over the rule changes at the Bahrain Grand Prix, but went a step further last weekend at Imola when he questioned whether it was right for the FIA to push the floor changes through on safety grounds, and whether the F1 organisation should be involved in the regulatory process. “The right thing to do is to have the…

WORLD TOURING CAR CUP Four-time World Touring Car Championship race winner Jordi Gene is to return to the arena after a decade away this season in the World Touring Car Cup. The 50-year-old Gene, older brother of ex-Formula 1 racer Marc, will represent the official Cupra Leon Competicion line-up alongside up-and-coming Spanish star Mikel Azcona, who is 26 years his junior. Gene (above) was a staple of the works SEAT team during the heyday of the WTCC from 2005-10, and scored a best championship finish of eighth. He had already been named with Azcona as representing SEAT sub-marque Cupra in the new electric Pure ETCR series, and now joins the WTCR squad run by Hungarian team Zengo Motorsport. “I’m very excited to be back racing with Cupra and alongside a…

GT4 EUROPEAN SERIES Ginetta Junior graduate Bailey Voisin scored a double win on his senior car racing debut in the GT4 European Series at Monza last weekend in a United Autosports McLaren 570S alongside Charlie Fagg. The team entered a new partnership with HHC Motorsport for its return to GT racing this year and it brought immediate success, with the sister car of Dean Macdonald and Gus Bowers making it a 1-3 in class in the opening race. Voisin began the first contest fourth and was running third when an excellently timed pitstop around a safety car period gave Fagg the lead, which he maintained to the flag. Fagg – a two-time series race winner in 2017 – also led the early stages of race two, and Voisin reclaimed the…

There was plenty for Formula 1 fans to enjoy in last weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The absent Tifosi willing on Charles Leclerc as he delivered a near-faultless weekend. British motorsport fans enjoying Lando Norris and George Russell impressing yet again. And surely all fans erupting in relief when Russell and Valtteri Bottas were able to climb out of the wreckage of their enormous accident and engage in further theatrics in the gravel trap. There was much for the various partisan fanbases to cheer and jeer, but for the neutral there was surely no better moment than Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton going wheel-to-wheel once again for the lead, this time clashing. The pair’s first-lap Tamburello coming-together was a critical moment in the race, and just possibly the 2021 title…

Formula 1 in Formula 2 Having been present at several of the races covered in Brian Harvey’s article about Formula 1 drivers racing in Formula 2 (8 April), could I respectfully draw attention to one serious omission and one which is at the wrong end of the top 10. Whether judged on the basis of Crystal Palace alone or in combination with Mallory Park the previous day, Jochen Rindt’s performance was nothing short of sensational. You had to have seen him in Formula Junior the previous year to suspect that he was a rare talent, but to witness him deliver against two F1 world champions and a gridful of more experienced drivers in 1964 was very special. The omitted race is the 1960 Kentish 100 at Brands Hatch which Jimmy…

GT WORLD CHALLENGE ENDURANCE CUP MONZA (ITA) 18 APRIL ROUND 1/5 The Italian Dinamic Motorsport squad wasn’t among the favourites when it pitched up at Monza for its maiden appearance in what was then known as the Blancpain GT Series back in 2019. But the Porsche team pulled o_ a dramatic win in a rain-a_ ected race interrupted by multiple safety cars. Copy and paste all of the above on the championship’s return to the Autodromo last weekend. Only the series is now called the GT World Challenge Europe, and of course it wasn’t Dinamic’s debut. Christian Engelhart, Matteo Cairoli and Klaus Bachler, the only ‘survivor’ from the winning line-up in 2019, took the victory in the opening round of the Endurance Cup leg of the GTWCE. Their Porsche 911…

AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS SYMMONS PLAINS (AUS) 17-18 APRIL ROUND 3/12 Shane van Gisbergen’s remarkable winning streak came to an end at Symmons Plains as Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert opened their respective 2021 accounts. Van Gisbergen arrived in Tasmania on a six-race unbeaten run that extended back to last year’s Bathurst 1000. The Kiwi owned Saturday’s running on the compact circuit, his pole effort particularly impressive as he ended up 0.3 seconds clear in a session where the entire field was barely separated by 1s. Van Gisbergen briefly fell behind Cam Waters at the start, before reclaiming the lead and charging to a comfortable victory. That made him just the third driver to win seven straight Supercars wins, alongside Whincup and Craig Lowndes. On Sunday, Whincup ended Triple Eight Holden team-mate…

The recent 20th anniversary of Kimi Raikkonen’s Formula 1 debut was a timely reminder of the impact that the Finn made back in 2001. It was one of the sport’s great stories. A guy straight out of Formula Renault 2.0, who drove his first few grands prix with a provisional superlicence, became a regular top-six contender. He did so well that he was headhunted by McLaren, at great expense, to replace double world champion Mika Hakkinen. But what of the man who partnered Raikkonen at Sauber that year, who not only found his own strong performance overshadowed by his rookie team-mate, but had also originally been earmarked for the McLaren drive? At the time, Nick Heidfeld was the next big thing. Supported by McLaren and Mercedes from an early stage,…

BRITISH F3 Reece Ushijima will continue in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship for the 2021 season, which will be his second with Hitech GP. The 18-year-old finished 11th in the standings in his rookie season last year, with a best result of two second places, one at Donington Park and the other in a reversed-grid race at Brands Hatch. The California-born Ushijima will partner Bart Horsten, also back for his second season in British F3, and 2019 British F4 runner-up Sebastian Alvarez, who was due to appear in the championship last year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic altering his plans. Ushijima also competed with Hitech in the 2021 Asian F3 Championship, finishing 12th in the standings and third in the rookie rankings. “I’m thrilled to be back for another…

COMBER’S MA7DA MOVE One-time Locost champion and Mazda MX-5 regular Mike Comber will join the Ma7da grid this year and make occasional MX-5 Cup outings. Comber has bought a Locost from Richard Bradley and is upgrading it with the requisite Mazda engine. Michael Comber Racing will continue to field cars in the British Racing & Sports Car Club’s MX-5 Championship but Comber, who was third last year, will step down from driving. SHEPHERD’S DOUBLE PLAN Murray Shepherd is planning a full campaign in Classic Formula Ford 2000 this season in the Van Diemen RF82 of Anthony Hancock. Shepherd is the son of AC Cobra racer Andy and won the Locost title in 2020. “I hope to do a full season in both FF2000 and Locost,” said Shepherd, who has won…

NEAL TRIES RALLYCROSS Three-time British Touring Car champion Matt Neal is evaluating a foray into rallycross this year, following a test in an electric Supercar at Lydden Hill. The 54-year-old is taking a sabbatical from racing in the BTCC this year and last week tested a four-wheel-drive, 450kW Ford Fiesta ERX machine at the Kent venue. “It was pretty eye-popping,” said Neal. “It impressed me how driveable it was, and how agile the car felt – no less so than a petrol car. It’s certainly whetted my appetite and opened my eyes.” HISTORIC 750F Top Formula Ford 1600 driver John Village made a winning return to 750 Formula racing at Cadwell Park at the weekend – 46 years after last competing in it. Village’s ‘JV2’ led its very first laps…

SNETTERTON HSCC 17-18 APRIL Polesitters won 17 out of the 19 races at the Historic Sports Car Club’s season-opener on Snetterton’s 300 circuit and, while some encounters were hard-fought, only in the final event on each day was the starting advantage overturned. Benn Tilley’s Classic Formula 3 victory over fellow March driver Andy Smith on Saturday was superbly crafted and the pick on a sunny spring weekend. Smith had scythed three seconds from the lap record in race one, posting a 1m53.874s in his March 783. “I was over the limit about six times on that lap, sideways everywhere,” he grinned, as Tilley (March 743) and Tony Hancock (Lola T670) had no answer. Nonetheless, they got ahead of Smith in the second start, his suspension setting changes having cost him…

SILVERSTONE VSCC 17 APRIL The sun was shining on Silverstone for the Vintage Sports-Car Club’s Spring Start meeting and Calum Lockie basked in it as he came from the back of the grid to win the Fox & Nicholl Trophy Race. Lockie was fastest in practice but, because he was listed as a reserve, it meant he had to start from the back, as per VSCC regulations. But that didn’t deter the Delahaye 135MS driver, and he stormed through the pack, getting up to second by the fourth lap. Once there, he had to chase down Christopher Mann, who had led the race from the start, and he finally passed him for the lead on lap 11 of 12, just before Mann retired due to an issue with his Alfa…

FORMULA 1 Formula 1 has announced that the Miami Grand Prix will finally join the calendar for 2022 after receiving final approvals last week. It means that the tradition of F1 grands prix in US cities will be revived, after races in Long Beach, Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas and Phoenix from the 1970s to the 1990s (see right). Miami has been a long-sought addition to the F1 calendar since Liberty Media acquired the series in 2017 and pushed to expand its footprint in the US. Initial plans to hold a street race around the Miami port area in 2020 were quickly abandoned before attention was shifted to a location around the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins NFLteam. Despite frequent opposition from a number of local groups that…

GT2 EUROPEAN SERIES Two-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Hans Stuck was on the grid when the new-for-2021 GT2 European Series kicked off at Monza last weekend. The 70-year-old was making his first race start in four years at the wheel of one of five Reiter Engineering-developed KTM X-Bow GT2s. Three Audi R8 LMS GT2s, two of the reworked GT2-spec Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeos, a solo Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport and a Ferrari 488 Challenge competing on an invitational basis completed the 12-car field. It wasn’t a bad start, reckoned GT boss Stephane Ratel, the architect of the new category. “I never said it was going to be easy,” he said. “If I can have another two cars next time [at Hockenheim in May] and another two cars every…

SUPER FORMULA Ex-Formula 2 racers Nobuharu Matsushita and Giuliano Alesi will join the grid for this weekend’s second round of the Super Formula championship at Suzuka. While Alesi’s likelihood of standing in for TOM’S Toyota veteran Kazuki Nakajima has already been detailed in these pages, the return of Matsushita was less expected. The seven-time F2/GP2 race winner competed for B-Max in the latter half of the 2020 season as a replacement for Sergio Sette Camara, culminating in a podium finish at the Fuji finale (above). Both driver and team had been planning to extend that alliance into 2021, only for Honda to refuse to supply its former protege an engine. B-Max signed teenaged rookie Yves Baltas after that to secure its short-term future, but travel restrictions prevented the American from…

The 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix stage was set for a chess match – tense, slow-burning, unlively. The race’s final bow was a result that came via a war-zone scene – dramatic, thrilling, controversial. The teams had been aware of possible Sunday rain showers but, as ever in Formula 1, this particular crowd-pleaser wasn’t guaranteed. Yet the rain did arrive, 45 minutes before the start, and it fell in such a manner around the elongated Imola layout that it created an interesting challenge, with the lap’s first half soaking and the rest slippery-to-dry. And it was this pre-race precipitation that created the thriller, one that had five distinct phases, and the make-up of the event’s final act – Max Verstappen triumphant on the podium ahead of polesitter Lewis Hamilton –…

George Russell and Valtteri Bottas engaged in a war of words – and theatrical hand gestures – after their enormous accident halfway through the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The stewards called it a racing incident, stating “at no time did either car manoeuvre erratically”, with Russell unfortunate to “hit an especially damp patch” as he came alongside the Mercedes as the track bends left before the Tamburello braking zone. Mercedes junior Russell accosted Bottas – still in his ruined cockpit – who later claimed “I couldn’t hear what he was saying”. Bottas’s view was that he was “obviously defending my position”. He added: “I knew in that place, it’s quite tricky to overtake, so tried to make sure that I don’t make space for him, but also sure that I…

Last Sunday was a very special day for anyone involved in the Chip Ganassi Racing team, particularly those on the Honda-powered squad’s #10 car. The IndyCar Series has been going to Barber Motorsports Park since 2010, yet Ganassi had never been to victory lane. For Dario Franchitti, it had always been something of a rare bogey track, while Scott Dixon had racked up eight podium finishes but had never stood on the top step. He still hasn’t. The six-time and reigning series champion added a ninth Barber podium to his CV in the 2021 IndyCar Series season opener, but the day was stolen by his new team-mate Alex Palou. The Spanish series sophomore joined a shortlist of drivers to win on their first outing with Ganassi – the others were…

FORMULA REGIONAL EUROPEAN IMOLA (ITA) 17-18 APRIL ROUND 1/10 Gregoire Saucy leads the standings after the opening round of the newly merged Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, which supported last weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. The ART Grand Prix-run Swiss scored his very first win in cars in Sunday’s race, following up his fifth position from Saturday. That opener was led all the way from pole by Prema Powerteam’s Spanish talent David Vidales. Team-mate Paul Aron made it an all-Prema front row, but a poor start from the Estonian Mercedes F1 junior allowed Alex Quinn into second. Arden International’s Cornish talent kept the pressure on Vidales, but twice was caught napping a little at safety car restarts. A third safety car caused the race to end under…

NASCAR CUP RICHMOND (USA) 18 APRIL ROUND 9/36 Alex Bowman surprised the field and himself by grabbing the lead on a restart late in the race at Richmond and hanging on for the win. Bowman lined up third for the final restart behind Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, and startled them both by heading for the top lane and passing them to take the lead with 10 of the 400 laps to go. He managed to hold off Hamlin to nab his first NASCAR Cup win of the 2021 season and first as the new driver of Hendrick Motorsports’ #48 Chevrolet. Bowman managed to get in position to contend for the win despite a penalty for an uncontrolled tyre during the pitstop at the start of the final stage. “To…

OBITUARY Tributes have been paid to Toyota MR2 Championship stalwart Mick Nicholls, who died suddenly last week of a suspected heart attack during testing at Cadwell Park. The 71-year-old, a fixture of the MR2 category alongside son Stuart and daughter Maxine for more than 10 years, was preparing for the opening round of the season in his MR2 Roadster when he pulled off the circuit during testing on Friday. He was attended to promptly by the circuit’s medical staff and the air ambulance, but died at the scene. Nicholls began competing in the championship after his son started to race, and was ever present alongside his wife, Diane. The family’s cars were prepared by Rogue Motorsport, whose managing director Patrick Mortell is also coordinator of the MR2 Championship and had…

BARC Harry Senior and Ben Winrow were both winners in two cut-and-thrust Caterham Sigmax/Sigma 150 races as the British Automobile Racing Club season began at Oulton Park last weekend. Senior led from the start of race one, leaving Simon Griffiths and Winrow duelling for second. After Winrow had hauled their fight back onto the leader’s tail, he led into Knickerbrook on lap nine of 11. Both Senior and Griffiths found their way past again a lap later, taking the flag only 0.419 seconds apart. It was anyone from three for the majority of race two, with Senior and Griffiths alternating for the lead almost every lap. After Winrow split them on lap six, all three swapped and changed, until Winrow got a late break to seal the win. Simon Shaw…

MINI 7 RACING CLUB Former British GT champion Mike Jordan is set to join his son Andrew in competing with the Mini 7 Racing Club this season, while the Colburn family is also among the packed entry list. Andrew Jordan made a handful of appearances in the Mini Miglia series in 2020 after his drive with the BMW-backed West Surrey Racing British Touring Car squad fell through. He took two wins and enjoyed the racing, and that has encouraged his father Mike to join the Mini Se7en grid later this year. “When we first started building historic cars in 2014, it was easy for Andrew and me to do historic racing because we didn’t have many customers,” said Jordan Sr. “Since then, we’ve got busier and busier so it’s harder…

JUNIOR SALOON CARS Scottish karter Chloe Grant will step up to car racing this season after being selected as the Junior Saloon Car Championship’s scholarship driver. The 15-year-old impressed in a number of fitness, media and driving assessments at the Stafford Driving Centre last week to beat competition from 24 other drivers to secure the funded season in the JSCC. She had previously made history last year when she became the youngest person to pass their junior ARDS test in Scotland aged 13. Grant is now straight in at the deep end, with the opening JSCC event taking place at Cadwell Park this weekend. “If we didn’t win this scholarship, we most likely wouldn’t have been doing Junior Saloon Cars this year, so it’s unbelievable – I get to move…

CADWELL PARK FORMULA VEE Races 1 & 2 James Harridge (Maverick) CLIO 182 Races 1 & 2 Olly Waind HOT HATCH Races 1 & 2 Alistair Camp (Honda Civic) HISTORIC 750 FORMULA Race 1 Richard Prior (JGS III) Race 2 John Village (Village V2, above) TOYOTA MR2 Race 1 Aaron Cooke (Roadster) Race 2 Paul Cook (Mk2) ALLCOMERS PRODUCTION SPORTS & SALOON CARS Race 1 Nick Starkey (Caterham R300) Race 2 Del Shelton (BMW E36 M3) SILVERSTONE FOX & NICHOLL TROPHY RACE Calum Lockie (Delahaye 135MS) VINTAGE, PRE-WAR & PRE-1961 RACE CARS Frederick Harper (Kurtis Indy-Roadster) FISCAR & VSCC HAWTHORN INTERNATIONAL TROPHY RACE Bernardo Hartogs (Lotus 15, below) VSCC SPECIALS RACE FOR THE SILVERSTONE TROPHY Robin Tuluie (Riley Menasco Pirate) FORMULA 3 500 OWNERS ASSOCIATION Races 1 & 2 George…

Michael Schumacher checks the mirrors of his Ferrari as Jacques Villeneuve threads his Sauber through a gap in the logjam caused by the perpendicularly parked Minardi of Christijan Albers, who had spun on lap 24 of the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix. Schumacher broke his front wing after thumping into the Red Bull of David Coulthard, who’d been first to arrive on the scene and at this point was already en route to the pits and retirement. With a new wing fitted, Schumacher finished the race in seventh place. Albers got going again under the safety car and went on to finish 14th and last, five laps down. For classic Formula 1 DVDs head to dukevideo.com/f1 For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

1 LONG BEACH 1976-83 It was a world – well, a continent at least – away from Watkins Glen. The traditional home of the US Grand Prix was in leafy rural New York State, with legions of mud-encrusted spectators. But the addition of a race in the California city of Long Beach, in those days down at heel verging on seedy, was a resounding success thanks to the vision of promoter Chris Pook. Clay Regazzoni took honours for Ferrari on the first visit, and over the years to follow Long Beach was transformed for the better. The classic original layout was altered for 1982, when Niki Lauda scored the first win of his comeback year with McLaren, and again in 1983, when John Watson stormed from 22nd on the grid…

French rally ace Guerlain Chicherit has been testing his bioethanol-fuelled GCK Thunder buggy for next year’s Dakar Rally, while plans evolve for his 2023 attack: in a hydrogen-hybrid machine. Chicherit is combining his passions for environmental change and extreme motorsport while conforming with the aims of GCK (Green Corp Konnection) to compete without using fossil fuels. The 2023 weapon will be known as e-Blast H2, incorporating a highperformance fuel cell developed by GCK and global engineering giant FEV. “I’ve made no secret of my passion for Dakar and my desire to return to racing it,” said Chicherit. “The development programme – along with the work we’re doing to reduce the event’s environmental impact – makes me super-excited.”…

LE MANS CUP British Formula 4 race victor Tommy Foster won on his sportscar debut in the Le Mans Cup race at Barcelona last weekend. Foster, 19, was lying third in the RLR Msport Ligier JSP320 that had been started by Michael Benham as the two-hour race entered its closing stages, behind second-placed fellow Brit Matt Bell and leader Garett Grist. All three still had to make their second mandatory pitstop. Bell had already pitted when a full course yellow was called, and Foster took advantage to make his stop as Grist passed the pit entry. While Foster went on to victory, Grist and Rob Hodes were penalised from second down to fifth for violating the minimum pitstop time in their Team Virage Ligier. That promoted Wayne Boyd to third…

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP Rally Sweden will relocate almost 500 miles north-east from Varmland for its 2022 World Rally Championship round to a more “snowsafe” part of the country. Ostersund, Lulea and Umea were all considered as possible venues for the WRC’s regular winter event, and the last-named attracted the most support. Rally Sweden CEO Glenn Olsson said Ostersund and Lulea had both “presented strong bids” to stage the WRC counter but, following discussions with stakeholders, “Umea is a more attractive concept”. “All officials and other enthusiasts who have put in a lot of effort and commitment over the years should feel proud that we have managed to keep Sweden’s place in the World Championship,” added Olsson. The change of venue ends Varmland’s long association with the event, which was part…

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The tone of exchanges between Lewis Hamilton and Peter Bonnington after the Mercedes driver had crossed the line on his final Q3 run made it seem as though it was the first pole position for the driver/race engineer combination. Not their 73rd together, and not the 99th of Hamilton’s Formula 1 career. Their charming bewilderment at taking pole can be explained by three things. First, the Mercedes pair led the pack around the final Q3 runs, while the Red Bulls brought up the rear, which left Hamilton in the dark for three quarters of his cooldown tour. Then there’s the sense that Mercedes is just delighted to beat Red Bull’s faster package in any circumstances so far in 2021, plus the fact that Sergio Perez and, in particular, Max Verstappen…

Kimi Raikkonen lost his fine ninth place to a bizarre penalty that even the Imola event stewards didn’t seem happy with. The Finn had clumsily spun at Tamburello on the lap out of the pits for the final restart. As this is considered another formation lap “the way the regulations are worded” (said race director Michael Masi), he could have regained the two places by the first safety car line. Alfa Romeo initially instructed him to do that, then called him off when the safety car lights went out because it didn’t want to “create a safety issue in the wet conditions”, said the stewards’ report. A call to Masi couldn’t be answered because the restart was unfolding. Because Raikkonen didn’t then pit and allow all cars to pass, which…

When IndyCar’s rookie field comprises the three-time and reigning Australian Supercars champion, a NASCAR legend, and a multiple podium finisher in Formula 1, it’s inevitable that pre-season speculation will devote a lot of chatter to them. In fact, all three did about as well as could be expected and could reflect on high points of the weekend Romain Grosjean delivered brilliantly in qualifying, grabbing seventh on the grid in his Dale Coyne Racing car, less than 0.1 seconds from progressing into the Firestone Fast Six. Although he and team-mate Ed Jones weren’t in the same group of 12 in Q1, so a direct comparison can’t be made, RoGro was half a second quicker than the 2016 Indy Lights champion. Coming home 10th on race day – fifth of the two-stoppers…

EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES BARCELONA (ESP) 18 APRIL ROUND 1/6 WRT won the opening round of the 2021 European Le Mans Series in dominant fashion. Robert Kubica, Louis Deletraz and Yifei Ye impressed behind the wheel of the Belgian squad’s ORECA Gibson-07 LMP2 machine to beat a stellar field at the Barcelona circuit. Deletraz took the lead early on following a chaotic start and quickly built up a healthy lead over the 16-car LMP2 field. The Swiss racer was partly helped by an on-track incident and subsequent drivethrough penalty for the G-Drive Racing Aurus that put the polesitting car out of contention for victory. Ye took over from Deletraz at the 100-minute mark and proved too rapid to catch, the Chinese driver extending the team’s lead before fellow rookie Kubica…

MOTOGP ALGARVE CIRCUIT (PRT) 18 APRIL ROUND 3/19 The last time Yamaha won the opening three rounds of a MotoGP season was back in 2010. Things worked out quite well for the Japanese marque that year, as Jorge Lorenzo guided his M1 to the first of his three premier class titles. Whether history will repeat itself is nothing more than wishful thinking at this stage. But Fabio Quartararo is certainly going about his business so far this season in a way that suggests that a championship charge is very much on the cards. Quartararo’s start to the term isn’t that far removed from how he kicked off his 2020 campaign, which ultimately crumbled to nothing. But Portugal’s Algarve circuit was one of his weakest venues last year, when he finished…

Martin Thomas was surprised when the phone rang earlier this year. This veteran of British Saloon Car Championship driving, team-running, rulewriting, homologation expertise, historic preparation and authenticity checking was being told that the Triumph Dolomite Sprint he had raced in 1976 had resurfaced, and was on the market. Thomas worked with Bill Shaw, and raced one of the Shaw-built cars in 1975. He then took the wheel of Shaw’s former Shellsport Dolomite, raced by John Hine and Brian Muir in 1974-75, for the following season, and inherited class honours at Silverstone when Andy Rouse ran out of fuel on the final lap. The contact came from The Market, the online auction house that has grown fast over its five-year history to the point where it is selling 90-100 cars per…

BRITISH GT Team BRIT is set to take the next step towards its long-term goal of competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours by moving up to race in British GT next season. The squad, which aims to provide opportunities for disabled people in motorsport, plans to run a McLaren 570S GT4 in British GT in 2022 for drivers Bobby Trundley and Aaron Morgan. The duo spent last year racing an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the Britcar Endurance Championship and will again compete with the car in the series this season. Trundley, who has autism, was previously a race winner in the 116 Trophy before stepping up to the Aston. “British GT is the pinnacle of GT racing in the UK and I’m really looking forward to be competing…

HILLCLIMBERS IN ACTION Four top British Hillclimbers were in action at the Midland Automobile Club Sprint at Curborough last weekend, as they prepare for the championship opener at Loton Park next month. There was a dramatic conclusion as Will Hall’s Force crashed heavily at the flying finish, when a nose fin buckled underneath and the car became airborne. “I lost part of the nose when it bottomed out and for a while I thought it was going over,” he said. Hall had set a possible best time of 48.55s, but hit a penalty marker, earning a penalty that gave Trevor Willis’s OMS victory. PRINCE PHILIP TRIBUTES Race meetings paused for a minute’s silence at 3pm last Saturday in tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, to coincide with his funeral. Among…

CADWELL PARK 750MC 17 APRIL James Harridge, Olly Waind and Alistair Camp each celebrated victory doubles as the Formula Vee, Clio 182 and Hot Hatch championships starred in the 750 Motor Club’s enjoyable 13-race programme at sunny Cadwell Park last weekend. Harridge, the defending champion, faced former title winners Craig Pollard – back out having not competed last year – and Daniel Hands in a pair of highly charged and unpredictable Vee thrillers. Race one was decided by ill fortune for Pollard at the Gooseneck in the closing stages. He went right to lap Rachel Swain, just as she moved the same way to let him by. Front-to-rear contact damaged the nose of Pollard’s Bears GAC and the lurking Harridge’s Maverick was through for the win. Hands, who had initially…

BOOK FORMULA 1: CAR BY CAR 1990-99 RRP £50 The 1990s. For Formula 1 fans, it was the decade when Nigel Mansell finally claimed a long overdue title in 1992; when one of the championship’s greatest drivers, Ayrton Senna, lost his life on a dark weekend at Imola in 1994; and when rising star Michael Schumacher heralded the beginning of a new era. With mass sponsorship, a limit for the first time on the amount of teams allowed to enter the championship, and a push for safety improvements that continues to this day, the 1990s could be seen as the defining decade that began the transformation of F1 into what we see now. It’s also the subject of Peter Higham’s latest Car by Car instalment, which has already covered the…

While Drive to Survive has brought droves of new fans to Formula 1, boosting viewing figures and drawing in a younger audience, some are unhappy with its effect. Complaints come from long-time fans, many of them unhappy that newcomers ‘don’t know anything about F1 history’ or are only watching because of the overdramatised illusion given by the Netflix series. But whatever their motivation, surely more fans can only be a good thing. Petty gatekeeping on social media is pointless. Whether you’ve been watching for one race or a hundred, we all share the same passion. After all, everyone has to start somewhere, whether that means they’ve watched F1 for 25 years or since the start of 2021 after stumbling across the series on Netflix. F1 has undergone a huge image…