Indholdsfortegnelse for 13/05/21 i Autosport

It must be incredibly frustrating being Red Bull and Max Verstappen at the moment. You’ve finally produced a car capable of challenging Mercedes, but annoying little factors stopped you winning two of the first three grands prix of 2021. And then, last weekend, at a circuit many thought would be Red Bull territory, Mercedes showed better race pace and used a bold strategy to win again. As Alex Kalinauckas shows in our report on page 16, Hamilton’s superb drive to victory in the Spanish Grand Prix was reminiscent of Verstappen’s late defeat in Hungary in 2019, and demonstrated a few weaknesses Red Bull needs to address to get back on top. Has Red Bull lost its edge (p13)? It’s a bit early to say, and the RB16B’s pace through the…

FORMULA 1 Formula 1 is encouraging teams to look into running American drivers in the hope that the push could pay off after “two or three years”, according to CEO Stefano Domenicali. F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media has been pushing for US expansion since acquiring the series in 2017, and announced finalised plans for a Miami Grand Prix in 2022 last month. But there has been no American driver on the F1 grid since Alexander Rossi’s brief stint with Manor at the end of 2015. Domenicali acknowledged that it was “important” for F1’s footprint in the US to have an American driver in the series, revealing that it was a matter being discussed with teams. “We are working with teams, trying to understand what is really the possibility for…

BTCC British Touring Car Championship star Dan Cammish was a surprise last-minute call-up for last weekend’s opening round at Thruxton with the BTC Racing Honda team. The Yorkshireman was left high and dry for 2021 when commercial issues forced him out of the Team Dynamics Civic Type R line-up, and Cammish has returned for the 2021 season to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, in which he is a two-time title winner. But BTC was left seeking a replacement when Michael Crees, the 2020 Jack Sears Trophy champion, quit the series in favour of an attack on the Porsche Supercup. “I had a text message from the team about it after the ‘Creesy’ announcement came out on the Friday [one week before Thruxton],” said Cammish. “They asked if I was interested…

ELECTRIC GT A name, a start date and a promoter for the FIA’s new electric-vehicle sportscar championship were revealed last week. It will be known as the FIA Electric GT Championship, it will kick off in 2023, and Eurosport will be the promoter. The announcement followed the unveiling of the main technical details of the new category in April. The name does exactly what it says on the tin, while the governing body has linked up with a long-term partner in Discovery-owned Eurosport Events, which already runs the World Touring Car Cup and the European Rally Championship, to promote the series. Electric GT will begin in two years’ time with a minimum of six events, with races across Europe and Asia, including the Middle East. An expansion into the US…

NASCAR NASCAR’s three manufacturers – Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota – have unveiled their new body shapes for the Next Gen car that will be used in the 2022 Cup Series, as full details emerged about the Dallara-designed stock car chassis. Manufacturers have been allowed extra flexibility in body shapes to reflect their road cars: Chevy and Ford with their Camaro ZL1 and Mustang respectively, and Toyota its TRD Camry sedan. “The greenhouse is now two inches lower and four inches narrower than the current car,” explained NASCAR managing director of vehicle systems Brandon Thomas. “The deck lids are also much shorter, per OEM design trends, so the car now looks like a more-aggressive street car.” The bodies, which are now symmetrical, bucking a decades-long design trend, will be mounted upon…

It would be understandable if the Red Bull Formula 1 team is feeling somewhat frustrated after the first four races of 2021. Aided by the changes to the rear-floor rules, Red Bull has closed the gap to the Mercedes squad that in 2020 produced what is likely to go down as one of the best F1 cars in history, and started the season with the fastest car. And yet the Black Arrows squad still leads both championships, with Lewis Hamilton now on three victories to Max Verstappen’s one following his Spanish Grand Prix triumph last Sunday. It would be easy for Red Bull to say – and indeed, it is saying, via Verstappen in an understandable attempt to put a positive spin on defeat in a race where he led…

“It could be Hungary all over again here.” Max Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase called it perfectly, and painfully, as Lewis Hamilton peeled off from behind his charge to pit for a second time with a third of the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix remaining. In that moment, Red Bull realised that Mercedes had set the board in horribly familiar fashion, sending Hamilton on a late-race charge with a tyre-life-offset advantage to win the encounter in much the same way as he had done at the Hungaroring in 2019. At least Red Bull’s considerable progress since the previous Barcelona race and Verstappen’s first-corner boldness had made it an engaging, if not action-packed, contest. But such was the swing that Mercedes’ strategists had found with their second big call of the race that,…

Ferrari definitively moved to the front of the Formula 1 midfield for the first time this year at Barcelona, where Charles Leclerc finished fourth following an early fight with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. After getting the jump on Bottas at Turn 3 on the opening lap, Leclerc was able to keep the Mercedes at bay before the safety car, and appeared to catch the Finn napping on the restart to deny him the chance to quickly repass. Leclerc stayed ahead until Bottas pitted and then leapfrogged ahead in clear air, but the Ferrari driver was comfortably clear of the fight for fifth for the remainder of the race, bringing home a solid fourth-place finish on what became a two-stop strategy. “I felt very good in the car, everything came together,” Leclerc…

Aston Martin has endured a torrid start to 2021, which has yielded just five points courtesy of Lance Stroll in the opening two races. The incoming Sebastian Vettel has scored none, the team has spent its energy being upset at the floor regulations that stripped the car of its ubiquity within the points-scoring positions, and is struggling to make it into Q3 regularly. But the squad has made a few baby steps in trying to clear its headaches. One of the first ports of call was in changing the shape of its sidepods, which feature a more distinct slope down to the floor to guide air more cleanly around the rear of the car. It then brought a new floor, with revised ripples along the edge to improve the diffusion…

It’s felt as though Formula E has been nursing a hangover during the first half of this season. The improvised six races in Berlin last August to conclude the interrupted 2019-20 campaign acted like a nine-day bender and since then the series has come across a touch bleary-eyed. Three double-header events, split by barely enough time to abide by the UK government’s requirement to self-isolate for 10 days upon returning to the country, has left little room for respite to shift the heavy heads in 2021. The paddock swapped its pre-pandemic optimism for an altogether flatter mood with questions asked over what return manufacturers are getting for their millions, even withstanding the body blow COVID has dealt. A faltering start to life with full FIA World Championship status was compounded…

Shaun Hollamby was standing alongside Autosport at the platform on the inside of the Thruxton chicane, looking the swish man about town in dapper black coat. Free practice had started, and Jake Hill’s Ford Focus was straight into the 1m21s in the wet – that’s an insane time, but the Goodyear rain tyres are grippy and so is the Thruxton surface. “I can remember when I was doing those times in the dry in my Golf,” he mused. Hang on, shouldn’t he be in the pitlane? Didn’t he buy Motorbase with Sam Osborne’s dad Pete? Well, yes, but things changed, and Hollamby, his old Essex-based AmD staff now ensconced across the Medway at Motorbase’s Kent premises, left the partnership. But he still keeps an involvement with Hill’s career, and he…

GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE SPRINT CUP MAGNY-COURS (FRA) 8-9 MAY ROUND 1/5 Behind the masks, the emotion was clear for WRT Audi duo Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor. They stood in parc ferme under the Magny-Cours floodlights, job done in the opening GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup race of the season. Victory in the race on Saturday, followed by a second place to Toksport Mercedes pairing Maro Engel and Luca Stolz on Sunday, made sure that the Belgian line-up kicked off their title defence in fine fashion. Weerts and Vanthoor topped Friday’s practice before repeating the feat in the pre-qualifying session. Come qualifying proper, the #32 Audi R8 seemed glued to the top of the leaderboard in Weerts’s hands. The closest challengers over one lap came in the form…

AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS THE BEND (AUS) 8-9 MAY ROUND 4/12 Ford’s 220-day winless streak in Australian Supercars was snapped by three different Mustang winners from the three sprint races at The Bend last weekend. The Saturday belonged to Kelly Grove Racing’s Andre Heimgartner, the 25-year-old Kiwi taking a first career victory in dominant fashion. He got the day off to a perfect start with pole position in wet conditions thanks to a clever call to run the same tyre set through all three parts of qualifying rather than constantly trying to warm up fresh rubber. He was then shuffled back to third at the start after making a sluggish getaway, only for Chaz Mostert and Anton De Pasquale to run wide on consecutive corners on the first lap in the tricky…

BRITCAR Britcar has launched an investigation into a pitlane incident that occurred during last weekend’s Snetterton round, and intends to announce new safety changes in the coming days. The accident took place during the second Britcar Endurance race on Saturday, when an early safety car meant most of the field entered the pits at the same time. Jonathan Beeson’s VW Golf was released by his Sheard Autosport team into the fast lane but, moments later, was clipped on the rear by Nathan Wells’s DigiPlat Racing-run BMW M3, which had also been released. The contact sent Beeson sideways and back towards the pit boxes before slamming into the side of the stationary Praga R1 of Jack Fabby, which had just been vacated by Charlie Martin. No one was injured in the…

RALLYING Former Porsche Carrera Cup GB racer Seb Perez will compete in the British Rally Championship this year, driving a Ford Fiesta Rally2 machine. Perez had intended to continue circuit racing in 2021 but COVID-related travel restrictions forced the 21-year-old into having a rethink. “With the fact that my European race aspirations for this season did not quite go to plan, we had to look elsewhere,” said Perez, who drove an Aston Martin in the GT4 European Series last year. “I’m feeling optimistic about the season ahead.” Another Fiesta Rally2 driver will be Rhys Yates – an English title winner in 2015 who went on to finish fourth in the British standings in 2017 and 2018, before competing in the WRC2 category.…

GINETTA GT5 CHALLENGE Josh Steed was the avenger at Thruxton last weekend, when he took honours in the Sunday race to make up for what was arguably a lost victory the previous day. Steed, who had claimed pole in the wet qualifying session by 0.9 seconds, gambled on fitting wet-weather tyres on a drier surface for the opening race. That might still have worked, but a red flag on the initial start was followed by a safety car after Steed had pulled out a mammoth 2.776s on the first lap of the restart. Still Steed sprinted clear by 3.6s within one lap when the race got going again, with time for 10 laps of racing. But he was living on borrowed time. Within three more laps, he had been overhauled…

SNETTERTON BARC 8-9 MAY John Seale and Jamie Stanley easily secured a third Britcar Endurance victory of 2021, after an inopportune safety car handed John Dhillon an insurmountable advantage to wrap up victory in the opening encounter at Snetterton. The fortuitous mid-race interlude allowed the late-stopping Ferrari of Dhillon to benefit from a slip by Jay Morton at Oggies to lead the dominant Lamborghini home, despite Seale having an early spin at Turn 3 that dropped him to 19th. Further back, Johnny Mowlem held off the potent Nissan GT3 of Danny Harrison for third. An early safety car in race two wiped out Phil Quaife’s advantage, in Dhillon’s Ferrari 488, allowing Stanley to cruise to victory. “We got lucky with the safety car this time,” said Stanley. “After passing the…

NATIONAL FF1600 Race 1 Rory Smith (Medina JL18) Races 2 & 3 Alex Walker (Spectrum 011C) CATERHAM SEVEN UK/310R Races 1 & 3 Stephen Nuttall (420R) Race 2 James Murphy (420R) CATERHAM ROADSPORT Race 1 Taylor O’Flanagan Race 2 Tom Cockerill CATERHAM 270R Race 1 Will Rossetti Race 2 Blair McConachie CITYCAR CUP Races 1 & 2 Nic Grindrod (Citroen C1) FUN CUP UVio/Hofmann’s Lotus (Scott Fitzgerald/Fabio Randaccio) AMOC JACK FAIRMAN CUP/INNES IRELAND CUP/MIKE HAWTHORN TROPHY Rob Fenn (Lotus Elan, below) AMOC GT/GT4/INTERMARQUE Nigel Jenkins (Ferrari 458) MODIFIED FORDS Race 1 Wayne Crabtree (Ford RS200) Race 2 Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

BERNIE’S V8s/CALM PORSCHE TROPHY Jonathan Evans (Porsche Cayman S) MSV SUPERCUP Darren Goes (SEAT Cup Racer) RADICAL CHALLENGE Races 1 & 2 Matt Bell (SR3) Race 3 Mark Richards (SR3) PRODUCTION GTI/Z CARS Race 1 Simon Hill (VW Golf GTI) Race 2 Martyn Walsh (VW Golf GTI) RACING SALOONS/PRODUCTION GOLF & BMW Races 1 & 2 Nigel Innes (BMW E36 M3) MONOPOSTO Races 1 & 2 Dan Gore (Jedi Mk6) SPORTS 2000 Race 1 Josh Law (MCR S2) Race 2 Michael Gibbins (MCR S2) SR1 CUP Races 1 & 2 Will Hunt (above) CMMC SOUTHERN SALOONS Races 1 & 2 Rod Birley (Ford Escort WRC) MSVR ALLCOMERS Races 1 & 2 Scott Mittell (Mittell MC-41RR) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

FORMULA 1 Red Bull has continued its raid of Mercedes’ Formula 1 engine department, from which it has now poached six staff for its new powertrains division. Red Bull announced in February that it would be building its F1 power units in-house from next year as Red Bull Powertrains, after acquiring the IP from existing engine supplier Honda at the end of 2021. The team revealed last month that it had signed Ben Hodgkinson, the head of mechanical engineering at Mercedes High Performance Powertrains, to be the technical director for the engine arm. But a bigger statement came last week when a further five senior positions were filled, with the quintet consisting entirely of Mercedes employees. Mercedes head of manufacturing Steve Blewett will become Red Bull’s power unit production director.…

TCR Injured IndyCar star Robert Wickens made his return to a race car last week when he tested a TCR Hyundai Veloster at Mid-Ohio. The Canadian has been endeavouring to build up his lower body performance after incurring spinal damage, among several other injuries, in a huge IndyCar crash on the Pocono oval in 2018. The test came courtesy of Bryan Herta Autosport and Hyundai. One of BHA’s cars, regularly raced in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge by Stephen Simpson and Michael Johnson, is already equipped with hand controls since Johnson is paralysed from the chest down. “Bryan approached me a few months ago and asked if I ever want to drive a race car again,” said Wickens. I said, ‘Of course’. Then things started to slowly come together. Hyundai…

FIA president Jean Todt led the push for Formula E to use its own version of the full Monaco circuit to avoid lap-time comparisons with Formula 1 and, by extension, its support series. But late track changes put paid to that wish, with only a tightening of the Nouvelle Chicane to notably separate the two layouts. That seemingly left the all-electric heavyweights ready to be exposed to nascent mockery. However, before a wheel had turned in the principality last weekend, those criticisms could have been batted off. For the type of person who cared enough to keep an eagle eye on the stopwatch to poke fun was clearly already a dyed-in-the-wool motorsport fan. They well knew the 330bhp Formula E cars – albeit quick in their own right – would…

For the second weekend in succession, Formula 1 qualifying was something of an anti-climax. That isn’t to take anything away from Lewis Hamilton’s tremendous achievement in beating Max Verstappen to the Spanish Grand Prix’s top grid spot, and with it clinching his 100th pole at motorsport’s highest level. It’s just that qualifying’s top three places were sealed on the first runs in Q3, with Hamilton, Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas all unable to improve. There were various theories. Bottas reckoned it was down to “conditions, whether it’s the wind or something”, which Verstappen supported. “If it increases with a few km/h it can make a difference into a certain corner when you’re driving right on the limit,” said the Red Bull driver. “Suddenly you have a bit less rear grip or…

George Russell said his Williams last Sunday was “the best it has ever felt in a race”, despite missing out on breakthrough points. Williams double-stacked Russell and Nicholas Latifiat an early stop under the safety car, and then ran to the end of the race with only one more stop each, leaving Russell on the fringes of the points with 15 laps to go. But the two-stopping Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll, plus Kimi Raikkonen on a genuine onestopper, eventually passed the fading Williams all on one lap as Russell slumped to 14th. He then also lost out to Sebastian Vettel late on, despite the struggles both Aston Martins faced on soft tyres. Stroll missed out on a point after a late battle with Gasly, having also duelled thrice with…

Mercedes was caught in a crossfire after Valencia. Celebrations for a 1-3 finish for drivers Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne were lost amid the anger of the energy management crisis as teams blamed the FIA and the governing body fought back. De Vries was under-consuming energy, Vandoorne stymied by being dumped to the back of grid after snaring pole when a tyre barcode was incorrectly recorded. It was perhaps more the ‘unluck’ of others rather than a strategy masterclass that meant Mercedes departed Spain with a 23-point cushion over Jaguar atop the standings. But this had also been built with supreme wins in Saudi Arabia and Italy, the Silver Arrow machines victorious at each of the past four tracks visited, stretching back to Berlin last year. That run of…

Jason Plato is back, and he’s angry. The veteran two-time champion ploughed straight back into controversy in Saturday’s qualifying when he baulked Jake Hill’s final flier at the chicane while he was heading for the pits in his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra. What made Plato fume was an official who, apparently in all seriousness, suggested that the bespectacled 53-year-old was perhaps getting a bit old and maybe his eyesight wasn’t as good as it once was. What followed on Sunday was three very strong races for Plato. From 11th on the grid, he raced to sixth in race one, losing out in a fight with Dan Cammish and Rory Butcher. In race two he improved to fifth after being passed by Dan Rowbottom. And in the finale he pipped…

NASCAR CUP DARLINGTON (USA) 9 MAY ROUND 12/36 This NASCAR Cup season has so far been marked by numerous different winners, but standing out above the rest is Martin Truex Jr. The only repeat victor from the first 12 encounters, he collected his third triumph of the campaign at the wheel of his Toyota Camry in Darlington last Sunday. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver dominated events as he won both stages and led for 248 of the 293 laps to bring home the spoils ahead of Kyle Larson by almost 2.6 seconds. The only real challenge to fourth-starting Truex arrived in the last stage – which ended with a 104-lap run to the finish – after the final round of green-flag pitstops. Chevrolet Camaro racer Larson came out of the…

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP Ginetta GT5 Challenge champion Josh Malin will graduate to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB this season. Malin prevailed in an incredibly tight title battle with James Taylor in the GT5 series last year, and will continue to drive for Richardson Racing as he steps up to Porsche machinery, partnering race winner Will Martin. Malin had originally expected to continue in Ginetta competition this year, but said the chance to race in the Carrera Cup was “too good to turn down”. “It’s been a boyhood dream to drive a Carrera Cup car,” he said. “I’ve always been really into Porsche as a brand and I’ve driven them on the simulator plenty of times, so it’s a privilege to do it for real.” Malin says it will be“a massive…

NO ELITE MINI CHALLENGE Elite Motorsport will not field any cars in the Mini Challenge this year, following its move into BRDC British F3. The Ginetta powerhouse squad joined the Mini series last year, winning races with Max Bird and Max Coates. “The reality is we didn’t want to split ourselves too thin,” said team boss Eddie Ives. “We knew moving into F3 would take quite a bit of time, effort and resources. It’s a shame because, after we decided not to do it, we had phone calls from people asking to do Minis.” NEW BRDC RISING STARS A further six drivers have been selected to join the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s Rising Stars programme. Among the latest intake are British Formula 4 champion Luke Browning, FIA F2 winner Liam…

F3 CUP The Monoposto Racing Club has taken over the promotion and running of the F3 Cup ahead of the championship’s opening round this weekend at Silverstone. The category had previously been run by MotorSport Vision Racing but last year grid numbers were very low, with entries failing to reach double figures at any of its four race meetings. The Monoposto Racing Club, which has successfully run the Monoposto Championship and attracted nearly 40 cars for its Brands Hatch meeting last weekend, will now take the reins. “There are people who still have the cars and there’s a desire to run the championship and I think MSVR didn’t want it to die either,” said Monoposto Racing Club coordinator Rachel Lovett. “People know we’re taking it over and they are going…

Club motorsport and TV talent show contestants do not seem an obvious combination. But former Let It Shine finalist Anthony Sahota and X Factor contender Sam Callahan are not only both due to be competing in national racing this year but are also encouraging more to do the same after forming their own business. The singing duo’s interest in motorsport long pre-dates their TV fame. Sahota competed in kart races at Thruxton as a teenager and targeted a move into the junior T Cars series before getting his pilot’s licence and studying mechanical engineering. Callahan was inspired by his father Mark, a long-time club driver, and Sam himself has been racing in Bernie’s V8s alongside his dad and in the Campaign Against Living Miserably All Porsche Trophy in recent seasons.…

GINETTA JUNIOR Last month it was Bailey Voisin who was a winner in his first senior car race in European GT4. Now it was the turn of his younger brother Callum to be victorious in his maiden car racing weekend in Ginetta Junior. The younger Voisin threatened to win a frenetic opening Thruxton race, challenging R Racing team-mate Josh Miller out of Church on the final lap but ran out of room to make the move and fell to fifth, admitting he was a“bit too eager”. There were no such troubles in the second encounter. After a slow start, Voisin hit the front by passing Aston Millar out of Church on lap six of nine, then resisted a gaggle of cars to the flag. A delighted Voisin did not expect…

MINI CHALLENGE TROPHY Single-seaters usually provide some of the best slipstreaming contests at Thruxton, but last weekend it was the Mini Challenge Cooper class that produced some thrilling action at the Hampshire speedbowl with three breathless races. The first was held in drying conditions on Saturday afternoon, and this meant the Goodyear wets took a pounding with drivers battling on the ragged edge. It was Matt Hammond who grabbed the initial advantage, going around the outside of polesitter Alex Solley at Allard, but his lead did not last for long. Solley, Louie Capozzoli and Lewis Saunders all had stints at the head of the pack as the power of the tow meant there was a new leader at the chicane each time, before Capozzoli began inching away during his third…

Like the Aston Martin Owners Club’s GT and historic categories, the Modified Fords series joined the British Racing & Sports Car Club’s roster at Donington Park for the first time. It was started last year by long-time racer Paul Nevill as a broad church for racing Fords, free from restrictive regulations. If the car has a production shell and Ford-based engine, it’s welcome. It’s a concept that clearly works. After a handful of events in 2020, mainly sharing a grid with other categories, the fledgling series has boomed. There were 35 cars in action at Donington, while a fixture on the Silverstone International circuit in March had received more than 50 entries before it fell victim to the delayed start to the year. Numbers were lower at the rearranged Lydden…

Michael Gibbins or Tom Stoten. Tom Stoten or Michael Gibbins. The Sports 2000 pecking order has been topped by one or the other for the past five years, and the series has been underlined by a hard-fought rivalry on track but a friendly one off it. Last year it was all about Gibbins though, as he went on to win every race and his second title on the bounce, his third overall. After a switch to a new MCR S2 with carbon-fibre bodywork for 2021, the reigning champion’s season couldn’t have got off to a worse start at Donington Park last month when a collision with a backmarker put him out in race one and prevented him from starting race two. “It’s been a busy month [since the crash], the…

Reigning world champion Jacques Villeneuve lights up his skinny, grooved rear Goodyears as he exits his pitbox during the 1998 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. He had qualified his Williams-Mechachrome FW20 an impressive third on the grid behind the McLarens of polesitter Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, and was chasing the pair down in the closing laps after start-to-finish race leader Hakkinen was forced to curtail his pace. This was the first of just two podium finishes for the Quebecois during his title defence – he was also third next time out in Hungary – and he ended the season fifth in the points. For classic Formula 1 DVDs head to dukevideo.com/f1 For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

FORMULA 1 Lewis Hamilton is eager to get a new Formula 1 contract with Mercedes sorted by the summer break to avoid a repeat of this year’s late agreement. Hamilton and Mercedes took until February this year to announce a one-year contract extension for the 2021 season after postponing talks through last year. The seven-time world champion has previously said that he was not treating 2021 as his final season in F1, and has made comments that he intends to be on the grid with Mercedes in 2022 after a recent Pirelli tyre test to help develop next year’s rubber. Hamilton said after last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix that he is looking to open talks with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff sooner than in 2020, targeting the August summer break…

FORMULA 1 Romain Grosjean will return to Formula 1 machinery when he tests Mercedes’ 2019 title winner at Paul Ricard in June, seven months on from his fiery accident. Grosjean made his final F1 start at last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix, when a first-lap accident tore his Haas in half and left him to escape the fire that engulfed his cockpit. He emerged with burns to his hands that ruled him out of the final two races of the season, bringing an early end to his F1 career. He has since moved into IndyCar with Dale Coyne Racing. Grosjean vowed to make a return to F1 machinery when possible, with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff saying at the time that he would be happy to make a test happen. It…

INDIANAPOLIS 500 Stefan Wilson has landed the sixth Andretti Autosport seat for the Indianapolis 500, beating a list of candidates that included veteran Oriol Servia, Oliver Askew and Spencer Pigot. This will be the third crack at Indy for the younger brother of the late Justin Wilson. In 2016 he made his debut, only his second IndyCar start, with KVSH Racing, but the following year gave up his ride with Andretti to make way for Fernando Alonso. Andretti thanked Wilson by hiring him for 2018, when he went off-strategy to briefly lead before making a splash-and-dash pitstop. Wilson, who will be reunited with his 2018 race engineer Doug Zister, said: “The engineering side is staying relatively the same on the #25 team, so keeping that core group together is going…

Earn points for every place gained Here’s the solution to making Formula 1 qualifying meaningful, but not always having the fastest cars start from the front. Keep the existing qualifying format and points for each finishing position, but offer three points for every place gained over the race. Oh, and the person that qualifies fastest gets first choice of grid position and so on. So, choose to start from pole and win the race, you get 25 points. However, choose to start seventh and come home second, you get 18 for your position plus 15 points for positions gained so you score 33; 20th to 10th, that’s 31 points! It adds a huge new element to the event, the fastest qualifiers get first pick, but are encouraged to gamble and…

Josh Cook wasn’t at the forefront of the British Touring Car Championship gossip pre-season. He’s remained at the BTC Racing Honda team to drive its Civic Type R for a third successive campaign, amid all the winter chopping and changing on the driver-and-car line-ups. There was no sign of setting the world on fire in the official test at Silverstone. And the end of BTC’s two-year tie-up with Civic builder Team Dynamics coincided with a switch from the potent Neil Brown-built Honda engines to the‘bog-standard’ TOCA Swindon unit. Yet there was the lofty Bath redhead last weekend at Thruxton, bursting out of the blocks with speed when it mattered, and rough-but-the-right-side-of-fair racecraft when required, to brush off the opposition and blitz the first two races. Reigning champion Ash Sutton could…

FIA FORMULA 3 BARCELONA (ESP) 8-9 MAY ROUND 1/7 FIA Formula 3 has a reputation for being chaotic, and the first weekend of the season certainly didn’t disappoint. The three races featured three different winners – ART Grand Prix’s Alexander Smolyar plus Prema Racing pair Olli Caldwell and Dennis Hauger – in the first event run to the new triple-header format including two reversed-grid races. Hauger snatched a late pole position for the main event on Sunday, which pays much more heavily on points than the other two races, by pipping Trident-run fellow Red Bull protege Jack Doohan by a mere 0.006 seconds. Hauger had to work for it at the start, emerging from a four-wide moment at Turn 1 in front. Victor Martins emerged in second from Matteo Nannini…

FORMULA REGIONAL EUROPEAN BARCELONA (ESP) 8-9 MAY ROUND 2/10 Gregoire Saucy’s victory in the opening round at Imola had been his first in cars, and he wasted little time adding two more successes to his tally as the Formula Regional European by Alpine brigade supported the Spanish Grand Prix. The Swiss claimed pole position for both races, and at the start he tucked in to take the advantage from ART Grand Prix team-mate and fellow front-row qualifier Gabriele Mini away from the start. Mari Boya, who started from third, was beaten away by Paul Aron and Alex Quinn. While Saucy was little troubled by Mini in a race that ran for much of its time behind the safety car, Prema Powerteam-run Mercedes F1 Junior Aron had to fend off Arden…

FUN CUP Twenty-three-time Isle of Man TT winner John McGuinness made his debut racing cars in the Fun Cup at Donington Park last weekend alongside downhill mountain bike world cup winner Steve Peat. McGuinness recently passed his ARDS test at Mallory Park and took the opportunity to compete while all motorcycle road racing remains suspended. He was introduced to the Fun Cup by multiple truck racing champion and former British Touring Car Championship driver Stuart Oliver. “I went up to see Stuart, to have a look at his trucks, and we were chatting away about this Fun Cup,” said McGuinness. “I looked at the dates and this worked. I thought with what’s going on, I’d just get one in and then at least we can see how I like it.…

CLASSIC SPORTS CAR CLUB The Classic Sports Car Club has broken its previous record for the number of entries for a meeting after a surge of interest in its event at Donington Park later this month. The club’s fixture at the Leicestershire circuit last season was also popular, setting the benchmark at 492 entries, although more than this were received prior to drivers dropping out amid growing reserve lists. That 2020 figure has now been surpassed for the 29-30 May meeting this year and entries being processed as Autosport went to press would take the number above 500. With still over two weeks to go before the meeting, more entries could arrive, but club director David Smitheram also cautioned that those on reserve lists may withdraw. “Unfortunately, quite a lot…

BRITISH FORMULA 4 When James Hedley ended the first lap of the final British Formula 4 race of the Thruxton weekend in the barriers at the Club chicane, it looked like he had undone the work he put in to win the opening two contests. The Fortec driver had bounced over the inside kerb, sending him into the path of Kai Askey, while Matias Zagazeta and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak also got collected. But, with the timetable behind schedule, the red-flagged race was not restarted until after the touring car finale, giving Hedley a second chance. Three corners of his Mygale were damaged, but the Fortec crew was able to get him back out. And, despite the handling being far from ideal, Hedley completed a remarkable turnaround with third place. “I wanted…

PORSCHE SPRINT CHALLENGE GB Theo Edgerton staked an early claim for the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB title after a comfortable double win at Thruxton. The wet qualifying created a top-syturvy grid for the opener, with Am drivers Ian Humphris and Nigel Rice starting on the front row. But it took less than a lap for Total Control Racing driver Edgerton to storm into the lead and he soon built a comfortable advantage. Ethan Hawkey did start hunting him down late on, but Edgerton was still nearly three seconds ahead of his fellow former Ginetta Junior racer by the flag. Edgerton then led throughout the second contest, while Jack Bartholomew grabbed runner-up spot from Hawkey on the inside at Noble with three laps to go. The best battle of the weekend…

Picking a champion from the huge Mini Challenge Cooper class grid before the start of the season was tricky. With Junior Saloon Car stars Lewis Saunders and Alex Solley and successful karter Louie Capozzoli joining race winners from last year – including the top two in the points, Harry Nunn and Dominic Wheatley – there was no shortage of potential victors. But it’s another driver who has grabbed the early initiative: Matt Hammond. The 2017 category champion had not raced since winning that crown, but is back for this year with Excelr8 and has been instantly on the pace, starting with qualifying in the opening event at Snetterton last month. “I stuck it on P1 at Snetterton and now second at Thruxton,” he said. “I’m well chuffed! Excelr8 Motorsport is…

DONINGTON PARK BRSCC 8-9 MAY Rising stars took on the established names and came out on top in the opening weekend of the National Formula Ford Championship at Donington Park. Alex Walker led the way with two storming wins in the dry after Rory Smith’s wet-weather success on Saturday. A thinner field than in recent years did not reduce the sharp end’s intensity. American teenager Max Esterson (Ray GR18) harried polesitter Chris Middlehurst’s Van Diemen LA10 in race one, before Festival winner Smith maximised his Medina JL18’s traction to close in and passed the pair in one move at the Roberts chicane. With Smith’s exit compromised, the trio ran three-wide into Redgate, Middlehurst spinning as he clipped Esterson’s right rear. B-M Racing’s Smith was chased home by Esterson, with the…

BRANDS HATCH MSVR 8-9 MAY A well-timed pitstop and safety car confusion allowed Jonathan Evans to win the combined Bernie’s V8s/CALM Porsche Trophy 40-minute contest at Brands Hatch. Evans started his Porsche Cayman S fifth and initially ran at the back of a leading quintet, headed by the TVR Tuscans of poleman Matt Holben, Christian Douglas and Jason Clegg, with the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus of Martyn/Matthew Ellis also in the mix. Holben soon dropped to third as Evans began losing touch with the leading machines, but he was handed a lifeline when a safety car was called to retrieve a stricken Porsche 968 from the Paddock Hill Bend gravel as the pit window opened. Inexplicably, the leading four cars failed to make their mandatory pitstops at the first opportunity, allowing…

BOOK REVIEW DEADLY DRIVER RRP £9.20 Traveling across the globe, never staying in one place for more than a couple of nights during the course of a season, the life of a Formula 1 driver is fast-paced both on and off the track – and at times a lonely existence. But the jet-setting lifestyle is also the chance to mingle with celebrities and politicians, allowing access to places other people could only dream of. All of which makes for the perfect cover to be a hitman, right? It’s an interesting premise and one that forms the plot of Deadly Driver, by JK Kelly, which is due for release later this year. It follows Bryce Winters, a proud American who not only happens to be one of the world’s top racing…

5 JIM CLARK Clark surely had many more F1 wins and titles in him when he was killed at the peak of his powers in 1968, but likely had more to give in Indycar racing too. The Scot skipped the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix to dominate that year’s Indianapolis 500, leading 190 laps, and twice was second in the 500, on his debut in 1963 and again in 1966. He underlined his versatility in select USAC outings, winning from pole at Milwaukee in 1963. 4 BOBBY RAHAL It’s often forgotten that the three-time Indycar champion and 1986 Indy 500 winner served part of his apprenticeship in European Formula 3 in 1978, making his F1 debut with Wolf that year. When that proved a dead end, Rahal dabbled in sportscars before placing second…

“We’ve lost the victory, fastest lap, and pole position. I hope that’s the end of it. Something has to change.” That’s how Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko responded to Formula 1 TV reporters at the Portuguese Grand Prix after a spate of high-profile track-limit infringements. Track limits will always be debated just as long as circuits remember to paint the thin white lines. Track-limit breaches, such as Max Verstappen’s downfall at key moments over the early rounds of the 2021 F1 season, feel like a modern conundrum, but have been part of the rules since the formation of circuit racing. The issue has become magnified due to asphalt runoffs for safety purposes, the improvement in technology to police track limits, and closer margins in performance. When a couple of…