Indholdsfortegnelse for 22/07/21 i Autosport

A Max Verstappen-Lewis Hamilton clash was always going to happen eventually, but it doesn’t get much more dramatic than at a high-speed corner in front of a full house at Silverstone. As we show in our race report on page 14, the incident has split opinion and has definitely increased the tension in the title fight. That Hamilton was able to go on and brilliantly recover to victory despite his 10-second penalty surely only added to Red Bull’s ire (p4). And that raises a key point. Some have suggested that the ‘penalty should fit the crime’, but what they really mean is that it should fit the consequences of the crime. But it’s not necessarily right that because a car ends up in the wall that should mean a harsher…

WRC Ford has stepped up its support of M-Sport’s World Rally Championship programme through the development of the all-new 2022 hybrid Puma. The Blue Oval’s interest in the WRC has heightened following the introduction of new hybrid Rally1 regulations in 2022, which has resulted in more input into M-Sport’s plans for rallying’s new era. Earlier this month, M-Sport became the first team to officially launch its Rally1 weapon with the unveiling of its Puma at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The launch signified Ford’s renewed interest in the sport, with its global CEO Jim Farley and Ford Performance boss Mark Rushbrook in attendance. According to Rushbrook, Ford has been heavily involved in the development of the Puma, with its engineers sharing knowledge of hybrid technology and aerodynamics. “Certainly we have…

Verstappen’s part in the Silverstone clash I live in Norfolk, where the expression ‘you reap what you sow’ remains popular. Perhaps it could help provide some context to last Sunday’s crash at the British Grand Prix. Since his arrival in Formula 1, Max Verstappen has made overly aggressive moves on several occasions, where crashes have been avoided only because the other party decided to give ground. On Sunday, I classed it a racing incident (split 60/40 to Lewis Hamilton, as he was struggling to make the apex), but the seeds to this crash were not sown by Lewis’s lunge at Copse, or Max’s poor exit from Woodcote. They were sown across the numerous incidents where Max has (largely) got away with questionable moves. To be clear, this is not an…

Formula 1’s sprint race certainly hit all the familiar notes – an exciting start, tense-but-uneventful up front thereafter, decent action behind. Although Max Verstappen looked to be the title rival in most trouble as the lights went out – his left-front brake on fire and leaving him “really worried” before the air from his start movement extinguished the flames – it was Lewis Hamilton who fell behind at the start. Hamilton “was on target” with his clutch positioning, but he still “had a lot of wheelspin” that slowed his launch, and Verstappen sailed into the lead approaching Abbey. Hamilton closed in on the Wellington Straight, but Verstappen weaved three times to break the tow and stayed ahead on the run to the Brooklands left-hander. At Copse, Hamilton attacked on the…

Red Bull’s senior management made its views on the Max Verstappen/Lewis Hamilton clash known quickly and loudly once it was clear that the Dutchman had escaped serious injury in his high-speed crash at Copse on lap one of the British Grand Prix. Team boss Christian Horner and team sporting director Jonathan Wheatley both radioed Formula 1 race director Michael Masi to express their anger at the crash, with Masi pointing Red Bull to the stewards in response. Masi did the same to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who said he’d emailed Masi a document that he suggested needed to be considered when assessing Hamilton for a possible penalty. The Red Bull anger then spilled out into the media during the 30-minute red flag stoppage, with Horner accusing Hamilton of “dirty…

The United Autosports ORECA was the fastest LMP2 car through the Monza 6 Hours and finished 57.7 seconds up the road from its nearest competitor. It would be hard to argue that Phil Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque and Fabio Scherer weren’t deserving class winners, but they had a massive slice of luck along the way. Series newcomer WRT could have won and would have done so but for a mid-race tactical gaffe. The WRT ORECA-Gibson 07 shared by Robin Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi had pitted out of the lead just before the only full safety car of the race right at the beginning of hour three. The rest of the sharp end of the P2 pack hadn’t stopped – but needed to — when the yellows flew. That meant…

FIA FORMULA 2 SILVERSTONE (GBR) 17-18 JULY ROUND 4/8 Guanyu Zhou’s FIA Formula 2 title challenge was beginning to waiver as last Sunday morning rolled around – he had failed to bag points in four straight races, a run stretching back to his third place in the first Baku sprint contest. But he reignited his championship hopes with a victory in the feature race at Silverstone. Alpine F1 junior Zhou arrived in Britain as the points leader, but spun into retirement in the first sprint race last Saturday, and couldn’t get into the points from the back of the grid in the second sprint. Now he was down to fourth in the standings. But he qualified his UNI-Virtuosi car second for the feature race, and passed polesitter Oscar Piastri off…

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES NEW HAMPSHIRE (USA) 17 JULY ROUND 19/33 Christopher Bell earned a clean sweep of stage wins and overall victory in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start since 2019. The 26-year-old made his second-tier cameo due to the lack of practice and qualifying running that would precede the full-bore Cup contest the next day. He said: “You’re not sitting in the car until they drop the green flag. It’s a really big advantage [to drive in Xfinity]. Especially at a place like here where the Xfinity rules package is similar to the Cup rules package.” The plan came together well. Ahead of finishing runner-up on Sunday, Bell won stages one and two to then beat Justin Allgaier by 6.2 seconds at the flag at the New Hampshire Motor…

SUPER GT MOTEGI (JPN) 18 JULY ROUND ⅜ Honda’s reigning Super GT champions Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino chalked their first win of the season last weekend at a scorching Motegi. The Team Kunimitsu NSX-GT drivers won a fierce race-long battle with the Racing Project Bandoh Toyota GR Supra of Yuji Kunimoto and Ritomo Miyata. Yamamoto bagged his first series pole since 2018 on the Saturday, narrowly shading Miyata, but come race day the Yokohama-shod Toyota initially looked stronger in the 33-degree Celsius heat. On lap seven of 63, Kunimoto made a bold outside pass on Makino to move into the lead and pulled clear before the Honda came in for its pitstop on lap 24. Kunimoto hit the pits four laps later, but a slower stop meant Miyata was…

MASTERS HISTORIC GT Julian Thomas came within a couple of corners of a double win in the Masters Historic GT support races at the British Grand Prix. His Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe triumphed easily in race one, but had a much tougher time in race two. In both, he was bettered off the line by 2013 British Touring Car champion Andrew Jordan (AC Cobra Daytona Coupe) but, while Thomas grabbed the lead on lap two in the opener, he couldn’t unseat Jordan as easily on Sunday morning. Jordan was on the limit in his defence, the snaking Cobra’s tail wagging as he tried his hardest to keep Thomas’s car at bay. When Jordan ran wide at Abbey, it gave Thomas a chance to challenge on lap five of 12, but…

MORGAN CHALLENGE A motorsport version of the Morgan +4 has been released by the company in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton and will compete in club events throughout the year. Two cars will be run by a team from the university, allowing students to hone their skills and prepare them for a career in motorsport or the automotive industry. Morgan Motor Company chairman and CEO Steve Morris said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of the motorsport variant of the Morgan +4, which continues our long tradition of motorsport. A century ago, Morgan’s three-wheelers became famous for their exploits in trials, hillclimbing and endurance racing, and this competitive spirit is alive and well. “The programme brings tangible benefit in terms of ongoing product development, and we are delighted…

RALLYING A new closed-roads rally will be held in East Yorkshire next year, amid the continued popularity of such events since a law change in 2017 paved the way for competitive motorsport to be held on public roads. The East Riding Stages is being organised by the Beverley and District Motor Club and is due to run on 27 February 2022, featuring 50 miles of competition. It follows a closed-roads hillclimb element being included as part of last month’s inaugural Yorkshire Motorsport Festival. “It’s been over two years in planning, but over 40 years of dreaming,” said event director Richard Vincent. “Running in late February, it gives crews a chance to shake down their old and new machinery without the pressure of points at stake.”…

ARMED FORCES CHALLENGE The Armed Forces Race Challenge had its first official event since 2019 during the 750 Motor Club meeting at Snetterton last weekend. The series, focused on bringing military personnel to the track, was set to run its season opener at Cadwell Park in April. But numerous circumstances – including the death of the Duke of Edinburgh and issues over pandemic-related safety concerns around sport within the Armed Forces – meant two of the forces were not authorised to compete. The category’s Royal Air Force representative Chris Slator explained: “There was a lot of instability in 2020 about whether we could compete. We had a lot of people that were committed to work, and we operate a finance model that’s not for profit, so we risked making a…

MONDELLO PARK MPSC 17-18 JULY BOSS Ireland served up two cracking races at Mondello Park last weekend, with honours shared between Paul O’Connell and Sylvie Mullins. Poleman O’Connell led away in the opener in his Dallara Formula 3 machine, while fellow front-row starter Mullins bogged down and was subsequently collected by Gerard O’Connell at Turn 1, causing a red flag. At the restart, Paul O’Connell scampered clear and looked set for an easy win until a late charge from newbie Aaron Gaughran caused excitement, just over a second separating the pair at the flag. O’Connell once again had the early lead in race two, but Mullins was on a charge and the Judd F1-engined Gould blasted past to take the advantage on the main straight. O’Connell fought back, but a…

OULTON PARK CTA 17 JULY Alistair Camp came agonisingly close to double Civic Cup success at Oulton Park, yet still extended his points advantage while series newcomer Rob Butler scored a maiden win. In stifling heat that made life difficult for man and machine, Camp used new tyres to beat polesitter Matt Luff off the line and control the opening race. While Luff kept Camp on his toes, the pair pulled clear of third-placed Jamie Tonks, who benefited when Phil Wright missed second gear at the start. Race two’s top-10 grid reversal gave Camp more of a challenge, but he picked his way through the field in impressive style, passing Morgan Bailey for second with a cutback exiting Old Hall on the final lap and falling just half a second…

BOOK CRUSADER: JOHN COBB’S ILL-FATED QUEST FOR SPEED ON WATER RRP £30 For man and machine, there is perhaps no truer test of finding the limits than going for an outright speed record. Whether it be on land or water, the pursuit of pushing an average speed higher and higher was arguably at its peak during the early to mid-part of the 20th century. Malcolm Campbell and his son Donald’s exploits with Bluebird both on land and in the water are the most notorious and well-documented, but certainly not the only enterprise to strive for new records. John Cobb was another less well-known pursuer of speed who, like many before and after him, paid the ultimate price on 29 September 1952 on Loch Ness. Steve Holter’s recently published book charts…

Bertrand Baguette is now eight seasons into his Japanese Super GT career with Honda, but the Belgian could have gone in an altogether different direction had the stars aligned for him during the 2011 Indianapolis 500. Baguette was entered in a third car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing at the Brickyard, his first shot in a serious package after a rookie season spent mostly fighting towards the back for minnow squad Conquest – which came up at the last minute following dead-end Formula 1 tests for BMW and Renault. By his own admission, Indy 2011 nearly “changed everything”. Victory would have opened the door to a full-time IndyCar drive, but after pitting from the lead at the end of lap 197 of 200, he finished seventh and never drove an…

The introduction of the next generation of LMP2 prototype has been delayed by one year until the beginning of 2024. The move, rubber-stamped by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council last Thursday, means that the existing LMP2 formula introduced in 2017 will continue through a seventh year in 2023. It was initially planned that the 2017 rulebook, under which only four constructors are licensed to build LMP2 machinery, would have a four-year lifecycle through to the end of 2020. This has since been extended twice, by one year when the World Endurance Championship transitioned into a winter-series format with the 2018-19 ‘superseason’, and then a further year in October 2019. That meant the current cars would have raced on in the WEC until the end of the 2021-22 season and…

The FIA has revealed the findings of a study that shows the motorsport industry produces €159.2billion of business for the global economy, with an extra injection of €66.9billion overall. Motor racing’s governing body commissioned EY-Parthenon to measure the economic and social impact of the motorsport industry in a bid to find out how important it was. Its findings were published at the FIA Conference in Monaco, with its figures also including reference to the 1.5 million paid jobs that are “directly supported by the motorsport industry”. EY-Parthenon relied on market research from 20,000 surveys completed by participants, which included local clubs, venues, commercial rights holders, promoters, team managers, and other FIA parties. FIA president Jean Todt said the findings of the survey were “remarkable” in highlighting how big the influence…

FORMULA 1 Red Bull has not ruled out requesting that the FIA takes further action against Lewis Hamilton for his part in Max Verstappen’s crash in the British Grand Prix. Verstappen spun into the barriers at Copse Corner on the opening lap of the race after clashing with title rival Hamilton’s Mercedes. Hamilton got a run on Verstappen on the blast to Copse and drafted alongside the Red Bull on the entry to the corner. But with Verstappen not conceding ground, he clipped Hamilton as he turned in and was pitched off the track. The FIA ruled that Hamilton was guilty of causing the crash and he was handed a 10-second penalty, from which he recovered to win the race. Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko suggested that a regular…

IMSA The new Ferrari Le Mans Hypercar scheduled to come on stream in 2023 is “probably” going to race in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. But no plan for the new World Endurance Championship contender to cross over into the North American series has been put in place, and exactly when it might make it across the Atlantic remains far from clear. Antonello Coletta, who is heading up Ferrari’s return to the pinnacle of sportscar racing in his position as boss of the Attivita Sportive GT, has admitted that an IMSA programme is on the radar. It follows the news earlier this month that the final strands in the process of convergence between LMH and the LMP2-based LMDh formula have been put in place for 2023. Asked if the new Ferrari,…

The final results of the Monza 6 Hours show that Kevin Estre and Neel Jani gave Porsche a 32-second GTE Pro victory over the Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado. The margin of victory reveals nothing about a close-fought race in which these two cars were more often than not separated by a couple of seconds. That the margin went out to half a minute resulted from a late gamble by the AF Corse Ferrari squad. Porsche brought the leading 911 RSR with Estre at the wheel in for its sixth pitstop during the late full-course yellow. AF left Pier Guidi out in the best of the 488 GTE Evos in one last roll of the dice. Ferrari’s strategy got Pier Guidi back on Estre’s tail after he’d…

W SERIES SILVERSTONE (GBR) 17 JULY ROUND ⅜ Set against the backdrop of a capacity crowd on a beautiful summer’s day, Alice Powell capped a dream W Series weekend at Silverstone, converting pole position at her home race to take her second victory of the season. Passing Fabienne Wohlwend for the win just five minutes before the chequered flag, Powell recaptured the championship lead in front of roaring grandstands, with the biggest crowd the series has ever witnessed after it joined the Formula 1 support package for this year. A good start allowed Liechtensteiner Wohlwend to edge in front and initially it looked as though Racing X driver Powell might have missed her victory chance. But Powell kept the pressure on and, following a brief safety car period, Wohlwend locked…

IMSA SPORTSCAR LIME ROCK (USA) 17 JULY ROUND 8/13 Corvette Racing continued its domination of the sadly depleted IMSA SportsCar GTLM category at Lime Rock Park on Saturday as series leaders Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia claimed their fourth win in just five point-scoring rounds. In the more hotly contested GTD category, Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn combined to take an impressive second victory of the season aboard their Heart Of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The commanding performance by Taylor, who also took pole position, was his record-extending 23rd in IMSA competition and leaves Laguna Seca as the only current track on which he has yet to win during the ‘modern era’ dating back to 2014 (although he did score a Grand-Am DP victory at the California venue…

VW RACING CUP Volkswagen Racing Cup organisers are set to relaunch the series next year following the cancellation of its event at Oulton Park last weekend due to a lack of entries. The championship, which has shared a grid with the Touring Car Trophy for the past two seasons, had no more than five cars racing at its first three meetings of this year. That figure was set to drop further, with points leader Jack Depper stepping up to TCT in Tim Docker’s TCR-spec Volkswagen Golf and others set to follow suit. “TCR’s getting more and more successful and everybody wants to do it now,” said Stewart Lines of championship promoter Maximum Motorsport. “With the VW Cup, we’re going to go back to a cheaper option for drivers.” Simon Slade,…

SILVERSTONE CLASSIC This year’s Silverstone Classic will feature the largest grids for an historic event in the UK after being granted an increase in entries. The sport’s governing body, Motorsport UK, has given the go-ahead for more entries to appear at the popular historic event, which will feature delayed celebrations of its 30th anniversary. The increase means grids for certain series will be increased from 58 to 61 starters. “We are very grateful that Motorsport UK has allowed us to invite a record number of entrants – more so after the frustrations of last year [which was cancelled due to COVID-19], which have resulted in lots of pent-up demand and excitement,” said Motor Racing Legends chairman Duncan Wiltshire. “We don’t want to disappoint anyone wanting to join us at The…

NEW ENTRIES IN BRITISH GT British GT will welcome two extra entries to the grid at its Spa away round this weekend, with Leipert Motorsport and FF Corse joining the fray. Creventic 24H Series regular Leipert’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 will be campaigned by Toyota Racing Series stalwart Brendon Leitch and Fidel Leib, while Charlie Hollings and Ferrari Challenge Europe driver Omar Jackson will drive FF’s GTC class Ferrari 488. NO ZOLDER TRIP FOR TRUCKS The British Truck Racing Championship has axed its away round to Belgium later this year due to uncertainty around travel caused by COVID-19. The cancelled event, scheduled for 11-12 September at Zolder, means the season will now take place across six rounds, with the next meeting at Donington Park on 21-22 August, followed by trips to…

MG TROPHY MG Trophy racer Paul Savage escaped injury in a spectacular series of barrel rolls during the category’s opening race at Donington Park last weekend. Savage’s ZR 190 tangled with Josh Bacon’s ZR 170 exiting the chicane while battling for sixth place. The crash brought out red flags and the race’s result was declared just before half of the planned distance. “It was like being in a washing machine and you’re waiting for it to stop,” said Savage. “My thought was, ‘How bad is this going to be?’ Physically I’m OK – I’m probably going to be a bit stiff in the morning. I try to keep out of accidents – my overriding priority is to keep my car straight so I don’t have to spend money on it.…

Rooted in the late 1970s, the Historic Superprix has drawn competitors and spectators to Brands Hatch for more than 40 years. The Grand Prix circuit, added to the hallowed Kentish speedbowl in 1960 and playground of Jim Clark, Jack Brabham and Pedro Rodriguez, remains among the world’s most satisfying racetracks to drive. Yet the sport’s evolution in this stratum, dilution of interests as each passing season broadens choice in the ‘old car’ marketplace, rising costs and – inevitably – the COVID-19 pandemic have changed its focus. These are very different times to the 1980s and 1990s when I first attended the Superprix. Back then, it had a big international presence, with racers – many owner/driver/preparers – converging from the corners of Europe and beyond, and a select band contesting the…

DONINGTON PARK MGCC 17-18 JULY The MG Trophy has followed a pattern this season: two young guns, Sam Kirkpatrick and Fred Burgess, battling over first, with Kirkpatrick prevailing. The 20-year-old had won six from six before the baking-hot Donington Park meeting last weekend and, in the opener, he made it seven. Burgess, true to form, was attacking Kirkpatrick throughout, and he reckoned he could have made a move had the race not ended early with a red flag after a spectacular clash between Paul Savage and Josh Bacon. Race two was a similar tale, but this time it had a last-lap twist. Burgess looked stronger throughout than Kirkpatrick out of Old Hairpin and, on the final tour, he got alongside. They touched and an unhappy Burgess spun, dropping to ninth,…

KNOCKHILL SMRC 18 JULY Reigning Scottish Fiesta ST Cup champion Dave Colville claimed a pair of fiercely fought victories at Knockhill last weekend to take a clear lead in the standings. After splitting the wins in the opening round last month, Colville and Steven Gray arrived in Fife tied on points, with just 0.1 seconds separating the pair in Colville’s favour at the end of qualifying. That form carried on into the first of the two races, with Gray tracking Colville for the duration, either side of an early safety car intervention caused by Duncan Langton collecting the slow-starting Peter Cruickshank off the line. Gray did make a late divebomb move under braking for the Hairpin but Colville, making the most of Gray running too deep, got better drive on…

TCR UK’s summer 2017 launch was met with reported interest from 27 potential teams. But establishing a foothold in a country with such a strong domestic touring car championship was a tough task – a 13-car entry at its inaugural round was a high point. Now incorporated under the Touring Car Trophy banner, joining Club Time Attack’s calendar of events such as Tunerfest North at Oulton Park last weekend is helping the series to blossom. “We want it to become a destination championship in its own right because of its accessibility,” said CTA competition secretary Simon Slade, citing relatively low-cost manufacturer-built TCR machinery and the promotional opportunities associated with larger crowds. “Time Attack has always attracted thousands of spectators.” Despite clutch problems on his Hyundai, Lewis Kent took victory in…

Formula E Rounds 12-13/15 24-25 July London, UK TV Live Channel 4, Sat 1450, Sun 1350 Available via BBC Red Button, iPlayer and BBC Sport website DTM Round 2/7 24-25 July Lausitzring, Germany TV Live BT Sport 2, Sat 1215, BT Sport 1, Sun 1215 DTM Trophy Round 2/6 24-25 July Lausitzring, Germany TV Live BT Sport 2, Sat 1400, BT Sport 1, Sun 1400 International GT Open Round 4/7 24-25 July Imola, Italy Euroformula Open Round 5/8 24-25 July Imola, Italy British GT Round 4/7 25 July Spa, Belgium British F3 Round 4/8 24-25 July Spa, Belgium Formula Regional European by Alpine Round 6/10 24-25 July Spa, Belgium Livestream on Motorsport.tv, Sat 1730, Sun 1030 FIA World Rallycross Round 1/9 24 July Barcelona, Spain TV Live BT Sport 1,…

The complexity of Formula 1 cars is arguably one of its greatest appeals, but also among its biggest turn-offs. Mercedes HPP achieved 50% thermal efficiency on its Brixworth dyno as long ago as 2017, underlining F1’s credentials for producing the world’s most efficient racing engines. These play a big part in the ability of F1 teams to attract the best graduates who perpetuate the cycle of innovations that drip-feed into our everyday lives. But a common criticism of F1 is that its ultra-complex nuances distract from the gladiatorial battle between the drivers – although the superb spectacle in 2021 is doing much to counter this view. Agree or not, a driving force behind the new for 2022 regulations is a desire for simplicity that F1 seems to have lost along…

The second-generation FIA Formula 4 car, equipped with a halo, that is due to debut in 2022 was formally presented earlier this month. Built by French manufacturer Mygale, the M21-F4 car on display has already begun testing and boasts what the FIA describes as “a major update to its safety profile”, with an upgraded survival cell, full-length anti-intrusion panels, plus improved crash resistance and seat security. An FIA statement said that “stringent load tests will be implemented for the survival cell side strength and the side and frontal anti-intrusion panels”. Further changes compared to the first iteration of the F4 car, which was introduced in 2014, include the capacity to add a hybrid component to the powertrain at series’ discretion. Despite these improvements, Mygale says the all-carbonfibre car is 15kg…

SPEED RECORD ATTEMPT Former Mercedes HPP engineer Rob White has created a motorcycle that will attempt to break British and world land speed records for electric semi-streamliner bikes. The White Motorcycle Concepts CEO-designed and built WMC250EV is claimed to produce 70% less drag than standard high-performance superbikes, thanks to a duct, coined ‘V-Air’, which forces air through the centre of the vehicle rather than around it. STEWART AWARDS PRIZE Formula 1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart was in attendance at Cranfield University as Helena Estorach was awarded the Sir Jackie Stewart Prize earlier this month. The Xtrac graduate analyst was recognised as the top performing student across the taught modules within its Advanced Motorsport Engineering MSc course. ELECTRIC GT40 BUI LT An electric-powered Ford GT40 will be the first product of…

Despite its recent relocations, the Dakar Rally remains one of motorsport’s most brutal endurance contests; an event that requires a fair portion of luck just to reach the finish. It is one of the last great motorsport adventures, a 4751-mile marathon across the treacherous Saudi Arabian desert. To conquer the Dakar is a monumental feat, and to achieve glory at your first attempt is extremely rare – as Prodrive discovered with its Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX) project in January. Such a trial has ensured that work to tame next year’s event has already started in earnest. “The Dakar Rally is the hardest race in the world today, so that means when a new team arrives it is really hard,” says BRX driver Nani Roma, a Dakar winner on both two…

FORMULA 1 When Formula 1 unveiled its full-scale model of its 2022 regulation concept ahead of last weekend’s British Grand Prix, it did so amid the keen anticipation surrounding the return of a ground-effect formula. Although the holographic livery looked like it belonged more to an early-2000s football sticker than a racing car, the car itself offered a hint of what to expect next season. Except… the fleet of cars that will eventually grace next year’s grid won’t entirely look like that model. Although there have been fears that the prescriptive nature of the new generation of F1 cars will result in them looking vastly similar, there’s plenty of space for the teams to explore and hone their 2022 challengers into very different machines to each other’s. F1 had to…

LE MANS 24 HOURS Alfa Romeo Formula 1 reserve driver Callum Ilott will make his Le Mans 24 Hours debut next month. The Ferrari Driver Academy member will race one of the trio of the Italian manufacturer’s 488 GTE Evos fielded by the Iron Lynx squad. The Briton’s (right) maiden sportscar programme with Ferrari this year has been expanded from an assault on the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with Iron Lynx, as part of an all-factory driver line-up, to include the centrepiece World Endurance Championship round on 21-22 August. Ilott will drive alongside Matteo Cressoni and Rino Mastronardi in place of Andrea Piccini, who will be concentrating on his role as team principal. Ilott described being chosen to race at Le Mans as “a real honour” and “an…

FORMULA E The FIA has deducted 4kWh from the energy total each Formula E car may use in this weekend’s London E-Prix double-header to allay fears of processional or crash-strewn racing. A revised layout for the partially indoor ExCeL Centre circuit dispensed with a fast final sector and added a hairpin and chicane. This created bigger braking zones and more chances to regenerate energy. Team simulations revealed that the usual need to recover 30% energy to finish would be cut to 5%. A strategy stalemate was predicted, while some drivers feared overheating brakes – with lifting and coasting not required – would increase the likelihood of collisions. The wording of the FIA regulations only prescribes an upper limit of 52kWh per race, allowing the governing body to wind it back…

It finally happened. Formula 1 got to see what would’ve happened had an Ayrton Senna/Alain Prost collision – but not Suzuka 1990, to be clear – taken place in the social media age. And the results, unsurprisingly, were utterly, shamefully disgusting. But, leaving behind the opinions of anonymous cowards (who should be challenged and condemned for the horrendous racist abuse directed towards Lewis Hamilton in the aftermath of the British Grand Prix), F1 can reflect on its fiercest title fight for years arriving at its most contentious flashpoint yet. Hamilton and Max Verstappen made contact at Imola’s Tamburello chicane just after the start. In Spain, Verstappen’s aggressive move up the inside of Turn 1 led to Hamilton turning out of contact. Then in the Silverstone sprint race, Verstappen weaved three…

The home heroes did not let the returning Silverstone crowd down during ‘normal’ qualifying on Friday night. Lewis Hamilton topped the Q1/Q2/Q3 session ahead of title rival Max Verstappen, while Lando Norris led team-mate Daniel Ricciardo (although lost out to McLaren’s constructors’ championship rival Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc taking fourth), and George Russell brilliantly took his Williams through to Q3, where he ended up eighth. The battle for ‘not-pole, pole’ and Russell’s stunning result were the highlights. Hamilton and Mercedes had underplayed the impact of their updated bargeboards, sidepod deflectors and floor when it came to closing the gap to Red Bull on ultimate pace, although they clearly helped. The difference on Friday evening was that Verstappen, who’d comfortably topped practice by 0.8 seconds, was left rueing an understeer issue…

A first British Grand Prix podium since 2010 looked possible for McLaren early on following the Max Verstappen/Lewis Hamilton clash, but pitstop woe took Lando Norris out of the equation. A strong Grand Prix race start aided his ascent into third, and Norris gamely kept Valtteri Bottas at bay. But Norris was forced to endure a longer wait switching his medium tyres for the hard compound, losing four seconds to Bottas due to a cross-threaded wheelnut. The Mercedes driver pounced on the delay a lap later by pitting and returning to the circuit ahead of Norris, although the two were briefly close. Bottas quickly passed the yet-to-stop Fernando Alonso to pull enough of a gap between himself and the 21-year-old. Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, enjoyed a race-long battle with Carlos Sainz…

Sebastian Vettel has looked somewhat re-energised and rejuvenated since joining Aston Martin for this season. But at Silverstone he suffered an ignominious return to his old ways with a spin after battling with Fernando Alonso on the exit of Luffield over sixth place on the restart. His initial Grand Prix start was strong, and Vettel surged ahead of Alonso before the red flag, but their following duel upon the race’s resumption proved costly for the four-time world champion. “The weekend was looking promising and, without all the problems, I should have finished well inside the points,” he said. “I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I misjudged it, lost grip and spun. After that, I was right at the back.” Vettel then retired from the team’s home race with a…

NASCAR CUP NEW HAMPSHIRE (USA) 18 JULY ROUND 22/36 Ford Mustang racer Aric Almirola won a NASCAR Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend that almost didn’t happen and, when it did, then failed to run for the full scheduled distance. Kyle Busch started on pole and led the first six laps until he spun and backed into the wall as a heavy mist picked up quickly at the track before NASCAR could throw the caution. Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr were both collected in the incident. After waiting through a 102-minute rain delay, the action resumed but, because the Loudon venue isn’t equipped with floodlights, NASCAR wasn’t certain it could complete the planned 301-lap distance. With darkness closing in, Almirola led for the first time on…

AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS TOWNSVILLE (AUS) 17-18 JULY ROUND 7/12 Australian Supercars turned on three thrilling sprint races to round out the Townsville double-header as Cam Waters ended Triple Eight’s dominance. The Triple Eight Holden Commodore ZBs had been untouchable across the Townsville 500 weekend thanks to a Shane van Gisbergen brace, so there were fears that the three-heat SuperSprint would be a foregone conclusion. But while Triple Eight still had the edge on pace, Waters was able to close the gap enough to nab a couple of race wins aboard his Tickford Racing Ford Mustang The first came in Saturday evening’s opener, Waters jumping early leader Anton De Pasquale at the stops with an undercut strategy. His cause was also helped by both Triple Eight drivers picking up 15-second penalties. Van…

TOURING CAR TROPHY TCR Europe race winner Alex Morgan made a successful return to the Touring Car Trophy at Oulton Park last weekend after nearly two years out of the driving seat. Morgan, also a multiple winner in the Renault UK Clio Cup, rejoined the Power Maxed Racing squad with which he contested 2019’s TCT season finale. “I’m trying to get rid of the race rust,” said Morgan, who qualified his Cupra TCR on pole before twice finishing second, despite carrying 30kg of ballast as a new entrant. “With all the COVID restrictions, this seemed the most sensible to get out somewhere in the UK. “I’d like to do TCR Europe next year with PMR if possible, so this is a chance to build on the relationship we started in…

SHELSLEY WALSH The Classic Nostalgia weekend at Shelsley Walsh had a strong rallying focus as the cars of Richard Burns and Colin McRae featured in the demonstrations, while drivers from the Ralli22 movement delivered some of the most spectacular climbs. While Prodrive took the Subaru Impreza used by Burns to win the 2000 Safari Rally, McRae’s career was highlighted by his 2001 Rally Portugal Ford Focus WRC and the MG Metro 6R4 he owned after his WRC career and famously used in Donegal in 2006. Demonstration runs by a range of notable race and rally cars complemented two days of competition for classic cars, including the Ralli22 movement for Group B, Group A and early WRC cars. Subaru Impreza driver Niall Moroney needed only one timed run on Sunday to…

DRAG RACING Round three of the Motorsport UK British Drag Racing Championship brought an exciting new face to Pro Modified at Santa Pod, with a remarkable story and an historic outcome. Women have competed equally with men on all drag racing levels for decades – one in seven of this event’s entry was female – yet few have ventured into Pro Mod, either here or in the US. Annie Wallace last weekend became the second British woman to try. The 22-year-old has a racing family. Like sister Bonnie, she raced in Junior Dragster, then in her teens drove brother Bobby’s unruly Sportsman Ford Pop when Bobby graduated to Pro Mod, before leaving the cockpit to crew Bobby to two second-placed championship finishes. Meanwhile, she tested in the family’s second Pro…

SNETTERTON 750MC 17-18 JULY The 750 Motor Club’s first Snetterton visit of 2021 provided numerous nailbiting finishes, while a heatwave amounted to incredibly tough conditions for drivers across all classes. The Sports 1000 races were impressive, with the usual battle between Mittell and Spire chassis taking place at the sharp end. Ryan Yarrow in his Spire GT3S and the Mittell MC-53s of Michael Roots and Victor Neumann were the three main protagonists fighting for victory. Yarrow came out on top in the first encounter, after a race-long pursuit of Neumann finally paid dividends on the penultimate lap, courtesy of a poor run for the Frenchman out of Oggies. Roots finished third, over six seconds back from the top two, but come the second encounter he was firmly in the fray.…

MG TROPHY Race 1 Sam Kirkpatrick (ZR 190) Race 2 Doug Cole (ZR 190) MG CUP & METRO CUP Races 1 & 2 Richard Buckley (Rover 220 Tomcat Turbo) MG MIDGET & SPRITE CHALLENGE Race 1 David Morrison (MG Midget) Race 2 Stephen Collier (MG Midget) BCV8 Races 1 & 2 Ollie Neaves (MGB GTV8) COCKSHOOT CUP Races 1 & 2 Karl Green (MG ZS 180) TRIPLE M RACING CHALLENGE Race 1 Tom Hardman (MG Bellevue Special) Race 2 Mike Painter (MG Kayne Special) EQUIPE THREE-HOUR RELAY Bernardo Hartogs/Richard Wilson (Lotus 15/Maserati 250S, below) EQUIPE LIBRE Race 1 Jamie Boot (TVR Griffith) Race 2 Cliff Gray/Will Nuthall (Lotus Elan 26R) MORGAN CHALLENGE Race 1 Bill Lancashire (+8) Race 2 Oliver Pratt (+8) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

MONDELLO PARK FORMULA BOSS IRELAND Race 1 Paul O’Connell (Dallara F3) Race 2 Sylvie Mullins (Gould GR37) IRISH LEGENDS Races 1, 2 & 3 Robert Barrable GINETTA JUNIOR IRELAND Races 1 & 2 Se Og Martin FORMULA SHEANE Races 1 & 2 Enda O’Connor FORMULA VEE IRELAND Race 1 Jordan Kelly (Sheane) Race 2 Anthony Cross (Sheane) FIESTA STS Race 1 Graham McDonnell Race 2 Jack Byrne IRISH STRYKERS Races 1 & 2 Michael Cullen SEAT SUPERCUP IRELAND, IRISH SUPERCARS & IRISH TOURING CARS Races 1 & 2 Shane Murphy (SEAT Leon) FIESTA ZETECS Race 1 Michael Barrable Race 2 Harry McGovern HRCA Race 1 Jackie Cochrane (Sunbeam Tiger) Race 2 Bernard Foley (MGB GTV8) FUTURE CLASSICS Race 1 Paul Flanagan (Renault Clio) Race 2 Paddy Howley (MG ZR) For…

The introduction of data loggers and on-board cameras has transformed modern motorsport and driver development from the top levels all the way to grassroots racing. Much like modern car mechanics have had to move with the times and embrace the electrification of car control systems, race teams, drivers and driver coaches have done the same thing in motorsport and to great effect. No longer does the race engineer have to rely solely on the feedback from a disgruntled driver who is trying to justify why they are two seconds slower than the competition. With electronic sensors recording all of the driver inputs, and on-board (and external) cameras showing racing lines and track positioning, a major aspect of race engineering has developed in a way that is no longer constrained by…

Graham Hill (#14 Ferrari 330P, shared with Jo Bonnier) leads the #21 Mike Parkes/Ludovico Scarfiotti Ferrari 275P and #58 David Piper/Jochen Rindt Ferrari 250LM at the start of the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hours. After a super-fast getaway, Pedro Rodriguez (330P, shared with Skip Hudson) has already smoked into the lead and out of shot, followed by the similar, polesitting car of John Surtees/Lorenzo Bandini. Ferrari went on to finish 1-2-3, although it was the #20 275P of Nino Vaccarella/Jean Guichet that took a comfortable victory ahead of Hill/Bonnier and Surtees/Bandini. For classic Le Mans DVDs head to dukevideo.com/lemans For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

British Touring Car Championship hybrid kit supplier Cosworth Electronics declared itself “very happy” after its hybrid test car completed 118 laps of Oulton Park in the series’ official two-day tyre test earlier this month. The Speedworks-run Toyota Corolla driven by 2013 champion Andrew Jordan finished 21st of the 27 entrants on Tuesday before improving to 12th on Wednesday, lapping less than a second off pacesetter Gordon Shedden’s Team Dynamics Honda in mixed weather conditions, although “no emphasis was placed on overall lap times or set-up changes” according to an official statement. During Wednesday’s wet morning session, Jordan was fastest in the speed traps in the second and third sectors, although these were slower than the highest speeds for those sectors set in other drier sessions when the car ran. The…

Leading voices in British motorsport have called for caution on the push to electrify, stressing a need for politicians to put “common sense” above sweeping legislation aimed at winning votes. From 2030, the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the UK. But in a discussion panel hosted by the FIA on the future of powertrain technologies, Motorsport Industry Association CEO Chris Aylett warned that the widespread adoption of this strategy carries significant risk as “too many nations can’t afford it”. “We are going to make mistakes if we put speed before common sense,” he said. “Is the future all-electric? Not a hope.” Motorsport UK chairman David Richards said that the national grid isn’t yet equipped to deal with masses of cars charging overnight, and urged…

It’s no secret that Gerhard Berger isn’t the biggest fan of Balance of Performance, and it was under his stewardship that the DTM axed its own system of performance weights in late 2017. But a top-to-bottom shake-up in the winter has forced Berger to embrace what many consider to be a necessary evil in GT3 racing, as he carves a new future for the championship following an exodus of manufacturers in recent years. Intriguingly, the DTM is not relying on SRO, the company responsible for determining the BoP for virtually every championship using the GT3 ruleset. Instead, the series has taken its own unique route, partnering with renowned Austrian engineering company AVL Racing for the 2021 season. The idea is to use AVL’s decades of experience in simulation models and…

Historic racing is not the first branch of motorsport that comes to mind in discussions about advancing technology and helping the green movement. After all, part of the appeal is that it includes loud, fire-breathing machines that are – in a modern context – inefficient. But there are in fact two key areas where historic competition can help the future of the sport and society in general. And they were discussed at the inaugural Autosport Connect industry event back in March. The historic community is well-versed in having to find alternative methods to keep cars running as certain materials become harder to find or are taken off the table thanks to modern safety concerns. So having to do the same with petrol is perhaps not as much of a leap…