Indholdsfortegnelse for 10/13/2022 i Autosport

Yet more confusion hung over Max Verstappen’s Formula 1 world title clincher last weekend. But, unlike in 2021, there can be absolutely no doubt about who the star performer has been this season. Verstappen has been brilliant this year and took the title in fine style as F1 finally got going in the wet at Suzuka. Matt Kew talks you through the bizarre events, as well as Verstappen’s sublime performance as the Dutchman scored his 12th victory of the campaign, on page 16. Verstappen is now just one win off the season record, a tally that does not reflect how hard he’s had to work or how quick Ferrari was early on. Verstappen aside, the events of last weekend raised more questions about how F1 is run and the wording…

FORMULA 1 Pierre Gasly will race for Alpine in Formula 1 next year after signing a multi-year deal, which has opened up the door for Nyck de Vries to get his long-awaited F1 chance replacing the Frenchman at AlphaTauri. After losing Fernando Alonso to Aston Martin and intended replacement Oscar Piastri to McLaren, Alpine turned its attention to Gasly to form an all-French line-up with Esteban Ocon. Red Bull made clear that it would only release Gasly from his contract for 2023 if it had a replacement lined up. Talks accelerated with de Vries after his impressive F1 debut last month as a stand-in for Williams at Monza, where he finished ninth. Gasly will end a nine-year association with Red Bull when he joins Alpine, but he said it “very…

BTCC While Jason Plato was taking part in his final British Touring Car Championship event at Brands Hatch last weekend, so too was another driver – one who was only eight months old at the time of Plato’s series debut! But while Plato is keen to extend his driving career into the GT3 arena, Ricky Collard has decided to hang up his helmet completely after a tricky first full debut season in the BTCC. Collard, the son of multiple BTCC race winner Rob and grandson of hot rod legend Mick ‘Duffy’ Collard, was runner-up to Lando Norris in the first FIA Formula 4 series to be held in the UK in 2015, placed second in BRDC British F3 in 2016, and was a race winner in ADAC GT Masters as…

BTCC The British Touring Car Championship silly season was in full swing at last weekend’s 2022 season finale at Brands Hatch, with some of the title contenders involved in the grapevine gossip. First, veteran Tom Chilton took himself off the market (see right). Then attentions turned to Jake Hill, who went on to finish third in the points at the end of his first season with the West Surrey Racing BMW squad. His car has been run under the MB Motorsport banner of manager Mark Blundell’s MB Partners, and talk that MB could go it alone if a deal to remain at WSR is not secured began to gain traction. The conjecture was that MB could take over Ciceley Motorsport’s two BMWs, with Adam Morgan – whose family owns Ciceley…

Lewis Hamilton was left to rue Mercedes’ lack of straightline speed at Suzuka after finishing fifth following a race-long battle with Esteban Ocon. Hamilton tracked Ocon before and after their seventh-lap stops for the preferred intermediate tyre. He had been running under a second behind when they were called in, which is what the gap generally stayed at other than a few occasions when Hamilton dropped back before closing in again on the Alpine. He regularly got a good run out of Spoon and on the long run to 130R but, without DRS in the wet conditions, he never got a chance to pass because the W13’s extra drag meant it was shipping 4mph to the Ocon’s car in the speed trap. In the other Mercedes, George Russell was able…

Sebastian Vettel edged Fernando Alonso by 0.011 seconds to claim sixth in the Japanese Grand Prix, with the pair clashing at the start and end of the truncated race. Vettel made a better getaway from ninth at the start, so much so that he drew alongside the wheelspinning Alpine and squirmed onto the white line at the edge of the track to Alonso’s left. But when turning in for the first corner, he hit Alonso on the inside and spun off, dropping to the back. He and Aston then considered pitting immediately ahead of the restart if Vettel felt the time was right for intermediates, which it was. That and getting out of the pits just ahead of Nicholas Latifi launched him back into the points-paying positions when the majority…

In the immediate aftermath of becoming king of the British Touring Car Championship for the first time, while the tears were yet to dry up and the voice was yet to not choke up, Tom Ingram said this had been his dream since he peered up at the lofty heights of Matt Neal when he met the future three-time champion at the Autosport International show as an impressionable five-year-old. Later on, still with a distinct hint of quiver in his speech, even after all the pageantry and fireworks and lengthy ceremonies that go with the crowning of a BTCC champion, he stood outside the Excelr8 Motorsport garage in the Brands Hatch pitlane and wound on a year or so, to when the little Ingram nerded out on binge-watching the 1999…

While it was Triple Eight’s wildcard that finished best of the one-off entries in the Great Race, it was the third Erebus car that made the biggest splash. The Boost Mobile-backed wildcard pairing of Richie Stanaway and Greg Murphy was an intriguing prospect heading into the weekend, given four-time Great Race winner Murphy hadn’t raced at Bathurst since 2014, and Stanaway had walked away from the sport entirely after a tough 2019 season. It was hard to tell if they’d be up to it, and not just from the outside. Murphy himself was nervous that he’d be too slow. The relief in his voice when he set a respectful 2m05.871s in Thursday’s co-driver practice, a full second faster than his famous Lap of the Gods, was obvious. However it was…

NASCAR CUP CHARLOTTE (USA) 9 OCTOBER ROUND 32/36 A desperate gamble paid off handsomely for Christopher Bell as he won his way into the semi-final round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Unable to advance in the playoffs on points, Bell needed a win in last Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Roval, but it appeared unlikely until two late cautions dramatically altered the outcome. On the first caution, Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing team brought him down pitroad for four new tyres while most lead-lap cars remained on the track. On the restart, Kevin Harvick emerged as the leader as several cars piled up in Turn 1. Bell had made his way up to second when the caution was displayed again to repair the kerbing in the backstretch chicane. Bell, on…

TCR UK Mini Challenge frontrunner Lewis Brown will make his TCR UK debut later this month ahead of a planned full campaign next year. Brown will join Chameleon Motorsport’s expanded line-up of Cupra Leon Competicion TCRs (below) for the Snetterton finale on 23 October alongside team principal Neil Trotter, who switches from the older Cupra TCR model. Brown finished third in the premier JCW class of last year’s Mini Challenge but slipped to 10th in this season’s standings. He took six race victories in a five-year spell in the category after winning the 2017 Ginetta GT5 Challenge. “It’s undoubtedly going to be a step up from the Mini Challenge,” said Brown. “Going from the JCW to effectively a touring car is going to throw a lot of learning curves at…

BRITISH GT Graham Davidson will join 2 Seas Motorsport for the final round of the British GT season at Donington Park this weekend – the third different team he has driven for this year. The 2019 overall GT3 champion will race a Mercedes-AMG alongside Aaron Walker, the team’s junior driver who has been competing in Fiesta Junior this season, for the two-hour race. Davidson previously raced in the opening round at Oulton Park with Team Rocket RJN’s McLaren 720S GT3, taking a best result of sixth, before joining Paddock Motorsport for the races at Snetterton and Spa in its McLaren. Elsewhere, ex-Formula E driver Alexander Sims continues in Century Motorsport’s BMW after his podium at Brands Hatch, with new team-mate and Ginetta graduate Darren Leung. Newly crowned GT Cup champions…

OBITUARY One of club racing’s greatest stalwarts, Norman Lackford died on 6 October, peacefully at home with wife Rachel at his side. He had battled cancer since 2017, but competed stoically while undergoing every possible treatment to complete a 50-plus year career. Norman’s enthusiasm and drive was infectious. Racer and sportscar engineer brother Robin, 13 years his junior, recalls him “dragging me to Crystal Palace as a six-year-old. That day ‘ruined’ the rest of my life…” Electro-mechanical engineer Norman was working for PA company Tannoy when he started racing a one-litre Ford Anglia in 1969. He subsequently built an Escort around its MAE engine, but it was for the unusual Fiat 850 coupe – Imp then 1300cc BDA-powered – that Special Saloon fanatics will remember him. “He bought a single-seater…

750MC Formula Vee champion Craig Pollard expects to defend his title in 2023 but is also eyeing outings in historic monoposto racing in Europe. The 29-year-old from Bury St Edmunds secured his second FVee title at Cadwell Park last month, ahead of this weekend’s Mallory Park finale, having largely dominated the season in the ex-Graham Gant championship-winning WEV. Finance director Pollard said: “My father restored Jaguar E-types and would drive me down to Angouleme in France for the historic street race there when I was a kid, so I’ve always been interested in historics. “We are potentially looking at purchasing a slicks-and-wings Monoposto car and doing a couple of races – the chance to race at places like Zandvoort or Spa would be cool and it would be a few…

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB It was not how Kiern Jewiss wanted to secure the Porsche Carrera Cup GB title. Red flags flying after closest rival Will Martin mounted the barriers exiting Paddock Hill Bend meant there was not the usual fanfare as he crossed the line, but it was still another impressive weekend for the Team Parker racer. Jewiss did lose out to fellow front-row starter Gus Burton off the line in the opener but responded instantly, diving inside the Century machine in the tiniest of gaps towards Druids to retake the lead. But there was no time for Burton to retaliate when a lengthy safety car period followed with four cars colliding out of Graham Hill Bend. Then, just after the restart, there was contact between Theo Edgerton and…

BRITISH F4 No Alex Dunne (see News) meant there was a chance for others to shine in the British Formula 4 champion’s absence and it was Joseph Loake who took that opportunity to end his season on a high. After Oliver Gray’s faint title hopes evaporated when he qualified on the front row, he was unable to topple JHR racer Loake in a processional first contest. The only change inside the top six after the opening lap came when Louis Sharp’s Carlin machine came to a smoky halt. It was a similar story for Loake in the finale as he again put in an impressive display to end the year with the most victories aside from Dunne, although Sharp passing Gray for second late on denied Loake fourth in the…

Brands Hatch marked the end of an era for British motorsport. Ginettas have been a permanent fixture at British Touring Car meetings since 2008, with only the Porsche Carrera Cup GB enjoying a longer stint on the TOCA bill, but the Kent weekend marked the Yorkshire machines’ final hurrah on the UK’s biggest motorsport stage, with Ginetta Junior joining the British GT package next season and the GT4 Supercup being scrapped. Hundreds of drivers have begun their car racing careers in Ginetta Junior over the past 15 seasons and there have been numerous unforgettable races. And the 10-car fight for third in race two, plus Will Macintyre and Liam McNeilly’s thrilling lead battle in the finale added a couple more. Macintyre had the honour of winning the last Ginetta Junior…

SWINGING SIXTIES Group 1 Sam Polley (Mini Marcos) Group 2 Jon Wolfe (TVR Tuscan V8) SPECIAL SALOONS AND MODSPORTS Race 1 Danny Morris (Peugeot 309 GTI Cosworth) Race 2 Andy Southcott (MG Midget) FUTURE CLASSICS Bill Lancashire/Howard Lancashire (Morgan +8) MODERN CLASSICS Alex Taylor (TVR Tuscan Challenge) OPEN/SLICKS SERIES Nigel Mustill/Craig Dolby (Volvo S80, below) NEW MILLENNIUM Dominic Malone (BMW M3 E90 WTCC) MAGNIFICENT SEVENS Tim Davies (Caterham Seven) TURBO TIN TOPS Josh Brooks (Toyota Starlet GT) CLASSIC K Giles Dawson (Lotus Elan 26R) TIN TOPS Russell Hird (Honda Integra Type R) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

KNOCKHILL SMRC 9 OCTOBER Stewart Black capped off a sensational season of Scottish Legends Cars racing by clinching his second successive title with a double podium in the final round of the year at Knockhill last weekend. With a total of 600 points on offer from the three races, just 185 split Black and his nearest rival, three-time Legends champion Ben Mason, with Ryan McLeish making it a three-way scrap for the title at the Fife circuit. McLeish did nearly everything he could by winning the first and third races, but Black’s victory in the second heat was enough to be crowned one race early. “It’s been a hard old slog this season,” said a relieved Black post-race. “I’ve had so much fun racing Ryan and Ben; it’s been really…

FORMULA 1 The FIA has launched an investigation into the safety procedures at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix after Formula 1 drivers fumed at the “unacceptable” use of a recovery vehicle on the circuit while they drove in wet conditions. Following Carlos Sainz’s crash on the opening lap at Suzuka, the safety car was deployed before a red flag was shown due to heavy rain and poor visibility. But Pierre Gasly was left fuming over the radio when he narrowly passed a recovery vehicle that was tending to Sainz’s car at Turn 12. “What is this tractor on track?” Gasly shouted on team radio. “I passed next to it. This is unacceptable. Remember what has happened. I can’t believe this.” The incident came eight years after Jules Bianchi sustained severe…

WEC IMSA SportsCar Championship title winners Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis will continue their partnership in the World Endurance Championship next year. The Meyer Shank Racing Acura (right) team-mates this season will join forces in one of United Autosports’ LMP2 ORECAs in 2023. Blomqvist comes into the line-up of the #23 United ORECA-Gibson 07 alongside Jarvis and 16-year-old American Josh Pierson in place of Alex Lynn, who will be racing for the Ganassi Cadillac squad in the WEC. The deal brings the 28-year-old Brit back to the WEC a year on from his second-place finish in the P2 points with Jota. “United Autosports have proven themselves as one of the top teams in the world of endurance racing and I’m thrilled to be working with all of the team,” said…

W SERIES The W Series will not complete the final three races of its 2022 season due to fundraising issues, but is “extremely confident” of returning next year. During the recent Singapore Grand Prix support round, it emerged that the femaleonly series may not be able to complete its campaign after the collapse of a contracted deal with an American investor. A one-week deadline was set to decide on whether the final races – at the US GP before a doubleheader finale at the Mexican GP – would go ahead, before W Series announced on Monday that the season had been curtailed. W Series said the decision was “made to focus on the longer-term fundraising process to enable the longevity and financial health of W Series into 2023.” The decision…

Liberty Media has established its position in making Formula 1 bigger and better than ever before. At the same time, it is frustrated by the rules scandals that have cropped up of late and tarnished F1’s image. In the aftermath of last weekend’s controversial Japanese Grand Prix, the FIA and its procedures are firmly in the spotlight for some, crosshairs for others. And this includes the revelations from its Cost Cap Administration announcement. In essence, the FIA’s job is rule enforcement. But its safety focus is vital too. And it must do everything against the backdrop of constantly changing global societies. With that in mind, here are several relatively simple steps the FIA should consider to improve its standing inside the F1 paddock and with followers of the sport. In…

The latest case of motorsport’s top flight making heavy weather of heavy weather, total fury from drivers over when recovery vehicles should be on circuit, a track limits penalty that a gravel trap might have prevented, confusion concerning the length of a race and how points are awarded, plus the champion only learning of his success between interviews. Certainly, last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix wasn’t short of conflict and drama, and the FIA has again emerged from a Formula 1 title decider being pounded with criticism. The governing body has many questions to which it must provide satisfactory answers. Until those arrive, the fallout should not overshadow what was a mesmeric wet-weather victory from Max Verstappen. One that, unbeknown to us all at the chequered flag, had fittingly secured the…

Esteban Ocon’s superb defence against Lewis Hamilton netted Alpine’s best result of 2022 and that, combined with Fernando Alonso’s battling drive to seventh, meant the blue-and-pink team moved back ahead of McLaren in the fight for fourth in the constructors’ championship. Just a week after Alpine’s double retirement in Singapore meant McLaren had climbed in front in that constructors’ scrap, Ocon took the A522’s upgraded floor, introduced in Singapore, to fifth on the Suzuka grid. Gaining confidence with every dry-conditions lap on Saturday, he beat the Mercedes pair and Alonso, and was only headed by the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers. After holding his place ahead of Hamilton at the first start and the rolling restart, Ocon then defied one of Formula 1’s greatest wet-weather drivers with fine car control…

Such is the nature of the Jack Sears Trophy – a BTCC sub-class for those who have never scored an overall podium finish or won the JST itself – that it can sometimes be a rather uninspiring contest won by the not-quite-good-enough driver who does the least-mediocre job. This year it’s been different. Former Carrera Cup GB ace George Gamble was the hot favourite in a Ciceley Motorsport BMW, but the team has suffered persistent maddening problems with electronics shutdowns, and he’s also been involved in a few scrapes. Fellow rookie Ash Hand has been rapid too when he had the chance in his 2017-vintage Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra – the oldest car on the grid. But both have been upstaged by Bobby Thompson, who has been something of…

DTM HOCKENHEIM (DEU) 8-9 OCTOBER ROUND 8/8 Sheldon van der Linde lived up to the promise he showed in the Class 1 era to clinch the 2022 DTM title and end a six-year championship drought for his employer BMW. Van der Linde has always been rated highly in the paddock since he made his DTM debut in 2019 but never really had a chance to fight for regular wins, let alone put together a bid for the championship. However, that changed this year as BMW introduced the new M4 GT3 car that addressed the majority of the weaknesses of its bulky predecessor, making it more suitable to a sprint racing championship like the DTM. It meant the South African was able to score three wins in the first nine races…

WORLD RALLYCROSS SPA (BEL) 8-9 OCTOBER ROUND 4/6 Johan Kristoffersson took significant steps towards securing his fifth World Rallycross Championship with the 32nd and 33rd victories of his stellar career at Spa – although not everything proceeded according to plan. On Saturday, the Swede played himself in and didn’t win any of his heats, the progression race or his semi-final before lining up fourth for the final itself. He made up two places at the start as the squabbling Niclas Groholm and Kevin Hansen focused on each other. Then at the Raidillon hairpin Gronholm triggered a concertina-effect that pushed Kristofferson’s Volkswagen RX1e into leader Timmy Hansen, who was spun around. The reigning champion survived the moment to score an easy win from Kevin Hansen and Gustav Bergstrom. The following day…

BRITISH F4 Alex Dunne says the decision to skip the Brands Hatch British Formula 4 finale and instead race at Monza paid off as he provisionally sealed the title as well as climbing to second in the Italian standings. Hitech GP driver Dunne could not quite clinch the British crown at the penultimate event at Silverstone last month. But with nearest rival Oliver Gray needing to win all three contests in Kent and start at the back in the reversed-grid race – to get the maximum points for places gained – it was very unlikely Dunne would miss out. When Carlin racer Gray qualified second, Dunne was finally crowned, although the result remains provisional with a National Court appeal pending into a collision between the pair at Silverstone. “There’s a…

GB4 Oliver Clarke will return to racing for the first time since 2020 at Donington Park this weekend in the GB4 Championship with Hillspeed, as a season high of at least 14 cars is expected for the final round. The 19-year-old raced with the squad in the 2020 British F3 Championship, now known as GB3, finishing eighth in the standings with two podiums to his name. Since then, he’s been on the sidelines apart from a number of test days. “I’m buzzing to be back racing, especially with the Hillspeed guys, and looking forward to doing my bit in trying to help win the GB4 teams’ championship,” said the Briton. “When I tested the car at Donington I was quick out of the box, even though I’ve been on the…

BIRD FLIES TO JERSEY WIN GT racer Frank Bird returned to rallying last weekend to win the Jersey Rally in his Ford Fiesta Rally2. Bird and co-driver Jack Morton dominated the closed-road event to finish well clear of the Ford Escort Mk2 of Richard Fishleigh and Jason McCullough. Bird said: “It was such a demanding two days with 26 stages that were only just wide enough for the car in places.” DONEGAL RALLY POSTPONED Following the tragic explosion at a filling station in Creeslough in County Donegal, Saturday’s Donegal Harvest Rally was postponed. A statement from the Donegal Motor Club said: “In light of the serious incident, Donegal Motor Club, in consultation with Motorsport Ireland, has decided to postpone the 2022 Donegal Harvest Rally. Our thoughts are with all who…

MINI CHALLENGE While Sam Weller clinched the title in the first race after an excellent campaign, rookie Mini Challenge sensation Alex Denning kept up his late-season record as the man in form at Brands Hatch with two wins. Irish youngster Denning built a big margin on the opening lap of race one as Jack Mitchell made some superb outside passes to move into second. Ronan Pearson was third ahead of Hybrid Tune racer Weller, who did enough to secure the crown. Denning had it much tougher at the start of race two. A wobble for the Graves Motorsport man at Paddock allowed fast-starting Weller in front, then Mitchell got the lead out of Druids, before Denning repassed both of them into Hawthorn. After an early safety car, Denning built an…

OULTON PARK 750MC 8 OCTOBER The Alfa Romeo championship provided some surprises in its final round as more 750 Motor Club categories came to a conclusion at Oulton Park last weekend. Barry McMahon took the Alfa win in his 156 after it looked as if Paul Plant’s Giulietta would run away with it. Plant had built up a sizeable lead after leapfrogging a visiting 4C driven by Mike Hilton and then shaking off the attentions of Tom Hill in his V6 class-winning GT. McMahon had started at the back after a bad qualifying on a damp track, but quickly caught up with the top five. After a couple of laps, he was behind Hill, then past him into second place. A few tours later, a spurt of speed allowed him…

SNETTERTON MSVR 8-9 OCTOBER The first of the weekend’s four GT Cup races at Snetterton began in dramatic fashion courtesy of a fluid spillage, and that set the tone for an eventful finale. Hugo Cook’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 led from the start, but was one of the early casualties when he slid off onto the grass at Turn 3 on the second lap. Morgan Tillbrook (McLaren 720S GT3) became the new leader but he made contact with Mike Price at Agostini, which spun the Mercedes driver. The second-placed Mercedes of Ian Loggie had also gone off at Agostini, with others following, before three safety-car laps allowed a clear-up. Tillbrook was on his own from the green flag, followed by the similar McLarens of Simon Orange and Iain Campbell until the flag.…

PEMBREY BARC 8-9 OCTOBER Thrills, spills and a fair few red flags all featured as the British Automobile Racing Club put on its annual October meeting at Pembrey last weekend. Headlining the racing in South Wales were five action-packed – and at times chaotic – contests from the British Truck Racing Championship, where the battle for supremacy in both Division 1 and Division 2 intensified. Reigning six-time Division 1 champion Ryan Smith bagged pole position and backed it up with a superb victory in race one, albeit after a lengthy stoppage to recover a number of trucks following a first-corner incident. That would prove to be a regular occurrence during a weekend on which Stuart Oliver, Simon Reid and John Newell eventually triumphed wore on. Newell, who hadn’t won before,…

VIDEO GAME DAKAR DESERT RALLY (available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox) RRP £34.99 An official video game of the punishing Dakar rally raid could be an incredible experience, but until recently, not a single developer had successfully managed to do justice to the off-road adventure. Following Dakar 18 four years ago, its creator Bigmoon Entertainment was bought by Saber Interactive. Now with the investment and support structure needed, Dakar Desert Rally finally realises the dream – with some caveats. An immersive title that simulates the punishing Saudi Arabian environment, it features accurate representations of the cars, trucks, side-by-sides, quad bikes and motorcycles. There are moments when the grandeur of your surroundings takes your breath away. Sand dunes bigger than an apartment block ahead, an abandoned fuselage to your left and a…

Financial problems meant the fleet of ‘Powered by Ferrari’ A1GP cars only saw service for seven race meetings before the self-styled ‘World Cup of Motorsport’ bit the dust. But despite the turbulent nature of A1GP’s final 2008-09 season, in which four rounds were cancelled, the John Travis-penned cars were a hit with drivers. And none more so than that year’s champion Adam Carroll. He’d established himself as a race winner in A1GP by claiming the 2008 Mexico City feature race with the series’ original mount: the venerable Lola-Zytek based on the 2002 Formula 3000 chassis and fitted with updated bodywork. But it was the new machine powered by the same direct-injection V8 engine from the Ferrari F430 GT2 that Carroll felt “allowed me to really be the best I could…

FORMULA 1 The FIA has declared that Red Bull was in breach Formula 1’s cost cap for the 2021 season, putting the team at risk of punishment. Rumours emerged at the recent Singapore Grand Prix that Red Bull and Aston Martin had breached the financial regulations for last year, leading to denials from both teams. But when the FIA issued teams on Monday with their cost-cap compliance certificates for 2021, it revealed that nine of the 10 had stayed within the $145million maximum, with Red Bull the exception. The FIA claimed that Red Bull’s breach was a “minor overspend”, which means it was within 5% of the budget cap for the year. Aston Martin was found responsible of a procedural infringement but did meet the cost cap. The findings come…

Jason Plato bowed out of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch last weekend, 25 years after his debut (inset) and with a series record of 97 wins from his 658 starts. Plato, 55 tomorrow (Friday), responded to rumours that he might have changed his mind about quitting following his season with the BTC Racing Honda squad. “If there was a really exciting three-year deal with a manufacturer, which there isn’t, then of course I would,” he said, “but those deals don’t exist anymore. I want to bow out of this when I still know I can do the job. I couldn’t live with myself if I wasn’t quick enough anymore.” Plato is pictured with hugely popular BTCC steward, veteran official and former BARC chief Dennis Carter, for whom…

FORMULA E Dan Ticktum will remain at NIO 333 for a second season in Formula E, completing the line-up alongside the incoming Sergio Sette Camara as Oliver Turvey exits the squad. Following a solid first season, in which he scored a point in Rome and broke into the qualifying duels in Seoul, Ticktum and NIO 333 were expected to take up an option for a second year for the start of the Gen3 era. Ticktum said that he has already experienced the team’s new ER9 Gen3 car, which has undergone testing at Mallory Park and Varano. “It’s big step forward from the Gen2 – I’ve really enjoyed it so far, I have to say,” said Ticktum. “I’m really looking forward to getting cracking with this new era of electric racing.”…

FORMULA E Peugeot World Endurance Championship driver James Rossiter has called time on his racing career to become Maserati’s team principal in Formula E and succeed Jerome D’Ambrosio at the helm of the squad formerly known as Venturi. The Briton moves over from the DS Techeetah team, where he served as sporting director and previously as a reserve driver, to lead Maserati’s efforts as the Italian manufacturer joins FE. Following the team’s rebrand from Venturi, former principal D’Ambrosio left the operation, and Rossiter’s links to Maserati parent company Stellantis have helped to bring the 39-year-old on board in place of the Belgian. Rossiter explained that the time spent as a sporting director with Techeetah afforded him “huge insight” into the demands of team leadership and helped ease the transition to…

How to rate my first season in the FIA Formula 3 Championship is a tricky one. It’s something I haven’t really experienced before. There was a lot of learning. As a team, we struggled a bit to get on top of the car, all year. So, in that sense, there were some difficulties, but I think from my side I learned quite a bit. I was really having to maximise any opportunity with the car; I was strong at some rounds and that really helped me develop. It was a pretty interesting experience, because all previous years I’ve been in a car capable of winning races and championships, so I had a lot of success with Carlin in British F4 and in GB3. With Carlin in F3 this year we…

The way Max Verstappen changed tack after qualifying was more than a little amusing. He’d prompted Lando Norris to take evasive action out of the famous 130R bend when, while weaving to put heat into the tyres before a hot lap in Q3, the Dutchman’s heavy right foot caused the Red Bull to snap sideways. A quick-reacting Norris headed for the grass to avoid a nasty shunt. Soon after, Verstappen pulled alongside the McLaren and held his hand up by way of an apology. That acknowledgement of guilt wasn’t enough for the stewards, and Verstappen was placed under investigation. So, to pre-emptively clear his name, the Red Bull driver instead went on the attack, as though he were a pupil devising an excuse before being dragged in front of the…

Nicholas Latifi moved ahead of his one-off team-mate Nyck de Vries in the 2022 drivers’ championship with his ninthplace finish at Suzuka. That equalled the soon-to-be AlphaTauri racer’s result when replacing Alex Albon in Italy and Albon’s own best finish from Miami. Key to Latifi’s result was Williams pitting him behind the safety car coming in for the restart, ahead of Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel – a call Williams said Latifi “was part of the decision to make”. Although Vettel got ahead with a quicker service and running side by side down the wide pitlane, Latifi showed pace immediately on the intermediates to gain versus his rivals. He slipped back behind George Russell and Fernando Alonso late on, but defied the closely following Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo to…

SLIPPERY RB18 BREAKS COVER Although the pecking order was far from clear, two teams emerged strongest from the two pre-season tests in Spain and Bahrain. McLaren fell away from the leading group with brake issues in the latter, where Mercedes’ radical ‘no-pod’ W13 proved to be a disaster, undone by dramatic porpoising. Red Bull and Ferrari were the pacesetters but, given Red Bull’s propensity for not revealing its full hand in testing, and Ferrari’s recovery from two fallow years at this stage still being incomplete, there was no single favourite heading into the opening round. The two teams had very different initial design philosophies. Red Bull’s RB18 was revealed as relatively simple in the first test in Spain, but its Bahrain update included the heavily undercut sidepod approach that Aston…

INTERCONTINENTAL GT CHALLENGE INDIANAPOLIS (USA) 9 OCTOBER ROUND 3/4 Daniel Juncadella, Daniel Morad and Raffaele Marciello came from the back of the grid to win the Indianapolis 8 Hour for Craft Bamboo Racing, clinching Mercedes-AMG the Intercontinental GT Challenge manufacturers’ title in the process. The trio started from 15th after missing out on the top-10 shootout because of an ill-timed red flag in qualifying. But silver-rated Morad put in a mighty performance to rise to second before two hours of the race had been completed. The Canadian, whose Mercedes ran in the throwback colours of Hong Kong-based ex-Formula 1 team Theodore Racing, chased another car that had started at the back. Daniel Serra stormed into the lead in AF Corse’s Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 from 18th. Approaching the halfway…

BRSCC The British Racing & Sports Car Club has launched a new Audi TT Cup Racing category for next year, which is open to Mk2 models of the German sportscar. Rollcage manufacturer SW Motorsports has developed a comprehensive parts kit that allows cars to be built for the series for less than £12,000. Manual or DSG turbocharged two-litre TFSI models of the 250bhp front-wheel-drive car can compete. Even before the category was launched publicly, there was already strong interest with 11 cars either built or in the process of being finished – many of these having been created by BRSCC partners or suppliers. The club’s chief operating officer Paul McErlean believes the “stunning” cars will be a hit and can fill the gap between entry level and more expensive categories.…

FF1600 FESTIVAL Wallace Martins has been named as the inaugural winner of the Team Brazil Scholarship, and will race at this year’s Formula Ford Festival. The 19-year-old, a Brazilian Formula Vee champion who has also raced in Formula Delta in his home country, beat five other finalists to win the prize. The programme has been put together by two-time Castle Combe FF1600 champion Luke Cooper and his wife, as well as his family Swift Cooper team. Martins will conduct a simulator session at iZone before three days of testing at the wheel of a Swift SC20 ahead of the Festival, which takes place next weekend at Brands Hatch. Cooper said: “This is going to be completely new for him and he’s not going to have much time to get used…

GINETTA DRIVING BANS Ginetta Junior race winner Sonny Smith became the second driver from R Racing’s stable to earn an automatic three-month ban this year for notching up 12 points on his licence. Smith was forced onto the sidelines for last weekend’s Brands Hatch finale after being disqualified and handed four points for a collision last time out at Silverstone. Assetto driver Harri Reynolds also reached 12 points on his licence during the course of the Kent weekend, having “braketested” Freddie Slater after taking the flag in race one. SCOTTISH FF1600 CHAMP Michael Gray has been confirmed as the Scottish Formula Ford 1600 champion after the final scheduled round of the season was called off due to a lack of numbers. Having not run since the away round at Croft…

LEGENDS The livery of James Newbery’s Legends car is set to undergo a dramatic transformation during the course of the category’s Brands Hatch finale next month as part of a fundraising initiative for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Newbery’s distinctive car has sported the colours of the Mater character from Disney’s film Cars this year but these will be gradually tweaked throughout the course of the six races in Kent on 5-6 November. He hopes to raise £2500 for MND research, a cause that is close to Newbery’s heart as his father Paddy died from the disease in 2020. “We’ve spent a long time working on our plans for the Brands Hatch finale, and we think what we’re doing with #2Mater is pretty exciting, will be a lot of fun…

“We’re totally committed to getting it done.” Ian Loggie’s comment in the wake of last month’s British GT meeting at Brands Hatch will finally be put to the test this weekend, as the concluding round of the 2022 season takes place. The RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG driver is in prime position to take the coveted GT3 crown at Donington Park, with a healthy 24.5-point lead over his nearest rivals, no success penalty to serve and GT ace Jules Gounon alongside him again after recovering from a back injury. It’s a foregone conclusion, right? Well, not if you’re Adam Balon and Sandy Mitchell, who sit second in the standings. They brought themselves firmly into contention after finishing runner-up last time out at Brands – despite Balon being tipped into a spin by…

GINETTA GT4 SUPERCUP There was an unfamiliar pattern to the last-ever Ginetta GT4 Supercup weekend as James Kellett failed to win at least one race at an event for the first time this year. But he did win the largest prize of them all as he wrapped up the title in a shortened opener. After qualifying ended early with Tom Emson fastest, Kellett was determined to seal the crown in style. He went for a bold move around the outside at Hawthorn, but Emson was having none of it. Slight contact meant Kellett was delayed, with Aston Millar sneaking through. “If I had been a bit more brave, it would’ve worked but I didn’t want to risk too much,” said Kellett. “If it was at the start of the year,…

GINETTA JUNIOR After producing 15 seasons of entertainment, there was still time for two more thrilling Ginetta Junior races as the category marked its final appearance on the British Touring Car support bill at Brands Hatch. But there was to be no late drama in the title battle as Josh Rowledge sealed the championship in the opener. The R Racing driver made sure of the crown with second place in a first race that proved to be a letdown. The first attempt was red-flagged when Kanato Le and Finn Harrison tangled at Druids and there was then a lengthy safety car period on the restart with Shravan Shanmugavel off at the same corner. That left a single-lap sprint to the flag, which ended with Fox Motorsport’s Liam McNeilly holding off…

SILVERSTONE CSCC 8-9 OCTOBER Sam Polley defied a success penalty to finish victorious in a close-fought Swinging Sixties Group 1 contest on the Silverstone National circuit. Struggling with understeer in his Mini Marcos, Polley qualified only seventh but soon joined the lead battle in the 40-minute race. It was briefly headed by Ian Staines’s MG Midget, which lost time due to a Luffield spin, before polesitter Jack Smith led until relaying the MGA to dad Steve. Richard Perry’s one-minute success penalty dropped his Austin-Healey Sprite from contention, while the Smiths, Chris Watkinson (Mini) and Polley all served 30s so remained close and were joined by the BMWs of Tom Pead and Charles Tippet (in for daughter Claire Norman). Polley passed Smith Sr at Brooklands on three-quarter’s distance with Pead following…

For the third successive season, Simon Orange has been crowned a GT Cup champion, taking this year’s overall title with Michael O’Brien in the Orange Racing with JMH McLaren 720S GT3. After a few years of racing Mazda MX-5s, Orange decided to make the move into GT competition. “I made my debut in the championship with Team Hard in a Ginetta in 2020, sharing with Josh Jackson – I enjoyed the Mazdas but couldn’t keep up with the changes to stay competitive,” he explained. Success followed immediately. As well as winning the GTA class in 2020, Orange and Jackson were overall GT Cup champions, as well as helping Team Hard to win the teams’ championship. Orange continued with the Ginetta G55 in 2021 and also raced a GT4 McLaren 570S…