Indholdsfortegnelse for 24/08/23 i Autosport

Before the Formula 1 season kicks back into gear at Zandvoort this weekend, we celebrate two more birthdays in this special issue. The World Rally Championship is 50 in 2023, so now seemed like the perfect time to put together a special track (stage?!) test. Petter Solberg, the 2003 world champion, and Autosport’s Tom Howard descended on Goodwood for a brilliant day with key cars from the main WRC eras. Turn to page 16 to see what Solberg made of them. We also put together a panel of experts to help select the top 10 drivers. As ever, the list is controversial and doubtless no one on the panel agrees with all of the final order (p28). Let us know who you think should be number one by emailing autosport@autosport.com.…

IMSA Jordan Taylor triggered a reshuffle across General Motors’ sportscar programmes when he opted to return to the family Wayne Taylor Racing squad and drive an Acura in next year’s IMSA SportsCar Championship. His place at Corvette Racing has been taken by Alexander Sims, while Jack Aitken moves into the full-season Action Express Racing Cadillac seat Sims has vacated. Taylor is going back to WTR, now partnered with Andretti Autosport, after four years as a full-season driver with Chevrolet to share its new-for-2024 second Acura ARX-06 LMDh with Louis Deletraz. The 32-year-old revealed that he had been motivated to return to the prototype ranks in which he made his name by the switch from GTE/GTLM to GT3 rules in both IMSA and at Le Mans. “It was a super-difficult decision…

UK START TIMES Friday 25 August FP1 1130 FP2 1500  Saturday 26 August  FP3 1030 QUALIFYING 1400  Sunday 27 August  RACE 1400 CATCH THE RACE LIVE SKY SPORTS F1 BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA TV Highlights CHANNEL 4 1830 TYRE ALLOCATION CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS Drivers Constructors ZANDVOORT STATS Previous winners 2022 POLE POSITION Max Verstappen 1m10.342s POLE LAP RECORD Max Verstappen 1m08.885s (2021) RACE LAP RECORD Lewis Hamilton 1m11.097s (2021) Laps led Jim Clark 370 Alberto Ascari 180 Niki Lauda 180 Jackie Stewart 170 Alain Prost 150 James Hunt 130 Jack Brabham 125 Max Verstappen 122 Nelson Piquet 111 Juan Manuel Fangio 100…

LANCIA STRATOS There hasn’t been a car before or since that has managed to capture the look of the Lancia Stratos. After bursting onto the scene in 1974, the 2.4-litre V6-powered, Bertone-designed masterpiece took over from the Alpine A110. The mid-engined Stratos claimed 17 WRC victories from 1974-81, winning manufacturers’ crowns for Lancia from 1974-76 and proving competitive until the end of the era. FIAT 131 ABARTH Fiat made its WRC debut with the 124 Abarth but its greatest success arrived with its successor, the 131 Abarth. Also designed by Bertone, this 245bhp, 16-valve machine gave Walter Rohrl his first world title in 1980. Markku Alen was another Fiat star and took the 1978 FIA Cup for Drivers in the boxy machine. The 131 Abarth recorded 18 WRC wins, earning…

Selecting the greatest car from the World Rally Championship’s 50 years is a difficult task, so we asked the question to our followers on Autosport’s social media platforms. You voted the Group A Lancia Delta as the greatest car in WRC history. The Delta was an unstoppable force when the FIA introduced Group A regulations in 1987, winning an astonishing six consecutive manufacturers’ titles, helping Lancia become the championship’s most successful marque with 10 world titles. The Delta claimed 19% of the vote, narrowly taking the top spot by 1% from the Audi Quattro, which topped our own WRC debate when we celebrated 70 years of Autosport in 2020. “The Delta claimed 19% of the vote, narrowly taking the top spot by 1%” The game-changing, four-wheel-drive Quattro clearly remains a…

HOW THE TOP 10 IS FORMED Autosport’s top 10 was determined by a panel including Toyota WRC team principal Jari-Matti Latvala, M-Sport Ford managing director Malcolm Wilson and Hyundai Motorsport’s WRC programme manager Christian Loriaux. Autosport also produced its own list. Each member of the panel selected an individual top 10 list, with the drivers each scoring points from 10 awarded to first down to one for 10th spot. The combined points from each list determined the final top 10. 10 ARI VATANEN Finland’s first World Rally champion was perhaps one of the most determined and resilient drivers to grace the stages. Vatanen made his WRC debut in 1974 but it wasn’t until 1980 that he achieved his first victory, at the Acropolis Rally. There was no doubting his natural talent behind the…

It might not have been voted among the top 20 moments, but M-Sport’s unique treble at Wales Rally GB in 2017 deserves an honourable mention. Competing against factory teams Toyota, Hyundai and Citroen, M-Sport achieved the ultimate clean sweep. Sebastien Ogier finished the rally in third to seal a fifth world drivers’ title, the squad’s welsh star Elfyn Evans clinched a memorable maiden WRC win, which combined, secured M-Sport the manufacturers’ crown on home soil. “For me that is a real moment that will never be repeated,” says M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson. “I think it was within a period of 27 minutes that we clinched everything. It is my most memorable and proudest moment.”…

SILVERSTONE AT 75 The central theme of this year’s Festival is a celebration of 75 years of grand prix racing at Silverstone. It was back in October 1948 that the recently disused wartime airfield was pressed into service as Britain’s first major post-Second World War race track. A rudimentary course was set out on the old runways with straw bales and oil drums to mark the circuit and spectator protection was provided by a rope. Throughout the Festival weekend, events and demonstrations will celebrate 75 years of Silverstone as the venue has evolved from a bleak airfield into a state-of-the-art circuit. At the heart of the 75-year activities will be some high-speed demos for post-1966 GP cars. Each afternoon, these glorious machines will have a 15-minute demonstration session when Silverstone…

SUPER FORMULA MOTEGI (JPN) 20 AUGUST ROUND 6/7 Tomoki Nojiri revived his Super Formula title hopes with victory at Motegi after a controversial battle with team-mate Liam Lawson that triggered a huge pile-up. Poleman Nojiri and Lawson ran side by side through Turns 1 and 2 as they battled for the lead, as Lawson attempted to go all the way around the outside of his Mugen colleague. Nojiri held firm and edged Lawson out onto the kerbs on the exit, where the Red Bull junior lost control and spun into the path of the chasing pack. Yuhi Sekiguchi and Tadasuke Makino both had nowhere to go and piled into the back of Lawson, their cars going airborne in a spectacular crash. Nobuharu Matsushita was also caught in the melee. Dandelion…

WORLD RALLYCROSS ESTERING (DEU) 19-20 AUGUST ROUND 6/8 Nils Andersson secured a maiden FIA RX2e title after finishing second to Finland’s Tommi Hallman in Germany. Team E driver Andersson arrived at the season-ending event with a slender one-point lead from team-mate Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, with fellow Swede Isak Sjokvist just three points further adrift. Set Promotion driver Hallman topped the heats, but Ahlin-Kottulinsky missed out on the final, finishing a season-worst ninth. With a four-point margin to make up, the only chance Sjokvist had to snatch the title was to win the final. But Hallman kept up his 100% win record from his two events entered this year, leaving Sjokvist as series runner-up for a second consecutive time. “Finishing on top when everyone has the same tools is great,” Andersson enthused.…

FORMULA FORD 1600 There will be a major shake-up for Formula Ford 1600 racing in England next year after the British Racing & Sports Car Club and MotorSport Vision Racing agreed not to run rival series for modern cars. Both the long-running BRSCC National championship – currently focused on post-1999 machinery – and MSVR’s United category, which is open to all Formula Fords, including the latest cars, have struggled for entries at times in recent years. There has now been an agreement for just the United championship to run for modern machines. In a statement explaining the decision, the BRSCC said: “The British Racing & Sports Car Club is delighted to announce a collaboration with MotorSport Vision Racing which will see the teams, cars and drivers from the BRSCC National…

FIESTA JUNIOR A winning debut by Finn Leslie was the highlight for six newcomers who combined to give the Fiesta Junior Championship its largest ever grid at Silverstone last weekend. Twenty-six cars were in action on the National circuit – although Luke Sintler was unable to make his race debut after a pair of engine failures – beating the previous record of 22 set earlier this year. Leslie, the 2022 Kartmasters Grand Prix winner in Mini Max karts, is coached by former British GT racer Scott McKenna and has joined 20Ten Racing to race a Mk7 Zetec S model built by his father Grant. The 15-year-old will contest one further event this year to preserve his rookie status for 2024. After only two days in the car, at Donington Park…

ARMED FORCES Bellowing BMWs were speediest when the 41-strong Armed Forces Race Challenge fields set out on manoeuvres from an impressive tented camp at Silverstone last weekend. Top qualifier Paul Cook’s E46 M3 led the International circuit opener before conking out, letting Wayne Lewis’s similar car and David Shead’s ‘Frankenstein’ – a muscular straight-six M3-engined Compact – in. Lewis and Shead were excluded for overtaking under waved yellows second time out, so Mark White (Honda Civic EP3), who had chased them all day, was accorded victory over David Russell (E36 M3) and Mike Nash (E46 330ci).…

This was always going to be a far from straightforward year for Ginetta, a stalwart of the UK national racing scene. The Yorkshire manufacturer not only revamped its portfolio of series for 2023 (axing the GT4 Supercup and merging the GT5 Challenge into a new GT championship), but it also ended its 15-season association with British Touring Car organiser TOCA and committed to running solely at British GT events. Such wide-sweeping changes inevitably bring challenges, even without them coinciding with a cost-of-living crisis that has resulted in many organisers experiencing a reduction in entries. It is therefore no surprise Ginetta numbers have been down, too. Even ignoring last month’s Cadwell Park G Fest event that attracted just 33 cars across the three championships – something Ginetta fully expected given the…

OULTON PARK MSVR US AUTOSHOW 19 AUGUST MotorSport Vision Racing’s series of themed events continues to attract a new and growing audience to club racing weekends. Last Saturday’s second edition of the US AutoShow at Oulton Park perfectly combined attractions and displays together with an open paddock and a programme of racing featuring classic muscle cars from both sides of the Atlantic. Leading the action was a double-header from Bernie’s V8s and Historic Outlaws, together with a bonus of a bevy of Corvettes, continuing the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the first C1. Despite the American presence, the front row for race one was an all-European affair, Stewart Robb’s TVR Tuscan earning a dominant pole position while Robert Hollyman’s Porsche lined up alongside. Olly Bryant sat just behind in…

It was a milestone weekend for Formula Ford driver Jacob Tofts, who took his first-ever race win before following it up with his second and third. FF1600 was an obvious choice for the son of three-time Formula Ford Festival Zetec class winner Neil Tofts to make his first foray into racing this year. The 19-year-old had no karting experience but took up sim racing during the COVID-19 lockdowns and quickly became very successful, winning multiple Esports titles. Keen to test Tofts Jr’s virtual skills in the real world, father and son secured backing from Duckhams and Verve Display. Dad began a campaign with Redline Racing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB – a choice encouraged by his son after experiencing the 718 Cayman at a taster day – while lad…

ELITE WORLD CUP Three major players in the A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport have launched a new nation versus nation series, projected to begin next year. But a championship to be known as the Elite World Cup will not be a carbon copy of the one-make single-seater series that ran from 2005 to 2009. The Elite World Cup will be a one-make series, but there will be a grid of electric sportscars, most likely Lotus Evijas, rather than single-seaters. And the founders are targeting established name drivers with major profiles rather than up-and-comers aspiring to get to Formula 1 that predominated in A1GP. That makes it distinct from the A1GP relaunch announced by the sports marketing group Origin in May. Its plans centre on single-seaters running on sustainable…

FORMULA 1 Formula 1 teams face a headache to fulfil the requirement to field a rookie in two FP1 sessions before the end of the season. While the regulations allowed Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) and Logan Sargeant (Williams) to meet the criteria in the first round of the season, no other teams have entrusted their car to a newcomer in the first part of the campaign. Although 10 race weekends remain to slot them in, Qatar, Austin and Interlagos are all much less appealing since they are sprint rounds that feature only one practice session before qualifying. Meanwhile, the Singapore and brand-new Las Vegas events carry heightened risk since they run on more uncompromising street circuits. Plus, F1 teams are generally reluctant to distract junior drivers when…

INDYCAR Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon believes that the new electrical hybrid system for 2024 will force drivers and strategists to change how they run races. Dixon drove a Chip Ganassi Racing-run Honda test car at Sebring last week, while Will Power handled a Team Penske-fielded Chevrolet version. The 2.2-litre, twin-turbocharged V6 engines were paired with the common hybrid components in full regeneration mode for the first time. “It will change the strategy, especially if you have to regen and you’re being attacked and it’s going to be hard to regen,” said Dixon. “It’s going to add a different dynamic, not only from a strategy [standpoint] but for the person in the seat. You have to be thinking pretty quickly and making the right decision at the right time,…

In a Formula 1 season such as 2023, success must be viewed as relative across the grid. Since it successfully negotiated its Monaco peril, Red Bull should clean up in this campaign. There’s simply no reason to predict anything but a ninth straight Max Verstappen victory on the championship’s return from its summer break at Zandvoort this weekend, with 10 races now between Red Bull and a unique perfect season. Its success is absolute. But how can Aston Martin’s winter leap up the order, McLaren’s in-season form turnaround or Nico Hulkenberg’s return from the F1 wilderness to effectively lead Haas not be viewed as successes of sorts? Even if competitors aren’t claiming the biggest prizes, there’s much to celebrate in a campaign such as this. Enter Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian is…

AUDI QUATTRO The Audi Quattro spearheaded the WRC’s utterly crazy Group B era. Audi pioneered the switch to four-wheel drive with its 2.1-litre turbocharged Quattro. The car initially produced 350bhp, rising to a mindblowing 500bhp with the S1 E2 version at the end of the era. It won the manufacturers’ title in 1982 and 1984, while helping Hannu Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist to championships in 1983 and 1984. LANCIA 037 Lancia’s answer to Audi came in the form of the two-litre supercharged, mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive 037. While it lacked in the horsepower stakes (280bhp) compared to the Audi, it weighed only 960kg thanks to its lightweight, albeit fragile, polyester resin/glassfibre chassis. It managed to beat Audi to the manufacturers’ crown in 1983, the last two-wheel-drive machine to claim the title. PEUGEOT…

PEUGEOT 206 Peugeot made a triumphant return to the WRC’s top flight with its 206 in 1999. The French manufacturer’s previous success had arrived during the Group B era with the 205 T16. Its successor was even more successful, claiming 24 wins and a manufacturers’ title treble from 2000-02, while Marcus Gronholm claimed his two world titles behind the wheel of the car. CITROEN C4 Citroen matched its compatriots Peugeot with its own manufacturers’ treble from 2003-05 with the impressive Xsara, but it was the C4 successor (2007-10) that remains its most successful car. It won 36 WRC rallies, and Sebastien Loeb finished 46 of 56 events on the podium, recording all bar two of the C4’s victories. It took four drivers’ titles and three manufacturers’ crowns. VOLKSWAGEN POLO The…

While determining the World Rally Championship’s top 10 greatest drivers, a number of names were discussed and narrowly missed out on selection. Among those was Michele Mouton, who finished runner-up in the 1982 championship, and made history by becoming the first woman to win a WRC event outright when driving for Audi in 1981. Mouton scored four WRC wins in her career during the championship’s most dangerous Group B era. “She is the only woman that was able to beat the men fair and square at a time when it was even more a man’s sport,” says Christian Loriaux. Malcolm Wilson, who competed against Mouton, says: “What she was able to do with a car that was not easy to drive was remarkable.” Members of the panel also voted for…

WRC WINNERS MOST STAGE WINS (TOP 40) OLDEST AND YOUNGEST Oldest winning driver Sebastien Loeb 47 years 10 months 28 days Monte Carlo Rally 2022 Oldest winning co-driver John Kennard 57 years 2 months 13 days Rally Argentina 2016 Youngest winning driver Kalle Rovanpera 20 years 9 months 17 days Rally Estonia 2021 Youngest winning co-driver Michele Espinosi-Petit 24 years 3 months 29 days Monte Carlo Rally 1973 WRC WINS BY MANUFACTURERS (TOP 10) MOST STARTS Driver Jari-Matti Latvala 210 Co-driver Miikka Anttila 220 MOST WORLD TITLES Driver Sebastien Loeb 9  2004-12 Co-driver Daniel Elena 9  2004-12 Manufacturer Lancia 10 1974, 1975 1976, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 DRIVERS’ AND MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONS From 1973-78 the WRC only awarded a championship title for manufacturers…

1969 BRITISH GP Another duel of two greats Jackie Stewart and Jochen Rindt were the top drivers of 1969. For pace, there wasn’t a lot to choose between Stewart’s Tyrrell-run Matra MS80 and Rindt’s Lotus 49B, but the Austrian hadn’t finished a championship race before Silverstone. Rindt led runaway points leader Stewart from pole to begin a mesmerising duel that only ended when one of the Lotus’s rear-wing endplates came loose and Rindt had to pit. He charged back, only to run out of fuel and fall to fourth, leaving a clutchless Stewart to win by a lap. 1976 6 HOURS BMW ‘tortoise’ pips Porsche’s ‘hare’ “It established sportscar racing at Silverstone,” says commentator Ian Titchmarsh of the inaugural 6 Hours event, despite a sparse field of 17 starters. Endurance…

DTM LAUSITZRING (DEU) 19-20 AUGUST ROUND 5/8 Jack Aitken joined the growing list of DTM race winners at the Lausitzring, as Mirko Bortolotti took the championship lead with a defensive masterclass. One-time Formula 1 race starter Aitken began his maiden campaign in the DTM with an impressive front-row start and podium at Oschersleben in May, but results have proven much harder to come by since then. Finishing 22nd and 18th at the Nurburgring at the start of August marked a new low for the British driver, especially after he had qualified his Emil Frey Ferrari in the top six on both occasions. However, pace was never the problem for Aitken and he finally managed to put it all together in the opening race at the Lausitzring to become the first…

NASCAR CUP WATKINS GLEN (USA) 20 AUGUST ROUND 25/36 William Byron ended a summer slump and picked up a dominant first NASCAR Cup road course victory at Watkins Glen. Byron (below) cycled to the lead following a caution early in the final stage for Chase Elliott’s stalled car and cruised to a 2.632-second win over Denny Hamlin. In his previous five races, Byron had finished 21st or worse three times and had a best finish of 14th. At the Glen he led 66 of the 90 laps, including the final 33. Byron, 25, was quick to credit his work with former Formula 1 and sportscar driver Max Papis for his improvement on road courses following the ninth Cup win of his career. “Just a huge credit to the race team…

MOTOGP RED BULL RING (AUT) 20 AUGUST ROUND 10/20 Perfection is a flawed, almost unattainable concept. Unless you are Francesco Bagnaia, that is. As the 2023 MotoGP season ticks officially into its second half, Bagnaia’s emphatic Austrian Grand Prix weekend marked his biggest signal yet that he is now in full control of this championship. Not that he wants to even think about the title right now, he says. And that is valid. At the same stage of the season last year, he was 91 points adrift of Fabio Quartararo and a fightback looked all but impossible. Of course, momentum swung in his favour in a big way and the rest is history. But the Bagnaia of 2022 and early 2023, prone to mistakes when in positions of strength, has…

HISTORICS Lotus has unveiled its Type 66 machine more than 50 years after it was first designed, with 10 examples of the limited-edition car set to be produced. The Type 66 was commissioned by Lotus founder Colin Chapman with an eye towards the Can-Am series. Team Lotus draughtsman Geoff Ferris created the design of the car but its development never went beyond technical drawings and scale models for 53 years. But the machine has now finally been developed by Lotus and was unveiled in California as part of Monterey Car Week, with each of the 10 cars produced set to cost over £1million. “The Type 66 perfectly blends the past and present,” said Lotus Advanced Performance executive director Simon Lane. “It takes drivers back in time, to the iconic design,…

Graeme Foley miraculously escaped serious injury when fellow GAC pilot Emil Kostadinov vaulted his car in this incident at the tight Club chicane on Silverstone’s International circuit that stopped Saturday’s second Formula Vee race. The underside of Kostadinov’s car, which lost its bodywork before contact, partially dislodged Foley’s crash helmet. He was checked by medics and released. Richard Walsh was fortunate not to become embroiled in the drama unfolding in his mirrors. Kostadinov was excluded for causing a collision. Damage to Foley’s car appeared remarkably light; Kostadinov’s was towed back to the pits.…

SILVERSTONE INTERNATIONAL 750MC 19-20 AUGUST F1000 ace Tom Gadd and Type R Trophy star Joe Jessup provisionally joined the 2023 roster of 750 Motor Club champions over another action-packed programme on Silverstone’s International Circuit. Motorsport UK’s track-limits rulings were the talk of the weekend, and changed key results, as an extraordinary number of competitors – including Gadd’s rival Rob Welham and three-quarters of the BMW enduro field – were penalised for repeatedly crossing the outside line onto the all-important Hangar Straight. For Lincolnshire’s Gadd, 26, who married secondary school sweetheart Imarna a fortnight ago, August has been an emotional rollercoaster as he endeavoured to add the F1000 prize to his 2019 Locost crown, having finished third last season. Gadd’s best Suzuki engine blew during Friday testing, bringing thoughts of a…

SILVERSTONE NATIONAL BRSCC 19-20 AUGUST In a TCR UK season where momentum has usually swung between drivers in line with the compensation weight they’ve had to carry, Carl Boardley bucked the trend at Silverstone. A massive vibration, meaning he “could hardly see”, left Boardley’s Cupra Leon Competicion fourth on the grid. But after ditching the culprit – bent wheel rims – the tin-top veteran made serene race progress. A tardy getaway from front-row man Bruce Winfield (Area Motorsport Hyundai) let Boardley into third. He then dispatched Scott Sumpton, who’d qualified his Restart Racing Honda Civic FK7 a best-yet third, the same lap at Brooklands, before setting his sights on Winfield’s team-mate and poleman Adam Shepherd. Back at full power after discovering previously undiagnosed intercooler and exhaust damage, Shepherd was rejuvenated.…

BRANDS HATCH BRSCC 19-20 AUGUST Three races with the National Formula Ford Championship at stake headlined a varied club meeting at Brands Hatch last weekend, with wins shared between Jordan Kelly, Jamie Sharp and Lucas Blakeley. Points leader Lucas Romanek also had something to celebrate with three solid finishes. The other notable feature of the event was Josh Cook’s starring role in a Citroen C1 three-hour enduro. For a national championship, the FF1600 entry was sparse, but nine of the 11 cars were covered by less than 0.3 seconds in qualifying and the first race featured a seven-car squabble with numerous changes for the lead. Irishman Kelly (Van Diemen RF06) headed the most laps, including the all-important final one. Sharp, returning with October’s Formula Ford Festival in mind, finished on…

As a three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner and with 10 outright podiums at the race, you’d expect Rinaldo Capello to choose the French circuit as his favourite. But a long-forgotten 1985 test at Imola that smoothed his path up the ranks means it’s the Emilia Romagna venue that stands out for ‘Dindo’. “Imola has been a big part of my career,” says the Italian. “The only reason I could race in Formula 3 without any sponsors or money was due to a test I did with Prema Racing [at Imola]. It has always been my favourite race track.” Karting legend Mike Wilson was also invited to try out Prema’s Ralt-VW, in which Capello quickly impressed. When Wilson elected not to switch to cars, Ralt’s Italian importer Chuck McCarty gave…

FORMULA 1 Felipe Massa has stepped up his legal battle concerning losing the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship by sending a letter to the FIA and F1 in which he lays out the details of his impending claim. In April, Massa (right) signalled his intention to take legal action against the results of the 2008 championship, which he lost to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by a single point. Massa acted on information from former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who suggested that knowledge of the 2008 Singapore GP crash scandal was available early enough for action to have been taken before the title result was made final. In March, Ecclestone was quoted in an interview by F1-Insider saying the result of the Singapore race, in which Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crashed to…

IMSA Jenson Button will make his prototype return at October’s Petit Le Mans IMSA SportsCar Championship finale aboard the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 LMDh. It will be his first start aboard a pure-bred sportscar since his Le Mans 24 Hours outing in 2018 driving for the SMP Racing privateer LMP1 squad. The Briton’s team-mates will be JDC regular Mike Rockenfeller, whom he partnered in the Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro LS1 at Le Mans this year, and Tijmen van der Helm. But Rockenfeller insists he’s “not taking the credit” for bringing Button into the team’s line-up in its GTP class entry. “It’s been going on for a while: we were both talking to JDC back at the Daytona 24 Hours in January when the drivers for the Hendrick-run Camaro were announced,”…

This year the World Rally Championship chalks up its half century, and in that time it has produced a plethora of iconic cars. From the Group 4 Alpine A110 that claimed the inaugural title in 1973 to the fire-breathing Group B monsters, the cult hero Group A classics, the manufacturer-heavy World Rally Car era and today’s Rally1 hybrid-powered beasts. While the technology has advanced rapidly over the past 50 years, the cars continue to have this unique ability to instantly rekindle evocative memories, just as much as the drivers who drove them – whether it’s Hannu Mikkola and Michele Mouton taming the wild Audi Quattro, or Colin McRae and Richard Burns sparking rally mania in the UK, guiding the famous blue-and-yellow Subarus to world tiles in 1995 and 2001 respectively.…

LANCIA DELTA The undisputed king of Group A was the Lancia Delta. Through its several iterations, it won a staggering 46 WRC rallies from 1987-92, making it the most successful car in the championship’s history. The Delta claimed six consecutive manufacturers’ crowns during that period and four drivers’ titles – Miki Biasion triumphed in 1988-89, while Juha Kankkunen succeeded in 1987 and 1991. TOYOTA CELICA GT-FOUR Toyota upset Lancia’s dominance in the early years of Group A with the introduction of the Celica ST165 towards the end of 1988. Carlos Sainz took drivers’ titles in 1990 and 1992, the latter driving the upgraded ST185. The final ST205 version arrived in 1994, but resulted in Toyota being excluded from 1995 and banned for 1996 for running illegal turbo restrictors. The Celica…

Over the last half-century the WRC has continued to evolve, but it faces a significant crossroads to establish its future pathway as rallying embraces new technology. The WRC underwent an overhaul of its regulations with the introduction of Rally1 rules in 2022, representing a first step towards a more sustainable future, with hybrid power and 100% sustainable fuel. Hybrid power is expected to remain in play at least until the end of 2026, ahead of another significant regulations shift for 2027 and beyond, the WRC aiming to align with a rapidly moving automotive industry. The method of propulsion is key to the WRC’s long-term future, with hybrid (synthetic and e-fuels), battery electric and hydrogen the three options being evaluated. It is anticipated that, whichever method is selected, it will power…

20 BURNS TRIUMPHS IN BATTLE OF BRITAIN Four drivers had a mathematical chance of winning the 2001 World Rally Championship at the Rally GB finale, and it was Richard Burns who claimed an emotional maiden title. The season-closer was perhaps one of the most dramatic in WRC history, with nine points separating Ford’s Colin McRae (42), Mitsubishi’s Tommi Makinen (41), Subaru’s Burns (40) and McRae’s team-mate Carlos Sainz (33), an outside bet who needed his rivals to hit trouble. Without a podium in the first four rounds, Burns found himself in the title hunt after scoring second place finishes in Argentina, Cyprus, Finland and Australia, in addition to his one and only win that year in New Zealand. McRae and Makinen had both endured their fair share of retirements, but each…

A feint left and then a dive to the right, down the inside. Nigel Mansell’s sublime Stowe pass on Williams team-mate Nelson Piquet at the 1987 British Grand Prix is one of the iconic motorsport moments and the home hero’s subsequent victory stands as one of Silverstone’s greatest highlights. The car in question, Williams-Honda FW11B-03, has just been restored, thanks to the efforts of owner and McLaren boss Zak Brown, Williams Heritage, United Autosports and, in particular, Dickie Stanford. Mansell’s former chief mechanic and Williams team manager was involved in a long and, at times, tricky challenge to resurrect the car. In fact, it took seven years. But, before Stanford tells that story, it’s worth revisiting the events of 12 July 1987 and a race that Autosport International fans voted as…

1948 (3.67 miles) Following the end of the Second World War, motor racing began to make a tentative recovery in Britain, largely using circuits based on disused airfields. The Royal Automobile Club pinpointed RAF Silverstone as the preferred location for its first post-war RAC International Grand Prix. The race took place on a mix of the perimeter road and interior runways. From the start/finish line on Farm Straight, the cars headed into Woodcote Corner and down to Copse Corner, where they took a relatively hard right onto the runway down to the middle of the airfield. Segrave Corner was a hard left, and they rejoined the perimeter road via a right turn before Becketts. They charged through Chapel Curve down to Stowe Corner, which was a heavy right leading them back…

TCR WORLD TOUR EL PINAR (URY) 20 AUGUST ROUND 5/9 Uruguay’s Santiago Urrutia scored his second win of the season at the Autodromo Victor Borrat Fabini in El Pinar, picking up the most points from the weekend as the World Tour competitors mixed with the South American series for the first time and mostly stole the show. Due to the large 30-car entry, an IndyCar-style split qualifying system was used. It was soon clear that the Lynk & Co-equipped Cyan Racing team had the best performance at the circuit, with both Yann Ehrlacher and Thed Bjork dominating their groups. The short 10-minute Q2 segment was led by Urrutia, who managed to stay one step ahead on each run beyond his team-mate and 2017 World Touring Car champion Bjork. Just one…

AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS THE BEND (AUS) 19-20 AUGUST ROUND 8/12 Brodie Kostecki is now firmly in control of the Supercars Championship after a brilliant clean sweep at The Bend. The Erebus driver had to withstand an aggressive fightback from the top Ford teams, the Mustang looking a proper match for the Camaro for the first time this season. But, fresh off the back of his NASCAR debut, Kostecki was flawless, scoring two of the three pole positions and winning all three races comfortably. In Saturday’s opener he was beaten off the line by Thomas Randle, who led until Kostecki came by late in the first stint. That was all Kostecki needed to set up a comfortable win ahead of Chaz Mostert and Randle, who hung on for a career-first solo podium…

CLUB ENDURO The heavily modified Mazda MX-5 that AK Motorsport is debugging for 2024 Club Enduro events showed pace and promise on its race debut on Snetterton’s 300 circuit earlier this month, having been thwarted by gearbox control issues in qualifying at Croft in July. The spectacular-looking IMSA tribute-liveried turbocharged machine, which features a wide body, posted some impressive lap times prior to retiring with a suspension issue. “We had got round a driveshaft problem, and it ran 14 laps, longer than previously, before suspension failure at Coram forced Alan Henderson to retire,” said team principal Anthony Kay. “His best lap was 2m04.48s [1.72 seconds from Lotus Elise ace Will Stacey’s best of the race], but I’m delighted. Snetterton is a great test track. The times show major progress. “It’s…

BRITISH RALLYCROSS Jack Thorne took full advantage of reigning British Rallycross champion Patrick O’Donovan being away competing in Europe to take both victories at Pembrey last weekend and grab the points lead. Thorne had yet to top a Supercar final in the BRX 5 Nations Trophy this season but achieved double success in Wales, when the British series competitors were joined by their Irish counterparts. The Peugeot 208 driver qualified on the front row for the first final and grabbed the lead from polesitter Tristan Ovenden’s Citroen DS 3 at the first turn. Thorne never looked back from there to defeat Ovenden, while O’Donovan’s father Ollie took third in his Ford Focus. O’Donovan had pole second time around, when the circuit was run in reverse and featured a newly reprofiled…

ULSTER RALLY BRC 18-19 AUGUST Even the gale-force winds and biblical rain of Storm Betty couldn’t derail Adrien Fourmaux’s attempt at a fourth victory in the British Rally Championship this season, as he and co-driver Alex Coria were in a class of their own on the way to an Ulster Rally win. With BRC competitors resuming their rivalry against the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship for bragging rights on the event, the visitors arguably had the upper hand in Fourmaux, but the pressure that comes with that expectation was certainly a consideration. But having spent several years on the World Rally Championship tour, Fourmaux knows how to play the game and it was business as usual for the M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 driver, who opened up an 11-second lead to his…

The reason why the writer of this piece is obsessed with the World Rally Championship isn’t Autosport’s superlative event reports of the mid-1990s, or Tony Mason being pelted with snow atop the Col de Turini. It isn’t the RAC Rally’s stages through its hometown of Leeds either. No, it’s a 1998 video game called Colin McRae Rally that arrived at Christmas time alongside an original PlayStation. The eponymous title of the first British WRC champion was evocative of the era, with a blue-and-gold Subaru on the cover and a legend’s endorsement. But those facets alone weren’t enough to excel. Tommi Makinen Rally, which arrived in the same year, didn’t light the touch paper. CMR was a great game first and foremost, with approachable handling, a McRae-voiced rally school and jelly-based…