Indholdsfortegnelse for 26/09/24 i Autosport

It was hard to decide on the angle for this week’s Autosport cover. On the one hand, Lando Norris put in one of the most dominant non-Red Bull Formula 1 performances we’ve seen for a long time in the Singapore Grand Prix (see page 14). But, on the other, Max Verstappen (with a little help from Daniel Ricciardo’s fastest lap) minimised the points loss to seven and remains a chunky 52 ahead. In the end, we went for the ‘dream is still on’ approach, partly because that tallies with McLaren team principal Andrea Stella’s attitude, and partly because the situation seems to sit neatly between Norris having a realistic title chance and merely a mathematical one. McLaren will be encouraged that the MCL38 remained the pacesetter despite the requirement for…

Deagen Fairclough Age: 18 British F4 champion with Hitech “I had a feeling I could be in the four – we’ve had such a mega season. I saw Derek Warwick when Joseph Loake had his run in the F1 car to try and get to know people. I’m so excited for all three cars – the driving technique for the LMP3 and GT3 will be completely different to single-seaters and I’m buzzing. It gives us the chance to get that F1 test. It’s a mega thing and I’m going to put so much e. ort into trying to win it.” Arvid Lindblad Age: 17 4th in Formula 3 with Prema Racing “Based on the fact I got in last year and the year I’d had in F3, I thought I…

When Alessandro Pier Guidi one day hangs up his helmet, he may well look back on the 2024 season with his head in his hands. Victories at Spa in the World Endurance Championship 6 Hour race and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup’s 24-hour blue-riband were both snatched away by factors beyond his control. And he had reason to think that last weekend’s GTWCE Endurance round at Monza was in the bag too. His AF Corse-run 296 GT3 was the fastest thing on the track – as setting fastest lap by 0.637 seconds attests – and under normal circumstances would surely have converted pole position into victory with Alessio Rovera and Vincent Abril. But instead, an outcome nobody foresaw will be what the race is remembered for: a first-ever…

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reckoned that the Brackley squad had “read the race wrong” in its forecasts for the 62-lap Singapore Grand Prix, which took Lewis Hamilton out of podium contention after starting on the soft-compound tyre. Wolff revealed that Mercedes expected a more processional race and figured that giving Hamilton the softs would allow him to attack Max Verstappen in the early stages. Instead, higher-than-expected degradation on the rear tyres left Hamilton backing up George Russell, who had taken a conventional medium-tyre approach. “We took a decision based on historic Singapore races where it is basically a procession, Monaco-like, and that the soft tyre would give him an opportunity at the start,” said Wolff. “That was the wrong decision that we all took together. It felt like a good…

Carlos Sainz recovered from a bad start to undercut the midfield and use his Ferrari’s superior pace to take seventh. The Spaniard crashed in Q3 to start 10th and lost two spots on the opening lap, triggered by Franco Colapinto’s aggressive inside lunge at the first corner, which pushed him to 12th and forced Ferrari to pit him early on lap 13 to enact the undercut. Despite a tyre management run, Sainz climbed five places and also moved over for team-mate Charles Leclerc’s own charge to rescue his weekend. “We took a bold strategy to try to get out of that midfield battle and undercut the whole midfield,” Sainz explained. “We went to the end on the hard, which worked. We made it through the midfield. Otherwise it might have…

IMSA SPORTSCAR INDIANAPOLIS (USA) 22 SEPTEMBER ROUND 10/11 A thrilling six-hour sportscar race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course culminated with BMW M Team RLL securing a magnificent 1-2 finish for its pair of BMW M Hybrid V8s. Philipp Eng and Jesse Krohn combined to take top honours, with team-mates Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly close behind after fending off a strong challenge from the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy. Based just a few miles away in the suburbs of Indianapolis, former Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal’s team had managed only a pair of top-five finishes from the previous seven races this season. And its lone previous GTP triumph, achieved last year at Watkins Glen, had been inherited after the Penske…

F1 ACADEMY MARINA BAY (SGP) 21-22 SEPTEMBER ROUND 5/7 Abbi Pulling put herself on the brink of the F1 Academy title by stretching out a 95-point lead with two rounds remaining through a pair of dominant lights-to-flag victories in Singapore. Rodin Motorsport’s Alpine F1 protegee was in a class of one across the weekend, taking both pole positions on Friday before leading every lap of each race. Pulling left Ferrari and Mercedes representatives Maya Weug and Doriane Pin respectively to share the remaining podium positions, the pair finishing in that order on both occasions. While the opening race saw little action with hardly any overtaking, the second was far harder fought. With Pin starting on the front row and Prema Racing team-mate Weug in third, a reversal of their race…

GT OPEN Elite Motorsport will expand its European attack next season, having bought a Ferrari 296 GT3 that it plans to run in the International GT Open series. The squad initially found success in one-make Ginetta categories, before moving into single-seaters and then making its continental bow in European GT4 last year. Former Ginetta GT4 Supercup drivers Josh Rattican and Tom Emson took one win in that debut campaign in a McLaren Artura, and Rattican currently heads this year’s standings with co-driver Tom Lebbon. Elite is now seeking to build upon that success and progress further up the GT ladder. While the Ferrari will initially tackle International GT Open with a silver-silver line-up, team boss Eddie Ives said a GT World Challenge Europe entry is possible for the following year.…

BRITISH GT The British Army has collaborated with Speedworks Motorsport to contest this weekend’s British GT season finale at Brands Hatch aboard a Toyota GR Supra GT4. It will be a Pro-Am entry driven by Michael O’Brien, who took fourth at Snetterton last year in the Orange Racing GT3 McLaren, and historics racer Benjamin Tusting. The pair will replace Speedworks’ full-time entry of Kavi Jundu and Dan Vaughan. Col Rich Hall MBE told Autosport: “I think there are misconceptions about what the army stands for, so we’re trying to lift the lid and show that there are lots of opportunities that exist within the army.” This is the first time it has sponsored a series entry, and soldiers with an engineering background are also part of the squad. “What we…

BRITCAR The British Endurance Championship and Britcar Trophy categories will merge into a single championship next year in a move intended to create one larger grid of sportscar/tin-top machinery. The Britcar Endurance Championship name will be reintroduced for the series in 2025, with one 90-minute race or two 45-minute contests featuring at each of its events. The combining of the grids follows a tricky campaign during which the British Endurance Championship has struggled for entries. Just seven cars contested the season finale at Snetterton earlier this month, where the GT3 Audi of Peter Erceg and Marcus Clutton prevailed by six laps as the sole representative in the top class. A provisional eight-round 2025 schedule has been revealed, with each of these being held over a single day, starting with the…

BRITISH GT Beechdean Motorsport driver Jessica Hawkins will miss this weekend’s British GT season finale at Brands Hatch due to a scheduling clash. The ex-W Series driver is undertaking her ambassadorial duties for the Aston Martin Formula 1 team and will be replaced by GT3 debutant Tom Wood. Wood will line up alongside team owner and two-time series champion Andrew Howard in the Aston Martin Vantage, which sits 19th in the overall standings. “This is a dream come true,” said Wood, 21, who is a Ginetta Junior race winner and Aston Martin Lagonda Pro, and finished runner-up in the Radical SR1 Cup last term. “To make my GT3 race debut with a championship-winning team like Beechdean is not something I expected even a week ago and I fully intend to…

British GT has always been a series for the ‘gentleman driver’ – the non-professional competitor in a driver line-up who often funds the race seat. While their professional counterparts are all usually separated by no more than a few tenths, the quality of the amateur can vary significantly, so they make all the difference. It was evident in 2022 when Ian Loggie undertook more track time than others, the RAM Racing driver competing across five championships. This led to a title-winning British GT campaign, where he finished inside the top six for all but one round in his Mercedes-AMG GT3. And in 2023, Darren Leung worked seamlessly with BMW factory driver Dan Harper and the Century Motorsport pair clinched a maiden championship. This year, Rob Collard has been the strongest…

BRITISH F4 No one had ever won the British Formula 4 title at the season’s penultimate event. And no one had ever won 12 races in a year. But both of those series records have now been broken as Deagen Fairclough continued his dominant display at Silverstone. Fairclough merely needed to avoid being outscored by rival Alex Ninovic by eight points in the opener to wrap up the spoils. And when the Hitech driver qualified on pole and resisted Ninovic’s attacks into Copse, that never really looked in doubt. When Ninovic’s Rodin team-mates James Higgins and Jack Sherwood started battling him, his faint hopes diminished further and were then extinguished after contact with Zack Scoular left him with a puncture. Fairclough continued serenely at the front to take the title…

CASTLE COMBE CCRC AUTUMN CLASSIC 21-22 SEPTEMBER Saturday’s magnificent 1000cc Formula 3 duel between Andrew Hibberd (ex-Chris Irwin Chequered Flag Brabham BT18) and Peter de la Roche (Alexis Mk17) highlighted Castle Combe’s 13th Autumn Classic, a multi-faceted event of meteorological halves. Memorably abreast into the Esses, Hibberd prevailed by 0.127 seconds and then secured the championship with 2024’s eighth win in Sunday’s rain. With Simon Armer’s March 703 in the soft barriers at Tower triggering a red flag, de la Roche spun on old tyres, promoting Mark Carter (Chevron B15) to second. Although silenced here, the opener left a fine impression of the 1964-70 ‘screamer’ class, a rare period visitor. Ross Drybrough (Merlyn Mk14), Carter and Armer made it five different chassis marques in the top five. Keith Messer jostled…

John Spiers and Chris Ward emerged first time GT & Sports Car Cup winners on Saturday in Spiers’ Lister-Jaguar Costin. In a gripping contest, long led by Nick Finburgh/Ollie Crosthwaite’s Lola-Climax Mk1, the Lister was the first winner from the pre-1963 sports-racer divisions since Philip Walker/Miles Griffiths’ Lotus 15 in 2017. Chasing a hat-trick, the AC Cobra of Chris Chiles pere-et-fils started from pole, Jr 0.4 seconds quicker than Ward in the Lister. From the start, Chiles shook off the Jaguar E-types of Gary Pearson, Jason Minshaw (in Martin Melling’s low-drag coupe) and James Dodd, which howled round together as Spiers slipped back. Minshaw headed the trio before Pearson was black-flagged for excessive noise and led when Chiles installed his father. As Minshaw and Dodd slugged it out, Finburgh –…

DONINGTON PARK BRSCC 21-22 SEPTEMBER The British Racing & Sports Car Club’s Donington Park meeting was not spared the brutal weather that loomed over the UK last weekend. The trouble began on Saturday afternoon when the Fun Cup race had to be stopped, before the second Ford Fiesta ST150 Challenge race was abandoned as thunder and lightning entered the equation. There was another downpour on Sunday morning that was heavier in intensity and, with dense fog, it meant qualifying was delayed. With the track flooded and time running out to get the races under way, officials took the decision to call it a day at lunchtime. Competitors, even those whose championship tilts hung in the balance, were understanding of the decision. “It’s difficult for my championship challenge but the track’s…

DRIVE THE DREAM 2 WITH DANIEL RICCIARDO A WEST AUSTRALIAN ROAD TRIP ADVENTURE “I could genuinely see myself retiring there one day,” says Daniel Ricciardo; a comment which seems very apt given the recent noise surrounding his Formula 1 future. But for a few moments, let’s park the chatter on the likeable driver’s future and take a look at the Australian in his absolute element. In what is a nine-minute tourism advert for Western Australia – one that certainly makes this writer want to return down under to explore a new region – Ricciardo and “best mate” Blake cruise through the usual picturesque locations that you would expect in this sort of thing. Sensational sights, fine food and exhilarating experiences are in abundance, as are some of the world’s largest…

A solitary eighth place at the 2003 Spanish Grand Prix was Ralph Firman’s only Formula 1 points finish driving the Jordan-Ford EJ13, a car slower than all bar Minardi that year. Limited aerodynamic development and Cosworth V10s replacing works Honda power led to Jordan’s slide from sixth in 2002 to ninth in the constructors’ standings, despite Giancarlo Fisichella’s shock Interlagos victory bolstering its tally. Perhaps unfairly, Firman’s year is best remembered for the rear wing failure in Hungary that resulted in a 150mph impact. Lack of grip – “I had unpredictable oversteer all over the place!” – meant he “never felt confident or comfortable in it” and leaves him no shortage of reasons for overlooking the EJ13 when choosing a favourite car. Yet Firman doesn’t pick the Dallara-Mugen F396 in…

FORMULA 1 Reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has warned that his FIA punishment for swearing in a Singapore Grand Prix press conference could mean he quits the series earlier than planned. Verstappen was handed a community service punishment last weekend in Singapore by the FIA for describing his Red Bull car’s behaviour as f***** in Baku during the official Thursday press conference. The punishment comes against the backdrop of a fresh crackdown by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on drivers using swear words while on air, telling Autosport in an exclusive interview that he has asked F1 to further limit swear words making it into TV broadcasts, something the series is already doing. “We are the ones who actually approved more [radio] talk,” Ben Sulayem said. “But the…

FORMULA E Formula 2 race winner Zane Maloney is to join the Abt Formula E team to compete in the 2024-25 season. The 20-year-old from Barbados will make his debut in the championship in Sao Paulo on 7 December but already has experience of FE machinery from several rookie tests for Andretti over the past two years. Maloney sits third in the F2 standings with Rodin Motorsport but, with the finale in Yas Marina clashing with the FE opener, he will now miss the final two rounds. He has already tested both the new Gen3 Evo machine as well as the first Lola/Yamaha powertrain ahead of pre-season testing in Valencia on 4-7 November. “I’m really looking forward to the challenge, it’s a great opportunity to join Abt, Lola and Yamaha…

INDYCAR Italian single-seater giant Prema Racing has named Callum Ilott as its first driver for its entry to the IndyCar Series in 2025. The 25-year-old year Briton therefore returns to the team with which he finished fourth in the 2017 Formula 3 European Championship. Ilott, who raced in IndyCar in 2022 and 2023 with Juncos Hollinger Racing and made three substitute appearances this season for Arrow McLaren, has long been linked to a seat at Prema, where he was a popular member of the team. “We had a great time working with him in F3, and we always kept an eye on him after that,” said team boss Rene Rosin. “He proved to be a great fit for us in the past, and I think he will feel like picking…

WRC The World Rally Championship has selected the three female drivers from its inaugural women’s driver development programme who will each receive a fully funded drive at the Central European Rally. Belgian Lyssia Baudet (aged 21), German Claire Schonborn (25) and Finn Suvi Jyrkiainen (24) were chosen from a group of 15 finalists that had been whittled down from an array of applications from across the world. Each of them will now pilot one of three M-Sport-built Ford Fiesta Rally3s in the penultimate round of the WRC season from 17-20 October. The trio were chosen by a panel made up of Peter Thul (WRC Promoter sporting director), Burcu Cetinkaya (rally driver and FIA Women in Motorsport chairwoman), Pernilla Solberg (FIA WRC Commission president and former rally driver), Maciej Woda (M-Sport…

“NO WAY!” When the highlights clips started to air in the cooldown room, Max Verstappen was amazed at Lando Norris’s luck in avoiding damage with a Turn 14 lock-up that resulted in the slightest of contact with the barrier. His surprise was accompanied by Norris and Oscar Piastri making the customary noise associated with watching someone navigate a tiny multi-storey car park in an SUV, as the Singapore Grand Prix race winner relived a squeaky-bum moment that yielded nothing more than barely cosmetic front wing damage. This wasn’t Norris’s only brush with the wall in his otherwise dominant display in Singapore. He sustained another in the final 20 laps of the race, perhaps one that would have catapulted his heart a little further into his mouth; a brush with his…

Sergio Perez lamented a difficult evening spent stuck in traffic during which he proved unable to dislodge Nico Hulkenberg from ninth place. The Haas driver, who had qualified sixth, lost positions to being undercut by Fernando Alonso and was overtaken by Charles Leclerc shortly before his only pitstop, but kept Perez behind for the rest of the race to earn his first points since July’s British GP. “It was a total disaster to be behind Nico for the entire race,” bemoaned the Red Bull driver, who had been knocked out in Q2 and started 13th. Perez had undercut ahead of Williams driver Franco Colapinto, who made up four places with a bold move on the inside of the first corner, after issuing a positive radio message that the Argentinian was…

Tom Ingram laughed. “I kind of wanted a beige weekend, but a beige weekend has been two wins and a fourth – I think that’s all right if I’m honest!” he exclaimed. “We needed that.” The desire for ‘beige’ was because, as British Touring Car Championship runner-up, he carried a heavy handicap on turbo and hybrid power boost usage into the penultimate round on the Silverstone National Circuit – a track upon which such a penalty hits hard, given its long periods of flat-out running and tight corners. What we got was well-timed rainfall mitigating that obstacle for qualifying and the first two races, and an even-better-timed cessation of the rain unexpectedly providing us with a thriller of a finale in which Ingram shrugged off a last-corner assault from Ash…

GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE ENDURANCE CUP MONZA (ITA) 22 SEPTEMBER ROUND 4/5 Up and down the Monza pitlane, there was unbridled joy and incredulity as OQ by Oman Racing produced one of the biggest upsets in GT World Challenge Europe history in taking a sensational victory in the penultimate Endurance Cup round of the season. In doing so, the WRT-run BMW of Ahmad Al Harthy, Jens Klingmann and Sam De Haan became the first bronze class crew to triumph overall in a GTWCE race after pulling off a strategic masterstroke during the early stages. The recently resurfaced track combined with the FIA-mandated fuel supply of 120 litres meant organiser SRO could not guarantee cars being able to complete their normal 60-minute stints. Accordingly, teams were required to complete three –…

SUPER GT SUGO (JPN) 22 SEPTEMBER ROUND 5/8 TOM’S Toyota pair Ukyo Sasahara and Giuliano Alesi claimed a sensational second win of the Super GT season in mixed conditions at Sugo. A superb charge from 14th on the grid by Sasahara put the #37 Toyota GR Supra in the lead by half-distance, before Alesi brought home the car almost 20 seconds clear of the field to add to their maiden win earlier in the season at Suzuka. The start of the 84-lap race was delayed by almost an hour due to heavy rain, and it was punctuated by two safety car periods, the first of which on lap 26 wiped out a four-second lead for the points-leading #36 TOM’S Toyota of Sho Tsuboi. Sasahara had already risen to fourth by…

GB3 Reigning GB4 champion Tom Mills will make his debut in the GB3 Championship this weekend at the Brands Hatch season finale. The 19-year-old dominated the junior single-seater category last term with 10 wins driving for his family-owned KMR Sport team, having previously shone in Formula Ford 1600 racing. Despite being awarded £50,000 in prize money for his title success to further fund his single-seater career, Mills has not raced for over a year but will amend that when he competes for Chris Dittmann Racing this weekend in Kent. “I’ve been out of racing for a year and didn’t think I would get the chance to race in GB3,” said Mills. “I thought the step would be too big as we can’t self-fund it but, using the prize money from…

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB Abbie Eaton said she was left “speechless” after becoming the first female driver to score an outright pole and victory in Porsche Carrera Cup GB history at Silverstone last weekend. The 2014 Mazda MX-5 Supercup champion and former W Series competitor topped dry qualifying by 0.052 seconds. And, after she had slid wide at Luffield in the wet opener and had to settle for second, she stormed into the lead at the start of race two and defied George Gamble to the flag. Pro-Am competitor Eaton’s previous best result this year had been 10th at Brands Hatch, and she admitted she never expected to begin the weekend by taking pole. “I would have been happy getting in the top 10 given the pace around here and…

SANTA POD There was never any doubt that Andy Robinson would leave Santa Pod’s National Finals with another Motorsport UK British Drag Racing Championship to his name, only the manner in which he achieved it. Another final-round match-up with outgoing champion Bobby Wallace seemed the likeliest outcome to cap a weather-disrupted season, but the elements were not finished. A single qualifying salvo on Friday was enough to seal the crown for Robinson but, thereafter, the rain called the shots, and Sunday’s eliminations were moved to Saturday following a severe weather warning. Robinson and Wallace both advanced from the first round before rain stopped play and the meeting was eventually abandoned. Wallace’s 5.944s qualifier was the meeting’s lowest elapsed time, and Robinson clocked 246.37mph in his first round defeat of Mick…

750MC A pair of Croft podiums were sufficient for Matt Wilkins to clinch his first Type R Trophy Championship title with a meeting to spare. Local driver Trafford King won the opener before outgoing champion Joe Jessup was quickest to negotiate the reversed top-10 grid, keeping King and Wilkins at bay to claim race-two honours. Mark White (Honda Civic) and Doug Inglis (Mazda MX-5) were both two-time class winners in the finale of the 2024 Armed Forces Race Challenge, but the Performance Index meant Jonathan Candler (Peugeot 306) successfully defended his title. Father-and-son duo Stuart and Andrew Pywell took an overall win each in the BMW Car Club Racing Championship. Pywell Sr topped Class M1 in his M3, and his son’s impressive victory came in his Class 6 328i ahead…

PORSCHE SPRINT CHALLENGE GB If you look up the definition of a Cayman, it describes a “semiaquatic reptile” with “heavy armour”. Cayman racer Tom Bradshaw certainly needed some strong armoury in a thrilling wet second Porsche Sprint Challenge GB contest at a Silverstone that was, at times, more suited to amphibians. Toro Verde driver Bradshaw powered into the lead on lap 11 of 20 with a move on Will Jenkins into Woodcote. But Bradshaw soon had Max Coates’ Cayman snapping at his heels. Coates was on a charge, having fallen to fifth off the line. “My start was shocking, I had to get on with it from there,” said the Graves pilot. And that is exactly what he did, picking off Joe Marshall, Seb Hopkins and then Jenkins to begin…

MINI CHALLENGE TROPHY Sam Gornall has moved into the Mini Challenge Trophy points lead ahead of its November Brands Hatch finale after dominating race three at Silverstone. The Westbourne driver also led the opener until he was demoted by Chandler Motorsport’s Rhys Hurd on lap five of 17. Gornall slipped further back with a wide moment shortly after and had to settle for fourth. Luca Marinoni Osborne had been set for a podium until a failed move on Hurd at Brooklands left him swamped, enabling Olivier Algieri – in just his second event – and Gabe Fairbrother to complete the rostrum. James Black (Graves Motorsport) scored a maiden win in a very wet second bout, which only featured three racing laps. Gornall then battled past Hurd through Woodcote early on…

THRUXTON BRSCC 21-22 SEPTEMBER Reigning Civic Cup champion Max Edmundson enhanced his growing reputation with two resounding victories at Thruxton, including a sensational charge from 10th to first in mixed weather. Edmundson’s Saturday success was comparatively routine, leading a seventh 1-2 of the season from Area Motorsport team-mate Josh Files, and 12 seconds clear of Alistair Camp in third. On a patchy drying track in the sequel, Edmundson ran sixth under a safety car before benefiting from Harvey Caton’s excursion, picked off Alex Kite and then capitalised on Files’s huge slide at Church to outdrag Liam McGill too. He completed his climb by dispatching the tail-happy FN2 of long-time leader Dave Marshall, who plummeted on the final lap. McGill, Camp and Files chased Edmundson home. “Every time someone ahead of…

A BMW, Porsche or Audi are perhaps more obvious choices for race car builds, so to see a 1990s Nissan Almera among the delicate and sleek sportscars at Donington Park last weekend was undoubtedly strange. A car perhaps more suited to pootling around city streets than pushing on race tracks, this Almera is not for pensioners despite its origin, as owner and driver Daniel Cogswell explains. “We just wanted something different,” said Cogswell. “We raced Minis and MX-5s in the past so we just wanted to stand out. We didn’t want to build just another Fiesta or Clio.” This is no ordinary Almera – not only is it a GTI model, but it also features multiple upgrades. For example, to improve the Nissan’s naturally aspirated SR20 engine, the four-cylinder, 16-valve…

FORMULA 1 Plans to hold a Formula 1 rookie sprint race after the Abu Dhabi season finale are on course to get the green light next month, Autosport has learned. F1 is looking to hold the race as part of the Yas Marina post-season test, with the aim of giving young drivers more opportunities to gain mileage in current F1 cars. The idea gathered widespread support and it was decided that the matter should be taken on for evaluation by sporting directors to better understand whether it could be realised in regulatory terms. Following a recent meeting of F1’s Sporting Advisory Committee to consider the wider rule implications of the test, the conclusion was that the proposal was realistic. Multiple senior sources have now indicated that the plans for the…

AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS Toyota will join the grid in Australia’s Supercars series in 2026 with Walkinshaw Andretti United racing the GR Supra. There will be four of the Japanese coupes on the grid: two with WAU, which is currently running a pair of Ford Mustangs for Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood, and two with a team to be announced. Toyota, the long-time market leader in Australia, has made a five-year commitment to the category. Development of the new car is already under way at Toyota Australia’s Melbourne base. It will feature an engine based on the 2UR-GSE – an all-aluminium, quad-cam V8 – rather than the in-line six cylinder motor that comes fitted to the road-going Supra. “At Toyota, we have been toying with the idea of competing in Supercars for…

YOUNG DRIVER OF THE YEAR The four finalists who will contest the 2024 Silverstone Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award have been selected. Formula 3 race winner Arvid Lindblad, recently crowned British F4 champion Deagen Fairclough, GB3 points leader Louis Sharp and Italian F4 dominator Freddie Slater will battle it out for prizes that include a test in Aston Martin F1 machinery and £200,000. Only Lindblad has been a finalist before, in 2023. The Award, which aims to find and assist the best junior British racing drivers, will include fitness tests conducted by Porsche Human Performance and simulator elements before a two-day test at the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit. They will drive MotorSport Vision F2, RLR M Sport Ligier LMP3 and Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 cars.…

It was a grey Sunday 32 years ago when Mark Skaife and Jim Richards stood on the top step of the podium. It was an emotional moment; not only had the Bathurst 1000 been cut short by a torrential storm, but the drivers had learned only hours earlier that Denny Hulme, who was racing a BMW in the event, had died of a heart attack while at the wheel. Richards and Skaife had piloted Nissan’s Skyline GT-R to victory, but that did not sit well with many of the fans, who had been led to believe – wrongly – that any other car in the race stood a chance of beating ‘Godzilla’. As they booed, Richards retorted: “You’re a pack of arseholes!” That moment stayed with many for a long…

When asked to assess the merits of his pole lap, Lando Norris rated it as “not particularly good”. It was evident that he’d left time on the table in the first sector, since he’d fallen behind in the opening split compared to his initial lap, one that he’d had to abort when Carlos Sainz hurled his Ferrari into the barrier at Turn 17. The Spaniard’s crash, which bizarrely came as he was about to start his own hot lap, put a pin in Norris’s initial attempt for pole position and seemed to hand an advantage to Max Verstappen. Yet the two title protagonists were put on an equal footing: Verstappen’s lap finished under double-waved yellows and had it struck from the record. But, knowing that a pole lap was in…

OLIVER OAKES ALPINE TEAM PRINCIPAL How has this weekend been so difficult? At Spa, we brought an update, and it was pretty decent. Zandvoort was decent, and then I think Monza, Baku, here, we haven’t been very good, being blunt. I think we need to have a good look why, to be honest. How do you keep the drivers’ motivation up? They’re both good to work with, massively professional. There’s never any concerns over them being motivated. I think they get frustrated, as I would – you don’t want to be cruising around on Sunday with nothing to fight for at the moment. But I think, actually, we know between now and the end of the year we have got some performance coming. Do the drivers know where the limitations…

Joy, gloom, and then joy again. That was the story for Power Maxed Racing at Silverstone. Just as Mikey Doble had done in 2023, Aron Taylor-Smith appeared to have planted one of the Midlands squad’s trusty Vauxhall Astra warhorses on pole, with Doble third. Then both – along with sixth-placed Dan Zelos – failed the ride-height test, and were consigned to the back of the grid. The wet-weather Goodyear tyres are a smaller diameter than the slicks, so it’s common practice for teams to jack their cars up when the weather turns – even if it’s mid-race. PMR claimed to have done this, but, as team boss Adam Weaver explained: “The problem is it’s not like a button where you go 1-2-3-4-5-6 on ride height and everything’s clear. In 10…

MOTOGP MISANO (ITA) 22 SEPTEMBER ROUND 14/20 Enea Bastianini’s unlikely victory in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix last Sunday was Ducati’s 100th success in the premier class, but two riders who had contributed a substantial portion of the tally were unhappy with the result. That was because Pramac ace Jorge Martin felt he had been denied a win he deserved by an “unfair” last-lap pass from factory rider Bastianini, while two-time champion Francesco Bagnaia was left frustrated by a rear tyre that didn’t work for 15 laps before he crashed out of the race. For the longest time it appeared that MotoGP’s second 2024 visit to Misano would lead to a straight duel between Martin and Bagnaia, the two riders holding first and second positions in the championship. After all,…

HISTORICS Three-time Formula 1 grand prix winner Thierry Boutsen is coming out of retirement to race a Shadow DN5 in the Masters Racing Legends double-header at this weekend’s 31st Spa Six Hours event. Belgian-born Andre Lotterer and local hero Eric van de Poele are among a plethora of stars in Saturday’s endurance classic. Jake Hill and Dario Franchitti are also among 20 Ford GT40 teams comprising a quarter of the enduro entry at Francorchamps. Fresh from his World Endurance Hypercar win at Fuji, championship leader Lotterer is teamed with the Franchitti brothers – quadruple IndyCar champion Dario and 2014 Sebring 12 Hours victor Marino. Van de Poele rejoins Ford chief Jim Farley, meanwhile. Joint British Touring Car leader Hill augments ERA Motorsport’s Kyle Tilley and 2023 winner Miles Griffiths for…

PORSCHE The Porsche Sprint Challenge GB will visit Knockhill for the first time next year, with the manufacturer launching its 2025 plans for its UK categories. The Cayman series will again be contested over six of the 10 British Touring Car events, but with a more even spread across the year after the current campaign did not begin until the end of May to accommodate deliveries of the new RS model. The season will start at the BTCC’s Donington Park opener, racing alongside the Carrera Cup, while Sprint Challenge will also be in action on the Brands Hatch Indy layout. Carrera Cup will skip that event, as well as Oulton Park, but will be present at all the rest. Other tweaks include a significant reduction in the cost of Cayman…

750MC The 750 Motor Club’s Bikesports category will be rebranded as the Radical Club Challenge and feature a dedicated class for SR1 models next season. The change, in collaboration with Radical Motorsport, will allow entry-level SR1 machines to compete for their own class honours as well as for the overall title against a mixed field of Radical models. Radical motorsport manager Nicole Van Der Walt said: “We have listened to our customers’ feedback and the 750 Motor Club offers an ideal home for our SR1 customers, as well as owners of previous generations of our Radical sportscars. “Alongside the Radical Cup, the new Radical Club Challenge provides an option for those looking for a cost-effective yet still competitive and exciting racing series.” The 750MC is synonymous with creating low-cost series…

750MC Saturday’s 750 Motor Club race meeting at Oulton Park was brought to an early halt by a spectacular thunderstorm, but not before more champions were crowned. Samuel Dennis and Ash Moor continued their perfect season in Class C of Club Enduro, reaching an insurmountable 80 points with their fifth straight win in their Honda Civic. Dennis battled ahead of Lee Dendy-Sadler’s BMW 328i in the early stages, ultimately winning the class by more than a lap. The Audi TT of overall winner Scott Parkin and the Ginetta G40 of Chris Webster/Matthew Tidmarsh topped their classes, also wrapping up divisional titles. Ben Short secured the 5Club MX-5 glory with victory in the first race, adding his 14th win of the year later on. Meanwhile, the loss of the second Clio…

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB Abbie Eaton impressively becoming the first female driver to take an overall Porsche Carrera Cup GB pole and win at Silverstone may not have been predicted ahead of the weekend, but equally unpredictable is the destiny of the title as just four points now separate the top four. Pro-Am entrant Eaton had endured a tricky debut campaign in Porsches (see News) but turned a corner at her local circuit by edging Hugo Ellis to pole. And the Rebelleo racer backed up that form by continuing to lead for the first eight laps of the very wet opener. But she then ran wide at Luffield and Charles Rainford, who had already demoted Ellis, pounced to take the spoils for CCK Motorsport. Eaton was still a comfortable second,…

PORSCHE SPRINT CHALLENGE GB Race 1 (20 laps) 1 Seb Hopkins; 2 Max Coates +4.293s; 3 Will Jenkins; 4 Jacob Tofts; 5 Joe Marshall; 6 Tom Bradshaw. Fastest lap Hopkins 1m01.640s (95.80mph). Pole Jenkins. Starters 24. Race 2 (20 laps) 1 Bradshaw; 2 Coates +0.230s; 3 Jenkins; 4 Marshall; 5 Hopkins; 6 Matt Kyle-Henney. FL Marshall 1m01.915s (95.38mph). P Jenkins. S 24. Race 3 (19 laps) 1 Jenkins; 2 Bradshaw +4.023s; 3 Coates; 4 Hopkins; 5 Reece Somerfield; 6 Marshall. FL Jenkins 1m01.140s (96.59mph). P Bradshaw. S 24. Points 1 Coates 116; 2 Hopkins 106; 3 Bradshaw 99; 4 Jenkins 91; 5 Ethan Hammerton 54; 6 Oliver Cottam 39. PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB Race 1 (30 laps) 1 Charles Rainford; 2 Abbie Eaton +5.695s; 3 Will Martin; 4 Angus Whiteside;…

CIVIC CUP Races 1 & 2 Max Edmundson (EP3) FIESTA ST240s Race 1 Alastair Kellett Race 2 Henry Howarth Race 3 Zach Lucas FIESTA JUNIORS Race 1 Jenson Mason (Mk7 Zetec S) Race 2 Jenson O’Neill-Going (Mk6 ST) Race 3 Finn Leslie (Mk7 Zetec S) TCR UK Race 1 Callum Newsham (Hyundai i30 N) Race 2 Carl Boardley (Cupra Leon Competicion) Race 3 Steve Laidlaw (Cupra Leon Competicion) AUDI TT CUP RACING Races 1, 2 & 3 Bradley Burns (below) CTCRC PRE-’66/PRE-’83 TOURING CARS Races 1 & 2 Stephen Primett (Ford Escort Mk1) CTCRC SUPER TOURERS/PRE-’93/PRE-’03 TOURING CARS Races 1 & 2 Stewart Whyte (Honda Accord) CTCRC BOSS, CLASSIC & HISTORIC THUNDER Race 1 Mike Manning (Ford Sierra RS500) Race 2 Josh Lawton (Honda Civic EG) CTCRC ALLCOMERS Race 1…

I stand awkwardly in the corner of the garage, desperately trying to stay out of everyone’s way. As two Team Brit McLarens are fettled and polished and then fettled and polished again, I can only marvel at the efficiency of the mechanics. With the cool Norfolk sunshine streaking onto the garage floor, I wonder if I will fit in at all. The squad is competing at the British Automobile Racing Club meeting at Snetterton, and I’ve signed up for four days as a trainee mechanic to experience life in the pitlane. Given my inexperience, my first duties include vacuuming the garage, tidying the team truck, and polishing the cars. Simple tasks, understandably, but ones the team still expects to be done a certain way and to a specific standard. Thankfully,…

Neither Jacques Laffite nor teammate Keke Rosberg was remotely happy with the handling of the Williams-Honda FW09, likely under discussion here with Frank Williams, Neil Oatley and Patrick Head at the 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix, the opening round of the season. After Friday practice Rosberg complained: “The car is a disaster. Just no grip at the front at all.” The big talking point in Rio de Janeiro was the imposition of a 220-litre fuel limit, prompting protests that grand prix racing was being turned into an economy run. At least on this matter Williams nailed it, Autosport saying it had “clearly done excellent work in marrying horsepower and fuel economy”, as Rosberg was able to drive hard throughout the race from ninth on the grid to second place. Laffite retired…