Innehållsförteckning för 30/05/19 från Autosport

Was that one of Lewis Hamilton’s hardest victories, as the Mercedes star suggested? On the one hand, if you’re going to have the wrong tyres on and need to defend position, Monaco is probably the place to be (though a more open circuit might have made a second stop more likely). On the other, staying off the walls with one of Formula 1’s best overtakers applying pressure means it would certainly have been a challenging day in the cockpit. Either way, Hamilton’s victory – and indeed the F1 paddock’s reaction to Niki Lauda’s death last week – was a fitting way to pay tribute to the legendary Austrian, who was always impressive on the world’s most famous street circuit. The news of Lauda’s passing came too late for us to…

MACAU GRAND PRIX The FIA Formula 3 concept looks favourite to head to Macau this year, after Macau Grand Prix organisers stated their intent to run the classic race for the new F3 cars. Macau Grand Prix Organising Committee sporting coordinator Chong Coc Veng confirmed “the intention to introduce the FIA Formula 3 Championship car to the Guia Circuit” in an announcement about the November race’s title sponsorship last week. Such a move would still need to be ratified by the FIA, which grants the event FIA F3 World Cup status, but if approved it would end a 36-year period where the race was run to the previous FIA F3 concept. The event will not be part of the FIA F3 Championship promoted by Formula 2/FIA F3 chief Bruno Michel’s…

NEW RIO GP LAYOUT REVEALED A definitive layout (above) has been revealed for the planned Rio de Janeiro circuit that wants to take over Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix slot, but only once Interlagos’s deal expires. US consortium Rio Motorsports claims it won a tender to build the new track, and says it has been awarded a 35-year concession to build on military land. Interlagos is expected to host the race again next year, which is the final event under the terms of its current contract. F1 BOSSES WANT KYALAMI RETURN A South African Grand Prix at Kyalami could rejoin the Formula 1 calendar amid interest from championship bosses and a desire from the redeveloped circuit to host F1 again. Since the circuit’s new owners took hold in 2014, it…

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Lauda’s most courageous act came at Fuji I have always had tremendous respect and admiration for Niki Lauda. Many tributes have said that the most courageous thing he did was to get back in the car at Monza in 1976 so soon after his horrific accident. I disagree. For me, he showed more bravery by getting out of the car at Fuji (right). He had the courage to stand up for what he believed was right, and sacrificed the opportunity to win a world title – can you imagine Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton doing that? At that moment he put a career on the line, which had already nearly cost him his life – extraordinary. He will be missed. Ben Hall By Email A Monaco battle that…

Sergio Perez says he was “very lucky” to avoid hitting two marshals during the Monaco Grand Prix when they ran in front of his Racing Point car during his run to 12th. The incident occurred at the pitlane exit during the early safety car period. Perez had emerged from a tyre change and was accelerating out of the pits when he encountered two marshals running across the track before Ste Devote. One marshal managed to get across in front of his car to the inside barriers, while a second managed to stop – and fortunately Perez was able to get between them without incident. Speaking on his team radio immediately after the incident, a shocked Perez said: “What was wrong with those marshals? I nearly killed him.” Following the race,…

For my favourite cars, I’ve chosen the ones that were the most innovative – the milestones of Formula 1 cars. There are two examples that I chose just because of a particular feeling but, mainly, they’re the most innovative cars that I saw in my career. 1970-75 LOTUS 72 It completely changed the shape of a Formula 1 car, with a wedge nose. If you remember, the previous Lotus was the 49, still with a big radiator in the front with a traditional nose. That was the traditional shape of an F1 car – they were called ‘cigars’, and were very slim. The 72 had the wedge nose and a thin, rear aerodynamic shape. The inboard brakes at the front and rear were a dangerous solution but it was, for…

There was a very familiar feel to the ABB FIA Formula E round in Berlin last weekend. The German capital has hosted a race in each of the championship’s first five seasons, with the disused Tempelhof Airport staging four of those events. But the venue was not the sole element that felt similar to last year’s race – the main protagonists were largely the same as well. Last year, Daniel Abt gave Audi a memorable victory, leading his team-mate Lucas di Grassi to the manufacturer’s first FE 1-2, which came on home ground in Audi’s first season as a works FE entrant. This year, it was di Grassi who secured the win – one that led to BMW’s head of brands and marketing, Jens Thiemer, handing the winning constructor’s trophy…

FORMULA 2 MONACO (MCO) 24-25 MAY ROUND 4/12 Rarely does an incorrect decision as bad as the one that befell the Monaco Formula 2 feature race happen in modern times, but with drivers paying millions to compete in the series it seemed almost farcical. The only real winner from the weekend was Nyck de Vries, who dominated the feature race and reduced a 30-point championship deficit to a solitary point with seventh in the sprint race as his rivals hit trouble. Polesitter de Vries, Luca Ghiotto and Sergio Sette Camara scarpered away at the start of the feature race. Then, 19 laps in, Mick Schumacher punted ninth-placed Tatiana Calderon into a spin at Rascasse. The red flag was waved when the track was blocked. Although the cars were reordered in…

SUPER GT SUZUKA (JPN) 26 MAY ROUND 3/8 Team TOM’S converted its qualifying dominance into victory at Suzuka to claim back-to-back Super GT wins for both the squad and the Lexus LC 500. Kazuki Nakajima was back in his regular Lexus seat, returning from the World Endurance Championship round at Spa, to share with most recent Super Formula winner Yuhi Sekiguchi. They faced Nick Cassidy and Ryo Hirakawa, sharing the sister car, in the fight for pole, with Sekiguchi running clear by just 0.013s to score his first pole since switching to TOM’S. Both Nakajima and Hirakawa took control for the race start, and it was Nakajima who pulled out an early gap. Kazuya Oshima and Kenta Yamashita, also in an LC 500, rose from fifth to third, behind the…

WORLD RALLYCROSS SILVERSTONE (GBR) 26 MAY ROUND 4/10 Timmy Hansen’s 2018 World Rallycross Championship campaign was bedevilled with poor fortune. So often when he had a clear opportunity to put a dent in Johan Kristoffersson’s incredible run of dominance, he would miss the chance. In Spain, for example, he led his semifinal with ease until his works Peugeot 208 WRX ground to a halt with an electric fault; in Portugal, glancing a barrier cost him the chance of a podium finish. At Silverstone, having set a fastest qualifying time on Saturday afternoon, he broke a wheel in the semi-finals and retired. Putting the first round of the current season in Abu Dhabi aside – where Hansen was removed from the event by substantial contact with Andreas Bakkerud’s Audi during Q3…

MASTERS HISTORIC F1 Michael Lyons escaped with bruising and abrasions when he crashed his Longhorn Indycar-based Williams FW07B at Brands Hatch’s Paddock Hill Bend while challenging for the lead of last Saturday’s FIA Masters Historic F1 championship race. “It’s always exciting in a Formula 1 car round here but we had a technical issue [thought to be a sticking throttle] approaching paddock in fifth gear,” said the former Historic F1 champion. “I felt the engine pushing on as I braked and changed down. I’m not sure what speed I was pulling, but managed to turn the car a little for a side impact. Hitting the wall in fourth gear going pretty fast [around 100mph] is not great, but I’m absolutely fine. I have a few minor scrapes, that’s all.” Observers…

ROAD TO LE MANS McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Tom Gamble will join British GT champion Flick Haigh in a TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 at the Road to Le Mans race supporting the Le Mans 24 Hours next month. Gamble, who races an Audi R8 LMS GT3 in the Blancpain World Challenge Europe, completed a successful test with TF at Anglesey, which led to an impressive British GT cameo at Snetterton earlier this month filling in for Adrian Willmott at Century Motorsport. As reported by Autosport (18 April), Haigh will return to the event for the first time since 2017, when she drove an Optimum Motorsport-run Audi. TF Sport won both races with Ahmad Al Harthy and Tom Jackson in 2017. Gamble said: “We don’t know the pecking…

LAMBO YOUNGSTERS PICKED Five British drivers have been selected for the Lamborghini Youngster Programme. Bonaldi Motorsport team-mates Jack Bartholomew and Stuart Middleton have been picked for the Young Driver Programme. Barwell Motorsport’s Blancpain GT Series stablemates Sandy Mitchell and ex-BRDC British F3 racer James Pull, plus FFF Racing’s Taylor Proto, made it into the GT3 Junior Programme. HALSTEAD TO DO TCT RACES Ginetta GT5 Challenge Am champion Nick Halstead will contest the next round of the Touring Car Trophy at Donington Park next month, alongside racing his GT5 car the same weekend. Halstead will drive a Fox Motorsport Honda Civic TCR in three 2019 TCT events. ALPINE DEBUT FOR EATON The Grand Tour driver and 2014 Mazda MX-5 Supercup champion Abbie Eaton took a best result of fifth from the…

BRANDS HATCH MASTERS HISTORIC FESTIVAL 25-26 MAY Thirty-five years after the European Formula 2 Championship era ended at Brands Hatch, the Historic Sports Car Club-badged Historic F2 competition for pre-1979 cars’ unprecedented strength forced FIA Historic F1 contenders to dig deep to justify the three-litre category’s place at the sport’s pinnacle. The annual Masters Festival showcased both genres superbly, but Steve Hartley’s first victory in his ex-John Watson McLaren MP4/1B on Sunday – following a poignant Niki Lauda tribute – wowed spectators as Cosworth DFV power reigned on the magical Grand Prix circuit. A scintillating three-way fight for Saturday honours between champions Martin Stretton (Tyrrell 012), Michael Lyons (Longhorn-born ‘Williams FW07B’) and Matteo Ferrer-Aza (Ligier JS11) ended abruptly when Lyons, hounding Stretton in fifth gear, ploughed-off at Paddock when his…

LYDDEN HILL TOURING GREATS Andrew Jordan (Austin A40) COYS 100 TROPHY Patrick Watts (Mini Cooper S) ALLSTARS James Colburn (Lenham Sprite GT, above) A-SERIES CHALLENGE Patrick Watts (Mini Cooper S) STARS OF LYDDEN Ding Boston (Riley 1.5) OULTON PARK SWINGING SIXTIES Group 1 Chris Watkinson (British Leyland Mini) Group 2 Malcolm Johnson (Lotus Europa) SPECIAL SALOONS & MODSPORTS Races 1 & 2 Paul Sibley (Lotus Elan Modsports) FUTURE CLASSICS Tim Bates (Porsche 911 SC) TIN TOPS Nigel Ainge/Danny Cassar (Honda Integra Type R) TURBO TIN TOPS Nigel Tongue/John Hammersley (Renault Megane F1 R26) NEW MILLENNIUM Michael Vitulli (BMW M3 E46) MODERN CLASSICS Richard Ellis (Porsche 993 C2, below) MAGNIFICENT SEVENS Stephen Nuttall (Caterham Supersport) CLASSIC K Paul Tooms (Lotus Elan GTS) JAGUAR SALOON & GT CHAMPIONSHIP Races 1 & 2…

ANGLESEY UK LEGENDS CHAMPIONHIP Heat 1 Sy Harraway Heat 2 Marcus Pett Final 1 Sean Smith Heat 3 Miles Rudman Heat 4 Sy Harraway Final 2 Marcus Pett SCOTTISH & IRISH LEGENDS Heat 1 John Paterson Heat 2 Steve Whitelegg Final 1 John Paterson Heat 3 Steven McGill Heat 4 John Paterson Final 2 John Paterson CNC SPORTS & SALOONS Races 1, 2 & 3 Danny Bird (Spire GTR, above) CITROEN C1 CHALLENGE PrepTech UK (Nicole Drought/Colin Lewis) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com KIRKISTOWN SCOTTISH MINI COOPER CUP Races 1 & 2 Robbie Dalgleish Race 3 Michael Weddell NORTHERN IRELAND FORMULA FORD 1600 Races 1 & 2 David McCullough (Van Diemen RF01, below) NORTHERN IRELAND SALOONS Race 1 Donal O’Neill (SEAT Cupra) Race 2 Oly Mortimer (Mini Cooper S) NORTHERN…

INDYCAR Red Bull Advanced Technologies has partnered with IndyCar to develop the aeroscreen, which will be installed on all Dallara IR18s cars for all races from next year’s opening round. In shape, the titanium framework of the screen is not dissimilar to the Formula 1 halo. But the horseshoe-shaped hoop at the top, rather than dip downwards, stays almost level to sweep round and anchor at the base of the rollhoop, so the driver’s helmet is protected from side on. The height of the hoop also ensures it is out of the distant sightline of the driver on banked ovals – previously one of the major concerns of drivers when considering the next generation of cockpit protection, since they need to be looking a long way around turns at 200mph-plus.…

DTM MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso completed a two-day test at Misano to prepare for his DTM debut at the circuit next month. Assisted by two-time DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom, the Ducati rider impressed in the Audi RS5 DTM. On day two he was making set-up changes to suit his driving style. “It was really important for me to test here at Misano, because the level is extremely high in the DTM and there are many things to manage while you’re at the wheel,” said Dovizioso. Had DTM boss Gerhard Berger’s plan prevailed, Dovizioso’s test would have been the precursor to a DTM battle with fellow MotoGP star Valentino Rossi, but a plan to place Rossi in a BMW as a guest driver fell through due to his watertight Yamaha contract…

There were only two passes for position during the Monaco Grand Prix after the opening lap. Both were by Charles Leclerc, and even they were followed closely by the failed attempt to overtake Nico Hulkenberg that ultimately led to the Ferrari driver’s retirement. Cue the usual complaints – that Monaco should not be on the world championship calendar – that are almost as old as the hills the city state clings to. But it’s a race that should never be left behind by GP racing, it’s too important for that. And its sporting value sits apart from the supposed glitz and glamour, the ostentatious displays of wealth around the Monaco harbour, the myriad celebrities and the old world faded grandiosity of the place. Instead it’s about something far purer –…

Lewis Hamilton’s Monaco Grand Prix record is patchy for a driver of his virtuosity. He’s always been fast on the tortuously twisty streets, all the way back to Formula 3 days when he won here, but his under-pressure victory in the 2019 race was only the third of his 77 F1 wins to come in Monte Carlo. If there was any doubt about how desperately Hamilton wants to build a legacy here that could stand with that of his hero Ayrton Senna, you only had to witness his joyous fence-climbing reaction to bagging what was somehow only his second pole position here in 13 attempts. This was a highly charged weekend for Hamilton for many reasons. The loss of Niki Lauda, three-time world champion and a driving force of Hamilton’s…

GUNTHER STEINER HAAS TEAM PRINCIPAL Haas had a disappointing weekend, with Kevin Magnussen running sixth early on but finishing 14th after getting stuck in the queue behind Lando Norris when he stopped under the safety car. Romain Grosjean was impeded by Pierre Gasly in qualifying and finished ninth on the road, but slipped behind Daniel Ricciardo in the results thanks to a five-second penalty for crossing the pit exit line. Given the pace of the car, are you disappointed with the way the race panned out? A tough race, everything went wrong that could go wrong. It started with Kevin at the start losing a position and getting stuck behind Ricciardo then we know he can’t get by. We never seem to get any points thrown at us, everything goes…

“Can I speak freely?” Niki Lauda said to the Mercedes PR man as we sat down to talk in Montreal last year, “or is it the usual PR bullshit?” Now Niki is gone, and with him so much else, not least – in this regimented age – the last politically incorrect voice in Formula 1. Looking back on all the time I spent with him over the years, perhaps the single moment that most crystallised Lauda came at Jarama in the spring of 1977. We were chatting in the paddock when up came an American lady seeking an interview for her news magazine. Niki agreed, and she sat down. Clearly she knew little of motor racing, and all the questions were banal until the last one. “Finally,” she said, “I…

The early stages of the first Jaguar I-PACE eTrophy season looked to have set up the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing squad for an intra-team title battle between Katherine Legge and Bryan Sellers. But with two races left, the momentum is firmly with Jaguar Brazil Racing, as Sergio Jimenez tops the standings after finishing second behind team-mate Caca Bueno in Berlin. RLLR had a disappointing time last weekend. It began with Legge being unable to put together a clean lap in qualifying, ending up inside the Pro-Am field in eighth, with Sellers lining up behind the two Jaguar Brazil drivers and Simon Evans. With RLLR on the back foot, Jaguar Brazil seized the initiative with polesitter Bueno leading every lap on his way to victory. Jimenez mounted several attacks and came…

FORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP MONACO (MCO) 25-26 MAY ROUND 3/10 Nobody in Monaco knows what it means to have to fight off much faster cars to score a podium in Monte Carlo more than Daniel Ricciardo. So, 12 months after his heroic drive to victory having lost the power of his MGU-K, the Renault Formula 1 driver-turned-Eurocup chequered flag waver must have been impressed by the resilience shown by Joao Vieira last Sunday. Vieira was only 18th fastest in free practice but capitalised on wet conditions in qualifying to steal a second-row starting position for both races by staying on wet tyres and improving late on as others switched to slicks and suffered for it. He was a distant fifth-place finisher in race one (and sixth on the road), 35 seconds…

AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS WINTON (AUS) 25-26 MAY ROUND 6/15 Scott McLaughlin continued his domination of the 2019 Supercars season with another pair of wins at Winton. Saturday’s victory was a controversial one for the defending champion, who clashed with DJR Team Penske team-mate Fabian Coulthard on the opening lap. The pair made contact on the way into Turn 5, and both of the Ford Mustangs took to the infield. However, while Coulthard rejoined at the back of the field, McLaughlin opted to shortcut his way to Turn 8 and carried on in third place. Questions were asked over the legality of the shortcut, but since the briefing notes only called for cars to re-enter the circuit before the Turn 9 flag post, it was deemed above board. He went on to…

HISTORICS British Touring Car Championship Independents Trophy holder Tom Ingram made his Masters Historic debut last weekend, when he shared both a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and a Lotus Cortina with 2014 British GT champion Marco Attard at Brands Hatch. Aside from one race at the Goodwood Revival back in 2016 in an Austin A35, it was Ingram’s maiden outings in historics. The Team Toyota GB ace qualified the mighty Chevrolet seventh and brought it through to a spectacular third, behind fellow touring car hotshoe Jake Hill (Lotus Elan) and Julian Thomas (Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe replica), before relaying Attard at the stops. Attard kept the place until he was ambushed on the finish line by Andrew Smith in Mark Donnor’s Jaguar E-type, finishing fourth. Undeterred by starting the Cortina 18th,…

HISTORIC SPORTS CAR CLUB There will be a new look to period Formula Ford racing next season when the Classic Formula 1600 Championship moves to the Historic Sports Car Club to run alongside the Historic FF1600 Championship. To date, the Classics, for cars built and raced before 1982, have run with the British Automobile Racing Club but will now switch to the HSCC and run in parallel to the HSCC’s successful Historic Championship for cars from up to 1971. The twin championships will mean that racing for the first 25 years of Formula Ford history will be managed and organised by the HSCC. Stuart Kestenbaum, who represents Classic Formula Ford, said: “We think it is a fantastic move. The HSCC paddock is a great place for Classic Formula Ford to…

GT CHALLENGE The £1000 prize money GT Challenge contest at Castle Combe is set to become an annual race, following its inaugural running at the Combe bank holiday meeting. The GT Challenge is a half-hour race run to CCRC GT Championship regulations, with an unusual feature of a £1000 prize for the overall winner as well as £250 for each of the four class winners. The race is the brainchild of Jordan Billinton, who competed in a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3. He is founder of building services consultancy firm ME7 and put up the prize money. “I really hope we can make this a yearly event,” Billinton said. “I started racing under two years ago and I’ve already wanted to give back to the sport. I saw an opportunity, particularly for…

It’s a very old cliche that it only takes two cars to make a race but that literally rang true at Brands Hatch earlier this month. A pathetic entry for a Tin Tops Championship race dropped from three after qualifying to two for the 16-lap race. And it just raises the question of ‘why?’. That championship replaced the old British Automobile Racing Club South Eastern centre category, following the club’s decision to shut down the centre. But was it needed? Especially when the club already had a poorly supported BARC Saloons series? It wasn’t the only shambles at that early May Brands Hatch meeting. The new Series Elite category, featuring Jaguars driven by those over 40 years of age, was not ready to launch so its races were replaced by…

LYDDEN HILL HRDC 27 MAY Established stars Andrew Jordan, his father Mike and local tuning ace Nick Swift all shone during their ascendancy at the inaugural Historics On The Hill event. Mike Jordan has a wealth of experience at Lydden from his Eurocar era, but Andrew’s only effort on the full Tarmac circuit was a single trackday in 2006. And Swift had raced at Lydden only twice before – the last time 10 years ago. But the Swiftune boss had another problem: during a short practice session his UPU2 Mini wore its nearside front tyre right through the carcass. “I just don’t have enough tyres here today,” he said. Andrew Jordan put his Austin A40 on pole for the Touring Greats race, but the spectacular James Dorlin, who drove a…

ANGLESEY BARC 25-26 MAY Consistency was key in the UK Legends Championship’s visit to Anglesey last weekend. Although finals went the way of Sean Smith and Marcus Pett, a Sy Harraway brace vaulted him into the points lead as bad luck was attracted to former leader Connor Mills. “I’ve never won here – it doesn’t like me,” said Mills after engine troubles on Saturday and driveshaft problems the following day. Fourth in the opening heat of the weekend proved his best result. Similarly, Pett’s Sunday threatened to unravel after a solid first day, which included a comfortable heat two win that was sandwiched by third and fourth place finishes. A mistake in the damp third heat cost him points, and engine fitting issues in the following contest put him out…

BOOK REVIEW THE LIFE MONACO GRAND PRIX RRP £19.99 Phrases such as “the jewel in Formula 1’s crown” and “a sunny place for shady people”, and images of superyachts lining the marina with casual onlookers toasting champagne as grand prix cars navigate the streets have become inexorably tied to the Monaco Grand Prix. But behind the veil, the diminutive principality has an engrossing and not always pleasant history. The death of Lorenzo Bandini in the 1967 edition of the race, an economy that crippled its local community prior to the Second World War, and royal sleaze – look beyond appearances and Monaco is by no means above reproach. Stuart Codling explores the origins of the most famous race on the F1 calendar with his latest title The Life Monaco Grand…

WHO IS THIS? From serving time beneath the waves to rubbing shoulders with the best, this lost talent left an enduring legacy. He caught the bug at home at an unusually old age, but quickly rose through the ranks before leaving for the traditional centre of motorsport where he became a national champion. This led to him flying the flag in the big pond where he caught the eye of the future president and a chunk of influential thinkers. When a flower failed to bloom it led to two established stars abandoning ship, creating an opportunity he couldn’t refuse. Things started badly, but from rock bottom when it found effective ground it was transformational, which he took full advantage of in tricky conditions. He was part of a roc group…

FORMULA 1 Renault’s start to the Formula 1 season was compromised by an engine reliability issue that was only found after the Bahrain Grand Prix. The manufacturer, which remains eighth in the constructors’ table after last weekend’s Monaco GP, was known to have suffered MGU-K issues this year but a more fundamental problem with its engine had not been publicised. Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul revealed that a conrod issue, which came to light when Nico Hulkenberg retired in Bahrain, had forced the team to adopt “containment measures” that reduced performance in China and Azerbaijan. The issue with the conrod – the component that connects the crankshaft to the piston – was addressed when all four Renault-powered cars took new V6s for the Spanish GP. The engines were initially run in…

WORLD ENDURANCE BMW is calling time on its participation in the World Endurance Championship after just one season. Next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours, the 2018/19 superseason finale, will be the last WEC outing for the M8 GTEs fielded by the MTEK squad. The pull-out, announced last week after the closing date for entries for the 2019/20 season, follows comments by BMW Motorsport boss Jens Marquardt on the lack of marketing value presented by the WEC. In the statement confirming BMW’s withdrawal from GTE Pro, he said that “continuing our WEC involvement in the coming years does not fit with our direction”. “The global presence of BMW M Motorsport is safeguarded by customer racing and the DTM in Asia and Europe, as well as the IMSA series in North America,…

So far, the 2019 season has been something of a nightmare for Renault. The TV feed’s sporadic shots of a pensive-looking Alain Prost harks back to the early 2000s. But there were signs of a recovery in Monaco – although it might not have been entirely reflected on the scoreboard. Externally, not too many changes were made. The upgrades brought to the Spanish GP reappeared on the car, but were augmented with a pair of deflectors on top of the chassis bulkhead, either side of the S-duct. These help to direct airflow over the top of the suspension components, building small tip vortices that can be used further down the car. There’s also the opportunity to use them to increase the suction at the outlet of the S-duct, pulling the…

Anybody who doesn’t understand the considerable threat to Britain’s future in the World Rally Championship is, I’m afraid, delusional. The lack of clarity about the rally’s direction is matched only by the ambivalence to where it is right now. And, as the powers that be ponder and pontificate, new events circle, ready to pounce and pilfer Britain’s slot on the calendar. Since 2000, Rally GB has been rooted in Wales, with continued backing from the Welsh Government. Continued, that is, apart from in early 2009 when Cardiff tried to break its deal with Rally GB to punt an extra £2.2million in the direction of the following year’s Ryder Cup, which was also happening in Wales. The upshot of that? The event took legal action against the Welsh Government. Everybody made…

The battle for pole position at Monaco was always likely to be an all-Mercedes affair. Although Max Verstappen raised hopes by topping Q2, it was clear from the moment the first sector times came in during the top 10 shootout that Mercedes was out front. Valtteri Bottas took first blood, lapping 0.231 seconds quicker than Hamilton on the first runs thanks to his pace through the first two sectors. He knew he needed to find time on the second run but, while Hamilton did just that to snatch pole position, Bottas’s tyres weren’t up to temperature for the start of the lap and he peeled into the pits without finishing it. “I felt there were two or three tenths I could still improve by, so I should have done a…

Charles Leclerc retired from the Monaco Grand Prix to complete a miserable weekend that was wrecked by a mistake Ferrari made in qualifying while chasing a risk it recognised was “not worthwhile”. Leclerc topped final practice for his home grand prix but started the race from 15th on the grid after being knocked out in Q1 when Ferrari failed to send him back out for a second run as rivals improved. It was enough for Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto to arrange an unscheduled media briefing after qualifying to explain a “misjudgement” with the cutoff time to make it through to Q2, and the decision not to react despite Leclerc questioning whether he was safe. Ferrari had not factored in such significant track improvement or the gains drivers would make…

Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi finished last in the Monaco Grand Prix after being penalised for booting Williams driver Robert Kubica into a spin. The Italian attempted to pass Kubica at Rascasse shortly after the restart, pushing the Williams round and blocking the track. He was given a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, which he served at his later pitstop but would have struggled to have beaten Kubica even without the time loss. “I was behind the Williams for too long and I was trying everywhere,” said Giovinazzi. “I tried at Rascasse but there was not enough space and we touched. “It’s a track where it’s impossible to overtake and I tried because my pace was better than them.”…

10 1973 MONACO GP MONTE CARLO BRM P160E (RETIRED) By 1973 Lauda was in considerable debt thanks to the loans he had taken out to pursue a motorsport career, and was paying for a BRM F1 drive via instalments. Some financial jiggery-pokery had sorted the first one but, just before the Monaco Grand Prix, the second was due and Lauda had no way of paying it. He realised he had to make his mark so that he would be kept on for his driving merits rather than the money he could (or could not) bring. The BRM P160E’s main issue was a lack of power from its V12, but the chassis was decent and Lauda qualified sixth – ahead of team ‘leader’ Clay Regazzoni. Helped by some hiccups ahead, Lauda reached…

Graham Rahal was left furious with Sebastien Bourdais after their collision on lap 177 of the 200 caused a five-car wreck that brought out the red flags in the Indianapolis 500. The pair were fighting for eighth place when the Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver drafted the Frenchman’s Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan machine and started drawing alongside on the back straight. Bourdais squeezed his rival towards the grass on the inside as they approached Turn 3, so that the rear of Bourdais’ left sidepod and front of his left-rear tyre made contact with Rahal’s front-right tyre, knocking him toward the grass, pivoting the RLLR machine… but not before its nose made secondary light contact with the DCR car. “HE DROVE INTO ME. YOU JUST DON’T DO THAT ON AN OVAL.…

HOT BATTERY HALTS CHARGE Andre Lotterer endured a difficult race day. He just missed the cut to start a 250kW flying lap in qualifying, which left him 21st on the grid. In the race, he charged to 11th, but climbing battery temperatures – caused by an improper connection in his car’s battery cooling circuit – forced him to retire. LYNN’S LOCKED AXLE Alex Lynn retired after a locked axle left him stranded on the pitstraight. “We lost a lot of coolant [before that],” he later explained. It had been a strong drive from the Jaguar racer – although he did receive a warning for a clash with Gary Paffett at the Turn 9 hairpin. HWA THROWS PUNCHES Both HWA drivers shone in qualifying, with Paffett taking fourth on the grid…

PORSCHE SUPERCUP MONACO (MCO) 26 MAY ROUND 2/9 Qualifying is nine-tenths of the battle in Monaco, so Larry ten Voorde was on the brink of a first Porsche Supercup win after setting the pace. But his best lap was run under yellow flags, meaning he was bumped to third and defending champion Michael Ammermuller promoted to pole. With his Lechner Racing entry carrying the words “you’re more than a memory, you’ll never be forgotten” in tribute to Niki Lauda, Ammermuller held the lead at the start and was never headed. He inched away from Mikkel Overgaard Pedersen to build a lead that stabilised at around the 0.9-second mark. Until, that is, seventh-placed Dylan Pereira lost the rear at Ste Devote and tagged the barrier on the exit of the right-hander.…

NASCAR CUP CHARLOTTE (USA) 26 MAY ROUND 13/36 At various points during the NASCAR Cup’s visit to Charlotte for the 600-mile race, Team Penske was in the hot seat to become the first squad to score a Memorial Day clean sweep. Hours after Simon Pagenaud had claimed Roger Penske’s 18th win at Indianapolis, the boss’s hopes of a unique double rested on reigning champion Joey Logano and team-mate Ryan Blaney. There was just one problem: Martin Truex Jr. The 2017 champion’s Joe Gibbs Toyota Camry is a potent weapon on 1.5-mile layouts, having won three of the last five races on such configurations. But in the first half of the race, Truex’s drive nearly came to a premature end when he hit the wall. He suffered a right-front tyre failure,…

CLASSIC SPORTS CAR CLUB Ric Wood withdrew his ex-Gerry Marshall Mega Bertha Vauxhall Cavalier from last weekend’s Classic Sports Car Club Special Saloons races at Oulton Park after scrutineers deemed it to be too noisy. The 8500cc Dealer Team Vauxhall car has had very little running time since it first appeared at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Wood was left unhappy with the noise test procedures at Oulton, rather than the rules themselves. “I did the qualification, came in to check the tyre pressures, and then was told I had to do a noise test before they let me back out,” he said, after failing the test by 1.5 decibels. “I know it’ll pass the noise test when [the car’s] a bit cooler, but if I go out they’ll…

BRITISH GT Blancpain GT Series champion and Mercedes factory driver Maximilian Buhk headlines a cluster of wildcard British GT entries for next weekend’s Silverstone 500, which is set to swell the field to a 40-car grid for the first time since the equivalent round in 2013. Buhk has a glittering CV in international GT racing, having won the Blancpain Endurance Cup and the Spa 24 Hours in 2013, the Sprint Cup in 2015 and the FIA GT3 European Championship in 2012, as well as the overall Blancpain GT championship for combined Sprint and Endurance points in 2016. The 26-year-old German will team up with 2011 British GT4 champion Peter Belshaw, returning to the championship for the first time since 2014, at Silverstone and Spa in a Mercedes-AMG GT4 run by…

CASTLE COMBE CCRC 27 MAY Ex-British Touring Car Championship driver Rick Kerry took his first BMW Car Club Racing victories in his V8-powered 1 Series, triumphing in both Castle Combe bank holiday races. It was Kerry’s first time racing at the circuit and in the opening stanza, starting from second, he used his V8’s strong torque to move clear of polesitter Gary Hufford’s M3 and win by 4.6 seconds. Race two followed a similar path. Kerry got the jump off the line, this time with Mike Cutt’s M3 as runner-up, 4.8s adrift. Cutt won both Donington Park season-opening races but felt his ballast impeded him more here. He was another Combe freshman, having only circulated the track on his bike prior to qualifying! “Unexpected really, but great,” said Kerry of…

OULTON PARK CSCC 25 & 27 MAY The cars and drivers of the Swinging Sixties series provided the greatest dramas on the first day of the Classic Sports Car Club’s Cheshire Challenge event at Oulton Park. Chris Watkinson’s Mini was a well-received winner in the Group 1 race. Starting from second, Watkinson pushed hard after an influx of early pitstops and capitalised on previous leaders Nik Aveyard and Rob Sinclair’s MG Midget getting caught in traffic. The Midget finished second. Another Mini driven by Anthony Lucas and Chris Hoy was third after the retirement of Tim Cairns’s Midget and some very fast laps from Hoy. The polesitting Alfa of Tim Parsons and Richard Mitchell spun off early on, necessitating a safety car and triggering the pitstops. Group 2 was won…

KIRKISTOWN 500MRCI 25 MAY The Mini Cooper Cup has been one of the success stories of Scottish racing, and its appearances at Knockhill are much anticipated events that rarely disappoint. The drivers travel well too, as their visit to Kirkistown last weekend proved. In the first of their three races, all 21 got through the very fast left-hander at Debtors without mishap, with poleman Joshua Hislop leading the train. But, when they arrived at Colonial, the expected mayhem broke out and, while Hislop emerged unscathed, a number of others didn’t, including front-row starter Michael Weddell and several others. Unsurprisingly, when the survivors reappeared at the start/finish straight they were greeted by the safety car, which was replaced by a display of red flags. Further dramas on the restart brought another…

INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORT Rally Portugal World Rally Championship Round 7/14 Matosinhos, Portugal 31 May–2 June TV Live BT Sport 2, Fri 1900. BT Sport 3, Sat 0830, 1500. BT Sport 1, Sun 0900, 1200. Red Bull TV, Sat 1450. TV Highlights BT Sport 2, Fri 2200, Sun 0030, 2230. Red Bull TV, Fri 2200, Sat 2200, Sun 2200. Spike Mon 1900. Live coverage on wrc.com All live service via WRC+ IndyCar Series Round 7/16 Detroit, USA 1 June TV Live Sky Sports F1, Sat 2000, Sun 2000 IMSA Sportscar Round 5/12 Detroit, ISA 1 June Blancpain Endurance Series Round 3/5 Paul Ricard, France 1 June Livestream Motorsport.tv, Sat 1200 Formula Renault Eurocup Round 4/10 Paul Ricard, France 1-2 June NASCAR Cup Round 14/36 Pocono, USA 2 June TV Live Premier Sports,…