Innehållsförteckning för 06/06/19 från Autosport

Following a dramatic Indianapolis 500 and a more-tense-than-usual Monaco Grand Prix, the classic Le Mans 24 Hours takes centre stage later this month. Thanks to Toyota’s domination, Le Mans is easier to call than the other two triple crown races, but there is the ongoing Fernando Alonso storyline. Can the Spaniard join Woolf Barnato and Jean-Pierre Wimille on the list of drivers who have multiple starts in the 24 Hours and remain unbeaten? The man himself says he is more interested in taking the World Endurance Championship, which would be his first title since his second Formula 1 crown with Renault 13 years ago (!), but a second Le Mans victory would get that job done nicely. It’s not just about Alonso of course. In our 52-page supplement we look…

LE MANS TEST DAY GTE PRO Twelve cars finished within a second – and on a circuit measuring eight and a half miles, remember – at the end of the day in GTE Pro. That suggested that the Balance of Performance published ahead of the test day is at the very least a good starting point, if not spot on. There were few gripes about the latest BoP, which for Le Mans is not based on the automatic system used for the rest of the World Endurance Championship. The unique demands of the Circuit de la Sarthe mean there is some pretty serious number crunching undertaken by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and the FIA, rather than just feeding those numbers into a computer. Even the big loser in the…

INDYCAR Fernando Alonso has remained ambivalent about his future at the Indy 500 after his non-qualification for this year’s race, but he is now clear about one thing – the Spaniard has no intention of contesting a full IndyCar Series as part of his quest to secure the unofficial triple crown of motorsport. “If I do Indy, a one-off will be the approach again,” he said in the face of statements that a full programme could be an option. “To do the full season at the moment is too much of a commitment in terms of races. If you go there you should be in contention; you are not a tourist. To be in contention for the championship you need a lot of simulator preparation. There are a lot of…

DTM DTM chief Gerhard Berger says that the series is working on adding a hybrid element to its Class 1 engines. Berger made it clear last year that he was not interested in pursuing hybrids simply for marketing purposes. The DTM’s switch to turbocharged Class 1 engines for 2019 was made because it was road-relevant for BMW and Audi, and also helped the series foster a closer connection with the Japanese Super GT series. But now Berger has said the introduction of a hybrid element would be for “2021, 2022 or something like this”. Referring to the World Rally Championship’s pursuit of hybrid power and Toyota’s World Endurance Championship LMP1 programme, Berger said: “We are going to also have hybrids. We don’t want to go further than that [with alternative…

It’s all about the racing Just watched MotoGP from Mugello, a stupendous race right to the line on a fabulous circuit. An event for the fans and the riders, not aerodynamicists, tycoons and slebs. The support races weren’t too shabby either. David Jones (lifelong petrolhead aged 76 and ¾) Tring, Hertfordshire Get back in touch Back in 1979 there was a contest to find a female rally driver in which Helen Hally took part. This year marks the 40th anniversary and there is to be a party. Sadly, contact has been lost with Helen, so if anyone knows her whereabouts (she could well be known as Professor Helen Hally) please ask her to contact me via autosport@autosport.com. Paul Doodson By email Indy 500 inspires Formula 1 fan I have just…

This is inside the torsion bar to the left. A lower spline inside that torsion bar drives the anti-rollbar with another spline into the anti-rollbar arm. When the car rolls in a right-hand corner the left rocker will rotate anti-clockwise and the right rocker will rotate clockwise, meaning that the third damper/inerter will simply move to the left, not changing the gap. But during this movement the anti-rollbar will be twisted, offering resistance to the car’s roll forces. Ferrari differs considerably, using a blade as the anti-rollbar. The centre line joint will be a roller bearing and it operates in a slot to accommodate the change in length as the rockers/blades rotate. When the car rolls in a right-hand corner the left rocker will rotate anti-clockwise and the right rocker…

FUEL-STARVED HYUNDAIS Hyundai’s hopes of stretching its lead at the top of the manufacturers’ table were ruined by fuel-starvation-related problems for Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo – both i20 Coupe WRCs were stranded in the third stage. Without a pre-event test, Loeb was easing himself into the rally, but the Spaniard – so often at his quickest on the gravel just over the border from his homeland – was leading when his car fell silent. The final insult was a final-stage suspension-related issue for Loeb. FIESTA PACE IS TOO HOT M-Sport Ford showed flashes of great speed – and ultimately came away with fourth and fifth for Teemu Suninen and Elfyn Evans respectively – but this was a tough one for the Cumbrians as the Fiesta WRCs struggled to deal…

BLANCPAIN GT ENDURANCE CUP PAUL RICARD (FRA) 1 JUNE ROUND 3/5 Jordan Pepper, Steven Kane and Jules Gounon made up for their Paul Ricard heartbreak of 12 months ago as they steered their M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 to victory in the third round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. Last season, the trio were three corners away from clinching the 1000km event when they were overtaken by the Emil Frey Racing Lexus. This year they dominated the race by picking up pole position and taking victory by 37 seconds over the SMP Racing Ferrari 488 of Miguel Molina, Mikhail Aleshin and Davide Rigon, securing the British manufacturer a landmark success as it celebrates its 100th-anniversary year. The race took a dramatic strategic turn in the first hour, after the…

MOTOGP MUGELLO (ITA) 2 JUNE ROUND 6/19 Danilo Petrucci became the latest rider to join the illustrious club of MotoGP race winners last weekend at Mugello, scoring an emotional victory in a thrilling Italian Grand Prix – and moving towards earning a contract renewal with Ducati in the process. Being Ducati’s home track and a happy hunting ground for the Desmosedici bike, Mugello was always likely to be a key date in determining whether the happy-go-lucky 28-year old would be handed an extension to his one-year deal as Andrea Dovizioso’s team-mate at the Borgo Panigale marque’s factory squad. Up until last month’s Le Mans race, the jury was still out on whether Ducati had made the correct call by plumping for Petrucci – who had just five grand prix podiums…

HISTORIC FF1600 Reigning Radical Challenge champion Dominik Jackson swapped to Historic Formula Ford 1600 machinery at Snetterton last weekend as he made his historic-racing debut. He contested the two Historic Sports Car Club races in a Crossle 20F (above), which was freshly restored after a 12-year spell sat in a garage. Jackson, who is second behind Jerome de Sadeleer in the Radical standings in his SR3 RSX, joined his brother–current Historic FF1600 champion Cameron – on the grid. While Cameron Jackson cruised to two victories (see report, p62), Dominik qualified ninth and progressed to seventh in the opening race, but failed to start the second. “We made quite a few set-up changes to the car for the second race to dial it in and I was really looking forward to…

The 20th anniversary of Irish racer Neil Shanahan’s death in a British Formula Ford crash at Oulton Park was commemorated last week. The Neil Shanahan Trophy is presented to the winner of the Formula Ford Festival, and the Oldfield Motorsport Van Diemen JL13 driven to victory last October at Brands Hatch by Josh Smith was back at the Kent track to pay tribute with team boss James Oldfield and BRSCC director Dominic Ostrowski. “Neil was a promising single-seater racer with a bright future ahead of him,” said Ostrowski. “Today marks the 20-year anniversary of his death and it is fitting that we honour him.”…

EDWARDS BACK TO CLIOS Renault UK Clio Cup driver Nathan Edwards will return to the category for next weekend’s Croft rounds. Edwards, who previously raced in Fiestas, completed a partial campaign in Clios last year with WDE but will now drive for MRM. “The plan is to be on the grid a few more times after Croft as well,” he said. “I want to take every opportunity I get to do the best I can.” NEW BRITISH F3 RACERS Two drivers will make their BRDC British Formula 3 debuts at Silverstone this weekend. German Andreas Estner, who competed in ADAC F4 for two seasons, will join Lanan Racing and intends to also compete at Spa in July. Argentinian Nicolas Varrone, who won the VdeV Challenge Monoplace series last season, has…

750 FORMULA Former 750 Formula champion Bill Cowley says he has lost his love for car racing after being banned from 2018’s season-closing round, despite his race-winning return at Croft last weekend. Cowley, who was champion in 2017, was banned from last year’s Snetterton meeting after a clash with Ed Pither at Cadwell Park. Cowley had been leading the points table and his enforced absence allowed Mark Glover to pip him to the crown. “I think the love for the sport has gone now, after everything that happened last year,” he said. “It’s just taken all the enjoyment out of it.” Cowley chose to sit out the opening two 750 Formula rounds of 2019, but returned at Croft last weekend. He won the first race, then was leading race two…

HISTORIC TOURING CARS Race 1 Jonathan Evans (Ford Mustang) Race 2 Richard Belcher (Ford Lotus Cortina) HISTORIC FORMULA FORD Races 1 & 2 Cameron Jackson (Palliser/Winkelmann WDF2) CLASSIC FORMULA 3/FORMULA FORD 2000 Races 1 & 2 Adrian Langridge (March 803, above) HISTORIC ROAD SPORTS/70s ROAD SPORTS Races 1 & 2 Kevin Kivlochan (AC Cobra) CLASSIC CLUBMANS Race 1 Alan Cook (Mallock Mk20B/21, below) Race 2 Clive Wood (Mallock Mk20B) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

With Rory Butcher sitting joint top of the British Touring Car Championship standings, AmD Tuning team boss Shaun Hollamby can feel justifiably encouraged by his team’s start to the season. But away from the BTCC paddock, Hollamby is embarking on a new challenge in 2019 by competing in the NASCAR Euro Series. Joined by former BTCC driver and reigning Mini Challenge champion Ant Whorton-Eales at Brands Hatch for its annual SpeedFest event, Hollamby realised an ambition. “This event is something I’ve wanted to do for several years,” Hollamby said. “But it has always clashed with BTCC rounds in the past so I’ve never had the chance. It’s fantastic to finally be involved.” Hollamby, driving in the Elite 2 class for gentleman drivers or youngsters attempting to move up the stock…

WHO IS THIS? With one of the more unusual finishing records, this driver’s place in the history books is assured. It was a long route to the top. With mountainous backing he emerged from the crowd, but he needed the help of a smoking bubble to get a break in the top class. State-owned pixies took him down a peg, but opened the doors to a more significant return. The yellow peril caught its rivals by surprise, but it required patience to see its potential. His day of days was overshadowed by the supporting cast, and while the pace was seldom in doubt, finishes were few and far between. There was another starring role in a director’s cut, although injury curtailed his chance to shine in a new home. He…

100% CLUB This all-round sportsman who played county cricket for Surrey started racing in 1921. Barnato, who had inherited his late father’s diamond fortune, bought his first racing Bentley, a 3 Litre, four years later and subsequently invested in the ailing company before becoming its chairman. That resulted in a place in its line-up for Le Mans in 1928, though WO Bentley was insistent that Barnato was the best driver of all his ‘Boys’. Barnato won Le Mans first time out with Bernard Rubin aboard a 4½ Litre, despite the car springing a water leak near the end. Twelve months later he triumphed in the new Speed Six with Tim Birkin, leading from start to finish. In 1930 he had to work harder for the victory with Glen Kidston: they…

100% CLUB The greatest pre-war French driver, and arguably the nation’s best of all time until Alain Prost started winning Formula 1 world championships, drove at Le Mans twice aboard works-run Bugattis and won both times. He triumphed with Robert Benoist, also the marque’s racing manager, in 1937 driving a Bugatti T57G that took over the lead shortly after midnight when the sister car sustained a damaged fuel tank. Two years later Wimille won again in a supercharged T57 shared with Pierre Veyron after a torrid event that began with engine failure in qualifying – and an in situ rebuild with parts sent by train – and included a wheel breaking up on Wimille during the race. There had been no Bugatti works cars at Le Mans in the intervening…

Fernando Alonso was set to drive for Porsche at Le Mans in 2015 until Honda, McLaren’s F1 engine supplier, vetoed the deal. The German manufacturer subsequently turned to then Force India driver Hulkenberg to fill the vacant seat alongside Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber in the additional 919 Hybrid it had entered for the big race alongside its two regular World Endurance Championship entries. The prototype irregulars – Tandy and Bamber were members of Porsche’s GT squad in North America – claimed Porsche’s first Le Mans victory since 1998 at the head of a marque 1-2 after gaining the upper hand on the sister car driven by Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard during the night, but Hulkenberg is still waiting for his return to the 24 Hours. First…

The Le Mans race organisers at the Automobile Club de l’Ouest have taken steps in a bid to avoid a repeat of last year’s GTE Pro race, which was decided by a safety-car intervention. Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen were given what proved to be an unassailable lead as early as the fourth hour, when the race was neutralised to clear debris and its two main rivals – the sister #91 Porsche and the #68 Ford – were held by a red light at the end of the pits. Vanthoor had pitted on the previous lap. ACO sporting director Vincent Beaumesnil says that for this year’s race the ‘full course yellow’, which has been in use in WEC for some years, will be available to race control, along with…

Since its inception, the Le Mans 24 Hours has been bursting with innovation. This year’s edition is no different – away from the‘real life’ Circuit de la Sarthe, the Le Mans Super Final is taking place. It’s the showpiece finale of the Le Mans Esports Series, which was announced at last year’s 24 Hours. Since its launch at Silverstone last summer, thousands of gamers worldwide have competed on Forza 7 for a space in the final, across multiple online events as well as two onsite contests at the Fuji World Endurance Championship round last October and at Autosport International in January. Thirty-six drivers have qualified, and will be spread across 12 three-car teams. Each trio of drivers will be working together to claim their share of the $100,000 prize fund…

* Up to two adults and three children ABOUT THE PRIZE The Silverstone Experience is housed within the ex-Wellington bomber hangar at the entrance to the iconic Silverstone Circuit. This hangar has been refurbished and extended to create a new visitor attraction. Interactive displays tell the fascinating stories of human endeavour, great sporting rivalries and engineering innovation. At the end of your visit, experience the thrill of speeding around Silverstone alongside your racing heroes in an immersive show -‘The ultimate Lap of Silverstone’ - with commentary by Murray Walker. https://silverstone-experience.co.uk FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN THE TICKETS, HEAD TO AUTOSPORT.COM/COMPETITION AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: 1 In which year was the Le Mans 24 Hours first held? 2 The 1927 race set a record for the biggest distance between the first…

P6 BATTLE FOR GTE LE MANS TEST DAY LMP1 Toyota was on top at the Le Mans Test Day last weekend. No surprise there, but the Japanese manufacturer did admit to more than a hint of confusion at the lack of pace from its privateer rivals in the headline LMP1 class. Sebastien Buemi ended up quickest aboard the #8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID on 3m 19.440s, which was four tenths slower than the time with which team-mate Fernando Alonso topped the times at the test 12 months ago. By contrast the best of the Rebellion-Gibson R-13s was nearly two seconds in arrears of its 2018 mark from the test day and the quickest SMP Racing BR Engineering BR1 was also slightly slower. That follows changes in the Equivalence of Technology designed…

FORMULA 1 Porsche has built and tested an engine that would have been Formula 1-compatible and formed the basis of a 2021 entry had it committed to a world championship attack. The German manufacturer was known to be considering an F1 programme, its first for almost three decades, as it joined the process establishing new engine rules for 2021 and beyond. But Porsche’s F1 prospects ended when the parent Volkswagen Audi Group opted to cancel its World Endurance Championship LMP1 project in favour of a Formula E entry, and the prospect of simplified and cheaper F1 engines stalled. Porsche head of motorsport Fritz Enzinger (above right) told Autosport that prior to its exit from LMP1 – which it had dominated with a two-litre, four-cylinder engine – Porsche had started work…

TOYOTA RACING SERIES New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series has unveiled its third-generation car that will form the basis of its contest that attracts top global talents to take on the home-grown racers. The FT-60, which sports a halo, replaces the FT-50 that carried Lance Stroll and Lando Norris to the 2015 and 2016 titles. As with the FT-50 and its FT-40 predecessor, the car is built by Tatuus, which also supplies comparable Regional F3 chassis for the Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula Regional European Championship, W Series and Asian F3. The renamed Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand organising body has upped the power thanks to a new two-litre turbocharged, four-cylinder engine pushing out 270bhp, driven through a six-speed paddleshift Sadev gearbox. Series manager Nicolas Caillol said: “It is a globally relevant…

LENGTH 2.710 miles NUMBER OF LAPS 70 2018 POLE POSITION Sebastian Vettel 1m10.764s POLE LAP RECORD Sebastian Vettel 1m10.764s (2018) RACE LAP RECORD Rubens Barrichello 1m13.622s (2004) UK START TIMES Friday 7 June FP1 1500 FP2 1900 Saturday 8 June FP3 1600 QUALIFYING 1900 Sunday 9 June RACE 1910 CATCH THE RACE LIVE SKY SPORTS F1 BBC RADIO 5 LIVE HIGHLIGHTS CHANNEL 4 2300 TYRE ALLOCATION CHAMPIONSHIP Drivers 1 Hamilton……………………….137 2 Bottas………………………………120 3 Vettel………………………………….. 82 4 Verstappen……………………. 78 5 Leclerc………………………………. 57 Constructors 1 Mercedes…………….257 2 Ferrari……………………139 3 Red Bull………………..110 4 McLaren…………………. 30 5 Racing Point………. 17 TRACK STATS Previous winners 2018 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 2017 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2016 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2015 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2014 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 2013 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 2012 Lewis Hamilton McLaren…

There’s nothing like a healthy dose of competition to really get pulses racing in Formula 1’s engineering departments. During times of war, the necessity for technology to quickly evolve was key to victory – this is known as ‘technology disruption’, when the mass development of new innovations completely overhauls the industry. Arguably, we’re experiencing that state of flux with the new aerodynamic regulations prescribed for 2019. But for now, the Big Three – or, as cynics would have it, The Big One and The Other Two – teams are all adapting to those new rules with their own design philosophies. How have the development paths of each team varied? With Giorgio Piola’s illustrations and photographs and photos, the most high-profile new additions throughout the season so far have been documented…

Redemption came for Scott Dixon in Detroit last Sunday afternoon. Twenty-four hours earlier, he’d climbed out of his broken Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda following his first non-finish for two years, a rare lapse from the five-time champion putting him into the wall. With Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden winning the race to reclaim the series lead from Indy 5oo-winning team-mate Simon Pagenaud, that costly mistake had put Dixon 92 points in arrears. The following day he fully made amends, winning the second half of the traditional ‘Dual in Detroit’ double-header around the Belle Isle street circuit, while Newgarden lost over 20 laps to repairs following a clumsy three-car mid-race accident. Now Dixon is just 52 points adrift. A tough deficit, but not insurmountable, and the game is on for title number…

FORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP PAUL RICARD (FRA) 1-2 JUNE ROUND 4/10 Lorenzo Colombo had somehow failed to convert any of his three Formula Renault Eurocup career poles into a victory before the weekend. But the Italian made up for that in spectacular fashion in Southern France, topping qualifying on both days, taking his maiden win on Saturday, and then utterly blitzing the field on Sunday. Colombo had to fend off front-row partner Oscar Piastri on the run to Turn 1 in the opener, with Piastri having a scary bounce over the kerbs. Following an early safety car, MP Motorsport driver Colombo was largely unthreatened, while R-ace GP racer Piastri had to fend off the second MP machine of Victor Martins. Renault F1 junior Martins probed, but there was no way by.…

EURO NASCAR Jacques Villeneuve admitted that his first competitive drive at Brands Hatch was “hectic but fun” after competing in the NASCAR Euro Series last weekend. The 1997 Formula 1 world champion and 1995 Indy 500 winner finished a troubled 15th in race one due to low fuel causing his engine to cut out. But he demonstrated his pace by setting the second-fastest time in Sunday’s warm-up, before climbing back to eighth in the second race after losing several places at the start attempting to avoid an incident at Clark Curve. “I went the wrong side trying to avoid a spinning car so I lost a lot of time and I also had some damage to the front end,” the Canadian said. “Usually with front-end damage you lose downforce and…

ADAC GT MASTERS Former British GT4 and Ginetta Junior champion Will Tregurtha will make his debut in ADAC GT Masters this weekend after agreeing a deal with T3 Motorsport to race an Audi R8 GT3 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The 19-year-old, who finished runner-up in the European GT4 series last year in a Ginetta G55 alongside Stuart Middleton, has been racing in VLN this season driving a Walkenhorst BMW 240i, and recently took second in class in the Nurburgring 24 Hours qualifying race. Tregurtha now gets the chance to race in the highly competitive German-based ADAC GT Masters series. He will be partnered by Maximilian Paul – who has contested the opening two rounds with T3 – in the Audi. Tregurtha said: “I need to thank T3…

SERIES ELITE Series Elite boss Graeme Glew says the category’s tiny grid numbers are due to a supply-chain issue with the Jaguar XE Project 8 cars that it uses. The new-for-2019 class, which held its opening rounds at Silverstone last weekend, is for drivers aged over 40. Only four cars took part in the first two races – five were entered, but Mark Davis had to drop out after injuring himself falling off a yacht. This follows a cancelled first race at Brands Hatch in May, which was changed to two-car demonstration runs. Glew said that of the 20 cars ordered from Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations, only eight have been built. “I’m not pointing the finger at anybody,” stressed Glew, who added that he is satisfied with the cars themselves.…

A special guest was on hand to watch the Lightning Envoyette of Pete Morton in Formula Junior action, as the original owner of the car, Alec Lightning, visited Thruxton. The rear-engined machine was the last FJ designed by Les Redmond – creator of the Gemini Mk3 and Diggory Gwyniad – and was built by Sewell and King. Intended as the successor to the Envoy Mk2, it was acquired by Lightning before being rebuilt in 1963. “I worked at a research establishment and I was in charge of the garages,” said Lightning. “The set-up, workshop and engineers were first-class and I took advantage because I knew them so well – they were very happy to do it [rebuild the car]. We had a lot to do to finish the chassis and…

SNETTERTON HSCC 1 JUNE Despite posting a pole lap 1.4 seconds faster than anyone else in the Historic Touring Car field, Jonathan Evans remained coy ahead of his historic racing debut last weekend. The two Historic Sports Car Club races on the Snetterton 200 circuit were only a “competitive shakedown” for his newly completed Ford Mustang. But the reigning Porsche Club GB class champion came so close to earning victory in both bouts. He had swapped his usual Boxster for 4700cc of American muscle and made its power advantage tell, maintaining first place into Riches and building a seemingly comfortable gap that peaked at 6.2s. As the Ford Lotus Cortinas of Richard Belcher and Roger Stanford held each other up in their excellent battle for second, it looked as though…

BRANDS HATCH AMERICAN SPEEDFEST MSVR 1-2 JUNE An opening race win, backed up by a third-place finish in race two, strengthened Alon Day’s hopes of claiming a third successive NASCAR Euro Series Elite 1 title as the championship made its now annual visit to Brands Hatch as part of MotorSport Vision Racing’s ever-popular American SpeedFest meeting. Stienes Longin initially led from pole in race one, with Loris Hezemans and Day giving chase. As the race unfolded, carburettor problems started to hamper Hezemans. Day swept around the outside of the struggling Dutchman at the start of lap 10 of 38 at Paddock – the corner temporarily renamed Connor Petch Bend in recognition of a competition winner – and chased down Longin. Longin stood firm until a mistake in the closing stages…

CROFT 750MC 1-2 JUNE Matthew Booth was competing in only his third single-seater event at Croft last weekend, after switching from Sport Specials to F1000 for this year. But that didn’t stop him taking two of the three Croft wins, leading all the way to each of his victories. Booth, who also won at Silverstone earlier this year, resisted Dan Clowes and Lee Morgan in race one’s wet conditions. Morgan won the partially reversed-grid race two, passing Robert Welham early on, while Booth finished a close third behind the pair, before Booth held off Morgan in race three. Welham had only just made it to race one after a clutch problem, and rose from a pitlane start to finish sixth. “It’s been one of my best weekends since I started…

It’s four hours after the conclusion of the 2019 ABB FIA Formula E Berlin E-Prix, and Autosport is feeling properly regretful. It’s not because there’s a mountain of audio files to transcribe post-event, most featuring the FE drivers moaning about their latest gripes after Lucas di Grassi triumphed at Tempelhof. It’s because of where Autosport is standing – on the startline. We’re with a pack of fun runners – a slightly disingenuous way to describe a field that includes four-time Ironman Hawaii winner Daniela Ryf – about to tackle the inaugural Mercedes EQ Run. One hour, as many laps of the 1.5-mile track as you can manage, and every lap completed raises an extra €1 for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. There’s no going back. We’re led off by…

The rivalry between Matt Neal and Jason Plato will be remembered as the standout plotline of the British Touring Car Championship during the early part of the 21st century. Of course, that boiled over in the Rockingham pitlane in 2011. After contact between the two in qualifying, and an exchange of hand signals, Neal marched over to Plato and greeted him with the words: “I’m going to rip your f*****g face off.” But wind the clock back to 6 October 2002, and at the same venue the two were team-mates for a one-off. As Darren Manning was off to begin his CART Indycar career in the United States, Neal was called upon to fill the vacant seat at Xcel Motorsport for the ASCAR season finale. “I used to watch proper…

100% CLUB A driver who sits up there with the greatest of all time went to Le Mans just the once, and ended up winning in 1933 in an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300MM owned by Raymond Sommer, the previous year’s victor. Two laps up on Sunday morning, Nuvolari and Sommer subsequently ran into a multitude of problems. Repairs were needed to a fender damaged earlier in the race, a radiator mount and a broken exhaust, and the brakes started to fade. Worse still, the fuel tank started to leak, an issue only partially resolved by plugging it with chewing gum. The Alfa shared by Luigi Chinetti and Philippe de Gunsburg took the lead with eight minutes to go, only for Chinetti to miss a gear on the final lap and…

Lang was a successful motorcycle racer who found work with Mercedes during the early-1930s recession as a mechanic and quickly transferred to the racing department, where he worked on Luigi Fagioli’s W25 in 1934. After testing one of the cars at Monza in early 1935, he was given his car racing debut in the Eifelrennen at the Nurburgring and became a full-time Mercedes driver two years later. He returned to the marque’s roster after resuming his career at the end of the Second World War and was part of its line-up when it returned to Le Mans in 1952. The W194 Lang shared with Fritz Riess moved into the lead in the final hour when the Talbot of Pierre Levegh, who was attempting to drive the race solo, failed. Mercedes…

With the #36 Signatech-Alpine and #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing teams separated by just four points, there’s no room for ambiguity in the LMP2 title battle. Simply, whoever finishes ahead at Le Mans takes the prize. The Jota Sport-run DC squad won five of the first seven superseason races with three driver crews, but various niggling issues mean they trail the ultra-consistent Signatech-Alpine line-up of Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Pierre Thiriet – the 2018 Le Mans winners are the only team to finish on the podium in every race. Jota’s #38 line-up of Ho-Pin Tung, Stephane Richelmi and Gabriel Aubry won at Spa, Silverstone and Shanghai, but suffered multiple punctures at Le Mans and an electrical problem at Sebring, while its all-Malaysian car of Jazeman Jaafar, Nabil Jeffri and…

DAVE BENBOW 1969 Timing volunteer 2019 Race engineer Benbow has enjoyed a long association with Le Mans stretching back beyond a stint with the TWR Jaguar squad that included engineering the winning XJR-12 in 1990. He’s back this year with the French IDEC Sport squad 50 years on from his first visit in 1969. But he wasn’t working in motorsport when he first set sight on the Circuit de la Sarthe. He was actually a trainee Lloyd’s of London marine-loss adjustor who happened to spend his weekends timekeeping for the British Automobile Racing Club. It was those skills that the John Woolfe Racing squad wanted when he was asked to join its team. “It came up through someone at the BARC,” says Benbow. “The team needed someone who could help…

NURBURGRING Volkswagen has set a new lap record for electric vehicles at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, with Romain Dumas setting a time of 6m05.336s in the adapted I.D. R prototype on Monday. Dumas’s lap is 40.564s faster than the previous electric record at the Nurburgring, which was set by Peter Dumbreck in an NIO EP9 supercar in 2017. It is the third title the I.D. R has taken in the past 12 months, after Dumas set a new overall record at the Pikes Peak hillclimb in Colorado in June 2018 and then broke the Goodwood Festival of Speed hillclimb electric record three weeks later. “To be a record-holder on the Nordschleife makes me unbelievably proud,” said Dumas. “For me, this is the best and most difficult race track in the world.…

Sebastien Loeb wasn’t comfortable with this. This wasn’t what he’d come back to the World Rally Championship for. As the plot thickened, his Hyundai team-mate Dani Sordo – if what Sebastien Ogier suggested was for real – point-blank refused. Forget the return to Arganil or another Ott Tanak-led Toyota rout – the talk at Rally Portugal centred on two things. Or, to be more precise, one thing and one person: tactics, and Hyundai team principal Andrea Adamo. It’s hard to imagine a more contentious character in the service park than the Italian right now. It’s worth reminding you of the precise details of the controversy that exploded in the post-event press conference in Matosinhos on Sunday. When asked about Hyundai’s tactical approach to the previous three days, Ogier pointed out…

The Mercedes has a metal mesh bump stop, so there are potentially more sophisticated tools within the third damper/inerter package. The third spring needs to be of a very stiff rate; you want cornering suspension movement using the side torsion bars, but not too much more vertical movement. On the Ferrari this is a simple spring. This isn’t the lightest way of going about it, but should serve the same function. With no visible gap, it’s either hidden and run in contact all the time, or there is a low-rate helper spring keeping it in contact all the time. Red Bull’s looks like a Belleville spring package. You can get the stiffness required for a small diameter; the spring rate can be changed very easily by changing the Belleville sizes…

History was made last year when the Gran Turismo Championship, the first Esports title certified by the FIA, concluded its first season in Monaco. Lexus became the first Manufacturer Series winner, while Brazilian real-life single-seater racer Igor Fraga was crowned the Nations Cup champion during a weekend of action on the PlayStation 4’s Gran Turismo Sport. The FIA’s partnership with Gran Turismo studio Polyphony Digital isn’t one that’s been timed to take advantage of the rising popularity of sim racing and Esports, but is one that it sees as an opportunity to shape the future of motorsport as a whole. That has been the aim since they started working together six years ago, and has included the annoucement of GT Sport in 2015. The popularity of Esports in general has…

This was getting silly. There are, as one rival team principal pointed out, tactics and there are tactics. And then there was this. As soon as Kris Meeke’s Toyota clouted a rock, spun and blocked the final stage, the technically minded side of the team got on the radio to talk about the damage to the right-front of the car. The other half hit the calculators. Meeke’s agony provided a window of opportunity for his team-mate, Ott Tanak, busy painting a bigger, season-long picture. The Estonian was, once again, the class of the field and, as rally leader, he was the last to go into the powerstage. Sebastien Ogier, the championship frontman coming into Portugal, had already cleared this second run at the Fafe test. His time was done. And…

IMSA SPORTSCAR DETROIT BELLE ISLE (USA) 1 JUNE ROUND 5/12 The roll continues for Roger Penske’s organisation after a remarkable month of May that included a first IMSA DPi win for Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron at Mid-Ohio; multiple Australian Supercars victories for Kiwis Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin; one more for Brad Keselowski in NASCAR; and a historic visit to Indianapolis, where Simon Pagenaud became the first driver to sweep a road-course win plus pole and victory in the Indianapolis 500. It was Montoya and Cameron’s turn again last weekend at the Raceway on Belle Isle in Detroit. Firstly, Montoya surprised even himself by producing a lap more than 1.5 seconds faster than the best of his two qualifying simulations during free practice as he edged Acura ARX-05…

BRITISH GT Super Formula racer Harrison Newey will make his British GT debut in the three-hour Silverstone 500 this weekend, becoming the latest driver to sample the #19 Multimatic Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4. The 20-year-old son of Red Bull technical chief Adrian has been a regular in sportscars since winning the 2017-18 Asian Le Mans Series in a Jota Sport-run ORECA 05. He contested the full European Le Mans Series last year in LMP2 and made his debut at Le Mans with Algarve Pro Racing, but returned to single-seaters this season to race in the premier Japanese series. Newey will be joined for his appearance in the GT4 by the returning Chad McCumbee. The American finished on the podium in the opening round of the season at Oulton Park alongside…

750 MOTOR CLUB Paul Cook was unable to extend his MR2 championship lead at Croft last weekend after being handed a three-month ban following an incident at Castle Combe the previous week. Cook was excluded from the BMW Car Club Racing series’ qualifying session at the Wiltshire track’s late May Bank Holiday meeting after making contact with another car. This meant he started the first Combe BMW race from the back, and the licence points he got for the incident took him to 12 points within a 12-month period, meaning a three-month ban kicked in. His penalty points date back to the 750 Motor Club’s Rockingham meeting on 9-10 June last year, where Cook was disqualified from race two for nudging leader Josh Brooks into a spin. Cook’s MR2 rivals…

THRUXTON MOTORSPORT CELEBRATION BARC 1-2 JUNE The second Stirling Moss/RAC Woodcote Trophy 1950s sportscar race topped Thruxton’s Motorsport Celebration meeting, with hard-earned victories for Keith Ahlers/Billy Bellinger (Lola Mk1 Prototype) and Malcolm Paul/Rick Bourne (Lotus-Bristol X). Relayed by Bellinger, Ahlers had been leading Saturday’s opener when a front-suspension link mount collapsed four laps from home. Ben Adams’s Lola Mk1 shot past to win, but Ahlers salvaged second, ahead of Andrew Smith (Cooper Monaco) and the Lister-Jaguars of John Spiers/Tiff Needell and Caterham ace Peter Ratcliff. “My Sunday brief was to keep the leaders in sight, then let Billy work his magic,” said Ahlers, who saw Adams pit with a misfire on the green-flag lap. After a gripping lead scrap between Spiers, Ratcliff, Smith and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards (Cooper T38) had diluted,…

SILVERSTONE BARC 1 JUNE The Classic Touring Car Racing Club provided most of the action at Silverstone last weekend, with the Pre ’83 Group 1 Touring Cars playing a starring role. Points leader Stephen Primett was seriously threatened by Mike Luck’s BMW E21 in race one, but Primett’s fire-spitting Ford Escort Mk1 proved more reliable than the BMW, which needed a visit to the pits, and quicker than David Howard’s Jaguar XJ12, which challenged early on and finished second. Luck pulled off a great recovery in the second race, winning from the back of the grid after moving up to fourth on the first lap. Five cars battled for the lead at one point but Luck soon pulled away. Primett was second and Howard, who had another short period in…

In classified car adverts, the words ‘ex-demonstrator’ can raise concern. Has the car been dinged by potential customers, pushed hard by motoring journalists, or does it just have a comparably high mileage? In the case of Kevin Kivlochan’s latest project, it points to some outstanding provenance. The AC Cobra that he raced for the first time last weekend at Snetterton was first registered to the Ford Motor Company, and was used by Hi-Performance Motors – founded by Carroll Shelby, among others – to scare passengers into parting with their cash. Besides being a thing of beauty, and its 289-cubic inch V8 producing a glorious soundtrack, it’s the attention to detail that staggers most of all with the Cobra. The glovebox lid is signed by ex-factory team drivers Bob Bondurant and…

DONINGTON PARK BARC 1-2 JUNE Reigning European Superkart champion Peter Elkmann produced a dominant performance to win the Division 1 Superkart Grand Prix at Donington Park for the third successive year, as chief rival Liam Morley hit trouble. With Sunday’s Grand Prix counting as a championship round, replacing the cancelled round at Bishopscourt in April, race-one winner Morley missed out on a chance to add more points as the Carnforth driver pulled into the pits at the end of the opening tour. Guest entry Elkmann, who had beaten Morley to victory in race two, snatched the lead at the Old Hairpin from the fast-starting Lee Harpham and ultimately took the flag by nearly 22 seconds from Jason Dredge and Andy Bird. The British 250 National Grand Prix was settled in…

INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORT Canadian Grand Prix F1 World Championship Round 7/21 Montreal, Canada 9 June TV Live Sky Sports F1, Sun 1730 TV Highlights Channel 4, Sun 2300 Sky Sports F1, Sun 2300 IndyCar Series Round 8/16 Texas, USA 8 June TV Live Sky Sports F1, Sun 0100 DTM Round 3/9 Misano, Italy 8-9 June TV Live Freesports, Sat 1215, Sun 1215 W Series Round 3/6 Misano, Italy 8 June TV Live Channel 4, Sat 1445 Euroformula Open Round 4/9 Spa, Belgium 8-9 June TV Live BT Sport 3, Sat 1430, Sun 1300 TCR Europe Round 3/7 Spa, Belgium 8-9 June International GT Open Round 3/7 Spa, Belgium 8-9 June TV Live BT Sport 3, Sat 1530, Sun 1400 NASCAR Cup Round 15/36 Michigan, USA 9 June TV Live Premier Sports…

A little bit of West-versus-East Midlands conflict in Burgundy as Nigel Mansell confronts Brian Henton during the qualifying days for the 1981 French GP at Dijon. Mansell planted his Lotus in 13th place on the grid, while Henton almost scraped the Toleman-Hart into the race, only to be knocked into the non-qualifiers bracket late on by Chico Serra in the spare Fittipaldi. Mansell went on to finish seventh in the race, in which Alain Prost took his maiden GP win for Renault from John Watson (McLaren) and Nelson Piquet (Brabham). For classic 1980s Formula 1 DVDs head to dukevideo.com/F1 For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

Fernando Alonso isn’t rolling into Le Mans as the second driver to win the triple crown of motorsport. A disastrous performance in qualifying from the McLaren Racing team at last month’s Indianapolis 500 denied the Spaniard any chance of completing the set by adding to his 2018 victory in the 24 Hours and his Monaco Grand Prix wins back in 2006 and 2007. But he could still make a little bit of history at the 2018-19 World Endurance Championship superseason finale. The two-time Formula 1 world champion won’t be back at Le Mans in 12 months’ time. He’s stood himself down from the Toyota line-up to remain free to take up other opportunities, whatever they may be. Given the Japanese manufacturer’s supremacy over the course of the superseason, that means…

100% CLUB The son of a Brazilian shipping magnate and an English mother, Fontes only raced cars for a couple of years, but left his mark by winning Le Mans in 1935. He started out with an MG, as well as competing in air races, on inheriting his father’s fortune on his 21st birthday. Fontes won the 1935 International Trophy at Brooklands aboard an Alfa Romeo 8C and was asked to share John Hindmarsh’s Lagonda M45R Rapide at Le Mans. This works car, run by London dealer Fox & Nicholl, took the lead at around 10am on Sunday and survived a late puncture and a loss of oil pressure in the closing stages to win. The brief racing career of Fontes ended later that year when he was convicted of…

One of the great all-round drivers in history did what Fernando Alonso won’t be able to do in 2019: he won the Indy 500 and Le Mans in the same year. Foyt and Dan Gurney dominated the 24 Hours in 1967 aboard the Ford MkIV evolution of the GT40 design, leading more than 22 hours aboard their Shelby American-entered machine. It was made all the more impressive by the fact that Foyt hadn’t tested the car beforehand – though he had driven a MkII run by Holman-Moody in that year’s Sebring 12 Hours – and barely drove in qualifying. The lap on which he took the chequered flag would be his last of the Circuit de la Sarthe. “I went as a rookie and we won,” he once said. “I…

Stoffel Vandoorne bristles at the suggestion that he’s marking time while awaiting an opportunity to return to Formula 1. Rather, he reckons that a programme that has grown to include a couple of World Endurance Championship rounds with SMP Racing alongside his ABB FIA Formula E Championship assault with HWA may offer the best of both worlds. “It is in some ways the ideal schedule,” he says. “Formula E is highly competitive with a lot of manufacturers, and with the WEC you have pure racing. They are great cars with lots of downforce. It’s nice to combine the two, which a lot of drivers are doing right now. “I don’t think a return to F1 has to be the goal for me right now. I’m happy to have had the experience…

LMP1 Pure-bred prototypes with mandatory energy-retrieval systems (if run by a manufacturer) are the fastest cars at Le Mans. Power outputs of around 500bhp from their conventional engines are boosted by up to 400bhp of electric drive from their hybrid systems. The non-hybrid P1s run by the privateer teams are given a series of performance breaks, including more conventional engine power and a lower minimum weight, in an attempt to bring them up to the pace of the one remaining manufacturer left in P1 – Toyota. LMP2 A faster breed of machine came on stream for 2017 in the secondary prototype division, which is aimed at the privateer. All cars are powered by the one-make Gibson V8 engine pushing out around 600bhp and four constructors were granted licences to build…

1 DUNLOP CURVE The atmosphere at the first corner when the race starts is second to none. The spectator areas aren’t great for pictures so I’d save the picture-taking for later, sit back and drink in one of motorsport’s greatest spectacles. 2 CHICANE The chicane before the Dunlop Bridge is a great place to watch at any time of day. If you want the iconic Dunlop Bridge sunrise shot you’ll have to be up at 5.30am on Sunday and pray for clear skies. Along with the other accredited photographers, I will be hoping for the same! 3 THE ESSES The curves after the bridge are a must-see at sunrise. I took this image in 2017 and it’s one of my all-time favourites from Le Mans. This area is also a…