Innehållsförteckning för 05/11/20 från Autosport

Valtteri Bottas must be feeling a bit fed up. Not only does he have the phenomenon of Lewis Hamilton as his team-mate, standing in his way despite the excellence of the machinery at his disposal, but when there is bad luck going in the Mercedes team it seems to go the Finn’s way. Formula 1’s return to Imola was another example. We’re not tallking about the fortuitous virtual safety car that ensured Hamilton kept the lead after his late pitstop – as Alex Kalinauckas shows in our report on page 20, the championship leader was putting himself into the fight for victory with his pace on ageing medium rubber anyway. But the Ferrari debris that damaged the floor of Bottas’s W11 and hampered his speed was very unfortunate and surely…

FORMULA 1 Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is clear that he and Lewis Hamilton are “not finished” with Formula 1, despite speculation about their future following last weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. Wolff is weighing up a new role within the Mercedes F1 team as he ponders a long-term succession plan, while Hamilton said on Sunday night that there was “no guarantee” he would race on next year. Speaking to journalists at Imola about the future of Wolff and what impact his departure would have on the team, Hamilton said: “I don’t even know if I’m going to be here next year, so it’s not really a concern for me at the moment. We have a lot of deep conversations, Toto and I, so I’m very aware of where…

FORMULA E When Alexander Sims cut his Formula E ties with BMW Andretti and joined Mahindra Racing, it was expected that the German manufacturer would take the path of least resistance and give the vacant seat to one of its DTM drivers. Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann and Lucas Auer all tested the iFE.20 in recent months as part of the evaluation to see who would partner two-time E-Prix victor Maximilian Guenther, already confirmed for 2020-21. But the surprise recipient of the seat is Jake Dennis, who entered the frame after impressing BMW during his testing outings and with his work in the simulator. The 25-year-old Brit was left without a top-line drive for 2020 following the demise of the short-lived R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage programme in the DTM. This season…

DTM Ex-Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica has strongly suggested that he will not stay in the DTM for the series’ new GT3-based rules, which come into force in 2021. Kubica moved to the DTM this year with single-seater powerhouse ART Grand Prix to drive a customer BMW M4. He suffered a difficult start to the campaign as he and ART got to grips with the series, but bounced back strongly to finish third at Zolder last month. Asked about his plans for 2021, Kubica said: “I joined DTM because of Class 1 cars, because of the feeling, the actual ability and what those cars are able to give to the driver. So if you ask me regarding DTM and next year, I don’t know if I’ll be taking part in…

FORMULA 3 Ferrari protege Arthur Leclerc and Red Bull Junior Dennis Hauger are both on the shortlist for Prema Racing’s FIA Formula 3 Championship line-up for 2021, and have now driven with the series-dominating Italian team on all four days of official post-season tests in Spain. Leclerc, the younger brother of Ferrari Formula 1 star Charles, is in the midst of a Formula Regional title battle against his Prema team-mates. Norwegian Hauger, the 2019 Italian Formula 4 champion, had a tough rookie FIA F3 season with Hitech Grand Prix. Both drove with Prema in the two-day test at Barcelona early last month, and were also on track in last week’s follow-up outing at Jerez. “Our ideas have always been to promote one driver from our Formula Regional team,” said Prema…

News that Formula E has opened its chequebook and invested in Extreme E might come as a surprise. The two FIA all-electric series both work out of the same building in London. Both were co-founded by Alejandro Agag and both cars – the spec FE chassis and the ODYSSEY 21 E-SUV used by XE – are built by Spark Racing Technology and share electric motor componentry. Surely, on a surface level, they were sister series. So why has FE moved this week to become a minority shareholder, with its chief executive Jamie Reigle now on the XE board of directors? “We’re calling it the ‘electric alliance’,” Agag says to Autosport with a wry smile as he sits next to Reigle, the pair making final visits to the Hammersmith office ahead…

It was almost the reverse of the Portuguese Grand Prix weekend. After topping the Emilia Romagna GP’s sole practice session, Lewis Hamilton had forged ahead in qualifying, leading after the first runs in Q3. But, this time around, Valtteri Bottas found an edge. He needed to overcome a gap of 0.031 seconds, with Hamilton running ahead on the track as they started their final runs. Unlike in qualifying at the Algarve Circuit, Q3 was a conventional affair, with all the top 10 runners using the soft tyres, after the Mercedes duo and Max Verstappen had made it through from Q2 on the advantageous mediums. No need for Bottas or Hamilton to decide how many goes they got at the end; this time it was all about nailing a sole final…

WTCR MOTORLAND ARAGON (ESP) 1 NOVEMBER ROUND 5/6 Three drivers claimed their first World Touring Car Cup victories of the year, as title challengers Yann Ehrlacher and Esteban Guerrieri found little but pain in Spain during the series’ maiden visit to a sun-kissed but chilly Motorland Aragon. But while Jean-Karl Vernay, Mikel Azcona and Thed Bjork all broke their season ducks, the scene-stealer was Uruguayan Santiago Urrutia, who banked a hat-trick of podium finishes in his Cyan Performance Lynk & Co. Team Mulsanne’s Vernay scored his first WTCR win since Macau in 2018 on Sunday morning, making a great start from third to lead race one in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta, as Norbert Michelisz proved sluggish from pole position. The reigning champion, who would have an engine change before race…

EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES ALGARVE (PRT) 1 NOVEMBER ROUND 5/5 G-Drive Racing mainstay Roman Rusinov has been able to call upon the talismanic performances of double Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne and Dutch young gun Job van Uitert in recent seasons to be assured of European Le Mans Series success. The title fell to the Russian squad in 2018, second place in the table – and a brace of wins – followed a year after. But in the truncated 2020 campaign, the Aurus-badged machine has played second fiddle to the United Autosports pairing of Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque. A hat-trick of wins at Spa, Paul Ricard and last time out at Monza meant the duo had already sewn up the drivers’ crown come the season finale at the Algarve…

CLASSIC SPORTS CAR CLUB Andrew Knighton’s self-built Lancia Stratos Special GT made a winning return at Mallory Park last weekend with Matt Manderson, after five years lying dormant. Manderson propelled the machine, powered by a turbocharged 1340cc Suzuki Hayabusa engine, to victory in the second Special Saloons and Modsports race. “The first time I saw it, as I drove onto the track on a Mallory test day a few years ago, the huge venturis intrigued me,” said experienced sportscar racer Manderson, the ex-BAR Honda Formula 1 car painter who now runs his own specialist paintshop. “I had to have a closer look, and knew I wanted to race it straight away. “Andy wants to sell the car – and I’d like to buy it – so we decided to give…

WALTER HAYES TROPHY Scottish Formula Ford competitor Colin Turner has suffered life-changing injuries after an accident during the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone last weekend. Turner was one of three drivers taken to hospital after a series of incidents along the pit straight during the Last Chance race on Sunday morning. The accidents were triggered when Dean Forward spun his Vector TF93 out of Woodcote in the wet track conditions and tagged the pitwall. His car was first struck by the Ray GR89 of Ken Finneran, before Turner’s Ray GR07 then also collected with the Vector. David Billington, David Porter and George Ditchfield were also all caught up in the melee as debris littered the straight. Finneran and Forward were both taken to Northampton General Hospital by ambulance, but the…

Some of the best action at the Walter Hayes Trophy was in the historic Formula Ford events, with both divisions serving up some incredibly close racing. Tom Brown was many people’s favourite for honours in the Janet Cesar Trophy for pre-’93 machinery in the Van Diemen RF91 with which he has shone in Heritage FF1600. But he didn’t have things his own way, as Dutch airline pilot Jaap Blijleven pipped him to the crown. Blijleven had pushed Brown hard for the pole in qualifying in his Reynard 88FF, and did the same in the early stages of Saturday’s pre-final, with Brown leading a six-car train. Blijleven briefly took over at the front with a move into Brooklands, before Brown nipped back in front at the same corner next time around.…

SNETTERTON BRSCC 31 OCTOBER-1 NOVEMBER Frenetic Caterham action filled the majority of the programme at Snetterton last weekend, as three of the car maker’s titles were still up for grabs. No fewer than four drivers had a chance to walk away with the 270R crown, with Harry Cook and Ben Lopez-Appleton leading the points standings heading into the weekend. But it was Lars Alexander Hoffmann who battled to the win in race one from Lopez-Appleton and Andy Lees, while Cook could only manage seventh. Hoffmann, who entered the weekend six points shy of the coveted top spot, also won the second race in tough conditions, and with it took the title as Angelos Alvanos finished second and Lees third. “I think I managed a gap because the guys behind were…

BOOK REVIEW GROUP A: WHEN RALLYING CREATED ROAD CAR ICONS RRP €49.90 “During those 10 years, rallying died a little.” The latest book in the series by World Rally Championship historian John Davenport, covering the Group A years between 1987 and 1996, doesn’t shy away from the fact that it’s not a fondly remembered era. Released last year, When Rallying Created Road Car Icons follows previous efforts in which Davenport delves into Groups 2, 4 and B – the latter giving Group A a tough act to follow. It wasn’t helped by the initial domination of Lancia. Its Integrale was the most successful example in the early A years of a manufacturer quickly responding to Group B’s demise by assimilating existing motorsport-derived technology into tuned road cars with a minimum…

How did he get out of that? A pale Jackie Oliver ponders his lucky escape from the practice crash that left his Lotus 49B an obvious non-starter at the 1968 French Grand Prix at fearsome Rouen-les-Essarts. The Lotus snapped away from the rookie on the fast downhill stretch before the pits and slammed into a wall by wrought iron gates outside a chateau. Oliver has always believed the experimental high-stalked rear wing he was running for the first time was suddenly dislodged and fell backwards, lifting the rear wheels from the track. For classic Formula 1 DVDs head to dukevideo.com/F1 For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

FORMULA 1 Formula 1 is set to announce plans for a 23-race calendar in 2021, adding a new grand prix in Saudi Arabia to the roster originally planned for this year. Teams were handed a first draft of the schedule in an F1 Commission meeting last week that confirmed plans for a more traditional calendar after the COVID-19 pandemic forced significant revisions this year. Saudi Arabia is set to host its first F1 race next November with a street race in Jeddah, acting as a first step towards a permanent circuit that is due to be built in Qiddiya in time for a race in 2023. F1 would become the latest international sports series to stage an event in Saudi Arabia, with the country previously hosting Formula E, boxing and…

INDYCAR SERIES Soon-to-be Haas Formula 1 refugee Romain Grosjean says he has opened talks with IndyCar teams, after admitting he is now interested in a switch to the US. The Frenchman has previously been reluctant to switch to IndyCar because he was not too eager to race on ovals. But with the series only featuring four oval races next year, he says the make-up of the 2021 schedule is attractive to him. “It is an option,” said Grosjean. “And if I’m brutally honest, I haven’t been sleeping very well for the last two weeks. It’s a tough year for the world, for the economy, so it’s not a good year to be out of contract, and out of the sport that you are in. So yes, I’ve been looking at…

IMSA SPORTSCAR Oliver Gavin will step down from full-time driving duties with Corvette Racing after 18 seasons at the conclusion of this year’s IMSA SportsCar Championship. But the Briton, who has taken five Le Mans 24 Hours class victories with the team, has revealed that he still expects to race for Corvette “at some point” next season. Gavin, who turned 48 in September, explained that “now is the right time to stop full-time” despite going into last weekend’s Laguna Seca IMSA round still in the hunt for the GT Le Mans title. Only the post-race disqualification of the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in which he finished third with Tommy Milner handed the GT Le Mans title to Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor. “We came to an agreement on both the team’s…

INDYCAR Star IndyCar rookie Alex Palou has secured a seat at Chip Ganassi Racing as the team expands to four cars for the 2021 season. The Spaniard will replace Felix Rosenqvist, whose move to Arrow McLaren SP has been confirmed, in the #10 Dallara-Honda. He moves from Dale Coyne Racing, where in his maiden season in the US he scored a podium finish and set the fastest single lap in qualifying for the Indy 500. Palou joins six-time champion Scott Dixon, seven-time NASCAR title winner Jimmie Johnson and Marcus Ericsson in the Ganassi line-up. “To say I’m thrilled or excited to be making this step in my career would be an understatement,” said Palou. “Driving for Chip Ganassi is just a dream come true. I’ve followed the team for as…

INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN British teams won both races as the International GT Open season reached a controversial conclusion at Barcelona. A late charge from Joe Osborne gave the Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S (above) started by Nick Moss victory in the first race, which had been dominated by Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood. The TF Sport Aston Martin pair made up for it by inheriting top spot in the 2020 finale. Osborne was sixth in race one when a safety car eradicated Yoluc’s six-second lead, and mayhem ensued at the restart. Osborne came through it all to take victory, including passing the sister McLaren of Brendan Iribe, which had been started by Ollie Millroy. Yoluc was fourth on the road, but was promoted to third when Louis Prette (AF Corse Ferrari)…

Fangio outranks Schumacher and Hamilton In my view Juan Manuel Fangio was the greatest Formula 1 world champion, surpassing both Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. Fangio was the grandson of Italian immigrants to Balcarce, a town 250 miles from Buenos Aires. He dropped out of school at 13 to train as an auto mechanic. The majority of his racing was in pre-war Chevrolet V8s and Ford V8s in cross-country racing across Argentina and South America on hundreds of miles of dirt roads. He got his first world championship at the age of 40 and his fifth at 46 years old. He achieved his five championships with four different teams, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati and Mercedes-Benz. He was also an absolute gentleman, one of the most modest of drivers. Jeremy TaylorNorthiam,…

A gearbox issue left Haas driver Kevin Magnussen suffering from a “massive headache” that ultimately forced his retirement from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Magnussen dropped to last after being spun by Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap, but was then hampered by the problem when upshifting caused his car to judder. Haas discovered the issue after qualifying, but was prevented from changing the sensors on the gearbox by the parc ferme rules. “It was like a big bang every time you upshift,” said Magnussen. “It seemed OK for a couple of laps, but then it starts shaking your head crazily. By the end I just had a massive headache.” Haas opted to retire him not long after he reported his headache as he was running second to last and…

IMSA SPORTSCAR LAGUNA SECA (USA) 1 NOVEMBER ROUND 10/11 Penske duo Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor moved to the top of the IMSA SportsCar table by two points with a race to go when they scored their fourth win of the year at Laguna Seca. This came as the erstwhile championship leaders, Wayne Taylor Racing’s pairing of Ryan Briscoe and Renger van der Zande, only mustered sixth. However, Castroneves and Taylor only won courtesy of their Acura Team Penske team-mates giving up a victory. Reigning champions Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya were a hair quicker in qualifying courtesy of the Colombian ace, and significantly faster in the race. Part of that pace deficit was caused by Castroneves losing the dive planes on the right-front corner of his ARX-05 as…

FORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP IMOLA (ITA) 31 OCTOBER-1 NOVEMBER ROUND 8/10 Victor Martins edged closer to the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup crown with a fine victory in the second race at Imola to move 33 points clear of nearest title rival Caio Collet – who suffered a win-or-bust runout as the championship supported Formula 1’s return to the Italian circuit. Polesitter Martins initially couldn’t shake off fellow front-row starter Collet on the opening tour as the pair ran side-by-side on occasion, but the ART Grand Prix driver didn’t have to wait long for fortune to fall in his favour. At the Variante Alta chicane, David Vidales locked the fronts on his JD Motorsport machine and tagged into the rear of Franco Colapinto. With his front wing ripped off, Vidales then careered…

CLASSIC SPORTS CAR CLUB The Classic Sports Car Club’s 70s to Present Day race at Mallory Park last weekend featured confusion over an early safety car intervention before it was halted following the dramatic exit of Mark Chilton’s Nissan Skyline R32, which threw its left-rear wheel and brake disc. Having ridden the bucking bronco, the shaken Chilton remained inside until the safety car was deployed and a doctor arrived. When marshals alerted race control to the smell of fuel – the regular tank had ruptured, but the additional safety cell remained intact – red flags flew. The race had already been neutralised by a full-course caution after Stephen Woolfe’s Mazda RX-8 went off on the opening lap. As that caution was signalled, during lap two, Chilton overtook leader Alex Taylor’s…

BRM has become the latest classic motorsport constructor to announce plans to create a series of continuation cars celebrating successful models. Three new examples of the Type 15 Mk1 BRM V16 are being created by Hall and Hall to mark the 70th anniversary of the team’s first world championship Formula 1 race. The car featured the unique V16 engine that developed 600bhp and produced a distinct wailing sound. The first of the cars will go to the Owen family, and the project has only been possible because of around 20,000 original technical drawings that have been preserved by BRM. “The fabulous noise of the engine still rings in my ears 70 years on!” said John Owen, son of BRM team boss Alfred Owen. “In a selfish way, I have always…

PAXMAN’S NEW FORD ESCORT Oakcroft Garage proprietor Tony Paxman has commissioned a new FIA Appendix K specification Ford Escort RS1800 from chassis guru Sonny Howard for next season. The narrow-winged two-litre BDG-powered Zakspeed replica will be run in a black Castrol tribute livery, contrasting with Paxman’s long-time sparring partner Malcolm Harding’s white example. SECOND RX-7 FOR TAYLORS Father and son Trevor and Alex Taylor are building a second Mazda RX-7 for 2021, aimed at an entry in the Goodwood Members’ Meeting’s Gerry Marshall Trophy race. A 1981 TWR livery is currently favoured. Their current Pentax-schemed RX-7 – in which Taylor Jr trumped allcomers in the second Historic Sports Car Club race at Spa last year – popped a turbo pipe at Mallory Park on Sunday. MORLEY’S SUPERKART TITLE Superkart driver…

“We need to just take points when we can and if we have an opportunity to take more, then we should. With everything that’s going on with COVID, you never know when all of a sudden there’s going to be a lockdown, the championship’s not going to finish and it gets called as it is.” When RAM Racing boss Dan Shufflebottom spoke those words after the last British GT round at Snetterton, he could not have known how close that hypothetical scenario was to becoming a reality. With the rate of new coronavirus cases showing no sign of slowing down and prompting the UK government to declare another national lockdown, commencing today (Thursday), there was a very real fear that the British GT Championship’s final round at Silverstone this weekend…

Plenty of drivers will have rued a missed opportunity to grab Walter Hayes honours, but none more so than Joey Foster. The three-time Hayes victor turned a few heads with the pace of his Firman RFR20 ahead of this year’s event, and expectations grew stronger when the Don Hardman-run racer set the fastest time of qualifying across all four heats. But Foster was the big casualty of the heats, once racing commenced, after being caught out during a torrential rain shower. Approaching Brooklands on the third lap, Foster aquaplaned on standing water after pulling out from behind Matt Cowley’s race-leading Van Diemen, sending him crashing into the barriers. Although admitting that conditions leading up to his crash were “probably the worst I’ve raced in”, Foster added that he had no…

MALLORY PARK CSCC 1 NOVEMBER Andrew Knighton’s self-built Lancia Stratos-inspired Special GT car was developed at Mallory Park and had not been seen in competition for several years. But the turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa-engined machine was piloted to victory in the final race of the Classic Sports Car Club’s Special Saloon & Modsports season on Sunday by Matt Manderson, ending Andy Southcott’s winning run in his ultra-low tubeframe MG Midget. With the top five covered by 1.3s in qualifying, the first race started in brilliant sunshine as Manderson, poleman Wayne Crabtree (in David Abrahams’s 575bhp twin-turbo Subaru flat-four-engined Ford RS200 clone) and Southcott from fifth all disputed the lead. Once Southcott wriggled ahead, nobody could catch him as he set a 46.234s (105.11mph) best lap. Manderson, whose best was less than…

CROFT BRSCC 31 OCTOBER Joseph Loake said his season “couldn’t have gone better” as he took an eighth successive win to secure the Fiesta Junior crown at Croft. Loake snatched pole in the last minute of qualifying, and twice fought off opening-lap challenges from Bradley Beavers in the pair of races to maintain his 100% win rate in emphatic style as he battled strong winds and heavy rain showers to take the title. “I just don’t know what else to say!” Loake said. “It was good from start to finish, especially considering the long break because of COVID. I think that makes it even better because of the disruption. The competition was close, especially with Will [Orton, his main rival]. At Silverstone and Donington the gaps were really tight –…

Autosport rants against F1’s new rules 7 November 1958 “The Sabotaging of Grand Prix Racing” was Autosport’s dramatic headline for its coverage of the newly announced Formula 1 rules this week in 1958. The sport’s governing body, the Commission Sportive Internationale, chose the presentation ceremony of the world championship trophies to Ferrari’s Mike Hawthorn and Vanwall boss Tony Vandervell to reveal its plans for F1. From 1961, the world championship was to be run for 1500cc machines, down from the 2.5-litre regulations that had been in place since 1954. Luigi Musso, Peter Collins and Stuart Lewis-Evans had been killed during 1958 GP events so it made sense that slower cars, with increased safety measures, were being considered, but few took the news well. Autosport founding editor Gregor Grant described the…

FORMULA 1 More pieces of the 2021 Formula 1 driver market have fallen into place after announcements from AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo and Williams at last weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. AlphaTauri confirmed last Wednesday that Pierre Gasly (below) would be staying with the team in 2021, ending suggestions that he could return to Red Bull after his star performances through this year. The Italian GP winner admitted that he was surprised he had not been considered for a potential Red Bull return, but team boss Christian Horner said the team had “made it very clear” it was not an option for Gasly to be recalled. AlphaTauri has not confirmed who will partner Gasly next year, but Honda-backed junior Yuki Tsunoda is the favourite to get the seat. The F2 rookie…

FORMULA E/SUPERCARS The future of the Adelaide street circuit has unexpectedly become a political bargaining chip in a battle between private businesses and local election candidates. Despite holding a contract with Australian Supercars for 2021, the South Australian Tourism Commission has pulled the famous Adelaide 500 race from next year’s calendar on the grounds of falling fan attendance in addition to the impact posed by COVID-19, which meant an “inability to recoup costs”. But Autosport understands that Adelaide’s absence from the Supercars calendar could pave the way for Formula E to host its first event in the country, which would use elements of the former Australian Grand Prix venue. FE co-founder and chief championship officer Alberto Longo told Autosport: “Australia is a market that is showing considerable interest in e-mobility,…

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP FIA rally director Yves Matton says Ypres Rally organisers have “proven” their case for hosting a World Rally Championship event, even though this month’s scheduled round has fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic. Just three weeks before the rally was due to make its WRC bow as the penultimate round, it had to be abandoned as the number of COVID-19 cases throughout Belgium remains worryingly high. West Flanders governor Carl Decaluwe argued it would have been “irresponsible to allow the WRC to take place in Ypres”, with those comments supported by city mayor Emmily Talpe. Club Superstage president Alain Penasse said he hoped his team would be handed another chance to showcase the event in the sport’s top tier, a view shared by Matton. “We are hugely…

FORMULA 3 On the face of it, Renault Sport has won what was really an unnecessary Regional Formula 3 war in Europe over the past two seasons, with the FIA announcing a merger of the Formula Regional European Championship with the Formula Renault Eurocup to form a new series in 2021. Plans were unveiled for the new series, known as Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, at last weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, where the Renault Eurocup had a double-header support slot (below). The Formula Regional European Championship was established in 2019. Renault Sport tendered to run the series in place of its historic Eurocup, but was beaten by a rival bid from the promoter of the Italian Formula 4 Championship. Renault responded by adopting the same Tatuus chassis as…

The all-conquering Mercedes team celebrating a constructors’ championship victory well ahead of a season finale is not unusual. But there were a few aspects about the triumph at Imola last weekend that stood out from the six that had come before. And, buried in all the bonhomie, was a lingering problem, which Mercedes is now tasked with addressing. First of all, Mercedes’ 2020 constructors’ title is more momentous than the rest. The team has won in this terrible year of years, when so many previously predictable scripts have been ripped up and replaced thanks to the wretched pandemic. That the 2020 championship is taking place at all is incredible. Second, by winning for a seventh successive time, Mercedes has bettered Ferrari’s record of six constructors’ triumphs on the trot from…

The Mercedes W11 may well go down as one of the best Formula 1 cars that has ever been produced. But it is certainly not designed to run with a massive bit of Ferrari bodywork jammed into the aerodynamic structures of its slippery belly. The chunk of Ferrari front-wing endplate was a major factor in Valtteri Bottas’s defeat against Lewis Hamilton in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix last weekend. But it was not the only factor that cost the Finn at Imola. It had all been going so well for one lap and six corners. Hamilton had fallen to third off the line with “poor grip” heading out of his second-place grid spot, although he also hinted at the start process getting away from him somehow, saying cryptically afterwards: “I…

NASCAR CUP MARTINSVILLE (USA) 1 NOVEMBER ROUND 35/36 With an average finishing position across the 26-race regular NASCAR Cup season of 6.61 (including a nine-round stretch of 3.6), Kevin Harvick’s place in the championship-deciding race was a foregone conclusion. The Stewart-Haas driver just had to negotiate the Playoffs to ensure that a spot in the Phoenix finale was almost his by right. Entering the last race of the semi-finals at Martinsville, Harvick was 42 points to the good in the Playoffs table. A smooth and quiet race would have done nicely. Alas, contact with Matt Kenseth’s Chevrolet Camaro gave Harvick’s Ford Mustang a puncture and put him two laps down by mid-distance. Eventually, on lap 399 of 500, Harvick got himself back on the lead lap, as fellow hopeful Brad…

CORONAVIRUS Club-level motorsport has been suspended for a second time in 2020 after the imposition of a fresh national lockdown in England by the UK government. All Motorsport UK permitted events were halted between late March and the end of June during the initial wave of coronavirus cases across the country earlier this year. But tighter restrictions introduced in the wake of the virus spreading rapidly once more have again forced the governing body to act. However, unlike last time, there is not a blanket ban of events during the upcoming four-week lockdown. Those that have been classified as Elite sporting events by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are allowed to continue, albeit without spectators. This means the planned British Touring Car Championship and British GT finales…

With COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions and deaths sadly rising steadily, tighter restrictions seemed inevitable. As disappointing as that is, in a motorsport context, the ‘four-week’ lockdown’s impact – at this stage – is not too significant. Not least because it is now November, and the conclusion of the traditional UK motorsport season. But also because there is a crucial difference to Motorsport UK’s earlier suspension of permits as, this time, meetings determined as Elite sporting events can continue. The British Touring Car Championship has been classed as Elite ever since the resumption of motorsport activity. And understandably so, as it has long been considered the premier motorsport series in the UK. There were greater questions surrounding British GT, as it did not initially receive this ‘status’. But, considering it has…

BARC Alex Solley followed up on his success in the previous round at Silverstone with another double Junior Saloons victory at Oulton Park last weekend. He initially sat behind the duelling Lewis Saunders and Charlie Hand in race one, before seizing his chance out of Old Hall on the penultimate lap. Saunders, who was unstoppable earlier this year, retained second after Hand was forced out at Island. Saunders was pursued by Solley and Deagen Fairclough in the second race and, despite being put on the grass by Fairclough at Cascades, Solley fought back into the lead. When the luckless Hand was stranded at Old Hall with a broken throttle cable, red flags came out and Solley was declared the winner from Saunders. Ten years since he debuted in the CNC…

BRITISH GT This weekend’s British GT Championship finale at Silverstone will boast a season-high grid of 38 cars, including 20 GT3s, boosted by a plethora of new and returning entries. The total comfortably exceeds the 24 cars that started the three-hour race at Donington Park in September and the planned 35-car full-season grid that was announced at the pre-COVID media day. In addition to the previously announced McLaren 720S GT3 of Jenson Button and Chris Buncombe (15 October), there will be four extra McLarens and three Aston Martins, while the Richard Williams/Sennan Fielding-driven Steller Performance Audi R8 returns after skipping the most recent round at Snetterton. Following his GT3 debut in International GT Open at Spa last month, 2019 GT4 champion Tom Canning will return to the series in a…

SILVERSTONE HSCC WALTER HAYES TROPHY 31 OCTOBER-1 NOVEMBER The 2020 edition of the Walter Hayes Trophy should be remembered for Oliver White finally overcoming his bad luck and taking a popular victory. It should be remembered for organiser James Beckett triumphing against the coronavirus odds to secure a 104-strong entry (more than double the Festival the previous week and up on last year’s ‘normality’). And it should be remembered for some sensational racing in the two historic finals. But, for all those positives, this year’s Hayes is more likely to be remembered for a terrifying series of accidents along the pit straight in the Last Chance race that left three drivers in hospital and those watching from the pitwall shaken (see p54). Considering the lengthy extraction and clear-up required, and…

WALTER HAYES TROPHY Heat 1 Jordan Dempsey (Spectrum 011C) Heat 2 Neil Maclennan (Spectrum 011C) Heat 3 Oliver White (Medina JL17, above) Heat 4 Chris Middlehurst (Van Diemen LA10) Progression race Joey Foster (Firman RFR20) Last Chance race Joey Foster (Firman RFR20) Semi-final 1 Neil Maclennan (Spectrum 011C) Semi-final 2 Oliver White (Medina JL17) Final (5 laps) 1 Oliver White (Medina JL17); 2 Neil Maclennan (Spectrum 011C) +0.815s; 3 Bryce Aron (Ray GR18); 4 Ross Martin (Van Diemen RF99); 5 Matt Cowley (Van Diemen JL15); 6 Michael Moyers (Spectrum 09). Fastest lap Chris Middlehurst (Van Diemen LA10) 1m08.414s (86.32mph). Pole White. Starters 36. JANET CESAR TROPHY Pre-final Matthew Wrigley (Reynard 89FF, below) Final Jaap Blijleven (Reynard 88FF) CARL HAMER TROPHY Pre-final Jamie Vinall-Meyer (Merlyn Mk20) Final Ben Mitchell (Merlyn Mk20)…

BRANDS HATCH MSVR 31 OCTOBER-1 NOVEMBER Octane Junkies’ trio of brothers Adam and Martyn Smith along with Baz Ward triumphed in the EnduroKa 500 event at Brands Hatch last Sunday, going one place better than 12 months ago. The race was a mixture of heartbreak and heroism, punctuated by 22 safety car interventions during 388 frequently slippery laps over more than eight hours. With Adam Smith at the wheel, the car beached at Paddock Hill Bend early on, but fought back up the order in the following hours. With 10 minutes to go they lay third with an outside chance of catching the leaders, before the leading Barwell Autosport car driven by Kester Cook stopped on Cooper Straight with a failed engine. A minor excursion had damaged the car’s radiator…

KNOCKHILL SMRC 31 OCTOBER Robbie Dalgleish cemented his position as the dominant force in the Scottish Mini Cooper Cup last weekend, by securing his second successive title as the Scottish Motor Racing Club’s shortened season drew to a close at Knockhill. The Mini Challenge regular, who won both the Scottish and Cooper Pro titles in 2019, headed into the weekend with a 24-point advantage over newcomer Chad Little and duly wrapped up the championship with his fifth win of the season in the opening 12-lap affair. Jamie Blake again claimed the overall pole position and win in his faster R53 Cooper S car, while Dalgleish and Little duked it out behind. Dalgleish made his move on lap six and opened a gap of nearly a second before a big moment…

5 ERIC VAN DE POELE, 1991 The Belgian scraped through pre-qualifying in fourth aboard his Modena Lamborghini 291, then outpaced the AGS and Footwork cars to start 21st. In the sodden race, de Poele rose gradually to the giddy heights of fifth as attrition took its toll on his rivals. He had the pace to keep Mika Hakkinen and Thierry Boutsen at bay until the final lap when the fuel pump broke. He was classified ninth on his first grand prix start. 4 JACQUES VILLENEUVE, 2000 For the third round of the season, the BAR 002 had taken another performance stride forward. That permitted the Canadian to qualify ninth, 0.69s up on team-mate Ricardo Zonta. Villeneuve then made waves at the start. He celebrated his 29th birthday with a gutsy drive to…