Innehållsförteckning för 10/20/2022 från Autosport

We all know the 2022 Formula 1 world championship could, perhaps should, have been closer. The racing has generally been pretty good and the ground-effects machines have largely done what they were supposed to do, but we only had a brief illusion of a title fight. What Mercedes did wrong is easy to see (though complex to fix): the W13 isn’t very good. But Ferrari did produce a fine car in the F1-75. Given how the Red Bull RB18 has developed during the year, it’s probably fair to say that Ferrari was always destined to lose but, should it find itself in a similar position in future, it has many issues to fix. The 2022 campaign has revealed quite a few Ferrari shortcomings that need to be addressed – from…

INDYCAR Andretti Formula E star Jake Dennis ran his first laps in an IndyCar last week as part of a rookie evaluation test granted to all IndyCar teams in the off-season. The 27-year-old Briton was at the wheel of the Andretti Autosport car recently vacated by Alexander Rossi and to be raced next season by Kyle Kirkwood. Dennis was the third fastest of the five drivers in action on Sebring Raceway’s 1.7-mile short course. Top of the times was Dennis’s 2014 Formula 3 team-mate Tom Blomqvist. The Kiwi-raised Anglo-Swede was testing Meyer Shank Racing’s IndyCar less than two weeks after clinching the IMSA SportsCar DPi title in the team’s Acura, and Blomqvist outpaced his nearest rival on the day, Juri Vips, by 0.3303 seconds. Blomqvist admitted afterwards that, while he…

Kyle Larson and Darrell Wallace Jr proved that good old-fashioned NASCAR ways are alive and well during last Sunday’s Cup Series round at Las Vegas. Larson slid up into Wallace and knocked him into the outside wall at one-third distance, before Wallace (McDonald’s livery) came back down the track and slammed into the right-rear of Larson’s Chevrolet (#5). Both cars spun and the crash also eliminated playoff contender Christopher Bell. Wallace then walked over to Larson and started shoving him. “He never cleared me,” said Wallace. “I don’t lift. I know I’m kind of new to running up front, but I don’t lift. I wasn’t even in a spot to lift, he never lifted either and now we are junk. Piss poor move on his execution.”…

SINGLE-SEATERS Things aren’t looking good for the future of ‘traditional’ Formula 3 racing in Europe. Euroformula Open, which has continued to adhere to the philosophy of the old pre-2019 F3 category with the Dallara 320 chassis, drew its season to a close at Barcelona last weekend with just nine cars. The series promoted by the Spanish GT Sport organisation of Jesus Pareja has suffered from being outside the FIA umbrella, as well as domination from Motopark and its sister team CryptoTower. The German operation has won 24 of the 26 races this season and now fields six of the nine cars on the grid. Pareja is understood to be pushing on in a bid to revitalise EFO for 2023, but the market looks set to be diluted by a new…

MOTORSPORT GAMES British Touring Car Championship race winner Chris Smiley will be part of the Team UK assault on the second edition of the FIA Motor Sport Games centred on Paul Ricard next week. The TCR UK title contender will be the UK’s representative in the Touring Car category. Smiley was named as part of the Team UK squad last week when the wraps were taken off the full line-up that will straddle 10 of the 16 disciplines at the Games on 28-30 October. The Northern Irishman will drive his regular Restart Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR in which he is currently tied at the top of the TCR UK points ahead of this weekend’s Snetterton series finale. “It’s a global event and it’s great to go and represent…

UK START TIMES Friday 21 October FP1 2000 FP2 2300 Saturday 22 October FP3 2000 QUALIFYING 2300 Sunday 23 October RACE 2000 CATCH THE RACE LIVE SKY SPORTS F1 BBC RADIO 5 LIVE HIGHLIGHTS CHANNEL 4 0030 (Monday) TYRE ALLOCATION CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS Drivers Constructors RACE STATS Previous winners Austin points tallies Hamilton 189 Vettel 107 Verstappen 82 Bottas 67 Ricciardo 49 Perez 44 Alonso 43 Sainz 36 Leclerc 25 Albon 10…

I’m pretty happy with how my first season in FIA Formula 3 went, even though the Monza finale was a bit disappointing in terms of everything that happened. To make the jump from winning the Italian and German F4 titles is something that can’t be underestimated. It’s a big step with a lot of new things that I needed to do. So, it wasn’t easy, but I think I did a good job of it, especially in the latter part of the season. I was happy with the progression, which was really the priority. The professionalism from F4 to F3 changes a lot, but the Prema team welcomed me really nicely – it’s like a family. It’s a lovely atmosphere within the team, and my team-mates [Arthur Leclerc and Jak…

10 2002 AUSTRALIAN GP MELBOURNE MINARDI PS02 5TH Webber laid down a marker on his Formula 1 debut by qualifying 18th for his home grand prix, ahead of the Jaguar team, a Jordan and Alex Yoong in the other Minardi-Asiatech. When Ralf Schumacher’s Williams triggered an eight-car collision at the first corner, Webber was elevated to eighth and recalled team owner Paul Stoddart’s pre-race instructions. “‘Stoddy’ said, ‘If you could just bring this thing home, that would be phenomenal.’ “It was a dog to drive. I didn’t fit in the cockpit, didn’t have power steering, then a lot of the electronics packed up and I had no diff control, the traction control played up and there was a problem getting the fuel filler flap to open at a pitstop. It seemed…

GB3 The GB3 Championship has announced an eight-round calendar for the 2023 season that will include two overseas trips for the first time, at Spa and Zandvoort. It means that four rounds will be held at current Formula 1 locations next year, including two visits to Silverstone, while the addition of a second overseas event means the championship is seeking FIA International Series status. Five of the events will run alongside British GT: the season-opening Oulton Park fixture (8-10 April), Silverstone (6-7 May), Snetterton (17-18 June), Brands Hatch (9-10 September) and the season finale at Donington Park (21-22 October). With no visit to Spa for British GT in 2023, GB3 will instead support the Spa Euro Race weekend on 2-4 June, while the trip to the Netherlands will be on…

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB Richardson Racing plans to expand its Porsche presence next season after an “incredible team effort” netted the squad this year’s Carrera Cup GB teams’ crown. Richardson enjoyed a 41-point lead heading into Brands Hatch’s final round earlier this month – ahead of rivals with far more Porsche experience – thanks to the efforts of Will Martin and Jack Bartholomew. Josh Malin also drove while Bartholomew was recovering from a serious cycling crash. But it was a nervy end to the season in Kent after Martin was sent crashing into the barriers exiting Paddock Hill Bend in the first race. Then, with Martin’s Porsche impressively repaired for race two, Bartholomew was also taken out. That left Martin’s charge from 11th to sixth to seal Richardson the title…

BUSY BARLOWS OUT ON MULL While Stephen Barlow was winning the Classic Formula 3 title at Silverstone last weekend, his sons Fergus and Craig were competing on the Mull Rally in a Subaru Impreza. Stephen lives in Oban and travels long distances to race his Ralt RT3 with Graham Brunton Racing while Fergus lives in Tobermory on Mull and always contests his local rally. Craig flew in from his home in New Zealand to co-drive but they retired after suffering turbo problems. HIRST CLAIMS WELSH TITLE Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear secured the Welsh Rally title with a resounding victory during the penultimate round, last Saturday’s Wyedean Stages in the Forest of Dean. In their Ford Fiesta R5, Hirst and Dear put the title beyond doubt with one round left…

DONINGTON PARK BRITISH GT 15-16 OCTOBER Two off-track excursions in the opening minutes of the British GT season finale at Donington Park for Ian Loggie’s RAM Racing Mercedes briefly put the destination of the GT3 title in doubt. But a gritty comeback, some luck and an unlikely podium meant the Scot finally secured the coveted crown. It had been a challenging weekend from the outset, with the points leader and team-mate Jules Gounon on the back foot after qualifying, when a heavy rain shower just moments into the session meant only half the field completed a lap in the dry. It consigned the RAM Racing duo to starting 10th, the only consolation being that all three of Loggie’s title rivals would start around him and with the nearest of those…

DONINGTON PARK BRSCC 15-16 OCTOBER An impressive performance at Donington Park last weekend ensured that Luke Browning became the first driver to obtain both the GB3 Championship and the British Formula 4 titles. The Briton headed into the final meeting with a 16.5-point lead over title rival Joel Granfors, but both failed to feature at the top of the times in qualifying. Damp but improving conditions meant they remained on their used slick rubber, rather than pitting for fresh tyres, to avoid falling foul of any potential red flag. But this restricted the pair to only fifth and eighth for the opener. There were no such problems for Carlin’s Callum Voisin, who took a double pole and converted the first of those into victory, having got the jump on fellow…

SILVERSTONE HSCC 15-16 OCTOBER Peter de la Roche’s Guards Trophy title aspirations may have dwindled alarmingly when his Lotus 23B spun into the Luffield gravel bed and was hit by Dan Balfour’s Chevron B8, damaging its steering. With joint second-placed John Davison absent, a class win for Stephen Nuttall would equal de la Roche’s score, but his B8’s engine blew spectacularly, reprieving Peter, one of five Historic Sports Car Club champions crowned on its Silverstone finals weekend. Four Lenhams in the top six at the flag was unprecedented, Simon Jackson winning from Rob and Ben Tusting. Ross Hyett’s Ginetta G4R topped the GTs. De la Roche had won Saturday’s pre-1961 Formula Junior race from Ray Mallock (U2), Andrew Hibberd (Lola Mk2) and new double champion Nic Carlton-Smith (Kieft). Graham Barron…

CATERHAM ROADSPORT Races 1 & 3 Charlie Lower Race 2 Geoff Newman MINI MIGLIA Race 1 Andrew Jordan Race 2 Kane Astin MINI SE7EN Races 1 & 2 Connor O’Brien CATERHAM ACADEMY White Group Tom McEwing Green Group Simon Sabin CITYCAR CUP Races 1, 2 & 3 Elliot Lettis (Peugeot 107) CATERHAM AUTUMN TROPHY Duncan Mallett CLUBSPORT TROPHY Simon Tomlinson (SEAT Cupra) BMW COMPACT CUP Races 1 & 2 Lee Dendy-Sadler (below) Race 3 Guy Davis TRACK ATTACK RACE CLUB Race 1 Ken Lark (VW Corrado) Race 2 Tony Hunter (Renault Clio) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

OULTON PARK BARC 15 OCTOBER Jon Woolfitt clinched the CNC Heads Sports and Saloons title at Oulton Park last weekend in his Spire GTR, following up his dominant race-one win with a solid third in the finale. After damp qualifying, the grid was fairly mixed up for the first race, which was led initially by Roddie Paterson’s Caterham, before Woolfitt powered ahead on the first lap. Ric Wood’s Holden Commodore was soon into second, but had to give best to the MG Midget Lenham of Andrew Southcott at Old Hall on lap six. But the race was red-flagged at this point, when Piers Grange’s fifth-placed Ford Escort crashed heavily approaching Cascades, after contact with Julian Wood’s Kia Optima. Paterson was then a lights-to-flag winner in race two, with Garry Wardle…

While six-time Indy 500 polesitter Rick Mears says that for qualifying, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is his favourite track, for racing he picks the Milwaukee Mile – the 1.015-mile oval at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, which has just nine degrees of banking in the turns, like IMS. In his 18 Indycar races there, Mears scored three wins, nine other top-three finishes, and took five pole positions. It was the site of his first top-five finish, driving a McLaren M16C/D for Teddy Yip’s Theodore team in 1977, and where he took his first win the following year, once he had transferred to Team Penske. “If you talk about qualifying and racing, it was the short tracks I loved,” says Mears. “At Phoenix and Milwaukee, the driver made a…

FORMULA 1 A huge number of young drivers are set to get the chance to impress the watching Formula 1 paddock as teams fulfil their practice requirements over the final four races, with no fewer than four making their FP1 debuts at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix. In a new rule for the 2022 season, teams have to field a driver with no more than two grand prix starts to their name in two FP1 sessions in a move designed to help give more running in current cars to young stars. One of the main names looking to stake a claim for an F1 seat in 2023 is Logan Sargeant at Williams. Sargeant will make his F1 race weekend debut tomorrow (Friday) when he takes part in opening practice…

LE MANS 24 HOURS Cadillac has signalled an intent to have three of its new V-LMDh prototypes on the grid at next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. It looks certain to file two additional entries for the World Endurance Championship blue-riband in June to expand on its one-car full-season assault. The words used by Laura Klauser, sportscar programme manager at Cadillac parent company General Motors, were “as many cars as we can”. That essentially means all three cars that will be competing across the WEC and the IMSA SportsCar Championship next year will be at Le Mans if their entries are accepted. The Chip Ganassi Racing entry contesting the IMSA series would cross the Pond along with the Action Express Racing V-LMDh. They would join up with Ganassi’s regular WEC…

BTCC British Touring Car Championship Independent teams’ title winner BTC Racing is assessing a new-build project for the series for 2023. The Brackley squad carried Josh Cook into the lead of the overall standings early this season with its Honda Civic Type R, but suffered problems with straightline speed since the switch to the new-for-2022, M-Sport-built TOCA customer engine. Cook faded to sixth in the points, but won the Independent drivers’ crown. BTC boss Danny Buxton, who was drafted in by team owner Steve Dudman before the 2022 season, said: “The preference would be to build our own cars with our own engine programme. You’ve got to aim high and that’s the current plan. Steve is a big fan of being in control of your own destiny – having your…

AUTOSPORT INTERNATIONAL The Autosport International show is partnering with Sir Jackie Stewart to open a photographic art gallery, with people voting for their favourite motorsport memories as part of a fundraising campaign for Racing Against Dementia. Autosport International, which returns on 12-15 January 2023 at Birmingham’s NEC, will host a gallery with shots supplied by Motorsport Images, based on an online ‘motorsport memories’ poll of what caused voters to fall in love with the sport. The prints selected will then be sold through a raffle at the show to raise funds for Racing Against Dementia, a global charity founded by three-time Formula 1 world champion Stewart – whose wife Helen was diagnosed with the condition in 2014 – to fund research. During the build-up to the show, fans will be…

WORLD TOURING CAR CUP The FIA’s World Touring Car contest is to switch to a one-0ff event next year following an 18-season run as a full championship dating back to 2005. The World Touring Car Champi0nship of 2005-17 evolved into the World Touring Car Cup for TCR machinery in 2018, but the series has suffered a tough time in recent years. Its traditional Asia-centric end-of-season races meant it was particularly hard hit by COVID, and tyre controversies led to the cancellation of this year’s Nurburgring Nordschleife round and the mid-season withdrawal of the Lynk & Co team, reducing the field to 12 cars. WTCR promoter Discovery Sports Events (formerly Eurosport Events) had an agreement with the FIA until the end of 2025, but with an option for the final three…

WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP Chevrolet will remain in the World Endurance Championship for a second full campaign next year, this time in the GTE Am ranks. The Corvette Racing squad will field a solo entry in the remaining GTE class after the demise of GTE Pro. That, of course, means a wholesale change in driver line-up of the ’Vette C8.R as a result of sporting regulations demanding that each car has two non-platinum or gold-rated drivers. WEC regular Ben Keating, who leads the 2022 GTE Am points with the TF Sport Aston Martin team, comes in as the mandatory bronze and will race alongside pro Nicky Catsburg, who takes a first full-season seat at Corvette Racing after joining as an endurance driver in 2020. The identity of the third member of…

For many, the final four rounds of this Formula 1 season will now arrive as little more than an afterthought. That’s understandable. Max Verstappen has wrapped up his second world title in good time, and the much less exciting contest for the constructors’ crown is almost certainly going to go to Red Bull. Even though the battle for fourth between McLaren and Alpine will rage on, that’s a less compelling subplot. The major sporting headlines have already been written. Verstappen himself hasn’t done much to dispel that damp squib sentiment. Once the bewildering events that immediately followed the chequered flag in the Japanese Grand Prix had settled, he reckoned: “I’ve got four race weekends at least to celebrate… There is no real pressure anymore.” While not every campaign can be…

“Max has just been incredible and it’s a title fully deserved. On our side, we’ll try to push for the last four races this season to improve as a team and to hopefully put in more of a challenge next year…” Charles Leclerc was magnanimous in defeat to Max Verstappen after the Japanese Grand Prix, accepting that his Ferrari squad had ultimately been well beaten in the first season of Formula 1’s new ground-effects era. But he’d already been making similar noises in Singapore the previous week. Leclerc, after taking his ninth and most recent pole of 2022, had said that “it’s a matter of time before Max gets his title”, and so it proved to be. The Monegasque’s mindset had already shifted. What a turnaround for both Ferrari and…

NASCAR CUP LAS VEGAS (USA) 16 OCTOBER ROUND 33/36 Joey Logano won a thrilling race over Ross Chastain and became the first driver to lock himself in for the four-way final-round NASCAR Cup showdown. Chastain took the field three-wide on a restart with 16 of 267 laps remaining in Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to move his TrackHouse Racing Chevrolet into the lead. But Logano’s Team Penske Ford was among a group of cars that had pitted for new tyres during the previous caution and was quickly advancing through the field. Logano finally caught Chastain with two laps to go, easily passed him for the lead and held on by 0.817 seconds for the victory. With the win, Logano automatically advances to the Championship 4 at Phoenix. “We’ve…

The fourth edition of MotorsportDays LIVE takes place at Silverstone on 4-5 November, and it truly showcases the diverse world of national motorsport. Over 50 different racing championships will be represented, with many offering test drives on the International Circuit. The unique event, Europe’s largest on-track motorsport show, is targeted at not only current licence holders but those wanting to take their first steps into the sport, with the governing body, Motorsport UK, having a strong presence. And tickets are free of charge! TOP CHAMPIONSHIPS TO OFFER TEST DRIVES High-profile categories such as the British Endurance Championship and TCR UK will be present, looking to host existing teams and drivers and attract newcomers to their growing grids featuring sportscar and touring car machinery. TCR UK championship promoter and former British…

GB4 Fox Motorsport will join the 2023 GB4 Championship grid, with Ginetta Junior race winner Liam McNeilly the first driver to be confirmed for the season. The squad is better known for its success in British GT – it won in GT3 at Spa this season – and title-winning campaigns in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge and Ginetta GT4 Supercup. The entry into GB4 represents the first single-seater campaign for the squad, which intends to run at least a second car in the series alongside McNeilly, third in this year’s Ginetta Junior standings. “We’re very excited to join the GB4 Championship for 2023 for our first proper assault on a single-seater series,” said McNeilly’s father, Fox team principal Paul. “GB4 will serve as an accessible learning platform for drivers to progress…

INGRAM’S C1 OUTING New British Touring Car champion Tom Ingram became the latest BTCC star to sample the C1 Endurance series at Snetterton. Ingram was invited by former British GT racer Ron Johnson to join him in the OPC-PR team. He qualified the car 11th of 55 entries and the team finished 19th in Saturday’s race. Ingram was running sixth in Sunday’s three-hour encounter when the car ran out of fuel with 10 minutes left. MAZDA DRIVE FOR WATTS C1 Endurance regular Aimee Watts made her rear-wheel-drive debut in the Mazda MX-5 Championship at Snetterton last weekend. Driving one of Martin Tolley’s Go4It Racing MX-5 Mk1s, Watts – whose father Patrick won the original manufacturer-backed one-make series for the model in 1990 – scored a best finish of 22nd from…

BRITISH RALLYCROSS The French Rallycross Championship is widely regarded as the strongest domestic rallycross series in the world, so competitors from the British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy faced a substantial challenge when the two series aligned at Dreux last weekend. Eight 5 Nations BRX drivers joined the event, as part of a 34-strong Supercar entry but, for six-time champion Julian Godfrey, his weekend never got under way, as he was ruled out by issues in technical scrutineering. It was instead left to reigning champion Derek Tohill and current series leader Patrick O’Donovan to head the charge against the French contingent, and it was rising star O’Donovan who again turned heads, claiming top British honours before progressing into the latter stages of the event. With the two series run together…

Richard Williams and Sennan Fielding overcame a points deficit heading into the final round to end the season as overall GT4 champions at the wheel of their Steller Motorsport Audi. The duo trailed Matt Topham/Darren Turner (Newbridge Aston Martin) by 12.5 points, as well as needing to serve longer in the pits courtesy of being an all-Silver crew compared to their Pro-Am rivals. Therefore, to stand any chance, they would need to be ahead when the pitstop window opened before the hour mark. But they were almost thwarted by a safety car in the opening 30 minutes to retrieve debris following a GT3 clash at the Fogarty Esses, negating a healthy gap Williams had over Topham. Williams had circulated in second during the opening stint, trailing the polesitting Toyota of…

GB3 Race 1 (14 laps) 1 Callum Voisin; 2 Luke Browning +2.036s; 3 John Bennett; 4 Tom Lebbon; 5 Joel Granfors; 6 Bryce Aron. Fastest lap Lebbon 1m23.620s (107.08mph). Pole Voisin. Starters 20. Race 2 (13 laps) 1 Lebbon; 2 Browning +1.952s; 3 Aron; 4 McKenzy Cresswell; 5 Cian Shields; 6 Matthew Rees. FL Rees 1m27.540s (102.28mph). P Voisin. S 20. Race 3 (13 laps) 1 Nick Gilkes; 2 Shields +0.903s; 3 Alex Connor; 4 Nico Christodoulou; 5 Granfors; 6 Ayato Iwasaki. FL Christodoulou 1m24.046s (106.54mph). P Gilkes. S 20. Points 1 Browning 507; 2 Granfors 460.5; 3 Lebbon 363.5; 4 Voisin 359; 5 Roberto Faria 316.5; 6 Rees 310.5. GB4 Race 1 Tom Mills Races 2 & 3 Jarrod Waberski GINETTA GT5 CHALLENGE Race 1 Mikey Doble Races 2…

The pounding beats of Eminem’s Lose Yourself set a stark contrast to the laughs and smiles in the Silverstone garage. Mike and Andrew Jordan are reflecting on an afternoon of mixed fortunes. It’s been a familiar routine for the past 16 years, starting when Mike raced in the British Touring Car Championship and Andrew on the support package with SEAT. Two years later, Andrew joined the Eurotech squad for his rookie season in the BTCC. It was the first time a father and son had raced together in the championship and, though the teenager’s season was hampered by unreliability, he scored points on his debut, podiums at Oulton Park and Knockhill, and finished one place ahead of his dad in the standings. Since then, Mike has been a visible presence,…

MALLORY PARK CLASSIC STOCK HATCH Race 1 Chris Dear (Peugeot 205 GTI) Race 2 Lee Scott (Ford Fiesta XR2i) SPORT SPECIALS Races 1 & 2 Paul Collingwood (Eclipse SM1) 750 FORMULA Races 1 & 2 Oliver Collett (Racekits Falcon) HISTORIC 750 FORMULA Races 1 & 2 John Village (Village V2) FORMULA VEE Races 1 & 3 Craig Pollard (WEV) Race 2 Daniel Hands (AHS Dominator Mk2) For full results visit: 750mc.co.uk OULTON PARK CNC HEADS SPORTS AND SALOONS Race 1 Jon Woolfitt (Spire GTR) Race 2 Roddie Paterson (Caterham C400) CATERHAM GRADUATES – SIGMA 150 Race 1 Ben Winrow Race 2 Stephen Clark CATERHAM GRADUATES – SIGMAX/SIGMA 135 Races 1 & 2 Harry Senior (Sigmax) KUMHO BMWs Race 1 Russell Dack (E46 M3, below) Race 2 Jason West (E46 M3)…

Sebastien Bourdais and Newman-Haas Racing were an unstoppable force in Indycar racing prior to the Frenchman joining Toro Rosso in Formula 1 for 2008. After impressing in his 2003 Champ Car rookie season with a debut pole and three wins, he romped to four consecutive titles between 2004 and 2007, amassing a further 28 victories on the way. But in a parallel reality, Bourdais could have spent 2003 in the DTM fighting a losing battle for competitiveness with Opel. Bourdais had claimed the 2002 Formula 3000 championship for the Super Nova team owned by his manager, David Sears, but that mattered little when it came to securing an F1 berth for 2003. True, he had support from Renault in 2002, but relations between Bourdais and the French car maker’s F1…

FORMULA 1 McLaren chief Zak Brown has urged the FIA to act “at pace” and come down hard on Formula 1’s cost-cap rule breakers, declaring that overspending “constitutes cheating”. While the FIA considers its next steps after finding that Red Bull had committed a minor overspend through the 2021 season, Brown wrote to F1’s governing body to call for strict action. In a letter – a copy of which has been seen by Autosport – that was sent to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, Brown (below) wrote: “The overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches, constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting, and financial regulations.” He added: “The bottom line is any team who has overspent has gained an unfair advantage both…

As if McLaren hasn’t been the subject of enough silly-season stories, two more big talents tried out machinery at Laguna Seca last weekend. Mario Andretti, a promising 82-year-old from Pennsylvania, got down to business in a 2013 MP4-28 Formula 1 car (top), while hotly tipped 54-year-old Finn Mika Hakkinen tried out an ex-Ayrton Senna 1990 title-winning MP4/5B plus an MP4/2B (above) driven by Alain Prost on the way to the 1985 crown. The sessions were part of a Velocity International event to highlight a three-day historic racing meeting at the California track.…

NASCAR NASCAR veteran and 2004 Cup champion Kurt Busch will not race in the series next year. The 44-year-old has been sidelined from competition since he suffered symptoms from a concussion in a qualifying accident at Pocono in July. Busch said last Saturday at Las Vegas that he’s “still not 100% and I’m still not cleared to race”, so could not commit to compete in 23XI Racing’s #45 Toyota next year. “This is more of being unselfish and respecting what has to happen in this industry,” said Busch, who has won 34 Cup races. 23XI said it had reached an agreement with Richard Childress Racing to allow Tyler Reddick to join a year earlier than planned and step in for Busch next season. “From the day Kurt Busch joined our…

FORMULA E Formula E title winners Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne will race for the newly rebadged DS Penske squad in 2022-23, as the French manufacturer switches allegiance to the Dragon Penske Autosport team. The French manufacturer, an offshoot of the Citroen marque, was previously in partnership with the Techeetah team throughout the Gen2 era and won two drivers’ (with Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa) and teams’ titles apiece with the Chinese-owned squad. But with significant uncertainty over the commitment of SECA, the Chinese media conglomerate in charge of Techeetah, DS has parted ways with the team and moves its attentions to the Dragon Penske squad owned by Jay Penske, son of Team Penske and IndyCar CEO Roger. SECA had scaled back its involvement in Techeetah over the past…

WEC Nico Muller will make an early race debut with Peugeot in next month’s Bahrain World Endurance Championship finale. The Swiss will come into the 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar line-up alongside Loic Duval and Gustavo Menezes. Muller takes the seat in the #94 entry kept warm by reserve driver James Rossiter after Kevin Magnussen turned his back on sportscar racing to return to Formula 1 with Haas in March. Rossiter’s announcement as the new team principal of Peugeot sister brand Maserati’s Formula E squad and retirement from racing paved the way for an early debut for the marque newcomer. Long-time Audi driver Muller was announced last month as part of the 2023 Peugeot WEC squad, but the door was left open on his plans for the remainder of this year.…

The way the 2022 Formula 1 season has played out has rather removed the sting from certain intra-team battles. At Red Bull, Max Verstappen has put Sergio Perez in the shade to the same extent that got Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon dropped. But with both titles basically in the bag, this hasn’t mattered. At Mercedes, the challenge of recovering from the W13’s deficiencies has squashed any potential for flare-ups between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Lando Norris has again flattened Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren. At Ferrari, the fight between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz has made headlines. They get on very well off track, but that matters little on the delicate subject of team orders. On this, Ferrari came in for criticism for the time it spent to swap…

FORMULA REGIONAL EUROPEAN BARCELONA (ESP) 15-16 OCTOBER ROUND 9/10 The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine will be decided at Mugello this weekend after points-leading Ferrari protege Dino Beganovic had a messy penultimate round at Barcelona. The Swede qualified 11th and 10th for the two races and finished in those positions too, while Prema team-mate Paul Aron took a lights-to-flag success in race one and R-ace GP’s Gabriel Bortoleto did the same in race two. Mercedes junior Aron claimed pole in Saturday qualifying with a late lap in a session where the full 35-car field ran together due to a fog-caused delay. The Estonian started race one strongly and looked to have victory wrapped up halfway through. But hot temperatures led to tyre degradation, and Aron came under late pressure…

MOTOGP PHILLIP ISLAND (AUS) 16 OCTOBER ROUND 18/20 That Francesco Bagnaia has surged from 91 points adrift of the championship lead eight rounds ago to now leading it by 14 is as much a testament to the strength of the 2022 Ducati as it is to the failings of its Yamaha equivalent. Since MotoGP returned from its summer break, reigning champion Fabio Quartararo has faced an uphill struggle on the Japanese bike, scoring just one podium from the past seven races and 47 points to the 127 of Bagnaia, who has scored three wins and three other podiums in that same period. And none of it has been of the Frenchman’s own making. A tyre-pressure team error robbed him of points in the wet Thai GP, while an unavoidable collision…

FORMULA FORD FESTIVAL Ex-Formula 1 driver Roberto Moreno will once again return to the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch this weekend, but at the wheel of modern machinery. The 63-year-old Brazilian, who competed at 75 grand prix weekends and scored one podium, raced at the end-of-season FF1600 event in 2021 for its 50th edition. He drove a Van Diemen RF80 – a similar model of car to the one he used to win the blue-riband event in 1980 – at last year’s event, but was knocked out in his heat and the last progression race. This time, he will drive a 2016 Ray run by Graham Brunton Racing. “Obviously running the Canadian Scholarship cars this year, we’re quite honoured to be doing that – I wouldn’t say he [Moreno]…

BRITISH GT Darren Leung is weighing up further races in the British GT Championship after winning on his debut in the Donington Park season finale last weekend. The 35-year-old only started racing last year in the Ginetta GT Academy before graduating to the marque’s GT4 Supercup this season. He scored a number of G56 Am class wins, before joining sportscar racing star and ex-Formula E racer Alexander Sims in a Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 at Donington. Leung, who had never raced a GT3 car, stayed out of trouble in the opening stint and moved from fourth on the grid into the lead just before the pitstops. Sims rejoined in front and went on to take victory, his first in British GT since 2015, as well as Century’s maiden GT3…

PORSCHE SPRINT CHALLENGE GB The Porsche Sprint Challenge GB will race solely on the British Touring Car package next year after announcing a six-round calendar for 2023 in a move that organisers believe could trigger much larger grids. The one-make category for 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport cars was launched in 2020 and appeared across British GT, BTCC and Porsche Club fixtures. But it faced a difficult start against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, and entries have struggled to rise beyond low double figures. With Ginetta announcing last month that its championships would only race on the British GT bill, there was no longer room for the Sprint Challenge at GT events and a three-year deal has instead been struck with BTCC organiser TOCA. The series will appear in place…

SNETTERTON BRSCC 15-16 OCTOBER New champions were crowned at Snetterton in each of the British Racing & Sports Car Club’s Mazda MX-5 championships. The closest contest came in the Supercup for Mk3 machines, where Will Blackwell-Chambers added to his previous Mk1 crowns. He won Saturday’s opener after Ali Bray lost a maiden victory when his car failed technical scrutineering for non-compliant cam timing, but Bray has subsequently appealed the decision. Title challenger Colin Bysouth could only manage fourth as he struggled with understeer. New tyres ditched, and with further set-up tweaks, Bysouth’s car was transformed as he won race two. Starting sixth, he had overcome polesitter Blackwell-Chambers for the lead by half-distance. Seventh for the partially reversed finale, and with nine points to make up, Bysouth’s chances looked over when…

GT3 (76 laps) 1 Darren Leung/Alexander Sims (BMW M4); 2 Ian Loggie/Jules Gounon (Mercedes-AMG) +0.558s; 3 Morgan Tillbrook/Marcus Clutton (McLaren 720S); 4 Simon Orange/Michael O’Brien (McLaren); 5 Adam Balon/Sandy Mitchell (Lamborghini Huracan); 6 Mia Flewitt/Euan Hankey (McLaren). Fastest lap O’Brien 1m27.419s (102.43mph). Pole Richard and Sam Neary (Mercedes). Starters 15. Points 1 Loggie 162; 2 Balon/Mitchell 128.5; 3 Tillbrook/Clutton 123.5; 4 James Cottingham/Lewis Williamson (Mercedes) 114; 5 Gounon 92.5; 6 Alex Malykhin/James Dorlin (Lamborghini) 82. GT4 (71 laps) 1 Tom Edgar/Jordan Collard (Toyota GR Supra); 2 Richard Williams/Sennan Fielding (Audi R8 LMS, below) +16.902s; 3 Josh Miller/Jamie Day (Aston Martin Vantage); 4 Kavi Jundu/Moh Ritson (McLaren 570S); 5 Tom Rawlings/Chris Salkeld (BMW M4); 6 Adam Knight/Benji Hetherington (Porsche 718 Cayman). FL Edgar 1m35.170s (94.08mph). P Edgar/Collard. S 14. Points 1…

The maiden GB4 Championship season drew to a close at Donington Park, with Nikolas Taylor wrapping up the title. Continuing his fast but inconsistent form from the previous seven rounds, the Fortec Motorsports driver did things the hard way after a heavy shunt exiting Old Hairpin in qualifying. With his car repaired, Taylor lined up third for race one, and gained a spot before the start when Elite Motorsport’s polesitter Jack Sherwood slid into the gravel on the formation lap at Coppice. That left Tom Mills alone on the front row, and the Kevin Mills Racing driver went on to narrowly take his second win of the season ahead of Taylor and team-mate Jarrod Waberski. Ginetta Junior graduate Aqil Alibhai with Scorpio Motorsport claimed fourth on their debuts. Needing only…

SILVERSTONE BRSCC 15-16 OCTOBER With 151 cars split across just four of its club grids, the British Racing & Sports Car Club’s Super-Finale Weekend around Silverstone’s International Circuit was destined to be an entertaining, if sometimes frantic, affair. Yet, despite the prominence of cars from France, Germany and Japan, it was two timeless classics, whose lines were penned over 60 years ago, that stole the show. A brace of wins from Charlie Lower was not enough to prise Caterham’s Roadsport crown away from championship leader Geoff Newman. Arriving for the triple-header, Newman held a narrow advantage on dropped scores but, with Lower having used a previous DNF, the maths suggested that Newman’s margin might be more secure. Lower got away well in race one, the tricky conditions allowing the lead…

MALLORY PARK 750MC 16 OCTOBER Diving around the outside of Devil’s Elbow and sneaking into the lead through the narrowest of gaps is a bold move at any time. When it’s on the final lap of the penultimate race of the season, with the title on the line, and you’re already beating your main competitor, it’s even more of a gamble. But it paid off handsomely for Chris Dear in Classic Stock Hatch at Mallory Park last weekend. The Peugeot 205 driver got a brilliant run out of Shaw’s hairpin to make the dramatic pass on Lee Scott’s Ford Fiesta and win a thrilling first race by just 0.05 seconds – and take a massive step towards sealing the championship in a winner-takes-all final meeting against Pete Morgan. “I had…

BOOK REVIEW  RACING WITH RICH ENERGY Elizabeth Blackstock and Alanis King RRP £26 The saga surrounding Rich Energy and its short-lived foray into Formula 1 with Haas in 2019 stands as one of the championship’s more bizarre sponsorship stories. Through its repeated claims that it would beat Red Bull on-track to announcing on Twitter that it was cutting ties with Haas, Rich Energy and its CEO, William Storey, never did things conventionally. More than three years have passed since Rich Energy’s F1 exit, yet it remains deep within F1 fans’ consciousness thanks to its showcasing in Netflix’s Drive to Survive, and Storey’s continued presence on Twitter, with regular vows of a return to the grid that remain unrealised. It makes Racing with Rich Energy by Elizabeth Blackstock and Alanis King…

Jacques Laffite brings his Ligier-Matra JS7 to a halt by the Anderstorp pitwall to enjoy an ecstatic reception after delivering the Gallic squad its maiden win – and his own breakthrough result – in the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix. Laffite had qualified in eighth place, and at one point ran as far back as 11th, but as the race progressed he picked up steam and worked his way through the field, culminating in a five-lap spurt that took him from sixth to second behind the dominant Lotus-Ford 78 of Mario Andretti. And when the American was forced to pit two laps from home due to a fuel metering issue, the race was Laffite’s. For classic motorsport DVDs and downloads head to dukevideo.com For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…