Innehållsförteckning för 11/10/2022 från Autosport

A handful of so-so qualifying sessions, some fine George Russell performances plus a little bad luck with safety cars, and suddenly some people felt that Lewis Hamilton was past it. Of course, every sportsperson will eventually fade as their powers wane, but recent evidence suggests Hamilton has not yet reached that stage. In this week’s open and insightful interview (page 20), the seven-time world champion talks about how he got over the disappointment of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, his and the Mercedes team’s efforts to improve the difficult W13 this season, and how he sees the future. It’s clear from Matt Kew’s piece that, despite Hamilton’s 103 world championship race victories, the 37-year-old still loves his racing and is highly motivated to chase that eighth Formula 1 crown.…

SUPER FORMULA Anglo-South African Raoul Hyman is set to race in Super Formula next year after clinching the HPD scholarship for winning the Formula Regional Americas title last week. Hyman clinched the $600,000 prize by winning the opening race of the season finale at the Circuit of The Americas on Thursday, and is now poised to become part of Honda’s driver roster in Japan’s top single-seater series. He is expected to take part in Super Formula’s post-season rookie test at Suzuka on 7-8 December, although the identity of the team he will drive for is unclear. Hyman’s FR Americas triumph comes after a two-year hiatus from racing since he raced in FIA Formula 3 in 2019. He was set to race in Japan in 2020 in the Super Formula Lights…

LAMBO SUPER TROFEO Ex-Formula 1 driver and Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jr took victory in the annual Lamborghini Super Trofeo Grand Finals at the Algarve circuit last weekend with a win and a second place in the pair of 50-minute races. Piquet, who has contested the North American series this year for Ansa Motorsports, finished behind Bonaldi Motorsport pairing Loris Spinelli and Max Weering on Saturday before dominating on Sunday. “It’s an amazing feeling to win the title but it definitely wasn’t an easy race,” said Piquet, who had to fend off the Wayne Taylor Racing car of Danny Formal in the closing stages. “I asked my engineer to bleed the tyre pressure a bit more in the pitstop, but it wasn’t enough, so I was struggling in the…

OBITUARY Mauro Forghieri, who has died at the age of 87, is widely regarded as one of the key players in the history of Scuderia Ferrari. His stint with the company as technical director and both chassis and engine designer lasted from 1959 to 1987, encompassing some of its most memorable successes. He is credited by the team with an involvement in 54 grand prix wins and nine world championships. The fact that he survived for nearly three decades in an organisation noted for internal turmoil and a revolving door of top personnel says much about his close relationship with Enzo Ferrari. They didn’t always agree, but the Commendatore had a huge amount of respect for the younger man, and usually backed his vision. Forghieri was born in Modena in…

Ups and downs of Formula Ford I spectated all weekend at both the Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy. Some tremendous racing but also frustrations. At Brands the big problem was obviously the truncated final, which seems to largely be down to the BRSCC trying not to alter the timetable, even though the scheduled late time for the Grand Final meant there was absolutely no margin – as we all sadly found out. At Silverstone, the HSCC should be commended, firstly for having a more sensible time for the Grand Final, which allowed some flex, but also for shortening races to make sure the final was going to happen. This foresight proved invaluable when the heavens opened at lunchtime, preventing racing from restarting on time. But it wasn’t all…

MOTOGP VALENCIA (ESP) 6 NOVEMBER ROUND 20/20 The finale to the 2022 MotoGP season ended largely as predicted, for all of the championship’s best efforts to hype up ‘the decider’ between Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo at Valencia. Ducati star Bagnaia, despite five DNFs and a 91-point disadvantage as late into the season as the German Grand Prix in June, had everything in his favour to secure the title in Spain. He led outgoing champion Quartararo by 23 points and needed only to finish 14th, regardless of where the Yamaha rider was, to take the crown. Still, qualifying left the door cracked open for something to happen. Quartararo was fourth, Bagnaia eighth. The Frenchman had the best race pace in practice, but needed to lead to make that work; the…

A points deficit, success penalty and positions to be gained created an uphill challenge for the Steller Motorsport pairing of Sennan Fielding and Richard Williams at the British GT Donington Park finale. A constant battle to the end was a fitting way for the duo to take the British GT4 title, the pairing having generally been the class of the field in their Audi R8 LMS. But “lots of little things”, according to Fielding, meant they trailed the Newbridge Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage of Darren Turner and Matt Topham on points heading into the final round. “I feel like we’ve been so fast all year and then we’ve just had some slight misfortune throughout which has been really frustrating,” adds Fielding. “I feel like outright pace we’ve had a slight advantage.…

MINI CHALLENGE Mini Challenge race winner Ronan Pearson will continue in the series with Excelr8 Motorsport next year and will also enjoy an expanded role as the British Touring Car squad’s development driver. Pearson finished fourth in the standings with three wins this season, his third in the series. He is now targeting the title in 2023, with an eye on progressing to the BTCC the following year, and will get the chance to test one of Excelr8’s Hyundai i30 Ns for the first time. “This season I’ve shown that I am capable of winning races and putting together a championship challenge, and there is no doubt that the title has to be the goal for 2023,” he said. “I just need to keep working hard and hopefully we will…

TOCA SUPPORTS The Mini 7 Racing Club will make a return to the British Touring Car support bill at Thruxton next year. The classic Minis proved popular when they previously appeared at BTCC events at Thruxton in 2019 and Brands Hatch in 2020. The club will now be back on the bill in Hampshire after space was created by Ginetta’s decision to end its relationship with BTCC organiser TOCA and instead race at British GT fixtures next season. The June BTCC event is the highlight of M7RC’s calendar for the new season, which also features a return to Zandvoort in July alongside trips to Silverstone, Donington Park, Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Croft. “This is my 35th year with the club, and the calendar for 2023 looks one of the strongest…

BRITISH RALLYCROSS Patrick O’Donovan’s poor start in the semi-finals during round 10 of the British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy appeared to have ended his hopes of wrapping up the title with a round to spare. But the 18-year-old then delivered a performance at Lydden Hill that not only underlined why he is a deserving winner of the prestigious GB1 plate awarded to the British Rallycross title winner, but set him up for one of the most dominant final victories in modern rallycross history. O’Donovan had entered the final weekend of the campaign needing just 11 points to put the title out of reach of his rivals, and he took eight of the required score by securing the top qualifier position on Saturday. Having been left on the line in…

SILVERSTONE HSCC WALTER HAYES TROPHY 5-6 NOVEMBER It was an easy error to make, given the tricky wet conditions of the Walter Hayes Trophy final. Yet the seemingly innocuous moment of Max Esterson putting a wheel on the wet white line at Brooklands and running slightly wide proved to have huge significance to last weekend’s Silverstone event. That error allowed second-placed Tom Mills to draw alongside the leader around the outside into Luffield, only for GB3 driver Esterson to slide into the path of Mills, sending the GB4 racer into the gravel and ending his victory hopes. Then, over two hours after the final had concluded, it was the consequences of that original error that led to Esterson being penalised to fifth behind Mills in the provisional result, handing Joey…

WALTER HAYES TROPHY Heat 1 Julian van der Watt (Mygale SJ01) Heat 2 Max Esterson (Ray GR18) Heat 3 Joey Foster (Firman RFR20) Heat 4 Josh Fisher (Van Diemen RF99) Progression race Mike Epps (Ray GR18, above) Last Chance race Felix Fisher (Ray GR05) Semi-final 1 Joey Foster (Firman RFR20) Semi-final 2 Max Esterson (Ray GR18) Final (15 laps) 1 Foster; 2 Michael Eastwell (Spectrum 011C) +0.533s; 3 J Fisher; 4 Tom Mills (Spectrum KMR); 5 Esterson; 6 Lucas Romanek (Van Diemen JL13). Class winners Tom Bradshaw (Van Diemen RF91); Neil Fowler (March 709). Fastest lap Foster 1m08.857s (85.76mph). Pole Foster. Starters 36. JANET CESAR MEMORIAL TROPHY Pre-final Cameron Jackson (Van Diemen RF90) Final James Clarke (Van Diemen RF90, below) CARL HAMER TROPHY Pre-final & Final Neil Fowler (March 709)…

BOOK REVIEW ULTIMATE WORKS PORSCHE 962 – THE DEFINITIVE HISTORY Serge Vanbockryck RRP £850 Do you need another book about the Porsche 962 on your shelves? If you think the answer is no, better change your mind. That’s if you want to fork out £850 for this magnum opus by Serge Vanbockryck. But there’s another problem beyond the lofty price tag – this is Vanbockryck’s second work on the great Porsche prototype that started life as the 956 Group C car, and not the last if the Belgian completes his odyssey to write the definitive history. So, here, you’re not getting the full story of the seven-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner. This three-volume work amounting to 1400 pages, as the title Ultimate Works Porsche 962 – The Definitive History…

NASCAR got a taste of the worst and best of what Ty Gibbs has to offer in 2022, and it’s clear he has a path to be one of its future stars. Gibbs’s track record in NASCAR national series competition is relatively short, but his success cannot be questioned. A week after experiencing perhaps the lowest point of his racing career so far, he was enjoying his best last Saturday when he won the Xfinity Series season finale race at Phoenix Raceway, and with it the series championship. The victory was his seventh of the season and 11th from 51 Xfinity starts – a remarkable 22% winning rate from fewer than two full-time seasons. That joy was replaced by sorrow on Sunday, when the 20-year-old grandson of team owner Joe…

Japan is blessed with more than its fair share of hallowed racing venues, but perhaps one that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves is Autopolis. Nestled in the mountains on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four home islands, Autopolis requires a two-hour flight, followed by a one-hour drive, to be accessed from Tokyo. But according to Sacha Fenestraz, it’s well worth the trip. “It’s an amazing track,” enthuses the Toyota Super Formula and Super GT ace. “There are a lot of ups and downs, like a rollercoaster. After Turn 10 [an off-camber left-hand hairpin] you go down that massive downhill straight, then you have the crazy-fast downhill right-hander. Then that final sector has a lot of very tight corners, very harsh on the tyres. That’s where it’s important to manage…

WEC/IMSA Lamborghini will partner with the Iron Lynx team when it joins the top class of the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2024 with its new LMDh prototype. The Italian Prema team, now owned by Iron Lynx’s parent company, will be a key player in the programme. Iron Lynx will be the sole Lamborghini entrant with its as-yet-unnamed LMDh developed in conjunction with Ligier Automotive in 2024, a situation that will most likely extend into 2025. It is planning to field a single entry in each of the WEC and IMSA, though it is unclear whether the car will be ready in time for the Daytona 24 Hours at the start of the North American season. Iron Lynx has been confirmed as what is being billed…

NASCAR Jimmie Johnson will return to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2023 as an owner-driver after the seven-time champion agreed a deal to buy into the Petty GMS Racing squad. Johnson, who won all of his Cup titles with Hendrick Motorsports, has focused on IndyCar racing and selected IMSA SportsCar outings in the past two years since bringing his NASCAR career to a close in 2020. The 47-year-old announced in September that he would step back from full-time competition next year and would not return to IndyCar with Chip Ganassi Racing. He has now entered an ownership agreement with Maury Gallagher and chairman Richard Petty at the Petty GMS organisation. The team currently fields the famed #43 Chevrolet driven by Erik Jones, while Xfinity Series runner-up Noah Gragson will replace…

WRC Esapekka Lappi appears set to join Hyundai’s World Rally Championship squad from Toyota as a replacement for the departing Ott Tanak for 2023. After losing a drive at M-Sport in 2020, Lappi returned to the WRC’s top tier this season, sharing Toyota’s third GR Yaris with eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier. The 31-year-old Finn impressed many by scoring three podiums from his seven events. He appeared likely to continue in his part-time role with Toyota into next year after confirming that negotiations were under way following his last outing of 2022 in Greece in September. Toyota boss Jari-Matti Latvala had also voiced plans to retain the team’s driver line-up for 2023. But confirmation that 2019 world champion Tanak had exercised a clause to end his contract with Hyundai a…

FORMULA 2/3 Formula 3 will return to the Monaco Grand Prix undercard for the first time since 2005 next season. That’s the big news after the 2023 schedules for the twin FIA Formula 2 and F3 championships were announced. The Monaco F3 GP was the category’s most prestigious European event from the 1960s until the early 1990s, and continued until 1997. Eight years later, the Euro Series earned a one-off slot at Monte Carlo. GP3, the predecessor to FIA F3, also made one visit to Monaco, in 2012. It increases the calendar from nine rounds to 10 for F3, which appears to be taking the Monaco slot hitherto occupied by the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine and also makes a long-haul trip to the Australian GP for the first…

The 2022 Formula 1 season is nearly over. The main narratives are already closed, with the two titles sealed. But there’s one story that’s rather gone missing from F1 overall in 2022. It’s the nomenclature surrounding previous team success splits that was also a divide on budgets: ‘Class A’ versus ‘Class B’. As the only official F1 Class B recognition is the 1987 Jim Clark Trophy – contested by drivers not running turbocharged engines and claimed by Tyrrell’s Jonathan Palmer – we can trace the recent philosophical class divide to comments made by Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. Back in 2018, the Dane, noting that only Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull drivers had won races in the previous four years, said he was “kind of creating this big championship in my…

Without suffering a puncture apiece at Spa, there’s a case to be made that either one of Lucas Auer or Rene Rast could have been the 2022 DTM champion. In race one, where eventual champion Sheldon van der Linde languished outside the points, Winward Mercedes driver Auer was running second behind Dennis Olsen’s Porsche when his front-left tyre gave up. That cost him a likely haul of 18 points, which would have given the Austrian the title by seven points. Three-time champion Rast’s case is less strong. His Abt Audi was running third in race two – although a five-second penalty due to be added to his race time for earlier contact with Nick Cassidy means the position wasn’t assured – when his left-rear failed. Add the 15 points he…

NASCAR CUP PHOENIX (USA) 6 NOVEMBER ROUND 36/36 Joey Logano rallied to win last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series finale at Phoenix and with it claimed his second championship. The title – Logano’s first came in 2018 – also handed team owner Roger Penske the IndyCar (taken by Will Power) and NASCAR championships in the same season for the first time. Logano ran third on the final restart on lap 280 of 312 but his Ford had been dominant for much of the race, and he ran down and passed leader Chase Briscoe with 29 laps to go. From there, Logano had to hold off his team-mate Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain, the closest of the four title contenders, whose Trackhouse Chevrolet was the fastest car on the track at the…

“Today it was a Benny Hill show and we still finished second. It just shows that you never give up, keep going.” The opening laps for Ian Loggie at the British GT Donington Park finale, which included a first-corner excursion and a harmless spin a few tours later, may have been somewhat comical, but there was nothing funny about the situation for the Scot in search of the GT3 title. But it was a testament to the RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG driver’s grit and determination that with perseverance, and a little luck, he was able to relay to team-mate Jules Gounon with the car in an unlikely second place – more than enough for Loggie’s maiden British GT Championship success. Loggie had signalled his intent to win the title, which had…

SENNAN FIELDING 1 Never qualifying outside the top three all season was a testament to his speed and consistency. Displayed fantastic racecraft following several setbacks, the culmination being his hard, but fair, overtake on Turner in the first Snetterton race. Earned the title at Donington finale with more on-track overtaking moves. JAMIE DAY 2 Brilliant maiden season for the 17-year-old, which culminated in two wins at Snetterton I and Spa, as well as two further podiums. Made fewer mistakes than team-mate Miller and was generally the faster of the two in races, which included impressive passes for the lead at Spa and Brands. DARREN TURNER 3 A solid if unspectacular performer all season, Turner used vast experience to good effect. Ensured victory at Silverstone and managed gap to Fielding at…

The GB4 Championship joined the UK’s single-seater ranks in 2022 with the aim of being a low-cost entry-level alternative. While grid numbers were mostly modest, the series – using older generation Tatuus Formula 4 chassis – delivered some spectacular racing, and there is optimism it will grow in 2023. Nikolas Taylor emerged as the winner from a 12-car field in the inaugural race at Snetterton, but the Fortec Motorsports driver faced early season competition from Elite Motorsport’s Alex Walker, who won three of the next four races. Walker’s surprise mid-season withdrawal should have made the title a formality for Taylor. Despite taking an emphatic hat-trick of wins at Silverstone in July, crashes from the lead at both Snetterton and Brands Hatch, as well as a heavy qualifying shunt at the…

MSVR Ferrari restoration, servicing and sales specialist Bell Sport & Classic is planning to launch its own one-make race series next year open to all paddleshift Ferrari Challenge cars. The new category will cater for a range of models from the 360 Challenge through to the latest 488 Evo machines, with dedicated classes for each. Races of around 30 minutes are planned, and a calendar is being assembled with support from MotorSport Vision Racing. It is intended that the Bell Sport Challenge will sit below the Ferrari Challenge UK series and will be focused on a different market, while featuring newer cars than those in the Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic competition. Tyre usage is likely to be restricted in a bid to keep costs down, while qualifying and two races…

CIRCUIT RALLY Frank Bird and Jack Morton’s Ford Fiesta Rally2 was never headed in last Saturday’s Neil Howard Stages Rally at Oulton Park, the MGJ Engineering Circuit Rally Championship opener. Bird mastered the mixture of wet and greasy conditions to consolidate his lead over day-long pursuers Steve Simpson/Chris Williams’ similar car. Fastest on six of the eight stages, Bird “nearly lost it” after hitting a bump on a gravel section during the penultimate test, with Simpson spinning and stalling on the stage. Two penalties lost Joe Cunningham/Josh Beer’s Fiesta an early third place before a gearbox failure after stage five ended their day early. Kevin Procter/Laura Connell’s Fiesta retained third from stage four, despite being penalised too, while John Griffiths/Emma Morrison’s Fiesta took fourth having earlier lost boost.…

MORANS TOP OF THE HILL The Skoda Fabia R5 rally car of Roger and Scott Moran dominated Rallye Prescott last Saturday. The hillclimb event, run primarily for rally cars, took competition into the darkness on Saturday evening, as six-time British Hillclimb champion Scott beat his father Roger by three quarters of a second to the best time of the day. PODIUM ON DEBUT ‘Frankie Wilde’ enjoyed his car racing debut at Silverstone last weekend, finishing second in the first Closed-Wheel Allcomers race in a BMW M3, having previously run cars at the event. “I was always putting off getting my licence,” he said. “I can’t really explain the emotions [of debut podium]. It’s a good piece of kit on good tyres, so I can’t take all the credit!” WHITE’S UPHILL…

Whatever decision the National Court makes in respect of the result of the Grand Final, the eventual WHT winner started their weekend with a perfect Saturday, with both Max Esterson and Joey Foster claiming pole position and victory in their heats. Esterson had perhaps the toughest heat draw, but also the most resounding margin in qualifying – he was 0.8 seconds faster than South African Andrew Rackstraw’s Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum. They were closer than that into Copse for the first time, though, making contact and spinning to allow Team USA Scholarship Ray GR17 driver William Ferguson into a temporary lead. While Rackstraw had to make a big effort to climb back to an eventual fourth, Esterson had retaken the lead by Becketts on the second lap – despite dropping…

While the Grand Final was, for the most part, quite a cagey affair, some of the best racing of the weekend came in the semi-final contests. These followed the theme of the event with wins for Joey Foster and Max Esterson – but they had to work for those triumphs. Foster briefly lost the lead at the start of the first semi-final to fellow front-row man Julian van der Watt but powered back ahead approaching Becketts. Further back, contact sent Ben Mitchell spearing hard into the barriers exiting Copse and that ended the Van Diemen JL16 driver’s event after he was on the podium last year. He was not the only frontrunner dropping out of contention on the first lap – Shawn Rashid spun his Ray at Brooklands and could…

The Williams team’s trio of FW09s (for Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite, plus spare) are prepped in the makeshift pit area during the weekend of the 1984 Detroit Grand Prix. Laffite and Rosberg qualified their ill-handing machines 19th and 21st respectively on the 26-car grid, both more than five seconds off the pole time of Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW BT53). In a race of high attrition, a typically doughty Rosberg had made it up to fourth before his turbo failed; Laffite finished sixth and last car running, which later became fifth after star of the afternoon Martin Brundle (Tyrrell-Ford 012) was disqualified from second place. For classic motorsport DVDs and downloads head to dukevideo.com For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

FORMULA 1 Aston Martin has recruited Stoffel Vandoorne as a test and reserve driver for the 2023 Formula 1 season, roles he will share with recently crowned FIA F2 champion Felipe Drugovich. This deal is intriguing because it hints at other moves in the grand prix paddock. Since winning the 2022 Formula E title with Mercedes, Vandoorne has cut ties with the squad to join the DS Penske team in the electric series. And now that Nyck de Vries has been poached by AlphaTauri for next season, the Silver Arrows are without a supersub should Lewis Hamilton or George Russell have to miss a race. That would seemingly pave the way for Daniel Ricciardo to take a third-driver role – a move that is widely mooted, although Mercedes insists nothing…

WEC Formula E racers Stoffel Vandoorne and Maximilian Guenther will drive the Peugeot 9X8 at the World Endurance Championship ‘rookie’ test this Sunday in Bahrain. The duo are coming in to sample the Le Mans Hypercar from the French manufacturer’s sister brands, DS and Maserati, for which they will race in the coming FE season. The significance of their appearances with Peugeot at the test on the day after the 2022 WEC finale remains unclear for the moment. Peugeot Sport boss Jean-Marc Finot has stated that the marque will go into next season with a squad of seven drivers, as it was in 2022 prior to Kevin Magnussen’s late defection to Formula 1 with Haas. James Rossiter, Peugeot’s official reserve who stood in for the Dane on the 9X8’s first…

BTCC The British Touring Car Championship has tweaked its hybrid deployment rules for 2023, its second season with the system. Drivers will now only be able to use hybrid for 50% of the racing laps, while restrictions on usage previously applied to the top 10 in the championship or previous race will now affect only the top seven. Furthermore, the minimum speed at which hybrid can be deployed has been cut from 120km/h (75mph) to 115, although for the top seven it has been raised: 135km/h for the top three in points or the previous race; 130 for fourth and fifth; and 125km/h for sixth and seventh. Series boss Alan Gow explained that the recommendations had emanated from a BTCC Sporting Working Group comprising two drivers, including 2022 champion Tom…

UK START TIMES Friday 11 November FP1 1530 QUALIFYING 1900 Saturday 12 November FP2 1530 SPRINT RACE 1930 Sunday 13 November RACE 1800 CATCH THE RACE LIVE SKY SPORTS F1 HIGHLIGHTS CHANNEL 4 2255 TYRE ALLOCATION CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS Drivers Constructors INTERLAGOS STATS Previous winners Interlagos points tallies Hamilton 155 Vettel 154 Alonso 114 Verstappen 90 Bottas 57 Perez 38 Ricciardo 33 Sainz 32 Gasly 24 Leclerc 16…

Daniel Ricciardo is poised to make a calculated gamble. In only two races’ time, he will hit pause on his frontline racing career to seemingly occupy a third driver role. That spell on the sidelines, he hopes, will better position him to bag a plum seat for 2024. The Australian, bought out of his McLaren contract a year ahead of schedule owing to his current nadir, has admitted to being caught a little off guard by the madness of the driver market silly season just gone. And with Alpine unwilling to reunite with an old flame, while Ricciardo didn’t fancy plying his trade towards the back of the grid at Williams or Haas, suddenly his options to retain a race seat looked a little lean. While Mercedes insists nothing is…

“The best thing of 2022 in motor racing!” Fernando Alonso spoke for many after Ross Chastain’s ‘Hail Melon’ move at Martinsville – Chastain freely admits he put more thought into naming it than the move itself, which quickly went viral on social media. Part inspiration, part insanity: if you haven’t seen it already, Chastain didn’t lift off, didn’t even brake for Turn 3 on the final lap of the recent NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race, but instead kept his throttle foot nailed to the boards and actually changed up to top gear – traditionally never used at NASCAR’s tightest track. Chastain deliberately drove into the SAFER barrier to rim-ride the turn as fast as he possibly could, and in doing so made the cut for the Championship Four finale last…

SHELDON VAN DER LINDE 1 Lausitzring clean sweep was foundation of his title bid, van der Linde the only driver to win more than twice. Took his opportunities to score big points when they came and kept out of trouble that dogged his rivals – see Nurburgring. LUCAS AUER 2 The form man in the season’s second half, he closed to two points from van der Linde before final race. Would have been champion without Spa race one puncture while second. Shaded 2021 champion Max Gotz at Winward. RENE RAST 3 Back after a year away, the triple champion took time adjusting to GT3 format but grew into the year’s standout Audi driver. Victorious at Imola, he topped qualifying a season-high four times (though lost one to a penalty). MIRKO…

SUPER GT MOTEGI (JPN) 6 NOVEMBER ROUND 8/8 Nissan ended its Super GT title drought when Team Impul drivers Bertrand Baguette and Kazuki Hiramine were crowned champions in a dramatic season finale at Motegi. Baguette and Hiramine had trailed NDDP Nissan pair Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi by 2.5 points, but second place behind the race-winning Team Kunimitsu Honda was enough to overturn the deficit and secure a first Impul title since 1995. Kunimitsu pair Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino had a straightforward run from pole to a first win of the season, but all eyes were on Baguette and Chiyo on the second row of the grid. Chiyo made a critical error when contact with Tomoki Nojiri’s ARTA Honda NSX-GT at Turn 5 on the opening lap earned him…

SANDY MITCHELL 1 Stunning Silverstone qualifying lap set him and team-mate Balon on course for the win, with further Pro pole coming at Spa. Neat pass on Macleod gave Balon chance of Snetterton II victory, while consistently strong race pace brought title within reach. Low point was silly collision exiting pits at Donington Park I. IAN LOGGIE 2 Finally secured long-coveted GT3 title through consistency and generally staying out of trouble. Drove well to win Oulton Park II and first Snetterton race after taking pole. Contact with Balon at Brands Hatch and harmless spin in Donington finale only blemishes for a worthy champion. MARCUS CLUTTON 3 Generally went under the radar but was a safe pair of hands and got the job done at Donington I – after taking Pro…

The raw statistics suggest Luke Browning was never troubled on his way to winning the 2022 GB3 Championship, living up to his pre-season tag as title favourite. With more wins, podiums and laps led than his rivals, the Briton earned the title, but the story of the season is one of a hard-fought, season-long championship battle. The 2020 British Formula 4 champion had decided against the category last term, instead focusing on the German F4 series – finishing third – while his former F4 rival Zak O’Sullivan took the GB3 title in convincing style. Despite a win at Oulton Park in a one-off appearance with Fortec Motorsports last year, Browning’s decision to commit to a full-time GB3 campaign with Hitech GP in 2022 seemed like a sideways career move at…

TOURING CARS A touring car festival headlined by Super Touring cars of the 1990s will be staged at Brands Hatch next year. Super Touring Power will take place on 1-2 July with one day on each of the venue’s Grand Prix and Indy circuits. The event, organised by Brands Hatch owner MotorSport Vision in conjunction with the Classic Touring Car Racing Club, builds on interest generated by the CTCRC’s new-for-2022 Super Tourers series. It will celebrate 65 years since the start of the British Touring Car Championship in 1958 with the club’s championships for earlier Pre-’66, Group 1 and Group A touring cars set to feature prominently alongside the Super Tourers. In addition to the CTCRC’s eight categories – supplemented on the Grand Prix layout on Saturday by MotorSport Vision…

BRITISH F4 Ginetta Junior runner-up Will Macintyre will join fellow race winner Kanato Le in driving for Hitech GP in British Formula 4 next year. Macintyre (right) impressed in his maiden car racing campaign this season, taking six wins with Elite Motorsport and winning the rookie class. He also enjoyed his first single-seater experience with the team in the GB4 finale, taking two second places. His move to Hitech means he arrives at the team that powered Alex Dunne to the title in its maiden year in the series. “I am really looking forward to racing with Hitech in British F4,” he said. “Their results last season were brilliant and it’s clear for me that this was the right team to drive with, as they not only help develop me…

GOODWOOD AND LE MANS Alongside commemorating various anniversaries of its own in 2023, Goodwood has announced that a special 100 years of the Le Mans 24 Hours celebration will be held at next year’s Festival of Speed. “I’m already looking forward to seeing the greatest collection of Le Mans cars and drivers that we’ve ever had at Goodwood in action on the Hill next year – it’s going to be spectacular!” said the Duke of Richmond. LONDON TO BRIGHTON RUN Almost 350 pre-1905 cars braved the elements for the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run last weekend. Among those taking part in the event included former Formula 1 racer Max Chilton at the wheel of a 1901 Pope Waverley. Also involved were actor Rowan Atkinson in an 1893 Salvesen…

WALTER HAYES TROPHY A remarkable spectrum of cars and stellar giant-slaying performances characterised last weekend’s Walter Hayes Trophy support programme at a wet Silverstone. The Historic Sports Car Club’s Closed-Wheel races were fully subscribed, and front-wheel drive was king on Saturday as Tony Absolom dominated in his Vauxhall Cavalier. Debutant ‘Frankie Wilde’ (BMW E36 M3) led the distant chase as Mike Williams (Rover Metro) passed Steve Watton (Turner) for third. A Metro GTI lapping within four seconds of winner Chris Fox’s Cosworth DFV-powered Lola T282 in Sunday’s sequel was priceless, but Jack Ashton defied all odds, finishing third behind Absolom. Graham Charman started his Juno from the back in the Pumpkin Smash race after missing qualifying while its Ford Duratec engine’s exhaust manifold was repaired. Chris Hodgen (Porsche Cayman GT4)…

There is no disputing that the end-of-season knockout Formula Ford 1600 showpieces are brilliant events. Close racing, entry lists packed with potential winners, and more than a fair share of drama are the perfect ingredients for an entertaining weekend. And there is usually a dose of controversy, too. But, sadly, this last element – in a variety of forms – has either threatened to overshadow, or actually has overshadowed, the past three events. Last year’s Walter Hayes Trophy final was delayed by over 45 minutes with cars waiting in the assembly area and eager spectators clueless as to what was happening amid ongoing appeals and hearings into incidents from earlier races. It was fortunate that there was even time for a final at all before darkness descended. There was no…

On a weekend when the Walter Hayes Trophy seemingly got its first four-time victor, there were celebrations too for its very first winner, when Neil Fowler took the honours in the Carl Hamer Trophy for pre-1982 cars. There had been eager anticipation of a great scrap in Saturday’s pre-final, with Fowler – in the March 709 campaigned by Ross Drybrough this season – lining up against 2017 and 2019 winner Richard Tarling in the SDC Builders-livered Royale RP26. But the battle got no further than the first corner, with a light touch between the two cars breaking the Royale’s steering. Fowler didn’t look back for the remainder of the two races, taking a comfortable win in Sunday’s main race after a two-year layoff from FF1600. Matt Wrigley and Ben Tinkler,…

BRANDS HATCH BARC 5-6 NOVEMBER A high-quality, 19-race programme building up to Brands Hatch’s celebrated fireworks display drew a sell-out crowd on Sunday despite conditions, which were never less than damp and sometimes verged on the impossible. Despite the weather, champions were crowned among the heavyweight trucks as well as their smaller Pickup cousins, in the national Legends series and for two different kinds of Minis. Two commanding wins on Saturday wrapped up Ryan Smith’s seventh British Truck racing title in succession. The Midlander came to Kent as favourite and took both opening races from pole, although some of his rivals complicated things by prompting red flags each time. Race one was stopped twice, the first time after a clash at Clearways and the second when Smith’s leading points rival,…