© GP2 Media Services
Joylon Palmer headed the sole GP2 Series practice ahead of today’s qualifying session at Monza.
Under searing sunshine, the Carlin racer secured the top spot with a best of 1:32.120 in the final ten minutes, displacing Racing Engineering’s Fabio Leimer who headed much of the session.
Sam Bird and Stephane Richelmi made it four different teams in the top four positions, placing their RUSSIAN TIME and DAMS machine 3rd and 4th respectively, while Bird’s teammate Tom Dillmann rounded out the top five, just one-thousandth off of Richelmi’s pace.
Series points leader Stefano Coletti recorded the 6th best time in his Rapax ahead of Julian Leal and Simon Trummer, while a confident Marcus Ericsson took, despite an apparent electrical issue that ended his session prematurely.. Alexander Rossi was the only Caterham in the top ten.
There was an early, but brief, red flag period when Johnny Cecotto Jr spun onto the circuit after running wide at the Parabolica. Coletti also experienced some woes when he clipped the rear of Cecotto Jr, breaking his from wing in the process, necessitating a lengthy stop.
Sergio Canamasas brought his session to an early conclusion when he spun off at the Ascari chicane.
2013 GP2 Series (Rd 9, Free Practice 1) Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1m32.120s 12 2. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m32.123s +0.003 11 3. Sam Bird Russian Time 1m32.351s +0.231 11 4. Stefano Richelmi DAMS 1m32.501s +0.381 13 5. Tom Dillmann Russian Time 1m32.502s +0.382 10 6. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m32.532s +0.412 12 7. Julian Leal Racing Engineering 1m32.586s +0.466 11 8. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m32.634s +0.514 13 9. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1m32.711s +0.591 12 10. Alexander Rossi Caterham 1m32.743s +0.623 12 11. James Calado ART 1m32.863s +0.743 13 12. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Hilmer 1m32.877s +0.757 13 13. Mitch Evans Arden 1m32.951s +0.831 12 14. Dani Clos MP Motorsport 1m32.966s +0.846 11 15. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m33.029s +0.909 12 16. Jake Rosenzweig Addax 1m33.045s +0.925 11 17. Jon Lancaster Hilmer 1m33.067s +0.947 12 18. Daniel Abt ART 1m33.092s +0.972 13 19. Rio Haryanto Addax 1m33.172s +1.052 10 20. Nathanael Berthon Trident 1m33.174s +1.054 13 21. Sergio Canamasas Caterham 1m33.369s +1.249 11 22. Johnny Cecotto Jr. Arden 1m33.389s +1.269 11 23. Daniel de Jong MP Motorsport 1m33.447s +1.327 12 24. Vittorio Ghirelli Lazarus 1m33.465s +1.345 13 25. Rene Binder Lazarus 1m33.943s +1.823 12 26. Sergio Campana Trident 1m34.448s +2.328 12
This week has seen a number of driver announcements and movements played out in a number of motorsport stables, most notable the much-anticipated revelation that Daniel Ricciardo will be joining Red Bull next season.
The Australian replaces Mark Webber, who will be moving to the Porsche LMP1 squad next year as they return to the World Endurance Championship to tackle Audi and Toyota.
Ricciardo, who raced for Toro Rosso and the now defunct HRT in Formula One will take up position alongside three-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel with the Renault-powered team.
The Australian has scored a best finish of 7th in just over two seasons of Formula One competition, having arrived in the category as 2009 British Formula 3 champion and 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 Series runner-up.
The 24-year-old Ricciardo has also made his mark with some stellar qualifying runs, only to drop back in Grand Prix as the realities of his a lacking Toro Rosso machine became apparent.
At this stage, it is believed at this stage that Ricciardo’s replacement at the Red Bull junior team is to be Antonio Felix da Costa. The Portuguese racer – a veteran of Formula Renault 3.5 and GP3, as well as being a Macau Grand Prix winner – has impressed many with his speed; however an often luckless and frail campaign with the Arden Caterham squad has dropped da Costa away from the top series battle.
Should da Costa make the move up, it is looking increasingly likely that Carlos Sainz Jr will slot into a full-time FR3.5 drive next season. As well as a full-season GP3 drive with MW Arden, the Spaniard pilot has taken on occasional FR3.5 races with the Zeta Corse team and is set to complete the season with the Italian team.
Whether Daniil Kvyat is promoted to the FR3.5 Series alongside his Spanish compatriot remains to be seen, but the Russian racer’s striking pace and GP3 race one victory at Spa-Francorchamps two weeks ago, will not have gone unnoticed.
In GP2, Robin Frijns’ 2013 season appears to have drawn to a premature close. The Dutch racer has separated from both Hilmer Motorsport (to be replaced by Jon Lancaster, who only discovered of the drive on Wednesday) and has also lost his Sauber reserve driver role in the process. It is a great shame for the reigning FR3.5 champion, who delivered Hilmer’s first GP2 victory in only their third weekend of competition at Barcelona in May.
The move comes as Sauber look to prepare Russian youngster Sergey Sirotkin with an opportunity to either be the reserve driver or take the second seat with the Swiss team next season.
Beyond the GP2/3 Series fold, FIA European F3 driver Sven Muller has split from the ma-con team and moved across to the Van Amersfoort camp for the remainder of the season. Muller will take up the car left vacant by Mans Grenhagen, while ma-con have yet to announce a second pilot for the Zandvoort round.
Following last weekend’s opening GP3 Series race at Spa-Francorchamps, it was no surprise to see several penalties issued due to avoidable contact.
Yet the penalties – ten-place grid drops for Jack Harvey and Adderly Fong and a five-place demotion for Emanuele Zonzini; all for race two – did little to penalise any of the drivers involved.
The crash strewn event ensured that Harvey and Fong were classified as retired, but listed as 22nd and 25th finishers. With the race two grid largely formed by the results of race one, the punishments were always going to be softened to a degree.
In the end, following their ten-place penalty, Harvey and Fong were made to start from 27th and 26th respectively. Meanwhile Zonzini, who had been classified 27th and last, ended up being promoted to 25th on the grid for race two due to the penalties handed to Harvey and Fong.
While there is no doubt the penalties handed down to the trio were entirely justified, one must surely question the point of these sanctions, when their powers are so severely limited.
It may make more sense to pass any penalties onto the next event’s opening race, where practice and qualifying play such a pivotal role.
For now, that seems unlikely to change.
Thoughts are of course welcome as always.
DTM (Rd 7, Nurburgring)
Check out this weeks DTM report in Motorsport Monday.
FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 7, Nurburgring)
Ferrari protégé Raffaele Marciello registered a near perfect FIA European F3 Championship weekend at the Nurburgring to secure a commanding points lead with three rounds remaining. The Italian scored three wins from three poles, although the Prema Powerteam racer only managed two fastest laps, increasing his lead over Felix Rosenqvist to 72.5 points.
Marciello was away from the opening race, in which he created an impressive 6.1s gap to runner-up Alexander Sims. The Prema was never under threat – an early battle between Sims and Rosenqvist ensured Marciello had a solid gap, before Rosenqvist dropped back to the clutches of Jordan King, allowing Sims to build a gap of his own. The leading positions did not change from there, although King stuck to the rear of Rosenqvist to the flag; however the Swede held firm to take 3rd. Lucas Auer came home 5th – just over 14.5s adrift of Marciello – with the Austrian leading Pipo Derani (6th) and Michael Lewis (7th) for the duration. Sven Muller enjoyed a race long battle for 8th with Felix Serralles and Daniil Kvyat, only for a mistake on lap 18 by Muller to hand the advantage to Serralles and then Kvyat. Harry Tincknell took 11th and the final point.
Marciello did much of the same in race two; however the Italian also had to face a mid-race safety car period. From the start Marciello drew away, while Derani took 2nd thanks to a pass on Sims in the opening turn following a stall by Rosenqvist. Marciello was pulling away when Roy Nissany spun clumsily and was collected by Lucas Wolf, but that proved to be no problem for Marciello, who had built a 5.4s lead at the end. Derani held Sims and King in check for the duration, while Auer claimed a credible 5th.
Muller stayed ahead of a charging Alex Lynn, after the latter put in a top performance from 13th on the grid. Serralles claimed 8th – he was several seconds up on Rosenqvist, who recovered to 9th, helped by late race moves on Tincknell, Lewis, Tom Blomqvist and Kvyat.
On Sunday, Marciello confirmed his dominance with another lights-to-flag victory. The Prema man led home teammate Auer, after the Austrian streaked ahead of Rosenqvist off the line. In his desperation to recover, Rosenqvist ran wide at turn one, gifting 3rd to Derani, while Tincknell passed shortly afterward. Meanwhile, Marciello charged away, building a handy 3.2s second lead after 25 laps to claim full points. Although he fell behind Marciello, Auer streaked away from Derani, with the latter enjoying his best European F3 weekend. Tincknell held 4th, but only after soaking up race long pressure from Rosenqvist and Lynn, while secured another 7th spot. Mitch Gilbert finished 8th to earn his first points of the season ahead of Eddie Cheever III and Antonio Giovinazzi. Two first lap incidents necessitated an early safety car – firstly a collision between King and Blomqvist damaged both and also clattered Muller and Spike Goddard, while Sims, Serralles and Kvyat made contact in turn two.
Who knows? Maybe the good ol’ days were not as good as we like to remember.
James Hunt, 1982 German Grand Prix:
“It is really a shame that we have had such a processional race today. [Patrick] Tambay is following Keke Rosberg who is the third place man and is about to lap him and that now rather underlines the very big gap we’ve got between the turbocharged cars and the normally aspirated.
“It does come a point where Formula One has to look pretty carefully about changing their regulations to try and get things a little more equal, because as we see now for the third race running, we have basically been faced with a crushing bore as far as close motor racing is concerned.”
Ratel speaking to the press at Spa. © V-Images.com / Fabre
When this year’s original British Formula 3 Series calendar was truncated to a mere four rounds in January, many commentators declared the famed championship dead and buried.
Yet series promoters SRO and several notable members of the paddock are less willing to see one of the oldest Formula 3 championships slip quietly into history.
“There have been tough times, but it will continue, we will carry the flag and even if it’s difficult for a couple of more years, we will be there.” – strong words indeed from Stephane Ratel, founder and CEO of SRO Motorsports Group, when he addressed a crowded press conference at Spa-Francorchamps last week.
While SRO have successfully grown GT-based championships, such as the Blancpain Endurance Series and the British GT Series, the promoter has struggled in recent seasons to keep British F3 both relevant and afloat.
Territories and the FIA
As costs continued to rise considerably in recent years, British F3 began to look like a less and less attractive option for drivers who were tight on budget.
Strong showings throughout the vast array European Formula Renault categories did not help matters, while the new-for-2010 GP3 Series managed to compound British F3’s problems. On the continent, FIA single-seater president Gerhard Berger backed the DMSB (German Motor Racing Association) run F3 Euro Series, with that category officially becoming the European Championship at the end of last year.
Berger’s assertion last summer that national championships should remain national in nature in order to maintain Formula 3 certainly gave notice to FIA’s intentions; something the former-Ferrari and McLaren Formula One driver spoke of again at Silverstone in April: “The ideal scenario would be three to four national championships – let’s say England, France, Spain and Germany – and one international championship,” before adding “Championships with eight cars, twelve cars, old cars, new cars, one engine or another engine – these are not championships, it’s rubbish.”
Reworked calendars
With a calendar that originally boasted five UK rounds and five (later reduced to four) international trips, British F3 attracted little driver interest with only a handful of driver confirmations by January, prompting SRO to axe a majority of the rounds, leaving only four meetings for this year.
For Ratel, this decision was pivotal in keeping the series alive long enough to regroup. “We have decided now that with the FIA European Championship, there is no point having another international series and [British F3] will revert to what it was before, which is a pure British F3 championship with five races in the UK and one race at Spa.” The Frenchman also commented: “There is no point competing against it. With only six events, it should greatly lower the costs to less than half of the FIA championship for drivers with no budget.”
Berger, meanwhile, believes that costs levied to drivers and sponsors in recent seasons had simply become too prohibitive to be workable. “You look at the British championship in the past, it was £600,000-700,000. One big part of that is logistic costs – if you do exactly the same with one race less or two races less and stayed just in Britain, you should be able, with the same regulations, to do something for €50,000 less.”
“Doing this matches what some of the teams need,” notes Peter Briggs, chairman of the Formula Three Teams Association (FOTA). An experienced hand in the motorsport world, Briggs has seen the British F3 series in similar states over the years. With authority, he added, “We need six [rounds] to make it a viable business proposition – any less that that and it’s hard for a team to set it up and a lot of [UK-based] teams were unsure about travelling abroad a lot.”
Commenting on Autosport.com {note 1} this week, MotorSport Vision (MSV) chief executive Dr Jonathan Palmer believes there is potential in a more UK-centric British F3, with the former Grand Prix driver suggesting eight meeting, including four at MSV owned properties. Palmer also sees the possibility in working with SRO should the latter desire. “I want someone to run British F3 to make it healthy. It doesn’t have to be us, but MSV are very happy to do it and I’d like to because I have big history with F3. I believe we can do it and we’d enjoy the challenge.”
Kits and internals
The calendar was not the only area where budgets were being examined. The equipment being used also came under scrutiny and it is here that some of the more drastic alterations have been made.
Ratel explains: “We have decided to run this year’s engines next year with the new chassis and the older chassis and we are confident that this news will bring a lower budget for drivers and make it a Formula 3 for drivers who not have the budget for FIA F3 and also give F3 experience with a limited calendar and limited costs in the UK. [The teams] have old chassis, so it is good that they can use them.”
Elaborating on this, Briggs believes, “Logically we should be using the FIA engine, but I think next year it will be too new, because the cost of the kits, plus the lease of the engine. It is why we have decided to stay with the old engines. They are readily available and can be supplied quite cheaply, because they have been written off by the manufacturers over the years – in theory, they should be quite cheap.”
However, when asked earlier on this year whether such a plan is workable – or favourable – Berger was somewhat sceptical to say the least. “I can smell that there are some people trying to be clever and putting some engine in the back […] and saying that will cost £350,000 and this is the wrong. It does not make sense at all to have a car, a race team and everything set for a […] championship and then there’s a European championship race, but they cannot participate, because they don’t have they right car.”
The ten-time Grand Prix winner also went on to say: “I want all exactly the same chassis. We are doing four-year windows now – the next four years, we are going to be very careful that we do not do any big steps.”
Parts and industry
Yet, despite that scepticism, team owners, such as Trevor Carlin (Carlin Motorsport) and Hywel Lloyd (CF Racing), have welcomed SRO’s plans, with Carlin noting that, “The reason the [engine allowance] makes sense is not because of the engine, but the electronics. If you want to run the new engine in the old car, it costs £30,000 for the electronics.” The team boss also said, “The car is only worth £30,000 and we all own the electronics for the old chassis. It is already in stock and only costs around £10,000; so if someone wants to buy a car and electronics, it will only cost them £40,000. We need to use up the old stuff to get the championship moving.”
Briggs also foresees potential supply issues for the new FIA regulation engines when they do finally come to play in the new year. “How many will be available next year? That is a problem. With the current engines we can start testing in October, while with the new ones, we may not start testing until February or March, because we don’t know if they will be available, so it is important that people can get out and do their business now.”
Meanwhile, Lloyd sees a greater potential danger for the UK motorsport landscape should British F3 disappear. “I hope it works; it’s what we need – the only other higher levels [of motorsport] in the UK at the moment is touring cars (BTCC) and GT’s (British GT). I remember a few years ago when British GT was down to nine cars and it was struggling and now it’s at capacity.”
Indeed, the global recession has left something of a scorched mark across the motorsport world. While the likes of BTCC and British GT are standing up well to the elements, the motorsport and automotive industries as a whole in the UK and Europe have taken quite a battering. The loss of Formula Renault UK, along with the near collapse of Formula Ford GB last year have merely added to a growing list of woes.
The Future..?
Realistically, the British F3 Series still has a long way to go before it can be taken out of intensive care; however some of the main players believe this to be possible, as long as every side does their bit to keep the ship afloat.
According to Briggs, there is interest in the future of the category. “What we’re doing for next year is very positive. We are trying every way of saving money for the drivers. It’s going to allow new teams into Formula 3, because it will be so cheap to do relative to what it was. We need new teams – West-Tec and Performance are looking at it; Fortec, CF Racing and Carlin have said they will do it.”
Lloyd, whose CF Racing will most likely compete in the National Class, agrees with the FOTA Chairman, adding, “If we can get the numbers, it seems like a good way of keeping it. We need something in the UK, because the circuits are still what they were years ago. The people involved are trying their best to keep British F3 going and that can only be a good thing.”
Carlin believes, rather than rushing into a transformed category, that playing the long game may well be the key to longer-term success. “This should be a building period for British F3 and if in two or three years time the championship is looking a bit stronger, it can be upgraded again, but it really needed a bit of a rebuilding moment.”
DTM (Rd 6, Moscow Raceway)
Mike Rockenfeller led Mattias Ekstrom home to ensure an Audi 1-2 upon DTM’s first visit to Russia on Sunday, opening his points lead to 37 in the process. Augusto Farfus completed the podium for the RBM BMW squad.
Starting from pole, Rockenfeller drove a canny race, with the Phoenix Audi man utilising a long opening stint to build a reasonable lead and getting the harder Hankook tyres out of the way. Stopping on lap 46 out of 74, the 2010 Le Mans victor dropped to 3rd behind Ekstrom, before pitting again ten tours later, maintaining the final podium spot ahead of Farfus.
That became 2nd when temporary leader Adrien Tambay made his first tyre stop on lap 57, with the lead eventually coming back to Rockenfeller following Ekstrom’s final dive for the pits. Ekstrom stayed with Rockenfeller to the flag; however team orders ensured the race leader was never in danger from his Abt Sportline Audi stablemate.
The Swede had already played good teammate during the event – prior to his final stop, Ekstrom slowed his pace just enough to fall safely in behind Rockenfeller when the strategies came together. Farfus beat Tambay to the podium, but it was close. Emerging from his first stop on lap 29, the Brazilian crucially exited ahead of Jamie Green. Luck again came for Farfus when his second stop placed him just ahead of Gary Paffett and Timo Glock – in both instances, Farfus lost precious little time escaping.
Tambay impressed with his drive to 4th. From the sixth row, Tambay rose to 6th by lap 3 and maintained a solid pace during his ultra long first stint that brought him to the lead, as he maximised the clear air opposing strategies gave to him. Unfortunately for the young Frenchman, the gap over Farfus wasn’t quite enough and Tambay fell just shy of his Brazilian rival as he returned to the track from his final stop.
Paffett was the highest Mercedes finisher in 5th, taking the flag 1.3s ahead of Green following an at times feisty door-to-door battle in the latter stages. Joey Hand (BMW) took a credible 7th place ahead Dirk Werner (8th, BMW), Timo Scheider (9th, Audi) and Christian Vietoris (10th, Mercedes). Reigning champion Bruno Spengler had a horror of race – the BMW man was 7th, but was punted off four laps in by Miguel Molina in a move that was never going to work.
Mattias Ekstrom’s disqualification from this month’s DTM event at the Norisring has been upheld by the DMSB; however no winner has been declared for the event.
During post-race celebration, Ekstrom’s father Bengt aggressively poured the contents of a bottle of water into his son’s overalls, breaking Parc Ferme procedure in the process.
This was deemed to have broken a key sporting regulation, rather that a technical regulation, ensuring Ekstrom’s expulsion from the results. Meanwhile Wickens remains the highest classified runner, but claims only 2nd place in the final offing.
It would be easy to declare the poured contents made little difference to the weight of Ekstrom’s overalls – and yes, the Ekstrom / Abt Sportline Audi entry (car and driver) was approximately 6kg’s over the minimum weight; however it must be remembered that the weight of added the liquid is irrelevant and misses the point of ruling.
That Parc Ferme regulations were breached at all is the only significant detail – whether fans or the media disagree with that aspect of the ruling is also irrelevant. In this, no grey area has been allowed and the stewards have been entirely consistent with previous decisions.
No advantage had been gained by the Audi racer, but the transgression was deemed enough to warrant disqualification – just as it would in any other category – and this is where a sporting disqualification differs from an exclusion due to a technical infringement, as the latter would point toward an illegal car or driver advantage.
It is a deeply unsatisfactory end to the Norisring debacle, but if nothing else, Audi may privately consider damage limitation. Apart from the 5th placed Mike Rockenfeller, no other Audi drivers finished in the top ten; however a number of potential title rivals were set to benefit had this week’s reclassification not occurred – specifically HWA Mercedes pairing Wickens and Christian Vietoris.
If nothing else, it would have been interesting see if Audi would have appealed a decision that saw Wickens keep his victory, citing the nature of the disqualification.
This is the second such of no winner being declared at a DTM event, when the 1984 race at Hockenheim also declared “winnerless” after Harald Grohs was disqualified.
The DMSB also declared the opening race at last year’s Formula 3 Euro Series round at Norisring winnerless when Daniel Juncadella was removed from the classification following collisions with Pascal Wehrlein and Raffaele Marciello. Precedent for this punishment was set at the 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix when Keke Rosberg was removed from 2nd place following a pitlane infraction.
If nothing else, the time may have come for the DBSM to consider altering the nature of punishments for such sporting infractions in order to avoid such an unpopular outcome.
Formula One, Hungarian Grand Prix (Rd 10; 70 laps)
Lewis Hamilton claimed his first Grand Prix win in Mercedes colours in dominant style on Sunday with a masterful and aggressive performance at the Hungaroring.
The 28-year-old drew away from the chasing pack; until his first stop on lap nine, where he dispatched the not-yet-stopped Jenson Button within three tours, eventually reclaiming the lead on lap 23 when Red Bull’s Mark Webber finally pitted for new rubber. He emerged behind Webber again after the second stops, but Hamilton wasted little time in barging passed the Red Bull man and into clear air.
It was a similar story after the final stop when Hamilton exited the pits just behind Webber, only for the Englishman to punish the hesitant Australian as the pair lapped Nico Hulkenberg. Thereafter Hamilton remained unchallenged, scoring a significant victory for the German marque.
Kimi Raikkonen assumed 2nd place, but it was not made easy by Sebastian Vettel. Following a poor qualifying, the Finn utilised a two-stop strategy to pull himself up the order, helped in no small way by the Lotus’ ability to be easy on the Pirelli’s. It required two long stints on mediums for Raikkonen; however despite the tyre-age, the Lotus man expertly kept a feisty Vettel at bay in the final dozen tours, ensuring the German settled for 3rd. Vettel lost out behind Button in the opening stint, losing 13 seconds to Hamilton in the process.
Webber recovered from 10th at the start to take 4th; however the inability to make the softs last forced an extra late stop from the Australian. Ferrari’s troubled time continues, with Alonso an anonymous 5th, crossing the line just ahead of Romain Grosjean – the latter of whom acquired a drive-through penalty (overtaking Felipe Massa off circuit) and a post-race time penalty (collision with Button), detracting from a stellar drive. Button took 7th for McLaren following a solid drive, while Massa could only manage 8th after damage received on the opening tour. Sergio Perez drove a quiet race to 9th, while Williams finally scored their first point of the season when Pastor Maldonado grabbed 10th.
Vettel now enjoys a 38-point advantage going into the summer break, while Raikkonen and Alonso continue to fall over eachother in the chase, but with four weeks until Spa, Hamilton now lurks in the background.
Blancpain Endurance Series (Rd 4, Total Spa 24 Hour Race)
HTP Mercedes clinched the Spa 24 Hours in a thrilling battle at the weekend. Piloted by Bernd Schneider, Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Götz, the #84 Mercedes squad pulled toward the front, drawing a lap over the #150 Manthey Porsche in the final few hours.
As Sunday morning unfolded, Mercedes charged to the head of the field, helped somewhat by stopping under safety car conditions, while #150 Manthey took to the pits for a brake pad change while green. The #84 Mercedes was aided further when a drive through penalty robbed the Manthey entry of more time, before a lost cylinder sealed the fate of the Porsche squad.
In what was initially looking like a battle between the #4 Marc VDS BMW (Nicky Catsburg / Henri Moser / Markus Palttala) and the Manthey Porsche for the win, the #84 Mercedes ran a respectable in 4th, not far adrift of the 3rd place #3 Marc VDS (Maxime Martin / Yelmer Buurman / Bas Leinders). Reliability, however, took its toll on the BMW machines, handing the lead – temporarily – to the #150 Manthey Porsche entry.
For a time, it appeared as if the final podium spot would go to the #44 Kessel Ferrari; however the 458 Italia dropped out with water pressure issues, promoting the #2 Belgian Audi WRT to 3rd – albeit several laps in arrears. Piloted by André Lotterer, Christopher Mies and Frank Stippler, the Audi’s also outlasted a rear guard challenge from the Vita4One BMW, which suffered an engine failure late on.
With one round remaining in the Blancpain Endurance Series, Cesar Ramos, Davide Rigon, Daniel Zampieri (#44 Kessel Ferrari) enjoy a two-point lead over the Stippler / Mies / Muhk trio.
The Pro-Am class victory was taken by the #59 AF Corse Ferrari of Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin, Alex Mortimer and Toni Vilander, following a great tussle with the #71 SMP Ferrari (Mika Salo / Kirill Ladygin / Victor Shaitar / Maurizio Mediani).
Neither the #59 nor the #71 featured much in the opening six hours, as the #50 AF Corse and the #25 TDS BMW dominated proceedings; however damage, pace and reliability woes did much to hamper their efforts. Toward the halfway mark, the #70 SMP Ferrari took the lead, before dropping behind the #59 Ferrari with six hours remaining. With time ticking away, Mediani picked up a late penalty in his #71 SMP Ferrari, ensuring class victory for Vilander and crew. The #35 Nissan GT Academy entry (Jann Mardenborough / Lucas Ordonez, Peter Pyzera / Wolfgang Reip) completed the Pro-Am class podium.
Ordonez leads the Pro-Am points standings by four points going into the Nurburgring.
The #20 SOFREV ASP Ferrari driven by Jean-Luc Blanchemain, Jean-Luc Beaubelique, Patrice Goueslard and Fred Bouvy took the Gentlemen’s Trophy. They finished two laps clear of fellow Ferrari drivers Romain Brandela, Leonardo Gorini, Stephane Lemeret, Thierry Prignaud (#52 Sport Garage), with the #111 Kessel Racing Ferrari (Pablo Paladino / Paolo Andreasi / Gaetano Ardagna Perez / Giuseppe Ciro) an additional three laps adrift.
With a single round remaining, the #20 SOFREV ASP quartet have a handsome 51 point lead over Leonardo Gorini.
One driver in the field can claim a touch of luck. Starting 2nd, Alessandro Pier Guidi (#70 SMP Ferrari) attempted a move around the outside of polesitter Stefan Mücke through Eau Rouge, resulting in a spinning Ferrari. Somehow, Guidi’s out of control vehicle was missed by all that followed through.
The race was twice interrupted by the safety car in the opening 90 minutes when, first, a left rear suspension failure pitched Alex Buncombe (#32 Nissan GT Academy) hard into the barrier at Eau Rouge, followed later by Jos Menten who crashed exiting the same spot in the #24 Blancpain Lamborghini. Thereafter followed a stunning spectacle, whereby the race ran green for just over 12-and-a-half hours – an impressive stint run at staggering speeds.
It is something that one tends to see at some multi-class racing with a high number of entries – a temporary graveyard for cars recently broken and beyond repair.
The 2013 Spa 24 Hour Race started with 66 runners and as large at the paddock at Spa-Francorchamps is, sometimes stricken machines need to be spaced out for the paddock to remain practical.
In these areas, broken shells are taken to rest for a portion of the event – their chassis now inert carcases waiting to be quietly taken away and examined by disappointed engineers and mechanics.
Should the retirement have been due to a retirement error, the team manager may wish to garner a brief look, before admonishing his now embarrassed charger.
At this, the bottom end of the paddock at Spa-Francorchamps, interest lies amongst the truly committed. Despite the efforts to protect the teams’ wares, fans surround, climb and claw away at the tarpaulin in order get a glimpse of the machinery within.
Curiosity satisfied, some hang around to see what other damaged wonders remain and to see what will be joining the metallic graveyard.
© Leigh O’Gorman.
Motorsport can be glamourous, very glamourous indeed if one is in the right place at the right time.
It is best noted, however, that much of the glamour foisted upon television screens is merely a sexy cover – a pretty dodge to deflect.
Dazzling models are neatly draped across cars and broadcasts in a misplaced effort to sell motorsport as sex with legs; old time misogyny living in the modern world, although that is no surprise. One does not have to look far to point the misogyny finger at other professional sports.
Glamour is rarely the rule of course. Behind every great victory is a mechanic checking tyre pressure or an engineer poring over some body panel or aerodynamic piece. Rarely do these tasks occur under bright lights and glitter and they are often far away from the scantily clad, the rich and the beautiful.
These tasks are so often tough, filthy and tiring, requiring long hours and dedication and when one is washing wheels at two in the morning, you know the passion stretches beyond shades of champagne. There are no five-star hotels here, nor is one surrounded by trophy girlfriends or well-made acquaintances in impossible clothes, who laugh politely at poor jokes.
In the shade and in the cold is where some of the true love for motorsport resides, because passion never requires glitter and it certainly does not need glamour.
© Leigh O’Gorman.
Three-and-a-half hours into the 65th Total 24 Hours of Spa and Nicky Catsburg is on a charge.
Piloting the #4 Marc VDS BMW Z4, the Dutch racer had been busy chasing down race leader Richard Lietz for several laps, having earlier passed teammate Maxime Martin during a tyre stop.
For a time, Catsburg was tearing up to two seconds-per-lap out of Lietz’ lead, eventually drawing to the rear of the #150 Manthey Porsche on lap 94.
After six tours where the leading pair enjoyed a fraught battle, Lietz pitted, allowing Catsburg into a temporary lead; however that would be shortlived for the Marc VDS entry.
Stopping not long after, the BMW-powered entry stopped too, but unlike the Manthey squad, they chose to make a driver change, automatically giving the top spot back to the Porsche squad.
The battle did not end there though. With Markus Palttala now behind the wheel, the #4 Marc VDS, the fight for the lead continues, with the Finn reeling in the frontrunning Porsche.
At the time of writing there is still some 19-hours of the race yet to go. There are still plenty of stories to be told.
© Leigh O’Gorman.
© SRO.
Antonio Giovinazzi took his second British Formula 3 victory of the season following a tentative drive in the wet at Spa-Francorchamps.
Racing for Double R, the Italian enjoyed a lightning quick start, leapfrogging both from front row drivers and Jann Mardenborough to take the lead into La Source.
From there, Giovinazzi held a narrow lead over Mardenborough, with the latter pressing the race leader for several laps, until a light spin cost Mardenborough five seconds on the eighth tour.
Giovinazzi kept up the pace thereafter, although Mardenborough pulled three seconds out of the lead, but it was not enough to unseat the Italian.
There was drama after the flag when Mardenborough, unsighted by the spray, clipped Giovinazzi who had slowed to celebrate the victory with his mechanics. Giovinazzi’s rear wing received plenty of damage, while Mardenborough’s right rear wheel was ripped almost clean off.
As a result, Mardenborough goes into the next round at Brands Hatch with a five-place grid drop for causing a needless accident.
Jordan King took the final podium position thanks to a late move on poleman Nicholas Latifi. King had leaned on Latifi for much of the running, but was unable to pass until the penultimate lap, when Latifi – by now struggling for pace – was sluggish across the line, allowing King to pull alongside at La Source.
As the pair drew into the chute toward Eau Rouge, King pulled ahead to secure 3rd spot overall.
King had made easy work of Felipe Guimaraes during the opening tour; however the Fortec racer settled into 5th from there. Next up was Tatiana Calderon who drove a solid race to 6th after a poor start cost her a couple of spots.
Will Buller rescued 7th place after he received a drive through penalty on the opening lap. Mechanics for the Fortec runner were still working on his car after the 30 second board was displayed, earning Buller an automatic sanction.
Sean Galael assumed 8th, despite running 6th for much of the running, until both Calderon and Buller slipped by.
Zheng Sun won the National Class again from Jordan Oon, while Chris Vlok once again rounded out the field.
British pairing Will Buller and Jordan took a race apiece at Spa-Francorchamps today, as the second round of the British F3 Series got under way.
In wet conditions, Buller opened his victory account for the season with a clean and clever driver in the first race of the day.
From 7th on the grid, Buller made a lightning start jumping to 2nd by the exit of La Source. With only Nicholas Latifi ahead, the Northern Irish racer latched onto the Carlin racer through Eau Rouge, eventually sweeping by the poleman. Thereafter Buller was never challenged, although his lead over the chasing pack rarely grew beyond a five seconds.
King claimed 2nd, despite an indifferent start. The 19-year-old was 5th after the opening tour, although the Englishman would soon busy himself chipping at the rear of Latifi, Jann Mardenborough and Sean Gelael, before dialling a way through the trio.
Gelael would take the final podium place, but only after a monumental accident wiped out Latifi and Mardenborough. The pair collided in Eau Rouge on the final lap, when Mardenborough made a move on his Canadian rival, following a slight error by the latter.
The clash propelled Mardenborough over Latifi rear wheel, turning his Carlin machine upside-down. For his part, Latifi’s car hit the barriers hard, destroying his Volkswagen-powered entry and bringing out a late safety car. Both drivers emerged unhurt from their respective wrecks.
Tatiana Calderon assumed 4th ahead of Double R teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, after Giovinazzi was forced to pit to change a rear light. Next up was National Class winner Zheng Sun, who headed Jordan Oon and Chris Vlok.
King took the second race of the day in slightly drier conditions. Starting from 7th place, the Carlin driver slithered up the order to be 3rd coming through Blanchimont, and grabbing 2nd from Calderon just before the line.
After a period pressing Giovinazzi for the lead, King rushed through on Giovinazzi, storming into the lead on the sixth tour. Will Buller was through into the 2nd spot soon after, catching and pressing King in the process; however the County Down man could do little to upset King’s rhythm.
Giovinazzi settled for a podium place ahead of Calderon, who herself ran in the top three for a time. Gelael wrapped up a good day by finishing 5th, up on Mardenborough while Felipe Guimarraes took a lonely 7th, despite starting last.
Zheng Sun again took the National Class win, a solid distance clear of Jordan Oon and Chris Vlock.
The final race of the weekend takes place tomorrow.
Formula Renault 3.5 (Rd 6, Red Bull Ring)
A masterful display from Marco Sorensen was more than enough to deliver two Formula Renault 3.5 poles and victories at the Red Bull Ring at the weekend. In both events, the Lotus racer took the top spot several seconds clear of the chasing Nigel Melker (Tech 1) and Kevin Magnussen (DAMS).
Despite a twice safety car interrupted first race, Sorensen made it look easy, as he pulled clear of his rivals. From there, Sorensen set a stellar pace with little fuss from behind to ensure his first victory since Spa-Francorchamps last year. Melker finished nearly five seconds clear of Magnussen, having taken the McLaren junior on the opening tour, with neither facing any threats thereafter.
Will Stevens enjoyed a solid race to finish 4th ahead of Arthur Pic, while Will Buller (6th) pipped Antonio Felix da Costa – struggling with engine issues – to the line. Marlon Stockinger appeared to closing in on da Costa for 7th late on until the lapped Christopher Zanella inexplicably blocked him, losing the Filipino-Swiss racer several seconds. Andre Negrao and Jazeman Jaafar rounded out the top ten. Title protagonist Stoffel Vandoorne had his race end after 12 laps with a water leak.
Sorensen repeated his race one victory on Sunday with another dominant drive, although another safety car period nearly toppled the Dane. Sorensen led from the off, drawing easily away from Magnussen, until the race was neutralised, offering the DAMS pilot another opportunity. Despite a feisty restart, it was not to be taken, ensuring Sorensen full points again.
Magnussen would lose his 2nd place post-race however after it was judged he passed Melker outside of the track limits on the opening lap, after Melker had been knocked into a half-spin by Vandoorne. As a result, Magnussen had two seconds added to his final race time, dropping him to 3rd behind Melker. An off-kilter pit strategy helped Melker rise back up the order, but the leading pair were beyond the Dutchman as the stops filtered.
Sergey Sirotkin took a late 4th from Stevens. The Russian’s position was boosted by staying out long, propelling him clear of Buller, bringing him in range of Stevens’ Strakka entry, while Buller also moved by Stevens in the final tours for 5th. Stockinger assumed 7th ahead of Nico Muller (8th), Pietro Fantin (9th) and Norman Nato (10th). Neither Vandoorne nor da Costa finished, dropping the former 27 points behind Magnussen in the points standings. Red Bull junior Da Costa, meanwhile, falls to 5th in the championship.
DTM (Norisring, Rd 5)
Mercedes HWA racer Robert Wickens claimed his first DTM victory at the Norisring on Sunday following the disqualification of Mattias Ekstrom.
Poleman Wickens in the top three for much of the event, losing out to Edoardo Mortara at the first stops and dropping behind Ekstrom, who started 9th, on lap 24. There followed a ferocious fight for the lead that lasted all of forty laps, but as Mortara’s second set of Hankook’s faded, Ekstrom made the vital move at the Grundig Hairpin, helped a lairy slide by the Swiss-Italian Mortara.
Ekstrom carried on to take the chequered flag first, only to be thrown out, when a mechanic – reportedly Ekstrom’s father – poured the contents of a water bottle into the racer’s overalls in Parc Ferme.
Wickens assumed the win following a late push. The Canadian pitted 29 laps from the end, emerging in 12th, climbing to 8th by lap 71; however that became 4th within eight tours thanks to moves on Timo Glock, Daniel Juncadella, Mike Rockenfeller and Christian Vietoris. A light collision in the hairpin between Mortara and Gary Paffett with three laps to go helped propel Wickens to 2nd spot, which would be the winning position several hours later.
Paffett and Mortara again collided clumsily at the end of the penultimate lap – retiring on this occasion – earning suspended five-place grid penalties in the process. The crash promoted Vietoris to an eventual 2nd, with Juncadella assuming 3rd place.
Rockenfeller was classified a brilliant 4th, despite starting 21st, while Spengler lost out in the second stops to take a respectable 5th. Roberto Merhi drove a clean race to finish 6th from 20th and Joey Hand added to his points tally with 7th place. Andy Priaulx showed well to grab 8th ahead of Marco Wittmann (9th) and Dirk Werner (10th).
There were two safety cars – the first when Timo Scheider stalled on the grid and the second when Martin Tomczyk punted the wall on the back straight with a bit of help from Paffett and Jamie Green. Rockenfeller now leads the standings by two points ahead of Spengler, who is a further eleven up on Vietoris.
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