Innholdsfortegnelse for 29/06/23 i Autosport

Three British stars of Formula 1 look out at you from this week’s front cover, and none of them are the country’s most famous or successful exponent at the sport’s top level. But Lewis Hamilton can’t go on forever, and it’s time – especially with British Grand Prix week at Silverstone fast looming – to look at who out of George Russell, Lando Norris and Alex Albon will step into his shoes. Alex Kalinauckas speaks to each of them, starting on p16, and what is interesting is how each of the trio has changed very little since their early days in the sport. Back when they started getting significant coverage as teenagers in Autosport, Russell was serious, Norris was cheeky and Albon (yes, we know he races under the Thai…

FORMULA 1 Hitech Grand Prix – which competes in FIA F2, F3 and F4 plus GB3 – has officially confirmed its application to participate in Formula 1 from the 2026 season after landing major new investment from a Kazakh billionaire. The Silverstone squad has subsequently joined Andretti-Cadillac and Formula Equal – a bid fronted by former BAR boss Craig Pollock that will look to employ a 50:50 male-female workforce – in publicly revealing that entries have been lodged with the FIA. Hitech says this F1 ambition is a“move that would complete its single-seater ladder and demonstrate that Hitech has all the right people, experience and resources to compete alongside the best teams in the world.” Acknowledgement of the formal submission came as part of an announcement that parent company Hitech…

FORMULA E Formula E revealed its 2023-24 calendar in the run-up to last weekend’s Portland race, headlined by a long-awaited trip to Tokyo. The all-electric series finally has the go-ahead to stage a race in the Ariake area of Koto Ward, near the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre, on 30 March. That will make it the sixth stop on what is set to be a 13-event series with 17 races. Formula E has long wanted to host a race in Japan. Yokohama has also been a candidate to hold a race, but a lengthy campaign to amend the country’s strict policing laws was required before a memorandum of understanding was finally signed between the series and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government late last year. It will be Japan’s first street race…

Red Bull is everywhere in Formula 1. It’s dominating the current season with Max Verstappen, and the series is now heading to the next race at its home track – the Red Bull Ring. It’s even arranging a motorsport celebration event at the Nurburgring 12 Hours in September, where AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda will lap the Nordschleife in a Honda NSX GT3 Evo, while Red Bull reserve – and possible future AlphaTauri returnee – Daniel Ricciardo will do so too in an RB8 2012 F1 car. Verstappen wanted to join in the demonstration fun but was overruled by Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko. Headlining the whole thing, however, is a former Red Bull star. Its first, really. Sebastian Vettel is set to be reunited with his 2011 championship-winning RB7, albeit…

There was a familiar face on top of the podium on Formula E’s first visit to Portland after Nick Cassidy became the second three-time winner of the season in an event that left opinion divided regarding the on-track action, but was otherwise an undoubted hit. The fast, flowing Oregon venue, better known for hosting IndyCar and NASCAR, lived up to its promise of providing a unique spectacle, as the lack of braking zones meant few chances to recoup energy. It was always clear that this would be an energy-saving race in the Berlin mould, but this example was even more extreme, with drivers dawdling around as much as 13 seconds per lap slower than their cars were really capable of early in the encounter. While Formula E was able to…

NASCAR CUP SERIES NASHVILLE (USA) 25 JUNE ROUND 17/36 If controversy is following Ross Chastain this season, then it will also need a seat in Victory Lane. This after Chastain provided his Trackhouse Racing team with a first win at its home track Nashville Superspeedway. Chastain, who had just lamented in an interview on Friday that he needed to “wreck less and win more”, won the pole for Sunday’s race and ended a more than year-long winless streak with his first victory of the 2023 season. Martin Truex Jr (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) closed to the rear bumper of Chastain’s Chevrolet multiple times in the last 50 laps as the two navigated lapped traffic, but Chastain beat him to the chequered flag by 0.789 seconds. The victory is the third…

TOM HOWARD, STEPHEN LICKORISH & MARCUS SIMMONS Reid to reunite with old rivals Anthony Reid’s passion for Super Touring machinery is plain to see. He describes the 1990s as the British Touring Car Championship’s “zenith” and says this period “really made my name in motor racing”. Reid has been a regular in the Classic Touring Car Racing Club’s Super Tourers series over the past two years, and is grateful to Richard Wheeler for giving him the chance to get back behind the wheel of his 1998 Nissan Primera. But this weekend is set to be extra-significant for Reid. With Alain Menu spectating and fellow former Ford driver Paul Radisich making a rare UK appearance to race his 1994 Mondeo (right), Reid is relishing the chance to reunite with old rivals.…

MOTORSPORT UK Ex-Formula Renault frontrunner Mitchell Hale has had his licence suspended for six months following what has been deemed as “wholly unacceptable” conduct at Croft earlier this year. Hale, who finished runner-up to Alice Powell in the 2010 Formula Renault BARC standings before competing in the Ginetta GT4 Supercup, made a racing comeback at Croft in April in the 750 Motor Club’s Type R Trophy opener. He was found to be at fault for a collision in the opening race and was handed three points on his licence, the matter investigated in Hale’s absence after he had reportedly left the circuit for lunch. But following his angry response upon learning of the penalty, Hale was later excluded from the meeting, had his licence suspended and the matter was referred…

HISTORICS Kore Berg made his single-seater debut at the Historic Sports Car Club’s Donington Park meeting last weekend, albeit not in the way he had anticipated. The Dane had entered his newly completed March-BMW 742 Formula 2 car for the Aurora Trophy races before it suffered problems. “The engine was misfiring in testing on Thursday, so we went back and changed the injectors and throttle slide mechanism,” said restorer Tom Smith, who originally received the car with a damaged monocoque in a number of cardboard boxes. “After two hours’ sleep we returned to Donington but it wouldn’t pull cleanly over 7000rpm in qualifying. “We think it’s a fuel metering unit problem so we’ll be back on the rolling road next week. It’s a big investment for [saloon car graduate] Kore,…

CULLEN JR MAKES DEBUT Victor Cullen, son of Irish tin-top legend Michael, made his historic racing debut at Lydden Hill last Sunday at the wheel of a Lotus Ford Cortina Mk1. Cullen Jr was pinged for track limits in the opening Historic Racing Drivers Club Allstars & Classic Alfa Challenge race, but claimed two third places in the pair of Jack Sears Trophy contests. NO LUCK FOR AHRENS Joe Ahrens has struggled for luck since winning both legs of the Classic Formula Ford opener at Snetterton in April. Quickest in qualifying for Saturday’s races at Donington, his Royale RP26 retired from the first with a blocked carburettor jet, and crawled home 10th in the second after a plug lead detached having run on half-throttle due to a cable issue. SHEDDEN…

HISTORICS Tim Davis is targeting an August return for his 1969 Chevrolet Corvette C3 after its fiery exit from American SpeedFest at Brands Hatch this month. Davis qualified the 7.2-litre aluminium smallblock-powered machine on pole by 1.2 seconds for its debut, then streaked into a seven-second lead in the opening race before an ignition issue caused the car to cut out. Davis was climbing through the field in the second race when Patrick Doyle’s C3 spun across the path of Amanda Hennessy’s feted 1968 model as they exited Graham Hill Bend. Hennessy braked hard, and the unsighted Davis was unable to avoid Hennessy’s onetime Le Mans starter. “It was horrifying,” said Davis, who has withdrawn his Caterham from the Classic Sports Car Club’s 24-hour event at Anglesey this weekend due…

DONINGTON PARK HSCC 24-25 JUNE Jake Shortland’s maiden victory in Classic Formula Ford at Donington Park last weekend was momentous aboard the only Lola T440 in the UK. Shortland, 29, with around 10 car races on his CV over several seasons, qualified fifth, 0.607 seconds from poleman Joseph Ahrens, with Ben Tinkler, Rick Morris and Mike Gardner separating them. Come the race, in which Gardner and Tinkler lost nosecones (with Tinkler retiring), Shortland remained calm and brilliantly beat Morris – Ayrton Senna’s conqueror at Silverstone in 1981. Not since Mike Blanchet’s Townsend Thoresen success at Oulton Park in May 1977 had a T440 won on home soil. After jostling to the front on lap 11 of 16, drawing early leader Morris back past Gardner, Shortland retaliated swiftly after Morris overtook…

YPRES RALLY BRC 23-24 JUNE The British Rally Championship had travelled across the English Channel to the coveted Ypres Rally three times before last weekend’s edition, but its drivers had never managed to take victory away from the rapid European aces who traditionally head for the event. Last weekend the series could finally lay claim to bragging rights, although it had to rely on its imported Frenchman to do it. After back-to-back BRC wins already this season, it was M-Sport factory pilot Adrien Fourmaux and co-driver Alex Coria who usurped the Belgians in their backyard, taking their Ford Fiesta Rally2 to a convincing overall victory and a hat-trick of BRC top scores. A last-minute BRC registration for former Citroen works driver Stephane Lefebvre resulted in the two Frenchmen locked in…

VIDEO GAME MOTOGP 23 (available on PC, Switch, PlayStation and Xbox) RRP £59.99 The MotoGP games have seen little in the way of innovation over the past few yearly releases. Last season there was an intriguing ‘NINE’ historic mode, but a lack of updates in key areas – namely the career and online multiplayer. So, for MotoGP 23, the latest title does away with distractions and focuses on what matters more. New for this season are two additional tracks in the form of India’s Buddh International Circuit and Kazakhstan’s Sokol International Racetrack. Sadly, for the latter, the real-world race has been cancelled, but it remains in the game. Perhaps even more importantly, for the first time dynamic weather with the flag-to-flag rule is present. The system works well and spices…

Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren-Mercedes MP4-17 stands out against the distinctive Interlagos backdrop during the 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix. After qualifying fifth, the Finn was running one place higher when a wheel-hub failure three laps from the finish sent him spinning spectacularly into retirement. Raikkonen’s team-mate David Coulthard took the final podium place, but was the first of the leaders to actually see the chequered flag being waved after the special invitee tasked with the job, football icon Pele, seemed not to notice winner Michael Schumacher and his runner-up brother Ralf crossing the line. For classic motorsport DVDs and downloads head to dukevideo.com For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

FORMULA 1 Hollywood actors and Wrexham Football Club owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are involved in a consortium that has shelled out £172million in return for a 24% stake in the Alpine Formula 1 team. The Renault Group, which presides over the Enstone-based operation, has agreed the transaction with the Investor Group. This formal entity combines Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, plus Reynolds’s own Maximum Effort Investments. Alpine Racing SAS, the entity manufacturing power units at the Viry-Chatillon site in France, is not part of the deal. As well as helping to accelerate Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi’s extremely optimistic 100-race plan to win the world championship, as he stated in October 2021, this cash injection also provides a clear measure of the current commercial boom that F1 is enjoying.…

FORMULA 1 Audi has recruited 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours winner and ex-Toro Rosso reserve Neel Jani as a simulator driver for the development of its 2026 Formula 1 power unit. The 39-year-old Swiss has already been ultra-reliable for Andreas Seidl, CEO of Audi chassis partner Sauber. He was tasked with a similar role for the creation of the Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 racer on Seidl’s watch, and was involved in the simulator work for the current 963 LMDh machine. In terms of getting other Volkswagen Group motorsport programmes up and running, Jani drove alongside Andre Lotterer when Porsche made its 2019-20 Formula E bow. Jani, who tested for Sauber and Red Bull, said: “I am delighted to accompany Audi on their way into Formula 1. It is both an…

WEC The British TF Sport squad will be Chevrolet’s representative in the World Endurance Championship next season. The team, winner of the 2022 GTE Am title, will field a pair of the General Motors brand’s new Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs in place of the Aston Martins it has run since its formation in 2014. TF will be the only team equipped with the new Z06 racer developed by Pratt & Miller in the WEC’s new LMGT3 class in 2024. Each manufacturer represented will be allowed to run a maximum of two cars. Team boss Tom Ferrier, whose operation joined the WEC in 2018-19 with the second-generation Aston Martin Vantage GTE, said: “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to represent such an iconic brand on the world stage. Corvette Racing has an…

Ferrari wins on its factory prototype comeback. And narrowly so at the end of an intriguing and sometimes thrilling battle with Toyota. All five major manufacturers involved in Hypercar lead at some point. The centenary edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours definitely got a race befitting of such a significant moment in history. There can be no question of that. There is, however, another question that needs to be asked. Was it contrived, a result of the Balance of Performance changes made outside of the rules and regulations in the lead-up to the blue riband round of the World Endurance Championship? That undoubtedly changed the dynamic of the race. Of course it did, because that was what the BoP revision was designed to do. With the eyes of the…

“I rarely have had to fight like this. Sometimes you have to fight hard against the clock and against your competitors, but this time it was more fighting against all the issues I had to face.” Such a frank admission from a World Rally Championship legend of the renown of Sebastien Ogier is a perfect summary of last weekend’s 70th Safari Rally Kenya. While the event is no longer the brutal 5000km marathon that started the nation’s cultural obsession with rallying back in 1953, the trip to the African wilderness remains one of motorsport’s most gruelling events, where reaching the finish is an achievement in itself. This was once again proven by the fact that all the Rally1 crews dropped time across the 355km journey through the Kenyan terrain. For the…

IMSA SPORTSCAR WATKINS GLEN (USA) 25 JUNE ROUND 5/11 Porsche Penske Motorsport duo Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet seemed to have sealed a dramatic victory in the waning moments of the Watkins Glen 6 Hours last Sunday. But several hours after the Anglo-French pair had shared a joyous celebration came news that the underfloor skid block on their Porsche 963 did not meet the minimum requirements, and they were banished to the back of the field. Instead, a memorable maiden GTP triumph was inherited by the BMW M Hybrid V8 of Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly. All four GTP manufacturers took a turn in the lead on the classic 3.4-mile road course in Upstate New York and, unsurprisingly, with a record-equalling field of 57 starters, traffic played a pivotal…

F1 ACADEMY ZANDVOORT (NLD) 24-25 JUNE ROUND 4/7 MP Motorsport driver Hamda Al Qubaisi enjoyed her most successful F1 Academy weekend yet, with a brace of victories at the Dutch Grand Prix venue – MP’s home track – moving her to just five points shy of championship leader Marta Garcia. Al Qubaisi was the driver to beat from the word go, securing pole position for races one and three. On both occasions, the Emirati was able to convert these into perfect scores, registering the fastest lap as well as taking the silverware. Prema Racing driver Garcia endured a rare off weekend, with a reliability issue forcing the Spaniard to retire from race one while battling for a podium. Garcia made use of the reversed grid in race two to regain…

FESTIVAL OF SPEED Mick Schumacher is set to drive the Mercedes W02 raced by his father Michael during the 2011 Formula 1 season up the hill at next month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Schumacher Jr joined Mercedes as reserve driver this season after being dropped after two years in a Haas race seat. The 2020 F2 champion’s appearance at the 13-16 July Festival will be his first at Goodwood, and he is scheduled to pilot the car his seven-time champion father took to a best result of fourth in the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix. “It’s going to be spectacular to run in my dad’s 2011 car, even if it is only a short run,” said Schumacher. “Just experiencing this generation of cars will be mega! Knowing that he raced this…

MINI CHALLENGE A non-championship endurance race has been added to the Mini Challenge Clubsport season finale at Donington Park in October and is open to one or two-driver entries. The category was launched this year, featuring sprint races for three classes – Cooper S, Cooper Open and Cooper Am. The 40-minute mini-enduro, which has been dubbed ‘Mini Le Dons’, will take place on the day after the regular season concludes. Extra invitational entries for Minis outside of those three classes will also be considered depending on the levels of interest in the race. “One thing that was always in our mind was to explore the possibility of running a longer endurance event, and we’re delighted to be in a position to now announce our plans for a race at Donington…

NEATE’S UNCERTAINTY British Formula 4 frontrunner Aiden Neate has called time on his campaign after a sizeable crash in the second race at Oulton Park earlier this month, when an incident with Jaden Pariat forced him off the track out of Old Hall, causing “a lot of damage”. The Fortec Motorsport driver, who finished sixth in the standings last year, was absent from last weekend’s Silverstone contest and will now assess his options. MEDAL FOR WILTSHIRE Mildred Wiltshire, a stalwart of national racing, has been awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to motorsport. Wiltshire, whose passion for motorsport began in the 1960s as a spectator, took on roles within race administration at events across the UK, including at the British Grand Prix, primarily dealing with marshals. EDWARDS UNHURT…

CLASSIC FF1600 Formula Ford veteran Rick Morris escaped serious injury when his Royale RP29 was involved in a spectacular collision during the second Classic FF1600 race at Donington Park last weekend. The 76-year-old was battling with Mike Gardner’s Crossle 32F during the Historic Sports Car Club’s meeting when the pair collided at Redgate, launching Morris into the air before he made contact with the barrier, which brought out the red flags. “The landing winded me and jarred my back, but I’m OK,” said Morris, who had narrowly lost the opening race to Jake Shortland (Lola T440). “The car is not too bad and hopefully we’ll be back at Brands Hatch next month. The only person smiling about it was my friend [Royale/FCS boss] Alan Cornock, who had his notepad out…

SILVERSTONE BARC 24-25 JUNE Will Macintyre claimed the championship lead during British Formula 4’s inaugural meeting on the full Silverstone Grand Prix layout last weekend, despite not claiming victory in any of the three races. A difficult qualifying left erstwhile points leader Louis Sharp on the back foot, and it was his Rodin Carlin team-mates Josh Irfan and Noah Lisle who took a win each in the first two contests. Irfan’s maiden single-seater victory came after making a good start from third in the opener, sweeping around the outside of front-row pair Macintyre and James Higgins, who dropped to fifth at Copse. Macintyre led a five-car train in second early on while Irfan built a 1.5-second gap ahead and, although the deficit reduced in the final two laps, Macintyre finished…

CROFT 750MC 24-25 JUNE The deeper into the financial doldrums this country falls, the more that racers and their sponsors (be they family or corporate) are going to have to make some serious future budget decisions. So it’s fitting that the 750 Motor Club’s visit to Croft last weekend perfectly illustrated the speed-per-pound value that can be found across many of its championships. F1000 has gone through a number of incarnations to bring it to where it is today, which in numerical terms is currently less than four seconds off the circuit’s outright lap record, held by Sergio Perez, racing a Dallara Formula 3 car in 2008. Or, put another way, in spending less than 10% of a British F4 budget, polesitter Matt Higginson could have qualified seventh against his…

LYDDEN HILL HRDC 25 JUNE Pete Chambers came out on top in a thrilling battle with Nathan Heathcote and Michael Cullen to seal victory in the first Jack Sears Trophy race at Lydden Hill’s annual Historics on the Hill meeting. Chambers snatched the lead at the start in his Lotus Ford Cortina Mk1 after poleman Heathcote got too much wheelspin in his Mini Cooper S and dropped to fourth. Heathcote soon worked his way back into third behind Irish tin-top star Cullen (Austin Mini Cooper S), and both set off in pursuit of Chambers. After a missed gear dropped Chambers to third, Heathcote briefly took the lead via minor contact at North Bend, before Cullen grabbed the initiative back again through Pilgrims. As Heathcote’s challenge faded, Chambers climbed back into…

His death in an Okayama testing accident in 1999 meant was never fully realised. British Formula 3 observers in 1996 were afforded brief glimpses of his talent when, aged 19, the Japanese finished second in the Class B standings. In his obituary, Autosport remarked that “the ever-smiling Tachi made a big impression on everyone he met in Britain”. But it was in his homeland where Tachi truly shone. He earned a top GT500 seat with Team Le Mans in the All-Japan GT Championship by winning the 1998 GT300 crown for Team Taisan aboard a Toyota MR2. He had spent that year racing in Japanese F3 too, and it was at the TOM’S squad owned by his father Nobuhide where Tachi encountered Peter Dumbreck. The Scot was a wide-eyed newcomer to…

FORMULA 1 The FIA has closed a perceived loophole in the Formula 1 cost cap regulations by clamping down on the ways in which teams might deploy staff on special projects that fall beyond the remit of the spending restrictions. Since the 2021 introduction of the budget, grand prix teams have employed senior technical staff in separate divisions to avoid redundancies and ensure their salaries don’t risk non-compliance. But these extracurricular activities have potentially allowed teams to find performance on track. Via models such as Red Bull Advanced Technology, McLaren Applied Technologies, Mercedes Applied Science and so on, teams have ventured into high-performance road car design plus the America’s Cup yacht and cycling competitions. But there has been suspicion that some were perhaps gaming the system and using these divisions…

ELECTRIC SPORT VEHICLE A new entry-level class for electric vehicles closely based on production machinery has been launched by the FIA. The category, to be known as Electric Sport Vehicle, will be open to GT machinery and what the governing body is describing as“coupe-shaped sports sedans” with a minimum power output of 300kW (402bhp) in standard form. ESV has been conceived in the spirit of the long-standing Group N production category to allow electric vehicles to be incorporated into existing series, including racing and against-the-clock hillclimb and sprint events at national and regional level. It is also envisaged that the new ruleset could encourage manufacturers to launch one-make championships for their EVs. The FIA wants to use its competence in high-voltage safety in order“to grow sustainable motorsport for the future”,…

UK START TIMES Friday 30 June FP 1230 QUALIFYING 1600 Saturday 1 July SPRINT QUALIFYING 1100 SPRINT 1530 Sunday 2 July RACE 1400 CATCH THE RACE LIVE SKY SPORTS F1 BBC RADIO 5 LIVE TV Highlights CHANNEL 4 1830 TYRE ALLOCATION CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS Drivers Constructors RED BULL RING STATS Previous winners 2022 POLE POSITION Max Verstappen 1m04.984s POLE LAP RECORD Valtteri Bottas 1m02.939s (2020) RACE LAP RECORD Carlos Sainz 1m05.619s (2020) Laps led…

Last year I had a great second season in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. It was nice to get that championship wrapped up and, staying on with Team Parker Racing from 2021, it was important to hit the ground running. It was nice, a weight off my shoulders and a box ticked. This season I was really expecting to be a gold-rated driver, but coming in as I did with a silver grading meant there were plenty more opportunities. To stay with Team Parker again but this time going to the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with the Porsche 911 GT3-R was a good opportunity to help build my career and see where we end up. It has been tough because it’s a big challenge with a new car,…

DTM ZANDVOORT (NLD) 24-25 JUNE ROUND 2/8 Mercedes star Maro Engel and Audi racer Ricardo Feller scored a win apiece in front of a packed crowd on the DTM’s first visit to Zandvoort since 2018. Engel’s Team Landgraf AMG GT3 set the early pace during the weekend, topping both practice sessions on Friday before claiming pole position for race one by 0.03 seconds over the Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 of reigning champion Sheldon van der Linde. The German was untouchable over the course of the race, quickly putting himself 1s clear of van der Linde before extending that advantage to well over 5s by the time the pitlane opened after 20 minutes of racing. Although the South African pitted a lap earlier than him, Engel was in no risk of…

MOTOGP ASSEN (NLD) 25 JUNE ROUND 8/20 You only need to think back to 2020 to find a time when Ducati Corse and its lead rider were barely talking, when you wondered how well the team might do if it could only get along with its star. Three summers on from Andrea Dovizioso pulling the plug on his increasingly acrimonious time with the Italian manufacturer, we have the answer. Francesco Bagnaia’s Dutch TT victory took him past Dovizioso’s tally of 14 wins for Ducati. Only Casey Stoner, with 23, still has more to his name. While Bagnaia certainly has an advantage in terms of a harmonious environment and a bike that is the best everywhere, he also has a lot more Ducatis to defeat than Dovizioso or Stoner ever did.…

BRITISH RALLYCROSS Olympic cycling hero Sir Chris Hoy plans to return to British Rallycross action at Lydden Hill next month when the series supports the UK round of the world championship. Hoy has contested a variety of motorsport series since retiring from cycling and has been racing a Revolution in the Sports Prototype Cup this year. His return to BRX is his first since he tackled the 2020 opener, when he finished fifth at the wheel of the same Pat Doran-owned Citroen C4 he will drive at the Kent track under the Team Duo banner. “I’m absolutely buzzing to be getting back in a rallycross car, it’s been a couple of years but I can’t wait,” said Hoy. “I’m also really excited to see the new jump at Lydden; it…

CCRC The Castle Combe Racing Club plans to run a special tin-tops race at next month’s Carnival meeting that will honour ex-Saloons driver Mark Sutton, who died earlier this year. After dropping plans for the 15 July event to hold Citroen C1 races, which were aimed at getting new drivers into the sport, the club has now decided to run a 30-minute Mark Sutton Memorial Trophy contest catering for a variety of saloons and GTs. Tyre choice is open and there will be four different classes based on a car’s lap times previously achieved at the Wiltshire circuit. Entry fees have been set at £150 for members and £235 for non-members. This is the second special race at the event, with the Norman Lackford Trophy being run for sports-prototypes. “We…

FF1600 Colin Turner made his competitive return at Anglesey last weekend, his first race outing since his serious accident at the 2020 Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone. The Scot had both his legs amputated following the horrendous accident three years ago, when his Ray GR07 was involved in a crash on the start/finish straight during the Last Chance race in wet conditions. Turner was undaunted by his injuries and made an emotional return to the cockpit last year at the end-of-season Formula Ford event when he performed demo laps at the wheel of Callum Grant’s Merlyn Mk20A. He was out racing the same model of car at Anglesey in the Super Classic Pre-’99 FF1600 series. “It’s my first race back – I have been getting used to the prosthetics and,…

HISTORICS Alex Quattlebaum has set his sights on a racing return at the Castle Combe Autumn Classic following his horrendous accident at Silverstone earlier this month. The 82-year-old American was competing in the Equipe 50s race during the MG & Triumph 100 meeting when an oil warning light started flashing on his 1954 LECo Sport. After pulling off to the side of the circuit at Becketts, Quattlebaum was in the process of getting out of his car when Richard Hywel-Evans lost control of his Porsche 911 Carrera RSR on oil dropped by Quattlebaum’s LECo. The two cars collided, launching Quattlebaum, who had already removed his helmet, out of his machine. Quattlebaum broke several ribs as well as both collarbones. After being flown from the circuit to hospital by the air…

Axel van Nederveen survived a late spin to record his fourth Britcar Trophy win of the season as his rivals hit trouble. The top seven places on the grid were filled by Ginetta G56s for the two-hour enduro, with British Touring Car racer Jade Edwards taking her first pole position alongside Mike West. Edwards pulled clear at the start and controlled the race for the opening 40 minutes before handing over to West but, on the out-lap, the car slowed with gearbox trouble before retiring. “It was just about managing the gap,” said Edwards of her lead stint. “Every time I came round [past the pits] I was on the radio asking them to tell me what the gap was. I don’t think it dropped under four and a half…

KIRKISTOWN 500MRCI 23-24 JUNE Kirkistown celebrated its 70th birthday in some style last week, with a packed programme of (mostly) local races keeping a sizeable crowd entertained. All the usual classes were involved, with the welcome addition of the Scottish Mini Cooper championship, making its first Northern Ireland appearance since 2019. And the Scots kicked off the action with a post-qualifying Friday evening race, which ended with the only ‘home’ driver present, Jack Irvine, taking victory from Ian Munro and Oly Mortimer, who were separated by just 0.01 seconds at the flag. Race two started with a bang – quite literally – for Munro, who was assisted off-piste in the run down to Colonial, arriving at the marshal post sideways at unabated speed. Nobody was hurt, but the car resembled…

ANGLESEY BRSCC 23-25 JUNE Steve Foden made it nine wins this season after claiming a treble in the Mazda MX-5 Championship at Anglesey last weekend. His first success was a lights-to-flag victory, with Jason Greatrex a race-long second and Ted Bradbury third. Adam Sparrow was then almost pushing poleman Foden into Target at the start of race two, and got ahead through Church, with Greatrex second into Rocket. But a terrific fightback from Foden netted him second at the Hairpin on lap three, and it remained nose-to-tail for the leading trio until Foden took a fractional lead through School four laps from home. Sparrow had a final-corner lunge at Foden, but it failed and Greatrex instead snatched second. Bradbury had the lead initially in race three and headed a huge…

Gabriel Bortoleto was yet to turn one year old when Fernando Alonso won his first world championship with Renault. But now the Spanish superstar acts as mentor to the 18-year-old Brazilian, who became part of Alonso’s A14 Management stable last September and now holds a handy lead in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Bortoleto moved to Europe aged 11 to compete in karting, and graduated to car racing in 2020 when he finished fifth – with one race win – in the Italian Formula 4 Championship with Prema Powerteam. For 2021 he stepped up to the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine with Alonso’s eponymous team FA Racing (run by MP Motorsport) before moving to R-ace GP in 2022 and claiming sixth in the standings with two wins. But, since…