Innholdsfortegnelse for 12/09/24 i Autosport

British Touring Car drivers sometimes get a bad reputation for too much aggression and panel bashing. But, actually, the top names have largely been clean racers for quite a few years now – and that point was underlined at the Goodwood Revival last weekend. As usual, there were many fine performances and contests, but the late battle between Tom Ingram in Mike Whitaker’s TVR and Jake Hill in the AC Cobra started by Olly Bryant was sensational. As Marcus Pye suggests in our coverage, which starts on page 16, it was probably one of the greatest races at Goodwood since the first Revival in 1998 and certainly one of the best (and cleanest) wheel-to-wheel fights so far in 2024. Two class drivers. Things were rather more fraught in Greece as…

SUPER FORMULA Red Bull’s partnership with leading Super Formula squad Team Mugen is set to end after the end of this season. Pierre Gasly, Dan Ticktum, Juri Vips and Liam Lawson have all driven for the Honda-powered team over the years, with a season in Japan viewed as the final stepping stone to a Formula 1 seat with one of Red Bull’s teams. But with Honda switching its allegiance in F1 from Red Bull to Aston Martin from 2026, the Red Bull/Mugen alliance’s days had looked to be numbered for some time. Formula 2 graduate Ayumu Iwasa this season became the latest Red Bull junior to join Mugen, but the Japanese has struggled to make the same impact as Lawson. While team-mate Tomoki Nojiri leads the standings, Iwasa (pictured) sits…

OBITUARY Alan Rees had the distinction of helping to found two Formula 1 teams, and was one of the earliest employees of a third. The Briton, who has died aged 86 after a long illness, was a partner in both March and Arrows, which entered the grand prix arena in 1970 and 1978 respectively. In between times, he was recruited by Shadow to help put its UK operation in place for its F1 entry in 1973. Former driver Rees established March Engineering in 1969 together with Max Mosley, Robin Herd and Graham Coaker, his initials providing the ‘AR’ in the middle. It was set up as a builder of proprietary racing cars, F1 machinery included, with a lot of hype and not much money. Each partner was said to have…

The gift of the Gabriel I read Audi are likely to re-sign Valtteri Bottas for 2025 (Pit + Paddock, 5 September), but are they missing a potential future superstar in not looking at Gabriel Bortoleto? He is clearly the standout talent in Formula 2 this year and looks likely to follow Oscar Piastri as the next consecutive F3-F2 winner. Those that have previously achieved this went on to be the best on the grid. I appreciate he is a McLaren junior, but with no obvious opening there I’m sure a deal could be struck. In a continued development year for Sauber, he could learn with less pressure and Audi/Sauber have the experience and development elements covered with the signing of Nico Hulkenberg. Surely the signing of a potential superstar makes…

Seven-time NASCAR Cup king Jimmie Johnson and quadruple IndyCar championship winner Dario Franchitti made winning Saturday evening’s 45-minute Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy Pre-1963 GT race look easy. But their victory was as much down to the RS Williams Aston Martin technicians who not only honed Adrian Gosden’s ex-Equipe Endeavour DB4 GT/0124/R to perfection, but repaired its crumpled tail after the American pranged it during timed practice. “I scratched the back in the rain yesterday,” said Johnson of the machine in which Moss had won a low-key Fordwater Trophy closed car race for Tommy Sopwith’s team, first time out here on Easter Monday 1960. It took several hours of hammering the alloy back into shape with panel beaters’ dollies, but the result was more than presentable. And the Aston was super-quick!…

After more than 300 kilometres of competitive stages, Sami Pajari and Robert Virves couldn’t be split on overall times in the battle for the WRC2 honours, with the victory decided on countback. Toyota protege Pajari took the spoils by comparing head-to-head times recorded on stage one on Friday. On this occasion, Pajari beat Virves by 19.7 seconds to seal the win. Fellow title contender Yohan Rossel had dominated the opening five stages in his Citroen C3 Rally2 to build a lead of 46.5s from Pajari. But a puncture on stage six cost the Frenchman two minutes. Virves, only competing in Greece following a successful crowdfunding project that raised €50,000, set a blistering time on stage six to leap from fourth into a 1.5s lead. On Saturday, Pajari snatched the lead…

FORMULA REGIONAL EUROPEAN IMOLA (ITA) 7-8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 7/10 The battle for the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine got physical on a wet track last Sunday at Imola, when a first-corner clash between Ferrari proteges Rafael Camara and Tuukka Taponen delayed the Brazilian and eliminated the Finn. Camara at least recovered to score points in ninth place, one day after taking a brilliant win in the dry. The Prema Racing car of Camara led all the way from pole on Saturday, but that’s only half the story. While the field circulated early on behind the safety car, notification came of a five-second penalty for a false start. Once the race went green, Camara bolted, and with four laps remaining he had already pulled out the necessary gap to Taponen.…

Across the decade since Formula E was founded, no fewer than nine drivers have claimed the title, serving to highlight how competitive and unpredictable the all-electric championship has been during its first 10 years. Of those nine champions, seven had either raced in Formula 1 previously or would go on to compete in the championship after their title win, underlining the quality of drivers who have raced in Formula E. Here, we speak to those nine about their successes, the highs and lows of each title-winning campaign, and what it means to have tasted outright glory in Formula E. NELSON PIQUET JR 2014-15 champion The inaugural season of Formula E went the way of Piquet via two wins and a further three podiums across the 11 races. The Brazilian’s crown…

It’s 22 January 1956, minutes before four of a warm and cloudy Buenos Aires afternoon. Juan Manuel Fangio, Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso have lined up their Lancia-Ferraris on the first row of the grid for the start of the Argentinian Grand Prix, alongside Jean Behra’s Maserati 250F. Behind them – in the middle of row two on the 4-3-4 grid – is Carlos Menditeguy aboard one of the five works-entered Maseratis, sandwiched by team-mates Stirling Moss and Jose Froilan Gonzalez. Down comes the flag and, as the field accelerates away, Menditeguy edges past Fangio, Castellotti and Behra, trailing Musso and Gonzalez into the right-hand swerve at the bottom of the main straight. Third place becomes the lead four laps later, and this is where he’ll remain during the next…

GINETTA Ginetta Junior will feature an updated car and an international round next season. The British sportscar manufacturer announced its 2025 racing plans last weekend at Donington Park, and its entry-level junior series will again race alongside Ginetta’s other two flagship categories on the British GT support bill, but will also have two separate rounds: one at Croft and a yet-to-be-announced overseas leg. “We’ve always wanted to make Ginetta Junior an international car and, in fact, we have dozens of cars in Europe at the moment,” said Ginetta owner Lawrence Tomlinson. “It’s a stepping stone into a global Junior series. Ideally we’d like to have series all around the world.” A revised G40 Evo car was unveiled featuring an aesthetically different front end based on the design of Ginetta’s G56.…

BARC Former Anglesey International Circuit lap record holder Jim Hutchinson made his first appearance at the Welsh circuit last weekend since setting his benchmark in 2009. He said: “I had a Nissan V6-powered Jade then, which I’ve now bought back to restore, but never really had the chance to come back until now.” He gave his Sonny Howard-built Ford Escort Mk1, powered by a 2.9-litre Millington engine, its CNC Heads Sports/Saloon debut, and won all three races. Simon Allaway’s Lotus Esprit was the closest challenger in race one, before Arron Armiger’s Vauxhall Tigra finished runner-up twice. He is due out again this weekend in the Modified Ford Series at Brands Hatch.…

DONINGTON PARK BRITISH GT 7-8 SEPTEMBER Barwell Motorsport’s Rob and Ricky Collard dominated British GT’s twohour race at Donington Park, extending their championship lead with just one round remaining. The father-son pairing won by 3.2 seconds from pole ahead of Blackthorn’s Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam, while Garage 59’s Shaun Balfe and Adam Smalley completed the podium. It means the Lamborghini drivers will arrive at the Brands Hatch finale with a 24.5-point advantage – with 37.5 up for grabs – over second-placed Sandy Mitchell and Alex Martin, who finished fourth in the sister Barwell entry last weekend. “That’s first blood going towards Brands Hatch – we needed that,” said Ricky Collard, as Barwell claimed the teams’ crown. “We’d gone in a completely different direction with set-up, we’re trying something new,…

DONINGTON PARK GB3 7-8 SEPTEMBER Louis Sharp produced a near-perfect weekend at Donington Park to give himself clear daylight in the GB3 title race heading into the deciding round at Brands Hatch later this month. The Rodin Motorsport driver mastered changeable conditions across the two days to record his third and fourth victories of the campaign and extend his points advantage over his main championship rivals. The foundations of his double triumph were built in a damp qualifying, where the British-born New Zealander edged Tymek Kucharczyk, who came into the weekend third in the standings, to take pole for both races one and two. With the circuit having mostly dried out for the opener, Sharp led from lights to flag after building an early 1.5-second advantage. Kucharczyk halved that gap…

KNOCKHILL KMSC 7-8 SEPTEMBER The Knockhill Modsports Championship title race remains wide open heading into the final round following a dramatic twin layout double-header at the Fife circuit last weekend. A pair of frightening accidents for Mini drivers Adam Morrison and Natalie Cowie in the closing stages of Sunday’s second encounter brought out the red flags, leaving Shaun Davidson’s points lead intact ahead of October’s finale. Cowie had been Davidson’s nearest challenger pre-weekend, but a strong Saturday meant fellow Class G rival Morrison took up the mantle on Sunday. But a horrendous high-speed barrel roll on the last lap put paid to his chances, the damage writing off his Mini in the process. “I came sliding through the chicane and clipped the sausage kerb while I was still sliding, and…

CROFT BARC MINI FESTIVAL 7-8 SEPTEMBER Gabe Fairbrother picked up the first victories of his car racing career as the Mini Challenge Trophy battled the elements during Croft’s inaugural British Automobile Racing Club Mini Festival. Saturday’s opener featured the best of the conditions for the drivers, and Rhys Hurd maintained his recent run of form, fighting his way through from 10th on the grid to win ahead of Sam Gornall, who claimed the championship lead when Westbourne team-mate Harry Hickton was forced to retire early on. Gornall extended his advantage in a wet race two with fourth spot while Hickton charged from the back to take ninth. But it was Fairbrother who emerged for a maiden victory after an early pass on polesitter Alex Keens. Fairbrother looked to be cruising…

PRESCOTT BRITISH HILLCLIMB 7-8 SEPTEMBER Matthew Ryder’s dominance of the high summer months in the British Hillclimb Championship continued at Prescott on Sunday with another double win to make it eight run-off victories in a row. Ryder and his Gould GR59 were the class of a challenging day as unpredictable weather conditions threw a curveball into the closing stages of the title race. After a very wet morning, the first run-off was on a still wet hill but, by the end of the afternoon, it was dry enough for everyone to switch to slicks. That made little difference to Ryder, who coolly took two more wins despite the very close attentions of outgoing champion Wallace Menzies. Ryder’s title rival Alex Summers had another good weekend and got the maximum out…

FORMULA 1 Aston Martin’s Formula 1 team has won the battle over Adrian Newey, with the famed designer attributing the squad’s state-of-the-art facilities and its old-school ownership feel from Lawrence Stroll to convincing him to join. After months of speculation, former Red Bull, McLaren and Williams design genius Newey will be taking up a role as managing technical partner from 1 March 2025, as well as becoming a shareholder in the future. In a newly created role at the Silverstone-based team, Newey will oversee the ambitious squad’s car design for F1’s all-new 2026 regulations, heading a leadership team that includes his former Red Bull colleague Dan Fallows as technical director, and recent Ferrari hire Enrico Cardile as chief technical officer. Newey’s signature had been widely coveted after he announced his…

FORMULA E Five-time Formula E race winner Maximilian Guenther will race for DS Penske in the 2024-25 Formula E campaign alongside double champion Jean-Eric Vergne. The Bavarian takes the place of 2022 champion Stoffel Vandoorne, who was confirmed in July to be joining Maserati MSG and has effectively swapped seats with Guenther. It means a reunion for Guenther, 27, with DS Penske team boss Jay Penske, whose Dragon squad he made his FE debut with in the 2018-19 season. “We share the same ambitions and are all driven to be at the top of Formula E,” said Guenther. “Representing DS Performance is a real privilege. “Same for being team-mates with a champion like Jean-Eric – it’s something I really look forward to. A very special element for me is to…

IMSA/LE MANS 24 HOURS The prospect of taking his eponymous team to the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time was one of the key factors behind Wayne Taylor’s decision to switch back to Cadillac for the IMSA SportsCar Championship after a four-year stint with Acura. He explained that he is already “working on the assumption” that Wayne Taylor Racing will be on the grid for the World Endurance Championship blue riband next June. “I am the eternal optimist, so I am expecting to be there until someone tells me otherwise,” said Taylor on the long-awaited confirmation of WTR’s deal to run a pair of Cadillac V-Series.R LMDhs in IMSA’s GTP class in 2025. “Jota will have two cars in WEC and we are hopeful that Caddy can have…

Baku Length 3.730 miles Number of laps 51 UK START TIMES Friday 13 September FP1 1030 FP2 1400 Saturday 14 September FP3 0930 QUALIFYING 1300 Sunday 15 September RACE 1200 CATCH THE RACE LIVE SKY SPORTS F1 BBC RADIO 5 LIVE TV Highlights CHANNEL 4 1630 TYRE ALLOCATION CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS Drivers Constructors BAKU STATS Previous winners 2023 POLE POSITION Charles Leclerc 1m40.203s POLE LAP RECORD Charles Leclerc 1m40.203s (2023) RACE LAP RECORD Charles Leclerc 1m43.009s (2019) Baku podiums…

“I thought I’d left Tom too much to do but he pulled it off” Wrestling snarling Ford V8-powered GT cars that started at opposite ends of the grid, British Touring Car title protagonists Jake Hill and Tom Ingram went head-to-head in last Sunday’s Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration – perhaps the greatest race in the Goodwood Revival Meeting’s 26-year history. In the red corner: Hill, 30, in the 2021-winning AC Cobra handed to him in second place by Olly Bryant, following a stellar charge from the back. In the blue corner: Ingram, 31, in Mike Whitaker’s TVR Griffith 400, which he’d qualified second to Harrison Newey’s ground-hogging Jaguar E-type as heavy rain gave way to bright autumn sunshine. If both young aces were new to their rampant steeds, the Anglo-American…

RAC TOURIST TROPHY CELEBRATION: CLOSED-COCKPIT GT CARS 1960-1964 (39 LAPS) 1 Mike Whitaker/Tom Ingram (TVR Griffith 400); 2 Olly Bryant/Jake Hill (AC Cobra) +0.407s; 3 Andrew Smith/Dario Franchitti (Cobra); 4 Bobby Verdon-Roe/Andre Lotterer (Cobra); 5 Richard Meins/Rob Hu. (Jaguar E-type); 6 Saif Assam/Gordon Shedden (Cobra); 7 Fred Wakeman/Tom Kristensen (Lister-Jaguar coupe); 8 William Paul/Andy Priaulx (E-type); 9 Adrian & Harrison Newey (E-type); 10 Richard Kent/Alex Brundle (E-type FHC). Fastest lap Ingram 1m23.787s (102.25mph) record. Pole A Newey (H Newey set time). Starters 27. SUSSEX TROPHY: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPORTSCARS 1955-60 (32 LAPS) 1 Andrew Smith/Olly Bryant (Lotus-Climax 15); 2 John Spiers/Nigel Greensall (Lister-Jaguar Costin) +46.585s; 3 Roger Wills/James Davison (Lotus-Climax 15); 4 Rob Hall/Andy Willis (Lotus-Climax 15); 5 Saif Assam/Gordon Shedden (Lister-Jaguar Knobbly); 6 Nick Jarvis/Scott Malvern (Lister-Chevrolet Costin); 7 Bonamy…

DTM SACHSENRING (DEU) 7-8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 6/8 Jack Aitken scored his third DTM victory of the season last Saturday on the series’ annual visit to the Sachsenring. And Sunday’s race could have made it a double success for the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari squad had it not broken the rules during the pitstop for the sister 296 GT3 of Thierry Vermeulen. That handed the win to HRT Mercedes driver Luca Stolz. Aitken inherited pole position on Saturday when Thomas Preining, quickest in qualifying in his Manthey EMA Porsche, was handed a five-place grid drop for accumulating three reprimands over the course of the year. And the Briton streaked clear of Mirko Bortolotti’s SSR Lamborghini in the opening stint. A slow pitstop, coupled with Bortolotti’s undercut attempt, threatened Aitken’s chances of…

10 VALENCIA 1 24 April 2021 “Formula E has now endured its 2005 United States Grand Prix moment” is how Autosport described the debacle that was the opening Valencia E-Prix in 2021. It was memorable for all the wrong reasons – three drivers came to a halt on track during the final lap, out of energy, while five more were disqualified for exceeding permitted energy levels. It left only nine classified finishers out of 24 starters, and many of those crawled to the flag over the final lap – Jean-Eric Vergne, the last of the runners, clocked a 5m48s final tour after activating his pit-limiter! “We will be the joke of the week,” is how race-long leader Antonio Felix da Costa described the situation, which stemmed from 1kWh of power…

GB3 Recently crowned USF Juniors champion Max Taylor made his GB3 debut last weekend at Donington Park with Arden Motorsport. The 16-year-old Velocity Racing Development protege, who also finished third overall in USF2000 this year, scored a pair of 11th place finishes. Singaporean Alex Kattoulas, who began his career in karting before taking a break from motorsport, was another to join the grid. His best finish with Fortec was 17th. Chris Dittmann Racing’s Flynn Jackes was ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a broken leg in a road traffic collision prior to the meeting. There was a new team and driver in action in GB4, with Idola Motorsport running Polish racing rookie Alexsander Mizera.…

BRITISH GT Barwell Motorsport’s Sandy Mitchell has been left rueing the incidents that may have cost him and co-driver Alex Martin the 2024 British GT championship. The Lamborghini duo sit second with a round remaining, but are 24.5 points behind teammates Rob/Ricky Collard after the father-son duo won at Donington Park, while Martin/Mitchell finished fourth. Martin was running second until he clipped a tyre stack at the Fogarty Esses, causing a front-left puncture, which dropped their Huracan to sixth due to the unscheduled stop. “It’s a day of what could have been,” said Mitchell, who won the 2020 title with Collard Sr. “But we’ve come away with a P4, which is still a good result considering we had to make an extra pitstop, so there’s nothing we can do about…

HISTORIC RALLYING It was Porsche versus Triumph versus Fiat in the latest round of the British Historic Rally Championship as crews moved back on to Welsh gravel for last weekend’s Woodpecker Stages Rally. After a fantastic day-long battle in incredibly slippery and murky conditions, Seb Perez and Gary McElhinney got their Porsche 911 Carrera RS home with just an eight-second advantage over the Triumph TR7 V8 of Mark Higgins and Carl Williamson. Nick Elliott and Dave Price had their Fiat 131 up in the battle for much of the day, but were slowed later by a broken damper and dropped off a little, although still took third. With a new base in Newtown and stages in Ceri and Hafren, there was a fresh look to the 2024 Woodpecker, which formed…

A superb opening stint by Ravi Ramyead helped him and Century Motorsport co-driver Charlie Robertson claim victory in British GT4’s two-hour contest at Donington Park. The BMW M4 pair started ninth but were fifth come the driver change and no compensation penalties helped them leapfrog into first for their second win in three races. Team Parker’s Charles Dawson and Seb Morris and the second Century BMW of Ian Gough and Tom Wrigley completed the podium at the season’s penultimate round last weekend. Forsetti Motorsport’s Aston Martin Vantage went quickest in a wet qualifying, but that rain did not continue into race day despite the wishes of polesitters Jamie Day and Mikey Porter. The latter stayed ahead of Aston Millar’s DTO Ginetta G56 at the start, but Porter’s team-mate Marc Warren…

GB3 Race 1 (14 laps) 1 Louis Sharp; 2 Gerrard Xie +4.619s; 3 John Bennett; 4 Tymek Kucharczyk; 5 Noah Ping; 6 Freddie Slater. Fastest lap Kucharczyk 1m24.107s (106.46mph). Pole Sharp. Starters 21. Race 2 (13 laps) 1 Sharp; 2 Kucharczyk +2.392s; 3 Ping; 4 Slater; 5 Arthur Rogeon; 6 Xie. FL Kucharczyk 1m31.861s (97.47mph). P Sharp. S 21. Race 3 (17 laps) 1 Rogeon; 2 McKenzy Cresswell +2.314s; 3 Will Macintyre; 4 Bennett; 5 Slater; 6 Sharp. FL Rogeon 1m24.049s (106.53mph). P Rogeon. S 21. Points 1 Sharp (below) 422; 2 Bennett 389; 3 Kucharczyk 386; 4 Macintyre 334; 5 Cresswell 314; 6 Xie 252. For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

KMSC MODSPORTS Races 1 & 2 Paul Brydon (Solution F BMW M3) Races 3 & 4 Andy Forrest (Radical SR1) SCOTTISH FIESTA ST CUP Race 1 Kieren Preedy Race 2 Gerry Hendry SCOTTISH C1 CUP Race 1 Murray Scott Race 2 Dan Martin SCOTTISH LEGENDS Races 1 & 4 Stewart Black Race 2 Ben Mason Races 3, 5 & 6 Ryan McLeish SCOTTISH CLASSIC SPORTS AND SALOONS Race 1 Alastair Baptie (MGB GT V8) Race 2 Andrew Graham (Triumph TR8) DDMC NORTHERN SALOON AND SPORTS Races 1 & 2 Matty Cobb (VW Beetle, below) For full results visit: smart-timing.co.uk…

SNETTERTON LEGENDS CARS Races 1, 2 & 3 Chris Needham Races 4, 5 & 6 Robert Barrable BERNIE’S V8s AND HISTORIC OUTLAWS Race 1 Johnny Hyde (TVR Tuscan) Race 2 Dan Birch (TVR Tuscan) MSVR ALL-CORNERS Race 1 Alf Skeels (Radical PR6) Race 2 Barry Liversidge (Radical SR3) CROFT MINI CHALLENGE TROPHY Race 1 Rhys Hurd Races 2 & 3 Gabe Fairbrother MINI CHALLENGE CLUBSPORT Races 1 & 3 Stephen Berry (Cooper S) Race 2 Ross Alexander (Cooper S) MINI ENDURO Stephen Berry (Cooper S) SCOTTISH MINI COOPER CUP Races 1 & 2 Jamie Blake (Cooper S) Race 3 Chad Little (Cooper) MIGHTY MINIS Races 1 & 2 Neven Kirkpatrick (Super) HEROES OF FF1600 SPRINT CUP Races 1 & 2 Lucas Romanek (Van Diemen RF88, below) For full results visit:…

The Lancia Delta HF 4WD of Miki Biasion and long-time co-driver Tiziano Siviero makes haste through the high-altitude snowy conditions – with associated stunning Alpine backdrop – of the 1987 Monte Carlo Rally. The event marked the start of a new era, as the tamer-looking, sounding and performing Group A cars replaced the beasts of Group B. The event could not be described as a PR triumph: the Lancias dominated, prompting a protest from rival squad Mazda alleging irregularities with the cars’ homologation spec that resulted in a protracted mid-event scrutineering session. Officials opted to take no action. Then, on the final stage, Lancia’s new recruit (and reigning world champion) Juha Kankkunen was ordered to cede his lead to Biasion. He complied, although clearly unhappy, and the result generally left…

FORMULA 1 Haas Formula 1 reserve Ollie Bearman has been called up for his first race with the squad to replace the banned Kevin Magnussen at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Magnussen received two penalty points at the recent Italian GP for a collision with Pierre Gasly, which took his tally for the past 12 months to the 12-point limit, forcing the Dane to sit out the next race weekend. Bearman, who was announced in July as a full-time F1 driver for Haas in 2025, therefore gets his second GP outing. Earlier this year, the now 19-year-old Briton deputised at Ferrari for Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian GP when the Spaniard was struck with appendicitis, and a composed seventh-place finish in Jeddah boosted the Ferrari protege’s chances of a…

Kevin Hansen goes wheel to wheel with Johan Kristoffersson during a gripping battle in the World Rallycross Championship at Montalegre last Sunday. Hansen went on to take his first win in the electric Peugeot 208 from the ICE-powered VW Polo of Kristoffersson, with the sister Peugeot of Hansen’s older brother Timmy third. The Saturday round on the Portuguese track went to Kristoffersson, who required suspension repairs and just made it out for the final to defeat the electric PWR of Niclas Gronholm. O’SULLIVAN STANDS DOWN Formula 2 race winner and Williams F1 junior Zak O’Sullivan has had to call time on his season with ART Grand Prix, meaning he will miss the final three rounds. “Unfortunately in our sport, there are more factors at play than just the stopwatch,” said…

Add the record Formula 1 drivers’ title hauls of Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton together and you only just surpass the 13 such championships that cars designed by Adrian Newey have amassed in his long list of grand prix racing successes. And then there are those 12 constructors’ crowns on top. This alone explains the clamour surrounding his Red Bull exit and arrival at Aston Martin. Adding another title for a fourth F1 squad – Newey’s sixth overall since he started out as a designer for the Fittipaldi team following his aeronautics and astronautics studies at Southampton University – would cap his storied career. Newey is synonymous with the titles of ‘technical director’, a role he held at McLaren and initially at Red Bull, and ‘chief technical officer’, in his…

Sixty years after he won the F1 world championship with Ferrari, John Surtees’s unparalleled contribution to motorsport was celebrated at the circuit where the then five-time motorcycle world champion made his car debut, testing with Aston Martin and racing Ken Tyrrell’s Formula Junior Cooper-BMC T52 in the 39th BARC Members’ Meeting on 19 March 1960. If beating Team Lotus’s rising star Jim Clark to pole position, and finishing second, three seconds behind the Scot, was not auspicious enough, being immediately promoted to F1 was staggering. Surtees’s contract with MV Agusta, on whose bikes he added a final pair of world titles, precluded racing for rival marques, but not cars. He switched from 1961, winning Goodwood’s International 100 F1 race for the Glover Trophy in a Yeoman Credit Cooper T53 on…

“I felt a big release of pressure. It was a demanding race, it has been challenging for everybody” Thierry Neuville clinched his 21st World Rally Championship win – one that could prove the most important of his career – after a typically demanding edition of the Acropolis Rally. When Neuville pulled into the Lamia service park and clambered out of his Hyundai i20 N for the final time on Sunday, he let out a roar that turned heads. This appeared to be no ordinary celebration in front of rival crews and the waiting media. It was difficult to ignore, much like the Acropolis itself, which lived up to its ‘European Safari’ moniker to produce one of the WRC’s most drama-filled rallies both on and away from the stages. Neuville was…

NASCAR CUP ATLANTA (USA) 8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 27/36 In the closing laps of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway, it became a duel between Team Penske and Trackhouse Racing. Ryan Blaney pushed Penske team-mate Joey Logano, while Ross Chastain pushed Daniel Suarez in Trackhouse’s battle for the win. Ultimately, the Trackhouse Chevys became disconnected, clearing the way for Logano’s Ford to capture the chequered flag and become the first to lock himself into the Round of 12. “Incredible execution from the team,” gushed Logano of his 34th Cup victory. “When it’s playoff time, it’s our time. Got stuck in the back a little bit. It was hard to get track position back. Had a good restart and got towards the front. Had my team-mate Blaney behind…

MOTOGP MISANO (ITA) 7-8 SEPTEMBER ROUND 13/20 There are few better riders in the MotoGP history books with the skill and bravado for adverse track conditions than Marc Marquez. One week after the eight-times world champion had dominated the 12th round of the 2024 season at Motorland Aragon, he glimpsed a hint of an opportunity at Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix and again put the series into a choke hold. Six laps into 27 at the Adriatic venue (surrounded by the biggest ever attendance in 30 grands prix at the flat, grippy circuit, with 89,000 spectators crowded into the stands and banking), the grey clouds briefly erupted and twisted the course of the Grand Prix. World champion Francesco Bagnaia had been leading from main title rival Jorge Martin,…

James Courtney announced his retirement by accident – on the television news. With his eyes set on a career in real estate, it made sense for the 44-year-old to plug the Gold Coast firm he was joining and talk up his expertise. But in doing so, he also stated that he was hanging up the helmet next year on his 25-year career and 250-plus rounds of Australia’s Supercars championship. That career did not go in the direction Courtney – and many others – probably expected. A Junior Karting World title at 15 and the Formula A crown two years later earmarked him as a driver set for the very top, and a dominant British Formula Ford title in 2000 – against a field that included Anthony Davidson – did nothing…

MALLORY PARK A revolutionary new car tracking and track digitisation system could change the way circuits generate revenue – and police track limits. I R Kinetics has developed an infrared system that can track all cars in every race in real time more accurately than is currently possible using GPS. Professor Andrew Bradley was key to the idea, which includes the involvement of computer giant Dell and defence technology company Roke. Former Donington Park boss Christopher Tate is also part of the initiative. IRK says the system can “manage the discipline of track limits and provide 360-degree viewing of the entire facility combining cameras and sensors, with the potential for total race management, and to offer never before available outputs for circuit owners and operators”. Mallory Park is currently being…

BRITISH GT British GT drivers Phil Keen and Ian Loggie were left encouraged by the performance of their new Porsche 911 GT3-R at Donington Park last weekend. The 2 Seas Motorsport pair finished fifth in the season’s penultimate round despite starting 15th after a difficult qualifying session in the wet. It was their first race aboard the Porsche, which last appeared in British GT at Silverstone in 2023, after switching from a Mercedes. “I think it’s been a really good start,” said Keen. “The guys have worked hard on the car and we’ve made some really good progress over the weekend. It was tough initially – we were just not generating any tyre temperature, but we’ve learnt a lot and I think we’ll continue to make progress at Brands Hatch.…

BRANDS HATCH Max McRae will make his UK circuit racing debut this weekend at Brands Hatch when he contests the final rounds of the Radical Cup UK in an SR3. McRae topped the European Junior Rally Championship on the recent Rali Ceredigion, his second win of the year having been victorious at the season-opening Rally Hungary in his Peugeot 208 Rally 4. The son of British Rally champion Alister and nephew of 1995 World Rally champion Colin, McRae started competing in Australia, but joined the ERC last year as well as contesting occasional UK events such as the Grampian and Jim Clark rallies. Although he has never raced in the UK, he is no stranger to circuits after winning the Arise Racing prize for a fully funded drive in the…

LEGENDS Reigning Legends Cars Racing UK champion Will Gibson will represent England in the World Finals event in the US later this year. Gibson will compete with the Go Motorsport squad at the 28th running of the road course World Finals, which take place from 15-17 November at the Virginia International Raceway. “We’ve had an invitation to go and represent England in the World Finals in one of the new-style Legends with the water-cooled engine and front and rear disc brakes,” said Gibson, who currently leads the standings in the UK-based championship. “We’ll be flying out in November to VIR and we’re going to try and do something that’s not been done in a while, win the World Championship for England! Go Motorsport had a space available for a Pro…

DONINGTON PARK BRSCC 7-8 SEPTEMBER Mckenzie Douglass scored another two victories in the Ginetta GT Championship at Donington Park last weekend to seal the title with a round to spare. It wasn’t completely plain sailing for the Fox Motorsport driver, though, with the second of his wins coming after a clash with closest rival Luke Garlick. Garlick had earlier been hampered by a spin in race one on a slippery circuit. Nick White used his wet tyres to lead initially while Douglass, one of many to start on slicks, was shuffled down to fourth. He climbed back to second before a mid-race safety car period, and then picked off White on a rapidly drying circuit. Douglass eventually won by almost 20 seconds, ahead of Conner Garlick, who demoted White to…

SNETTERTON MSVR USA SNETTERTON 300 7-8 SEPTEMBER Originally built as an RAF airfield that was designated to the United States Air Force from 1943 to 1945, Snetterton returned to its American roots for last weekend’s USA Snetterton 300 event. A variety of American-made cars, including NASCAR and Ford Mustangs, put on demonstrations, while there was also a stars-and-stripes theme to the racing action. Chris Needham wiped the floor in the Legends Cars Championship on Saturday, winning all three of that day’s races. He started 17th in the final, and made a last-gasp pass for the lead moments before Daniel Pooley rolled his car on the penultimate lap, which brought out a red flag. The decision to not restart the race handed Needham his Saturday grand slam. “I started at the…

SANTA POD BRITISH DRAG RACING 5-8 SEPTEMBER No fewer than five Pro Mod racers entered Santa Pod’s European Finals last weekend with at least a mathematical shot at the FIA European Pro Modified Championship. The three who mattered were the Netherlands’ David Vegter, Estonian Andres Arnover and Jere Rantaniemi of Finland. Vegter has long seemed Pro Mod’s eternal heir apparent, while the other two are newer on the Pro Mod scene, with history in other Nordic ‘doorslammer’ classes. Should either Arnover or Rantaniemi claim the crown, they would have become the first to do so using turbo power in a competition dominated by supercharged cars since its FIA adoption in 2006. Norwegian Stian Rusanes and another Dutch racer, Michel Tooren, could also just about have snatched the spoils were the…

VIDEO GAME REVIEW SUPER WODEN GP 2 PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S Price: around £10 depending on format As far as indie arcade racers go, you’ll be hard pressed to find another title that can grab your attention in more different ways than Super Woden GP 2. This sequel from developer ViJuDa is a step forward from the widely revered 2021 original in pretty much every perceivable area, and it uses the power of nostalgia in various guises as its bait. Were you a fan back in the days of the now-retro isometric racing genre? This game has you covered, challenging you with a gameplay experience that requires practice, rhythm, and a specific technique that will be learned over time. How about general old-school motorsport…

Ayrton Senna had to dig deep at the Hungaroring in 1989 to continue his bid to become the first driver since the 1950s to start from the front row at every grand prix in a season. That he had to pull out all the stops to join poleman Riccardo Patrese owed much to the superb effort of Alex Caffi in the Scuderia Italia Dallara 189, which was second after Friday’s running. He isn’t bitter about ultimately ending up third. “Ayrton made a couple of tenths better than me, but it’s OK – it wasn’t a bad result!” he chuckles. Caffi now owns chassis 005, which he drove to sixth in that year’s Canadian Grand Prix. His F1 career peaked with fourth in Monaco and the Italian would likely have finished…