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BROOKES OVERCOMES SPEEDY SEELEY IN FREE PRACTICE |
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Motor Cycle Racing
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Written by Dean Watson
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Saturday, 17 July 2010 14:42 |
 MCE Insurance British Superbike ChampionshipROUND SEVEN – SNETTERTON – 16/17/18 July
Josh Brookes twice fought off fierce challenges from Alastair Seeley to set the pace in the opening practice sessions ahead of the triple race seventh round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Snetterton.
The HM Plant Honda rider, who leads the title chase by four points, topped the leaderboard in each of the two sessions at the Norfolk circuit, but not without being closely challenged by Relentless Suzuki riding Seeley, and the two riders ended the day with only 0.120secs between them.
“This is the best practice day I have had this year and the first time I have topped two consecutive free practice sessions so I am feeling really positive now ahead of the first race,” said Brookes with a smile.
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World Superbike star Tom Sykes returns to BSB at Brands Hatch |
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Motor Cycle Racing
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Written by Dean Watson
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Saturday, 17 July 2010 14:36 |
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Factory Kawasaki WSB team set for wildcard entry at August triple-header
World Superbike ace Tom Sykes will return to his former battle ground when he joins the BSB grid onboard the factory WSB Kawasaki at the eighth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch on 6/7/8 August.
The annual August event on the 2.3-mile Grand Prix circuit will be an epic triple-header as the fight for the title intensifies with the all-important Showdown rapidly approaching. Former BSB title contender Sykes is relishing the challenge of renewing his on track rivalries as he aims to settle old scores and take on some of this year’s hottest properties.
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Old-school Zolder set to test Superleague Formula’s best |
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Superleague Formula
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Written by Dean Watson
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Saturday, 17 July 2010 14:32 |
 Superleague Formula by Sonangol reaches its half-way stage this weekend when the football-themed series visits Zolder in Belgium, a circuit famed for its challenging nature.
The 2.492 mile, 10 turn circuit has remained a staple of the championship since its inception in 2008. Indeed, it is the only venue to have been included on the calendar throughout Superleague Formula’s brief history to date.
There’s every chance of local fans cheering on a home victory too with RSC Anderlecht and Azerti, the outfit that run them, flying high in the championship. Their driver, 2008 champion Davide Rigon, has been quietly clocking up points for the Purple and Whites so far, including two wins at Assen and four further podium finishes, to lie fourth in table.
And the Italian will be amongst the favourites again this weekend after tasting victory at Zolder back in 2008.
“I have good memories of Zolder, because in 2008 I got an important victory which proved decisive for the final championship result,” said Rigon. “The circuit is of an old-style that’s typical of an era in which the tracks proved really challenging for drivers. At first it seems quite simple to learn, but that’s not the case. It is very technical, with elevation changes that makes it difficult to pick your braking points.
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Frustrating weekend for Robertson Racing in Utah |
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GT's
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Written by Dean Watson
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Saturday, 17 July 2010 14:28 |
 Robertson Racing arrived at Miller Motorsports Park last weekend with high hopes of their best American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron result of the season.
And although there were glimpses of their Ford GT’s improved pace at Salt Lake City, a sizeable chunk of bad luck eventually condemned the car of David Robertson, David Murry and Andrea Robertson to 12th in the ultra-competitive GT class.
By the Atlanta team’s own admission qualifying didn’t quite go according to plan and the car lined up 10th for Sunday’s race.
And come race day, it didn’t take long for the first taste of how the following two and three quarter hours would pan out. Indeed, before the lights had even gone out, the RSR Jaguar which shared the 11th row with Robertson Racing, had smashed into the back of the Ford GT.
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NO CHANGES FOR THE HANDICAP WEIGHTS |
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WTCC
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 13:57 |
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 The handicap weights for the WTCC Race of Portugal remain the same as for the previous event in Zolder.
The Chevrolet Cruze and the SEAT León TDI remain the heaviest cars of the field and for the third consecutive race meeting they will carry the maximum compensation weight of 40 kg.
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Superleague Formula by Sonangol returns to the ‘Ring for round five |
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Superleague Formula
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 13:43 |
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Superleague Formula by Sonangol journeys from central Spain to western Germany this weekend for the football-themed championship’s fifth round of the season at the Nurburgring.
Nestled in the spectacular Eifel Mountains alongside its formidable Nordschleife forbearer, the circuit returns to the calendar after hosting the second-ever Superleague Formula round in 2008.
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GT's
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 13:17 |
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 Next season the Super Taikyu Series in Japan is to add a new class based on the FIA GT3 regulations with the full support of the SRO Motorsports Group, the promoter of FIA GT3 racing worldwide. In 2011 the new ST-X Class will have three to four races with a full race schedule scheduled for 2012.
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Brands Hatch celebrates 50th anniversary of the Grand Prix circuit |
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UK Motorsport
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 13:07 |
 Brands Hatch will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Grand Prix circuit at the HSCC
Historic Superprix next weekend (3/4 July).
The Grand Prix configuration is widely regarded as one of the most challenging and spectacular circuits in motor racing, and the circuit regularly held the British GP for three decades in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Nigel Mansell scored his first ever Grand Prix win at the Kent venue in 1985, whilst MotorSport Vision Chief Executive Jonathan Palmer made his F1 debut at Brands Hatch in 1983 driving a Williams FW08C.
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WINTON TRIBUTE TO HQ HOLDEN LEGEND |
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Australian & New Zealand Motorsport
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 12:47 |
 The HQ Holden racing at this weekend’s round of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships at Winton Motor Raceway will be a tribute to category stalwart Dallas Crane, who succumbed to cancer on June 15. He was 56 years old.
Crane was instrumental in the growth and development of HQ Holden racing, which he was involved with since the category’s humble beginnings in his native Tasmania in 1988.
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STRONG ZOLDER DRIVE LIFTS BRATT BACK INTO SERIES TOP FOUR |
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Formula 2
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 12:35 |
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 Will Bratt moved back into the top four of the FIA Formula 2 Championship standings at Zolder in Belgium on Sunday, 20th June, after taking a hard-fought fifth place finish during the eighth round of the season.
During qualifying, the 22-year-old from Banbury posted the fourth quickest time – just 0.151 seconds shy of pole position – and aimed to put the disappointment of an enforced retirement in Saturday’s seventh round firmly behind him.
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BRITAIN'S FOUR MUSKETEERS. PLUS ONE |
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WTCC
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Written by Dean Watson
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Saturday, 17 July 2010 14:40 |
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Five British racers will take part in their home race meeting this weekend at Brands Hatch. Four of them are WTCC regulars, whilst the fifth is a late addition for the event.
BMW Team RBM's three times World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx is currently lying third in the Drivers' standings; so far he is also WTCC's only local hero able to claim victory at Brands in 2007's Race 2. In the two following seasons Priaulx has obtained two third places, always in the second races.
Rob Huff, currently fourth in the points, is still chasing his first win on the home soil. The Chevrolet man saw his dream vanish in 2008, when a puncture stopped him in the final moments of the first race whilst he had a comfortable lead. Huff's best result at Brands to date is last year's second position in Race 1, finishing behind his teammate Alain Menu.
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SHAUN MUIR RACING LAUNCHES PERFORMANCE CENTRE |
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Motor Cycle Racing
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Written by Dean Watson
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Saturday, 17 July 2010 14:33 |
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 Shaun Muir Racing (SMR), the driving force behind the successful Hydrex Honda and Swan Honda Superbike BSB racing teams is launching a Performance Centre at it’s team headquarters.
From the team’s state of the art facility in Guisborough, some 10 miles from Middlesbrough, the SMR Performance Centre will offer a comprehensive range of performance enhancing services to all riders whether they be racers, track day enthusiasts or regular road riders.
A full range of engine, suspension and chassis tuning services will be offered to give customers’ bikes that extra something special.
Customers will have their bikes fettled in the same workshop as the BSB Superbikes and worked on by the same team of specialist technicians that prepare the race machines ridden by BSB stars Stuart Easton and James Ellison.
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Fisken on form in stunning Le Mans Classic weekend |
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Sports Cars
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Written by Dean Watson
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Saturday, 17 July 2010 14:29 |
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Gregor Fisken produced several spirited drives in two superb 1960s Ferraris at the Le Mans Classic last weekend.
The biennial event, organised by Le Mans Series promoters Peter Autos, once again attracted massive crowds and an incredible entry of beautiful vintage pre-1979 racing machinery, split into six different grids based each car’s original year of competition.
Gregor, also Managing Director and founder of historic automobile specialist Fiskens, travelled to La Sarthe to drive a 1960 Ferrari 246 S run by Tim Samways of Sporting and Historic Cars.
Sharing the Ferrari, which famously raced at the 12 Hours of Sebring, Nurburgring 1000kms and Targa Florio, with Harry Leventis and Bobby Verdon-Roe, Fisken led home the 77-car field for a comfortable victory in Saturday’s first 46-minute race, only to be handed a two-minute penalty for a pit lane infraction which dropped him to fourth in the final result.
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BRATT PRODUCES DOMINANT FORM DURING BRANDS HATCH GP TEST |
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Formula 2
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Written by Dean Watson
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Saturday, 17 July 2010 14:26 |
Will Bratt delivered an exceptionally strong performance during FIA Formula 2 Championship testing at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Tuesday, 13th July, to serve notice of his race-winning potential ahead of this weekend’s 11th and 12th rounds of the season. Dominating the first two sessions with buffers of almost 0.3 seconds and more than 0.4 seconds respectively, the 22-year-old went on to head the final outing (in which the drivers are able to utilise the F2 ‘overboost’ power increase facility on the cars) into the closing minutes but was just pipped into second place at the finish.
Marking the most consistently competitive performance of the year for the Banbury driver, yesterday’s official test outing has given Will a timely boost ahead of this weekend’s two races at the 2.3-mile Kent track – an event which carries huge importance for his 2010 championship hopes.
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NEXT STOP: PORTIMÃO, PORTUGAL |
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WTCC
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 13:54 |
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The 9th and 10th rounds of the 2010 FIA WTCC will take place at Portimão next week.
This event marks the championship's first visit to the modern Autódromo Internacional de Algarve located in Southern Portugal, which was inaugurated in 2008.
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Panciatici impresses at Magny-Cours |
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Formula Renault
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 13:35 |
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Nelson Panciatici delivered a strong performance at the weekend as the Formula Renault 3.5 Series visited the 21-year-old’s home track, Magny-Cours. The Parisian driver scored points for Junior Lotus Racing in both races and was within a whisker of the podium in the first.
After a strong performance in Friday’s pre-race testing, Panciatici carried that form into the first qualifying session to set the third fastest time on a damp track, having been at or near the top of the timesheets throughout the session.
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Ocean breaks on the Mediterranean |
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GP2
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 13:13 |
 Ocean Racing Technology heads to Valencia, Spain, to dispute the 7th and 8th races of the 2010 GP2 Championship Series which are once again integrated into the Formula One GP programme. The urban circuit, one of most modern in the world, holds some good memories for Ocean Racing Technology which, in 2009, secured a beautiful 4th place finish as well as a sixth placed finish thanks to Álvaro Parente and Karun Chandhok.
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AMBROSE TO FIGHT BACK AT LOUDON |
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NASCAR
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 12:53 |
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 Marcos Ambrose is working on moving past the toughest day of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career after missing a golden opportunity to seize his first career victory at Infineon Raceway last weekend.
Ambrose was cruising to victory until he shut down his engine in during a late race caution in a bid to converse fuel, but the power plant in his car struggled to kick back into life, dropping him down the order before eventually finishing in sixth.
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MACDOWALL SALVAGES POINTS FROM ROBUST CROFT WEEKEND |
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BTCC
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 12:41 |
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 Silverline Chevrolet’s Alex MacDowall survived three very robust Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire on Sunday, 20th June, to secure a brace of hard-fought points scoring finishes.
Concluding the weekend’s action 13th overall in the driver standings, the Carlisle rookie’s ‘home’ event didn’t provide the results he’d hoped for but he did well to salvage a pair of top 10 finishes in the face of some pretty forceful contact.
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MORE CROFT PODIUM SUCCESS FOR BREEZE & TORDOFF |
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Ginetta Series
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Written by Julie Watson
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Friday, 25 June 2010 12:26 |
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  Total Control Racing enjoyed yet more podium success in both the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup and ELF Renault Clio Cup championships at Croft in North Yorkshire on Sunday, 20th June, thanks to excellent performances from Carl Breeze and Sam Tordoff respectively.
In the Ginetta G50 Cup, points leader Breeze increased his advantage at the top of the standings to 18 points over chief rival Frank Wrathall with two more third place finishes – each worth second place points though due to category ‘guest’ driver Stefan Hodgetts not being eligible to score.
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Quay Garage Honda rider Tommy Bridewell has secured a prestigious wild card entry for the forthcoming Hannspree World Superbike Championship round to be held at Silverstone on August 1st.
