Driver Database News

The 35th position in the Green Hell, in a very difficult condition with the rain and fog, is an extraordinary result for the GDL Racing team.

Ravenna-based team hit the target at its debut in the 2013 edition of Nürburgring 24 Hours, taking an excellent overall place at the end of the Nordshleife race, on Monday afternoon.

Italians Roberto Fecchio, Dario Paletto, Marco Mapelli and Australian Paul Stubber managed a perfect final race, despite of the weather that caused the red flag during the night.

Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S of the Gianluca De Lorenzi’s team did not have any trouble since the first laps to the chequered flag. Not a mistake for the GDL Racing drivers that scored an other positive result to be added to the most important participations at the endurance international races.

Archie Hamilton (22, Basingstoke) will race in the Le Mans 24 Hours, 60 years after his grandfather, Duncan Hamilton, won the legendary event. Archie will join the G Drive Racing by Delta-ADR team in an Oreca 03 Nissan.

Archie has raced cars since 2007, working his way up from Formula Ford through to Formula Renault where he became vice-champion in the BARC series, Porsche Carrera Cup and most recently International GT Open in which he finished third in the GTS class in 2012. Archie has varied experience through occasional drives including Le Mans Prototype testing in the USA, driving a Lamborghini in the Dubai 24 Hours and winning the City Challenge in the Porsche Supercup class. 2012 saw him selected as an Academy Driver by the Motorsport Association and being awarded Rising Star status by the British Racing Drivers Club. Archie previously finished on the Le Mans podium in the junior class of the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup France supporting the main race.

Duncan Hamilton, Archie’s grandfather, contested Le Mans nine times. Most famously he won in 1953 co-driving a works C-Type Jaguar with Tony Rolt.

Archie Hamilton:
“This has been my dream for a long time. While it will be my first attempt it won’t be my last but making my debut in the year of my grandfather’s anniversary makes it very special.

“While every car is different I don’t expect it to be too dissimilar from the prototypes I’ve driven before. It’s amazing to join such a professional team. The team and car are a great combination and I’m really looking forward to the whole Le Mans experience. I’m really pleased to have Paul Thomas as my engineer and Simon Dowson managing the team. From the first time I visited the squad I knew they were the best in LMP2. Alan [Docking] was a big part of my attraction to the squad with all his experience.

“Obviously winning is the goal but so much can happen. To finish in my first year would be brilliant – anything after that would be an amazing bonus. I will do my best to look after the car, drive consistently and work with the team to get the best result possible. I will do everything I can to make my family proud of me for following my grandfather’s driving line.”

Kiwi Jono Lester will have the pleasure of being the first to race at the new Inje Speedium complex in South Korea as the Super Taikyu Endurance Series heads offshore for the second round of its 2013 championship.

Lester and Malaysian driver Fariqe Hairuman will share the #28 PETRONAS Syntium Team Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 for the event, with the format set for two 45-minute, single driver sprint races.

23-year old Lester and Hairuman will drive one race each, with the combined points going towards the overall tally for the #28 entry.

Stiff competition is expected from their #1 sister car, which dominated the 2012 championship, as well as the GTNET ADVAN Nissan GT-R which scored pole position at the season opener at Sportsland Sugo in Sendai, Japan.

“Sprint racing is something I really miss. A flat-out one hour race without any pit stops will require every ounce of concentration and speed,” Lester commented.

“I have been following the build progress of Inje and it looks like a World Class facility. It’s an honour to be the first to race there, and open our season in unfamiliar territory after the unfortunate cancellation of Sugo last month.”

Lester is referring to the heavy snowfall that blanketed the Sportsland Sugo venue in April, causing the abandonment of the scheduled 3-hour race for safety reasons.

Lester had qualified in third position for the event, after his #28 machine had topped the times sheets in practice.

“Really, our season starts here, but with the added bonus of valuable test mileage at Sugo to confirm our potential as a Championship contender in 2013.”

The Inje Speedium is around two hours drive from Seoul and is a 4.207km, FIA Grade 2 circuit with a 70,000 seat grandstand capacity.

The venue is equipped with a 134 room on-site hotel, luxury condos and commercial business facilities, and will stage championships such as Super GT and the Asian Le Mans Series later in 2013.

“I love the challenge of learning a new circuit. This one will be tricky for sure, as the brand new surface will be very slippery and ‘green’ with no previous rubber down.”

With a mid-season break following the Korean round of the Super Taikyu Endurance Series, Lester says it’s important to get the upper hand to take an advantage into the Motegi 5 Hour in July.

“We’ve lost a round now, so it’s critical to start building a buffer at Inje. The best way to do that of course, is to win both races and gain a psychological advantage as well as a competitive one.”

Lester is supported throughout the 2013 season by key partners including Vortex Racewear, Purechoice New Zealand, R Redpath Limited, Opti-Flex, Fastway Couriers, Robbie Bird Wines, CRC MotorNews.co.nz, Mako Networks, iSign it, Sony New Zealand, Sony Xplod, ThrillPledge and Webdesign.

More details about Jono and his season can be found at www.jonolester.com, or by following ‘Jono Lester’ on Facebook or @jonolester on Twitter. Search the hashtag #flyingkiwi for related social media content online.

Follow the action from your smartphone by downloading the new Jono Lester app, simply by visiting http://jonolester.appguppy.com from your iPhone or Android device.

Photo by PETRONAS Syntium Team.

Derbyshire motor racing team Hillspeed suffered a costly outing over the weekend, 18th/19th May, during the second event of the BRDC Formula 4 Championship season at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit where an incident-filled race meeting wrecked the squad’s hopes of retaining the series lead.

Arriving at the 1.2-mile Kent track with Seb Morris heading the title race after a podium hat-trick on the opening weekend at the end of April, the Hathersage squad encountered a difficult event from the off with qualifying not going according to plan and setting the scene for three tough races.

Morris was the best of the Hillspeed qualifiers for round four, albeit with an uncharacteristic ninth fastest time in Saturday’s session, while team-mates Struan Moore and Rahul Raj Mayer were 16th and 22nd quickest respectively.

Welsh teenager Morris made a sensational start to the first of the weekend’s races and brilliantly sliced his way through into ninth but wasn’t able to make any further inroads thereafter with passing opportunities nigh-on impossible.

Moore, meanwhile, climbed into 15th position on the opening lap and continued his strong rate of progress to move into the top 12 a couple of laps later. From there though, the Jersey youngster spent the remainder of the race running in the midst of the tightly packed five car battle headed by Morris. Moore did, though, post a best lap time just 0.1 seconds off the fastest of all.

Mayer held 22nd position for some time before slipping to 23rd late on but the Malaysian made a marked improvement in round five on Sunday where he raced to a strong 17th place. He did climb as high as 14th position but was shuffled back during the latter stages.

For Morris and Moore, round five turned into a nightmare with both getting caught-up in the same incident at the end of lap four. As Morris battled hard to retain ninth ahead of Jack Barlow, the pair touched on the run into the pit-straight as Morris moved across to take the racing line – the resulting spin for the Hillspeed driver leaving his car prone on the track against the pitwall.

Thankfully avoided by the next group of cars, Morris had to retire on the spot while Moore had to take evasive action across the grass on the outside when almost collected by a rival. Although able to recover to the track, Moore thumped through an advertising hoarding heavily and the damage to the front of his car meant he also had to retire a few laps later.

Working incredibly hard to repair the two cars in time for round six, with only 90 minutes or so in which to turn them around, the Hillspeed mechanics did a superb job and Morris was able to work his way through from 17th on the grid into 13th position. Moore, meanwhile, was forced to retire with yet more damage on lap four while Mayer posted a 19th place finish.

“It really has been an incredibly tough weekend, certainly one we’d like to forget”, commented team principal Richard Ollerenshaw, “We haven’t done the amount of testing the others have been doing which put the drivers on the back foot a bit going into the weekend.

“We’re disappointed for Seb and Struan, especially with both of them losing points finishes in race two, although Rahul did make strong progress on his first time racing at Brands Hatch. All in all, a very tough weekend but one we will all bounce back from.”

The BRDC Formula 4 Championship now takes a four week break from action with the third event of 2013 taking place on 15th/16th June at Snetterton in East Anglia. In the meantime, Hillspeed’s Protyre Formula Renault Championship squad will be back on track for the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds of its season on 1st/2nd June at Thruxton in Hampshire.

Provisional 2013 BRDC Formula 4 Championship Standings (after Rd6):
6th Seb Morris, 90pts; 16th Struan Moore, 36pts; 19th Rahul Raj Mayer, 22pts

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Leading BRDC Formula 4 Championship team SWR enjoyed a consistently strong showing during the second event of the year at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit over the weekend, 18th/19th May, with Matty Graham a mere 0.058 seconds away from claiming his second podium of 2013 during round six.

All three of the Chipping Norton team’s F4 rookies, Graham, Jack Barlow and Chinese racer Zou Sirui, produced impressive race performances across the three outings at the 1.2-mile Kent track. Each also had the boost of meeting 2009 FIA Formula One World Champion Jenson Button, who was a special guest at Brands Hatch on Sunday for the visiting DTM touring cars.

“It all turned out quite well for us really”, said team owner Sean Walkinshaw, “Our drivers were quick all weekend, we had some good results and were just a bit unlucky really not to come away with a podium. Matty and Jack scored well, they were seriously quick and Zou did a good job too. All three of them delivered some strong showings.”

Quick from the off during practice on Friday, 17th May, Edmundbyers teenager Graham started the weekend very impressively with the fastest time during the first of the two free practice sessions and went on to qualify sixth fastest for the opening race of the weekend.

In an incredibly close session Barlow was ninth fastest, little more than five hundredths of a second outside Graham’s time, while fellow SWR racer Sirui had to settle for 19th on the grid for race one, even though only 0.5 seconds outside Barlow.

Making a great start to Saturday’s fourth round, Graham moved into fifth while Barlow slipped back to 10th but for Sirui the outing only lasted a few yards when he was forced to pull off the track on the run to Paddock Hill Bend with a technical issue.

Graham edged away from the chasing pack during the early laps and by mid-distance he had managed to latch-on to fourth place. Just 0.2 seconds behind into lap 19, Graham got a good run out of Paddock and dived up the inside into Druids to take the position before closing on third towards the finish. In terms of lap times, he was a mere fraction outside the quickest of the race.

Hastings racer Barlow remained in 10th position throughout, pressuring erstwhile championship leader Seb Morris while at the same time fending off the attentions of Diego Menchaca. With overtaking between the evenly matched competitors proving impossible, only a mistake – which wasn’t forthcoming – would have opened a sufficient passing opportunity.

For round five on Sunday afternoon, Graham held onto fifth position off the start with Barlow retaining 10th place and Sirui making progress into the top 20 from the back of the grid after an excellent first couple of laps.

Graham slipped to fifth on lap three and then, on the fourth tour, Barlow sustained damage to his front wing while dicing with Seb Morris for ninth as the latter moved across to the take the inside line on the pit-straight, which Barlow already occupied.

An ensuing spin for Morris resulted in the deployment of the Safety Car and after the re-start on lap 13 Barlow had to summon all of his skill and tenacity to fend off the cars behind. With a distinct lack of downforce due to his deranged front wing, the SWR driver was elbowed wide through the gravel on lap 19 and although slipping to 12th he somehow clung on to the place despite massive pressure.

Graham, meanwhile, also suffered contact during a battle with Sennan Fielding and although dropping to seventh he remained there to the chequered flag on lap 23. Sirui, determined to make amends for his race one disappointment, had an unfortunate tangle with Rahul Raj Mayer on lap four at Clearways and after pitting he eventually finished in 19th place.

In round six, hopes were high of a potential podium finish for Graham with the SWR racer lining-up on the second row of the grid in third place – having posted the third fastest race lap of the weekend to that point.

Although pushed back to fourth at Paddock Hill Bend, he challenged for third as the race wore on and during the closing stages he piled on the pressure. Trying everything he could, and lapping on the same pace as the podium drivers, he just missed out on third by 0.058 seconds on the line.

Barlow impressed with a great drive through from 16th into the top 10 and although his progress was stunted slightly on lap 15, during a battle with Diego Menchaca and Jake Hughes, he fought through to 10th five laps from the conclusion.

Sirui, lining-up on the back row, faced another tall order but produced an impressive drive to climb into the top 20 at one third distance. Although sporting the scars of slight contact which led to the top plane of his nose cone coming loose, Sirui remained focused and worked his way into 17th place.

“Jack did really well in race two to hold everyone off with a damaged front wing”, said Walkinshaw, “In the third race he overtook four or five drivers which, at Brands Hatch Indy, is quite an impressive effort. Matty was quick enough for the podium but, unfortunately, just couldn’t get past. It was great to see Zou get a good finish as well, we definitely ended the weekend on a high.”

SWR now has a four week break from competitive action with the seventh, eighth and ninth rounds of the BRDC Formula 4 Championship season taking place on 15th/16th June at Snetterton in Norfolk.

2013 Provisional BRDC Formula 4 Championship Driver Standings (after Rd6):
4th Matty Graham, 97pts; 5th Jack Barlow, 91pts; Zou Sirui – Does Not Score

Photo by BRDC Formula 4 Championship/Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Brands Hatch Indy Circuit proved to be an incredibly happy hunting ground for Charlie Robertson over the weekend, 18th/19th May, where the BRDC Formula 4 Championship star secured his maiden race victory in single-seaters and a hat-trick of podiums to climb into second in the driver standings.

Immensely competitive and ultra-quick throughout the weekend, the 16-year-old from Whyteleafe gave his home supporters plenty to cheer with three outstanding race performances and is now just 16 points shy of the series lead.

In addition to his utterly dominant win in the final outing of the weekend, round six, Charlie was also presented with the BRM Rapide Award – for posting the fastest race lap of the event in round four on Saturday – by Mercedes DTM racer, and Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes test driver, Gary Paffett.

Along with the other F4 competitors, he also had the chance to meet 2009 FIA Formula One World Champion Jenson Button who was on-hand at Brands Hatch to cheer on his McLaren team-mate and close friend Paffett in the headlining DTM race.

“It’s been a fantastic weekend, I didn’t think a win would be on the cards after Silverstone”, said the elated HHC Motorsport driver, “To win my first race is fantastic, I concentrated on getting away at the start and then cruised for the last five or six laps. Winning the BRM Rapide Award too is great.”

Beginning the weekend perfectly on Friday, 17th May, by setting the fastest time of the day in free practice, Charlie carried the same form forward into qualifying on Saturday morning and just missed out on a maiden Formula 4 pole position by the smallest of margins – just 0.060 seconds.

Despite making a good getaway from the front row of the grid at the start of round four, he had to slot in behind pole-sitter Jake Dalton through Paddock Hill Bend and the duo spent the remainder of the 25-lap encounter in that order.

Charlie piled on the pressure to the race leader throughout but, as is so often the case at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, overtaking opportunities proved almost non-existent. Never giving Dalton a moment to relax, the single-seater rookie swarmed all over the back of his rival and set the fastest lap of the race in the process en-route to his first BRDC Formula 4 podium.

“Every single time I got close to him [Dalton], the aero made it impossible to try and make a move”, said Charlie, “He was faster than me in the first sector but I was quicker than him through the last sector. We were both doing pretty much exactly the same lap times throughout the race, it was what it’s always like at Brands Indy – you need the other guy to make a mistake to get a chance.”

With the finishing order from race one determining the starting order for race two, albeit with the top eight reversed, the reigning Ginetta Junior Champion quickly moved into sixth and grabbed fifth with a great move at Paddock Hill Bend on lap three before taking fourth on the following tour.

Following a lengthy Safety Car period between laps six and 13, when racing resumed the Caterham School pupil pressurised former Ginetta rival Sennan Fielding for third and moved ahead with a great pass at Paddock to secure his second podium on the trot.

Round six was, of course, the highlight for Charlie and after sealing pole position by way of having set the fastest lap in the weekend’s opening race, he dominated from the outset. Scorching into a 1.2 second lead at the end of the opening lap, he eventually ended the race over 10 seconds clear and, once again, set the fastest lap to cap an outstanding breakthrough weekend.

Rounds seven, eight and nine of the 2013 BRDC Formula 4 Championship season will take place four weeks from now, over the weekend 15th/16th June, at Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk where the series will run as part of the support package for the Avon Tyres British GT Championship.

Provisional 2013 BRDC Formula 4 Championship Standings (after Rd6):
1st Jake Dalton, 139pts; 2nd Charlie Robertson, 123pts

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Alex MacDowall racked-up his seventh Yokohama Independents Trophy podium finish of the 2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship season at the Salzburgring in Austria on Sunday, 19th May, on one of the most controversial weekends in the history of the category.

Finishing third in the Independents Trophy and sixth overall in round 10, having earlier scythed his way through the order from 12th on the grid into fifth in class and fourth overall in round nine, the Carlisle driver ended the event third in the Independents standings and seventh in the main WTCC title battle.

Rapid from the off in practice on Saturday, 18th May, leading the way in the Independents during the first session and posting the third quickest time of all, Alex carried his form into qualifying where he grabbed the class pole position for round 10 with a place on the second row of the overall grid.

However, 14 drivers – including the 22-year-old Cumbrian – were placed under investigation by the stewards following a bizarre second period of qualifying in which Tom Chilton backed up the rest of the runners as the clock ticked down in order to prevent anyone gaining an all-important slipstream.

Championship officials took a dim view on proceedings, which they claimed to be “unsporting”, and although Alex was stuck in the lead train of cars he was still served with a substantial eight place grid penalty and a hefty 3,000 Euro fine.

“Everyone needed a tow but [Tom] Chilton held everyone up, I tagged onto the train hoping I’d get a tow but everyone got backed up and before we got round to start another lap the chequered flag had come out”, explained Alex, “I think the penalty I got was a bit harsh, there were a high number of penalties over the weekend though.”

Despite the loss of grid places, which almost certainly cost the Chevrolet Cruze driver a chance at an outright podium and class victory, Alex made outstanding progress in Sunday’s first race with one of the best drives of his touring car career.

Instantly moving into the top 10, the Bamboo Engineering racer quickly moved up into eighth overall and sixth in class and on lap three he was into fifth – both overall and in the Independents – after passing fellow Brit James Thompson.

Reeling in the BMW of Fredy Barth, Alex challenged for fourth but after running slightly wide at the second corner on lap six both were passed by Yvan Muller. Taking fifth from Barth a lap later, fourth in class, he remained there to the chequered flag. Confirming his race winning potential, Alex posted the fastest lap of all with a time of 1m26.925 seconds (109.13mph).

Starting round 10 from seventh place overall, Alex was shuffled back to 10th but maintained third in the Independents Trophy. Into ninth after a couple of laps, still third in class, he rocketed past 2012 WTCC Champion Rob Huff on lap four for eighth overall and then passed Gabriele Tarquini and Pepe Oriola in quick succession to move into the top six where he stayed to the finish.

“I think we could have had a podium in race one without the penalty”, said Alex, “It’s one of the best races I’ve driven and I was pleased with the result, from 12th to fifth overall isn’t bad at all. Taking a class podium in race two was good, all the way through the weekend the car was working well and we showed we had the pace. We turned what was a bad weekend after qualifying into a good one.”

Rounds 11 and 12 of the FIA World Touring Car Championship will take place three weeks from now on 8th/9th June at Moscow Raceway – the category’s first ever visit to Russia.

2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship Driver Standings (after Rd10):
7th Alex MacDowall, 73pts

2013 FIA WTCC Yokohama Independents Trophy Driver Standings (after Rd10):
3rd Alex MacDowall, 66pts

Photo by Romano Poli/www.photo-4.com.

Antonio Giovinazzi secured his, and Double R Racing’s, first points in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in the UK over the weekend, 18th/19th May, ending the outing with a career-best ninth place finish in round 12 of the season.

Impressive in all three outings, the Italian started off by slicing his way through from 18th on the grid into 11th place in round 10, on a track notorious for its lack of overtaking opportunities in F3, and was credited with his first point of 2013 due to guest driver Daniil Kvyat being ineligible to score.

While round 11, wasn’t as fruitful, the final race of the weekend produced another star performance from the Double R driver and all after an unfortunate stall at the start. Recovering superbly from the back of the 28-car field, Giovinazzi raced through into the top 10 but post-race was elevated to ninth when winner and series leader Raffaele Marciello was excluded.

Team-mates Tatiana Calderón and Sean Gelael achieved best results of 20th position and 22nd place in rounds 12 and 11 respectively, finishes not necessarily indicative of the strong drives produced by both rookies at the tight and twisty 1.2-mile track.

While delighted for Double R Racing to have claimed the first championship points of its maiden season at European level with Giovinazzi, team principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt believes the series organisers need to reconsider visiting Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in the future.

“It’s great to have scored our first points and just a shame Antonio stalled in the third race as we would definitely have had a few more”, said Hieatt, “The FIA and the other F3 people really need to look again at using this circuit [Indy Circuit], it’s unsuitable for our championship and I feel like the drivers and teams have been let down by coming here.”

Qualifying on Friday, 17th May, was split into two groups due to expected congestion during the all-important session and Giovinazzi emerged as the best of the Double R drivers starting 18th on the grid for round 10 with Gelael 25th and Calderon in 27th place.

Despite overtaking being at a premium, Giovinazzi managed to make outstanding progress to scythe his way through the order very impressively. Moving into 17th place on lap two, he remained there until just before mid-distance when taking 16th and latching onto a six car train ahead. From there he moved into 14th by lap 27, gained two more places on lap 35 and then took 11th to cap a great drive.

Calderón fought through from final row of the grid to finish in 22nd position, one place ahead of Gelael who had initially run ahead of his team-mate. Gaining two spots early on, the Indonesian slipped back to 25th after a slight moment out of Paddock Hill Bend on lap four before losing more ground at the same corner seven laps from the finish when running slightly wide through the gravel.

Round 11 proved to be more processional than the opening encounter and although starting in 14th place, Giovinazzi had to settle for 16th after being shuffled back on lap eight. Gelael made a terrific launch from 26th on the grid to surge through to the cusp of the top 20 on lap one alone but was then elbowed back to 24th on the second tour. The 16-year-old recovered to 22nd before the finish.

Colombian racer Calderón enjoyed a close battle with fellow lady racer Michela Cerruti and emerged on top on lap 22 with a good run out of Paddock Hill Bend up to Druids. Although served with a drive-through penalty, Calderón still managed to better Cerruti by finishing in 25th position.

Sunday morning’s 12th round began badly for Giovinazzi with his stall but his drive through the order was mightily impressive. Even though aided by a Safety Car period and drive through penalties for some of the front-runners, he was still in sparkling form and thoroughly deserved his ninth place.

Calderón started the final race of the weekend in 28th position but delivered a determined drive to end the encounter inside the top 20 – and all after making a mid-race pit-stop. At the finish she had battled back to within just 0.2 seconds of Cerutti.

Gelael raced well from 23rd on the grid into 12th place by lap 26 but was given a drive-through for not heeding yellow flags when Eddie Cheever went off at Druids avoiding Alex Lynn’s stricken car. Running in 20th place with six laps to go, Gelael then pitted to retire after suffering an arm spasm when hitting a kerb heavily.

“Sean and Tatiana both raced well this weekend”, commented Hieatt, “It’s so tough to try and make any progress at Brands Indy, they both did a good job and although the results weren’t what they would have wanted the experience they gained will be vital as the season moves on.

“I thought Sean was really unlucky to get a drive-through in the last race, he was behind [Eddie] Cheever when he went off so had cleared the area when the flags came out. After banging his arm, the safest and most sensible thing to do was pit as he lost all feeling in it.”

Red Bull Ring in Austria will host rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship a fortnight from now on 1st/2nd June. Double R, though, will be back on track next weekend, 25th/26th May, at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit for the opening three rounds of the revitalised Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series.

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Six hours after the start, four Dörr Motorsport cars are still contesting the race, which is currently suspended. Technical issues cause early retirement of the McLaren MP4-12C GT3.

The Dörr Motorsport team has completed the first quarter of the 41st ADAC Zurich 24-Hour Race. Four cars are still contesting for the team from Frankfurt. However, the race was suspended just before the completion of the sixth hour due to heavy rainfall and fog.

Early retirement of the McLaren MP4-12C GT3

After technical issues had prevented Rudi Adams from setting a fast lap in yesterday’s Top40 qualifying, Peter Kox started into the 24-Hour Race from start position 39 at 5 p.m. today. The Dutchman gained a few places right away. However, the joy did not last for long. After completing only a few kilometres at the Nordschleife, the engine of the English super sports car stopped working, resulting in an early retirement for Rudi Adams, Arno Klasen and Peter Kox.

Adams explained: “It is very disappointing. The car ran really well until the last qualifying session last night. And now we have to retire early again after our short stint in last year’s 24-Hour Race.”

Uwe Isert added: “We are not sure yet, what caused the engine failure. Accepting a setback like this is very hard, especially considering the hard work our mechanics put into the car again last night.”

Z4 M Coupé lost the lead after collision

Stefan Aust, Rob Thomson, Andreas Weishaupt and Frank Weishar have faced a few challenges in the race so far: Having started the race from the first position in the respective class, the first driver, Frank Weishaupt from Ulm, was forced to pit after only three laps. After the crew of Team Principal Rainer Dörr had fixed the air vent of the radiator, the four drivers pushed hard and regained the lead. After a little more than three hours the BMW Z4 M Coupé dropped to the fourth place in its class as a result of a collision through no fault of the driver.

Toyota GT86 without problems

Two of the Toyotas GT86 were among the Top3 in their class at the time of the race suspension. Having started from the pole position in its category, the GT86 of Heldmann/Tenchini/Hofmann/Scheibner is currently in second place. Just behind it, in third place, are Hahn/Konrad/Gass/Vetter in the Toyota #211. The third GT86 with Sandritter, Möller-Sonntag, Grossmann and Naumann at the wheel was in fifth place in its class at the time of the race suspension.

It is still unclear, when the 41st ADAC Zurich 24-Hour Race can be resumed.

Felix Rosenqvist continued to feature among the frontrunners as the FIA Formula 3 European Championship visited the British venue of Brands Hatch this weekend. The Swede took the chequered flag in fourth place in the opening race of the meeting and went on to add further valuable points to his tally by coming home fifth among the 29 runners in Saturday’s Race 2, before being propelled onto the podium in Sunday’s concluding Race 3 after championship rival Raffaele Marciello was disqualified for a technical infringement.

Rosenqvist enjoyed a strong start to the weekend, as he immediately topped the opening free practice session on Friday afternoon. The 21-year-old Mücke Motorsport youngster then went on to go third fastest in qualifying, where he was one of just four drivers – and the only one not racing for reigning champions Prema Powerteam – to dip below the 41-second mark. Due to a Brands Hatch-specific qualifying structure, however – aimed at reducing traffic around the 1.9 km venue by splitting the field into two groups – Rosenqvist was forced to start all three of the weekend’s races from fifth on the grid; leaving him with little room for a victory assault given the exceptionally tight confines and limited overtaking opportunities at the British track.

“I always aim to win and will never be satisfied unless I do – but at the same time, we have to realise that we probably made the most out of the cards we had on hand this weekend,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “The level of competition in this championship is incredible, and a good example of that played out to my disadvantage in qualifying; where one hundredth of a second meant the vital difference between third and fifth on the grid for Sunday’s final race. It’s just impossible to overtake around here, and I personally don’t think this is what racing should be about; if you’re faster than the car in front, you have to be given a fair chance of getting ahead. Considering how things transpired, we have to be happy with having scored yet another podium on a weekend when not everything worked out in our favour. Big thanks to the team for having given me a fast and reliable car.”

The next round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship takes place at the Red Bull Ring in Austria in two weeks. Felix Rosenqvist currently remains in second place in the overall standings.

Photo: Mattias Persson.