Driver Database News

Allan Simonsen has scored an emphatic pole position following today’s 20-minute qualifying session for round four of the 2006 Speed Energy Drink Australian GT Championship at Phillip Island.

The Dane needed only three laps to bank a benchmark time of 1m35.5093s to score pole position, just a tenth ahead of current Championship leader Greg Crick and a mere two tenths up on Porsche ace Bryce Washington, leaving three different manufacturers inside an intensely competitive top three.

Simonsen’s pole was the first for Ferrari this season, the Italian manufacturer becoming the third different marque to take top spot in qualifying this year following earlier successes for Porsche and Dodge.

“We did only what we needed to do,” said Simonsen.

“The lap I did was good enough to put me in front which was really good. You can’t ask for any more than that.”

Crick took his Speed Energy Drink-supported Dodge Viper GTS ACR to second position, conserving his Tyres early in the day before banking a competitive 1m35.62s lap to once again sit on the front row of the grid.

The important fact for the Tasmanian driver was that he will start tomorrow’s opening race ahead of defending champion Bryce Washington – his closest rival for the championship to date.

Washington held provisional pole position for a majority of today’s 20-minute qualifying run, only bumped off the top spot by Simonsen and then Crick with less than five minutes remaining in the session.

“We banked a time early and then went to the pits to wait and see what the others could do,” the South Australian Porsche GT3 Cup Car driver said.

“It worked for us at Oran Park (where he scored Pole Position) but unfortunately the Ferrari and Crick were able to get out and bump us back to the second row. The car is pretty good so we’ll just have to wait and see how it goes in the racing tomorrow.”

Canberra-based driver James Koundouris (Dare Coffee Shots Porsche GT3 Cup Car) will start fourth tomorrow, whilst David Wall took his Kerrick Industrial supported Porsche GT3 RSR to fifth.

An impressive performance today was produced by West Australian driver Stuart Kostera – who has taken over the driving duties of the Porsche regularly steered by Maher Algadri.

Kostera – a former Australian Formula Ford race winner – improved consistently throughout today’s session and looks to be a force tomorrow.

An impressive debut came from the Ferrari F430 Challenge of David Stevens, the New South Welshman taking his Brennan IT supported car to a strong eighth place result today on the cars debut.

Stevens – who has plenty of experience racing Porsches – banked a 1m37.94s lap today signaling that the awesome new Ferrari has a significant amount of potential ready to be unleashed on the Australian GT Championship field.

“The car is great and it’s really good to have it on track,” Stevens enthused following qualifying.

“It’s still running in Challenge specifications so it doesn’t have nearly as much downforce compared to what I’m used to with the old Porsche.

“It was a bit hairy going over Lukey Heights – moving all over the road – so when we get the GT3 aero kit on the car it will be awesome.

“Yesterday was the first time, really, that I’ve had a good look at the car so to be eighth on debut is fantastic!” he enthused.

John Teulan – also running a brand new F430 Challenge – posted 11th best time today, just half a second off Stevens’ best.

Viper driver D’Arcy Russell and fellow local driver Max Twigg completed today’s competitive top ten.

Failing to make the qualifying session today was the Porsche of Paul Tresidder, who had a large shunt coming onto the high-speed start finish straight in the second practice session.

The New South Wales-based driver dropped a wheel off the circuit, the soft grass causing the car to spray across the circuit and into the pit straight wall.

The Porsche sustained severe damage to both the front and rear, the driver emerging unscathed despite the ferocity of the shunt.

Tomorrow’s fourth round of the 2006 Speed Energy Drink Australian GT Championship will mark the half way point of the season, the field looking to find the fourth different winner from four rounds this season.

Three races will be held tomorrow, each 12 laps in duration.

For more information please visit www.gtchampionship.com.au

Top Times – Qualifying

1. Allan Simonsen (Ferrari F360 GT) 1m35.5093

2. Greg Crick (Dodge Viper GTS ACR) 1m35.6222

3. Bryce Washington (Porsche GT3 Cup Car) 1m35.7806

4. James Koundouris (Porsche GT3 Cup Car) 1m36.6863

5. David Wall (Porsche GT3 RSR) 1m37.0757

6. Stuart Kostera (Porsche GT3 Cup Car) 1m37.4721

7. John Kaias (Porsche GT3 Cup Car) 1m37.5686

8. David Stevens (Ferrari F430 Challenge) 1m37.9467

9. D’Arcy Russell (Dodge Viper GTS ACR) 1m38.2488

10. Max Twigg (Porsche GT3 Cup Car) 1m38.5007

After six years of trials and tribulations – and some success, Queenslander Ian Palmer has today confirmed that he has retired his popular Brabham Honda NSX from competition in the Speed Energy Drink Australian GT Championship – at least for this weekend.

That was the news following Friday’s opening practice for the fourth round of the 2006 Speed Energy Drink Australian GT Championship at Phillip Island Raceway.

Palmer, this year inducted as an Australian GT Championship Platinum driver thanks to his support of the championship in its formative stages, will instead compete this weekend’s fourth championship round in a Porsche GT3 – last driven by John Kaias.

The car finished second in the Australian Porsche Drivers Challenge last season.

This weekend will mark just the second time Palmer has driven something other than his popular Honda in Australian GT-style racing, having driven a Holden Monaro in a limited Nations Cup campaign in 2003.

“I’ve become a works driver this weekend,” Palmer grinned today, who will have the experienced Fitzgerald Racing team running his car this weekend as a teammate to John Kaias.

“It’s so much different to what I’m used to – I just rock up and jump in, it’s great!”

“The only problem is that I’ve gone from the big and burly Honda into a
hairdresser’s car,” he joked.

“It’s a lot different to drive – today was more about learning the ropes and coming to grips with the car. You have to be a lot smoother with this, whereas you needed to be a lot more aggressive with the Honda.”

Palmer wasn’t the only one becoming accustomed to new machinery this weekend, David Stevens and John Teulan both making the Australian debut of the Ferrari F430 Challenge at the 4.45km Island circuit today.

Both cars completed solid runs today with both teams expecting constant
improvement over the course of the weekend.

The battle for outright honors this weekend is set to be the major feature of the event, a number of drivers looking to become the fourth different winner from four rounds this season.

So far Allan Simonsen (Ferrari), Greg Crick (Viper) and Bryce Washington
(Porsche) have scored race victories this season, James Koundouris, David Wall and D’Arcy Russell looking to be the most likely contenders to add their name
to the 2006 winners list.

Koundouris (Dare Coffee Shots / Supabarn Supermarkets Porsche GT3 Cup) is
coming off the back of his best ever round finish at Oran Park last weekend, whilst Russell won his first ever race at Phillip Island last season and has posted competitive outings this season.

Allan Simonsen will make his return to the championship this weekend after
missing two rounds, Car owner Ted Huglin confirming that the Danish superstar will take the wheel of the consolidated Chemical Company Ferrari F360GT once again.

Simonsen is coming off the back of an outstanding opening round of the 2006 FIA GT3 Championship, scoring a win and a second place-finish at Silverstone – driving a Ferrari – two weeks ago.

This weekend’s round marks the half way point of the 2006 Championship, Greg Crick leading Bryce Washington in a close battle for the series lead.

The round will be decided over the course of three races on Sunday this weekend.

It was a hectic weekend for Koiranen bros. Motorsport in the legendary track of Spa-Francorchamps!

New driver Johnny Cecotto had an impressive start! The Venezuelan was very fast right from the first Free Practice session, and finished the weekend with a very strong 3rd and 4th place. Atte Mustonen also had the speed to be at the front but two incidents in the races meant that his weekend turned out to be a disappointment. Tomi Limmonen made good progress all weekend, from learning the track on Friday to a solid 6th place on the Sunday race.

With Mustonen and Cecotto 3rd and 4th after the first Free Practice session, we knew right from the start that our cars were fast, and that it would be possible to get good results this weekend. The second Free Practice session was a disappointment however, as all our drivers finished outside the Top 10. This left the team with some hard work to do, to understand what had gone wrong and make sure we would be at the front again for Qualifying.

Qualifying took place under wet conditions. In the first session Cecotto put is car in an excellent 4th place, while Mustonen struggled with setup problems in 11th position. Atte bounced back in the second session, to claim 5th place, while Cecotto slipped to 7th. Limmonen was further back, still trying to cope with both a new track and wet weather conditions.

Both Cecotto and Mustonen got off to good starts in the first race, with Atte starting to cut his way through the field almost immediately. Cecotto was fighting for 2nd place when he spun, trying to avoid the car in front of him. Atte spun on the same lap, and both lost some positions. They both fought their way back up the order, finishing 4th and 7th . Cecotto was just 7 seconds behind the leader at the end, so who knows what result would have been possible had he not spun? Atte also made sure everyone knew his result would have been different without the spin, by posting the fastest lap of the race by a full second! Tomi’s race was shorter, as he spun out of the race in the second lap.

Race 2 got off to a chaotic start: A few drivers stalled on the grid, including Cecotto. He managed to get going but others didn’t, resulting in a start line crash that brought the Safety Car to the track. There was more drama later that lap, as Atte Mustonen was tapped in the back by a Red Bull car. He spun and was then hit almost head on by another car. Cecotto and Limmonen managed to slip past all this and move up the order. At the restart Cecotto was 7th, Limmonen 9th, and Mustonen was a lap down, due to a pit stop to replace the nose of the car. Cecotto then started to pass his rivals one by one, benefited from two retirements, and finished the weekend in an excellent 3rd place! Tomi was 6th , his best result of the year, and Mustonen could do nothing more than bring his damaged car home and collect as many points as possible.

Unfortunately, after being beaten on the track another team decided to keep racing after the chequered flag, and made a protest against Johnny Cecotto. Common sense prevailed and so did our 3rd place!

The upcoming weeks will be some of the busiest in the year, as the team heads to Barcelona for an Official Eurocup Test, and from there straight to Nurburgring and Zandvoort for back-to-back NEC events.

After just coming home from Knutstorp Sweden, Anders Krohn is disappointed with his season start in the Junior Touring Car Championship. Two non-point finishes aren’t what Krohn had hoped for.

But the result of the weekend started a long time before the races. Krohn arrived at Knutstorp in Sweden without any preseason testing in his car.

“Coming to the race without testing is the worst scenario possible, but I tried to make the best out of it.” Not only this, but when it was time for the practice sessions, Anders drove neither due to clutch failure. Krohn started qualifying not having done one fast lap yet in his car, and he only got 5 laps. Result: 14th.

Race 1 was not really good. Some problems with gearing and no speed at all meant Krohn had to settle for 15th. Race 2 was a bit better, but at the start Krohn found himself in the middle of a car hamburger, and fell back to last place. He managed to capture 11th at the end, but later got a 30 second penalty for having hit another driver. Result: 14th.

“You could say it was a nightmare weekend. We came to the track unprepared, and had bad luck during the races itself.” Krohn says disappointed. “We need a lot of testing to be competetive, but the speed in race 2 shows we might be battling for points the next race.”

The next race will be held at swedish Karlskoga, may 27th-28th. “It can`t get much worse, so I’m looking forward to the next race. With pre-race testing though.” Krohn finishes.

Rodolfo Avila travelled to Germany to race in Recaro F3 Cup Eurospeedway Lausitz event aiming to prepare for the Macau Grand Prix F3 race in the end of the season. Unfortunately, the German mission was far from being accomplished.

Avila’s nightmare started on Friday. An engine trouble followed by a brake failure completely cracked the Free Practice session for the Macanese driver. During Saturday Rodolfo Avila faced disillusion and disappointment again. After three laps on the East German circuit in Qualifying 1 the gearbox passed away and Performance Racing Europe crew had no chances of repairing it on time for the first race of the weekend. So Avila saw his F3 rivals from the grandstands in Race 1.

Lausitzring is not a good place to overtake. It’s bad news when you start 16th, like Rodolfo Avila in Race 2 on Sunday. The British F3 National Class contender did his best but it was impossible to do a better result without any proper practice before the Qualifying 2. Anyway Avila made a good race start and began to gain positions. He was 11th for a while. Unfortunately, in the middle of the race Avila lost the focus and lost positions too. The “Racing for Macau” car crossed the finish line in 13th.

“It was a very frustrating weekend. We had technical problems and I couldn’t concentrate myself enough in the end of Race 2. I don’t know why but I lost my concentration and couldn’t keep my opponents behind. I’m very disappointed with myself. Anyway I hope we can do better for the rest of the season”, held Avila, who presented a brand new sponsor in this event – Sujika Crafts, a Thai and Mongolian decoration products Shop to open very soon in Macau at Fisherman’s Wharf.

The driver sponsored by Macau Government, Rio Casino, Hotel Fortuna, Macau-Slot.com, BNU, Gain Well Group, Tong-Lei, CESL-Asia, Profabril – Asia Consult, RP MACAU, CTM, Tsingtao Beer, Fat Siu Lau Restaurant and PT Asia will be back to British F3 International Series next weekend.

Avila will test at Donington Park next Thursday (May 18), in preparation for the double-header rounds, at the Leicestershire parkland track on May 20/21.

Valle Mäkelä, 2004 UK Formula Ford Champion, has been officially confirmed as Manor Motorsport’s fourth challenger in the 2006 Formula Renault UK Championship having made a shock switch from Nexa Racing after just two races of the new season.

The 20-year-old, who approached Manor following the opening meeting of the year at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit last month, this week signed a deal to complete his first season in the slicks and wings category with the reigning champions and is now confident of becoming a true force in the world renowned series.

After becoming a multiple championship winner in karting throughout his native Finland, Mäkelä went on to enjoy great success in UK Formula Ford, finishing third overall during only his second season of car racing in 2003 before going on to claim a superb title victory with 10 race wins from 20 starts the following year.

In 2005, the Finn turned his attentions to the World Touring Car Championship, posting a best race result of 10th position during the British round at Silverstone. But Makela is a single-seater racer at heart and having agreed terms with Manor for the remainder of 2006, he is fully focused on repeating his Formula Ford success in Formula Renault UK.

“We’re absolutely delighted to have all four cars on the grid and to have completed a deal with Valle is fantastic news for Manor”, commented team manager Tony Shaw.

Alongside Mäkelä’s shock signing, a further boost for Manor is the news its Portuguese star Joao Vasconcelos will finally make his season’s bow at Oulton Park next weekend having been forced to miss the first two races of the season at Brands Hatch.

Mäkelä will make his competitive debut as a Manor Motorsport driver at Oulton Park on 13th/14th May for the third and fourth rounds of the Formula Renault UK Championship, joining Vasconcelos, French star Franck Mailleux and Chinese sensation Cheng Congfu.

Macanese motorsports rising talent Rodolfo Avila is pleased to announce his entry into the EuroSpeedway BERU Top10 Recaro F3 Cup event May 13-14 at Lausitz, Germany. This is an extra race for Macau British F3 International Series National Class contender.

In the course of Beru Top10 event Avila will be racing for the Performance Racing Europe and drive the former Menu Motorsport Dallara F306 – Mügen Honda, instead of the usual National Class Dallara F304 – Mügen Honda.

“I’m just thrilled with the opportunity to step up the F306 for this event. I look forward to return to F306 cockpit. I did Macau Grand Prix last year on the wheels of this car. It’s an amazing car to drive and will be my car for Macau Grand Prix, my favourite and most important race of the year”, says an excited Rodolfo Avila.

The Eurospeedway Lausitz event is an excellent chance for Avila to start the preparation for 53rd Macau Grand Prix, who will take place on November 16th to 19th at Guia Circuit. The 19-year old driver is looking to achieve a good result in his German F3 debut.

“I know the track and in my opinion it’s a very interesting one. Last year I tested there so I’ll surely feel comfortable at the wheel quite fast. I don’t know the German F3 Cup very well but I’m aware there are few top teams and drivers running in the series. All I want is to make a good result and train for Macau. I have no pressure as this is a one off”, remarked the dedicated Macanese racing star who has gained more inspiration and confidence especially following confirmation of a new sponsor.

Latest Casino to open at Macau SAR, Rio Casino, part of Galaxy Casino group joins Avila’s list of supporters together with the Macau Government, Hotel Fortuna, Macau-Slot.com, BNU, Gain Well Group, Tong-Lei, CESL-Asia, Profabril – Asia Consult, RP MACAU, CTM, Tsingtao Beer, Fat Siu Lau and PT Asia.

For Friday is planned a three hour test and the Qualifying sessions are scheduled for Saturday (Qualifying 1) and Sunday (Qualifying 2) in the morning. The Races are programmed for Saturday (Race 1) and Sunday (Race 2) after lunch.

Only one week left until Anders Krohn makes his car racing debut in the Junior Touring Car Championship. The multiple karting champion decided to race cars in 2006 after completing a good 2005 season in karting becoming scandinavian champion, Gigacup International Champion, KNA Champion, Automobile driver of the year, and ranked as 17th in the world.

“I was really happy with my 2005 season, but now all eyes are turned fonryard as I am entering a new era of my career” Krohn says. Anders will be driving for RM Motorport using an Peugeot 206 xs car, the same model that was used to win last years championship. “RM Motorsport is a great team with great management as well as fellow team-mates. We have a great atmosphere in the team!” Krohn adds.

Now he is ready to make his mark at the first round of JTCC, which will be held at Swedish Knutstorp, May 13th and 14th. “I haven’t been able to test alot before the two first rounds of the championship, yet I am positive and ready for the Challenge.” It will also be Krohn’s first time at the Knutstorp track. “Its true that I have never driven on the track before, but I have watched quite alot of inboard videos of the track just to get an impression of what it is llke.”

“I’m highly motivated for the upcoming races and season, and looking forward to the challenges ahead.” Krohn Finishes.

A cold and partly wet Zolder race track hosted the first weekend of World Series with a huge crowd of 87 000 people defying the cold weather. Alx finished forth and tenth in two very exciting races. Next up is classic Monaco GP where WSR will warm up the F1 crowd on the Sunday.

First of all, hats of for the Comtec Racing team! My engineer Roly Vincini has really worked magic on the setup which makes my life a lot easier. Jonathan Lewis runs a tight ship and all the whole team works hard and I have a good feeling it will pay off.

We had four test sessions and we were top three in three of them, which is fantastic. I didn’t even push that hard, the car was just sticking like glue to the track.

Qualifying 1 was a big mess for everyone. 30 big fast racing cars on a small track like Zolder with a maximum of seven laps to post a time spell disaster. A lot of the top guys struggled with traffic. I got an ok lap in, but had to pass two cars and got stuck behind a third which put us seventh.

I got a cracking start and overtook three guys before turn 1. One car spun going in which put me third. There was a Safety Car at the end of lap 1. At the restart my tyre temperatures were to low which in turn meant my car was bottoming a lot. A few laps later the gap was around 7 seconds up to second placed Montanari. Once the temperatures came back the car was mighty and I just hade to hang on for the ride. In a matter of laps I was nose to tail. At the same time we had to lap a car. A misunderstanding later and I lost out, nearly having to stop completely not to spin. That was the last I saw of Montanari and allowed Garcia to catch me up. It had also started raining at the far side of the track which cooled my tyres just enough to cause a problem on the rest of the track. I finished fourth in the end. The word “if” comes to mind…

Second qualifying was a joke. At the end of the wet sessions (we are now split in to two groups) there was mass confusion and very nearly a fist fight up in the control room. The whole grid was up there talking in very loud voices in Italian, French, Spanish and English. Pretty much all drivers got at least their fastest laps disallowed which played a big effect on the grid. I was to start P16.

I got great traction of the line and a good first two laps which put me P11. Everybody was stuck in a big train of cars to we took an early pit stop which would have worked out very well if the right front wheel gun hadn’t jammed. I rejoined in P16 which in reality probably was even further back. In the end I finished P10 as the race was red flagged after the rain had started.

AutoSimSport wrote a interesting and different article on me and sim racing. To read, check out the link below:

http://www.autosimsport.com/issues/autosimsport_2_05.zip

Next race is at the classic Monaco GP on Sunday the 28th at 11:00. See you there!

Till next time:

“I drive, therefore I am!”

Alx