Driver Database News

AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup team Total Control Racing endured a difficult sixth round of the season at Thruxton on Sunday, 29th April, when heavy rain and standing water made for one of the toughest and most challenging races in championship memory.

Nicolas Hamilton, who started the race from a career-best sixth on the grid after a sensational run in rain-affected qualifying on Saturday, had high hopes of a strong finish for the Wednesbury team but so harsh were the conditions the 20-year-old wasn’t able to capitalise.

Acknowledging the severity of the weather, race officials opted to begin round six behind the Safety Car so racing proper didn’t get underway until lap four. As the train of Clio Cup cars streamed across the start line and into the first corner, Allard, Hamilton’s car was pitched into a spin.

Managing to recover down in 18th place, the second year racer pushed on to try and make up some lost ground as the rain persisted and he was up into 16th position prior to a mid-race Safety Car period, required following an unfortunate incident for TCR team-mate Rob Smith. Despite another hairy moment, Hamilton refused to be beaten and eventually finished in 18th to salvage a few points.

Smith, for whom the weekend marked his first in wet conditions at the wheel of his Clio, faced an incredibly tough challenge from 19th on the grid but he made good early progress and was 16th after the first racing lap.

Running in the thick of the action in walls of spray, the 19-year-old saloon car rookie was caught out at Allard – having had to run quite worn rear tyres due to championship regulations governing the number of wet-weather tyres permitted for each driver – and the resulting spin led to a hefty impact with the barriers.

“Sunday was a big learning curve for both drivers, it was torrential and there was a lot of standing water out there”, said team boss Lee Brookes, “For Rob, having never driven in the wet before, the conditions were not what you’d want and especially at a track as fast as Thruxton. There were lots of experienced racers having issues, as well as the inexperienced ones – that showed how tough it was.

“Nic got caught out too, there was a lot of standing water and with all the spray in the pack it was difficult to see where the water was. I was pleased Nic just kept going and going, you couldn’t stop him, when he had a moment he’d be back on it and trying again. If it hadn’t been quite that bad I’m sure he’d have had a top result – we wanted it wet, just not that wet!.”

Oulton Park Island Circuit in Cheshire will host the seventh and eighth rounds of the 2012 AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup six weeks from now on 9th/10th June. On the same weekend, TCR’s Total Quartz Ginetta GT5 Challenge squad will also be in action at Rockingham in Northamptonshire with series front-runner Mike Robinson.

2012 AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup Driver Standings (after Rd6):
19th Nicolas Hamilton, 28pts; 20th Rob Smith, 27pts

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Tony and Klark Quinn were well on the way to victory in the first round of the 2012 Australian Production Car Endurance Championship at Phillip Island, until a freakish pitlane incident put them out of the race.

The Gold Coast father-son team’s V.I.P. Petfoods Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X had to be retired after it fell off a trolley jack during its third pit stop, just past the halfway mark of the six-hour race at the 4.5km Victorian circuit.

The jack punched a hole through the driver’s side floor, protruding about 20cm into the cabin. It narrowly missed Tony Quinn, who had just swapped with Klark and was about to begin his second stint.

A disappointed Tony explained that he and Klark had been looking forward to scoring their first win with the Evo X, which had just replaced the V.I.P. Petfoods team’s Evo IX.

“It was a shame to have this happen, because we were having a great run,” he said.

“From the start Klark built up a 30-40 second lead, and because he managed to make his first pit stop later than the other quick Evos, I was still in front after we swapped over.

“We lost the lead for a few laps after our second pit stop because the field had closed up behind the safety car, but it didn’t take Klark long to get ahead and start opening a gap again.”

Tony said that the V.I.P. Petfoods team’s only problem up to that point was a couple of delaminating tyres.

“I had the right-front tyre let go near the end of my first stint, but it happened just after I went past the pit entry so I had to drive a whole lap on the flat tyre.

“The same thing happened to Klark at about the same distance into his second stint. It was when he came into the pits to hand the car back to me that the car fell off the jack.

“When we lift the car from the side, the trolley jack goes under the reinforced part of the sill where the standard jack goes, but it’s pretty small.”

“I was belted in, ready to go, and suddenly the jack came up through the floor – I’ve never had anything like that happen in a race before!”

The weekend wasn’t a total loss according to Klark, who is due to return to Phillip Island in late-May for the second round of the 2012 Australian GT Championship.

“It was good to do plenty of laps here before the GT round,” he said. “I didn’t get much running at the Phillip Island GT round last year because of various car problems, but at least I know the circuit a lot better now!”

The Phillip Island enduro was won by the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X driven by Jim Pollicina and Ryan Simpson, with Stuart Kostera-Ian Tulloch second in another Evo X, and Nathan Morcom-Chaz Mostert third in a BMW 335i.

Jono Lester has finished in second position overall at the second round of the Super Taikyu Endurance Series, held at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan over the weekend.

Lester, in his second event for the champion PETRONAS Syntium Team, looked an early chance for victory in the #28 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 at the hands of Super GT champion Masataka Yanagida.

Yanagida capitalised on a fast start to pull a 12-second gap on the sister PETRONAS car at the first round of pit stops.

Dropping to second place during the second stint with Melvin Moh at the wheel, Lester and his team opted to risk it all to challenge for victory, by leaving a well-used set of Yokohama tyres on the car to save precious seconds in the pit lane and overtake the lead car.

When Moh was pushed off the track by lapped traffic on his pit-in lap, any hopes of capitalising on this gamble were erased and 22-year old Lester battled deteriorating brakes and tyres to hold on to second place at the finish.

In third place was the Horizon Energy Drink BMW Z4 GT3.

“I drove my butt off out there today!” an exhausted Lester commented soon after the race.

“The car was a real handful on the old tyres, especially in the last half hour. It was a challenge just to stay on the track, let alone post decent lap times!”

Despite this, Lester believes the team made the right call with their strategy;

“We had a plan to leapfrog Car #1 and battle the 90-minute final stint on old tyres. It had the makings to put us in the box seat for an exciting battle with our team mates for the win, however Melvin [Moh] getting caught up in lapped traffic ruined our hopes of challenging today.”

Dato’ David Wong, team principal of PETRONAS Syntium Team said: “I am happy to see that Jono is adapting very well to Japanese GT endurance racing and showing fast learning of race tracks he has never been too. We believe he has a lot of potential and we are very pleased with his progress thus far.”

Lester’s second successive second place finish has only left him more motivated to go one better at round three at Sugo Sportsland on May 18-20.

Lester is supported in the 2012 Super Taikyu Endurance Series by PETRONAS Syntium, Opti-Flex, R Redpath Limited, Trinity Media Group, Mako Networks, Vortex Racewear and ThrillCapital.

Another sterling performance by Morcom Motorsport in the opening round of the 2012 Australian Production Car Endurance Championship at Phillip Island has earned the NSW team its fourth class win in the series on the trot.

The APCEC comprises the two six-hour rounds of the Australian Manufacturers’ Championship at Phillip Island in Victoria, and Eastern Creek Raceway in NSW.

Morcom Motorsport’s Direct Plasterboard Outlet-Rondo BMW 335i has now won the 2WD High Performance class in the past two APCEC races at both circuits.

The car was driven to its latest victory by Nathan Morcom and Chaz Mostert, who finished the six-hour marathon four laps ahead of the next Class B entry. They placed third overall behind the Class A Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Xs of Jim Pollicina-Ryan Simpson, and second placegetters Stuart-Kostera-Ian Tulloch.

In the early laps, a repeat of their upset outright win in last year’s final APCEC round at Eastern Creek looked to be on the cards when Mostert took the fight right up to the leading Evos.

But the pace started to overheat the BMW’s rear tyres, forcing Mostert to slow enough to make the rubber last until his scheduled fuel stop.

Unlike at Eastern Creek, when the Class A cars all failed to retain their qualifying speed advantage over the Class B BMW for the full six hours, this time two of them went the distance without major problems.

At the chequered flag, Morcom and Mostert had completed 189 laps of the 4.5km Victorian circuit, three fewer than the outright eventual winners.

Morcom Motorsport owner Barry Morcom couldn’t fault his team’s performance.

“The Direct Plasterboard Outlet-Rondo BMW didn’t miss a beat all weekend, both boys drove quickly and consistently, and our pit work was fine,” he said.

“Our strategy was to try to put pressure on the Evos. They’re quicker than our car, but their weakness has always been reliability.

“It’s a big ask for a 2WD car to beat the AWDs, though. We have to drive more carefully to keep the rear tyres alive for a whole stint, and our longer fuel range (Production Touring rules allow the BMW to carry 10 litres more than the Evo and Sti) isn’t enough to make up for the speed difference over six hours. Twelve hours maybe …

Nathan Morcom described his two driving stints as uneventful, except for the latter stages.

“There was a vibration on the right side early in my second stint, so I knocked a few seconds off my lap times to make sure we kept third place to the finish,” he said.

“There was no chance of catching the Evos ahead unless they had trouble, and the next car was too far behind to be a threat.”

Chaz Mostert echoed Nathan’s comments, adding that his top priority was to stick to the Morcom Motorsport team’s race strategy.

“It was mainly a matter of managing our fuel and tyres,” he said. “For the first few laps I thought there might be a chance to run with the Evos, but they were too quick – and this time two of them didn’t have any real problems during the race.”

With this year’s second APCEC round at Eastern Creek not until November, Morcom and Mostert will return to their regular racing programs in the meantime.

Morcom’s next races are scheduled on May 12-13 in the F2000 Championship Series round at Road Atlanta in the USA, and Mostert will drive next weekend in the V8 Supercars Development Series round at Barbagallo Raceway in WA.

With co-driver Marco Mapelli, Archie (21, Hampshire) finished on the GTS podium in both races in the opening round of the International GT Open event at the Portuguese track of Portimao. In the first race yesterday, the Autorlando pairing finished second in class and eighth overall, while in today’s race they won their class and finished an impressive third overall.

Archie qualified the Porsche 997 GT3 R third for race one, 18th overall, after putting in his best lap driving on brand new tyres for the first time. In Marco’s session he claimed second in GTS and eighth on the complete grid.

Saturday’s race one started wet, under the safety car, and Archie was in the car for the first stint. Archie managed to gain overall positions before pitting to hand over to Marco. With a drying track, Marco needed to re-pit to change tyres under the regulations, which dropped the pair down the order, but with slicks on a drying track the Italian was able to make his way through the pack, including an impressive overtaking manoeuvre on class rival Stelle in a Kessel Racing Ferrari, and by the end of the seventy minutes and 35 laps, he crossed the line second in GTS.

Today’s 27 lap/50 minute race started wet but the Autorlando team gambled and chose slicks. Marco had the tough job of starting the race and getting as much grip as he could from the drying racing line. Leading up to the end of his stint, Marco managed to pass class leader Kox in a Goodsense Racing Team Lamborghini for the lead. Pitting for the driver change, including a 10 second ‘success’ penalty for yesterday’s second place, cost the lead and Archie emerged from the pits in second place. Within two laps Archie passed the Kox/Pronk car for the class lead and third overall, and maintained those positions to the chequered flag.

Archie now shares the lead of the International GT Open GTS with his teammate and the Cadei/Bizzarri pairing, all having 18 points.

Archie Hamilton:
“I have to say a huge thank you to the team and Marco. It’s been a dream start the season. The car feels very good – very stable – and it was great to be able to race with the Super GT cars with the conditions. To be on the podium is great – to win the class is fantastic and to be on the overall podium was the icing on the cake. I just want to do it again now! Before Nurburgring I need to switch my focus to Laguna Seca and racing a prototype but I’m already looking forward to getting back in the Porsche.”

Archie next races at Laguna Seca, Monterey, California in the American Le Mans Series on Saturday 12th May. His next round of the International GT Open takes place at the Nurburgring circuit, Germany on 26th/27th May.

Talented driver and engine builder, Pukekohe’s Michael Bristow’s, long awaited return to the BNTNZV8 class, was full of dramas for the 24 year old motorsport enthusiast.

Bristow, who has been hampered in his return to the class due to lack of funding, made a huge effort along with his Ted Jarvis-managed team, to get his car ready for the non-championship but very important (for sponsors) ITM400 meeting, competing in the NZV8 support class.

With the support of new sponsors, Waitomo Petroleum and Sinopec Oil, plus Sika, Bristow’s team worked through the night on Thursday to be ready for the practice and qualifying sessions. With no testing or practice, Bristow was just getting used to the demanding Hamilton Street circuit when a front suspension unit failed which caused him to spin sideways into the unforgiving concrete barriers, resulting in significant frontal damage. Again his team had a huge job overnight to repair the damage and were ready to take part in the qualifying session. However, prior to the start of that session, as Bristow was preparing to take part, he became aware of a major mechanical problem – the oil pump drive to his engine had failed.

Again his team worked most of the night to determine whether any damage had been done, and made the very reluctant decision not to race the car for fear of causing further damage which Bristow’s limited budget could not sustain.

“I am very grateful for the support and huge hours my team went through to get me to the Hamilton NZV8 races. I am also very disappointed that we could not front up for the races for my new sponsors, due to unforeseen mechanical problems. I appreciate their understanding and hope to give them some value for their sponsorship in future races for cars in this class,” said Bristow.

Photo by Robin Curtis.

Total Control Racing’s Nicolas Hamilton starred during qualifying for the fifth and sixth rounds of the AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire today, Saturday, 28th April, with career best seventh and sixth place starts for the weekend’s two encounters.

One year on from a major accident during the corresponding race meeting, which resulted in his 2.0-litre Renault Clio Cup being written-off, the 20-year-old delivered the perfect riposte with easily his most competitive qualifying performance since making his motor racing debut at the start of 2011.

While this afternoon’s fifth round of the new season didn’t go according to plan for Hamilton after a tough opening lap, he still recovered into a highly creditable 14th place finish having charged through impressively from 21st position.

Qualifying was the clear highlight though, the Hertfordshire racer brilliantly handling the rainy conditions and slippery track surface to lap within just 0.2 seconds of the round five pole position. Such was his consistency, Hamilton’s second best lap time secured him a best ever sixth on the grid for Sunday’s televised sixth round.

“We’ve been waiting for this day with Nic, we knew it was only a matter of time before he qualified as strongly as he did today”, said team principal Lee Brookes, “He did a fantastic job, to get his best qualifying at a track like Thruxton, where he had such a big accident last year, was incredible.”

Although a tentative opening lap to today’s race meant Hamilton was bundled down the order, his fight-back was impressive and by the end of lap four he had made his way into the thick of the mid-pack scrap in 14th place.

As the race neared its conclusion, Hamilton started to come under increasing pressure from rookie team-mate Rob Smith. Nose-to-tail into the final lap, Smith managed to get alongside the sister TCR car out of the fearsome Church corner and the pair ran side-by-side up Woodham Hill.

With Hamilton defending the inside, Smith attempted to be later on the brakes into the final chicane but the bold passing attempt didn’t quite come to fruition and the 19-year-old was instead pitched into an unfortunate spin while on the edge of adhesion. Recovering as quickly as possible, Smith slipped to 16th but did pick up his fourth successive points finish and was sixth in the Rookie class.

Smith had started round five from 19th place following his maiden wet-weather run at the wheel of his Clio during morning qualifying. Providing a steep learning curve for the saloon car newcomer, the conditions made for a baptism of fire but hopes are high for improvements tomorrow.

“It was Rob’s first ever time in the wet today and at a track like Thruxton that’s always a big ask”, added Brookes, “He’s still got a lot to learn but he did well in the race all things considered, he was just out of position at the start. He’s improving all the time, tomorrow will be another step forward.

“As far as Nic’s concerned, what happened last year held him back a bit at the start in today’s race but he’s put that away now and he’ll be on it tomorrow. If we get a wet race, which is really what we wanted for Nic today, he could have a fantastic result from sixth on the grid.”

Round six of the 2012 AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup will get underway at 13.00 tomorrow, Sunday, 29th April, and will be screened live on Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4, on ITV4 HD and with simultaneous online streaming at the www.itv.com/btcc website. Hamilton will start on the third row of the grid with team-mate Smith on row 10.

Provisional 2012 AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup Driver Standings (after Rd5):
17th Rob Smith, 27pts; 19th Nicolas Hamilon, 25pts

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Oman Air Racing Team star Ahmad Al Harthy completely dominated the Pro-Am 1 class during qualifying for rounds five and six of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship at a rain-affected Thruxton this afternoon, Saturday, 28th April, to secure yet another double pole position.

In a session which started with a wet track but dried enough for slick tyres to be used during the last few minutes, the 30-year-old from Muscat produced a sensational performance and was head and shoulders above the Pro-Am 1 competition throughout as he made it six poles from six.

Starting out with a clear advantage on wet tyres, Ahmad switched to slicks with just three minutes of the half-hour session remaining – the optimum time, as it turned out – and remained the Pro-Am 1 driver to beat with a quickest lap of 1m20.819 seconds (104.94mph) sealing the round five pole slot.

His second best time, which actually came on his first flying lap of the session when the track was at its wettest, was so strong it remained good enough for the round six pole to the finish – a time of 1m22.208 seconds.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge coming to Thruxton but we never thought it would be this hard, everything tested our limits today”, said the Oman Air, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs, Oman Ministry of Tourism, Nawras, National Bank of Oman and Muscat Eye Laser Centre-backed racer.

“I went out with a wet set-up and wet tyres on at the start and when I came in for the pit-stop midway through, I was delighted with the performance I’d achieved to that point. We knew the track was getting quicker and the key was to get the timing right for when to go back out.

“We actually went again with the wets first, as the track still wasn’t ready for slicks, and when I did pit for the slicks the team did an amazing job – honestly, it was like an F1 pit-stop! We were in and out so fast and managed to have two laps on the slicks, one lap to get them up to temperature and then one to make sure of a good time. Two pole position starts is exactly where we want to be.”

With rain expected to play a major role in both of this weekend’s races, Ahmad will need to draw on all of his experience to try and maintain his Pro-Am 1 championship lead. Even though he delivered a superb performance today, the Omani is keen to stress the key role played by his team.

“Today was team-work at its best, if it wasn’t for the guys and their quick pit-stops we wouldn’t have been out there at exactly the right time on the slicks”, he added, “I must say a huge thank you to all of the guys for their unbelievable work, hopefully tomorrow we’ll have great results in both races.”

Round five of the 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship will get underway at 12.20 tomorrow, Sunday, 29th April, with round six following at 16.25 – the second of the two races will be screened live in the UK on ITV4 and ITV4 HD with the addition of online streaming at www.itv.com/btcc

Keep up to speed with Ahmad’s 2012 progress at his official website www.ahmadalharthy.com follow him on Twitter @AlHarthyRacing or visit the Ahmad Al Harthy Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ahmad-Al-Harthy/111700892183537

2012 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship – Pro-Am1 Driver Standings (after Rd4):
1st Ahmad Al Harthy, 39pts

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Parr Business Partner Club backed driver Chris Dymond will return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB this weekend (28th-29th April) for rounds 5-6 of the championship at Thruxton, Hampshire.

Dymond will return to the cockpit of his Parr Motorsport run car, having been forced to miss the Donington Park rounds of the championship due to an ear infection. “I’ve been itching to get back into the car since straight after race 2 at Brands finished. Naturally being forced to watch Donington from the sidelines was a bitter disappointment, but on the flip side it has meant I’ve had that extra time to prepare for Thruxton over everyone else; I’m really fired up!”

Thruxton is the UK’s fastest circuit with average speeds approaching 120mph around the 2.35mile circuit and presents a unique challenge for drivers with its high speed sweeping curves and limited testing time at the venue. “It’s a great circuit, there’s nothing else like it anywhere in the world, and it’s essentially the same as it was 40 years ago. It is a bit of an anomaly as we only get to come maybe once a year when we race, as testing is so limited. Because of that I’ve been spending a lot of time working in simulators getting in as many laps as possible which is so important especially as we go straight into qualifying on Saturday. I really think I will have an edge on everyone there.”

After a successful debut weekend in the opening rounds of the championship at Brands Hatch, Kent, Dymond is aiming to build on that performance.

“The second race at Brands is where we are, fighting through from a tough qualifying session to finish 6th was a great performance and now for the rest of year I’m going to build on that with sights firmly set on podiums and race wins!”

Track action for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB starts on Saturday with qualifying taking place at 14.40.

Both races take place on Sunday with round 5 at 10 a.m. and round 6 starting at 1500.

Round 6 of the championship will be shown live on ITV4 and ITV4HD at 1500 with round 5 highlights due to be played during the day with time TBA.

You can follow Chris via Twitter and Facebook.
Twitter: @C_Dymondracing
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Chris-Dymond/97560217811

Photo by Tom Dymond

Alexandre Premat continued to get to grips with V8 Supercars when the first Frenchman to tackle the championship full-time hit the city streets of Hamilton in New Zealand for round three last weekend.

Having only arrived Down Under in February, the former Audi DTM ace set about learning the ropes in a series that stirs as much emotion as Australia’s other leading sports, namely Aussie rules football and cricket.

Driving a Holden Commodore for the Melbourne-based Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM) team, Premat began by taking a leap into the unknown around Adelaide’s concrete-lined streets in March where a new car, track and opponents awaited. Following a solid start, progress continued in the Tasmania Challenge at Symmons Plains Raceway on April 1/2 where he finished 13th after qualifying 11th.

“During those first two races I acquired a lot of information for the team. We are progressing very quickly,” said Alex ahead of the ITM400 in Hamilton, a city located 130km from New Zealand’s capital, Auckland. It’s an event feared by even the established V8 Supercar stars thanks to the various pitfalls littering the 3.4km urban layout and, in particular, Turn 4’s tricky chicane.

The usual mix of two qualifying sessions for each 59-lap (200.6km) race would make up this fact-finding trip for the Frenchman whose free practice pace suggested a promising weekend could be in store. But after being deemed to have jumped that Turn 4 chicane once too often during the first qualifying session, a result of the same captor problem that would ultimately affect his entire weekend, Premat’s 13th fastest time was annulled, leaving him to start the opening race from 23rd.

The subsequently superb comeback drive, which left him fighting on the fringes of the top ten, was ultimately cut short. “Unfortunately 20 laps from the end I touched the wall on the outside of Turn 7,” admitted Alex. “Despite being quite slight it was nevertheless strong enough to break the steering. Fortunately my mechanics did a fantastic job to get the car ready in time for race two.”

That initial joy would once again be short-lived however when the same captor issue returned during qualifying, prompting further chicane cutting and another cancelled time to leave the #33 Commodore starting from the tail of the field. In a re-run of the opening race a scintillating performance helped Premat climb back up the order only for a stop-go penalty – a result of excessive curb climbing – to ultimately leave him 24th overall.

“Obviously it is disappointing but that’s the price you pay sometimes when discovering a new series and circuit with its traps and tricks,” he underlined on Sunday night. “The positive to take, despite the captor problems which we faced all weekend, is that we now have the pace. During race two for instance I set the seventh fastest time, proof that we are making progress. I am certain that we will soon be fighting in the top ten.”

It’s an objective Alex will be hoping to achieve as early as the upcoming round in Perth on May 4-6 .

Photo by Ross Gibb.