Driver Database News

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

The organisers of Karting for Heroes are thrilled to be able to announce that this years event will be supported by current Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Champion, 2011 BRSCC Formula Ford Festival Winner and recipient of the 2011 Henry Surtees Award, Essex driver Scott Malvern.

Scott’s attendance will provide a unique opportunity for teams to boost the money raised for Help for Heroes and give themselves a competitive edge. Prior to the race start, teams will be able to bid for Scott’s talent and for him to become one of their drivers for the day. Quite simply the team that puts in the highest bid in will have a current series champion and star of the future on their team. Scott said he was “delighted to be able to offer his services” to help Karting for Heroes boost the amount the event raises for Help for Heroes. Money will be raised from a combination of entry fees and an Auction to be held after the race and will help boost the £12,000 already raised by previous events.

The event is organised by Rochester based Hydraquip and is in the form of a three hour endurance race open to teams of 3+ drivers of all abilities at the Buckmore Park Circuit in Kent.
This year will be the third running of the event and will be held on Saturday 12th May 2012. Organiser Geoff Kelley said “We are extremely grateful to Scott giving his time and supporting our event, especially when the highest bidding team could possibly be the slowest. Which is obviously something he is not used to. The addition of such a successful driver will add to the prestige of the event and we expect the remaining team spaces to be filled quickly”.

It is possible to donate money for Help for Heores by using the following link: http://www.bmycharity.com/KartingforHeroes2012

India’s Shahaan Engineer delivered on his notable pre-season promise during the opening event of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup at Hockenheim in Germany over the weekend, 21st/22nd April, to round-out his series debut an impressive ninth overall in the standings – after also stunning the paddock with a sensational top three performance in the second qualifying session.

With heavy rain, and even hail, having a major say in the outcome of two of the three races at the home of the FIA Formula One World Championship’s German Grand Prix, 16-year-old Shahaan coped admirably with the challenge to deliver a pair of top eight results in rounds one and two.

Heading into the final race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon a superb fifth in the championship, hopes of consolidating his lofty placing in the driver standings were unfortunately wrecked when he was shunted out of the encounter on the third racing lap after being hit from behind.

Even so, the Dubai-based Fortec Motorsports driver concluded his maiden race weekend in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC ninth in the title chase, out of 39 drivers taking part, and ahead of such highly rated F1 aspirants as Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes-backed racer Nyck de Vries.

“I’m a bit gutted in the end, especially not to score any points in race three as it was really disappointing to be hit from behind”, said Shahaan, “There was nothing I could do, but we took some good points away in the first two races so overall I’m pretty happy with our first weekend in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC.”

In round one on Saturday, he calmly made his way into the top 10 during the opening laps before the Safety Car was deployed on lap six, prior to a race stoppage due to the onset of rain. At the re-start, Shahaan made no errors and worked his way into an impressive top eight finish.

For Sunday morning’s second round, too much wheelspin off the line meant the 16-year-old wasn’t able to make the most of his second row grid start and was bundled back to 10th place. Determined to make amends, Shahaan progressed back up the order and after a four lap Safety Car period he made it into a race one-equaling eighth position, pressuring Kevin Giovesi all the way to the flag.

Starting on the fourth row for the final encounter on Sunday afternoon, as per his finishing position from round one, the Fortec driver was taken out of the race on lap three when hit from behind. Subsequent rainfall led to the cessation of racing but even though Shahaan had eventually been able to fire his car back into life, he wasn’t allowed to take the re-start.

“It’s possible we could have left Hockenheim sixth in the championship if I’d been allowed back into race three”, he added, “But even with a non-finish, we’re ninth and the best of the rookies so that’s very satisfying for my first weekend racing in mainland Europe against so many top guys.”

Shahaan now travels immediately home to Dubai from Germany on a seven-hour flight in readiness for vital GCSE exams tomorrow morning, Monday, 23rd April. In terms of his racing, there is now a lengthy nine week gap in the championship calendar with rounds four and five taking place on 23rd/24th June at Germany’s Nurburgring.

Keep up-to-date with Shahaan’s progress throughout the year at www.shahaan.com follow him on Twitter @ShahaanEngineer and also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ShahaanEngineer

Provisional 2012 Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup Driver Standings (after Rd3):
1st Jake Dennis, 74pts; 9th Shahaan Engineer, 26pts

Photo by Chris Schotanus/Essay Produkties.

Felix Rosenqvist is set to expand his Formula 3 commitments for 2012, with the 20-year-old Swede joining the revived FIA European Formula 3 Championship in addition to his Formula 3 Euro Series assault. The European Formula 3 Championship originally took place between 1975-1984, and has been reintroduced to the sport ahead of the new campaign as a means by international motor racing governing body, the FIA, to further strengthen the category. The European Championship will run over ten weekends, eight of which will take place in conjunction with Formula 3 Euro Series events and the other two being contested within the framework of the British F3 Series. The winner of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship will be rewarded with a test in Formula 1.

“It’s a good feeling to be able to double up this year and get the chance of racing in an official European Championship,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “From a practical point of view, this doesn’t change too much in my 2012 programme, and the vast majority of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship races will be run together with Formula 3 Euro Series. The FIA has come up with a concept that enables the teams and drivers to dovetail their campaigns, and this will undoubtedly stimulate very tough competition. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

Despite its races being synchronised with Formula 3 Euro Series and British F3 events, the FIA European Formula 3 Championship will hold status as a separate series with its own, standalone points’ structure. Unlike in Formula 3 Euro Series – where each round consists of three points-paying races – only one or two selected races at each of the meetings will count towards the FIA European Formula 3 Championship. Forming the backbone of the European Championship, Formula 3 Euro Series in itself has also attracted an increasing number of drivers ahead of the new season, which kicks off at Hockenheim next weekend. The official entry list will be made available at www.felixracing.se once it is published by the FIA.

The 2012 FIA European Formula 3 champion receives a Formula 1 test session with Ferrari, and the most successful drivers will also be invited to try out both DTM and Formula 2 machinery.

Chipping Norton racer, Alice Powell, will be moving up to the GP3 Series this season with Status Grand Prix after securing sponsorship. The 19-year-old is moving up to the Formula One support series after three seasons racing in the UK in the Formula Renault 2.0 category in conjunction with Manor Competition, which included winning the BARC F.Renault title in 2010.

Alice had her first ever test in the 280bhp Turbo charged car last week, and is now preparing for the first race, which is in Barcelona on the 12/13 May.

Commenting on the signing, Alice said “I am delighted to sign with Status for this year’s GP3 Series. Huge thanks to everyone who has helped me to get on the grid, including Immun’Age, Sidvin, Silverstone-Hotels.com, IWI Watches and hearingprotection.co.uk. I have only had one test in the car, so I will be the least experienced driver, in terms of seat time in the car, but I am going to give it everything to get some good results this year”

Status GP team principle Teddy Yip added: “Alice comes to Status GP will an excellent pedigree in karting and junior single-seaters. We’ve already seen she has good ability as well as an excellent approach and a strong grounding from her past single-seater experience. She is an excellent addition to the team.”

All GP3 races will be shown LIVE on the Sky Sports F1 Channel, as well as on over 30 channels across the world. The 2012 GP3 Series title will be fought out at eight Formula One Grand Prix across Europe, including the new addition of a round at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Photo by GP3 Media Service.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs took his fifth consecutive podium finish with second place in the opening round of the AutoGP World Series at Marrakech on Saturday. A close-fought fourth place in the second race on Sunday earns the Tonbridge racer a 29-point championship lead after six rounds.

Marking his first time at the African track, Quaife-Hobbs was quickly on the pace, posting the fastest time in the final practice ahead of Friday afternoon’s qualifying session. After starting well and looking good for a repeat of his pole starts of the opening two rounds, red flags proved troublesome for the BRDC Rising Star. Fastest in each individual sector, Adrian was nonetheless unable to capitalise on his pace, as three times his flying lap was ended prematurely relegating him to the third row for race one.

The opening race on Saturday was a nail-biting affair right to the flag, the young Briton losing out by only 0.186 of a second after five frantic wheel-to-wheel racing laps. The race started well for the 21 year-old, with a storming getaway putting him third off the line.

However the supersoft tyres quickly began to cause problems for Adrian, so another early pit stop strategy by the SuperNova team came on lap four. The team once again did a sterling job to turn the 550bhp, Zytek V8-engined Lola round quickly, allowing Adrian to resume in third place with the lead two drivers yet to stop for tyres.

By lap 13 all the field had taken their mandatory tyre change, but a slow stop for the early race leader Pal Varhaug saw him exit in third place, with Adrian now in a good position to challenge new leader Sergio Campana. The fight for victory proved highly entertaining with Quaife-Hobbs piling on the pressure over the final three laps. The pair went side-by-side several times, but without the benefit of overboost Adrian was just unable to make the move stick, trailing the eventual winner by less than two tenths of a second at the finish.

Race two had Quaife-Hobbs start from seventh, and by lap three he was up to sixth before making his pit stop a lap later. Rejoining in fifth place, Adrian was well-placed to take up the battle for the final podium spot, joining Varhaug and Giacomo Ricci in the fight for third place.

Ricci tried to pass Varhaug on lap 18, but had to back off which allowed Adrian to make the most of the opportunity, with a brilliant move around the outside at Turn 3. Steadily applying pressure to Varhaug at the last chicane on the final lap, Adrian eventually got on the inside, for third place.

They both braked as late as possible but Adrian locked up, pitching his car sideways and into the kerb, while Varhaug cut the chicane. Quaife-Hobbs consequently got a bad exit from the corner, allowing Ricci to pass him. Varhaug crossed the line in third place ahead of Ricci and Quaife-Hobbs, but after the race was penalised 25 seconds for cutting the chicane, dropping him to seventh and giving Adrian fourth.

“We knew that from fifth on the grid a good start was needed for any chance of a podium finish, and luckily I got away well,” said Adrian. “My first laps were difficult; we opted to start on very old tyres and that meant that I lost five seconds to Campana before my stop. Once I changed to new softs, I knew I really had to push. I did it, and if it wasn’t for Spavone, who made me lose at least a couple of seconds cutting the chicane when I had already gone through, I think that I would have gone past him when he pitted. Instead, I was right on his gearbox when he came out of the pit-lane.

“In the first couple of laps I tried to understand if he was leaving some gaps, but when I saw that he was struggling with traction I decided to attack. I tried as hard as I could without risking crashing and one time I did manage to get onto Sergio’s inside, but he had some power-boost to spare and was able to get ahead. I had used all mine in the first part of the race, and so there was nothing I could do.

“Race two was equally exciting particularly towards the end when I started to close on Varhaug. On the final lap I thought it was possible to get fourth, but I locked up and had a bad exit from the chicane allowing Ricci to get me. But overall it’s been a good weekend. I got the second biggest points haul from the weekend, we are only into the third event with four still to go, so I just want to concentrate on winning races. Everybody can still be a title contender at this stage, so winning is the best thing you can do to keep your rivals at bay.”

Quaife-Hobbs, who remains the only driver to have secured two series wins courtesy of victory in Monza and Valencia, will resume his bid for honours in Hungaroring, Hungary over the weekend of 5/6 May.

For more information click onto www.quaifehobbs.com and follow the latest news and live timings on www.autogp.org and www.supernova-racing.com with live twitter feeds.

Parr Business Partner Club backed driver Chris Dymond will be forced to sit out this weekend’s (14/15th April) third and fourth rounds of the Porsche Carrera cup GB at Donington Park due to an ear Infection.
Dymond based near Buckingham, showed strong pace in the opening rounds of the championship at Brands hatch with a stunning drive from 13th on the grid to finish 6th in round 2.

“Naturally it’s bitterly disappointing to be missing Donington, it’s a track I always go well at, and I was looking forward to driving the Porsche there.”

Dymond’s Infection prevents him from competing as the infection in his middle ear, and severely affects his balance, making driving impossible.

“I must have caught it swimming and my doctor agrees, I’m already part way through the course of antibiotics and should be back to normal well in time for Thruxton. All my attention now is focused on making sure when I get back into the seat at Thruxton I’m absolutely as prepared as I can be to make a real impression!”

Dymond will return to the Porsche Carrera cup GB for rounds 5&6 at Thruxton, Hampshire on the final weekend of April (28th and 29th).

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

Photo by Tom Dymond

MSA Team UK racer Josh Webster made an outstanding start to the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship at his home track, Snetterton 200 Circuit, over the weekend, 7th/8th April, by claiming one win and two second places to open up a healthy 16 point lead in the driver standings.

With no preparation prior to the opening three rounds of the season, after striking an eleventh hour deal with MGR Motorsport to make an unexpected but welcome return to the category, last year’s Vice-Champion overcame set-up issues in qualifying to star in all three races.

Rising from third on the grid in Saturday afternoon’s opening round to take a richly deserved win in tricky, damp conditions, the Stowmarket 18-year-old was runner-up in Sunday’s second and third rounds to enjoy a hugely successful start to the new season.

“To win on Saturday was great and if I’d known before the weekend I’d have a win and then two second places I’d have taken that”, said Josh after round three, “Huge thanks to MGR and to all of my sponsors, if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have been on the grid at all this weekend.”

Regarded as one of the country’s top young single-seater talents, the Suffolk racer was due, of course, to compete in the Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship this year but a decision to postpone the series only three weeks ago – due to low grid numbers – left Josh with few options.

After a race against time, and thanks to the continued support of his portfolio of sponsors headed by Nine Telecom, Admiral Managed Networks and Integra ICT, he was able to secure a deal in the days leading up to this weekend’s action to get back on track in Protyre Formula Renault BARC.

Qualifying proved a challenge as Josh piloted a car which was set-up in the expectation of drier conditions towards the end of the damp session. Intermittent rain meant the British Racing Drivers’ Club Rising Star had a fight on his hands to secure anything like a front running position but he managed to post the third fastest time for round one and fifth on the grid for rounds two and three.

At the start of the season-opening race on Saturday, Josh made a superb launch from third on the damp track to move into second place and following a mistake for the race leader at the beginning of lap two he duly moved into the lead. On lap six, he was unseated from first place by Scott Malvern at the Esses but Josh moved back ahead on lap 11 and took the win by 4.6 seconds.

Round two was completely dry and the 2011 RSF MSA Young Driver of the Year instantly made progress again by moving up from fifth to fourth off the start. Pressuring third placed team-mate David Wagner hard, Josh grabbed the place on lap two and then took second from Malvern as they headed into the 18th and final lap.

Rain prior to the start of the final race made for difficult conditions but, yet again, Josh made a terrific getaway to climb from fifth into second through the first corner. Holding the place comfortably, he was never challenged throughout and sealed his third podium in as many races.

“MGR did an amazing job to put the car together in two days flat before coming here as the deal was so late, now we’ve got the chance to strip it down completely and improve it for Rockingham”, said Josh, “Hopefully we can have an even better weekend there and really show what we’re capable of.”

Rounds four and five of the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship will take place over the weekend 19th/20th May at Rockingham in Northamptonshire.

Provisional 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship Driver Standings (after Rd3):
1st Josh Webster, 88pts

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Seb Morris grabbed the headlines with a sensational Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship debut over the weekend, 7th/8th April, at Snetterton 200 Circuit – three pole positions, one fastest race lap and a dominant maiden victory in round two all adding up to a remarkable season start.

Absolutely destroying the opposition in a rain-affected qualifying session on Saturday morning to lock-out pole position for each of the weekend’s three races, the 16-year-old Ginetta ambassador stunned more experienced rivals with his high level of performance.

In particular, an outstanding lights-to-flag seven second victory in Sunday morning’s second round belied the fact it was the Marford teenager’s first weekend in single-seaters. Added to changeable conditions over the two days, it really was a memorable debut – one he ended a superb second in the championship standings.

“With all the hard work we’ve put in and all the preparation we’ve done, I really wanted to take my first win this weekend but to have actually done it is fantastic”, said Seb, “There are so many people I need to thank but especially the team, my family and my fantastic sponsors.”

In qualifying, the Fortec Motorsports driver was untouchable. In the first 15-minute period, setting the grid for round one, Seb took his maiden category pole position by a massive 0.8 seconds. He then replicated that standard in the second 15-minute session, bagging pole position for rounds two and three by 0.9 seconds and 0.7 seconds respectively.

Making a perfect start to the damp first race on Saturday afternoon, the reigning Ginetta Junior Champion opened up a significant 1.5 second lead but at the start of lap two an unfortunate moment led to him running wide at Riches Corner. Slipping to sixth place, Seb subsequently lost more ground but he battled back from the lower order of the top 10 into a strong sixth place finish.

Round two on Sunday morning was completely dry, albeit with overcast skies, and Seb was in a league of his own as he scorched to an unchallenged 7.3 second victory. Initially opening a lead of around two seconds, The King’s School, Chester pupil had his advantage annulled on lap five when the Safety Car was deployed.

When racing resumed on lap 10, Seb maintained a cool head and delivered a faultless re-start before reeling off a series of fastest laps – including the best of the race, 1m11.188 seconds (100.33mph) – to take his maiden win with ease.

For round three, conditions changed again with rain prior to the race leaving the track surface properly wet. Unfortunately for Seb, what looked set to be a good start turned into a stall on pole position but he was thankfully avoided and instantly set about repairing the damage.

Arriving at the first corner outside the top 10, Seb mounted a tremendous recovery and by the end of lap one he had picked his way through into fifth place. Losing ground on lap two after a moment while challenging for fourth, Seb dropped back to 10th again but he mounted yet another sterling recovery to take fifth at the finish – hindered too by a damaged front wing endplate.

“It’s been a fantastic first weekend in Formula Renault BARC”, he said, “Fortec put together a great car and it’s a great championship to be in, it’s teaching me so much – Saturday’s race actually taught me more than if I’d have won it. I’m disappointed we weren’t on the podium in all three races, as we should have been, but it’s still been a great start to my single-seater career.”

Seb now has six weeks to wait until rounds four and five of the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship take place over the weekend 19th/20th May at Rockingham in Northamptonshire.

Provisional 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship Driver Standings (after Rd3):
1st Josh Webster, 88pts; 2nd Seb Morris, 72pts

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Parr Business Partner Club backed driver Chris Dymond impressed on his debut in the Porsche Carrera cup GB at Brands Hatch, Kent over the weekend (31st March/1st April).

Dymond based near Buckingham, showed strong pace all weekend, despite a setback in qualifying being heavily blocked by another car on his qualifying run leaving him to start in 13th place for both races.

“Our qualifying position doesn’t reflect are true pace, I’d managed to get some clear air and thought I had enough space, but I guess the guy made a mistake as suddenly I was right with him. He couldn’t have been going for a time and I had my lights on to signal that I was, but he continued to weave and completely destroyed my lap, it’s frustrating!”

Dymond made a good start to race 1 and gained a few places in the opening laps and after a battle with Ollie Mortimer, Dymond passed the Scottish driver into Paddock hill bend and was now running in the top 10 and closing fast on the battling pair ahead.

“Mortimer was holding me up quite badly I could see he was struggling with his rear tyres but it’s very hard to pass in these cars on this circuit, I worked him quite hard and pressured him into a mistake out of Clearways and I was able to complete the move into Paddock hill. The two cars ahead were battling hard and I was catching them fast.”

A small mistake into clearways though would cost Dymond as he pushed to catch the cars ahead.

“I just it wrong on the brakes with the bumps and the car refused to select a gear so skated wide and through the gravel, which was unfortunate as I’d battled hard and such a small error cost a lot places.”

Dymond recovered to finish 13th after being able to pass several cars in the final few laps.

Race 2 on Sunday saw the sun back out and shining brightly, Dymond once again lined up 13th on the grid.

Capitalising on his good start Dymond was able to jump into the top 10 on the opening lap with a bold move around the outside of druids and passing 3 cars!

“Everyone was just queuing up on the inside to block each other, I knew if I did it right I could pick off a few at least, I had two cars cleared by mid corner and was side by side on the exit but I had the inside line for Graham Hill so I finished it on the brakes.”

Continuing to race hard and after the first safety car period on the opening lap for an accident further down the field Dymond was running 8th and pulling away from the cars behind with the leading group.

A late safety car closed the pack up for a final sprint to the flag. Positions all held till the finish but with the two cars directly ahead of Dymond each receiving a 5 second penalty for exceeding track limits, Dymond was running 6th which he held to the flag.

“I could see them running off lap after lap, whilst we all push the limits it was clear they’d be penalised, they were warned twice but choose to ignore it and as a result got stung! Once I heard they’d been given the penalty over the raceciver radio I was counting my gap to the furthest car and it stayed at three seconds for the remainder of the race so I knew it was fine. It’s been a mixed weekend but this result is what I knew we could do and its where we need to be so it can built on, it looks very promising for sure. ”

Dymond’s attention now turns to the Donington park race in two weeks time where rounds 3&4 of the championship will take place on the 14th and 15th of April.

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

Photo by Tom Dymond.