Sportscar racing

David Smithies takes first leg of Combe Austin Healey invitational

After the opening HSCC Historic Formula Junior next up on track was the opening race of two to make up the Austin Healey invitational challenge race. After running it as a single 45 minute race last year, the Castle Combe organisers decided to switch it for this year and instead run two 20 minute races to make up an overall aggregate victor. This gave two car entries a chance to have an equal time behind the wheel and a huge grid reflected the popularity of this series. This is especially true with Austin Healey as legendary Healey driver John Chatham was a regular at the circuit and abroad in the 1960’s and was a locally based man.

Back to the day’s racing and as the grid lined up it was the soloist Bruce Montgomery who was on pole with fellow soloist David Smithies alongside him on the front row. David Grace lined up 3rd before the first of the two driver entries lined up 4th in the hands of the latest generation of Chatham racers Jack and Oliver.

From the start it was both front row men who made the best getaway’s as David Smithies edged into the lead from 2nd on the grid. In contrast to the opening Formula Junior race the first 5 were all fighting for the lead in the early portion of this 20 minute affair. The first real significant move came on lap 6 as David Grace went down the inside of pole man Bruce Montgomery for 2nd. Things very quickly got worse for Montgomery as Jaap Sinke deposed him of 3rd going up Avon Rise on the very next lap.

On lap 8 Montgomery was able to re-take 3rd from Sinke who appeared to miss a gear exiting Bobbies and lost momentum, and from here sadly the top 4 seemed to space out as Smithies opened a 1.5 second over the rest. A few laps later and Grace was able to close on Smithies for the lead, although this appeared to be largely because of traffic rather than a sudden burst of speed from him. Things were close between the top 3 over the final few laps although David Smithies always looked just about comfortable as he claimed victory in the opening leg of the Austin Healey challenge after 15 laps. Smithies winning margin was only 0.222 of a second from David Grace in 2nd and 0.4 of a second from Bruce Montgomery who completed the podium.

4th was Jaap Sinke whilst the Chris Clarkson/Ted Williams entry was 5th and the two Chatham brothers completed the top 6. The opening race provided plenty of battles and excitement from the large Austin Healey grid with the spectators eagerly anticipating the second installment of this Austin Healey invitational challenge later on in the afternoon.

Nissan GT Academy winner Gaetan Paletou takes overall win

The final race of the contemporary Castle Combe 2014 season was an Open Sports Vs Saloons race at the end of the day, with the sunlight drawing in the grid lined up for their shortened 12 minute race. 2014 European Nissan GT Academy winner Gaetan Paletou was on pole in his works prepared Nissan Team RJN Nissan 370Z GT4 spec racer. Alongside was supposed to be the impressive flame spitting Mazda RX-7 Turbo of Steve Putt, however a problem in the earlier Sports @ GT race left Paletou alone on the front row. Team mate to Paletou Paul Brown was behind him in 3rd whilst Dylan Popovic completed the top 4 in his unique Marlin racer.

At the lights it was Dylan Popovic and the ungainly looking Rage buggy of Craig Moore who made the best starts whilst Paul Brown who had a nightmare and stalled, leaving old circuit favourite Russell Humphrey behind him to inadvertently give him a push start. Craig Moore held the lead in the under powered Rage until Quarry before he overcooked things and went off at the Esses, dropping himself from the lead to the back all on lap 1.

This left the Nissan of Paletou to open a huge lead over earlier Castle Combe Saloons winner Tony Hutchings, who valiantly tried to stay with the GT4 Nissan despite the obvious power and handling disadvantages for Hutchings. Hutchings had earlier stole on 2nd on lap 3 from Adam Prebble in his Rover 220 Turbo, and things soon got worse for Prebble on lap 6 as he was forced to give up a comfortable 3rd as he slowed going up Avon Rise and pulled off into retirement.

By lap 7 Paletou has used his obvious skills and car advantage to open a 16 second lead over Hutchings who was equally comfortable in 2nd, and that gap was further extended when the 3rd man Paul Brown was forced to retire at the end of the lap after receiving mechanical warning flags for noise nuisance. This therefore ended a remarkable recovery drive after the earlier stall on the line. From here until the end of the 12 minute race things were comfortable for the top 6 as Gaetan Paletou romped home for probably his first ever overall race victory, and he will be hard pressed to find a more comfortable one.

Tony Hutchings was also comfortable in 2nd to cap a brilliant end of the season for him after his earlier win, as old circuit favourite Russell Humphrey returned to Combe to complete the podium. Rob Ballard was 4th after his heroics earlier in the Combe Saloons, whilst Nigel Richards was 5th in his powerful BMW E36 M3 and Craig Moore hustled his Rage buggy back into the top 6 after his opening lap off at the Esses.

This race brought the contemporary 2014 Castle Combe season to a close, and once again it was a classic year for the circuit with plenty of action and thrilling races across all the meetings, providing plenty of entertainment for the spectators. The circuit has some promising plans for 2015 including plans for a solar farm in the circuit infield to provide the circuit’s power and some, I for one simply cannot wait for the 2015 season to begin already.

Simon Tilling survives late scare to scrape Sports Racing Car win

After the action of the previous Pre-1982 Classic Formula Ford race, a contrast was provided next as the new for 2014 Castle Combe Sports Racing Car series took to the grid. Solely for the Sports prototypes which previously dominated the Sports @ GT series before complaints about the speed differentials and the amount of entries meant a split was announced for this year. Whilst the series has suffered growing pains in it’s first year with small grid the final race of the year provided plenty of optimism for next year as the series had it’s biggest and most competitive grid of the year.

After the morning’s wet qualifying session it was Tim Gray who took pole in his very impressive Spire GT-3 entry. Gray is a distinguished RGB and Bikesports racer and his Spire handled like it was on rails in the wet qualifying session and looked by far the fastest car on track to claim pole. Another newcomer to the series lined up 2nd, although the don’t lack experience with the circuit as the entry was from renowned Castle Combe Formula Ford racers Nick Jones and Kevin Mills racing. Mike Jenvey was yet another newer entry from an outside series in his self built Jenvey/Gunn TS6 and lined up 3rd with old circuit dominator Simon Tilling lining up 4th in his impressive Ligier JS49T.

With the dry and sunny conditions the complete opposite to qualifying a great race was predicted as those out of place after qualifying battled to improve their positions in the 20 minute race. The grid remained in largely the same order after the initial rolling start, although by the end of the lap the order changed at the front. Simon Tilling used the larger Honda engine in his Ligier and extensive circuit knowledge to blast into the lead and open a 2 second lead by the end of the lap.

Early on Tilling and Tim Gray were the pace setters with the rest falling away behind, although Mike Jenvey soon attempted to rectify this as he passed local man Darcy Smith in his Radical SR4 for 3rd on the inside at Camp on lap 2. The top 5 appeared to be strung out for this portion of the race, although the symmetry was broken on lap 6 as unfortunately Mike Jenvey pulled into the pits and was forced to retire his impressive Jenvey/Gunn hybrid. A lap later and Tim Gray began to get the wrath of the officials as he was shown the mechanical warning flag for the biblical noise coming from his Spire racer.

With the circuit now forced to heavily police it’s noise after being serviced with a noise nuisance order Gray was black flagged and forced to retire at the end of lap 8. With Gray and Jenvey out Tilling now had a huge lead over the new battle for 2nd between Darcy Smith and Nick Jones, although over the next few laps Smith was able to eke out a small gap to Jones. Behind their battle 4th place man Stephen Bracegirdle was slowing with a mechanical problem and was passed from 4th and 5th over several laps by firstly Chris Child and then a recovering Chris Vinall who spun to the back of the field on lap 1.

Simon Tilling was now beyond comfortable in his impressive Ligier VdeV racer, although he was at the center of the race’s late drama as he began slowing size-ably with only a few minutes left on the clock. His lead stood at 38 seconds but with Smith and Jones now catching him at the rate of 12-15 seconds per lap it seemed they might well be able to catch him. Going into the final half lap it looked like they might do it at the final corner, although Tilling just held them off enough to claim the victory by a whisker from Darcy Smith in 2nd with Nick Jones right behind him in 3rd.

Chris Child was 4th in his Nemisis with long time Combe racer Norman Lackford 5th before Stephen Bracegirdle limped home to complete the top 6. What had threatened to be a dominant victory provided late drama in arguably the best race of the season for this new Castle Combe Sports Racing Car Series. Hopefully many of the impressive newcomers from this race will return for more in 2015, and held give the series some much needed momentum after a difficult debut 2014 season. For more information on this promising new series please visit their website below.
http://www.ccracingclub.co.uk/championships/sports-racing-series/

Interview with Indycar racer Pippa Mann

Today see’s a first for this site as we recently completed an interview with Indycar racer Pippa Mann. For the die-hard motorsport fans that don’t know of Pippa Mann, she is a British racer who rose up through the junior single-seater ranks in both Britain and Europe, eventually spending two years in the highly competitive Renault World Series. Despite becoming the first female pole sitter and points finisher in the series her two years in the series were largely frustrating with issues beyond her control.

This severely derailed her career momentum in Europe, before she embarked on a career in the American open-wheel racing scene. After rising through the ranks she began to show promise in her second year of  Indy Lights. 2010 saw her become the first female pole-sitter at the hallowed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, before picking up a debut win at Kentucky to finish 5th in the standings with a highly respectable 312 points.

From here she carried her career momentum over to the premier Indycar series, where she qualified for her debut Indianapolis 500, despite a competitive field and a small team. From here she has carried on her momentum with successive part-seasons in 2013 and this year, making the Indy 500 both years. She has yet to display her full potential in the Indycar series, although that is down to unfortunate circumstances rather than a lack of talent. Here is the interview in full.

What made you decide to switch your career to America?

In 2008, I was going into my second year in World Series by Renault, and I had really started to get to grips with the car and the formula towards the end of the previous season. I was strong in the off season testing, and everyone, myself included, expected me to have a very good year the following year. But the new car for 2009 and I just didn’t mesh at all. From ergonomic problems I had fitting into it, to the fact it just didn’t suit my driving style with the set-ups we were running on the old car.

It took me all year to start to get comfortable again, and that meant that I just didn’t bring home the results I wanted. I was frustrated. I knew I had probably lost my opportunity to continue racing single-seaters in Europe, and I started looking to potentially race sports cars in 2009. I started to race a Porsche in the UK Cup Championship, and by my second and third race weekends, I was up in the top 10 of that championship on pace on a regular basis and starting to have a lot of fun. I thought my future was probably set, but then I got a call, asking me to come to the US and meet with a team, who were looking for a female driver for one of their sponsors in Indy Lights for the following season.

They had looked at who was racing currently in the US, then decided to cast the net wider to include Europe, and when they did that, I was the only one at the time who was racing in any of the big open-wheel championships in Europe. Given at the time I was the only female driver to have a pole in World Series by Renault, to have scored points and top ten finishes in some of their races, they were interested. So I packed a bag, got on a plane, and I guess the rest is kind of history now!

What has been your racing highlight so far in your career?

I think it probably has to be qualifying for the 2011 Indy 500. It was my first ever IndyCar race, and I had just one day of testing before we started running at the speedway with everyone else. I was with a small team, expanding from one car to two cars, and my team mate was struggling in his first full-time season of IndyCar, leaving my team boss worried he might not make it into the race.

There were 42 cars competing for 33 slots, and my job was simple. I was there to make sure we got at least one of our team cars into those 33 spots however long the odds against us seemed… We made it. Just. I was the only one-off rookie attempting their first IndyCar race at that Indy 500 to make it in.

Several full-time drivers racing all season long, including my own team mate, did not make the show, and yet with our shoe string budget, and two to three guys only working on the car, we made it happen. It’s probably not a highlight that other people expect me to think of, they expect me to talk about my poles in 2010, or winning Kentucky in that year, or even my first Indy 500 itself maybe… But all of those pale into the fact I was not only in my first Indy 500, I earned my way in the hard way, and together we were the little team that could.

What has been the best race of your career so far?

This is a tough question! The easy answer is winning Kentucky in 2010 in Indy Lights, but actually, despite not being a race that many people outside the team would notice, I think the 2014 Indy 500 was pretty special too… We had an issue at one of the pit-stops that put us several laps down at my second pit stop, but the car was fantastic all day long, and I learned so much from the fact we got back out there, and I was able to run in dirty air for the entire rest of the 500 miles.

The guys I was racing against in the first two stints of the race finished 12-17th place, and our goal going in was to try and bring home a top 15 finish. Given our pace was on a par with theirs even after our stop issue, and I was actually still running with that group all afternoon long, just laps down and unable to play – it didn’t come away looking like much on paper, but we as a team were all really pleased with everything but that one bum pit stop during that race.

Then of course the 2011 race itself being my first Indy 500 was pretty special to me too. I actually didn’t have a working water bottle in that race, and was pretty badly dehydrated – I was having searing cramps all up and down my right arm, and particularly in my right shoulder from where you’re muscling the car around the track, but I was absolutely determined it wasn’t going to stop me, and I was going to finish the race in my rookie year. I came 20th.

Have you started looking at your 2015 plans yet? E.g talking with teams?

Yes, absolutely! I think it’s no secret to say that Dale would very much like me to come back in 2015, and I would love to drive for him again too. His team has been the most incredible home for me the past two years at the Indy 500, and I really enjoy working with the great group of people he has put together.

Susan G. Komen also had a great experience this year at their first Indy 500, and they want to come back with us too, so the plan is to bring the pink car back for it’s second Indy 500. Right now I am working hard on the business side of that equation, so that we can put the funding in place to make this all happen!

What inspired you to become a racing driver?

Actually it was pure chance. I got to drive a go-kart on an indoor kart track when I was around 12 years old, and absolutely loved it. That was it. Bitten by the bug, and I’ve never looked back since!

What are some of your earliest memories of motorsport?

Being taken to watch the British F1 race with my Dad at Silverstone, and watching the standing start from the grandstands opposite the front straight. I was a race fan long before I ever got to drive anything, or the thought that I could one day drive had even crossed my mind.

What advice would you give to aspiring drivers?

Be determined. Learn the business side, and be just as determined in that too. Don’t let people tell you you’re not going to be able to make it happen. Expect to work really hard, and expect it to be hard – for most of us this life is not easy, and you have to be prepared to bust a gut 24-7 on the business side, always put time and effort into being prepared physically for when the next opportunity comes your way, and you have to be very strong mentally too.

There may be times when you’re out of a race car for long periods of times in your career, but you just have to keep digging, keep adapting, and be prepared to take on other work and diversify (such as instructing, coaching, etc.) to survive.

Would you ever be tempted to race in other forms of motorsport e.g Sportscars?

Oh absolutely. I think I mentioned earlier on in this interview that I got to race a Porsche a few times in the UK before I moved to the US, and I have never had the chance to drive a GT car since, but I had an absolute blast in those races – it was so much fun. If the opportunity arose, I would love to do some sports car races alongside my commitment to the Indy 500 each year, however with the current licensing system, it’s very difficult for someone like me to get those opportunities.

In terms of license grade I am ranked the same as someone who races IndyCar full-time, and has multiple IndyCar wins under their belt… Yet I only get to race a couple of times a year in open-wheel, usually only on ovals at the moment, and I only have those few races in a GT car in the UK under my belt… So if you were looking at taking on someone with my high a grade of license, you probably wouldn’t pick me!

It’s something a lot of drivers in my position, or similar positions to me in the US are facing right now, and to be honest, it’s something even some of the guys who are coming up through the sports car ranks themselves are facing. I understand why there needs to be a licensing system to make it fairer to the AM drivers who fund a lot of sports car teams, but at the same time, I do wish there was a little more flexibility in the rules. There’s an awful lot of us who would love to race, and who could do a good job, falling through the cracks with this current system.

If you could compete in one motor race that you haven’t already which one would it be?

Ooooh. Good question. I guess I would love to compete in one of the big 24 hour sports car races one day – either Daytona, or Le Mans. That would be pretty special!

Why do you feel there has been a recent spike in European interest for Indycar/Road to Indy scheme?

Drawing from my personal experience, and from recent conversations I actually had with European drivers when I visited Monza to watch the F1 race a few weeks ago, I think that often there is a lot of fear surrounding the unknown that is racing in the US, and racing on ovals in particular.

In Europe, you seem to race a lot of the time thinking you’re in a bubble where sure, motor sport is dangerous, but nothing’s ever going to happen to you… In the US, with the speeds we race, so close to the walls, you can’t live inside that bubble any more, and you have to accept that our sport can be brutal at times. Not everyone can do that, and I think it takes a lot of people some time to get past that mentally.

We strive to make our racing as safe as it possibly can be, but when something goes wrong at 220+ mph next to a wall, it’s unfortunately just physics that sometimes it can go really wrong. So I think that scenario, plus the fact guys find it so hard to believe that we’re cornering faster than they often go in a straight line, makes it tough for Europeans to get their head around. Combine this then with the old thing that someone who hasn’t driven an oval, and doesn’t understand one, thinks “it’s just too corners, how hard can it be?” and you get this odd juxtaposition of opinion surrounding what they don’t really know, but what they think they know about our sport here in the US… For years I think these opinions have all contributed to lack of interest, and not many people being prepared to take the leap.

However recently I think there have been a number of European drivers who have come across and made the transition well, and whom are happy to talk about how much they love IndyCar. I think someone like Conor Daly running the Indy 500 last year, then going back and telling all of his fellow drivers in the series he was racing in Europe a) how much he loved the experience, and b) how hard it actually is to race a car for 500 miles at those speeds in constant dirty air, and how incredible the challenge is… I think that helps educate, and as people start to understand better, there’s less fear of the unknown.

Then right now in the US, we have something which does not exist anywhere else in the world in terms of a concise, direct open-wheel ladder, where every champion gets help towards his crack at the next rung on the ladder. With the new Indy Lights car coming out in 2015, a much needed upgrade on the previous car I raced, that chassis is suddenly much more in line with what European guys have been racing.

The costs are still cheaper than most comparable series in Europe, and with the new championship prize rules, if you win, you’re effectively guaranteed a shot at next year’s Indianapolis 500 in an IndyCar through the prize money scholarship scheme, and potentially a few more races tacked onto that depending on the team, and what other money you’re able to put together too. If you win the GP2 title, there are no guarantees of anything.

In fact most recently Kevin Magnussen came from World Series by Renault, which I used to race, and by passed GP2 altogether on his way to F1. The ladder in Europe is complex, expensive, and winning the title lacks giving you that final push you really want from it. Here, winning means more than getting to write it on your resume. It means that shot I was talking about at the biggest race of the IndyCar season.

That’s a pretty massive prize and incentive right there. I know this is a long answer, but I also want to touch on one final thing before I quit talking about the ladder series. I think it’s very important for people looking at coming over from Europe to IndyCar and the MRTI ladder to look at Indy Lights before IndyCar. My reasoning? Learning the ovals. Learning them in an IndyCar is very hard, and for many drivers who come across it’s a very difficult and tough transition.

However, a season of Indy Lights gives you the opportunity to really get your head around them, and start to get your teeth into them. For the record, as the girl who is currently the only female pole sitter ever at IMS, I certainly didn’t do that in my first year, and I didn’t win a race on them in my first year either.

It took me two years to get comfortable, to learn what I needed from the car, when to push, and when to understand that just doing what you could with what you had was going to be the best decision for your race result. And now, I’m in a position where ovals are viewed as my strong point, and it’s where most of my opportunities to drive an IndyCar come from. If I had tried to rush things, and get ahead of myself, I’m almost 100% certain I would not currently have the opportunities I do to get in the car each year, and so I will always be very grateful for everything Indy Lights has taught me!

That was an amazing interview with British Indycar racer Pippa Mann, she provided some brilliant answers and for more info on Pippa’s latest news and goings on please visit her website http://www.pippamann.com or Twitter account @PippaMann . Please enjoy these great answers!

Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic Castle Combe Report

The second helping of Ferrari action came courtesy of the Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic, which caters from some exotic classic Ferrari cars. The series is a regular at this A Plant LUX Bank Holiday meeting so the spectators knew what to expect from this impressive series.

On pole was Gary Culver in his Ferrari 328 GTB, with Peter Fisk alongside him on the front row. Row 2 has Darren Wilson in 3rd with Ray Ferguson in 4th. At the start it was Culver who made the best start to take the early lead in this 20 minute race, with Fisk joining him in making a quick break from the rest, before stealing the lead himself on lap 1. Their lead by the end of lap 1 was significant although by the end of lap 2 Fisk began gapping Culver by roughly 2 seconds.

By lap 4 Culver had reduced the lead to nothing as he began challenging Fisk for the lead, meanwhile behind them Nigel Jenkins passed Darren Wilson for 3rd going up Avon Rise on the same lap. Jenkins immediately opened a gap to Wilson as he secured himself in 3rd at this time. The move for the lead finally came at the fast kink Hammerdown on lap 6 as Culver set to work building a lead of several seconds in subsequent laps.

For the rest of the the top 4 were strung out as the conditions didn’t help the racing at all. For the likes of leader Culver it was simply about keeping a rhythm and counting down the laps, something he did expertly to maintain his lead of several seconds to the flag. He claimed victory from Peter Fisk in 2nd whilst Nigel Jenkins claimed his second podium of the day after claiming 3rd in the Ferrari Open race too. Darren Wilson was 4th whilst a lapped Ray Ferguson and Tim Walker completed the top 6.

For more information on this Ferrari series please visit – http://www.pirelli.com/tyre/gb/en/motorsport-world/genericPage/car/ferrari_open

Pirelli Ferrari Open Castle Combe August 2014 Report

After a frantic Mighty Mini the next race proved to be completely different as the exotic Pirelli Ferrari Open series took to the track for their 25 minute race. A small grid didn’t provide much hope for a good race however it only takes two cars to make a great race. After qualifying it was Wayne Marrs on pole in his Ferrari F458 Challenge car from local man Graham Reeder in his Ferrari F430 GT3 model.

From the rolling start it was Marrs who blasted into an early lead, which he extended to roughly 1.5 seconds by the end of lap 1. Despite the poor conditions the cars were hurtling around the track as Marrs and Reeder opened a significant early gap to the rest by the end of lap 2. The only cars at the early stages who were close together were Nigel Jenkins and Vance Kearney in 3rd and 4th respectively.

From lap 4 onwards the rain started to fall a lot heavier, which brought Reeder back into play as he set consecutive fastest laps despite the increasing rain fall. Reeder eliminated the gap to nothing as he began challenging Marrs for the lead from lap 10 onwards. Behind these two the battle for 3rd came to an end as Kearney spun exiting Camp on lap 10, re-joining 5th. Despite Reeder closing after a few laps Marrs upped his pace and rebuilt his lead of several seconds over Reeder from lap 12 onwards.

On lap 13 the dominance of Marrs and Reeder was highlighted as they lapped the rest of the field, whilst behind them Kearney began his recovery drive by closing on team mate Darren Laverty for 4th on lap 14. By the later laps Marrs was really stretching his lead to 3.1 seconds as he cruised home after 19 laps to a comfortable victory over Graham Reeder in a valiant 2nd. Nigel Jenkins came home a very lonely 3rd and a lap down. Laverty held onto 4th from the recovering Kearney whilst Paul Ugo completed the top 6.

This race suffered from both the small grid and the terrible conditions, therefore this race was not a fair reflection of a usually much more competitive series. Nevertheless, it was still fascinating seeing such impressive cars in the confines of Castle Combe race circuit. For more information on this series please visit – https://www.ferrariownersclub.co.uk/race-category/2014-pirelli-ferrari-open/

Castle Combe Sports Racing Car Series August 2014 report

After the frantic nature of the opening Super Mighty Mini race, the pace was about to be seriously upped as the Castle Combe Sports racing car series returned after missing the last meeting. The series boasted it’s biggest entry of the year for this new series, with some old faces returning to spice up the racing also.

The conditions were truly terrible as these very quick sports racing cars took to the track for their formation lap. This itself proved a highly confusing moment as everyone thought they would only do one formation lap, although after aborted starts and a re-setting of the 20 minute race clock, the cars finally took the green flag after 3 formation laps. From the rolling start it was pole man Andy Crockett who rocketed into the lead whilst second man Norman Lackford dropped down after taking the start cautiously.

With the first four evenly spaced after 2 laps the only change to the status quo was a very quick returning Darcy Smith who took the lead from Crockett in his Radical SR4 at Old Paddock. Behind the first two the move of the race came from Chris Vinall who made a very late lunge from several car length’s back to claim 3rd at Tower on lap 4 in a move that could have easily gone wrong.

Darcy Smith subsequently opened a lead of several seconds over the rest by lap 5, by lap 9 the cars have thinned out slightly as retirements took hold because of the dreadful conditions and by the final tour on lap 14 Smith had opened his lead to 8 seconds to claim a far from easy victory. Andy Crockett came home a lonely 2nd whilst Chris Vinall completed the podium.

Circuit stalwart and local favourite Norman Lackford came home 4th from a lapped Steven Bracegirdle in his unusual Nemisis RWE98 GT and Robert Gillman who completed the top 6. The race was stunted by the weather which undoubtedly ruined the chances of a great race for this new for 2014 series, with the spectators being robbed of an epic duel between the “big banger” cars of Mike Roberts in his awesome Lola B2K/40 Le Mans spec car and local favourite Simon Tilling who returned with his new Ligier JS49T. These two in the dry would have been an incredibly race for the spectators although sadly the weather deprived everyone of this privilege.

For more information on this growing series please visit – http://www.ccracingclub.co.uk/championships/sports-racing-series/

Why Andre Lotterer deserves F1 chance

Immediately following the shock announcement of Max Verstappen joining Scuderia Toro Rosso for the 2015 F1 season on Monday night, rumours began circulating that for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix Caterham would replace Kamui Kobayashi with stand-out Audi sportscar driver Andre Lotterer. By Tuesday afternoon it appeared almost certainly a done deal, with the final confirmation being announced by Caterham in a press release this morning, Wednesday 20th August. For the insular world of Formula One many have started scrambling around for information and analysis on this very quick German, with the results they’ll find on him being enough to show his F1 debut this weekend is long overdue.

Andre Lotterer has already been amongst the F1 circus once before, with early titles in German Formula BMW Junior and ADAC Formula BMW in 1998 and 1999 brought him to the attention of the new Jaguar team for 2000, who offered him several tests during the 2000 season to complement his 4th in the German Formula Three Championship campaign. The link to the Jaguar F1 team was made stronger in 2001 as he raced in British F3 for the Jaguar junior racing team, before stepping up to become the official test driver for the Jaguar F1 team for the 2002 season.


Lotterer testing for Jaguar in 2002.

Whilst it initially looked likely that Lotterer would be promoted to a race seat in 2003 after it was announced that both Eddie Irvine was retiring and Pedro De La Rosa was to also leave. Sadly for Lotterer the team chose 2002 Minardi stand-out Mark Webber alongside promising young Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia for the 2003 season, leaving Lotterer looking to re-build his career momentum.

Lotterer subsequently shunned Europe and went to Japan to race in their premier Formula Nippon series, now called Super Formula, and Japanese Super GT series for 2003. Impressive results in both cemented his reputation in Japan as a very fast young driver as he was a frequent title contender in Formula Nippon for the works TOM’S Toyota team, alongside two Super GT titles in 2006 and 2009.


Lotterer and Kazuki Nakajima driving for Lexus in Super GT at Okayama in 2011.

These impressive results in Japan led to some well deserved attention from Europe, although it does seem surprising looking back that despite consistently impressive Super GT results it took until 2009 for Lotterer to make his Le Mans 24 Hours. The call came from the Kolles team racing their privateer LMP1 Audi R10 TDI. After a herculean effort from Lotterer and co-driver Charles Zwolsman to complete the race without third driver Narain Karthikeyan to injury, the car came home an impressive 7th overall after completing 369 laps.

The impressive debut with the Kolles Audi in 2009 led the highly successful works Audi team to offer him a deal for the 2010 season, where his Audi R15 TDI+ came home 2nd. From here things would get very busy for Lotterer as from 2011 onwards he would have to dovetail his Japanese Formula Nippon and Super GT commitments with a full schedule in the new Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, morphing into the World Endurance Series for 2012.

The full time schedule has not affected Lotterer’s pace however as he finally claimed a first Formula Nippon title in 2011 after 8 years of trying, with a perfect 2011 being completed with a heroic first Le Mans 24 Hours victory for him, after fighting off an onslaught of Peugeot’s to claim the win. Things improved in 2012 as the Lotterer/Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer partnership swept to a second consecutive Le Mans 24 Hours victory and the inaugural World Endurance Championship title also.

2013 and 2014 so far have seen a continuation of is stellar results as the Audi trio claimed a third Le Mans 24 Hours victory and currently sit 2nd in the World Endurance Championship with 5 rounds remaining. During his sportscar and single seater career so far Lotterer has regularly proven himself to be a master of wet conditions, which maybe gives some indication of why Caterham chose to give him debut in the notoriously wet Belgian GP at Spa. Another reason may be his experience of the Spa circuit this year as he’s already raced there for Audi both in the WEC and the recent Spa 24 Hours.


Lotterer at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours for Audi.

Whatever Caterham chose they have made a bold yet good decision in my opinion to take a chance on the always quick Andre Lotterer for this weekend, as a sportscar fan I’ve seen plenty of impressive drives from him over the last few years for Audi. He has a chance to improve things for the Caterham team although despite circuit knowledge the Caterham car has proved very difficult all season. I sincerely hope he gets the chance to give a good account of himself this weekend despite the troublesome Caterham car, which I think is only fair after the wait he’s had to make his F1 debut.

Photo credit goes to http://www.Motorsport.com , http://www.worldcarfans.com and http://www.autoindustriya.com please visit their sites for more amazing photos.

Castle Combe Sports @ GT MSVR Report 02/08/14

In the penultimate race of the day thanks to the re-scheduled Castle Combe Saloons race was for the Castle Combe Sports and GT championship. Another local favourite with the fans, unfortunately the decision to split the sports racing prototypes and the GT cars into two separate series appears to have severely damaged the championship as both series had staggered through 2014 with low grids.

Usually the Sports and GT Championship has been the more competitive of the two yet their race only drew a season low grid of 5 cars for the start, although peak holiday season probably didn’t help with the entry. After a wet qualifying session it was no surprise to see the two 4wd Mitsubishi Evo’s of Gary Prebble and Barry Squibb sharing the front row, with Nick Holden’s Ariel Atom and Stuart Hignell’s VW Golf completing row 2. From the start ex-rallycross racer Barry Squibb made the best start as Prebble bogged down. The reduction from 15-12 laps didn’t help Prebble’s cause as he spent the first half of the race glued to the back of Squibb’s Mitsubishi as he looked for a way past.

After a valiant defence the slightly faster Evo of Prebble found a way past on the inside at Tower on lap 5, and soon built a lead of several seconds over the ensuing laps as Squibb attempted to stay with local favourite Prebble. By the penultimate lap Prebble had extended his lead to 6 seconds as he came home for yet another victory as he dominates this Sports and GT Championship in 2014. Barry Squibb put past reliability issues behind him to claim 2nd from Nick Holden in a distant 3rd. The Darrian of Phil Gale and the VW Golf of Stuart Hignell completed a lonely the top 5, although both were several laps down on the leaders in what was ultimately a good race despite the lack of a significant grid, which is the only thing this series is missing although in the first year of the series this can be excused slightly. With only one more meeting Prebble looks certain to wrap up the series in October.

For more info on this series please visit the link below
http://www.ccracingclub.co.uk/championships/gt/

Radical SR3 Challenge MSVR Castle Combe Report 02/08/14

After the earlier Radical Clubman’s Cup race after the Formula Ford stanza, it was the turn of the premier UK Radical racing series, the SR3 Challenge, to take too the track. Despite a smaller than usual grid for this 90 minute endurance race the race still promised much excitement as some of Britain’s premier club Sportscar drivers took up their places on the starting grid. There was drama before the start however as rainfall over the back section of the circuit meant that one side was relatively dry whilst the other half was a completely wet circuit, leaving a massive headache for the drivers and teams before the start.

It was the Peter Belshaw/Phil Keen car that took place with amateur driver Belshaw taking the start, with soloist Lewis Plato alongside him on the front row. The Andy Cummings/Bradley Ellis SR3 took 3rd as ex-British GT champion Ellis took the start with another soloist Shahin Nouri completing row 2. From the start Bradley Ellis rocketed into an early lead as the rest of the field tip toed around the first laps on the greasy track. As Ellis and Lewis Plato shot away from the rest it appeared they may be on different tyres to the rest, such was their early advantage. By lap 7 it became clear tail enders Manhal Allos and Ossy Yusuf were the only one’s on wet tyres as they both set a string of Fastest laps, although their wet tyres would soon be destroyed by the rapidly drying conditions.

By lap 17 it became clear the crossover point for dry tyres had been reached, as Ellis began setting a string of his own fastest laps to only extend his huge lead from the rest behind. The hopes of 3rd man Jasper Westerholm took an early hit as he was forced in for an unscheduled stop on lap 21 with a right rear puncture, dropping him well down the order. Between laps 25 and 30 the lead dice was hotting up as leader Ellis and Plato in 2nd began trading fastest laps between each other.

On lap 32 the pit window opened for the cars in group A of the pit schedule, with 2nd man Plato and Peter Belshaw immediately taking advantage of this and pitting from their positions. The A group were all quick to pit in the subsequent laps although for the B group it took them a little longer to make their mandatory pitstop’s. Bradley Ellis was unsurprisingly the last to stop as on lap 42 as he handed over to his amateur team mate Andy Cummings with a significant lead of a lap and a bit over the rest. At this point of the race it was the Kevin Mills Radical SR3 of ex-single seater champion Scott Malvern who was setting the pace with very quick 1m04.2 lap times as he made up some ground lost in the first stint by co-driver Nick Jones.

The impressive stint from Malvern didn’t last much longer sadly as he caused a Safety Car deployment on lap 47 to recover his car after crashing, although when later interviewed he explained a gear selection issue caused the off. The Safety Car was ill-timed for Cummings as he lost almost all his advantage as the rest made up their lap to him up front. Things quickly got even worse for Cummings as he was forced to pit for a stop/go penalty, only reducing his lead further as the Safety Car came in on lap 51.

After his stop/go penalty allowed Lewis Plato into the lead of the race on lap 52, it was a tall order for amateur driver Cummings to keep up the professional drivers in the cars around him for the remainder of the race. A car off at Quarry necessitated another Safety Car on lap 56, although it’s very late deployment almost caught out the leading runners as they were forced to quickly slow down behind it. The Safety Car came in on lap 59, and Plato soon set about building a lead to the rest from the re-start. Ex-British GT and TVR Tuscan racer Phil Keen made light work of Cummings at the Esses to claim 2nd on lap 61, with a second penalty for Cummings effectively destroying his chances of a top 2 result as he was forced to pit again late on lap 66.

6 Radical SR3 Challenge

The final laps provided a showdown finish as Keen began closing on Plato at the rate of 0.5 seconds per lap as he hunted for the win, with his first challenge for the lead coming at the Esses on the penultimate lap. The final laps were tense for the leading two although eventually Lewis Plato came home for victory by only 0.3 seconds from the Belshaw/Keen car after 90 minutes of flat out racing. The greatly unlucky Ellis/Cummings car came home 3rd from a lapped Jesper Westerholm in 4th, with Manhal Allos and the Kim/Moseley cars completing the top 6 in an exciting endurance race from the Radical SR3 Challenge.

Credit for these great photos go to

http://www.radicalsportscars.com/uk/radical-racing/details.aspx?passive=1&comp=2013%20Radical%20SR3%20Challenge&t=15

6 Radical SR3 Challenge

For more info on this exciting Radical series please visit the link below
http://www.radicalsportscars.com/uk/radical-racing/details.aspx?passive=1&comp=2013%20Radical%20SR3%20Challenge&t=15#