GP3 – Successful first shakedown for new GP3 car

Dallara 'Formulino' (Italian for 'little formula'). Photo: Dallara

After months of careful development, the new GP3 car, with its Dallara chassis and 2.0 litre turbocharged Renault engine, was put through its paces for the first time today (30th June 2009) at La Castellet in the South of France.

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been working on launching a new Gp3 championship for over a year now. The feeder series will sit on the ladder to the pinnacle of international motorsport, one rung below GP2 and it will go head-to-head with the established Formula 3, which is run by the FIA.

Since its inception in 2005, GP2 has supplied F1 teams with a crop of new talent, like reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Heikki Kovalainen, Nelson Piquet Junior, Timo Glock and Sebastien Buemi, and GP3 should smooth the transition from the lower levels of motorsport to international racing.

The session at La Castellet marked the first performance and reliability test of the Dallara chassis/Renault engine/Pirelli tyre combination. Current GP2 championship leader Romain Grosjean had the honour of being the first to get behind the wheel of the new GP3 car and he was impressed.

“I’m very glad to have had this first taste of the GP3 car,” said Grosjean. “We have had a productive day  with very  few  small  problems  and  many  good  surprises,  namely  in  terms  of speed.  I  have been impressed by the level of reliability of the car for a first run.”

He added; “The level of downforce is already quite impressive, although we still need to determine which one will be used. Compared to a F3, the acceleration is better and speed in fast corners is similar.”

The paddle shift on the steering wheel is also a great addition to a car that will definitely prepare GP3 drivers to step into the next category: GP2,” he said.

GP3 Series Organiser, Bruno Michel was also pleased with the progress made during the shakedown. He said; “The GP3 Series is well on track  and  the  development  is  on  time.  Today’s successful  test  run  showed  our  car’s  strong potential, and we gathered enough data to keep improving the performance and the reliability of the GP3 car.”

“We are carefully assessing the costs of a season in our new Series: we will communicate them over the coming weeks to the many teams  from  all  around  the  motor  racing  world  that  have  already expressed  their  interest  in  this new Series,” said Michel.

The entry selection will take place in September and the first official test session for all GP3 teams will be organised for March next year.

Formula Renault BARC – Clark dominates at Snetterton

The Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship moved on to Snetterton in Norfolk this weekend for Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2009 season. 

After kicking off the year with a victory at Oulton Park in Cheshire, Kieren Clark (Apotex Scorpio Motorsport) saw off the competition to take his second and third consecutive race wins of 2009, demonstrating his sheer dominance in the title race.

On his way to victory, the Apotex Scorpio driver secured a brace of pole positions, set the fastest lap in both outings and recorded a new lap record for the 1.95 mile circuit with a blisteringly quick time of  1m08.463s.

Clark appeared to be in a class of his own during the crucial first qualifying session of the weekend, nabbing pole by more than three tenths of a second over his nearest challenger Don De Graaff (Tempus Sport).

In the second qualifying session, Brett Parris (Antel Motorsport) gave Clark some cause for concern, but the 20-year old Apotex Scorpio racer saw off any threats to end the session with an advantage of almost a second. 

On raceday, although Snetteron was bathed in sunshine, it was Clark who shone the brightest. Off the line and into Turn 1 he managed to hold off the fast starting De Graaff who had Ahmed Al Harthy(Hillspeed) and Dino Zamparelli (Reon Motorsport) fighting it out behind him for the final podium slot. Further down the order as the field headed through Sear corner on Lap 1, contact between Privateer Alex Craven and Hillspeed’s Ellis Harkins caused a Safety Car intervention. 

The racing resumed three laps later and with the race now extended to 17-laps following the Safety Car period, Clark had it all to do. He made a flawless restart, breaking free from the rest of the field who were battling hard for the remaining positions behind him.

Al Harthy managed to snatch second place from De Graaf, despite feeling ill all weekend, and he held off the Tempus Sport driver until the final lap of the race, when he performed a perfectly timed lunge up the inside of the Esses after getting a slingshot out of Sear. Al Harthy was then pushed back into the clutches of Parris who tried desperately to take advantage of the Hillspeed driver’s loss of momentum.

In the end Clark took the chequered-flag with a nine second lead over second place man De Graaf, and Al Harthy saw off Parris’ challenge by just 0.001s to clinch the final podium position.

Further down the field, an exciting battle between Kenny Andrews (Welch Motorsport), Callum Holland (Tempus Sport) and James Thoedore (Hillspeed) took place for sixth. The Welch Motorsport driver finished the race just six tenths of a second ahead of Holland who saw off Theodore by less than three tenths of a second at the finishing line.

Zamparelli’s challenge for third spot came to an end when he suffered a suspension failure on lap 14 of the race. The first year single-seater racer who has just graduated into the Formula Renault BARC Championship from Ginetta Junior’s, dragged his car home for the final three laps to grab 15th place, the points for which could be crucial at the end of the season.

Rain hit the circuit before race two got underway but the wet weather cleared off the scene by the end of lap 2.

The rain didn’t seem to phase Clark and he led the way again, seemingly repeating his performance from earlier in the day. But, on lap five the Safety Car was called on to the circuit again following a five car collision at the Esses, which blocked the track.

At the restart on lap nine, Clark led into Riches and held off a challenge from Parris to build a lead of more than four seconds by the time the chequered flag fell.  

Al Harthy came in in third with MulHolland fourth and Zamparelli fifth, after engaging in battle royale with Andrews who returedd on lap 14, after being passed by the Reon Motorsport driver. Zamparelli was clearly frustrated after missing out on the podium in Round 2.  

Croft in North Yorkshire will host Rounds 4 and 5 of the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship in two weeks time on 11th and 12th July and all eyes will be focused on Clark, to see whether he can extend his substantial points advantage even further.

Formula Renault BARC Championship Standings After Round 3 (Snetterton)

1. Kieren Clark                           102

2. Ahmed Al Harthy                72

= Brett Parris                              72

4. Josh Mulholland                   63

5. Don De Graaff                         58

6. Dino Zamparelli                    54

7. Kenny Andrews                    38

8. James Theodore                   32

9. Archie Hamilton                   31

10. Kourosh Khani                    24

WTCC – Yokohama gets rubbered in until 2012 as series prepares to mark milestone

Yokohama - WTCC control tyre supplier until 2012

Yokohama will continue to be the official tyre supplier of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) until the end of the 2012 season after being appointed by the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC).

The Japanese-based rubber manufacturer have been the championship’s sole tyre supplier since the 2006 season and will continue to supply the control tyre in the WTCC for the next three years in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Yokohama’s General Motorsports Manager Akinori Tokieda said; “Working with the WTCC is a great challenge for us. This is a very close fought championship, with different kinds of cars. And because these racing cars are closely derived from the standard production models, eventually many ideas from the race tyres find their way into production road tyres.

This news comes as the WTCC prepares to celebrate its 100th race at the Circuito da Boavista which plays host to the championships Race of Portugal on 5th July.

Chevy achieved their first triple victory at the Circuito da Boavista in 07

Ray Mallock’s Chevrolet squad, who achieved their first triple victory at the Porto circuit in 2007, are hoping to mark this important milestone in the championship’s history by adding to the Cruze’s impressive record on street-style circuits. Rob Huff moved to the WTCC with Chevrolet in 2006 when the series was conceived. He said;

“Porto is a place close to everybody’s heart at Chevrolet, because of our first triple victory in 2007, and we are all excited to be back there. Given what shown by the Cruze on street circuits this year, I think we should perform very well and, provided we qualify well, we can aim at very good results.”

Nicola Larini, Huff’s team-mate in the series, said the Chevy team go to Porto with confidence;

“We know that we can be competitive there and that we can achieve some good results. Still, we do not control all variables and we will have to be extremely focused since the first minute of testing. I personally like the circuit, as it is fast and technical, and it is one of the few street circuits offering some good overtaking points”.

FRUK – Laine impresses at Snetterton test.

Jakob Ebrey Photography

Official testing in the 2009 Formula Renault UK Championship at the Snetterton race circuit in Norfolk produced a surprising result, with Graduate Cup racer Matias Laine ending the two days on top of the timesheets.

The CRS Racing driver saw off championship leader Oli Webb and pre-season title favourites, James Calado and Dean Stoneman, to post a time of 1m.04.512s.  Day one of two began in glorious sunshine and it was Calado for Fortec Motorsport and Dean Smith for Manor Competition who led the way at the end of the first two 50 minute morning session, recording times in the mid 1m.05s.

Lewis Williamson showed consistent pace throughout the two-day test and managed to post the quickest time in the first of the two 45 minute afternoon sessions on Wednesday (24th June), ahead of Will Stevens, Webb and Jordan Oakes.

But in the final session of day one it was Laine, who is currently lying second in the Graduate Cup behind his team-mate Harry Tincknell, who produced,what was to be the quickest time overall.

During the second day of testing at a sunny Snetterton, the FRUK racers shared the circuit with competitors from the sister Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship.  Webb topped the times in the single morning session and Laine, who scored a career best sixth place finish at the last race meeting at Croft, continued to impress by posting the quickest time in the afternoon session ahead of Smith and Tincknell.

Laine’s encouraging performance won’t worry the more experienced guys who head up the championship table, but I would imagine Tincknell’s vision will be firmly fixed on his mirrors from now on.

The Formula Renault UK circus will now move on to Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit on 4th and 5th July for Rounds 11 and 12 of the season.

British Grand Prix 2009 – Friday

At a packed Silverstone circuit, the two Red Bull’s of Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber dominated both Friday practice sessions.

The tiresome politics between FOTA and the FIA doesn’t seem to have dampened spirits or discouraged people from attending the event and showing their support to Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

In the second practice session of the day, Webber set a quick lap early on and managed to hold on to the top spot for most of the session until his car slowed to a halt at Stowe corner with unspecified mechanical issues. 

But, at the end of the day it was Webber’s team-mate, Vettel who had his name at the top of the time-sheets.

Championship leader, Jenson Button, having won six out of seven races this season didn’t even manage to breach the top ten, languishing down in 14th place at the end of P2 along with the Ferrari and McLaren pairings.

Hamilton accepts

I want to start this post by congratulating Jenson Button on another impressive win at what was a, well, processional Turkish Grand Prix.

Although the two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were quick, the Brit was on another planet in his Brawn and I think he completely overshadowed his closest championship rivals and his team mate Rubens Barrichello, who retired ten laps from the end with gearbox troubles.

McLaren’s woes continued this weekend, only managing a 13th and 14th respectively at the end of the race, the Woking-based team having not made any progress with MP4-24 since the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago.

But one thing that has altered somewhat is Lewis Hamilton’s mood. 

Happily for the Hamilton haters, the reigning world champion was distinctly downbeat at the Spanish Grand Prix, clearly frustrated by his car’s lack of pace and grip and possibly disillusioned with sport after the ‘lying scandal’, which tainted the start of his 2009 campaign. One word answers and a glazed expression was the best any journalist could hope for.  

But in interviews with the BBC during their coverage of the Turkish Grand Prix, there was a noticeable shift in Hamilton’s mood. It appeared that he has finally come to terms with the fact that he isn’t in a position to defend his title or even score points regularly. 

A cheery Hamilton effectively wrote off his chances of fighting with the Brawns and the Red Bulls for race wins this season but he confidently predicted that McLaren will be back on form in 2010 when F1 teams will run under revised rules and regulations which are aimed at cutting costs, but which have yet to agreed upon by the FIA, FOTA and FOM.

I believe this year will be a learning curve for Hamilton who, up until now, has really only experienced success. It seems that Lewis has come to terms with this and I think he will enter next season a stronger, more mature competitor.