Friday 21 December 2012

Dominik Wilde Motorsport Awards 2012

With the motorsport season over, it seems only right to have something to remember the great moments of 2012. So here are the (not so prestigious and hopefully) annual Dominik Wilde Motorsport Awards

Sunday 16 December 2012

ROC Race Of Champions - Kristensen the bridesmaid once more as Grosjean wins the ROC

Romain Grosjean has won the 2012 Race Of Champions, defeating Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen 2-0 in the final at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.

Saturday 15 December 2012

ROC Nations Cup - Vettel And Schumacher Do It Again

Sebastien Vettel and Michael Schumacher claimed a record sixth consecutive crown as Team Germany dominated the Race of Champions Nations Cup once again as Thailand made it's bow as host for the anual end of season spectacle.

Saturday 10 November 2012

Youngsters Test For Ferrari - Includes Video

3 rising stars got the chance of a lifetime yesterday (Friday 9th November 2012) when they were given the chance to test a Ferrari Formula One car at the Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi just outside of Rome.


Sunday 21 October 2012

BMW claim DTM title in their return season

Ask anyone at the start of the year and they would not have predicted this. BMW, competing in their first DTM season in 20 years.

Going into this weekend's season finale, Canada's Bruno Spengler went into the race at Hockenheim second favourite to British Mercedes driver Gary Paffett. Audi were surprisingly out of the question for the drivers title but were still in with a chance with the manufacturers title.

Paffett struggled at the start whilst BMW drivers Agusto Farfus, Joey Hand and and Bruno Spengler got away well. Spendler later took the lead and was to keep it 'til the end of the race. Paffett was to fight back to second place but it was not enough. Spengler won the race and the title.

BMW Team Schnitzer won the Teams' title and while BMW clinched the Manufacturers Championship, completing a remarkable comeback for the Munich manufacturer.

BTCC 2012 Rounds 28-30 - Brands Hatch GP

The BTCC returned to wet Brands Hatch in Kent for the final weekend of the 2012 season

2012 Armor All Gold Coast 600 Review

'The Gold Coast's biggest party' returned for 2012 with another strong list of international participants taking part in the two 300KM (approx) V8 Supercars races this weekend. 28 leading drivers from across the world like Nick Heidfeld, Sebastien Bourdais, Darren Turner, Marc Andretti and others paired up with V8 Supercars regulars for 2 days of spectacular action on the legendary Surfers Paradise street circuit.

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Dan Wheldon - Profile of a Champion

Born in Buckinghamshire, Dan Wheldon grew up as one of several future British stars, sharing a strong rivalry with 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button. However, unlike his contemporaries Button and Anthony Davidson, Dan Wheldon lacked the funding to continue racing in Europe and eventually make the move to Formula One. Instead, Wheldon moved to America, a move that was to make him a mega star.

Friday 5 October 2012

Ferrari close wind tunnel amidst problems

As was the case in 2011, Scuderia Ferrari's title challenge is being hampered by issues with the wind tunnel at their Maranello base.

Thursday 4 October 2012

Michael Schumacher announces his retirement from Formula One

Michael Schumacher bids
farewell to F1 once more.
7 time World Champion Michael Scumacher has announced his retirement from Formula One racing for the second time.

Friday 28 September 2012

Hamilton to Mercedes, Perez to McLaren, Schumacher to...? The 2013 driver market hots up

Lewis Hamilton has signed for Mercedes AMG Petronas, bringing an end to one of the biggest sagas of this year's silly season.

Thursday 27 September 2012

The lows...and highs of the WRC

Going into the 2012 season, the WRC found itself in a rather unusual position. North One Sport's contract as promoter was terminated by governing body the FIA after their parent company, Convers Sports Initiatives, was placed in administration. Later, World Rally Championship commercial chief Vladimir Antonov, who was also backer of Convers Sports Initiatives, was arrested as a result of bank fraud in Lithuania. These developments left the WRC in a tricky situation, with the new season just around the corner. North One Sport was said to offer 'no assurances', leaving their job as promoter completley untenable.

Friday 14 September 2012

Working towards race day - My week with Century Motorsport


What does a racing team actually do in the build up to a race weekend? Well, for my college work placement, and in order to learn more about the motorsport industry (obviously an area I want my career to be in), I spent a week with top racing team Century Motorsport in Warwickshire as they got ready for a round of the British GT championship at Snetterton finding out.

Friday 10 August 2012

The Downfall Of 'Dinger

'Dinger was successful in Champ Car
Back in 2006, AJ Allmendinger was a successful single seater racer. That season he achieved a 3rd placed finish in the Champ Car World Series standings racing for Forsythe. In his 3 seasons (2004-06) in Champ Car, he notched up 5 wins, 14 podium finishes and2 pole positions whilst racing for both Forsythe and and RuSport (2004-05). Sadly for him, his successful time in Champ Car coincided with Sebastien Bourdais' domination of the series, making a championship win for 'dinger unlikely.

Interview with BTCC Star Daniel Welch

One year after his BTCC debut, Daniel Welch talked to me about how his BTCC experience has been, as well as his hopes for the rest of the 2012 season and beyond:

Sunday 15 July 2012

Analysis: F1 vs Indycar

Collaborating with a fellow writer has been an ambition of mine for a while now. So when my sister asked, whilst watching this year's Indianapolis 500, "Why are they using F1 cars in NASCAR?" This gave me the great opportunity to get to work with IndyCar blogger Matthew Hickey (@Indycar_MN on Twitter) to talk about the differences between F1 and Indycar. 

Wednesday 27 June 2012

NASCAR – Kenseth to leave Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the season

Kenseth won the 2012 Daytona 500 for Roush
In what has to be one of the shocks of the season, Roush Fenway Racing stalwart Matt Kenseth has announced he will be leaving the organisation at the end of 2012. 

Thursday 14 June 2012

BTCC 2012 Rounds 10-12 - Oulton Park

The BTCC returned after a 6 week break for 3 action packed races on Cheshire's Oulton Park circuit.


Matt Neal won 2 races
Jason Plato claimed pole for race one after a last minute effort in a damp Saturday qualifying session which saw many sliding as they were caught out by the tricky conditions. However, Plato's weekend soon turned sour after mechanical problems forced his MG to be pushed off the grid, leaving Matt Neal on 'pole' with Rob Collard' BMW right beside him.
As expected, the fast starting rear wheel drive BMW beat Neal's factory Honda Civic off the line but Neal soon closed the gap and retook the lead at lodge as soon as lap 4. Andrew Jordan then passed Collard at Lodge soon after for second. Collard's WSR team mate Tom Onslow-Cole was next to apply pressure, but spun at Cascades bringing out the safety car.

Jordan, who was two seconds adrift of race leader Neal was able to close the gap because of the safety car intervention and stayed close to Neal until the chequred flag. Collard held onto second with a ballast laden Gordon Shedden finishing fourth in the second works Honda, putting him into the points lead.

Will Bratt had an impressive debut

Rob Austin Racing's Will Bratt had an impressive debut finishing in eighth. The former single seater ace took advantage of many incidents to fight from eighteenth on the grid. Proton racer Dan Welch also had a strong showing finishing in sixth.









Race two saw Matt Neal start on pole due to his win in race one. Jason Plato managed to get back out, starting at the rear of the field in a repaired MG6 GT. As with race one though, Collard leapfrogged Neal at the start, utilising his BMW's rear wheel drive to power into the lead from the start. Neal, carrying 45KG of ballast as a result of winning race one then succumbed to a fast Mat Jackson who powered from fifth to second. Shedden and Andrew Jordan also passed Matt Neal.
Shedden now leads the championship
Lap 15 saw Jackson challenge for the lead at Island hairpin. The move resulted in contact between the pair causing them both to suffer punctures. The works Hondas of Shedden and Neal moved into first and third place with the customer Honda of Andrew Jordan seperating them.
Dan Welch was improving on his fantastic race one result. He overtook Neal for third place but a recovering Jason Plato in an extemely fast, ballast free MG began to close the gap and passed Welch and neal, taking third. Welch and Neal maintained fourth and fifth  places respectively. Fourth was Dan Welch's best BTCC result to date.
Will Bratt continued an impressive debut weekend battling for a strong points position before hitting a tyre stack at Knickerbrook. The minor shunt broke his Audi's suspension resulting in retirement for the 24 year old


All the races were action packed
The final race of the day began with Tom Onslow-Cole leading from pole, having been drawn for the reverse grid. The third WSR BMW of Nick Foster rocketed from row two to guarantee two WSR BMWs were in podium positions at the end of the first turn. Matt Neal had a strong opening lap, managing to work his way up and take Foster's third place, and then second after second place runner Liam Griffin crashed. Jason Plato followed Neal in third, also passing Foster.

Plato recovered from his earlier woes to
take third in race three
The safety car was deployed and when racing resumed, a close battle between Rob Collard and Andrew Jordan resulted in the latter ending up in the tyre wall at Old Hall. The safety car was out once again.

Once the safety car peeled back into the pits, Onslow-Cole led a six lap dash to the fag with Neal and Plato in hot pursuit. An error from Onslow-Cole allowed Neal to take the lead. Plato challenged for second but a strong end to his race ensured Onslo-Cole held onto second place.

The final race of the day saw Lea Wood
 takethe best finish of his career so far

Lea Wood had his best BTCC finish in race three with fifth, with the battered and bruised Ford Focus of Mat Jackson in seventh after passing Foster late on. He finished in seventh place.


Neal's win completed a clean sweep for Honda. Shedden and Neal left Oulton park in first and second in the drivers' championship with pre-Oulton Park leader, Jason Plato in third.
The BTCC resumes at Croft in north Yorkshire on the 24th of June.

Full results for qualifying and all three races can be viewed here -  http://www.btcc.net/html/raceresults_detail.php?race_id=90&season_id=55

Wednesday 30 May 2012

Dario Does It For Dan - 2012 Indianapolis 500 Review

Dario Franchitti claimed his third Indy 500 crown in spectacular fashion last Sunday.





Franchitti recovered from this early incident
The Scot, starting from the middle of the field took the lead for the first time on lap 151 after earlier falling to last place after being spun in the pits by EJ Viso of KV Racing.

The two Lotus runners, Simona de Silvestro and rookie Jean Alesi were black flagged after nine and ten laps respectively due to not meeting Indy Car's 105% Speed ruling.

A spinning Conway (top) took out Will Power
Championship leader Scott Dixon was an early victim after a colision with the spinning Mike Conway. The Andretti Curse also struck again when Marco Andretti crashed out of eigth place with only 12 laps remaining. He had earlier complained that the high temperatures were affecting the soles of his racing shoes.

The race set the record for most lead changes in the Indy 500 (35), Franchitti, Andretti, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe and even former F1 stars Rubens Barichello and Takuma Sato were amongst the leaders.

Sato's move didn't pay off
In the closing stages, Target Chip Ganassi team meats Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon exchanged the lead with Tony Kanaan also coming into play. After leading earlier, and making a fantastic pass on Scott Dixon a lap earlier to take second; Takuma Sato made a brave move on the last lap at turn one for the lead but he got his left wheels onto the white line at the bottom of the racing surface, spinning into the wall, subsequently ending the race under caution.

Franchitti leads Dixon
Franchitti, Dixon and Kanaan (1-2-3 in the race) crossed the line together in tribute to their best friend Dan Wheldon, the 2011 Indy 500 winner who died tragically last October in a crash during the Indy Car World Championsip race at Las Vegas.

An emotional Franchitti, donning Wheldon's trademark white framed sunglasses, said in victory lane: "To be on the trophy beside Dan on either side, that means more than anything. Everybody up there was a friend of Dan's and everybody loved Dan. I think DW [Dan Wheldon] would be proud of that one."

Franchitti kisses the bricks
Dan Wheldon's 2011 Indy 500 car took to the track before the race in a short tribute whilst American troops where honoured, with team owner Bryan Herta behind the wheel.








 Images from LA Times



In memory of Dan Wheldon - 1978-2011
 

Saturday 26 May 2012

Insight: An F1 Physio

When we think of Jobs in Formula One, we tend to think of drivers, engineers and team managers. However, one of the most important roles within a Formula One team is that of a driver's physio. Sahara Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg's physion Florian Eschrich gave us an insight into his role.

Wednesday 11 April 2012

British GT opening weekend review (summary)

The 2012 British GT Championship kicked off at a wet Oulton Park with two one hour races on Easter Monday.

Charles Bateman and Matt Bell's Untited Autosports Audi R8 LMS started from pole for race one and dominated most of the race. However, the pair didn't take the win, technical problems forcing them to pull off on the last lap allowed the BMW Z4 of Ecurie Ecosse to take the win on their first British GT outing in what is their first full season of competition since the 90s. In GT4, the WFR Ginetta G50 of Jody Fannin and Warren Huges was dominant, storming into the lead and holding the position until the end of the race.


The Beechdean Aston Martin of Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam struggled despite starting on the front row of the grid, going straight on at Hislops' surrendering positions. They eventually finished in ninth. electrical problems and other issues with the car hampered what looked like a promising weekend for the sole Aston Martin outfit. An off at Druids for the sole Chevrolet Corvette of Speedworks led to a safety car period. Retirement from the race for the local team after 25 of 32 laps later followed. GT Academy winner Jan Mardenborough looked promising in his first British GT race, finishing fith in the Nissan GTR he shared with Alex Buncombe. 2010 champion David Ashburn, sharing a Porsche 997 GT3 R with Richard Westbrook showed well with a fourth place finish and fastest lap of the race. the Ferrari 458s were alsop strong with the Rosso Verde 458 of Allan Simonsen and Hector Lester finishing second and the Mtech 458 of Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin coming home in third.


 
Race 2 began even wetter than race 1 with Richard Westbrook leading from the off. As with the United Autosports Audi in race one, Westbrook and Ashburn's Porsche dominated from pole, but unlike the Audi in race 1, the Trackspeed Porsche was able to go that little bit further and take the victory. Fastest lap was taken by Allan Simonsen in the Rosso Verde Ferrari but they were unable to challenge for a podium position after a spin from Hector Lester later int he race. Beechdean again had trouble with Jonny adam letting by the Rosso Verde Ferrari and the Mtech machine of Matt Griffin early on.



Westbrook's lead was reduced during the pit window, leading him and the Rosso Verde and Mtech Ferraris to pit. Despite Simonsen's fastest lap cutting down Westbrook's lead, the Porshe stayed ahead after David Ashburn took the wheel and kept the lead until the end. Despite starting from near the back of the field, the Audi of Matt Bell and Charles Bateman again showed fantastic pace, carving up the field and finishing in 5th place. Race one winners Ecurie Ecosse finished 10th with their BMW Z4.

In GT4, Warren Hughes and Jody Fannin again took the win with Phil Glew and Sailesh Bolisetti finishing in second (as they did in race one). Century Motorsport's tough weekend ended well with a 3rd place finish ing GT4 for Mike Simpson and Zoe Wenham.

Sunday 8 April 2012

British F3 Oulton Park, Easter weekend, 2012 - PICTURE SPECIAL

The British F3 Championship kicked off at it's traditional Easter weekend slot at Oulton Park with 3 races on the Saturday.

Carlin driver Jack Harvey took pole for races one and three after setting 3 laps faster than everyone else in the Friday qualifying session. Carlin locked out the top 5 places on the grid with only Fortec's Alex Lynn preventing Pietro Fantin from making it an all Carlin top 6.

In race one, Harvey took off at the start and was never troubled for the lead, dominating from start to finish. Team mate Jazeman Jaafar got the jump of front row starter Harry Tinknell at the first corner and held onto the lead 'til the end. Carlos Sainz Jr. then put pressure on Tinknell, forcing him into an error midway through the race, with the Red Bull backed driver snatching third. It was still a Carlin 1-2-3-4 however and that was how it was going to stay. Fortec's Alex Lynn applied pressure on Tinknell but could not take his position and came home in fifth, loosing out to fourth by just 0.05 seconds. There was action on the last lap with Felix Serralles, Pietro Fantin and Pipo Derani all recovering from  incidents on the first lap, Australian Nick McBride, racing in the only Nissan powered car defended against moves from Derani until the last lap when they both spun after a comming together.

Pos  Driver                Team/Car                   Time/Gap
 1.  Jack Harvey           Carlin Dallara-VW        31m35.051s
 2.  Jazeman Jaafar        Carlin Dallara-VW          + 7.736s
 3.  Carlos Sainz Jr       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 11.165s
 4.  Harry Tincknell       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 23.070s
 5.  Alex Lynn             Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 23.119s
 6.  Fahmi Ilyas           Double R Dallara-Merc     + 37.052s
 7.  Felix Serralles       Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 39.354s
 8.  Pietro Fantin         Carlin Dallara-VW         + 42.102s
 9.  Pipo Derani           Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 53.068s
10.  Nick McBride          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan    + 54.727s
11.  Spike Goddard         T-Sport Dallara-Mugen   + 1m05.418s
12.  Duvashen Padayachee   Double R Dallara-Mugen      + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Hannes van Asseldonk  Fortec Dallara-Merc         18 laps
     Geoff Uhrhane         Double R Dallara-Mugen       4 laps



Race two saw Double R's Duvashen Padayachee start from pole thanks to the reverse grid draw. He lost the lead almost immediatley with National class driver 'Spike' Goddard taking it. However, drving an older spec car, he wasn't expected to hang onto the lead for long. Pipo Derani drving the latest Dallara F312 for Fortec made a move on Goddard going into Lodge - with 2 wheels on the grass! Australian Nick McBride then jumped up to second in his T-Sport prepared, Nissan powered car before an excursion onto the grass dropped him out of the top 10. Carlin drivers Pietro Fantin and Jazeman Jaafar moved up to the top 3 but didn't look like troubling Derani for the lead. However, a safety car period changed this, bunching up the field. The safety car went in with one lap to go and Pipo Derani faceda one lap sprint pressurised by the 2 Carlin drivers but was able to hold on for the win


Pos  Driver                Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Pipo Derani           Fortec Dallara-Merc     20m31.214s
 2.  Pietro Fantin         Carlin Dallara-VW         + 0.850s
 3.  Jazeman Jaafar        Carlin Dallara-VW         + 1.491s
 4.  Harry Tincknell       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 2.693s
 5.  Carlos Sainz Jr       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 3.079s
 6.  Jack Harvey           Carlin Dallara-VW         + 3.511s
 7.  Felix Serralles       Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 3.594s
 8.  Hannes van Asseldonk  Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 3.952s
 9.  Spike Goddard         T-Sport Dallara-Mugen     + 6.705s
10.  Geoff Uhrhane         Double R Dallara-Merc     + 7.911s
11.  Nick McBride          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan    + 8.823s
12.  Duvashen Padayachee   Double R Dallara-Mugen    + 9.633s

Retirements:

     Fahmi Ilyas           Double R Dallara-Merc      11 laps
     Alex Lynn             Fortec Dallara-Merc         6 laps


Race three once again saw Jack Harvey start from pole but unlike his domination of race one, he was overtaken before the first corner by Puerto Rican Felix Serralles who started from second. Harvey fought back in the first few laps but Seralles held on and later extended the gap to 2 seconds, taking the win. Harvey finished ahead of Carlin team mates Harry Tincknell, Carlos Sainz Jr and Jazeman. Jaafar held off Fortec's Alex Lynn who seperated the Carlin drivers, finishing ahead of Pietro Fantin. Despite the win for Serralles and Lynn's sixth place, Fortec's race was far from perfect with both of the races retirements being Fortec drivers. Fortec were the only team to have a retirement in every race of the weekend. 'Spike' Goddard took the win in the National Class, taking the National Class victory in all 3 races. Jack Harvey leads the championship after a strong weekend at Oulton Park.

Pos  Driver                Team/Car                   Time/Gap
 1.  Felix Serralles       Fortec Dallara-Merc      40m34.462s
 2.  Jack Harvey           Carlin Dallara-VW          + 2.843s
 3.  Harry Tincknell       Carlin Dallara-VW          + 9.303s
 4.  Carlos Sainz Jr       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 12.522s
 5.  Jazeman Jaafar        Carlin Dallara-VW         + 22.392s
 6.  Alex Lynn             Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 23.632s
 7.  Pietro Fantin         Carlin Dallara-VW         + 24.348s
 8.  Fahmi Ilyas           Double R Dallara-Merc     + 41.523s
 9.  Nick McBride          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan    + 58.214s
10.  Geoff Uhrhane         Double R Dallara-Merc   + 1m09.723s
11.  Spike Goddard         T-Sport Dallara-Mugen   + 1m10.331s
12.  Duvashen Padayachee   Double R Dallara-Mugen  + 1m30.255s

Retirements:

     Hannes van Asseldonk  Fortec Dallara-Merc          5 laps
     Pipo Derani           Fortec Dallara-Merc          0 laps