L&T Motorsport - April Edition - Issue 5

Issue 5

28/04/2016

NICO ROSBERG: Can anyone stop him? ( Page 20 - 23)

All the latest from the Moto GP (page 57 - 62)

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Contents PAGE 3 – CMB ARTWORKS PAGE 4 – POST & PLACE PAGE 5 – POST & PLACE PAGE 6 – WHO IS MORGAN JONES? PAGE 7 – STRONG START TO DEBUT SEASON FOR JACK YOUHILL PAGE 8 – BEN KASPERCZAK – ONE TO WATCH PAGE 9 – BEN KASPERCZAK – ONE TO WATCH PAGE 10 – ETP MOTORSPORT PHOTOGRAPHY PAGE 11 – **COMPETITION** PAGE 12 – WHO IS ALEX JONES? PAGE 13 – WHO IS ALEX JONES? PAGE 14 – DEFENDING THE 2016 FORMULA DRIFT CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE 15 – DEFENDING THE 2016 FORMULA DRIFT CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE 16 – 27 THE LATEST AND EXCLUSIVE FEATURES FROM FORMULA ONE PAGE 28 – MORITS MUELLER-CREPON WARMS UP FOR SEASON AHEAD PAGE 29 – ANDREAS MIKKELSEN – INTERVIEW PAGE 30 – ALEX BOOTH’S FEATURED DRIVER – JACQUES VILLENEUVE PAGE 31 – ALEX BOOTH’S FEATURED DRIVER – JACQUES VILLENEUVE PAGE 32 – PAST THE PIT LANE PAGE 33 – PAST THE PIT LANE PAGE 34 – 37 ENAAM AHMED DEBUTS IN BRITISH F3 PAGE 38 – 41 GP2 AND GP3 PREVIEWS PAGE 42 – FORMULA V8 3.5 – WHO WINS? PAGE 43 – JACK LANG DEBUTS IN RADICAL CHALLENGE PAGE 44 – FAN ENGAGEMENT THE FORMULA E WAY PAGE 45 – FAN ENGAGEMENT THE FORMULA E WAY PAGE 46 – CROWD SOURCING PAGE 47 – CITROEN DS3 PERFORMANCE PAGE 48 – BREEN HOLDS ON FOR HOME WIN PAGE 49 – BREEN HOLDS ON FOR HOME WIN PAGE 50 – THE FASTER THE BETTER PAGE 51 – 56 74TH GOODWOOD MEMBERS MEETING AND ANTHONY REID INTERVIEW PAGE 57 – 64 THE LATEST FROM THE WORLD OF MOTO GP AND BSB PAGE 65 – 66 THE LATEST FROM THE FIA WTCC PAGE 67 – 75 THE LATEST FROM THE WEC AND BRITISH GT PAGE 76 – 77 WHY GERMAN MOTORSPORT FANS SHOULD BACK SOPHIA FLOERSCH PAGE 78 – BLANCPAIN ENDURANCE SERIES ROUND 1 – MONZA PAGE 79 – 80 JACK FALLA INTERVIEW PAGE 81 – MORGAN JONES DEBUTS IN MINI CHALLENGE

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Twitter: @CmBJeB

Twitter: @CmBJeB

ABOUT: I am a keen artist in my spare time, I have a BTEC Firsts and National Diplomas in Media Graphic Arts, I used to work as a graphic artist at a local newspaper for 7 years before going travelling for a year.

My company name is made up from the names of my three children - Cameron, Maddie and Bradley.

PAINTINGS My Paintings are personally designed and tailored for each customer, giving you a unique piece of artwork for a lifetime.

MURALS If you are looking for a fantastic statement piece of artwork in your home or business then look no further, I have completed a number of wall murals, check out my Portfolio for some of my work.

DRAWINGS I design each drawing for each customer meaning that your piece of artwork is totally unique and that you will have your own special piece of art.

clothing

What do we sell?

Currently we sell Men’s T-Shirt, Women’s T-Shirt, Men’s Softshell Jacket and Women’s Softshell Jacket.

However, if there is a product you would like to buy which is not listed here please email us: ltmsportinfo@gmail.com and we can sort it out for you.

Products Men’s T-Shirt - £15 - Sizes S to 2XL A choice of 21 colours.

Women’s T-Shirt - £15 - Sizes S to 2XL A choice of 11 colours.

Men’s Softshell - £35 - Sizes S to 3XL A choice of 8 colours.

Women’s Softshell - £35 - Sizes XS to 2XL A choice of 8 colours.

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Hire Staff Faster and Cut Your Recruitment Costs By Up to 20% - our service is completely free!!

In a nutshell this is what we do

Firstly – we are NOT a Recruitment Agency ourselves and it’s free to use our service…

We represent a network of over 1200 Recruitment Agencies in the UK, and offer a centralised point through which Employers can access all of them, without the hassle of having to deal with them all individually (a bit like an Uber of the Recruitment world?).

Take a look here www.postandplace.com Page | 4

And this is the employer market place which is what you would be using should you wish to do so www.postandplace.com/marketplace-wizard/

The way it works

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You send us your Job Spec

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Tell us the maximum fee you’re willing to pay if an agency can find you the perfect candidate

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We further filter out non relevant candidates, and send a shortlist to you

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If you hire someone, you pay the fee you set and nothing more - we take our fee from the Recruiter.

PLUS - We give you free (optional) Recruitment Software to manage the whole thing - through which you can advertise on Job Boards, social media etc.

https://postandplace.com/applicant-tracking/ Give me a call on 0203 637 4494 or 07444 706290 or email gavin.finlayson@postandplace.com

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Who Is Morgan Jones?

Date of Birth: 29/05/99 Nationality: British Hometown: St Ives Favourite Quote: if things seem under control you simply aren't going fast enough About: I train a lot, with my mate Tom we go running and cycling together. He plays rugby so cardio is a big part of both of our training. I also enjoy meeting up with Greg, I've known him for 6 years, he always shows me the positives in life and helps keeps me relaxed building up to race weekends or testing. I also go to college where I study Motor Vehicle and also work part time to help pay for my racing.

Where it started: I just loved karting from the first time I tried it, I wasn't quick to begin with but slowly got better. I then entered a car racing scholarship in 2014 where I fell in love with driving race cars. So I managed to get a budget for this year and chose the Mini Challenge.

Who got you into it: everyone has been so supportive in different areas so it’s tough to choose just one person. I can tell you my role model that's easy and is just one-person Max Chilton! I was lucky enough to meet him in 2014 and had about 45 minutes talking to him, I learnt loads in that time and he gave me some great advice too!

Plans for 2016: I am racing in the Mini Challenge in the cooper class with reigning champions coastal racing.

Career Highlights: Overtaking a Ferrari GT car in the wet at a test day at Donington park The Future: I would like to do a season of single seater racing just to get the experience and then hopefully progress my career to become a Le Mans driver.

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Strong Start To Debut Season For Jack Youhill

The L&T Motorsport backed driver, Jack Youhill from 93R Motorsport, had a strong showing in his debut race at Snetterton on the first weekend of April. With a freshly prepped car thanks to Pro-Detailing UK and CRSigns in the Quaiffe Fiesta Championship he finished 5th and 6th place and now stands joint 4th overall in class.

There was an auspicious start to the weekend when suspension problems brought an early end to the Friday test session and required a replacement shock to be brought to the track and fitted in the very early hours of the Saturday morning. A big thank you must go to the Daniels Motorsport, the car was ready for practice and qualifying. Having missed most of the test sessions, Jack was still finding his way with the car and getting used to the track but, by the time qualifying came around, had managed to chip a full 4 seconds from his best practice time and qualified well in 6th in his class.

At the start of the first race, Jack was slower off of the line than he would have wanted and lost a couple of places, however, a race long battle involving 5 cars was ensued and Jack managed to come out in front of the group with a fifth place. Chipping a further 4 seconds off of his best qualifying time. The second race saw a much better start but, unfortunately, there was a red flag following a collision between 2 other cars. At the restart, Jack managed to gain a couple of places and was building a good pace which saw him lying 4th in his class and catching 3rd. It was looking good for a possible podium on debut until 3 laps from the end when he was clipped from behind going into the first corner at around 90 MPH. Fortunately, this resulted in just a spin and no damage but lost Jack a number of places.

Obviously, frustrated, Jack managed to build back some momentum to bring the car home in 6th, earning some good points towards the championship and a solid base to build on for the Page | 7 next round at Silverstone on the 22nd/23rd April.

Ben Kasperczak – One To Watch Gavin Finlayson - @gsf2712

In all honesty as a young boy I only followed F1 and some bloke called Alain Prost - whose silky smooth driving style and trail braking genius were a source of fascination to me.

However once Prost had retired I began to take more of an interest in other classes of motor racing and began to follow drivers from a young age, watching their careers develop and desperately trying to work out who was a potential star of the future and worth following more closely.

One driver who is definitely worth following is 12-year-old Ben Kasperczak from Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, who like his racing hero Lewis Hamilton made an impression at a young age whilst driving karts at Rye House in Hoddesdon.

At the age of only three Ben was given a contract by Motorsport World kart team based at Rye House, in a deal which at the time meant Ben was the youngest person to be signed as a works driver.

As is very often the case, Ben discovered his love of karts quite by chance when his parents bought him a battery powered toy kart at the age of two. They were shocked to discover that within 15 minutes Ben was tearing around and displaying no signs of fear whilst also demonstrating an uncanny level of car control.

"I put timber blocks on the kart so that he could reach the pedals and within 15 minutes he was spinning it around, doing turns. He was absolutely fearless, but in control," recalls Ben's Father Paul.

This was back in 2007, fast forward to 2016 and Ben is now competing in the Super One (S1) British Championship Cadet Class for both Honda and IAME engine karts and has already notched up an impressive 4 wins this season his most recent coming at Rye House, despite not having raced there for quite some time.

Regardless of the fact he can normally be found running at the front of the field Ben quickly stands out on track in his immaculately turned out BRK chassis' lovingly prepared by Father Paul (Honda) and Jessica Hawkins (IAME) and finished in the trademark BRK racing green colours.

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L&T Motorsport recently caught up with Ben and he lost no time in telling us his aim for this year is "to win the Super One Championship" before hopefully making the transition from karts to cars in 2017 by "racing in either the Ginetta Junior or Fiesta Championship series in 2017".

Ben's ultimate goal is to follow in the footsteps of Lewis Hamilton and become F1 World Champion and rather touchingly he told us he gets extra motivation to do this because "his Dad lives in the next village to me".

When pushed to describe his driving style Ben in his usual modest way refused to make comparisons with other drivers preferring to refer to his style as simply "Fast and Fair".

Having had the pleasure of seeing Ben race I can say he is without doubt extremely fast and incredibly fair out on track and definitely someone to look out for in the coming years. I for one shall certainly be following Ben's career with great interest.

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COMPETITION TIME WIN A BESPOKE SINGLE FRAMED CIRCUIT OF YOUR CHOICE FROM GRAHAM AND LEIGH

How to enter?

Go to the competitions section of our website http://ltmsport.weebly.co m/competitions.html and fill the form out, once complete press submit and you will have been entered into our competition.

The winner will be announced in next month’s magazine so make sure you watch out for that! Which will include a competition with Clio Cup Driver – Max Coates Page | 11

Who Is Alex Jones?

Date of Birth: 23/02/93 Nationality: British Hometown: Radlett Favourite Quote: You can never win anything with kids! – Alan Hansen About: I am studying at the University of Hertfordshire along my racing. I do study Motorsport Technology; you can’t keep me away from motorsport! I still live with my parents, but hope once I get a job after university, I can move away. At home we have several pets, 2 cats which are the best cats and fish. I am a keen Liverpool fc and Chester fc supporter despite living in the South. My parents both originally come from Liverpool and Chester so that’s why I support them. My first football game was a Chester game, it’s a hard one to remember. But I remember them getting beat! My dad keeps telling me to this day I was still cheering come on Chester on his shoulders. I was about 4. I played football at Under 18 level actually, with St Albans Rangers.

I am mad keen on sci-fi, particularly Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who. I love swimming and cycling, it’s strange to think if I hadn’t stopped swimming before my GCSE’s I could have gone on and become a swimming star. As fly and back stroke were my main strokes.

Where it started / who got you into it: At first I wasn’t so keen on motorsport before I was 8.

My main love was football, despite me watching Formula One. But it all changed when one of my mates had a go karting party, it was at Team Works Letchworth. Back then I didn’t have great co-ordination and I remember spinning at least once. But it was so fun, and it all started there, with me thinking if F1 drivers can do it, why can’t I. My parents had little influence in me karting, but my dad noticed after the first time I loved it. He kept taking me to a few in door karting places, mostly Letchworth, but he was unhappy as I kept beating him! It wasn’t until my late teens when my dad realised I had a lot of potential and kept me positive every time.

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Career Highlights: In 2012, I had a one off karting event at Rye House and I didn’t think much of it, but I ended up winning it in the end. In 2013, I got my first top 10 finish by finishing 10th at the Formula Vee Festival. Last year, 2015, I ended up getting 9th twice at Snetterton and Croft. And at the festival last year, I got my best grid position 10th. But I would have to say the best highlight was starting at the back of the grid 23rd at Cadwell last year and I fought my way through the grid in the rain to finish in 12th place.

Plans for 2016: I am racing in the Formula Vee championship, and I hope to get onto the BRDC Formula 3 grid. Hopefully I might get a chance in some endurance racing also.

The Future: I wouldn’t lie in saying Formula one is my goal, but my main goal at the moment is to race at Le Mans. I am quite interested in rallying also, so wouldn’t mind a go at some stage.

I would quite like to race in BTCC, it is a very interesting championship.

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Defending the 2016 Formula Drift Championship

Fredric Aasbo came to the U.S. from his native country of Norway to pursue a drifting career, he didn’t exactly scream “Formula Drift Champion” — but, his team saw something in him.

“They’ve been trusting this Scandinavian dude, who came in as the hothead a couple of years ago and was smashing cars left and right,” Aasbo said. “They’ve put everything they had on the line and trusted me to make it happen.”

When Aasbo did make it happen and added his name to both the U.S. Formula Drift championship and the inaugural Formula Drift World Championship trophies, the response of his team at Papadakis Racing was, “We told you so.” The team — and owner Stephan Papadakis — knew it was going to happen, even while Aasbo was the newcomer smashing cars.

When he first entered the drifting scene, Aasbo “absolutely didn’t expect” to perform as well as he has. But ever since Papadakis Racing brought him on after his 2010 Rookie of the Year season.

Even though Aasbo didn’t have a lot of confidence back when he made his U.S. debut in 2008, he had big dreams. He found success in Norway before coming overseas — winning the Nordic Drifting Championship in 2007 and 2008 — but he knew ahead of time that competition in the U.S. was stiff.

Seven years later, Aasbo beat every member of that competition. If he’s any testament to it, maybe all of that talk about dreams becoming reality isn’t such nonsense after all.

For Aasbo, winning the Formula Drift championship sort of illustrates the modern-day American dream (who said that concept was dead?). He’s got family members who made the U.S. their home nearly 100 years ago, and he now splits his time between California and Norway — surfing, drifting and all.

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While his language differences didn’t exactly set him apart when he came to the U.S., Aasbo’s driving did. Formula Drift announcer Jarod DeAnda gave Aasbo the nickname “The Norwegian Hammer” after he entered the series, and Aasbo said that the nickname feels very American to him — in a good way.

“I think he saw this like tall, kind of quirky Norwegian dude come into the series,” Aasbo said, “and I’ve sort of always had this like humble perception — people look at me as a humble guy — but on track, I have moments when I’ve been pretty ruthless.”

Aasbo was ruthless, but his fellow drivers were “far more competitive” than he’d seen in Norway. Aware of the consistency, funding and speed of the drivers in U.S. drifting, Aasbo put his methodical ways to the test by watching videos and following the competition before he even got to America.

“Everything was more competitive compared to Europe,” Aasbo said. “But there was one thing that hadn’t been developed over here at the time, and that was the steering angle in the cars.

“That was actually something that we had been playing around with a lot in Europe, and that’s also the one thing that gave me the courage. It made me ask myself, ‘We’re going to be slower, we’re going to be less consistent, but what if we can drive with more style and more angle than these guys?’”

The style and angle he brought from Europe is what Aasbo says got him noticed in the first place, and what allowed him to take over for two-time Formula Drift Champion Tanner Foust in the Papadakis Racing ride after his rookie year in the series.

Speaking to Aasbo about his championship-winning weekend, he had one thing to say — “It was pretty incredible.”

“It was the grand slam, wasn’t it?” Aasbo said. “It couldn’t have been scripted any better — we won the U.S. Formula Drift Championship, which has been my dream for 12 years, and the first World Championship, and the season finale at Irwindale Speedway.

My final question to him was what do you plan next? "To keep winning and keep defending, I’m also planning on a few other competition entries this year and starting a school to give Page | 15 other Europeans the chance I have had in motorsport.

The Need For Change In Formula One Talk Racing - @talkracingmedia

On Saturday March 19th, Melbourne hosted the first Qualifying session of the 2016 season.

There was a new format in place, an elimination style Qualifying. To say it didn’t work was an understatement. With 3 minutes to go before the chequered flag, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were out of their cars, in jeans and Rosberg and Hamilton were weighing in after Lewis had set the fastest time on his first run. The flag came out to an empty track and the paddock was left rather embarrassed as to what they had just witnessed. When race day arrived on Sunday, the team bosses had already held a meeting to unanimously agree on reverting to the old style for Bahrain, Red Bull Christian Horner said “It was done with the best intentions, to try to shuffle the grid around and create more excitement and to help the promoters. and unfortunately that didn't happen. We gave it a go. The teams collectively have agreed it didn't work and to go back with immediate effect."

Then came an emergency meeting on the 24th March. The F1 Commission had two options at their disposal, to keep the elimination style Qualifying or tweak the elimination style format to just Q1 and Q2 and revert to the old format for Q3. No mention of what the teams agreed in Australia. It is now widely known that the teams were not involved in this decision of removing the agreed option in Australia and as a result they refused to give their consent. The team’s refusal to accept the options left the F1 bosses in a difficult situation, for any new rule to pass into effect, there has to be a unanimous agreement. As this agreement was not reached, Bernie Ecclestone decided to offer the teams a final choice. Adopt the Elimination Qualifying or return to the 2015 Qualifying with a reverse grid for the top 8. The teams finally agreed on keeping the elimination format for Bahrain.

This brings me nicely onto my main point. We are always being told the best way to make a business succeed is via good communication. It’s a skilled business almost always add to their job adverts, yet here we are, one of the most successful sports in history, a multi-billion-pound empire and they've failed to communicate with one another. Let’s make it clear that Bernie Ecclestone is no longer the decision maker in Formula One. He is a puppet controlled by the Shareholders of CVC. Page | 16

Whilst Bernie owns a stake in F1, He is a director and answers to the Shareholders. CVC make the decisions purely with a business sense of mind. They have no loyalty to the fans or the drivers. The sponsors, promoters and the teams earn the money for the owners. Which is why decisions such as dropping Germany from the calendar and bringing in new style Qualification formats take place. It’s all to pave way for new government backed circuits in obscure developing countries, That’s where the money is.

There is very much a power struggle within Formula One. You have three major players, Mercedes & Ferrari, CVC & Bernie and the FIA. All three have different motives as to rule making and more often than not, it leads to poor decision making. Let’s use the 2017 rule changes as a fine example. From a team perspective, Mercedes are keen on limiting Aero rules due to the superior engine they have developed, Likewise Red Bull would like to see an increase in Aero to allow them to capitalise on the superior chassis they build year on year.

Both cannot agree on what they want, however Mercedes, being an engine supplier has more power. They can ask all Mercedes powered teams to vote on any proposal they put forward.

In contrast, Red Bull have no influential power when it comes to majority voting and this in my eyes in seriously wrong. A sport run by people having too many differences in opinions can only lead to a disastrous outcome.

I believe that the way F1 can become great again is through a complete change in leadership.

The sport has been sold from CVC, the longer they are in charge, the worse the sport will become. The teams must lose all voting rights for rule changing, rule changes agreed upon by the entrants is anti-competitive. Bernie Ecclestone must step down as Director to FOM. A consultancy group of ex-Formula one experts should be set up to decide all future rule changes and must consult findings with the FIA before getting approval. The GPDA must have more input into Formula 1, such as discussions on car regulation changes. F1 can become great again. It just needs to make that change.

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Haas F1 Show Teams How Formula One Should Be Entered Chris Laker - @TSRTChrisLaker

It's almost impossible in modern day Formula One for a team to score points on their début but not only did Haas F1 achieve that as the season opener in Australia, they then surpassed all expectations in Bahrain when Grosjean led the team to a fifth place finish.

Some people in the paddock aren’t impressed with how Haas as effectively a customer team of Ferrari has entered the sport but as someone who has seen many new teams fail I think it is great for the sport and it’s great for fans.

As a sport we have spent years complaining when a team joins the grid that has very little chance of scoring points, but with the introduction of Haas F1 we have now seen how a team can go from one man's idea to fifth in the constructor’s championship in just two short years something I have certainly never seen.

Building an F1 team from scratch and outside of the UK is as hard as it comes, just ask Adrián Campos and Enrique Rodríguez, who failed in their bid to create a successful Spanish Formula One team.

Whilst he had been successful in various Formulas of Motorsport Gene Haas had no Formula One experience and very little knowledge of the sport. His first and possibly greatest move so far was the appointment of Gunther Steiner as team principal, with a love for Formula One and some previous experience he has proved crucial in the teams’ early success.

Having seen team after team join the grid and subsequently fall away rather quickly Steiner had originally planned to run a full-blown Ferrari customer car to keep costs low but once the regulations made this impossible Steiner came up with the system Haas now uses, something that had never been done in Formula One before. Whilst Haas is technically not a customer team and they don’t run a customer car, they do rely on the experience and resources Ferrari has to offer as well as the invaluable use of the Italian teams’ wind tunnel.

Creating a partnership with Ferrari and Italian chassis constructor Dallara has been one of the best decisions I have ever witnessed a team make. This coupled with the decision to delay their entrance to the circus that is Formula One for a season has been the basis for the teams’ early Page | 18 success.

The next part of the puzzle for Steiner was luring an experienced and talented driver to the team, in Romain Grosjean they got more than they could have ever hoped for. He has the perfect balance of speed, aggression and experience plus he had been in a team that had been struggling so he had witnessed the mistakes that could cost any team success.

Next they needed a young, energetic driver that was eager to learn and that would work well with their number one driver. Esteban Gutierrez was the perfect choice, he has shown raw talent and speed in a team consistently lacking in funding and performance as well as an eagerness to learn whenever he has had a chance. His Ferrari connection looks like it was a big factor in his arrival.

Pre-season testing is usually a nervous time for teams, but Haas arrived in Barcelona confident in their package, team and drivers which quickly showed on track. Strong performances in both pre-season tests filled the team with confidence going into the season which instantly gave them the upper hand on teams like Sauber who struggled to even complete their car for testing.

Following the teams sixth place in Australia many called them lucky after a Red Flag played into their hands to give them a free pitstop but in Bahrain their fifth place finish was not the consequence of luck, it was instead the consequence of hard work, strategic brilliance and a no fear mentality.

Whilst many may see Haas as a customer team I disagree, they have simply taking every part that is allowed under the rules and regulations and built a car that is not only competitive but also reliable. Is that not what Motorsport is about? Taking what is allowed under the rules and regulations and making the most out of it?

I think so.

Any team looking to join Formula One should use Haas as a baseline for success. They have shown it is possible to contend with well-established teams in a debut season if they utilise the Page | 19 opportunities available.

Rosberg Takes The Win In Bahrain Alice Holloway - @Alice_Holloway_

Qualifying saw the return of the elimination system that fans, team and drivers alike despised in Australia. It had been hoped that the FIA would revert back to the 2015 system after such a disaster in Melbourne but they instead decided to give the new qualifying system a second chance. It was better than the Australian flop by a small margin but still there was too much dead track time. The controversy and disappointment overshadowed Hamilton’s stellar pole lap that broke the track record, before held by Mark Webber in a V10 powered car.

It was a messy start into the first corner as Bottas, who was trying to defend from behind, took the inside line colliding into Hamilton’s side pod and putting damage on both cars. Hamilton suffered front wing damage but it wasn’t too extensive and he managed to get back onto the podium, letting Rosberg only go seventeen points ahead of him in the Championship fight. The Mercedes had made a good start, successfully holding their 1-2 as they raced into the first corner. However, Sebastian Vettel, who was poised to try and replicate his impressive start from the Australian Grand Prix, had an engine failure on the formation lap that saw his car retiring before the race even started.

Romain Grosjean again put in a magnificent performance for new team on the grid Haas and managed to one better his Melbourne finish with fifth place. He completed three stints on the super soft tyre before finishing the race on the soft compound one place behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo who also had a great race, finishing P4.

Max Verstappen had an incredible surge through the field during his last stint of the super soft compound to end up sixth. Daniil Kvyat mirrored the strategy of Verstappen in the last stint, giving him enough pace to pass a struggling Massa on the penultimate lap for seventh and his first points of the season.

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The medium compound did not seem to work too well in the race as Williams found out in the worst possible way. Two stints on the medium compound in the middle of the race saw both cars drop down the grid with no means of fighting off the field on the softer compounds. After Bottas received a drive through penalty for his incident with Hamilton going into the first corner he managed to recover to ninth, behind his teammate Felipe Massa in eighth.

Stoffel Vandoorne had a dream debut as he stepped in this weekend for injured Fernando Alonso picking up McLaren’s first points of the 2016 season. He rounded off the top ten ahead of Renaults Kevin Magnussen with a good eleven-second buffer to the Renault.

The Saubers struggled again at this race although Magnussen and Ericsson had a thrilling battle towards the end of the race for P11. But with the Renault driver on the softer fresher tyres he made it passed the Sauber. Ericsson’s teammate Nasr ended down in fourteenth, complaining that the car was “terrible to drive”.

Wehrlein had a great second race with Manor finishing P13 whilst the two Force India’s had a torrid day after qualifying so well finishing 15th and 16th, Hulkenberg just beating his teammate to the line. Haryanto finished off the running cars in 17th.

Along with Vettel, Jolyon Palmer was lost before the start of the race due to a hydraulics issue on his Renault. Jenson Button made a great start and was running comfortably in the points before a power unit failure brought his day to a premature end. An early race puncture for Carlos Sainz Jr, inflicted by close running with Sergio Perez, put extensive damage on his car.

As much as the team tried to keep him out on track the damage was too much and eventually the car had to be retired. Esteban Gutierrez had a much worst day compared to his teammate Page | 21 when a brakes failure saw him depart the race before the chequered flag.

Rosberg Keeps On Winning Alice Holloway - @Alice_Holloway_

Qualifying was finally back to normal as the 2015 format was reinstated for the Chinese Grand Prix. Before the session had even started Hamilton was hit with a five-place grid drop due to changing his gearbox earlier on in the weekend. But it turned out that did not affect the Brit’s qualifying as a Power Unit issue kept him in the pit lane and unable to set a time. Pascal Wehrlein pulled out the first red flag in qualifying as he hit some sitting water on the main straight and lost control of his car, hitting into the outer wall. In Q2 Nico Hulkenberg pulled out the red flag at the end of the session as he lost a wheel off his car. The German was hit with a three-place grid drop for the race because of this incident. Although the Ferrari boys had shown competitive pace all weekend it was Rosberg who took his first pole position of the season with a surprising Daniel Ricciardo lining up beside him.

The chaotic race started with Ricciardo storming passed Rosberg off the line, stealing first position into the first corner. But for the rest of the chasing pack the chaos was far from over.

Daniil Kvyat also made a blinding start from sixth, finding himself in a position to attack into the first corner. He took the inside line from Sebastian Vettel, who hadn’t had such an impressive start, which forced the German wider and into the side of his teammate Kimi Räikkönen. Räikkönen was forced to pit as he lost his entire front wing whist Vettel was lucky to get away with only losing his front end plate and Kvyat took 3rd. Hamilton had managed to make up five places before the first turn but after driving over some of the debris left by the Ferrari team he was hit by Felipe Nasr and also suffered extensive front wing damage that forced him to pit for repairs.

The first corner incident was not finished with its victims as Daniel Ricciardo, after also driving over debris from the numerous collisions, suffered a tyre blow out on the third lap.

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Luckily his tyre gave on the penultimate corner so he lost little time in pitting, but it did hand Rosberg the lead which he then managed to never loose for the remainder of the race. The safety car was deployed to help clear the debris from the track where everyone but Rosberg, Massa, Alonso and Wehrlein pitted for fresh tyres. Hamilton pitted twice within the safety car; first for super softs and then a lap later for the soft compound of tyre. Hamilton appeared to be a little dumbfounded by the call but the team assured him this was the best tyre for their new strategy.

When the safety car returned to the pits, Vettel was P15, Ricciardo P17, Räikkönen P19 and Hamilton at the very back in P21. It became clear very quickly that everyone but Rosberg was racing for second place. Daniil Kvyat ran second for most of the race whilst Vettel made some incredible moves through the grid to close the gap to the Russian. They swapped places instantly after the final round of pit stops where Kvyat took on the mediums whilst Vettel took the softs and was able to make quick work of the slower moving Red Bull to finish the podium.

Hamilton did well to recover his Mercedes to seventh after what turned out to be a hectic weekend for him. Ricciardo made it his third consecutive fourth-place finish this season and Räikkönen had a stellar recovery to get up to fifth for the chequered flag. Massa was sixth, followed by Hamilton and then the Toro Rosso pair of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. A last mistake from Bottas saw him going wide and leaving the door wide open for the two Toro Rosso drivers. He closed off the top ten to end a disappointing tenth place. All 22 drivers finished the race, albeit some with a few battle scars. Jolyon Palmer took the wooden spoon as he finished 22nd, with the McLaren pair Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button in P12/13 the last of the cars not to be lapped.

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Why Grosjean May Be the Perfect Fit for Ferrari Rob Watts - @robwattsf1

It may be a little early for all the usual 'silly season' rumours to start, but Romain Grosjean's performances have certainly caught the eye, and he may already be moving to the top of Ferrari's shopping list.

Few people would have predicted the sensational start that Grosjean and his new team have had. Sixth place on their debut was the best any new team had managed since Sauber in 1993 and an emotional Grosjean exclaimed "this is a win for us!" as he crossed the finish line. Two weeks later, Grosjean defied those who said his Melbourne result was a fluke and went one better, scoring fifth place and another hat full of points. Now in his sixth season in Formula 1, Grosjean has matured significantly since a short-lived stint with Renault back in 2009 and showed tremendous determination to fight his way back onto the grid, racing at Le Mans and winning the GP2 title in between.

Grosjean returned to Formula 1 in 2012, but was frustratingly inconsistent, attracting criticism from other drivers following a sequence of on-track incidents. But Lotus kept the faith with Grosjean and halfway through 2013, Grosjean was beginning to show signs of developing into a credible front-runner. After a further six podiums, including a second place in Austin, became the de facto team leader when teammate Raikkonen departed for Ferrari.

2014 was a disaster for Lotus, and just two points finishes all year were little reward for Grosjean, whose consistency and feedback was becoming crucial to the team's development.

With Mercedes power, the Lotus team improved considerably in 2015 and Grosjean was able to show his ability on a more consistent basis. Once again ahead of his teammate, it was Grosjean who ended the Lotus team's 30 race podium drought with third place at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Announcing his intention to leave the team that had given him his chance in Formula One, Grosjean's move to debutants Haas was seen by some as career suicide, but the Frenchman saw it differently, "It's the best chance to be World Champion one day," he told Reuters.

Boasting a technical partnership with Ferrari, Grosjean's new team could provide the perfect opportunity to catch the attention of team boss Maurizio Arrivabene, and earn himself a seat in the famous red car.

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At 30, Romain Grosjean is experienced enough to deal with the pressure that comes with being a Ferrari driver, and being a former teammate of Kimi Raikkonen, he will not be phased at the prospect of going up against another World Champion in Sebastian Vettel. Not only is Grosjean quick and consistent, he is also desperate to win and after the setbacks he experienced earlier in his career, there are few drivers in the pit lane hungrier for success right now.

But who else might Ferrari consider for a seat? At one point, it looked as though Williams driver Valtteri Bottas was nailed on for a Ferrari drive, but a mid-season dip in form cooled those rumours. Bottas finished just 15 points ahead of Felipe Massa last season, and the feeling remains that if Bottas is unable to dominate a driver that Ferrari themselves replaced, then Bottas himself may not be good enough for Ferrari.

Daniel Ricciardo's stock has risen significantly since his promotion to the Red Bull senior team, and he outscored his four-time World Champion teammate Sebastian Vettel during their only season together. Ricciardo is quick and his Italian heritage would make him a popular choice with the Tifosi. Team boss Christian Horner, however, remains adamant that Ricciardo is going nowhere and has a contract for 2017.

The young and tenacious Max Verstappen is undoubtedly a huge talent, and at just 18, looks destined to be a World Champion one day. Max's debut season with Toro Rosso was very impressive, and fourth place in both Budapest and Austin demonstrated maturity beyond his years. There is another side to young Max, however, and a series of petulant radio outbursts will not have impressed the Ferrari hierarchy.

The close ties with Ferrari make Haas a sound move for Grosjean, and after rating the car as 'one of the best' he had driven, it already looks like the right decision to leave Lotus. Grosjean described his fifth place in Sakhir as "the American dream", but whether he gets to live his boyhood dream of driving for Ferrari remains to be seen, but right now, that dream has never been closer.

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Legends of Formula 1: Juan Manuel Fangio Jack Haywood - @jackalala01

With the Formula 1 season getting well underway, I thought it was time we looked back on the drivers who have made the sport what it is today. This will be starting in the very first few seasons, back in 1950, where the tracks were separated from the spectators by a line of hay bales, with the cars producing only 200 horsepower, compared with the 1000 horsepower beasts of recent years.

1950 saw the inaugural season of Formula 1, as well as a young Bernie Ecclestone's 20th birthday. The 1950 season consisted of 6 European races, starting with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and ending in Monza. 1950 was also the debut season of the then thirty-nineyear-old Argentine Alfa Romeo driver Juan Manuel Fangio. He finished the season in second place, behind his Italian teammate Guiseppe Farina, with the three points separating them.

It was in 1951, however, that "El Maestro" Fangio would make his name. The second season of Formula 1 was expanded to 8 races, this time starting in Switzerland at Bremgarten, and was won by Fangio himself, after taking advantage of Farina's tactical mistake, not pitting and resulting in Fangio reclaiming first in the 29th lap. He eventually finished, with Ferrari's Piero Taruffi 55 seconds behind. The 1951 season went on in a similar fashion, with the Argentine claiming four pole positions, and winning three of the eight races, including the season's climax in Pedralbes, Spain. These wins contributed to Fangio's first driver's championship victory, 11 points ahead of Alberto Ascari.

The season after his first championship, Fangio was set to compete in a non-championship race in Monza. He missed his connecting flight from France to Italy, so drove overnight, arriving just thirty minutes prior to the start. Badly fatigued from the drive, he crashed on lap 2, flipping his Alfa Romeo end over end, resulting in multiple injuries preventing him from racing in the 1952 championship.

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Fangio returned, recovered from his injuries in a new team, Maserati. 1953 saw a disappointing return, with only 1 race being won by "El Maestro", and finishing second in the championship, to Alberto Ascari. He entered into 1954 in a new Maserati car, the 250F. Of the 9 races, Fangio won 6, including his home grand prix in Buenos Aries. Mercedes entered the Championship on the 4th of July, attracting the Argentine, who claimed 4 of his 6 wins that season in the Silver Arrows' debut season. He claimed back the championship that year, ahead of fellow countryman Jose Froilan Gonzalez. Fangio went on the retain his title in 1955, after starting a strenuous training routine to keep up with the competition, as he was considerably older than his younger rivals, at 44 years old.

1956 saw a fresh start once again for Juan Manuel Fangio, starting his sixth season in the sport, with his fourth team, this time, it was Ferrari. Fangio and the then team principal Enzo Ferrari apparently did not have a good relationship. This could have been down to the speckled reliability of the 1956 prancing horse. On 3 occasions, Fangio would suffer mechanical issues, and end up driving British teammate, Peter Collins' car, ending in the points being shared for the race. This most crucially happened in the final race of the season, giving the Argentine sufficient points to claim his fourth world title, for his fourth team.

He returned to Maserati for the 1957 season, debuting the naturally aspirated V12 engined 250F, a huge development in performance. The season was dominated by the team, with half of the races being won by Fangio, including a famous German Grand Prix. The Maserati driver pitted on lap 13, with a thirty second lead on Hawthorn and Collins, but the stop was lengthened by the mechanic replacing the left-rear losing the wheel-nut under the car for half a minute, resulting in him being let out almost a minute behind the two Brits. Fangio had a lot of track to make up on Germany's formidable N端rburgring, with just 9 laps of the 14-mile circuit remaining. He set fastest lap after fastest lap, catching the British Ferrari men on the 21st lap of 22. He passed them both, winning the race. The performance was famous and the 46-year-old was interviewed, saying "I have never driven that quickly before in my life and I don't think I will ever be able to do it again.".

Fangio retired at 47 years old in 1958, finishing 14th, but the season was overshadowed by an event in Cuba, in February of that year, when he was Kidnapped by two of the rebels aiming to overthrow the then President Fulgencio Batista. An eventful end to an eventful career. Juan Manuel Fangio lived until July 1995, after being inducted into the International Motorsport Hall of fame 5 years before. He died aged 84 in Buenos Aries, Argentina.

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Moritz Mueller-Crepon Warms Up For Season Ahead

Moritz Mueller-Crepon and his team marked the official green light for his 2016 season back at the end of March, as the Swiss driver will be racing with Van Amersfoot Racing in Germany’s ADAC Formula 4.

Alongside his second season in the championship, Mueller-Crepon will also participate in three Italian F4 races. It’s a busy schedule for the 19-year-old, who gave an interesting insight into the life of a professional racing driver to 25 guests. This was held at his Warm-Up event, hosted at César Ritz Colleges in Lucerne, Switzerland.

I have learned that it takes a lot of patience and hard work, but it is particularly important to find a good daily rhythm, he admitted, having recently moved to his new Netherlands-based team, I normally get up at 8am before I start training, which is followed by some simulator work at 10am. After lunch, I’m busy, analysing data and preparing either for the new season or the next race.

At the end of such a day or even a test day, there is simply no time for glitzy parties or girls, as team principal Fritz van Amersfoort explained: Being a racing driver may look very simple, but it is very demanding. As of right now, all Moritz sees after 8pm on a test day is nothing apart from the dark and cold. However, it’s not only about the driver behind the wheel, as motorsport is a team sport. Despite there being no pit stops, there’s a total of 15 personnel working on the three F4 cars day and night. Then you can’t forget to include Moritz’s personal team, which is made up of both manager Marlise Lienhard and press officer Annika Goecke, who gave a quick summary on what they do Simply put, we are looking after Moritz’s best interests. You may not see it from the outside, but it all ends up running like clockwork, with all the gears working seamlessly.

Providing a self-constructed simulator for the guests at his Warm-Up event, Mueller-Crepon was able to put across the meaning of the following principle: It takes many to achieve one goal. This is because even the guests couldn't cope on their own, as someone always needs a welcome helping pair of hands. This starts from something as simple as adjusting the seat, the own lack of track knowledge as well as regarding steering input. Moritz has found the right people helping out: We have found a really friendly atmosphere within the entire team, which has also been reflected in my progress during testing. I’ve got 120 percent confidence in the car, where we have a good set-up. For me, my goal is to be consistently taking top five finishes.

The hard work really starts at the first round of the German ADAC Formula 4 series on April Page | 28 16th, which takes place at Oschersleben.

Andreas Mikkelsen – Interview Chris Evans - @cptchris2010

When did you realise you wanted to be a rally driver?

I was supposed to an alpine skier, but when my knees started to hurt, I had to look for another sport. Rally seemed interesting!

How do you feel about Jost Capito leaving to join McLaren?

Jost is a great guy and he will be missed in our team, but changing jobs is a natural thing to do, so I wish him the best of luck with his new challenges.

How did you feel after the mammoth 80km stage in Mexico?

I retired on the Saturday evening, so I never got to try the 80km stage in full speed.

What rally are you aiming to win this year?

I’m aiming to win, whenever to chance is there! Every rally is an option.

Have you always had support from your family members with your career choice?

Yes. It was my father who first suggested I try rally.

How do you prepare for a rally physically?

I do sports every day. Running, gym, squash. Anything! I am very competitive!

How old were you when you first raced competitively?

I think I was only 6 years old when I first tried to compete alpine.

Did you always want to be a rally driver?

No, I only started after my alpine career came to an end.

Other than rally is there any other motorsport you would like to try?

Any motorsport looks interesting!

Where is your place to rally and why favourite?

Difficult to mention a particular rally. All of them have something special!

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Alex Booth’s Featured Driver – Jacques Villeneuve Alex Booth - @Alex_Booth_93

Many drivers have started their career at a small team and then climbed up the ladder to the top. Jacques Villeneuve had an F1 career in reverse, he took the title fight right down to the wire in his debut season before snatching the crown in his second year. Afterwards he steadily dropped down the order and eventually disappeared. To some he is a classic example of a wasted career and unfulfilled potential, however many would still desire to achieve what he did. He was of the most colourful champions of the modern era with a personality few would match.

The son of the late Gilles Villeneuve, Jacques overcame his personal tragedy at a young age and grew to be a fiercely independent character. With his mother’s blessing he followed in his legendary father’s footsteps and began to make a name for himself in Formula 3 in Italy and Japan before racing in Formula Atlantic, from there he moved up to Indy Cars. After winning the Rookie of the Year honours in 1994 he would go on to win the Indianapolis 500 and the Indy Car title in 1995. The call from Frank Williams soon came.

Villeneuve became one of only three drivers to take pole position on their F1 debut and came so close winning his first race. Nevertheless, the young French-Canadian had announced his arrival in style. That first win would come at round four at the Nurburgring. Throughout the season he kept Hill honest to the point where he had a chance in the championship at the final round in Suzuka. Villeneuve’s rear wheel flying off guaranteed Hill the title.

1997 saw Villeneuve take ten pole positions and seven wins en route to the title, comfortably outperforming his new team mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the process. And of course there was the infamous showdown with Michael Schumacher in Jerez. It was a terrific story, the hero who fended off a villain's worst efforts to become World Champion confirming Villeneuve's place in Formula One folklore.

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Opinionated and outspoken, he challenged authority, always speaking his mind. Notably being highly critical of the regulation changes for 1998. Villeneuve called his well-behaved peers ‘corporate robots’ and said fans wanted real characters they could identify with. The rebel talked the talk and walked the walk, dying his hair in rainbow colours and wearing 'high grunge' clothing like a rock star.

It looked set for a Schumacher v. Villeneuve era but Jacques had a disappointing year as reigning champion which must have hurt his ego. No wins, a best result of third place and the number of laps he led all year tallied at exactly zero. His manager and long-time friend Craig Pollock set up British American Racing for 1999 and signed Villeneuve. It was perfect for him, a team built around himself like Schumacher at Ferrari while earning millions of dollars.

But BAR were all talk and no show with a miserable debut season resulting in nul points. Honda power arrived but the team were going nowhere fast. Two podium finishes in 2001 were as good as it got for Jacques results-wise, yet he was still earning a champions salary. For 2002, Pollock was out and David Richards came in. Villeneuve was no longer at home at BAR and being outperformed by a young Jenson Button in 2003 was the sign for the team not to renew his contract.

Out of a drive for 2004, Renault threw him a lifeline inviting him to return for the final three races in place of Jarno Trulli. Underprepared for the cars being so much faster than in 2003 he was thrown in at the deep end, he didn’t set the world alight but kept his nose clean. Sauber signed him for 2005 but the small Swiss-team’s capabilities coupled with some sloppy driving made for a trying season. Still Villeneuve was popular with the team personnel and believed he could still be a force given the right machinery. He performed better in 2006 as BMW took over the team but a crash at Hockenheim forced him to sit out the Hungarian race. Already under pressure from the young Robert Kubica who had a dazzling debut, the team chose to part-company with the former champion. Bringing an end to an F1 career that probably should have delivered more, but still brought more than most. After F1 he combined his passions of racing, skiing and music. He raced at Le Mans, in NASCAR and in Formula E and he remains as Page | 31 charismatic as ever.

Past The Pit Lane Charlotte White - @CharlieEWhite

The roar of the engines. The adrenaline pumping through the veins. The race to the finish line.

These are just some of the elements integral to motorsport. But what happens before the racing? What keeps the industry running on all cylinders?

The obvious answer: Motorsport‌ However, the industry of motorsport is much more than that. The motorsport industry is not a one hit wonder. The industry adored by so many people operates much further beyond the realms of racing cars, bikes, boats and planes. Motorsport is a life saver. Seriously.

Back in 2008 when the recession hit, the motorsport industry was at huge risk of falling short of the finish line – with a lot of the small companies involved in the sport at risk of closure due to a lack of business. The reason being that motorsport cannot operate out of other industries – race teams need fast reaction time and specialist parts in order to deal with the very short turnaround time between races. A feat that many other industries simply cannot compete with. It was a very difficult time for the industry when the government saw an opportunity and offered it to motorsport.

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The MOD were in need of a solution to the slow reaction times of their suppliers when their vehicles needed upgrades or repairs in order to get them back out onto the front line. This was where the government acknowledged the niche that motorsport offers. The government suggested that a collaboration was set up for motorsport companies to work for the defence industry in order to solve their problem, as well as safeguard the motorsport companies.

Thankfully it worked. 8 years down the line and the motorsport industry now supply some of the defence industry with composites, suspension components, fire suppression systems, telemetry software, quick release steering wheels and more.

Not only does the motorsport industry help protect our troops on the front line, but motorsport technology has led to several advances in the food industry. Formula 1 technology used for telemetry systems is now also being using in some of the country’s leading supermarkets to help regulate the temperature in their refrigeration systems. So the next time you go to the freezer aisle, it may be being monitored by aerofoil technology.

And possibly one of the most useful applications for telemetry systems of Formula 1: intensive care baby units. The telemetry used in the cars and now some refrigeration systems is being applied in hospitals to monitor the babies in intensive care units so that if the baby is going to deteriorate-the software will be able to warn the doctors and nurses before it gets too serious.

So the next time you go to a race weekend or watch a race on the television, the companies that help get those cars out on the track could also be the same companies saving our troops on the front line, keeping your food cold in the supermarkets and preventing the premature Page | 33 death of babies.

Enaam Ahmed Debuts In British F3 Ian Cutting - @iancutting77 Photos - Ian Cutting Photography

Qualifying After a great start to the F3 qualifying session at Snetterton where Enaam was near the top of the table, he ultimately starts the first race of the new British F3 season in 8th place. It was a sunny start to the day and a dry qualifying session, but not long after the session finished, the rain came in...

British F3 Round 1 - Enaam Ahmed As the start of the first race of the nearly re-named British F3 season began, the mechanics were running back-and-forth out of the garage looking to the skies to try and second guess the Norfolk weather. As it was, the track was wet and after two warming up laps (qualifying was held in dry conditions) Enaam lined up his car in P8. After a great start, Enaam was up to P6 by the end of lap 1! It wasn't long before he made another place and he kept going, another lap, another place so was now running P4. After some great battles with Collard for 3rd place, a mistake by Collard allowed Enaam through and into 3rd. As the flag fell at the end of the race, Enaam was on the podium in his first race of this new season.

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British F3 Round 2 – Enaam Ahmed After a lengthy delay in the day caused by the weather at Snetterton, the timetable for the day changed to allow the rain to clear and track to dry. Instead of this race being scheduled for 11.20am it was moved to 3.10pm. It is also over 10 laps and not 12 like it was in race 1.

The shortened distance is again due to the weather and making sure that there is time in the day for all the races.

After starting from P6 Enaam made a storming start! With the help of his brand new tyres he was up to second and challenging for the lead, but a small error dropped him to third. It wasn't long however before he did get into 2nd and it was just in time as out came the safety car because of a stricken F3 out on track. A couple of safety car laps meant that because of the time there would only be 2 racing laps left. In the end there wasn't enough time to challenge for the lead, plus Enaam was keeping an eye on a rear guide attack for his second place. As the chequered flag fell, Enaam had enough space to claim his second podium of the weekend!

Not a bad start to his season! With a 3rd and a 2nd already, can Enaam do one better and get that win...? Starting from 2nd its certainly on the cards especially if he gets another demon start...

British F3 Round 3 - Enaam Ahmed With this race also shuffled about because of the weather it is now very late in the day. Grid positions for this race are decided by fastest laps from race 1 or race 2. So after setting the quickest time in race 2, Enaam starts race 3 from the front row.

Yet another blinding start from Enaam saw him draw alongside pole sitter Sowery and then into the lead. Sowery was doing his best to try and take that lead away. Enaam even hit a track marker as he went onto the Senna straight and thought that he had damaged the front wing but luckily all was ok! Coming into Brundle, he locked up quite heavily and risked flatspotting his front wheels. As the sun was getting lower on the Senna straight the drivers were doing everything they could to get the lead away from Enaam. There was a squabble over 2nd and 3rd and that gave Enaam enough breathing space and he held on for that all important win.

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Enaam Ahmed British F3 - Brands Hatch Ian Cutting - @iacutting77 Photo – Barneshaw Images

Qualifying On a dry track and cold conditions, it wasn't long before the session was halted because of Herta's off before anyone could set a fast time. Back underway and it didn’t take long before Enaam was heading the top of the timesheets! Yet another red flag in the session halted proceedings with Enaam top. Third time lucky and the fight for pole is on! Unfortunately for Enaam, he couldn't improve and starts race 1 from 5th place.

British F3 Round 4 - Enaam Ahmed A cold afternoon greeted the drivers for the first race of the weekend. With 16 laps (or 30mins) ahead of the drivers on the Brands Hatch GP circuit, Enaam Ahmed from P5 made a decent start and was trying to hassle going into Paddock Hill Bend. After setting a stunning time on lap 2 he was soon hassling for P4. Halfway through the race Enaam was still in P5 and by this point it was a lonely P5. Unfortunately, at the end of lap 10 Enaam had to pit and retire the car. With no drop scores this is a bit of a dent in his championship charge given his results last time out at Snetterton.

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Photo – Cottis Photography

British F3 Round 5 - Enaam Ahmed After the DNF (broken suspension) from round 4, Enaam had bolted on a set of new tyres and was going for fastest lap in order to get pole for round 6. As he was starting from the back of the field, Enaam decided to start from the pit lane instead and avoid any possible first corner carnage and give himself a clear track for that fastest lap. As the lights went out for the 14 lap race, the field pulled away and once Enaam was released from the pit lane he had that clear track ahead of him and he went about setting that fastest lap. He duly set the fastest lap midway through the race and looked like a pole position was on the cards for race 3 except that Herta had other ideas and on the very last lap had snatched that pole away! So despite finishing 17th at the flag, Enaam starts race 3 from P2 so hopefully can rescue something from the weekend.

British F3 Round 6 - Enaam Ahmed Starting from P2 for this race Enaam was hoping one of his demon starts from Snetterton would propel him into the lead. Alas as the lights went out Herta held his position and Enaam slipped into second as they entered Paddock Hill for the first time. The top two had started to pull away from the field, but a safety car for the stricken F3 of Hyman at Westfield closed everybody else up again. In fact, Hyman hit the barriers hard, bounced back and was collected by Reddy.

Thankfully both drivers walked away, testament to the strength of the cars. Because of the debris across the track, the officials had decided to red flag the race so that everything could be cleared away. As the cars lined up on the main straight for the re-start Enaam pulled into the pits with a problem (this time due to clutch issues). The mechanics poured over the car and it was touch and go whether he would make it back out again for the re-start. Luckily for Enaam he was able to make it out again, but unluckily it was at the back of the field. It would be a 5 lap dash to the flag. From the back, Enaam closed up on the field and on the last lap a couple of cars ahead of him disagreed over the same piece of track and through went Enaam and into 14th place. When the flag fell, Enaam finished in that 14th place he just inherited. The weekend was a contrasting one to the previous weekend where he finished every race on the podium.

In the championship, Enaam is now in 5th place which puts him on 92 points, 35 off the top spot.

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GP2 Season Preview Daniel Herrick - @DanielHerrick

If you are like me, you are chomping at the bit for a bit of GP2 action and with the exclusion of Bahrain this year, we have to wait until Spain on the 14th May for the action to begin. This does however, give us an opportunity to take a look through the contenders for this year’s title and a possible seat at the big table of F1.

Last season, McLaren stand-in driver Stoffel Vandoorne drove away with the title and looked dominant throughout, but this year it is going to be a lot closer up front, with many stand out contenders for the championship.

Starting at reigning champions ART and their two drivers, Nabuharu Matsushita and Sergey Sirotkin. This talented duo have experience in the formula and both picked up race wins last year. If ART have the package once again this, one of these two will be the stand out favourites, with Sirotkin the more favoured for me.

Looking to topple ART is Racing Engineering and with an equally talented line-up of drivers, they stand a great chance in 2016. British hopeful Jordan King showed fantastic promise last year looking very similar to that of fellow Brit and former GP2 Champion turned Renault driver, Jolyon Palmer. His team mate is also a strong title contender. Frenchman Norman Nato showed some flashes of brilliance last year and will have to keep that up consistently to beat King this year. I would favour the Brit out of this pairing.

The DAMS team have strong pedigree in GP2 and with two strong drivers again for this year, they stand an outside chance of taking the crown. Alex Lynn returns this year and after picking up a win in his first season and showing some dominant pace in qualifying sessions, this future F1 star is up there as a favourite for me. He has the whole package, with his one weakness being that he does have a tendency to get himself into the wrong place at the wrong time. On the other side of the garage sits Canadian Nicholas Latifi. While he will keep pushing Lynn and may pick up a win along the way, I don't feel he will challenge for the number one spot. A good wild card to keep an eye on though.

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Those for me are the top three teams in 2016, however there are a few honourable mentions who it would be foolish to write off. First off, the new boys to the grid Prema Racing. The Italian outfit have made the step up from Formula 3 and have collected two young talents along the way. Bringing experience to the team is Frenchman Pierre Gasly.

Very much a front runner last year, Gasly looks set to be up there again this year and after setting a blistering time in Barcelona testing, the fastest ever in a GP2 car, he could really set the grid alight. His teammate is no slouch either. Italian Antonio Giovinazzi has been tearing through the lower formula and is a real live wire behind the wheel. Take note, this young man will be one to watch.

Russian rocket Artem Markelov is another strong driver in the Russian Time car. If he has the car underneath him, he can certainly look dangerous on race day.

Finally, the driver I am most excited about seeing this season is young Oliver Rowland in the M.P Motorsport team. He was electrifying when he stepped in the car last year and really stole the show at Silverstone. With a full season of races, he could be a real dark horse for race wins and maybe even a title contender. The future is bright for British Motorsport fans.

For me, the 14th May cannot come soon enough. Until then we will have to watch Stoffel Vandoorne, Rio Haryanto and Jolyon Palmer setting the standard in F1 and feel safe in the knowledge that this talented pool of drivers is going to give us an amazing show this year.

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GP2 May Preview Megan Mallory - @meggle280

Barcelona 2015 saw two exciting GP2 races at the Circuit de Catalunya, with Alex Lynn scoring his maiden win. The 2015 champion, Stoffel Vandoorne, took pole and the fastest lap in the Sprint race but Alex Lynn scored his maiden win with DAMS racing followed by Vandoorne and his team mate Pierre Gasly on the podium. The feature race gave Vandoorne his second win of the season after a win in the first race in Bahrain. This meant Vandoorne already had a 37-point lead over the next man in the Championship, Rio Haryanto. Mitch Evans had the fastest lap of the feature race with Russian Time team.

Monaco The first race on the legendary Monaco Circuit saw Stoffel Vandoorne claim another win for ART after their great start to the season. Alex Rossi was on the Belgians tail for the entirety of the race but had to settle for second. Richie Stanaway claimed his maiden win from the Sprint Race. Raffaele Marciello started on pole but after a slow start Stanaway took the lead. The Sprint race podium was lacking ART GP cars which may have been a shock to some people after their dominant start to the season.

2016 season Predictions Throughout Pre-season testing, Prema Powerteam who make their debut this year were looking constantly fast with Pierre Gasly topping the time sheets on multiple occasions. Racing Engineering looked to be continuing and improving their pace from last year with Jordan King.

ART still had decent pace but don't seem to be as dominant as they were in the 2015 season.

2016 will be packed full of exciting racing with ART, Prema Powerteam and Racing Engineering battling it out for the Championship.

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GP3 Series 2016 Testing Mark Donaghy - @mdd7

The First 2 of 3 pre-season tests have now completed with the biggest new coming from the speed and reliability of the all new GP3/16.

The new car has proved reliable from the off which is a cause for excitement but the speed is not what was hoped for, whilst it is still early in its development the car has not yet proved to be quicker than the previous generation car, last year the fastest laps around Valencia were 1:20.8 whilst the fastest lap this year was set on the second day of testing in the hands of Koiranen GP’s second year driver Matt Parry.

The times at the top of the time sheets were as tight as ever in GP3 with each of the 5 days topped by 4 different with only Ferrari Protégé Fuoco topping the second and third days of the first test in Estoril. ART only lead the times with new Honda protégé Fukuzumi leading the first day of testing, however in every subsequent test all four of their drivers were up in the top 10 of each day.

Incoming team DAMS seems to have settled in to their newest series with aplomb, regularly featuring in the top 10 on the end of day rankings, whilst unlikely to challenge the dominant force that is ART stranger things have happened.

Koiranen and Trident both maintained their form from last year and look like the most likely teams to try and dethrone ART from their customary position at the top of the team’s championship.

The scene is set for what could be one of the closest battles in GP3’s short history with junior drivers from Ferrari (Fuoco, Leclerc and Alesi), McLaren (De Vries), Honda (Fukuzumi), Hass (Ferrucci), Renault (Aitken and Jurg) and SMP racing (Isaakyan) all set to go wheel to wheel in identical Dallara built cars across 9 rounds to see who will follow in the footsteps of Bottas, Gutiérrez and Kyvat and climb the ladder right to the top and reach F1.

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Formula V8 3.5 – Who Wins?

Phil Martin - @philmartingsy

So it begins at last, the first weekend of the season in Aragon on 16-17th April, and to be honest trying to pick a winner is truly going to be difficult.

Despite the loss of Renault as a backer, the series has collated a field of multi-talented drivers, with a wide variety of different experience between them. Drivers such as Rene Binder, Tom Dillmann and Johnny Cecotto Jr all have GP2 backgrounds, and their respective seasons will be certainly of interest. Matthieu Vaxiviere was a close challenger to eventual 2015 champion Oliver Rowland, and is certainly considered one of the title favorites.

Then we have the young and exciting chargers, the likes of which show the potential the series has. Louis Deletraz, Pietro Fittipaldi, Aurelien Panis, Egor Orudzhev and Yu Kanamaru are all seriously quick kids, and their exuberance will only enhance the excitement on view. As it stands seven seats remain vacant, however Beitske Visser has been at both tests so far and it would be hard to see past her gaining a seat.

So who wins? In my view, consistency has always been of extreme importance in this series throughout the years, and while I expect the young chargers to win races and provide thrilling racing, I am going to pick Tom Dillmann to be the champion. His all-round experience should see him avoid the mistakes others in the field are capable of, with Vaxiviere being pipped to the title for a second year running.

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Jack Lang Debuts In Radical Challenge Ian Cutting - @iancutting77 Photos - Ian Cutting Photography

After a great qualifying, Jack Lang lined up his Radical in 4th place at Snetterton. Unfortunately, a bad start meant he was back in the mid-field. A storming drive in the race saw him climb the field and finish the race in 5th place!

Race two saw Jack start in 8th. The wild weather at Snetterton was very changeable and the race was a wet race. Jack had a great race progressing up the order and into 3rd. On the last lap the top two clashed, but Jack wasn't close enough to capitalise on this, but a solid 3rd was a great result for only his second outing in the Radical.

The third and final race saw Jack line up in 6th place for the rolling start. This race is over 40mins and has to include a pitstop for a driver change. If you are running solo, then you have to be stationary for 45 secs. After starting 8th on the grid for the rolling start, Jack made steady progress up to 6th place. Once all the pit stops had taken place Jack had emerged in 5th. After some great driving, this is how it remained when the chequered flag fell at the end.

Jack is keen to win this championship to help progress with his racing career. A 3rd, 5th and 6th place is a good start considering he hadn’t driven the car before

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Fan Engagement The Formula E Way Emma Upton - @zumester

Since its launch in late September2014, Formula E has worked extraordinarily hard to secure a following, in a world of diehard petrol head racing. The reason most fans like motorsport are usually linked to that noise….as we know, that noise that can be heard when you walk through the circuit gates. The roar of the combustion engine, the smell, the atmosphere, the glamour, the paddock and the legendary names.

Endorsed by FIA (how else would it survive?) the Formula E concept has been ‘fuelled’, if you’ll pardon the pun, by innovation and technology in order to try and secure a strong fan base. A quick visit to www.fiaformulae.com has just some of these fan engagement solutions. New for this year is the fan diary, where a local to each race gets to record a social media diary which really helps at attracting grass roots fans. These are usually volunteers from the fan sites in the host nation. One of the most innovative forms of fan engagement is Fanboost. In the ten days leading up to a race, fans can vote for their favourite driver. The winning three drivers get an additional boost of energy during both halves of the race (one for each car). The leader board is promoted through social media especially through the fan friendly Formula E app.

Other ‘outreach’ promotional work promoted by CEO Alejandro Agag’s team include fan engagement via virtual racing. Most teams have their own SIM for drivers to practice on, critical especially when the series races on unknown street circuits which can be notoriously tricky, like last year’s Monaco ePrix which saw a classic Formula 1 style melee early in the first lap leaving Mahindra Racing’s Bruno Senna airborne. This season virtual racing fans in London got the chance to compete against none other than the Brazilian star and his French ‘adversary’ eDams Renault’s Nico Prost. At the Long Beach ePrix the race off Pro Championship virtual racing series took place and two fans have won a trip to the Battersea ePrix in June.

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Back to Senna and Prost, and there is no hint of 1980s rivalry between the two young stars.

Attracting star drivers has worked really well with fan engagement. At the Mexico ePrix Senna got plenty of crowd roars with Latin American fans loving seeing the iconic yellow, green and blue helmet. Current pit lane stars include championship leader Lucas di Grassi, Sebastien Buemi (leader for most of the season), last year’s reigning champ Nelson Piquet Jr, Sam Bird, Daniel Abt and Nick Heidfeld to name but a few. At each race there are driver signings opportunities where drivers are brought out from the paddock and fans can actually meet their heroes, which never happens in Formula One these days.

Another gimmick that fans will see at the race is the ‘EJ’, Formula E’s very own DJ/Producer who entertains in between sessions on the day. He is very distinctive and wears a novelty costume but is very much a part of the Formula E family. The EJ created the original Formula E race soundtrack and has just this week launched his own single ‘Never Say No’, which you can discover via www.fiaformulae.com The series is set to expand in the future, with more events being added for Season 3. The Hong Kong street circuit is already under construction. Indian team Mahindra Racing asked fans for help with designing the future Indian ePrix. Fans submitted ideas on twitter and Facebook and were promoted via @MahindraRacing social media. Series two has already seen the addition of the Mexico ePrix and the upcoming Paris ePrix. At the moment London currently gets a double header series finale in Battersea Park (yes, not a street circuit but a fantastic green venue). There is also a focus on securing a second US ePrix, likely New York and to further the involvement with China.

And finally, back to that problem of winning over petrol heads. Firstly, the concept has been all about bringing racing into city centres, making it easy on fans to access. Secondly, the series has been targeted at possibly a younger, more environmentally friendly group who embrace green energy as a lifestyle choice. Formula has its own unique character, instead of the smell of oil you get the smell of carbon (think Scalectrix), and instead of the roar of combustion (which has certainly gone from Formula One now) you get the unique sound of 18 electric cars Page | 45 whizzing round (think Scalectrix!).

Crowd Sourcing Mark Bowley - @bowley_mark

Famously the motto of Brooklands Motor Course was ‘The right crowd and no crowding’; which was fine if your clientele was a group of over- privileged, moneyed upper class types.

But look round at today’s race tracks at anything other than the biggest meetings and you’re unlikely to be crowded either but only because it’s equally unlikely that there will be much of a crowd.

Worse than that if you look round at the people that are there most will be of what is euphemistically described as a certain age with few children or teenagers present. This is a real problem for motor sport, the audience is aging and it seems to be struggling to engage with new fans. I think part of the problem is the cost of taking a family to a race, faced with dwindling attendances circuits have increased the cost of admission to compensate and not just by putting up ticket prices per se. The way most have increased prices is by redefining what constitutes an adult. According to most of the larger circuits a child stops being a child when they reach fourteen years old. This is obviously ridiculous.

Firstly, most fourteen year olds have no significant income, this means they have to rely on someone else to pay for them which means that the cost of going to a meeting doubles for the person they go with. Secondly I’d suggest that most fans get hooked in their early teenage years or just as they are liable to start paying adult admission prices. What all this means is that to take your family to the races costs an awful lot of money, especially when there are so many other ways to spend your hard earned cash.

It doesn’t have to be like this though. One of the most family friendly circuits is now Silverstone. They don’t, for all but their biggest events, charge admission to under 16’s, also they have started providing other forms of entertainment to keep the kids entertained.

Mallory Park run similar admission rules and even putting on something as simple as a bouncy castle increases the chances of getting kids to want to go there. If motor sport in Britain is to have a future the other circuits need to follow this lead, they need to get families wanting to go back and they need to attract more children and young people.

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Citroen DS3 Performance Euan Campbell - @EuanCampbell3

After the incredible DS3 Racing I was always hoping it wouldn’t be the last hot hatch from Citroen. After almost 6 years they’ve made a brand new hot hatch that isn’t a limited production model! The DS3 Performance is in the shape of the new DS3 and looks stunning in the black and gold combination; yes, it no longer has “exclusivity” meaning a much wider paint pallet!

The power terrain is still pretty much the same only it’s now made with much lighter components, 1.6litre 4cylinder THP engine with 205bhp coupled with a 6 speed manual and with wider tracks by 26mm at the front and 14mm at the rear, also with larger more powerful brembo brakes makes for a very capable poised hot hatch for the road. The 0-62mph time is the same as the DS3R’s at 6.5 seconds, and has plenty of torque for that key uphill momentum 221lb ft. to be exact! And it also has a brand new Torsen limited-slip differential, which is good because the one on the DS3R couldn’t handle its power in the wet.

The new look to the DS3 performance adds some aggressive new body features so others can tell it’s not any old DS3, but inside apart from the obvious new bucket seats there’s not much else to tell it apart. At £20,495 starting price it’s not “cheap and cheerful” here, well maybe cheerful, and that puts the DS3 under very strong competitors such as the upcoming Fiesta ST200, Mini Cooper S and the 208GTi which has also just received a fresh revised look.

However, you can’t say that the DS3 isn’t the best looking! And if it was me, I would be tied between this and the Fiesta ST200.

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Breen holds on for home win Andy Gray - @AndyGrayNI Photo - Andy Gray Photography

Craig Breen successfully defended his Circuit of Ireland title after overcoming an attritional event on across the tarmac of Northern Ireland. The Waterford driver, alongside navigator Scott Martin, beat Polish driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz by 10.6 seconds to claim a popular home victory.

Breen did not have it all his own way however, with former factory WRC driver Elfyn Evans, leading the initial stages ahead of Breen, before an Alternator issue ruled Evans out of the running on the 31km Glens stage. He would later return on the second day but a crash on Hamilton’s Folly ended the Welshman’s weekend early. After Evan’s demise, it quickly turned into a two horse race between last year’s front runners, Breen and ‘Kajto’. The advantage the Irishman built up on Friday’s stages was slashed when an incorrect the choice from the Citroën driver allow Kajto to close the gap to first. With a mid-day service allowing Breen to switch tyres, the works WRC Citroën driver began to pull away again before a puncture on the second run through Hamilton’s Folly enabled Kajetanowicz to close the gap to just five seconds, with just two stages remaining. A determined Breen was never going to let go of a home victory without a fight, and he was a staggering six seconds faster than his Polish rival on the penultimate stage, Bulls Brook. Breen’s pace meant the 26-year-old could have a comfortable final stage at Banbridge, enjoying the drive to victory.

Alistair Fisher took a strong third place in his Fiesta, marking a strong weekend for the home talent. Josh Moffett couldn’t replicate his podium from the previous year; however, he will still be satisfied with a solid fourth when several other drivers ran into issues. Jonny Greer was one of the surprise packages on the rally, claiming a brilliant fifth in his Citroën DS3, swiftly followed

by David Bogie in his Skoda Fabia. Stephen Wright and Tom Cave, both driving a Ford Fiesta, captured seventh and eighth respectively, with Joseph McGonigle’s Fabia and Jaroslaw Koltun’s Fiesta rounding out the top ten. In the overall classification, eight British and Irish drivers filled the top ten places, a nice touch in light of the 85th anniversary celebrations of the historic event.

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Alongside Evans, there were several high profile casualties throughout the event. Robert Consani’s bad luck on the Circuit continued, the Frenchman could not get his car up and running after a spin in qualifying, before gearbox issues ruled him out. Keith Cronin, who was one of the favourites heading into the event, but he was also ruled out when his radiator broke on SS2. Neil Simpson had run off the road in The Glens stage, with Sam Moffett crashing four stages from home. Marty McCormack was running in a strong position; however, a mechanical issue forced his Fabia out of the event. Max Vatanen, son of WRC legend Ari, also suffered mechanical failure which hampered his first visit to the island. Frederick Ahlin was running well inside the top ten before an accident on SS10 ruined his weekend, with Czech driver Jaromir Tarabus crashing on the final stage of the event to cap off a tough rally for all the competitors.

The ERC Junior class also had drama, when long-time leader Martijan Griebel managed to pick up a puncture four stages from home, handing victory to Lukasz Pieniazek. The young Pole headed the works Opel’s of Chris Ingram and Griebel in his self-entered Adam. Steve Røkland initially led the way in Qualifying for the Juniors, however a huge crash for his Peugeot in SS3 destroyed his car, ending any chance he had of victory. It was Pieniazek’s consistency that seen the Polish driver build up enough of a gap to hold on for victory, keeping the charging Ingram at bay. The talented young British driver was struggling to find confidence in the car on Friday’s stages in the wet, but in the dry the 21-year-old was often the man to beat, finding his rhythm with new co-driver, Kat Becker. Griebel recovered to take third after a puncture on the second leg, disposing Latvian Gryazin on the final stages of the rally.

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The Faster The Better?

Rebecca Thomas - @rebeccathms

There are plans for new rules and regulations next year for quicker F1 cars. Introducing wider rear tyres and increasing downforce will propose to make the cars three to five seconds faster per lap.

Rather than affecting top speeds, these changes will be aimed at increasing the car's speed in the corners. However, the stated intentions do not include improving overtaking, and many of these changes reverse the work done by the Overtaking Working Group back in 2009. Having wider tyres would increase the grip which is important through the corners; but having more downforce is likely to result in the increase of dirty airflow which makes it more difficult for cars behind to follow the ones in front as closely.

F1 has been pegged as 'boring' many times in the media, but will quicker laps mean more excitement for fans? Nico Rosberg thinks that F1 is valuing the entertainment value over the pure racing itself, as he says: "I'm concerned about the fact that we are trying to make the racing more exciting and so I am worried that it is the wrong direction." He is worried about the aim for more downforce and the affect it will have on racing; the resulting difficulty in following cars and therefore overtaking.

Rosberg's teammate, Hamilton, is for the new regulations, arguing that the current situation "[is] not good enough as it is," and changes do need to be made.

This means big changes for the teams. They will have to balance how they develop their justlaunched 2016 cars while planning for the disruptive, new year ahead. These changes mean a return to the dimensions of Formula 1 cars in the 1990s, albeit with the modern curvature and complexity we see today. This could be a good opportunity for other teams to make a superior car to the reigning champions, Mercedes, if so, this would have been a good call by F1 bosses and would make the sport more entertaining for spectators.

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Chris Brown - @cbrownmsport

2016 saw the third instalment of the revived Members meeting from Goodwood. The races and demonstrations scheduled for the event looked to make it the best one ever. As it was the middle of March the weather was thankfully dry but was pretty cold. There was much to look forward to though and no, I am not just talking about the lack of queues due to limited tickets but that was very welcome! The racing had a fantastic line up from sixties GT's to vintage cars and historic F1 to the spectacular Group 1 cars of the Gerry Marshall trophy. The demonstration runs too looked excellent as we were to expect Group 5 sports cars, ground effect F1 cars and Super touring cars.

The Members meeting is different in that all those who attend are put into different houses and can compete to score points over the course of the weekend in order to win the house cup. The house captains were Anthony Reid, Andrew Jordan, Jochen Mass and Emanuele Pirro.

The drivers score points on their finishing positions in the races and the spectators were able to score points by competing in numerous fun events around the circuit including duck herding and autocross with the mini classics.

A walk through the paddock is a petrol head's dream, the cars are proudly on display and it is possible to get up close and personal with them, including the priceless Mercedes Benz W196 which was demonstrated by Mika Hakkinen on the Saturday.

The racing was marred by incidents this year which did hold up the action on the track but it was a testament to how well run Goodwood events are that the spectators still got to see all the races and demonstration runs, be it cut down on time.

The demonstration runs were fantastic. The Group 5 sport cars of the seventies looked and sounded incredible as a 'have to see it to believe it' amount of Ferrari 512's and Porsche 917's where put through their paces. Also sounding heavenly were the ground effect era F1 cars.

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Lotus, Brabham and Williams were all represented as were Alfa Romeo with a glorious sounding V12 engine. The highlight for me was the Super touring cars. As a kid I watched these high revving cars that looked like what my dad drove, doing battle. Seeing them on track again brought back fantastic memories. Which is what Goodwood is all about, reviving the lost days of motorsport and reliving those days in the past which made you fall in love with motorsport.

The racing was the star of the show though with a few exceptional highlights. Saturday saw the Alan Mann trophy for Ford GT40's eventually won by Steve Soper. Soper also competed in the Whitmore cup in a Lotus Cortina. The race for touring cars of under 2 litres saw Alfa Romeo GTA's battle the nimble mini's and drifting Cortina's.

The Graham Hill Trophy saw a fantastic battle between the Cobra Daytona's of James Cottenham and Andrew Smith as they power slid in tandem to put on a great show. The main attraction of the races had to the Gerry Marshall trophy which is for Group one touring cars.

On the grid was the star of last year's race Tiff Needell in a Rover SD1, Nick Swift in a Mini Clubman and Steve Soper in Ford Capri. The Team Dynamic Honda teammates Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden would also do battle in a Chevrolet Camero and Rover SD1 respectively.

Gordon Shedden was the star of the race! He man handled, drifted and danced the Rover to a very impressive second place only to be beaten by the father and son Bryant team in the rather powerful by expertly driven Camero.

The Goodwood members meeting is the season opener for the historic racing series and it sets the bar high. The 75th edition cannot come soon enough!

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Anthony Reid Interview Chris Brown - @cbrownmsport

Ex British touring car star and Goodwood regular Anthony Reid was once again captain for the Methuen house at this year's 74th Members meeting. L&T Motorsport spoke to Anthony after the event to talk all things Goodwood and British touring cars.

What makes the Goodwood members meeting different to other historic race meetings?

It's quite a unique event in Motorsport in that it involves the whole family. It is not just the motor racing on the circuit. The event includes many quintessential English sporting activities around the site, whether it's croquet, welly wanging, duck herding or tug of war. Plus, the pocket classics proved very popular with the autocross. So rather than some members of the family getting bored at a race event, it is a way of engaging those who are there. It's an event for the Goodwood road racing club members and all the members and attendees are dividing into different houses. There are four house captains including myself, Jochen Mass, Emanuele Pirro and Andrew Jordan and it's our job to rally the troops and lead them into house battle.

Do you find that because everyone who attends is put into a house, they become more involved?

It does yes and I think people are getting the hang of what it's all about. I think more of the club members were getting involved in not just the racing but also the other activities. By holding a race meeting in March you will always be battling against the elements, but the last three members’ meetings the weather has been very good, it has been cold but it has been dry, it could have been worse. I enjoyed all the aspects of it. I was not only house captain but I was racing in an ex Gerry Marshall Triumph Dolomite sprint. I am probably best known for racing in British touring cars and before I turned professional I used to hang out with people like Gerry Marshall, he taught me a thing or two about power sliding and car control.

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Which comes in handy at Goodwood?

Yes, to be racing on the Dunlop CR65 tyres (historic treaded tyres) the cars do slide around a bit and it was great fun. Our car wasn't particularly competitive but we had a good race and finished 9th. Tim Morley did a fantastic opening stint and came in the pits at the right moment and finished in the top ten, which Tim was delighted with. There was no way we could compete with the Camero's and Rover's but we were the top Dolomite sprint. If we were at more of your average British circuit we would have been a lot more competitive but Goodwood is a real power circuit, it is very fast. and the little 1800cc engine has limited horse power! But it is very good on the corners, it has great balance.

Do you think one of the appeals of Goodwood is that the circuit is still in its original layout?

Yes, I know that Lord March is very keen to keep the original flavour of the track. In 1979 I was based at Goodwood, I lived in a caravan next to the super shell building on the outside of Woodcote. I was mechanic and raced for a racing car company called Image race cars that built Formula Fords. The circuit hasn't changed since then! It is safer now though. I remember I lost control of my Formula Ford at Madgewick and disappeared over the bank and it was quite a few minutes before someone came out to look for me! That would not happen now.

Silverstone is still a great circuit for modern race cars but I loved the old track. The classic grand prix layout in which Keke Rosberg set the fastest ever F1 lap on. That circuit was considered too fast and to dangerous. Silverstone is still a great race track for modern cars on slicks but at Goodwood everyone races on treaded tyres, which is good fun!

There were a couple of serious accidents at the members meeting this year. Do you think Goodwood will have to make some changes?

That will be a matter for the MSA and Goodwood to work at and I am sure they will. Circuits have to evolve. They were both quite freak accidents but I'm sure Goodwood will get some recommendations and adapt.

Why do think historic racing is enjoying so much success at the moment, not just at Goodwood but at other events also such as the Silverstone and Le Mans classics?

Well for various reasons, there is Goodwood setting the trend with the Revival meeting but there are others such as the Spa 6 hours as well. If you are a wealthy individual who likes their cars it is a good place to put your money! I have raced for people like Nigel Webb and his collection of classic Jaguars. I have raced Mike Hawthorns Jaguar D-type at the Le Mans classic in the legends race which was quite something from a personal point of view. I have driven many different historic cars and I really enjoy it and at this stage of my career it is a good thing to be involved with. To go to the big historic events such as the Revival and Le Mans classic is such a thrill, I think the Le Mans classic is the only drivers club to serve champagne and oysters! It's the grandeur of these big events like the Revival, it's a friendly atmosphere unlike cut throat modern motorsport where everyone keeps themselves to themselves, including British touring cars. In historic racing people enjoy the social aspects as much as driving the cars themselves. If you look at some of the prices of these cars and the increase in value, that's also a certain appeal too. These historic cars are as attractive to look at today as they were fifty years ago.

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What do think of the current BTCC (British touring car championship), the cars and the drivers?

It's no doubt that BTCC has bounced back to the popularity that it had in the nineties. In terms of good close racing its good and the drivers are every bit as good as we were in our day. But it's a very different animal, the racing is much more contrived with all these controlled parts, reverse grids and success ballast. It is very difficult to see who are the best teams, cars and drivers because it is so mixed up. TOCA have the ability to increase or reduce the horsepower with the turbo engines just by using a laptop plugged into the ECU. In the nineties is was more of a pure sport, it was manufacturer led and we were household names as there was only four terrestrial TV channels. We would be on BBC grandstand live with Murray Walker commentating on some of the biggest names in touring cars and ex Formula One drivers such as Nigel Mansell, Gabrielle Tarquini and Derek Warwick. It was very exclusive; I mean there were more professional drivers being paid to race in BTCC than there were in F1 at the time. It's not a pure manufacturer championship anymore, its teams and individual sponsors. You can buy your way onto the grid which was very difficult to do in the nineties and a lot of people do that in the current era of BTCC, but it was a different animal then. Now there are so many different television channels, it's just one of many sports you can watch on a Sunday afternoon.

Modern motorsport has an awful lot of competition now doesn't it?

There is so much motorsport to watch now on TV and satellite, but BTCC has produced a great package for the current era and I always watch it, it's great fun to watch the racing it is usually very close. There is a bit of contact which always adds a bit of flavour!

You had your fair share of contact didn't you?

Yes, but I had some good teachers such as John Cleland!

Speaking of John Cleland, he is currently racing his old Vauxhall Vectra in the HSCC Super Touring series. You also got to drive a super tourer recently didn't you?

At the 74th Members meeting I got to drive Derek Warwick's Vauxhall Vectra. My old Nissan was there also, the actual chassis I used in 1998 being driven by Graham Dodd. I am hoping he will let me test it or possibly race it at some point, certainly test it so I can offer some of my advice and help. As it is sprint racing the owners want to drive the cars. They are not two driver events so the chances are limited, unless you do what Cleland has done and buy your old car.

Many of the current crop of BTCC drivers are attracted to the Goodwood events, why do you think they are so keen to get involved?

Yes, in recent years we have seen some of the current BTCC drivers such as Jason Plato, Andrew Jordan and Matt Jackson at Goodwood in events like the St Marys trophy. Well run historic championship can be relatively affordable, you don't have to spend millions on Ferrari GTO's you can cobble together an A35 academy car, go racing and have fun. For the modern BTCC drivers there is the appeal of getting into the St Marys trophy at the revival, which I have a won on a number of occasions with Justin Law (Jaguar specialist) and it is quite a coup to win that race as there is some quite tough competition.

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As there is so much motorsport available in the UK do you think that it is getting increasingly difficult to recruit marshals to the industry?

I have heard that there are not as many young people getting involved in marshalling and with a limited number of experienced marshals it can be difficult to cover all of the events that take place. This is where the MSA plays an important role to actively encourage new marshals.

Do you think it should be mandatory for anyone holding an MSA licence to do a marshalling events per year?

I think that is a good idea and I must admit I have never done it myself, my old teammate David Leslie did some marshalling in his time because he felt it was a good cause. It would be a good education for those that race to do a bit of marshalling to give them an insight to what's involved.

Anthony Reid (@winAnthonyReid) was talking to Chris Brown (@cbrownmsport)

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MotoGP - Grand Prix Of Argentina Matt Kew - @QKewQ

A Ducati Disaster Following Scott Redding’s Saturday crash, Michelin and the stewards were forced to add a mandatory Pit stop to the only South American race of the season to allow riders to change bikes for fresh tyres on laps 9-11 out of the 20 lap race.

Marquez would start from pole following his 1.39.411 lap time. Last year’s race winner Rossi was 2nd, Championship leader Lorenzo 3rd, followed by Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Iannone, Vinales and Barbera.

Lorenzo was fastest off the line and so lead into T1 ahead of Marquez, Iannone, Pedrosa, Dovi and Rossi. However, a vanishing gap left Iannone to make contact with the rear of Marquez’s bike sending the Italian wide and plummeting down the rankings. Pedrosa shared the same fate as he was forced into avoiding action as a consequence. Iannone’s teammate Dovi was having much better fortunes as he exited the first complex up into 2nd. This soon became 1st as Lorenzo exited the corner well wide allowing Rossi & Marquez to line up a manoeuvre into Turn 5. Rossi ducked down the inside of his teammate, followed by Marquez. Vinales was off to a flier, and his opting to run the Suzuki with the soft front tyres looked to be a stroke of genius as he took P4 thanks to another open door Lorenzo neglected to defend.

Despite the Spanish connection there was no hiding the Argentinean fans willing Rossi on to success as well as their deep resent for Marquez following THAT kick in Malaysia at end of 2015. But even the fiercest opponent to Marquez couldn’t deny what was a sterling overtake on Rossi. Marc’s corner exit speed made Rossi look like he was pedalling a push bike.

Immediately he then set about devouring Dovi’s lead in a single corner before taking 1st following some heroic levels of speed and subsequent defending to stamp his authority on P1.

Dovi had a brief look back up the inside of Marquez, but a compromised exit speed allowed Rossi to capitalise for P2.

With 15 laps to go Lorenzo fell, quite literally, foul of the conditions. A wide line into Turn 1 meant he skated over a wet patch in Turn 1 and ended up turfed out onto the grass with a Yamaha to retrieve. But the damage was terminal and he was forced to retire.

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As the riders crossed the line for Lap 9 the pit window opened. Vinales was now up out ahead of the Ducati’s as Iannone recovered to 4th. Back at the front and Rossi’s superior exit and straight line speed allowed him past Marquez for the lead, only to get overzealous and run wide into the following corner to allow Marquez sweeping back through into 1st.

Half race distance and the top two were into the pits. But Marquez’s youth and agility allowed for him to extend his lead upon the pit exit as he lost no time at all vaulting from one bike to another. At 36 years old Rossi was by no means immobile, but when it came to switching bike, the Doctor was to lose this particular battle. This left Marquez to resume the race in P1, but Rossi was held up by, the as yet to stop, Tito Rabat in P2. So with this hindrance and Rossi’s disharmony with the second bike, so went his chances of victory.

8 to go and Redding past stormed past the wayward Honda of Pedrosa for P6. But Redding’s bike cut out 3 laps later. Despite resuming the race any chance of a headline finish was over.

The anticipation was building as Vinales closed in 0.5 seconds per lap on Rossi ever since the pit stops and, for last year’s Moto2 champion, Rossi ahead was a big scalp to be had. But into Turn 1, he also ran wide and hit a wet patch which may as well just have been ice as Maverick was a goner. This promoted the Ducati teammates, Iannone and Dovi up to 3rd and 4th respectively.

For the 51,000 fans at the race, turn 1 was once again the place to be seated as Iannone, affectionately known as the Maniac, slotted down the inside of Rossi. But as he ran wide, Rossi too had to compromise his trajectory allowing Dovizioso to nail the racing line and ascend from 4th to 2nd within a corner.

Up top and Marquez stormed to the chequered flag. Heart break was inbound for the Ducati team who had mounted the Pit wall to see home a double podium. But Iannone lost his motor braking into the penultimate corner, leaving the stray Ducati to smash teammate Dovi off also.

The worst possible fate a team and rider can suffer. Iannone was left to look at his own shoes.

The outcome of this final crescendo of drama promoted Rossi to P2. Pedrosa was gifted a podium finish out of nowhere. Ireland’s Eugene Laverty took an astonishing, an emotional, an exceptional 4th place from Barbera, Pol Espargaro, Bradl, Smith, Rabat and Bautista in a completely unpredictable Top 10 thanks to the unfolding of an incredible race. P11 for Alex Espargaro ahead of Pirro and Dovi limped home in 13th. DNFs were returned for Iannone, Crutchlow, Vinales, Redding, Baz, Lorenzo, Miller and Yonny Hernandez.

With Rossi changing bikes he fell back from Marquez and we looked to have lost an epic dual for 1st position. But the gods of motorsport more than made up for it with a (Ducati) heart breaking but totally breath-taking final few laps to end a sensational Grand Prix. Roll on the rest of the season!

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MotoGP - Grand Prix Of The Americas Matt Kew - @QKewQ

Marquez Trumps all in US There were high hopes for another spectacular race following on from a dramatic Argentinean GP. Hoping to make it 4 US wins on the bounce, Marc Marquez would start from pole position to maintain his 100% record of the new season. Lorenzo lined up in P2 ahead of teammate Rossi who hadn’t won in America since Indianapolis 2008. Last season’s Moto2 Champion Maverick Viñales’ blistering pace continued as he was fast enough to land his Suzuki in 4th ahead of Britain’s Cal Crutchlow- riding with the pain of gout. Dovizioso had a point to prove from 6th on the grid. Row 3 of the grid was headed by Iannone, in need of a strong finish to repent for his sins in knocking both him and teammate, Dovi, out of the race a week ago. A disappointing P8 ensured, despite the handicap of riding with a broken hand, the pressure kept building on Pedrosa to match fellow Repsol Honda man, Marquez. Aleix Espargaro lined up 9th ahead of the boys from Blighty, Scott Redding and Bradley Smith.

With the 5 lights out, Lorenzo was the last of the late brakers up the hill into Turn 1 to take P1. But by the time he slowed his bike to keep it on the island, Marquez reclaimed 1st position as Rossi, Lorenzo and Dovizioso continually swapped positions through the snaking first sector.

Half a lap in and the top 4 has fallen back to their starting positions. The big surprise was Dani Pedrosa now up into 5th position to relegate Vinales. But then all eyes were back to the top of the field as Lorenzo fell foul once again of his late braking exploits for P1 allowing the hammer headed Ducati of Dovizioso up into second. Lorenzo, now 3rd, was defending from the fast starting Aleix Espargaro. The biggest casualty was Rossi who dropped down to 6th behind Page | 59 Pedrosa with Iannone in hot pursuit.

He may be the most successful rider in the history of the sport, but just half a lap later and Rossi was low sided into Turn 2 as the rider jettisoned his bike into the tyre wall of retirement.

Up front and Marquez was perfecting motorsport’s ‘Vettel technique’ corner-by-corner, elbows to the ground, stretching his lead over the rest of the field.

In an effort to redeem himself, Lorenzo moved up into P2 ahead of Dovizioso on the Ducatiwhich is confirmed as Lorenzo’s new bike for next season. Then in a painful moment of déjà vu Dovizioso was once again down on the deck through no fault of his own. With a point to prove, Pedrosa dived the Honda down the inside of the Italian, was spat off of his bike, and made heavy contact with Dovizioso’s leg. Totally tragic for Dovi, but in an act of true sportsmanship, Pedrosa made a b-line to ensure Dovi was okay. Despite briefly re-joining the race, upon his eventual retirement, Pedrosa would visit and apologise to the man once back to in Pit Lane. With the controversy surrounding the potential danger in running the aerodynamic fins on the new breed of bikes, and the impact Dovi sustained, it was sweet relief to see both riders up and unharmed.

With 14 out of the 21 laps still to run, it would be Scott Redding who claimed highest place Brit and independent rider. Both Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith’s threw their bikes to the floor within moments of each other down at Turn 11. Once again both riders were unscathed, although Crutchlow wasn’t far off being collected by the Smith’s rider-less Monster Yamaha.

Fortunately, it wasn’t to be.

With Marquez well clear of the field, the remainder of the race threw up few headlines. So at the chequered flag the Spaniard extended his lead at the top of the standings to 21 points ahead of 2nd place Lorenzo. Andrea Iannone set the record straight after his Argentinean nightmare to take 3rd place ahead of the Suzuki’s. Vinales in P4 ahead of Aleix Espargaro making them the only works team to have both riders finish the race. Redding was P6 followed

by Pol Espargaro, Pirro and Barbera. Stefan Bradl rounded out the top 10. Bautista next and Ireland’s Eugene Laverty beating Rabat by less than 3 tenths of a second for P12. Baz in 15th claimed the last point behind Yonny Hernandez. Despite their earlier incidents, Crutchlow and Smith brought up the rear. Pedrosa, the innocent Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi made for high profile non-finishers.

The Argentinean GP was always going to be a tough act to follow for sheer excitement and so it proved to be for the latter half of the race. Next time out Jerez, Spain.

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MotoGP - Grand Prix Of Spain Matt Kew - @QKewQ

The final corner of Jerez has played host to some of Moto GP’s most infamous last ditch manoeuvre’s throwing up controversy and spectacle in equal measure. However, the sport’s first European outing of the season kept the action under control as Rossi dominated in his 87th top class win.

The 9-time champion left Spain following the perfect weekend, taking a 52nd pole position on the Saturday with a time of 1:38.736, the race win and fastest lap. Lorenzo would start from second on the grid ahead of Marquez in a familiar looking top 3.

Rossi launched off the line with his front wheel refusing to say on the race track. But nevertheless, into Turn 1 the Italian stallion staved off any attack from Lorenzo starting in P2.

Despite the Ducati of Dovizioso flirting with the prospect of 3rd, Dani Pedrosa’ launch from 7th to 4th kept Dovi honest and the ‘other’ Italian slotted down to P5 behind the two Repsol Hondas.

Pedrosa’s first lap success continued onwards as he slithered up the inside of Marquez for a provisional 3rd. Marquez tried to respond on Lap 2, but the unwieldy Honda of 2016 resulted in Marquez running wide to allow Dani to maintain position for now, at least.

Lorenzo, hoping to bring another dose of Spanish success to the Jerez crowd, was battling for 1st against the Doctor, Valentino. Jorge, now confirmed as a Ducati rider for next season, snuck up the inside of Rossi, but in doing so was forced into a compromised wider line.

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This allowed Rossi back through into first, and eventually onto the win as a challenge to his victory would not materialise again. The latest Grand Prix won’t go down as a classic, but in races of damage limitation for Lorenzo and Marc Marquez, it was the last of the two that deployed the final corner as the opportune platform to pass Dani Pedrosa as the boys began Lap 3.

As the 37-year-old seeks his 10th title, he began stretching the lead away from the pursing Spaniards, leaving Marquez and Lorenzo to dual it out for second. In a show of old, Rossi was imperious setting fastest lap after fastest lap continuing the weekend long superior pace of that Yamaha.

With 23 laps remaining, Eugene Laverty dispatched of Pol Espargaro to become the highest placed independent rider in 8th. A lap later saw Pol’s older brother, Aleix Espargaro on the 41 Suzuki, diving past Dovizioso as Ducati struggled to optimise their machine around the Circuito de Jerez. Bautista would crash his Aprilia out of the race in Turn 11 the following lap.

Dovizioso too wouldn’t make half race distance as he slowed to a crawl with smoke pouring off of his rear Michelin. The Italian, desperate to kick start his season having only finished 1 out of the first 4 races, persisted for another lap trying to assess the problem for himself. But Dovi could no longer prevent another DNF. This marked another round of bad press for Michelin following a difficult reintroduction to the sport for 2016. Furthermore, a DNF is now more devastating than ever at Ducati. With Jorge Lorenzo now confirmed for the Italian outfit next season, both Dovi and Iannone are under pressure to keep their ride for 2017.

Despite a resurgence from Lorenzo in the latter laps of the race, his efforts failed to close the gap to Rossi. So with 4 laps to go the Spaniard was 3.8 seconds behind Rossi as he settled for P2 and turned his attention to managing the gap to Marquez behind. Valentino continued setting laps consistently 0.245 seconds faster than Lorenzo.

Rossi, alone into the last corner, came across the finish line to end the race as he began.

Popping a wheelie down the home straight. This rounded off what the rider deemed, “the perfect weekend” as he took his first Spanish Grand Prix win since 2009. Lorenzo was P2 from Marquez, Pedrosa and Aleix Espargaro. Suzuki teammate Vinales was 1 behind in 6th. Iannone crossed the line to take 9 points ahead of Pol Espargaro, who ranked as the highest placed independent. Despite a lower finish than Argentina, Eugene Laverty’s 9th place was a race highlight as this time it was under his own terms. Barbera, Crutchlow, Smith and Baz were ranked 10th-13th. Bradl, Hernandez, Pirro, Miller, Rabat and Redding finished the grid.

Dovizioso and Bautista were our only non-finishers.

So with a trip to the historical Le Mans next on the calendar, Marquez still leads the standings with 82 points, 17 ahead of Lorenzo on 65. Rossi now has a 2016 win under his belt and 58 points for his efforts. The bets are on to see who will be on the top step in Champagne country.

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British Superbikes Stuart Jackson - @Jacko251180

As you are reading this the first weekend of the British Superbike season will have taken place at the Silverstone circuit. For those unaware of what British Superbikes or to use its more commonly known name BSB is don’t fear I am about to talk you through it. BSB is the twowheel equivalent of The British Touring car series, in comparison we have Moto GP which is the F1 of the Bike world where everything is one off prototype racing. Next we have World Superbikes they can be closely compared to the European Touring cars, finally but no means last we have the BSB series which alongside it’s Four wheeled counterpart is carried out on some of the best tracks around the UK and Holland. The season runs from April and goes the whole summer until October over Twelve rounds.

The race meetings take place mainly over a Three-day weekend with practice on the Friday and Saturday morning. Qualifying takes place over Three sessions Q1 all riders go out and take part, Q2 has the riders placed from positions Ten down to Twenty competing to get as high up the order as possible. Finally, we have Superpole where the top Ten fight it out for pole position. Sunday we have a morning warm up session followed up by the Two BSB races, twice in the year there is a triple header when a race takes place after qualifying. From rounds one to Nine all riders are competing to qualify for the Showdown which will ultimately decide the series Champion, the first Nine rounds see the riders taking points for race wins and use the same scoring system as F1.

However, when the riders who finished on the podium they are awarded podium credits 1st position 5, 2nd position 3, and 3rd position 1. Once Round Ten is reached the top Six point scoring riders are now the Title Challengers for the final Three meetings. Each rider begins the Showdown with 500 Points plus all the podium credits they have built up over the season, the regular point scoring format is still used for the Showdown.

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With it being a British based series doesn’t mean the quality of racing is lacking, BSB is looked upon as the best domestic race series throughout the world. One of the most dramatic finishes to a BSB season was back in 2011 when a full seasons racing, Tommy Hill (now team owner) beat former Moto GP star and now Hill’s rider John Hopkins by a staggering .006 of a second.

The bike used are based on road going versions of the major bike manufacturers Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, BMW and Ducati all producing around 200 bhp and capable of speeds of 180+MPH. Some of the world’s most famous riders can be found from Moto GP and World Superbikes to name a few John Hopkins, Shane Byrne, Leon Haslam and Ryuichi Kiyonari. Some of the best Road Racers take apart in the support races especially leading up to the major Road Races.

The current BSB Champion is Australian Josh Brookes who is now racing in World Superbikes, Shane “Shakey” Byrne is the most successful rider in the series with Four titles to date. The circuits which the series takes part over are Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Donnington Park, Knock Hill Racing Circuit, Oulton Park, Silverstone, Snetterton, Thruxton Circuit and since 2012 the Assen TT circuit in Holland. For the fans access to the riders is very good with open pit walks on the morning of race day. Get yourself down to your nearest circuit and take in a meeting I guarantee you won’t be disappointed and you may even find me wondering around.

For more information, visit britishsuperbike.com All races are shown live on Eurosport.

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Tom Gibson - @WA10Tom

The first round of the WTCC and the first time we would see the new Volvo’s in the championship, along with the new MAC3 format. That started after qualifying with Lada going first who set the benchmark time. Next Honda would run, but disaster stuck as Rob Huff stalled off the grid costing the team around 2 seconds to the Ladas. Citroen would take the win with Bennani joining the factory cars, and beating the Ladas by 0.030s.

Race 1 would see Hugo Valente start from pole with Rob Huff in his new Honda in second.

Fredrik Ekblom’s Volvo would start third on debut. Huff made a good start to lead with Mehdi Bennani following behind, Valente and Ekblom followed behind. Citroen’s hopes of a good first race were ruined after Muller got a drive through for a jump start, dropping him to the back of the field.

Volvo’s race also took a hit, as Ekblom broke his suspension forcing him out of the race.

Tarquini then fell out of contention through a suspension failure a few laps later. At the front, Rob Huff controlled the pace to take victory in race 1. Mehdi Bennani took second with Norbet Michelisz passing Hugo Valente for third.

Race 2 saw Lopez start from pole with Monteiro’s Honda alongside him, Muller would line up fifth with Tom Coronel’s Chevrolet fourth. Coronel’s good qualifying would be for nothing as he stalled on the grid, Muller would get up to second behind his team mate. Huff would get taken off by Valente’s Lada after he was hit by Tarquini. Tarquini was handed a drive through penalty for the incident.

Monteiro challenged Muller hard for second with team mate Norbet Michelisz just behind.

The Frenchman managed to hold off the two Hondas, but at the end of lap 8, Monteiro had a dive into the final corner. Monteiro clattered into the side of Muller allowing him past, and then Michelisz passed into the first corner.

Monteiro then set about catching Lopez, taking 4 tenths per lap out of the Citroen. Even with that pace, the Hondas would run out of laps. Meaning Lopez would take the win by just 0.254s from Monteiro with Michelisz rounding out the podium places. Muller would manage to hold on to fourth with Nicky Catsburg rounding out the top 5.

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Tom Gibson - @WA10Tom

The weekend started with a shock result as Nicky Catsburg managed to split the two Citroens in qualifying. Muller took pole with Lopez behind in third for race 2. Race 1 would see Hugo Valente’s Lada on pole, with Mehdi Bennani’s Citroen alongside him, Tarquini’s Lada would start third.

After a great qualifying for Lada, MAC3 was anything but as Catsburg stalled on the line before suffering a puncture. Citroen ran Mehdi Bennani alongside Muller and Lopez setting a time of 4:17.233. Honda then set off, matching Citroen sector by sector, finishing with exactly the same time as the Citroens.

As the lights went out for race 1, Bennani made a great start to take the lead with Monterio making a better start to jump into second from fourth. Valente’s race would get worse as he tangled with his team mate Tarquini which dropped him to ninth. At the front there was a huge battle for the lead between Bennani, Monteiro and Huff. Bennani held the Monteiro off until lap 9 when he had a huge dive at Turn 8 to take the lead.

Further back, Lopez had a huge dive to pass Muller at turn 8, which allowed Norbet Michelisz to get passed the Frenchman on the final lap. In the end Monteiro would cross the line to win with Bennani second and Huff Third. Tarquini would hold on to fourth with Lopez fifth.

In race 2, Lopez made a great start to lead into turn 1, Catsburg held onto second after holding Muller on the outside at turn 1 and 2. Lopez then started to pull away from the Lada, which was holding off a train of 6 cars.

On Lap 3, Lopez went off complaining of vibrations, allowing Catsburg to take the lead. Muller was passed by Monteiro before Huff tried to follow through, making contact in the process damaging the Citroen. Catsburg started pulling away at the front, creating a 2 second gap to Lopez.

The race looked like was over, until the penultimate lap when Catsburg’s tyres fell apart, dropping him back which allowed Lopez to catch back up to the Lada. Lopez managed to get passed the Lada on the final lap to win with Monteiro getting second Catsburg held on for third.

That leaves Tiago Monteiro leading the championship by 1 point from Lopez, with Michelisz and Huff just behind.

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6 Hours Of Silverstone Jonathan Earle - @Jon_Earle95 Photo: Barneshaw Images

This years World Endurance Championship got off to what was certainly an exciting start at Silverstone, which the #7 Audi won on the road however their victory was short lived after their R18 failed the post race checks meaning the win was handed to the #2 Porsche.

The season opener didn’t go to plan for last year’s championship winning car. Webber had built up a 17 second lead after his stint after over taking the pole sitting car on the 17th lap, he handed the car over to Brendon Hartley who continued to extend that lead until he collided with the GTE AM Porsche just after the two hour mark. Hartley was trying to lap Michael Wainwright around the outside at Farm when the two collided in spectacular fashion sending the #1 car flying in the air and out of the race. The #8 Audi driven by Jarvis, di Grassi and Duval retired just after the three-hour mark. The retirement was caused by a problem with the cars energy-retrieval system forcing di Grassi to turn off the single front axel motor generator before stopping on track.

The #7 cars disqualification meant the #6 Toyota of Conway, Sarrazin and Kobayashi took the second podium spot, however they were behind their sister car for a long period of the race until the #5 picked up a puncture in the fourth hour dropping the car a long way down the field as Nakajima had to drive a whole lap with a right rear puncture causing damage to the car resulting in a lengthy stop for the Toyota team meaning they finished 16th overall. The final overall podium spot was claimed by the #13 Rebellion car of Tuscher, Kraihamer and Imperatori, the best result to date for the privateer team.

The LMP2 class win was claimed by the #43 RGR Sport by Monrad crew of Gonzalez, Albuquerque and Senna in their Nissan powered Ligier, closely followed by the Extreme Speed Motorsports #31 car of Dalziel, Derani and Cumming with the final class podium place being claimed by the #26 G-Drive Racing car of Rusinov, Berthon and Rast.

In LMGTE Pro the #71 AF Corse car of Rigon and Bird claimed the class win followed by the #51 AF Corse sister car of Bruni and Calado in second. The final podium place was claimed by the #95 Aston Martin Racing car of Thim, Sorensen and Turner.

LMGTE AM was won by the #83 AF Corse car of Perodo, Collar and Aguas. Second place in the AM class was claimed by the #98 Aston of Dalla Lana, Lamy and Lauda with the AM podium being rounded off by the #50 Larbre Competition Corvette of Yamagishi, Ragues and Ruberti.

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Matt Rao – Interview Photo – Mark Bowley

What were you hoping to achieve on your WEC debut this weekend just gone and did you fulfil your hopes?

The important thing for us at the first race was to finish with no problems, after all this is a new team and a team of guys all working together. Anything after that was a bonus. Of course from a purely performance point of view, we in the 45 car showed that we had some good pace throughout the race.

What was it about the Manor project that convinced you over other teams who have been established in the sport longer?

At the begin of the year my management team at All Road and I were in contact with multiple teams up and down the pit lane, but the new fresh Manor outfit seemed to be a great opportunity for me. Being my first year in sports cars I felt it was good to go with Manor because of their expertise in getting the most out of young drivers, which manor have shown throughout their time in single seaters.

As you've previously raced in single seaters, what's the transition like between single seater and an LMP2 car? How have you had to adapt?

It's not as bad as I thought, the car has a lot of downforce and a lot of medium and high speed grip. The only aspect which was difficult to adapt too was the slow speed performance, the car is significantly heavier and thus isn't as nimble at lower speed. The difficulties in transition were more with the driving style (tyre and fuel management) and the length of stints being 3-4 times longer than anything I had done previously.

What does the future hold? Are you looking to stay at Manor, progress to LMP1 or would you ever be interested in racing in another form of Motorsport?

The future is very open for me, I think it would be beneficial in the short term to stay in LMP2 and build up experience and try to gain a solid reputation to hopefully land a factory (in LMP1 or GT) drive in the coming years. But if any other series which seems attractive and a good step for my career were to become available I would relish the opportunity.

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Which track on the 2016 calendar are you most looking forward to racing at?

Le Mans and Austin I think are the 2 that I'm most looking forward to driving. Le Mans for the heritage and sheer gravitas that circuit holds in the motor racing world and Austin purely because having driven it on simulators it's just an awesome experience in a downforce car.

What got you into Motorsport and what advice would you give to anyone starting out and how they can progress through to possibly making a career out of it?

I came to motorsports quite late on, my family aren't involved or have ever really been interested in it. But when I was 13 we were invited to go to the Monaco Grand Prix by a work friend of my Dads. As soon as I heard those roaring engines, I was hooked. Then the amazing engineering feats to get these cars to such speeds just obsessed me since. So after begging my Mum and Dad to take me karting they finally did, a year and a half later by which time the TV had pretty much become motorsport only. The advice I would give to any aspiring racer is to not give up on the studies while they're racing. Having the technical knowledge and the brain power to handle and process the information constantly being fed to you while racing is only a bonus compared to the others.

Finally, in your team you've got two ex-F1 drivers in the form of Roberto and Will, does that put any extra pressure on you as a driver to push yourself harder?

I don't think it does, the beauty of having them as teammates means that I always have a yardstick to compare myself against, it's a massive help having them on board and being able to push myself to reach and maybe exceed their times it is more of an exciting challenge that extra pressure.

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A Marshalls View Of The 6 Hours Of Silverstone Ricky Hawkins - @MrRHawkins Photo - Barneshaw Images

On the weekend of the 16/17 April, saw the return of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Silverstone. This was the first meeting away from my second home at Snetterton due to the way the calendar had worked out. I have been a fan of endurance racing for many years and have recently enjoyed marshalling the iconic 24hr Citroen 2CV race as well as the Hankook 12H race in Zandvoort. However, this was my first taste of these famous cars to grace the legendary 24hr Le Mans race.

After signing on early Saturday morning (in a slight snow flurry), I was made aware of where I would be located as part of the 'Orange Army'. Luckily for me, I was at Post 23, the central post within the iconic 'Becketts' complex. This gave me the ideal opportunity to see these cars cornering at very high speed and the sheer agility of the LMP cars. Well, so I thought, as Mother Nature had other ideas! The snow flurries intensified and ultimately led to the abandonment of the final WEC practice session, and the Porsche qualifying session.

Although the morning was a 'white out', Saturday afternoon improved with some spring sunshine and the 4hr European Le Mans race running smoothly despite a few Full Course Yellows. Sunday improved dramatically with the bright and warm sunshine. This was also helped with some pretty close racing in the WEC 6hr race with the leaders separated by less than a minute heading into the final stages.

There is something very satisfying about the sound of racing cars reverberating around a race track, hearing the engines sing as they hit the rev limiter heading down the straights. The smell of race fuel as they cars pass, the sounds of the tyres on the edge of traction. I can think of no better way to spend my weekends than being this close and involved within motorsport.

So, if this has whetted your appetite to join the Orange Army, then visit www.marshals.co.uk or www.gomotorsport.net.

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Pirelli British GT Championship 2016 – Round 1 Brands Hatch – GT3 Class Review Gavin Finlayson - @gsf2712 Photo – Barneshaw Images

After the flurry of driver and team changes, new cars and new tyre supplier for 2016 were announced during the off-season there was a sense of anticipation and excitement ahead of the opening round of the 2016 British GT Championship on the Grand Prix Circuit at Brands Hatch. In the end though TF Sport started 2016 where it left off in 2015, with Derek Johnston and Jonny Adam taking victory in an accident filled and often controversial opening round that saw no more than an hour of racing from the planned two-hour race. The Aston Martin drivers coped with the early challenge of Team Parker Racing’s Rick Parfitt Jnr and Seb Morris (Bentley) to lead home Lee Mowle and Joe Osborne (AMDtuning.com) with the Bentley pairing ultimately taking third and the final podium position.

Parfitt Jnr led the field into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time set about building a 3 second lead over Jon Minshaw’s Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan who in turn had built a 2second advantage over Johnston’s TF Sport Prepared Vantage. The order would soon change as Minshaw's involvement in the race ended on lap nine, victim of an error by GT4 driver Wilson Thompson. Minshaw did make it back to the pits, but given the length of the race and the time it would take to fix the broken suspension his Barwell team retired the car. Lap 22 and a huge accident occurred on the run to Pilgrims Drop which saw Phil Dryburgh in the Motorbase Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and the GT4 Aston Martin of Matthew Graham make contact. This put the Motorbase driver up on his two left wheels, with Graham sliding underneath the GT3, launching Dryburgh into a series of nose-to-tail flips in the air finally landing in the barriers to the left of the circuit. Graham’s Generation AMR MacMillan Racing Vantage careered to the right of the track then clipped the rear of Nick Jones’ Ginetta G55 GT4 and removed him from the race too.

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The scene after the incident looked more like a multi car pile-up on the motorway but thankfully all drivers escaped unharmed. A reminder once again to the strength of modern GT3 cars and the rapid response of marshals and staff at the Kent circuit. There then followed a ‘Code 80’ period which saw all the cars adopt a set speed of 80km/h (the first in British GT history) This was to change the race completely, although at the time we were not to know just how much it would change it.

Race leader, Parfitt Jnr, watched his 10s lead disappear while stuck behind a GT4 car which for whatever reason was not travelling at the optimal 80km/h, while Johnston, Griffin, Mowle and McCaig were able to circulate at the correct speed.

Parfitt Jnr remarked, “I feel robbed. We had a good start and I put my head down and built up a gap, then it was all about maintaining it; we were driving to target and the race was going to plan. Then the Code 80 came into effect and I had around 10s as a gap, but by the time I pitted I had a 1s lead. It needs to be looked into, because it clearly doesn’t work. Then to add insult to injury the GT4 Maserati was parked at 45 degrees with its door open and we couldn’t get onto our fuel rig. The positives are we came here and wanted a top six, and got a podium. We reintroduced a British marque into GT racing and also took pole, and starting a race with nobody in front of me was a real honour.”

The race went green on lap 37, but not as the leader crossed the start line, it was at the rear of the GP loop. Osborne made light work of Babini for second with a bold move on cold tyres and former British GT Champ Jon Barnes (in for Farmer) coolly passed Will Moore (in for Ratcliffe) for sixth.

At the start of lap 39 Adam lead by almost 3s and the Aston Martin racer had the Vantage’s Pirellis warmed up nicely, overcoming a brief caution period for a stray GT4 at Paddock Hill Bend, and delivering a 1:24.695 lap of Brands, that was 1.5s quicker than second-placed Osborne’s time.

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Osborne’s attention soon switched from attack to defence for the remainder of the race, a situation not dissimilar to last year’s titanic battle for the lead with Alexander Sim’s BMW. On lap 40 British GT new boy Morris passed the factory Lamborghini racer Babini, and reeled in Osborne rapidly, eliminating 0.9s of the AMDtuning.com driver’s cushion on lap 42 alone.

Optimum’s Moore finished off a torrid debut weekend in British GT by exiting the race backwards at Paddock Hill Bend, but the exciting battle between Osborne and Morris continued until lap 52, when the race was halted indefinitely due to the catalytic converters in Luke Davenport’s Tolman Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT3 catching fire.

Overall the opening round of the British GT season was a positive affair, but again it was overshadowed by unnecessary contact and a sizeable accident, questions over BoP (Balance of Performance) across the different marques and the impact of the new ‘Code 80’ rule amongst the teams.

SRO (the event organizer’s) have a history of getting things right in the long run and listening to feedback so it is likely that things are corrected in time for round two at Rockingham in ten days’ time.

NOTE: Post-race officials deemed Osborne’s overtake on Babini at the restart to have taken place under yellow flags, and results were switched by way of a 10.68s time penalty to allow the Babini and Griffin to take third, promoting Morris and Parfitt Jnr to second. Osborne also received three penalty points.

1. GT3 Derek JOHNSTON / Jonny ADAM Aston Martin Vantage GT3 1 50 1:35:14.612 76.64 1:24.695 41 TF Sport 2. 31 GT3 Rick PARFITT / Seb MORRIS Bentley Continental GT3 2 50 7.339 1:35:21.951 7.339 76.54 1:25.271 44 Team Parker Racing 3. 6 GT3 Liam GRIFFIN / Fabio BABINI Lamborghini Huracan GT3 3 50 17.745 1:35:32.357 10.406 76.40 1:25.956 47 Barwell Motorsport 4. 7 GT3 Lee MOWLE / Joe OSBORNE BMW Z4 GT3 4 50 17.747 1:35:32.359 0.002 76.40 1:26.117 43 AMDtuning.com 5. 1 GT3 Andrew HOWARD / Ross GUNN Aston Martin Vantage GT3 5 50 17.873 1:35:32.485 0.126 76.40 1:25.963 47 Beechdean AMR 6. 11 GT3 Mark FARMER / Jon BARNES Aston Martin Vantage GT3 6 50 18.608 1:35:33.220 Page | 73 0.735 76.39 1:26.331 47 TF Sport

Pirelli British GT Championship 2016 – Round 1 Brands Hatch – GT4 Class Review Gavin Finlayson - @gsf2712 Photo – Barneshaw Images

Everything written already in the GT3 race review clearly applies to the race for honours in the GT4 class so let's get straight into the action. Sunny and chilly weather conditions greeted the field on race day, in contrast to the overcast and occasionally damp weather in which Anna Walewska and Nathan Freke had planted their Century Motorsport Ginetta G55 on GT4 pole position.

A large gap to the back of the GT3 grid meant the green lights were largely out of sight for the GT4 entries but Walewska held her nerve to lead into Paddock Hill Bend. Graham Johnson, alongside Walewska in the PMW/Expo Optimum Ginetta, commenting “I saw her go, so I thought I’d better do the same!”

Jack Bartholomew, on board last year’s title-winning Beechdean Aston Martin squad, managed to get the jump on Johnson into the blind crest of the right hander, but Johnson had the measure of the Aston Martin, using the line out of Druids hairpin to muscle through on the inside into Graham Hill Bend. Walewska led the first lap, but was steadily reeled in and overhauled by Johnson’s PMW World Expo / Optimum Racing Ginetta on the second. From this point on the orange and black number 50 entry was never really challenged, Johnson keeping his head to manage a lead of around 1.5 seconds until yellow flags intervened and a trip to the pits.

The Beechdean Aston Martin was on an early charge though, Bartholomew’s pace a little better than Walewska’s to gain second and start targeting the leader again. Behind the early scrap in the top three the field was settling down and Matty Graham’s number 42 Generation AMR Aston Martin had passed Will Phillips’s number 45 RCIB Ginetta at the start to take fourth.

The impressive looking Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse McLaren 570S driven by Sandy Mitchell in his first ever British GT stint, had grabbed sixth from the number 40 Century Ginetta of Sean Byrne Page | 74 and then set about the RCIB / Team HARD Ginetta to take fifth position.

As things were just starting to shape up nicely however the race was running under its first fullcourse yellow as the number 75 RCIB/Team HARD Ginetta was in the gravel at Clearways after tangling with John Minshaw’s GT3 Lamborghini and coming off second best.

At the re-start Will Phillips in the number 45 Ginetta pulled away from the Ecurie Ecosse McLaren, which then fell backwards into the clutches of Jamie Chadwick’s Generation AMR Aston Martin. The number 45 car then closed on Walewska’s Ginetta for third, setting personal fastest sector times before passing the number 73 Century car. Walewska was having none of it though and fought back to reclaim the place out on the Grand Prix loop.

The decisive moment in the race then followed as contact between the Motorbase GT3 Aston Martin and the Matthew Graham GT4 Aston sent the GT3 car rolling towards the bridge at Pilgrims Drop. Most importantly, no-one was hurt in what was a huge accident.

As already mentioned in the GT3 class review controversially some cars slowed to the statutory 80 kph imposed by the new rules sooner than others, while some clearly didn’t understand the procedure. It seems the British GT Championship was not fully prepared for this new rule, which was intended to freeze the running order and relative track position.

But with twenty-three minutes to go it was all over as a fiery Ginetta GT3 was in a dangerous position and it was decided the Red Flag was the solution. Barring any mechanical issues, it is unlikely the win for Johnson and Robinson would have been under threat but we were denied the battle for the podium positions and any conclusions from round 1. Still, it was valuable points for some new teams who deserved early reward for their efforts and a couple of rising stars showed promise as we look to round 2 at Rockingham for a clearer picture of the likely championship contenders in 2016 for GT4 class honours.

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Top 6 in GT4 Class 50 GT4 Graham JOHNSON / Mike ROBINSON Ginetta G55 GT4 1 48 2 Laps 1:36:38.437 1 Lap 72.51 1:33.545 46 PMW World Expo Racing / Optimum Motorsport 73 GT4 Nathan FREKE / Anna WALEWSKA Ginetta G55 GT4 2 47 3 Laps 1:35:14.874 1 Lap 72.04 1:33.169 43 Century Motorsport 45 GT4 Jordan STILP / William PHILLIPS Ginetta G55 GT4 3 47 3 Laps 1:35:16.937 2.063 72.01 1:33.165 39 RCIB INSURANCE RACING 44 GT4 Jamie CHADWICK / Matthew GEORGE Aston Martin Vantage GT4 4 47 3 Laps 1:35:30.901 13.964 71.84 1:33.549 7 Generation AMR Racing 407 GT4 Jordan ALBERT / Jack BARTHOLOMEW Aston Martin Vantage GT4 5 47 3 Laps 1:35:32.681 1.780 71.81 1:33.950 5 Beechdean AMR 59 GT4 Ciaran HAGGERTY / Sandy MITCHELL McLaren 570S GT4 6 47 3 Laps 1:35:35.922 3.241 71.77 1:33.642 44 Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse

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Why German Motorsport Fans Should Back Sophia Floersch Gavin Finlayson - @gsf2712

First of all, I would like to say that my experience of attending the opening Oschersleben round of the ADAC GT Masters was nothing but positive.... great atmosphere in the campsite, friendly staff, good facilities, amazing and generous fans…. I really couldn’t drink another beer or eat another thing for the next Month!

The thing that struck me most however was the difference between British Motorsport fans and German fans.... this is not a criticism by the way, just an observation!

Am I qualified to make this observation? Having attended many races across many series in the UK and 4 days at Oschersleben surrounded by 50+ German race fans at the campsite (this is just by my tent BTW!) I believe I am.

Firstly, it is a mostly male crowd, many of which have the usual knowledge of F1 and their opinions on who is the best driver and so on. Secondly, and quite rightly they are very proud of the success of their German car manufacturers. Thirdly for many of them it is a ‘lads weekend’ - the racing is second to the partying on the campsite and finally from what I could see there were less families attending than for example at a UK round of the BTCC. What struck me the most however was their lack of knowledge beyond the obvious big names and high profile drivers.... the only F4 driver they could name was Mick Schumacher....and trust me I asked everyone on the campsite!

Of course Mick is headline news, the success of father, Michael and the tragic events since mean that he will always be headline news.

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Isn’t it just a little boring though? Same name, different plot...we have so many ‘sons of' racing right now it just seems like a remake of the same movie, equally what can a male German driver add to Germany’s Motorsport history? Arguably not a lot when you’ve got Michael Schumacher on 7 titles and Sebastian Vettel on 4, Mercedes F1 dominance and so on....

What Germany does have, and should be singing from the rooftops, is arguably the best female racing talent ever.... Sophia Floersch.

Germany could quite conceivably have a former record holding 7 times F1 champion, current 4 times (and counting F1 champion) and first female F1 racing driver (of the modern era) on its list of motorsport achievements.

Of course us British, had the chance to see Sophia’s talent up close last year when she competed in the Ginetta junior series which included her historic double win at Thruxton. Since then Sophia has had a loyal and passionate fan base in the UK which continue to follow her progress even though she no longer races in the UK...obviously this includes me!

German race fans have also now had their chance to see Sophia in action in Germany in her F4 debut, and once again Sophia set new standards, not just for female racers but overall. Points in her opening race of round 1, running top 6 in race 2 before being shunted off and finally the epic P5 in race 3 which saw Sophia once again being hit and losing her rear wing, despite which she bravely carried on to claim the 5th place.

So German race fans, show Sophia some love and support this year...you have a megastar here so why not follow Sophia on her Motorsport journey to be the next female racer in F1.

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Blancpain Endurance Series Round 1 – Monza Ben Green - @benosenna

Qualifying This weekend saw the return of the Blancpain Endurance Series. As always the first round headed in to the old banks of the Monza Circuit. The grid was big last season but this season saw a record shattering 57 car grid, a grid made up of the greatest GT3 cars and teams around.

Qualifying took place early on the Sunday morning with a damp but drying track. ROWE Racing's Phillip Eng topped the first & second part of qualifying. The Ferrari's were looking mighty quick throughout all of the sessions. Towards the end of the session WRT's Laurens Vanthoor took a rather uncharacteristic spin coming out of the chicane. Fastest overall was HTP's Maxi Buhk in the Mercedes AMG GT3 with 31 cars within a second of his time.

Main Race On to the race, The HTP driven by Dominic Baumann led the cars down to the first chicane with cars barging into each other most made it through ok but a few decided to use the slip road or simply cut the corner these would later be punished with a drive through. The #8 Bentley of Andy Soucek was shunted from the rear by the Grasser Racing Huracan. Audi's Frank Stipler had a bit of a nervous moment as he went over the Ascari chicane but with no harm done to the R8.

Team Parker Racing's Derek Pierce seemed to be in the wars during his stint getting turned around at the chicane and then later whilst avoiding a stricken Audi getting slammed up the rear by the Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini. Garage 59's Rob Bell had an amazing first stint and was charging up the field. The #98 ROWE Racing BMW had been forced to retire with mechanical failure even though it was in a good position. Kiwi Shane Van Gisbergen took over in the McLaren of Garage 59 for the final stint pushing hard to form a gap over HTP's Maxi Buhk who was also pushing hard, Van Gisbergen pushed a little too hard and kicked up dirt at the exit of the 2nd chicane.

The Jaguar of the Emil Frey team was mightily quick but was forced to the pits on the last lap by a Marshall and wasn't classed as a finisher. Out in front for the last 20 minutes Buhk was charging hard to catch the Kiwi but just couldn't close the gap even when Van Gisbergen took too much kerb on the exit of the parabolica. The McLaren finally finished the race with HTP's Buhk just 0.390s behind.

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Jack Falla Interview

Hi Jack, thank you for taking the time out to talk to us. Firstly, looking back you’ve racing in Porsche Carrera Cup GB last year and this year you’ve mad the step up into Blancpain GT racing in the Lamborghini Huracan, how have you had to adapt to this car compared to the Porsche?

The Porsches weight district was very different to the Huracan. With the engine so far back the really need to get the nose down for the car to turn. Plus, I have the luxuries of traction control and ABS in the Huracan.

Now, looking ahead to this season what are you most looking forward to within the Blancpain GT? The atmosphere, the fans, the cars, the tracks?

I think the calendar is always pretty special with BPSS. I am looking forward to N Ring and also Barcelona very much. Brands Hatch is the only circuit I have driven before so all very new for me.

Which track(s) on this seasons Blancpain calendar are you most looking forward to driving?

N Ring and Barcelona How hard is it to manage traffic during a race with so many cars on the circuit at once?

In SS it is mainly PRO rated drivers so traffic isn't really as much of an issue as the Endurance Championship is. Being the faster car it's down to you to make a safe pass with trying not to sacrifice your speed and momentum.

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As you come from a small island called Guernsey, how much hard work have you had to put in to get to where you are today and what got you into motorsport, what advice would you give to others starting out, looking to make a career out of it?

Being from Guernsey does make things difficult. Although Motorsport is loved within the island and we do support lots of events, circuit racing isn't possible. I think the best advice whenever trying to achieve your dream is never give up. There is no shortcut to success.

What are your plans for your racing future? Are you looking to stay in the Blancpain GT Series or maybe progress to the WEC? I think it's only natural to ever want more. Before Carrera Cup I always said that would be a dream. The goal has always been Prototype in WEC but we will have to see. I may do some LMP stuff in the US later in the year. Being involved with Lamborghini is definitely a childhood dream though.

Thank you for taking the time out talking to us here at L&T Motorsport and we wish you the best for the rest of the season.

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Morgan Jones Debuts In Mini Challenge Charlotte White - @CharlieEWhite

The first weekend of the MINI Challenge championship saw the debut of Morgan Jones’ race career. Having shown pace in testing, Morgan was set for an interesting first race weekend.

Morgan’s first race resulted in a DNF having been caught up in an incident which led to a rear right puncture making the car unstable. Jones took the decision to pull the car into the pits to prevent any further damage. There was more damage to the rear right corner than initially thought and the Coastal Racing team worked through the night to get Morgan’s car back at a racing standard. The work continued on Sunday morning whilst the team waited on parts to arrive. Jones would start 13th for race 2 with hopes of a top 10 finish.

Race 2 saw the MINI Challenge starting under wet conditions: during the green flag lap Morgan chosen to bring the car into the pits for a change of tyres. The team felt that changing the tyres would have been a poor decision due to the likeliness of the track drying throughout the race. The track was slippery and for the first few laps the car may have benefited from wets, however with the track steadily drying on the racing line the decision to stay on slicks paid off with Morgan gaining places and catching the competitors ahead of him. Jones went for yet another overtake but could not do so safely. Morgan stayed behind for a few laps watching Bamber’s lines and took the opportunity when he saw it. Morgan then went on to ghost another competitor in the hope of taking the car ahead of him. Time was not on Morgan’s side and could not go for a final overtake.

Race 3 would see Morgan starting in P11. His hopes for the last race of his first meeting: stay out of trouble and earn himself a well-deserved top 10 finish. The hope was the race would be wet (previous races and testing had been in the wet). The track was slippery and cold with only 1 green flag lap Morgan had to quickly and efficiently get heat into his tyres to close the gap with the car in front. The race saw a big incident at the first corner meaning the safety car had to be brought out. This put Morgan back in 15th after dropping places to avoid any danger.

Morgan was driving incredibly well gaining place after place and putting up a good defence against Neal for several laps. An incident between Neal and another Coastal Racing driver gave Morgan some breathing room meaning he had a clean drive to the finish. After an eventful racing and some excellent driving from Morgan, he brought the car home to a very respectful 6th place.

I have seen many drivers negotiate a race track, as well as several novice drivers get to grips with the tricks of the trade. Morgan showed incredible professionalism despite the challenges he faced, he has a long way to come and a lot to learn, but from what I have seen, Morgan Jones will be a seasoned race in no time. With the pace he has and the team and support he has around him, Morgan is set for a very promising first season. Definitely one to watch.

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