Spa Francorchamps always produces exciting races and is a favorite circuit with many drivers. The highly competitive GP2 series again produced drama and incident, but through it all came James Calado with two excellent podium finishes and a strong haul of points. Jolyon Palmer, in the same races suffered mixed fortunes but again showed his racecraft and speed with a stirring second race. Also at Spa, in the GP3 series, Lewis Williamson and Alex Brundle were in the thick of two drama filled races. Both were unlucky not to score more points from the races but both showed good pace at times over the weekend. In the USA on the streets of Baltimore Oli Webb was unlucky not to score a podium in the Indy Lights race after damage dropped him from the front of the race. Josh Hill experienced the highs and lows of motorsports at Most in the Formula Renault Northern European Cup. Dominating qualifying and the first of three races set Josh up for a great weekend. Sadly mechanical and accident damage jeopardized his subsequent two races leaving Josh to wonder what might have been a perfect weekend.

Tim Harvey Director, BRDC SuperStars

222012

welcome IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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GP2 Series action resumed after the summer break at the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, and James continued his pre-break form by scoring two assured podium finishes to move up to third place in the championship with four races remaining.

James qualified an impressive second for Saturday’s 25-lap Feature race alongside pole-sitter Rio Haryanto. Eventual race winner Marcus Ericsson managed to squeeze past James late on the first lap of the race, pushing James back to third. After the majority of the field had made their compulsory stops, Haryanto spun off the track, promoting James to second. Following a lengthy safety car and subsequent red flag period James was running solidly behind Ericsson and crossed the line to secure the second podium spot.

James started from seventh for Sunday’s Sprint race and made an incredible start in his Lotus GP car, catapulting up the inside into second position behind Josef Kral by the exit of the first corner. He ran consistently well over the 18-lap race, putting pressure on Kral but sticking in second. However, after suffering tyre degradation in the closing stages of the race, James was passed at the final chicane by Felipe Nasr, leaving him to fill the final podium spot.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION

1 2 3

Race one was action packed and very difficult. We had a lack of pace and I

lacked experience in the dry at Spa so I wasn’t too happy at the start. When the rhythm came though, I still struggled with pace. The Sprint was a fantastic race. I got a lightning start and had good pace throughout. It was tough to keep with Kral and save the tyres though. The last three laps were unstable under braking and that allowed Felipe through at the last corner. It was nice to be on the podium twice and I was happy with the points.

JAMES CALADOGP2 SeriesSpa Francorchamps, Belgium

2 7

2 3

3www.racingsteps.co.uk

@jamescalado

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Josh secured his third victory of the season in the Formula Renault Northern European Cup with a dominant lights to flag win in race one at Most, crossing the finish line almost ten seconds ahead of his nearest competitor and posting the fastest lap of the race.

On Sunday morning Josh took to the grid in second position for race two. Snatching the lead before turn one, he was again able to pull out a substantial lead with no other car able to match his pace. He looked set to secure his second win of the weekend when, just a few laps before the end of the race, he suffered an electrics failure and his car stopped on track.

For race three Josh lined up in P6. Making another strong start he was up to P4 at the start and closing in on third place. However, Gabriel Casagrande made an overzealous move on him which dislodged his front wing. Immediately after the contact Josh was suffering with oversteer and struggling with pace. He dropped down to P5 and, in the closing stages of the race, was pushed wide on to the grass and relegated to P6.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION

1 2 3

We had a perfect start to the weekend with two fantastic qualifying sessions

and a race win and we were looking good for another race win, and at least another podium finish. However, the results on Sunday mean we leave quite disappointed as we were hopeful of more championship points. However, we can take a number of positives away from the weekend, including the pace that we have in both qualifying and the races.

JOSH HILLFormula Renault Northern European CupMost, Czech Republic

1 2 6

1 DNF 6

3www.joshhillracing.com

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Ahead of the weekend’s GP3 Series rounds at Spa, Status GP confirmed that Lewis would drive for the team for the Belgian and Monza rounds of the championship, securing him a race seat through to the end of the season.

Lewis qualified sixth for Saturday’s Feature race, but lost a place in the scramble at La Source hairpin immediately after the start. He then pulled off a magnificent move into Eau Rouge to take sixth back from Aaro Vainio, but the Finn re-passed at Les Combes. Lewis then lost a further position on lap two when he ran wide. After five laps the race was red flagged following an accident involving Robert Cregan and the drivers received half points. His eighth place finish secured him pole position for Sunday’s Sprint race.

In Sunday’s 12-lap Sprint Lewis started well but lost a place at the first corner. Over the ensuing seven laps Lewis embarked on a fierce battle with Conor Daly, eventually losing out to the American on lap seven when he ran wide. On lap eight Antonio Felix Da Costa pushed Lewis down to fourth and on the final laps he struggled with debris on his tyres which caused understeer. After a hard fought battle Lewis crossed the line in seventh position.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION

1 2 3

In the Feature race I seemed to struggle on the straights early on, and I made a

mistake when I ran wide and lost the place to Daly. But then our car started to come into the zone, and it would have been good if the race had continued. On Sunday the main thing was to keep Conor behind me but when I ran wide the tyres just went completely. It was a real shame and very frustrating but now we go forward to the final round at Monza.

LEWIS WILLIAMSONGP3 SeriesSpa Francorchamps, Belgium

6 1

8 7

17www.lewiswilliamson.com

@lewis__17

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The GP2 weekend at Spa saw Jolyon get off to an impressive start, qualifying his iSport car in dry conditions in fifth position for Saturday’s 25-lap Feature race.

As the race got underway on Saturday afternoon, Jolyon got bogged down at the start and fell to seventh. He began to close in on sixth-placed Davide Valsecchi when the safety car was deployed on lap seven. He made his compulsory stop when the pitlane opened under the safety car but, due to traffic, was delayed in his release from the pits and lost places, emerging in 12th. After a one-hour red flag period, Jolyon was immediately on the pace moving up to sixth of the drivers that had already pitted. Over the next eight laps he put pressure on Luiz Razia but on lap 17 Razia hit him as he tried to overtake, damaging his front wing and putting him out of the race.

Starting from the back of the grid in the 18-lap Sprint race on Sunday, Jolyon got off to a lightning start, avoiding an incident packed opening and moving up to 10th by the end of the first lap. He ran as high as eighth, slipped to 11th over the ensuing laps but ultimately crossed the line in 10th to record a solid finish after starting in 22nd.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION

1 2 3

I got a poor start in the first race and lost a couple of positions. After that I lost out

with the pit stops as I had to queue up behind Marcus. I dropped to P12 at the red flag but then was coming back through the pack well until Razia chopped me. Our pace was very strong though. On Sunday I had a great first lap to move up from 22nd to 10th but ran over some debris, damaging my front wing and floor. A top five was possible without the damage.

JOLYON PALMERGP2 SeriesSpa Francorchamps, Belgium

5 22

DNF 10

11www.jolyonpalmer.co.uk

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Oli was in action on the unforgiving streets of Baltimore as the Firestone Indy Lights championship returned to its position as the support series for the Indycar Series after the last stand alone race at Trois-Rivières.

The Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver qualified his No. 7 Lucas Oil car in fifth place but was promoted and started the race from fourth after Carlos Munoz was penalised following the qualifying session for an aerodynamic infringement.

In the race on Sunday Oli got off to a good start and was fighting for second position when his team-mate Esteban Guerrieri made contact, causing damage to his front wing. Despite his best efforts he slipped down the order but battled hard and crossed the line in a respectable sixth position.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION

1 2 3

Qualifying was okay for me, I was starting in a pretty good place on the second row.

In the race I got a good start and was fighting for second position but I was hit in turn one of the first lap. I lost the front wing so was in a difficult position from then on but I fought hard and held on for sixth position.

OLI WEBBFirestone Indy LightsStreets of Baltimore, USA

4

6

7www.oliwebbracing.com

@oliverjameswebb

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It was a tricky weekend for Alex who started on the back foot after suffering from set-up issues in Friday’s 30-minute qualifying session, lining up his Carlin GP3 car in 17th position on the grid for Saturday’s Feature race at Spa Francorchamps.

Alex slipped down to 18th on lap one and then lost a further position on lap three. Two laps later Alex was running three wide into the Pouhon corner when David Fumanelli ran into him. Alex in turn hit David Cregan, who hit the tyre wall heavily and brought out a safety car. The race was shortly thereafter red flagged. Alex was classified in 19th position after four completed laps.

Sunday’s 12-lap Sprint saw an incident at the first corner involving several cars and Alex was able to take avoiding action and move up the order to 15th by the end of the first lap. Alex steadily gained positions and was running in 13th by the halfway point, finally crossing the line in 11th.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION

1 2 3

We looked really strong in practice in the rain, it is frustrating it didn’t carry

on raining. We had a bit of a problem in qualifying with the car hitting the floor in Eau Rouge, which caused us to lose speed. We worked on a solution for race one but that made the car very difficult to drive. We got it fixed for race two and made good progress through the field. It was an unfortunate weekend.

ALEX BRUNDLEGP3 SeriesSpa Francorchamps, Belgium

17 19

19 11

15www.alexbrundle.com

@alexbrundle

UPCOMING EVENTSDate SuperStar Event LocationSeptember 7-9 James Calado GP2 Series Monza

September 7-9 Jolyon Palmer GP2 Series Monza

September 7-9 Alexander Sims European Le Mans Series Brno

September 7-9 Alex Brundle GP3 Series Monza

September 7-9 Lewis Williamson GP3 Series Monza

September 8-9 Alex Lynn Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series Silverstone

September 8-9 Jack Harvey Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series Silverstone