Pitlane Reporter Issue 8

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Formula One | IndyCar | BTCC | WRC | NASCAR | GP2 | Interviews | Previews | Statistics | Historic Racing | dtmPLUS

october 2014

#ForzaJules

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contents

4 Editors Notes6 Meet The Team9 Letters Page11 Singapore Formula One Grand Prix Review14 Japanese Formula One Grand Prix Review19 IndyCar History - How Did We Get Here?22 IndyCar News in Brief24 WRC Australia Review32 Rally France Review43 NASCAR Announces 2015 Rule Package44 NASCAR Case Update46 Tony Stewarts Difficult Summer48 Sergio Canamasas Feature52 What Are They Doing Now: Esteban Gutierrez53 What Are They Doing Now: Nico Rosberg55 Mega Marco: We Introduce The 2014 DTM Champion60 BTCC Round 965 Blancpain Sprint Series Round 570 Blancpain Endurance Series Final 76 Getting Started In Historic Racing79 That Was The Year That Was83 The Success of Oman Racing in GT386 Dario’s Motorsport Gallery91 PSP in F192 Everyday Driving Column

Singapore GP Review

Mega Marco Feature

Sergio Canamasas Feature

Page 11

page 55

Page 48



EDITORS NOTES

I’m writing this on the Tuesday following the Japanese Grand Prix with a huge mix of emotions. On one hand I am upset and concerned for Jules Bianchi, praying for good news. On the other hand we are just a few days from running a Pit Lane Reporter headline-sponsored car in the Finale of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch. This is an incredibly exciting time for everyone connected to the magazine, yet it is somehow hard to focus on my work with the concern over one of our colleagues in hospital. (I really hope that I have to rewrite these editors’ notes with good news at the last minute).

As I said, the 11th and 12th October is a huge date for the magazine as a car bearing our name and logo will be taking to the track in one of motorsports biggest events, bringing even more recognition to our name. The magazine has gone from strength to strength recently with big changes in the way people are reading it. It seems that more and more of you are downloading our app for iPads and Android tablets; definitely the way to go for the future. Hopefully, you will have noticed a redesign of the website; we have listened to your feedback and were told that the site design needed a reboot, so we have done it.

This month offers the usual blend of great articles, features and race reports. We have much more planned for the future too. Next month we interview the amazing Juan Pablo Montoya, a man whose career has truly taken in everything (well almost). You will also notice that we will have a paid for option for the magazine via the app, this will give you a subscription for less than £5 a year, but access to extra content and you’ll get the magazine delivered straight to your tablet five days early. More to come on that soon.

In the meantime, enjoy this issue. There is still a lot of motorsport to come over the coming months, including Wales Rally GB. With the service park just a few miles up the road from us, we will be covering it in a big way. Prior to that let me finish by passing on my condolences to the family of Andrea De Cesaris, a former F1 driver who sadly passed away last week. And finally, I am sure you’ll all join me in a prayer for Jules.

Have a good month

Phil

No part of this magazine may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form – electronic, mechanical or physical – without express prior permission and written consent of the publisher. Contributions are invited and when not accepted will be returned only if accompanied by a fully stamped and addressed envelope. The Publisher accepts no responsibility in respect of advertisements appearing in the magazine and the opinions expressed in editorial material or otherwise do not necessarily represent the views of the Publisher. The Publisher cannot accept liability for any loss arising from the late appearance or non publication of any advertisement. Information about products and services featured within the editorial content does not imply an endorsement by The Pitlane Reporter. © 2014. The Pitlane Reporter.

Published by MFO Publishing (UK) ltd.

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ERIC HALL - USA Editor/IndyCar JournalistEric, based in Indianapolis, has been an IndyCar fan for his entire life and has been independantly covering the series since 2011. His blog, anotherindycarblog, has been at the core of his coverage for the past four years along with contributing to a number of online outlets as well. His love for motorsport and IndyCar history and unconventional way of writing his “from the fan’ perspectives has garnered a small, but strong following. Eric can be found at the track during most of the summer and looks to bring the readers behind the IndyCar catch fence in 2014 Eric can be contacted at [email protected]

BRUNO KEISER - Official Rally Photographer and JournalistHello rally fans all over the world! Matchbox cars are my very first childhood memories. Since then I´m hooked on speed, cars and powerful engines. Later I became a car mechanic and in my last “normal” job, I worked for the Swiss air force as a jet engine engineer. My passion for rally (and motorsport in general) has grown together with the burning desire to capture speed and passion with my camera. In autumn 2010, I made a meaningful decision: All or nothing! I quit my job, sold everything I had (incl. my beloved Lotus Elise) and bought an old motorhome. I added everything needed to live in it permanently. Fully packed, with a budget for only one year and my beloved cat “Megi”, I left my family and friends on April 4, 2011, heading for my new life as a motorsport photographer in Finland.Since then I´m living my dream in my 14m² on wheels… Bruno can be contacted at [email protected]

MEET THETEAM

KIRIL VARBANOV - Technical & Engineering JournalistIT engineer (at Experian - yes, we sponsor Williams), Formula 1 TV commentator, BBC TopGear Bulgaria columnist, F1Technical.net site editor. Blogger and avid petrol head. Independent consultant and crossfit-er. Ex-cyber cop and sound engineer.On the F1 side (which I assume it’s the most interesting part), I’m a co-host of the national F1 TV show, so I’m a media person. I’m fascinated by the technical details, but most of all in aerodynamics, which has been my passion for 14 years. I have a column in the Bulgaria Top Gear’s print issue (the largest auto magazine here), as well as online articles for AutoBild Bulgaria.

Kiril can be contacted at [email protected]



BRYNMOR PIERCE - HISTORIC & classic JOURNALISTFrom the age of three I was taken along to various race and rally meetings with my late dad, the passion (some may call it an obsession) stems from him!! I’ve been fortunate over the last nearly 20 years to compete at most levels of rallying within the UK as both a driver and co-driver , currently you’ll regularly find me on British National events occupying the co-driver’s seat. That said throughout my life I have always had a passion for Historic’s, indeed the passion extends to Historic racing too and upholding a family tradition we’ve not missed an Oulton Park Gold Cup since it’s inception. I look forward to bringing you news and views from across Historic Motorsport in the UK. Should anyone have anything they wish me to cover please do get in touch!!

Brynmor can be contacted at [email protected]

TRAVIS BAREND - NASCAR JOURNALISTTravis is a Public Relations student with a strong passion for NASCAR racing. Whether it is through the PR field or as a journalist, Travis dreams of having a career in NASCAR one day. Through his own blog, TracksideChatter.com, Travis showcases some of his writing while also giving other aspiring journalists an opportunity to contribute. Additionally, he is a writer for Speedwaymedia.com as well asNASCARTheGame.com. You can follow Travis on Twitter @TracksideTravis to keep up with his writing and his take on everything NASCAR.

Travis can be contacted at [email protected]

KATY McKONNACCHIE - formula one journalist

ADAM JOHNSON - Touring Cars, GT & Endurance Journalist

Katy, currently a media student, has been a Motorsport fan for as long as she can remember. When she isn’t studying, she can be found watching anything from Formula 1 to World Series by Renault or over on her blog sharing her passion for Motorsport with other fans. Over the course of year Katy will be bringing you updates and features on GP2, GP3 and DTM. Katy can be contacted at [email protected]

Chief BTCC corrospondent for Pit Lane Reporter, and unashamed fan of the series since 1998. I cover touring car racing on these shores and around the world, with a penchant for noise, spectacle and a good underdog story. With the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series growing, it’s exciting times for stock car racing in Europe, and I cover the European stock car scene in detail. Away from motorsport I’m a Media Writing student at University of Greenwich, uni radio presenter, and I love rock music and the sport of roller derby.

Adam can be contacted at [email protected]



ANNIKA GÖCKE - DTM JOURNALIST

chris powley - features writer

dario dominin - official photographer

Hollie Sandham-Williams - office manager

Annika, based in Germany, has been an accreditated F1 and DTM journalist in the past. She has been writing for almost two years and gained experi-ence at speedmagazin.de as well as motorsport-magazin.de. Annika is an educated specialist in media and information services. She is passionate for racing and will be concentrating on DTM

Annika can be contacted at [email protected]

Dario, based in Belgium, has recently seen his dream come true as a professional photographer after 5 years of amateur photography. He is passionate about photography and motors (cars, motorbikes ... basically anything that has a powerful and loud engine).

His latest important event he took part in was the 24hours race of Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) but he is always looking for great motor sport events all over Europe.

Dario can be contacted at [email protected].

I come from a little village based In North Wales. I went to a WestCheshire college called International School of Beauty and did a level 2 in Beauty Therapy. Before I started working for Pit Lane Reporter, I had no idea about motor sport but after being here for 2 months now, I’ve learnt a lot in such a small amount of time and very happy to be where I am now and to be offered the opportunity of being an Office Manager.

Hollie can be contacted at [email protected]

Annika, based in Germany, has been an accreditated F1 and DTM journalist in the past. She has been writing for almost two years and gained experi-ence at speedmagazin.de as well as motorsport-magazin.de. Annika is an educated specialist in media and information services. She is passionate for racing and will be concentrating on DTM

Annika can be contacted at [email protected]

Qualified Electrical/Electronic engineer. Started out employed life as a want to be motor mechanic. Fan of many forms of motor racing since the sev-enties and forefilled my ambition of owning an Alfa Romeo GTV only for it to burst into flames (surprise). I have a very eclectic taste in music and loves anything out of the ordinary.

Chris can be contacted at [email protected]



Dear Editor

The media showed it’s positive

and negative side again this

weekend in the way that it dealt

with Jules Bianchi’s accident.

What was your opinion on the

way it was dealt with by your

colleagues and friends?

David(Dorset, UK)

Hi David

First of all, I know that the

majority of the media were

thinking first and foremost

about Jules. As always there

are elements of the media

who chase ratings by starting

to spread untruths etc. I was

appalled to see photos of the

car on social media almost

immediately; I thought

that very disrespectful. We

decided early on only to

publish information gained

from the FIA, Marussia or the

family; we didn’t reproduce

anything unofficial. I know

that the likes of the BBC,

Autosport, F1 Times etc all

did the same and resisted the

temptation to chase ratings.

It seemed that it was a case of

social media showing its ugly

side, becoming a place where

everyone thinks they are a

journalist all of a sudden.

The simple thing to do for

true fans, such as yourself

and many of our readers is to

ignore the people who post

nonsense and trust in the

real media. By doing that,

you are diminishing the dregs

influence. As I have said and

will continue to say, let’s stick

together and pray for Jules.

Best Regards

Phil Woods

Dear Phil

How excited are you for the World Rally Championships to be con-cluding right on your doorstep next month?

Sarah-Marie Bishop(Bangor, North Wales, UK)Hi Sarah

We are thrilled to see the WRC complete a wonderful season just a few miles from our of-fice. I guess you must have been looking at our contact page and google maps? We will be there in force to run a very special fea-ture on the event in the issue that follows the weekend. Bruno is on his way over from Finland

to get some of the best pictures too. Our historic journalist, Bryn-mor will also be there; after all he is another local. It promises to be wonderful for motorsport and equally as wonderful for my home area. It was hugely suc-cessful in 2013, this year I am sure it will be even bigger. As I reply to this letter, I am just two days away from the media day, so it is all getting real now. We cannot wait, as I am sure the fans of WRC can’t either. I hope you will be able to make it to some of the stages too, living in the area.

Enjoy

Phil

letters page



Dear Editor

Another great issue last month. I particularly enjoyed the interview with Daniel Ricciardo. What a great guy he seems to be; very honest and open. I know you have to be kind in interviews, but do you really believe he will be a future world champion?

Carabella(Granada, Spain)

Hola Carabella

I’m still answering you within the magazine, so I guess to be safe I would still

have to give you the same answer. I hope that by now you have gathered that I am very honest with my views and don’t really care if people agree or disagree. What I can tell you with the utmost confidence is that I truly believe Daniel will be a future world champion. He has all the qualities and has proven that this year. I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t believe it, trust me.

Gracias

Phil

Dear Phil

It’s silly season again. Drivers have started to move teams. What do you think of Vettel’s an-nouncement that he is leaving Red Bull? and what do you ex-pect to happen to the rest of the field?

Edward(Nottingham, UK)Hello Edward

It was inevitable that Vettel would one day join Ferarri. It seems that every driver wants that on their CV at some point in their career, although I have no idea why anyone would want it at the moment. I still think Fer-rari are a few years from fixing their issues, and losing Alonso will not help matters, but that is up to Vettel. It looks as though Alonso is on his way back to Mc-

Laren, hopefully to partner But-ton. To get rid of Button at this stage would be silly, especially with his experience of Honda, and he deserves a big finish if he is to retire. Daniil Kvyat going to Red Bull may give Vergne a sec-ond chance, although I doubt it, the man must wonder what he has to do to get noticed. If But-ton does go from McLaren, I can see Vergne being a good fit at Force India as, to be honest, the car is quick and with regulations staying the same, he could be a good choice for the Silverstone based team. It’s hard to predict, but next year’s grid is really get-ting shaken up now, ever since the Vettel announcement. Next year is going to be brilliant, yet again.

Take Care

Phil

We love to hear from you. If you have a burning question and would like to put it to one of the team, please email us at [email protected]



Singapore Grand Prix Race Review Formula OneThe Pendulum Swings AgainBY PHIL WOODS

Qualifying under the lights of Singapore was as close as it has been all season. Ferrari and Red Bull were both threatening to

rip up the form book and challenge Mercedes for pole position yet, at the very last moment, Daniel Ricciardo’s provisional pole was stolen by Nico Rosberg followed by Lewis Hamilton who grabbed the grids premier position by just 0.007 seconds, despite locking up at the start of his lap. The top ten shoot out was extremely close and we wondered if that was down to a great effort on the upgrade scene by Mercedes competitors or simply due to the nature of the track? I guess we found out during the race.

Before the race started, news filtered through of problems for Nico Rosberg. He had electrical problems with his Mercedes; so serious that there was talk of him not being able to start the car himself. Rumours flew about the paddock that this was a similar issue to Canada. Nerves were understandably in overdrive at Mercedes, and as the lights went out for the warm-up lap their fears were realised. Nico remained stationery on the grid as everyone bolted past and would now have to start from the pit lane, handing an unexpected opportunity to his title rival and team mate, Lewis Hamilton. Lewis could take the championship lead if he was to keep himself out front until the checkered flag. Nico would need a miracle to rescue anything on this street circuit, a place difficult to overtake.

At the start, Hamilton kept his lead easily but Alonso showed why he is one of the best starters in history by shooting himself into 2nd, ahead of the two Red Bulls. Sebastian Vettel made a great pass on his team-mate to drop Ricciardo down to 4th. The one driver who couldn’t impress was Kobayashi who broke down on the warm up lap



adding to Caterham’s woes.

At the back of the field, Rosberg was complaining that he had no true information on his dashboard, the only thing working on his steering wheel were the gear shift paddles. It was clear to see that Rosberg was going to struggle to finish this race as he couldn’t even find the power to overtake a Caterham as, in a car as powerful as the Mercedes, this was very odd indeed. There must have been a little smile on Lewis Hamilton’s face as he heard that, on lap 13, Rosberg pitted for a new steering wheel and could not set off again; his race was over and all of a sudden the championship was in sight for Lewis. Perhaps though, he would have had a niggling thought in his mind, ‘What if the issue affects my car too?’

Some people may suggest that its swings and roundabouts for the reliability issues on the Mercedes. It’s happened to Hamilton more than Rosberg this season, but Mercedes must be extremely concerned themselves. Yes they have done a great job on the engine and chassis design, however they continue to be plagued by electrical issues, something they must sort out soon. Nobody wants to see this exciting season end with a championship decided by whose car has conked out the most.

After the first round of pit stops, Hamilton chose to go on the soft tyre and attempt a two stop, whereas others, such as the Red Bulls, chose the harder compound looking at a long second run, perhaps a one stop strategy. Hamilton was way out in front, until Sergio Perez went into the back of Sutil’s Sauber and took his front wing off, driving over it and leaving lots of debris on the track. This inevitably bought out the safety car closing the pack up. Many cars went into the pits to get fresh tyres, enough to get them to the end of the race, Hamilton stayed out. All of a sudden there was a mission on for Lewis Hamilton; he had an old set of tyres on and would have to open up a gap of at least 26 seconds to stand any chance of winning this race. Mercedes were confident that Lewis could do this, purely because of his speed advantage; Lewis was not so sure.

Hamilton started to pull out a lead, as his team had predicted, running between a second and two seconds a lap faster than Vettel in second place. With around 20 laps to go he was complaining that his tyres were going off and that he wouldn’t be to create enough of a gap. His team informed him that he was still faster than Vettel and that he should stay



out. He managed to pull out the gap of around 26 seconds; perhaps a couple of seconds short of being comfortably in front. When he finally came into the pits he knew that he would have to overtake at least one car to win this race. Some commentators were now talking about a first win of the season for the four time world champion Sebastian Vettel who was having an incredible drive; without doubt his best of a shocking season for the German. As Lewis left the pits he saw Vettel take the lead and was under pressure from Ricciardo and Alonso, but managed to hold on to second spot and set about chasing Vettel.

It didn’t take long for Hamilton to be all over the back of Vettel’s Red Bull. The pure speed of the Mercedes was evident again and, with DRS wide open, Hamilton dispatched Vettel with ease to take the lead again and there was nothing the Red Bull driver could do about it.There was an interesting final lap in the battle for 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th as Sergio Perez overtook everyone to take 7th; this included his team mate Nico Hulkenberg. It has to be mentioned at this point, mainly because I haven’t so far, but Jenson Button had to retire his McLaren towards the end of the race. This will have been a huge disappointment for the British driver as he had been driving sublimely until that point, getting himself up to 5th from an 11th place start. There was also a point, with only a handful of laps remaining, that Marcus Ericcson was in a net 13th position for Caterham; arguably having his best drive of the season.

In the end, Lewis Hamilton won this race at a canter, managing to cross the finish line 11 seconds in front of the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, deservedly back on the podium this week. Daniel Ricciardo finished in 3rd continuing his great season.

The season, that has had many twists and turns, again didn’t fail to deliver. Lewis Hamilton now finds himself in pole position in the championship; but who would bet against more surprises in this incredible season? Not me that’s for sure.

Driver of the Day - Lewis Hamilton (composed and assured drive)

Team of the Day - Red Bull (A great 2nd and 3rd)



Japanese Grand Prix F1 ReviewHamilton Wins in Soaked SuzukaBY phil woods

So we come to the report I didn’t feel like writing. It’s hard to think of anything to do with this race without stopping and praying for Jules Bianchi. I have decided

that the best way to write this review is to miss out any details of the events leading to the red flag that ended the race, just out of respect for the Bianchi family and Marussia F1 Team. Just know this; everyone involved with Pit Lane Reporter has you all in our prayers.

So on we go, and what a race we had, there were question marks over whether the race would actually take place at all with a super typhoon threatened to spoil proceedings, but despite heavy downpours, the race was able to go ahead.

There had been calls to start the race earlier in the day but, for a variety of reasons, this wasn’t an option. Instead the race began under the safety car with Nico Rosberg sitting on pole looking to take back the lead in the championship once again. Behind the safety car, the points were really in safe hands. Further back, the Williams were probably hoping for a long safety car stint given that rain has

proved to be their ‘Achilles heel’ during what has been an excellent season for them. The Red Bull’s hadn’t qualified well but they had set up ready for a wet race, was that the right move? By the end of the race as you will see, the race looked certain to be bereft of any slick for sure, so perhaps the Red Bull team had made a good choice.

The first nine laps took place under the safety car, but even that was split up with a twenty minute break whilst the race was red flagged again, with the cars filtering into the pit lane to let the rain ease off. As soon as the race was started for real, the very clever Jenson Button pitted immediately for intermediate tyres, whilst everyone else carried on with full wets. This proved to be a great move as a few laps later he found himself in 3rd place and driving well enough for a podium. In fact for a long time it seemed he would pull that off as the Red Bulls were unable to make any headway into the gap that Button had built up by his bold move. I know that McLaren are looking at who to change in their driver line up next year, but here was evidence that they shouldn’t let Jenson go, especially if you consider his experience with Honda.



It was unfortunate for Jenson that a poor pit stop meant that his podium chances were ruined in just a matter of a few seconds as the Red Bull’s of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo managed to get past the unlucky Button as he exited the pits. This put Jenson in 5th, a position he held onto until the end of the race, despite coming under some pressure from the two Williams cars towards the end. The Williams pair did well to finish 6th and 7th despite the conditions.

The two Mercedes were predictably out front and were building up a large lead with Hamilton following Rosberg closely enough to pounce if the opportunity arose. On lap 44 the safety car was called out again. This closed the field back up and put Hamilton right on the back of Rosberg. For a number of laps Hamilton closed on Rosberg on the pit straight and tried a move into the first corner and even with DRS couldn’t get quite close enough. Eventually Hamilton could make a pass on Rosberg with slightly fresher tyres and some supreme skill. Perhaps the Mercedes pit wall team had their finger nails at the point of being completely bitten to nothing, but they needn’t have as the move was sublime and bought out a huge cheer from the Japanese crowd.

Lewis managed to hold onto the lead easily in the end, pulling out a 9 second gap to his team mate, giving him a well-deserved victory and the points that keep him out in front with only four races remaining. Rosberg came in 2nd, taking Mercedes closer to the constructor’s championship. However, they didn’t win it in Japan, due to a brilliant 3rd by Sebastian Vettel and a 4th by Daniel Ricciardo, meaning Red Bull can still win the championship, albeit just mathematically.

The other big news of the day was from Sebastian Vettel announcing that he is leaving Red Bull, the team he has won the last 4 world championships with, to join Ferrari. How successful that will be is anyone’s guess. I expect we will start to find out next year.

Driver of the Day - Sebastian Vettel (An incredible return to the podium for the German)

Team of the Day - Mercedes (for obvious reasons, I would have thought)



f1 driver standingsPosition Name Team Nationality points

1 Lewis Hamilton 266

2 Nico Rosberg 256

3 Daniel Ricciardo 193

4 Sebastian Vettel 139

5 Fernando Alonso 133

6 Valtteri Bottas 130

7 Jenson Button 82

8 Nico Hulkenberg 76

9 Felipe Massa 71

10 Sergio Perez 46

11 Kimi Raikkonen 45

12 Kevin Magnussen 39

13 Jean-Eric Vergne 21

14 Romain Grosjean 8

15 Daniil Kvyat 8

16 Jules Bianchi 2

17 Adrian Sutil 0

18 Marcus Ericsson 0

19 Pastor Maldonado 0

20 Esteban Gutierrez 0

21 Max Chilton 0

22 Kamui Kobayashi 0

23 Andre Lotterer 0



f1 constructor standingsPosition Name Engine Points

1 Mercedes Mercedes 5222 Red Bull Renault 3323 Williams Mercedes 2014 Ferrari Ferrari 1785 McLaren Mercedes 1226 Force India Mercedes 1217 Toro Rosso Renault 298 Lotus Renault 89 Marrusia Ferrari 210 Sauber Ferrari 010 Caterham Renault 0




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indycar history - how did we get here?part 1 - when did we start?BY eric hall

The prospect of American open-wheel racing is a fractured endeavor at best, and has been for nearly the entirety of its history. How long is that history, and

how do we differentiate between the massive gaps in execution, ideology and technology that has graced the dusty roads of North America for over 100 years?

We can at least agree that what we watch now can trace its history back a very long time. But how long depends on who you ask. The first ‘race’ in the US was held in Chicago in 1895; more of a reliability test than an actual contest of speed, the event was still considered a success. It was early unorganized events like this that directly led to the creation of the Automobile Club of America (ACA) in 1899, to arbitrate US racing and liaise with the newly created Automobile Club of France (ACF), the earliest vestige of the FIA.

The ACA continued uncontested for only three years before they began to rethink the organizational structure of their club. In 1902, they became a

founding member of The Automobile Association of America (AAA) and inaugurated its Racing Board; the arm responsible for overseeing AAA sanctioned racing events. With that action, the ACA relinquished control of US racing and the roots of big time American open-wheel racing were laid.

The board had sanctioned small races throughout the nation since its inception, but it was The Vanderbilt Cup in 1904 that solidified The AAA Racing Board as the eminent US sanctioning body. Businessman and racing enthusiast William Vanderbilt created a 30 mile dirt course on the winding roads of Nassau County, New York. The event drew a strong international contingent of drivers and race machines to compete against American iron.

1905 saw the Contest board sanction the first racing championship decided by points to take place anywhere in the world. American superstar driver Barney Oldfield claimed victory in the short championship. That season has been largely forgotten and is not even considered an “official” season by the current keeper-of-records INDYCAR. The 1905



championship has been relegated to a sidebar entry and not included in the historical cannon proper.INDYCAR believes the championship to be “abandoned”; however, period sources state the championship did indeed run to completion with Barney Oldfield taking the crown. Oldfield was the only competitor to take the green flag regularly throughout the season. His lack of consistent, season long competition made him the de facto champion regardless of points awarded.

When the AAA Contest Board superseded the Racing Board in 1909, it was assumed that the new organization had transferred and filed the old records, if any were even created, for reference. As time has moved on, more questionable events have transpired regarding the sports written history. It is clear that these records most likely did not seen the light of day post 1908, leading to the confusion regarding the official place in history of the 1905 season.

AAA had become the powerhouse organization of the day and the ACA saw them as a growing thorn in their side. Predictably, the disagreement between the organizations started with an impending dues structure change by AAA. The squabble over paperwork grew and soon engulfed the racing as the ACA created their own international level event. The 1908 American Grand Prize was the ACA’s answer to AAA’s internationally acclaimed Vanderbilt Cup. These events are the earliest traces of European Grand Prix racing in the US.

1909 saw The Indianapolis Motor Speedway open its gates for the first time. Not the famed Brickyard yet; early races were contested on an unforgiving surface of crushed rock and tar. It was not until the fall of 1909 that the historic 3.2 million bricks were laid into place, quietly waiting for Ray Harroun to claim victory in the 1911 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes.

To make the politics of racing at the time even more opaque, the Manufacturers Contest Association (MCA) was created in 1909 by US auto manufacturers to pressure AAA into more favorable rules for automakers. The newly reformed Contest Board was able to quell the MCA by agreeing to their terms, thus making the entry of thoroughbred race machines into US competition very difficult. This ushered in an era of European Grand Prix car domination at Indianapolis and US manufacturers

were unable to competently compete at the highest national stages, Indianapolis or otherwise. The focus on AAA by the MCA and the ACA’s relationship with the international racing world led to the two organizations to draw definitive lines regarding the “who and what” of US racing. AAA would handle national contests and the Vanderbilt Cup, while the ACA would handle international events, or basically the American Grand Prize races.

1916 saw the power of the MCA fade and AAA was finally able to relax the rules to allow pure race machines to re-enter into competition. The same year, they also inaugurated what would become to be known as the first true and recognized US championship season. The history of IndyCar racing is finally starting to take shape.

The ACA sanctioned its final Grand Prize event in 1916 and quickly disappeared into memory along with the MCA, leaving AAA as the final say in American racing through to the 1955 season, but that isn’t the end of the early AAA story. Automobile magazines of the period selected “Driver of the Year” for the earliest ‘seasons’ of racing. The Horseless Age, MoTor, and The Automobile all chose standout drivers, but it was the Motor Age selections from 1909-1915 and 1919 that became entwined with official history of the time.

Seemingly out of nowhere, AAA finally decided to inaugurate an official championship in 1916. Given the incredibly detailed yearly accounts of racing contests present in period magazines, it’s a curious oversight by AAA to wait so long to reinstitute the official championship so quickly forgotten after 1905.

However, due to the outbreak of World War I, AAA suspended the championship until 1920. Racing still took place in 1917 through 1919, but no national championship trail was sanctioned by AAA, and the motoring magazines awarded outstanding drivers to fill the gap.

During the period, these ‘outstanding drivers’ stood side by side as official history. The Motor Age picks were seen as the de facto national champions when no official championship existed, and the general public was not confused about what was official and what was not. It would be less than a decade later before it would all turn sideways and the history of IndyCar racing becomes polluted with misinformation persisting through the current record books.





indycar news in briefBY eric hall

Two of the most affable teams in the paddock will join forces for 2015 and beyond. Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing have coalesced to form CFH Racing. The team will run at least two full time cars with Josef Newgarden returning to his #67 machine.

Ed Carpenter will split the #20 between himself and another driver yet to be named. Carpenter will reprise his oval only schedule and the team hopes to bring back Mike Conway to contest the remaining road and street events. The looming possibility of a Toyota World Endurance Championship factory ride has prevented Conway from committing to the team during this early stage in the off-season.The team will move into Sarah Fisher’s existing 40,000 square foot facility located in downtown Speedway, Indiana next door to the Dallara plant and down the street from the famed Motor Speedway. Chevy will provide engines to the newly reconfigured 2 car team; the first blow to Honda this off-season as they lose fan favorites Fisher and Newgarden to the increasingly deep Chevrolet contingent.

Pulling off his second off-season coup in as many years, Rodger Penske signed Simon Pagenaud to drive for his famed team. Pagenaud, who finished P5 in the 2014 championship, will join defending champion Will Power, P2 finisher Helio Castroneves and P4 finisher Juan Pablo Montoya. The formidable Team Penske armada could be one of the best groups ever assembled in IndyCar racing.

Pagenaud should get up to speed very quickly with the team as race engineer Ben Bretzman will make the move to Team Penske as well. The potent duo has racked up 4 wins and 19 top 5’s in the three years they have been together at Schmidt Peterson Motorsport. Continuity has always been important in the Verizon IndyCar Series so Pagenaud could be a championship threat from the first moment of racing in 2015.

Chevrolet stole yet another weapon from Honda arsenal which solidifies the manufacturer’s driver stable for the foreseeable future. Pagenaud, once the wonder boy of Honda, clinched an American Le

strength in numbers penske perfect



Mans Series championship, sped up Pikes Peak in a 500 horsepower Odyssey minivan and has taken part in general high speed pursuits with the Japanese manufacturer. He will be another tough loss for the proud company.

The off-season has not been all doom and gloom for Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsport. The Honda stronghold signed James Hinchcliffe to a multi-year deal to pilot the #77 seat vacated by Simon Pagenaud. Andretti Autosport was unable to guarantee funding for a 2015 campaign sending Hinchcliffe searching for a more secure future.

The popular Canadian has seen the top step of the podium 3 times, but his career could be more easily described as a series of highs and lows as opposed to consistent improvement. After playing third string to Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay at Andretti Autosport, Hinchcliffe has the opportunity to build a community around him as the number one driver at the successful and continually growing team.

Mikhail Aleshin is expected to return to the usual 2 car outfit pending the status of his backing from Russian SMP Bank. The teams 2nd seat could become a very important commodity to Honda as they look to solidify their stable ahead of the 2015 season. Unless other teams expand, guaranteed funding may not be enough to secure this seat.

the mayors new town



wrc rally australia reviewBY chelsea beckman



wrc rally australia review The substantial change of scenery is a delight for both the teams and the fans and, because it is the only round in the area, fans flock from all over the Pacific region.

The advent of Rally Australia once again saw the teams packing up and moving halfway around the world to the coastal city of Coff ’s Harbour, located on the east coast of Australia between Brisbane and Sydney. The substantial change of scenery is a delight for both the teams and the fans and, because it is the only round in the area, fans flock from all over the Pacific region.

Australia is noted for tough conditions; hard surfaces through dense forests with pockets of bright sun peaking through, combined with the added challenge of dust hanging in the air, always make for an eventful rally.

With both the manufacturers’ and driver’s championships still up for grabs, the rally was bound to be action-packed from the get-go. To the delight of the fans, Volkswagen announced early on that their duo of Jari-Matti Latvala and Sebastien Ogier had been given the green light to fight; while Ogier remains ever closer to securing his second championship, Latvala is the only man within points-distance of taking the win from him. “In the Ogier versus Latvala duel both drivers have been given the go-ahead to fight for victory. We also have a good chance of being able to celebrate winning the manufacturers’ title early” said team boss, Jost Captio. After an extremely disappointing rally for the team in Germany, VW were looking to dominate once again.

Hyundai were also looking to make a mark once more after achieving a staggering 1-2 at the previous round. In addition to regular, Thierry Neuville, the team comprised of Antipodeans, Chris Atkinson and Hayden Paddon. While New Zealand may have lost their place in the WRC calendar, busloads of Kiwi fans crossed the ditch to show their support for local hero, Paddon.

As if Australia wasn’t already daunting enough, unpredictable weather conditions throughout the week served only to confuse teams, with tyre choice being a crucial factor for many.

The advent of Rally Australia once again saw the teams

packing up and moving halfway around the world

to the coastal city of Coff’s Harbour, located on the east

coast of Australia between Brisbane and Sydney.



Day 1

Day one began with a new stage that featured 3km of roads which were used in the opposite direction last year. Despite being first on the road, sweeping the notoriously slippery gravel, Ogier surprised even himself by setting an early lead. Meanwhile, behind him, Mads Ostberg, Neuville, Robert Kubica and Paddon all experienced moments, whilst Latvala struggled with a brake issue.

However, the lead was to be quickly taken away from Ogier as Citroen driver, Kris Meeke, stormed into first after setting the fastest times on both SS2 and SS3. Third VW driver, Andreas Mikkelsen, held pace with Meeke, only 2.4 seconds behind the Brit.

After the SS1 surprise, Ogier began to fall back as expected due to sweeping the surface. He found himself in fourth place after SS4, whilst teammate Latvala, who bled the brakes in an attempt to solve his earlier problem, was still in fifth place. Only 5.8 seconds covered the top five drivers. Not many other top level championships have such close competition!

The leaderboard continued to change throughout the day, with Ogier and Latvala storming back to the top after their poor start. The final two stages of the day, SS7 and SS8, favoured the VW’s and at the end of day one Ogier once again sat in first position, closely followed by Latvala and Mikkelsen. Despite a strong day, Meeke was now down to fourth.

Day 2

The second day featured stages to the south of Coff ’s Harbour, ending with two more runs through the city stage where VW had been dominant on Day 1. The top five still remained close, with only eight seconds covering them and the lead within everyone’s grasp.

Victory of the first stage, and subsequently the lead of the rally, belonged to an upbeat Latvala, who claimed the rhythm was ‘just right’ for the stage. While the distance between the top four remained close after SS9, behind them the gaps began widening with Hirvonen being the ‘best of the rest’. The three-time Australia winner has







struggled throughout the season, and while the damp conditions in Australia may have thrown the Finn this time round, he still put in a strong performance.

Meeke and Mikkelsen stuck close to one another throughout the day, changing between third and fourth a number of times. Unfortunately at the end of the day, Meeke was awarded a penalty for cutting a corner on SS10, and subsequently dropped down to fifth position. Citroen boss, Yves Matton, later criticized this penalty as being inconsistent; a similar incident saw the offender being fined as opposed to losing a position. “…the stewards’ decisions are not consistent…I just hope if it happens again we have some more consistency with the decisions” said the Frenchman.

A differing tyre choice for Latvala from Ogier saw the Finn once again drop behind his teammate after losing 13.4 seconds to him on SS11. A seemingly bizarre choice of one soft and three hard compound tyres for Ogier was enough to beat Latvala’s choice of two hard and two soft tyres in the drying conditions. “It wasn’t a perfect choice but better than Jari-Matti, I guess,” said Ogier. “The best would have been four hard tyres.”

It was drama once again in the stages for Kubica and Neuville; Kubica narrowly escaped a trip into the bush, while Neuville took out a mailbox, and the front bumper of his car, after cutting a corner too eagerly. The incidents both took place on SS12, with Neuville and Kubica extremely lucky to have been able to continue on.

As with the previous day, the final two city stages were dominated by the VW’s, which was reflected in the overall standings. With one more day of stages to complete Ogier remained first, with Latvala and Mikkelsen still behind. Day 3

The final day of rallying action was set in the bush lands North of Coff ’s Harbour. The battle up front remained heated, and so too did those battles further down the ladder. A fight for sixth place between Paddon and Ostberg saw the Kiwi chipping away at the Norwegian’s lead. Unfortunately for the newlywed Ostberg, damage to his suspension on the penultimate stage put him



out of contention, and Paddon finished sixth overall, his best ever WRC finish and further instilling hope he will be offered a seat in 2015. Meanwhile the fight for fifth position was ultimately awarded to Meeke after he took a chunk of time out of Hirvonen on SS15.

The battle that everyone had their eyes on however was between Ogier and Latvala. Only an 11.8 second gap separated the two at the start of the day, and after the first stage this gap was reduced to 9.8 seconds.

Ogier and Latvala both admitted to struggling in this stage; however the fact that Latvala still took a chunk of time from the Frenchman goes to show how much effort he was putting in. Latvala stated “…two seconds isn’t massive when you want around four or five. It’s the right direction and there’s a bit of pressure on him, so that’s good.”

By the time the pair headed into the final stage the gap was down to 8 seconds. While the power stage win went to Latvala, it was Ogier who held out



to win the rally by a mere 6.8 seconds. With the manufacturers’ championship in the bag, the icing on top of VW’s cake came in the form of Mikkelsen taking third, giving VW a 1-2-3 finish. Meeke and Hirvonen rounded out the top five.

Latvala has shown extreme improvement in his performances over the past year; whereas previously a crash would plunge the Finn into a series of crashes, he now seems to be overcoming this issue and bouncing back faster. This is no doubt in part

thanks to his mental training with Christoph Trier. While it remains to be seen if Latvala can catch his teammate Ogier to take the driver’s championship, it is no doubt within his grasp in the near future.

Ogier later remarked that his win in Australia was one of his best performances to date, and with only three rounds remaining to secure his second title, there is no doubt that he will be pushing to the limit in order to achieve this.



Rally France ReviewBy Bruno Keiser





15 years...

Jari-Matti Latvala’s 12th FIA World Rally Championship victory at the Rallye de France-Alsace in October was the first by a Finn since four-time world champion Tommi Mäkinen triumphed in Italy in 1999. Let’s turn back time and discover how history was created.

As always, towards the end of every season, rumours circulate around the service tents: which driver will wear which manufacturer´s overall next year? Teams and drivers don’t hesitate to play that game which usually means they know more than they tell... Hyundai hasn’t announced their number two and three drivers for next year yet and suddenly VW’s Champion Ogier was connected to the Korean manufacturer... Volkswagen Motorsport team Principal Jost Capito agreed: “We need stories about the WRC, and that includes stories about drivers being linked to other teams – so we can’t kill these. There is room for speculation and this is good. If we can do this and stay relaxed it’s fine.” Citroën’s Yves Matton took the same line and hasn’t put his cards on the table yet and at M-Sport, only Welsh youngster Elfyn Evans is confirmed for 2015. What secures a driver’s seat more effectively than bringing home a valuable result on Sunday evening?

Thursday

After the huge disappointment in Germany, Jari-Matti Latvala began his quest for a maiden WRC asphalt victory in perfect style. The Finn was quickest in Thursday morning’s shakedown next to the Strasbourg service park. He edged out Citroën’s Kris Meeke by 1.2 seconds on his fourth and final run over the tight and twisty roads around the Hautepierre Parc des Sports. Championship leader Ogier and Hyundai’s Dani Sordo were tying for third, a further 0.5 seconds behind.Latvala has made no secret of his desire to win on asphalt: “My dream is to win an asphalt rally and I was so close at Rallye Deutschland, but didn’t do it, so we’ll try to carry on and work on that over here.

Friday

Latvala underlined his aim to win this rally with an average of almost 120kph in his Volkswagen Polo R as he blasted through the sunny and clear opening





Photo by AT Pfeifer



test 0.3sec quicker than team-mate Sébastien Ogier. He pronounced himself happy with Michelin’s new asphalt tyres which are being used here for the first time.

Ogier admitted his drive wasn’t perfect as he, too, reported understeering issues. Maybe that’s why he spun 3.6 km into SS2. Worse than that were the engine cuts which followed, caused by a malfunctioning gearbox shift sensor. To complete an awful morning, the Frenchman received a four-minute penalty after checking in early at the SS3 arrival control and was 8min 26.1 seconds off the lead. His bid for securing the second title on home soil had come to an early end.

Thierry Neuville was a lowly 21st after dropping a minute in SS2 after going off into a ditch, but a lack of power was more of a concern for the Belgian. Without having found the source of the power loss, he managed to lose another 90 seconds in SS3.

Happy to have reached the end of the day was Welshman Elfyn Evans. A broken alternator stopped his Fiesta shortly before the midday service time control. Evans and co-driver Daniel Barritt had to push their Ford uphill for 150 meters to avoid retirement. “We had to push the last bit. It wasn’t so bad pushing in a straight line, but turn a corner and the diffs tighten - and that made it hard. I feel alright now, but I didn’t at the time. I don’t think I’m ready for World’s Strongest Man just yet.” explained Evans out of breath. A 1:40 minute time penalty dropped him from fourth to tenth but still better than Rally 2.

Latvala won four of the seven special stages to head team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen by 8.2 seconds. The Norwegian finished 14.9 seconds ahead of Kris Meeke in third, another 28.1 seconds down was the first Hyundai with Dani Sordo. The Spaniard, who won the final stage, headed a gaggle of four cars covered by less than 14sec. Mads Østberg, Mikko Hirvonen and Robert Kubica rounded up the top seven.

Saturday

On Martin Prokop’s 32nd birthday, Jari-Matti Latvala was fastest through all three morning tests and reached remote service at Colmar with his lead over VW Polo R team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen up to a relatively comfortable 14.8 seconds.



“I tried to consolidate my position because it’s impossible to catch the VWs. If I stick my neck out and try then I will make a stupid mistake,” said Kris Meek who remained third, 31.7 seconds behind Mikkelsen but 30.9 seconds clear of Dani Sordo. Robert Kubica enjoyed an excellent morning in his Ford Fiesta RS. After relegating Mikko Hirvonen in the opener, he demoted Mads Østberg from fifth in SS9, despite clipping a wall and driving 15km with the right rear tyre partly off the rim.

The enthralling fight for fourth place lost one of its protagonists when Mads Østberg dropped time with a transmission problem. “I felt it towards the end of SS10 and even more so in the following stage. There was no more oil in the differential and I decided to take a penalty and work on the car otherwise we would not have got through the stage,” said the Norwegian. Sébastien Ogier’s fastest times in SS11 and SS12, the latter marking his 300th career stage win.Kris Meeke completed SS12 with a front right puncture in his DS3, while Martin Prokop reported a strange noise in the gearbox of his Fiesta RS. The test was halted for 40 minutes after the first five cars because a course opening car had crashed in a dangerous place.

After the day-closing super special stage in Mulhouse, the leaderboard showed Flying Finn Latvala’s 28.0 sec lead over second Polo R pilot Andreas Mikkelsen. Kris Meek was third, a further 25.7 seconds behind. Dani Sordo held off a charging Robert Kubica, Mikko Hirvonen remained on sixth and Mads Østberg on seventh. Elfyn Evans climbed up two places to eighth position with Bryan Bouffier on ninth and his Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville on the final top ten spot.

Sunday

Tyre selection was a major talking point. There was no overnight rain but forecasts suggested that it was possible later and, with no mid-leg service, drivers’ morning selections must last all day. The choices were varied as crews tried to plan for all conditions. Besides that, the top three drivers were in no mood to take risks. “I’m not trying to be aggressive, I’m trying to be clever,” was Latvala’s analysis.

Robert Kubica’s four soft Michelins were perfect for SS15 and the Pole was quickest to sweep by Dani


39www.pitlanereporter.comPhoto by AT Pfeifer



Sordo into fourth, only to crash out from a possible career best result at the closing power stage. “I misjudged the grip on a wet part of the stage. On the previous pass I thought I was a bit too cautious there. Unfortunately on the second pass there was a lot of dirt on the Tarmac and I didn’t make it”, summed-up the Polish ace.

Sébastien Ogier took maximum bonus points by winning the live TV Power Stage, some consolation after Friday’s disappointments. M-Sport’s Elfyn Evans impressed again scoring two extra-points for being second quickest, and rally winner Latvala grabbed the final extra-point.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to win on asphalt and done a lot of work for that and now it has finally come. I’ve been able to take some big steps this year and this is one of the most important,” said Latvala, who was greeted at the end of the final stage by fellow Finn and 1981 world champion Ari Vatanen.Team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen settled for second for the third time this year. Kris Meeke was 20.5sec behind in third, taking his fourth podium of the season in a Citroen DS3.

Dani Sordo secured fourth place, 12.0sec ahead of Mikko Hirvonen. Elfyn Evans was sixth after a final day duel with Mads Steinberg ended when the Norwegian missed a pace note and went off the road briefly in the final stage. The gap between them was just 1.7sec. Hyundai duo Thierry Neuville and Bryan Bouffier were eighth and ninth, with Martin Prokop completing the leaderboard.

The next round of the World Rally Championship will be the mixed surface Rally RACC Rally de España in Salou on 23 - 26 October. Sébastien Ogier will get another chance to become champion if he scores one point more than Latvala.

Capito confirmed that there would be no team orders there or at the final round in Wales. “Now, the Manufacturers’ Championship is done and it’s only a fight for the Drivers’ Championship between Séb and Jari-Matti, they can go for it. Anything can happen in Spain. It will be great if the Championship remains open till Rally GB,” he said.

There’s nothing more to add.

Au revoir de l’Alsace

Bruno



Photo by AT Pfeifer



[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054

Based in the USA and presently with only its third owner from new. This very original and correct ‘Ulster’ has spent most time in Ireland where it has a competition history that includes Phoenix Park (1937) , the Leinster Trophy (1938) both with its first owner Mr. Blackburne, and numerous races and rallies with its second owner, Kevin Healy, up to 1984. The present owner had the car restored by Morntane Engineering in 1985, (including a steel crank and rod engine to racing spec.) and the competition history continued with club races in the UK and the USA,

AMOC European Tours and 5 successful Mille Miglia Storica runs. Last out in June 2011 at the AMOC St. John Horsfall Trophy meeting at Donnington, where it was one of the 20 Ulsters gathered for the event, this Ulster is in super mechanical condition, absolutely on the button and ready to continue its race and rally history. This car is very well known to Ecurie Bertelli Ltd. and has been maintained by me for more than 25 years, (including engine refreshment in 2004). It can be inspected and tested from my Olney showroom. A very rare opportunity to own a

genuine matching number, three owner ‘Ulster’; the model that Bertelli himself described as ‘ the best car I ever built’ . It will come with its original log book, and original handbook signed by A. C. Bertelli amongst others.

Please contact Andy Bell for further information.

1935 1.5 litre ‘Ulster’ 2 seater.Chassis no.C5/559/U

see www.ecuriebertelli.com for further details and car sales

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Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054







[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054






see www.ecuriebertelli.com for further details and car salesSee www.ecuriebertelli.com for further details and car sales

[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054







[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054







A very rare chance to own a team car! LM3 was raced by ‘Bert’ Bertelli and St John Horsfall.This was the only team car built in 1929 and was raced a number of times by ‘Bert’ Bertelli, who owned

and ran Aston Martin. The fabulous period racing history consists of: Brooklands in the JCC Double Twelve in 1929 at the hands of Bertelli and Bezzant coming 5th overall and again in 1930 at the hands of Bezzant and Gunter. The Irish Grand Prix in 1929 at Phoenix Park driven by Bertelli and Bezzant coming home 9th

and again in1930 coming 12th at the hands of Bertelli. This car also competed in the 1929 Ulster TT driven by Bezzant. LM3 was also road tested by Motor, Motor Sport and The Auto in 1929 and 1930. After LM3

was sold by the works to Farquharson, he raced in the LCC International Relay Race at Brooklands in 1932. It was later owned by none other than St John Horsfall as his first Aston. He won the JCC Donnington park event in it in 1935. More recently, this car raced at the Le Mans Classic in 2008 and was invited to race in

the Goodwood revival in 2009. LM3 is in fantastic condition and ready to enjoy!Price £P.O.A.

Contact Andy Bell or Robert Blakemore for further details.

[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054

The Specialist in all Vintage Aston MartinsRegistered Office • 53 Stilebrook Road • Yardley Road Industrial Estate • Olney • Bucks • MK46 5EA • United Kingdom

1929 ex `Bert` Bertelli car - LM3


http://www.ecuriebertelli.com


[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054







[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054







[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054






see www.ecuriebertelli.com for further details and car salesSee www.ecuriebertelli.com for further details and car sales

[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054







[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054







A very rare chance to own a team car! LM3 was raced by ‘Bert’ Bertelli and St John Horsfall.This was the only team car built in 1929 and was raced a number of times by ‘Bert’ Bertelli, who owned

and ran Aston Martin. The fabulous period racing history consists of: Brooklands in the JCC Double Twelve in 1929 at the hands of Bertelli and Bezzant coming 5th overall and again in 1930 at the hands of Bezzant and Gunter. The Irish Grand Prix in 1929 at Phoenix Park driven by Bertelli and Bezzant coming home 9th

and again in1930 coming 12th at the hands of Bertelli. This car also competed in the 1929 Ulster TT driven by Bezzant. LM3 was also road tested by Motor, Motor Sport and The Auto in 1929 and 1930. After LM3

was sold by the works to Farquharson, he raced in the LCC International Relay Race at Brooklands in 1932. It was later owned by none other than St John Horsfall as his first Aston. He won the JCC Donnington park event in it in 1935. More recently, this car raced at the Le Mans Classic in 2008 and was invited to race in

the Goodwood revival in 2009. LM3 is in fantastic condition and ready to enjoy!Price £P.O.A.

Contact Andy Bell or Robert Blakemore for further details.

[email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1234 240024Fax: +44 (0)1234 240054

The Specialist in all Vintage Aston MartinsRegistered Office • 53 Stilebrook Road • Yardley Road Industrial Estate • Olney • Bucks • MK46 5EA • United Kingdom

1929 ex `Bert` Bertelli car - LM3

Nascar announces 2015 rule packageBY travis barend

The 2014 season is coming to a close, but NASCAR has already finalized and announced the Sprint Cup Series rules package for next season. In what is an

extensive list, there are nearly 60 rule changes for 2015 in an effort to improve safety, improve competition and decrease costs.

One of the major changes includes a reduction in horsepower. Sprint Cup cars will use a tapered spacer, which restricts airflow through the engine. This will reduce horsepower from 850 to 725.

Additionally, nearly 300 pounds of down-force will be removed from the cars. The spoiler will be shortened from eight inches to six inches. The radiator pan will also be reduced to 38 inches in width to reduce down-force. NASCAR will also reduce the weight of the cars by 50 pounds. Next season will also feature a track bar adjustable from within the cockpit. In the past, NASCAR has avoided the idea of driver-controlled adjustments.

Sprint Cup Series road course races will now take place in the rain, similar to Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series road course events.

Optional rain tires and mandatory wipers, defoggers, and a rear flashing rain light will be used.

All private testing will be banned in 2015. If teams are caught testing without an invitation by Goodyear or NASCAR, they will receive a P6 penalty, the highest penalty possible.

In 2015, officiating will also change. Automated pit road technology will be used to monitor the pit road. Less of an emphasis will be placed on human officiating.

“This race package represents a lot of hard work by NASCAR, the race teams, the drivers, our manufacturer partners and Goodyear,” said Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR senior vice president of innovation and racing development. “We’ve remained committed to constantly looking at our racing, and the work that has been done has been aimed at getting a rules package delivered to the race teams as early as possible.”

In an effort to meet demands of race teams for an earlier delivery of the rules, NASCAR announced these changes in September.



chase update: four drivers eliminated

BY travis barend

NASCAR’s all-new Chase for the Sprint Cup is well underway as four drivers have already been eliminated from con-tention.

The Chase began at Chicagoland Speedway with the Challenger Round, a stretch of three races that would eliminate the four lowest drivers in the cham-pionship standings.

The race winner was Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup champion. By winning, the No. 2 team locked themselves into the second round of the Chase, the Contender Round.

The following week, it was Keselowski’s Team Pen-ske teammate Joey Logano scoring the win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After a day of many cautions that included many Chase drivers, Logano locked himself into the Contender Round.

At Dover a week later, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon grabbed the checkered flag, holding off Brad Keselowski in the final laps to lock himself into the Contender Round.

Following Dover, the bottom four drivers in points were eliminated from contention. AJ Allmendinger, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, and Aric Almirola were removed, while all other drivers were reset to an equal number of points for the Contender Round.

The first Contender Round at Kansas Speedway, put some of the sport’s top drivers into very dangerous situation as, while struggling in the middle of the pack, Jimmie Johnson crashed after contact with Greg Biffle. He finished in 40th.

His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earn-hardt Jr. finished in 39th place after blowing a tire while leading the race. Keselowski began the next round with a poor result; the driver of the No. 2 Ford finished 36th after blowing a tire.

Tire issues also plagued Kasey Kahne, adding to Hendrick Motorsports’ poor day. He finished in 22nd position.

All four drivers are the lowest in the standings and currently face elimination. Only two races remain in the Contender Round, where the Chase Grid will be cut from 12 to eight.





Tony Stewarts difficult summer

BY travis barend

It has been a long and miserable road for Tony Stewart since August, when he struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. in a non-NASCAR race in upstate New York.

With a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race scheduled at Watkins Glen the next day, Stewart returned to the speedway for race morning, but later sat out the event as media attention increased throughout the day.

Making national and even international news, Stewart faced scrutiny while living in isolation; hidden away from everyone except family, close friends, and the Ontario County Sheriff ’s Department. Stewart was said to be cooperating well with officials as they investigated the tragedy.

Missing the next two Sprint Cup Series races, Stewart grieved as rumors swirled about the investigation and his future in racing.

While many outsiders were quick to provide their opinions, speculating over the incident, Stewart was truly the only one who knew in full detail what happened that night. For the driver, there was never any question, despite the ongoing investigation of the incident.

“Anytime you’re facing something like that and your fate is in someone else’s hands, it’s natural to be fearful,” Stewart said in a press conference after the investigation was completed. “But all along I knew what the facts were. I knew what had happened”

When the investigation was completed, the District Attorney sent the case to a Grand Jury, where a group of Ontario County citizens would determine the next step for Stewart.

The decision was to not charge Stewart and when it was announced, toxicology report results were released, indicating that Ward was under the influence of marijuana the night of the crash. According to DA, it was enough to “impair judgment.”

While the toxicology results help Stewart’s case, it means nothing to him personally.

“Honestly, for me, it didn’t change anything” Stewart said. “To me a young driver lost his life. Didn’t matter why or what was going on. The end result was the same. No matter what was said, it was still a tragic accident. I just know in my heart that it was a hundred percent an accident; that detail didn’t mean anything to me personally.”

While Stewart will not face any charges, he could still face a civil suit from the Ward family.

Even when the legal issues are done, Stewart will continue to face the problem of coping with what happened.

“It’s going to be a part of my life. It’s going to be a part of Kevin’s families life, and it’s never going to go away for any of us, but hopefully it will get easier for all of us.”

BY travis barend





Sergio Canamasas feature



There is no denying that in the world of Motorsport, you need to be competitive, driven and passionate and determined to achieve or else. What would be the point in even slipping on a pair of overalls, never mind preparing to step into the

cockpit?

The feeder series to Formula 1, known as GP2, is naturally one of the world’s most competitive series of racing, with drivers from different nationalities competing against one another to make a name in the panicle of Motorsport. Unfortunately for Spaniard, Sergio Canamasas, he has made himself well known but for all of the wrong reasons.

Understandably and naturally, Canamasas only wishes to achieve what his fellow drivers also wish for, and that is to be blessed with wins, podiums and the championship. But, whilst there is respect throughout the GP2 field between the rest of the drivers, it is unfortunate that Canamasas doesn’t seem to have the same frame of mind and has now become renowned for his feisty driving style and lack of consideration for the rest of the field in and out of the car.

For over two years, Serigo Canamasas has raced in GP2; each year giving us a few new reasons to become less fond of him. His lack of regard and care on track is worrying and shouldn’t be overlooked and so in light of a blog post, posted by GP2 commentator Will Buxton, we cannot sweep the matter under the carpet. Motorsport is dangerous and that is on the back of every ticket, every paddock pass and every program throughout a race weekend; it is apparent that Canamasas has failed to notice these warnings.

In 2012, it wasn’t until Round 8 and Race 15 of the season that Canamasas was granted a seat in the GP2 series. As a rookie brought into the season when it was more than half way through, he wasn’t expected to deliver wins and podiums but he was expected to show progress.Whilst he failed to score a single point, the season didn’t appear to be going too bad and he hadn’t gotten himself into a large amount of trouble until the final race in Singapore.

Due to one of his mechanics being on the grid when personnel should not have been, Canamasas was handed a drive-through penalty by the FIA, requesting that the Spaniard completed the punishment within three laps. Three laps passed and Canamasas failed to take his drive-through and so a number of messages over the radio were sent and not a single one received a reply, bringing his team to believe that his radio was either broken or had been switched off.

On Lap 7 of the race, his car was shown the black flag and disqualified from the race standings. Canamasas failed to respond and remained on circuit, battling with the field in order to receive his first points finish. It wasn’t until Lap 18 that the Lazarus finally made his way into the pit lane, reporting that he had a mechanical failure and had failed to hear any radio messages or see not only his board, but his teammates, telling him that he had been disqualified from the race.

What Happens

When Push Becomes

Shove

by Katy McConnachie



After a silly manoeuvre, which left him with a fine, such as the one committed in Singapore, it was a shock to many on Twitter, Facebook and other Social Media platforms, when he was announced to be racing for Caterham Racing the following year. This included not only the fans but a number of drivers too, making it apparent that he was not popular.

In 2013, when it was thought that the Spaniard had maybe calmed down after the events occurring the previous season, a few incidents took place. These led drivers to take to Social Media, tweeting about the Caterham driver, questioning his place within the sport and discussing some of the moves that Canamasas had completed over the course of the season.

2014 had been going well for Canamasas, compared to seasons passed; it appeared that the respect needed to race had finally found its way into the mind of the Trident driver until GP2 made its way to Italy.

The Canamasas from before the summer break appeared to be gone and all of a sudden, the 2012 and 2013 Canamasas was back. Italy saw a number of incidents, a fair number of them involving the 26-year-old. It was during the second race though that the FIA had to take action against the Spaniard.

The first offence was thanks to a rookie mistake, when Canamasas ran off at the Ascari Chicane and came back on track, un-safely, causing an incident affecting Pierre Gasly and Artem Markelov. The second came soon after when he caused yet another incident, crashing into Rene Binder. After investigating, the FIA waved the black flag. Unlike Singapore 2012, Canamasas came straight into the pit lane and retired from the race.

Canamasas is reckless; his performances over the years have shown that and provided clear evidence of an unacceptable lack of care for those who are also on track. Whilst you can race and compete, fighting for the highest positions possible, there is always a limit and he appears to have gone over that limit.

The examples above are brief, but aim to show a perspective of what Canamasas does. Those who watch GP2 religiously will understand that there will be drivers who need a slap on the wrist but that you also have the example of Canamasas who needs much more.

It is no secret that fans and drivers alike have used the internet to bash the actions of Canamasas and it is safe to say that a lot of people share the same opinion that he needs more than a race disqualification. Is it time for Sergio Canamasas to step aside?

In modern day Motorsport, safety has improved and drivers can be more aggressive on track but Canamasas isn’t aggressive, he is dangerous. They let him compete in GP2, and currently no one has been hurt, but how long will it be before someone is injured whilst racing against him and how much more will it take before the FIA are forced to take stronger action against him?

In modern day Motorsport, safety has improved and drivers can be more aggressive on track but Canamasas isn’t aggressive, he is dangerous



In modern day Motorsport, safety has improved and drivers can be more aggressive on track but Canamasas isn’t aggressive, he is dangerous



what are they doing now: esteban Gutierrez

In 2010, the inaugural GP3 title was claimed by a young Mexican driver, going by the name of Esteban Gutiérrez, competing in the championship with ART Grand Prix.

After taking five race victories during the season and four further podium finishes, he clinched the title by taking the final pole position of the season in Monza, leaving him 17 points ahead of closest rival, Robert Wickens.

Winning the first ever GP3 Championship had the press and a few fans leaving messages of praise for the ART driver as he was announced to be moving into GP2.

The Mexican then spent the next two years racing in the sister series, GP2, taking a total of 9 podiums including four wins. In 2011, Gutiérrez finished the championship in 13th with a total of 15 points before going on to finish 3rd in 2012 with 176 points to his name and the title of Sauber test driver in Formula 1.

In late November 2012, Sauber F1 Team announced that the young Mexican, Esteban Gutiérrez would be racing alongside Nico Hülkenberg.

In his first Grand Prix, he qualified 18th and finished in 13th which proved to be the highest finish for the 2013 rookies. As the season continued, Gutiérrez struggled to keep up with his experienced German teammate and seemed to be finishing either 11th or below, failing to get into the points despite coming close. This was until Japan where he managed to

finish in P7, bringing home 6 points for the Swiss based team.

At the end of the season, it was a 16th place finish overall for Esteban and his Ferrari powered Sauber C32. The team finished 7th in the Constructors Championship with a total of 57 points, 50 of those coming from the more experienced of the two. In late 2013, Sauber announced that Esteban Gutiérrez would be retained for this season and would be partnered beside former Force India driver, Germany’s Adrian Sutil.

So far, the season can only be described as disappointing for not only Gutiérrez but also the team, as they have failed to score a single point so far and sit in 10th in the Constructors standings, behind Marussia who are on 9 points and Caterham who also remain on 0 points.

Unlike 2013, the 2014 season has seen Gutiérrez re-tire a total of six times and his highest placed finish is currently 12th which he managed to snatch back at the start of the season in Australia. He has seen his fair share of unfortunate and utterly confidence shattering performances this season, which has left the team and it’s drivers under the spotlight on sev-eral occasions.

As the season is coming close to an end, the target for Sutil and Gutiérrez is to score a single point. They are fully aware that it will be difficult to do that but they cannot do much more than try and get that one point to add to their shocking tally so far.

by Katy McConnachie

2010 gp3 champion



what are they doing now: nico rosberg

Nico Rosberg became the first GP2 Champion in 2005 with ART Grand Prix guiding him to the Championship win ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and Scott

Speed.

The German won with a total of 120 points to his name, including five wins and twelve podium finishes. He won in Britain, Germany, France and Bahrain as well as securing podiums in Monaco, Italy, Turkey, Hungary and at the European Grand Prix. After his successful GP2 campaign and title, he was quickly signed to Formula 1 with Williams. Whilst it was a big deal to be signed to a Formula 1 team, when the season actually arrived, it appeared that Rosberg’s car wasn’t competitive enough for a podium. He constantly failed to score points, leaving him to finish the year in 17th position with a total of only 4 points.

Rosberg was retained for the next three years at

Williams, finishing his 2007 season in a much better and higher position of 9th with a total of 20 points. He managed to battle his car into a points scoring position on several occasions, securing him a Top 10 finish in the Championship.

In 2008, he scored two podiums and finished his season in 13th with a total of 17 points. Despite having a slightly more competitive car, it was a slip in the standings for the German driver as he headed into his final year with Williams F1 Team. 2009 saw him finish in 9th with 34.5 points, scoring points on a more consistent occasion than ever before.

In October 2009, it was announced that he would be leaving Williams after four years of partnership with the team. In November, Rosberg was announced as the first Mercedes driver on their return to the highest form of Motorsport. A month later, Rosberg was partnered with the returning seven times World Champion, and fellow German, Michael Schumacher for the 2010 season.

by Katy McConnachie

2005 gp2 champion



Despite all of the hype that seemed to surround the Schumacher return, Rosberg out- preformed his teammate on a number of occasions, taking a total of 3 podiums and scoring 142 points overall, to take 7th in the Drivers’ Championship. Both Michael and Nico were retained for the following two seasons.

In 2011 and it was a close battle between the two German’s all season but it was Rosberg who came out on top finishing 7th in the Championship again with 89 points to Schumacher’s 76 and 8th place finish.

Rosberg took his first ever Formula 1 win in 2012, leading the pack to the flag at the Chinese Grand Prix. He took a podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix and ended the season in 9th with 93 points to his name. His experienced team-mate and friend, Michael Schumacher retired at the end of the 2012 season and as a replacement, Mercedes signed 2008 World Champion and close friend of Rosberg’s, Lewis Hamilton.

It was Hamilton who got the better of the results for the Mercedes team in 2013, finishing in 4th whilst Rosberg finished 6th. Although overall the standings weren’t how Rosberg had hoped, he could add a Monaco victory and Silverstone victory to his name, taking two fantastic wins at two of the world’s most historic and well-known tracks.

This season has seen Rosberg fight for the Championship like never before. As Formula 1 leaves Russia, Rosberg and Hamilton are in a close Championship fight, a long way ahead of their closest rivals.

The battles on track have really brought a strain to the friendship of the two, especially after incidents at both the Monaco and Belgian Grand Prix. Words have been said and looks have been given but whilst it appeared easy for him to win the GP2 Championship almost ten years ago, Rosberg must fight to the max in the final three races of the season to take the Formula 1 title for the very first time.



http://www.wakeenergydrinks.com


“Mega Marco”“Mega Marco”Pit Lane Reporter introduces the 2014 DTM champion

Annika Göcke & BMW Motorsport



From “Rookie of the Year” 2013 to DTM champion 2014: a dream came true for BMW Team RMG driver Marco Wittmann. He managed to secure the driver title at Lausitzring, with two races left in the season.

Marco faced exceptional difficult conditions at Lausitzring with the bad weather playing havoc with the timetable. In addition, his earlier success during the season left him starting with the maximum weight of 1130kg. The media went crazy producing all these “what needs to happen to become champion“ reports, looking at every conceivable scenario about what Wittmann needs to do and where he has to finish compared to his opponents in order to become champion. It is always difficult to stay focused, but Marco managed by followed his strategy of not thinking about the title. He stuck to his principles and didn’t let the stress get to him.

His team also helped by keeping radio contact to a minimum, not informing Wittmann of his position to ensure that he could fully concentrate on his race. All the greater was the joy when Wittmann crossed the finish line in sixth position, confirming that he and his team had made the correct decisions. “Unbelievable. This is an absolutely awesome feeling.

The constantly changing conditions made it a really difficult race today. There were a lot of battles going on, and I just tried to stay out of bother. A few drivers skidded off the track and it was topsy-turvy at times. After yesterday I didn‘t really believe that it would work out today, but on the whole, we were able to drive a clean race. To already know that I am already the champion is amazing. We will have a fantastic party today,” Wittmann summarized his race.

Third-youngest DTM champion of all time

Taking all manufacturers into consideration, Wittmann is the third-youngest DTM champion of all time. In addition, at the age of 24 years and 294 days, Wittmann becomes the youngest DTM champion ever in BMW colours, following in the footsteps of Volker Strycek (1984, DE), Eric van de Poele (1987, BE), Roberto Ravaglia (1989, IT) and Bruno Spengler (2012, CA). “I am still completely overwhelmed, and it is difficult to put the feelings going through my head into words”, admitted Wittmann.This is also the first time in the history of the new era (since 2000) of DTM, that a driver has been crowned champion in only his second year in the series. Wittmann’s career has been closely



associated with BMW from the beginning; winning the DTM title 2014 completes the circle for him.

Down-to-earth Champion

Despite his success, Marco has managed to keep both feet firmly on the ground. He is a qualified chassis-builder. Whenever he has time, he helps out at his father’s automobile workshop in Fürth (D). In the run-up to the DTM race at Lausitzring he even took on sole responsibility for the business while his parents were on holiday. “It has always been very im-portant for me to have a second string to my bow, just in case things should not work out with motor-sport at some point,” Wittmann said. “Working as a chassis-builder has taught me a lot. Teamwork, pre-cision and, of course, an understanding of the tech-nical side of automobiles; all very important aspects in motorsport.”

The 24-year-old DTM champion grew up with his parents Herbert and Angelika and his brother Nico in Markt Erlbach (D), in the Franconia region of Germany. Last year Wittmann moved to Fürth, into his own flat with his brother. Although investing a lot of time in motorsport at a young age, he still success-

fully completed his secondary school education. He could have gone to a grammar school, but the ever increasing cost of pursuing a career in motorsport prevented this.

BMW through and through Wittmann races in the Ice-Watch coloured car. The Belgian watch company has supported his commit-ment to the DTM from the very first race. Further-more, he also drives a BMW in his private life as he owns a fire orange BMW M6 Coupé with 575 bhp; Individually customised by BMW exclusively for him.

Trademark of success

Wittmann’s victory ritual after finishing a successful race is to climb onto roof of his BMW M4 to cele-brate. After the high-spirited moment of joy in the parc fermé at Lausitzring, he joked: “We might need to make the roof more robust; it buckled a bit when I celebrated the championship.”

Marco is the only driver in the DTM starting field to



have reached the deciding third section in all eight of the qualifying sessions in 2014. His worst result so far was starting from seventh on the grid.

Trophies materially mark success. The originals can be found at BMW Motorsport and Wittmann re-ceives replicas of his trophies to display in his flat in Fürth.

Teamwork

Reaching a title is not achieved by one person; Mar-co is a part of the BMW Team RMG. Team princi-pal Stefan Reinhold worked in Formula 1 and other motorsport categories for many years, before apply-ing to join the team to compete in DTM in BMW Motorsport’s comeback season of 2012. Inevitably, Reinhold was awarded the job. Another well known name from Formula 1, Wittmann’s race engineer, Dominic Harlow, is also a part of the team. Previous-ly, he has worked for Williams (as Senior Operations Engineer) and Force India (as Director of Circuit Engineering, and Chief Race & Test Engineer).

Team RMG’s preparations for the DTM adventure were short and intense. There was only just over one year between being awarded the place as a works team and the first race of the 2012 season in Hock-enheim. However, thanks to the commitment of his workforce and the expertise of his team members who, despite coming from all areas of motorsport, were able to form an efficient unit within a seriously limited time frame, Reinhold and his crew immedi-ately set about challenging for top results. “The driv-ers’ title is 100 per cent down to my guys from the Eifel Mountains.“said Wittmann. After switching teams in the winter, I immediately felt right at home with BMW Team RMG. I was immediately on the same wavelength as my mechanics and race engineer. The chemistry is right; everyone does everything in their power to ensure we are successful, and that has paid dividends. That is the basis which allows you to attack as a driver”, he explained. Team principal Stefan Reinhold added: “At the moment it is still hard to take it all in. After the first two years we tried to improve in all areas. There is always the pressure to maintain this level all season, but that pressure is now a little less for us since securing the Driver’s ti-tle. However, we still have a lot of goals to meet and therefore must continue to go about our work in a focussed manner.”

Anyone who thinks that Wittmann will now take it slow and relax is completely mistaken. With two re-maining races, there is no time to rest on the laurels. “Now that we have won the Drivers’ Championship, our goal is to win the Team and Manufacturers’ titles with BMW Team RMG and BMW. That would be the icing on the cake”, said Wittmann. He is leading the DTM championship with 128 points and has a 69-point lead over second-placed Christian Vietoris (Mercedes). BMW Team RMG tops the Team stand-ings with 167 points, giving it a 75-point cushion ahead of its closest rivals. BMW also leads the Man-ufacturers’ Championship with 320 points.

Media marathon

What a newly crowned DTM champion is doing apart from helping his parents and preparing for the last two races is easy to answer. Wittmann has a very busy schedule, and is completing a media marathon. The first telephone interviews were conducted on the way home from the Lausitzring. These were fol-lowed over the course of the week by a video shoot for ARD, as well as numerous visits to print, TV and online editorial offices. He also made his debut as a co-commentator on TV joining Sport1’s Formula 1 show. Along with has BMW colleagues, he visited the Oktoberfest in Munich on 23rd September, be-fore dropping in to the ARD Morgenmagazin pro-gramme on his way to the race in Zandvoort. “I have hardly had chance to take in what I achieved at the Lausitzring. It is incredible how much interest there has been since winning the title. This last week has been tiring but, as DTM champion, you obviously enjoy all the appointments. I wake up every morning with a smile on my face”.

Everyone at Pit Lane Reporter congratulates Marco Wittmann on his DTM title: “mega Marco!”




http://www.wms-racing.com


Btcc round 9: and then there were two

BY adam johnson

Is motor racing too obsessed with being equal these days? Perhaps so. And you’d think maybe rightly so - who wants to see the kind of utter walkovers seen in early-2000s F1? But perhaps

it is now going too far. What if race cars are too equal, to the point that overtaking is near impossible due to all cars running almost identical times? I found myself musing that point during both the Petit Le Mans and whilst watching the penultimate round of skirmishes in the British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone. Happily, this being BTCC racing, drivers were not prepared to sit around playing follow-the-leader; particularly when two of them were fighting for a championship. And on that point, mutterings that the title would be decided before the final weekend for the first time since 1997 proved thankfully premature, meaning that other form of motorsport equalisation - Chase playoffs and points resets - shouldn’t be anywhere near the BTCC just yet.

On the one hand, this year’s title battle between West Surrey Racing’s Colin Turkington and Triple 8 MG’s Jason Plato feels very familiar - certainly the role as plucky underdog suits Plato down to the ground. This is a guy who’s made a career out of being the courageous never-say-die odds-against-him fighter,

and he’s spent most of this season painting Turkington as the lord of rear-wheel-drive based evil. On the other hand; What No Hondas? Nope. Reigning champion Andrew Jordan has suffered somewhat of a sophomore slump, and whilst strong early on, the Team Dynamics Honda gamble on the Civic Tourer doesn’t seem to have worked, with Gordon Shedden’s outside chances of a 2nd title finally giving up the ghost at Silverstone. A slight decline in performances for the Honda teams has coincided with an upturn in fortunes for several others, namely Team BMR VW and Motorbase Ford, who decisively won the ‘best of the rest’ battle this weekend, and managed to muscle in on Turkington vs Plato’s spotlight in an entertaining and gripping penultimate weekend of touring car action.

Race 1

Tim Harvey in commentary wasn’t exactly alone in assuming Plato, starting pole, would turn dead right off the start to defend 2nd-starter Turkington. Jaws promptly fell open as he cleanly held his line and allowed the rear-wheel-drive forces of evil (supposedly) to do their thing and sweep Turkington to the lead. But in fact, the gamble paid off - he

Silverstone National Circuit, 28th September



avoided potential carnage, bided his moment, fended off a surging Mat Jackson, and then snuck past Turkington in a nice move at Brooklands on lap 3 into a lead he would not be moved from - despite Turkington laying any assumptions of conservative driving to bed. It was mostly during the first race that my thoughts of over-equalisation came to a head. Positions 1 through 6 were locked in a long pain train for many laps in the race, yet despite the drivers of all cars involved - Plato, Turkington, Jackson, Sam Tordoff, Aron Smith and Alain Menu - all clearly straining to make things happen, it didn’t seem possible.

Make no mistake though, this was no repeat of the dross we saw at Oulton Park earlier this year. Scraps abounded up and down the field, with Jack Clarke enjoying a strong outing in the Crabbie’s Ford. The Hondas and Fabrizio Giovanardi had an entertaining scuffle with each other and other opponents as they climbed from miserable starting spots outside the top 15. Meanwhile, rookie-of-the-year elect Tom Ingram yet again had all the luck - bad luck, that is. His slowly fading car caused a pain train at the midpoint, desperately trying and failing to fend off a slew of cars including Rob Collard, Austin, Jordan, Jack Goff and Shedden. Contact with Shedden saw a great save before a flat tire one lap from the end capped off a miserable first outing for the Speedworks Toyota. The same could be said for Adam Morgan’s WIX Mercedes, who had a promising run curtailed by electric issues at lap 15.

Eventually Plato came home a safe winner, gaining valuable points on Turkington who came

frighteningly close to being upstaged by Jackson on the final lap after the hapless Simon Belcher accidentally ran interference. Tordoff and Menu completed the top-5, and Marc Hynes (you know, the man who beat Jenson Button?) netted a season-best 8th in the third MG.

Race 2

The first lap or two felt a bit like Groundhog Day - Plato and Turkington front row, Turkington with better start takes lead, Plato promptly retakes it at Brooklands a lap or two later. Okay, there were some slight differences, namely Plato’s dive down the inside was a lot more bold with a lot less room - Turkington figured he wouldn’t be fooled again, but was anyway. Behind, Menu’s recent run of great form continued, improving to 4th from the start before a good move on Jackson took him up to a second podium finish of the season. It was pointed out on Twitter that had Menu been averaging the finishes all year that he has had at Silverstone and Rockingham, he would currently be 3rd and right in title contention. It shows both what frustratingly might have been for this year and hopefully what might be for next season - make no mistake, this BTCC legend still has the right stuff.

Both he and fellow returning star Giovanardi have benefitted from teams hitting form around them - both Team BMR and Motorbase have as already noted been steadily improving all year, and one can hope they can start out of the box quickly in 2015 and mount title assaults. For now, ‘Gio’ continued his steady rise from race 1, another fine performance moving him up to 6th at race 2’s unfortunately destructive conclusion. A meeting which had so far largely avoided big wrecks (aside from some minor contact and Shedden getting into Austin in Race 2) was turned on its head one lap from the end here when Clarke slid sideways out of Arena and the charging Collard clipped his front-right wheel and went tumbling down the backstraight in a violent crash. No blame for the wreck, and luckily Collard was A-OK. His car however, was not.

A second Plato-Turkington 1-2, and Plato’s plan of cutting into Turkington’s mountainous lead was going well. Menu, Jackson and Aron Smith rounded out the top 5 ahead of Giovanardi’s great drive and solid top-10s for Warren Scott and Clarke, despite the latter’s involvement in the brutal finale.



Race 3

Giovanardi’s weekend got even better with a 6th-place grid inversion becoming pole for the conclusion, and with Turkington inverted ahead of Plato, the stage was set for Race 3’s usual fireworks to go off with more gusto than normal. It all proved too much for poor Tordoff though, who’s MG promptly chundered engine guts all over the grid and didn’t even start the warmup lap. His loss was Jackson’s gain, who used the now-empty grid slot in front of him to charge to 2nd from 4th off the start. More carnage behind as the luckless James Cole was half-spun at Arena and the equally unfortunate Robb Holland and Martin Depper both ploughed into the driver-side door of the United Autosports Toyota, which led to a brief war of words between Cole and Holland (a call-back to the pair’s mammoth shunt at Donington earlier in the year) which was thankfully resolved soon after the conclusion of hostilities.

Once again Jackson profited from the misfortune of others, cheekily nabbing the lead from Giovanardi out of Luffield corner and beating him to the start-finish line as the safety car arrived to clean up the mess at Arena; a great piece of intuition which ultimately netted him a second win of the season. Behind him the battles picked up right away after the restart on lap 6 - Smith netted P2 with a smooth move on Giovanardi on lap 7 at Copse, and Turkington started sniffing more valuable points from Giovanardi but avoided any wild moves, knowing full well Plato was right behind and ready to pounce like a vulture on a day-old wildebeest.

Then around lap 18, everything went pants-on-head insane. Seriously, if you want 120 seconds or so of what defines hard racing and what makes the BTCC

such an entertaining racing series, you’d struggle to do better than laps 18 and 19, Race 3, Silverstone 2014. Turkington’s patience finally ran out and a Plato-style move at Brooklands moved him past Giovanardi, before the fightback at Luffield suddenly brought Menu into the mix. Three-wide down the front straight with Menu, Giovanardi and Turkington became three-wide exiting Copse, with Turkington switching outside to in and taking Plato with him. A crafty punt from Plato on Turkington backfired somewhat, as Turkington fired into Giovanardi who half-spun at Maggotts, and after yet another three-wide situation down the backstraight, Turkington finally shook out third in one of the most epic scraps the class of 2014 has put on - Plato and Menu both left scratching their heads at how they didn’t profit more, and Giovanardi left fuming down in 11th. Turkington later called it a ‘season-defining race’ - he wasn’t wrong.

Behind all the bedlam, Morgan had recovered from the earlier gremlins to net 7th with an excellent pass in the late going on Shedden, whilst Scott and Goff ensured all four BMR VWs netted top-10 finishes.

Conclusion

The Plato vs Turkington main event certainly did not disappoint, and whilst the latter didn’t get the knockout punch to end the contest before the final bell, his mighty race 3 performance in the face of insanity all around him puts him one step ahead despite Plato clawing back precious points with two race wins. Meanwhile, the undercard was once again full of stories and scraps for spotlights and champagne-spraying. Earlier on in the year, I yearned for changing of the guard up front, and even though I was perhaps off the mark with some of my predictions (United Autosport’s breakthrough weekend still seems a way off), a shakeup is in order if Team BMR and Motorbase can continue their strong upward curve. Honda are down but won’t be out for very long, and expect them to come back swinging at Brands Hatch in the season finale, where nearly-men round off the season with debut wins (in previous years Smith and Frank Wrathall have been in this category) and the title fight is cranked to 11 for a final encore.

Turkington leading the points, and Plato coming from behind in a last-ditch shot at glory...where have we seen this before?



2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Silverstone Race Results

Race 1 1. Jason PLATO (MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save): 22 Laps2. Colin TURKINGTON (eBay Motors): +1.4533. Mat JACKSON (Airwaves Racing): +1.5784. Sam TORDOFF (MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save): +3.5615. Alain MENU (Chrome Edition Restart Racing): +4.6026. Aron SMITH (Chrome Edition Restart Racing): +4.909

Race 2

1. Jason PLATO (MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save): 20 Laps2. Colin TURKINGTON (eBay Motors): +1.0133. Alain MENU (Chrome Edition Restart Racing): +1.7394. Mat JACKSON (Airwaves Racing): +2.7785. Aron SMITH (Chrome Edition Restart Racing): +2.9796. Sam TORDOFF (MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save): +5.739

Race 3

1. Mat JACKSON (Airwaves Racing): 24 Laps2. Aron SMITH (Chrome Edition Restart Racing): +2.7533. Colin TURKINGTON (eBay Motors): +5.2574. Jason PLATO (MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save): +5.9725. Alain MENU (Chrome Edition Restart Racing): +6.3036. Andrew JORDAN (Pirtek Racing): +6.926



btcc driver standings (10th october 2014)

Position Name Car Points1 Colin Turkington BMW 125i M Sport 4172 Jason Plato MG6 GT 3673 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Tourer 3174 Mat Jackson Ford Focus ST MK.III 2835 Andrew Jordan Honda Civic 2796 Robert Collard BMW 125i M Sport 2517 Matt Neal Honda Civic Tourer 2078 Sam Tordoff MG6 GT 2079 Aron Smith Volkswagon CC 176

10 Alain Menu Volkswagon CC 17311 Adam Morgan Mercedes-Benz A-Class 14812 Rob Austin Audi A4 14613 Fabrizio Giovanardi Ford Focus ST MK.III 12614 Jack Goff Vauxhall Insignia 11115 Tom Ingram Toyota Avensis 9516 Nick Foster BMW 125i M Sport 7917 Dave Newsham Ford Focus ST MK.III 6618 Marc Hynes MG6 GT 4419 Jack Clarke Ford Focus ST MK.III 2520 Hunter Abbott Audi A4 2021 Warren Scott Chrome Edition Restart Racing 1922 Glynn Geddie Toyota Avensis 1523 Martin Depper Pirtek Racing 1324 Lea Wood Toyota Avensis 625 James Cole Toyota Avensis 526 Robb Holland Rotek Racing 227 Dan Welch STP Racing with Sopp -40



Blancpain Sprint Series Round 5: temperatures rising in the algarve

BY adam johnson

If the Blancpain Sprint Series has done one thing this year, it’s shown just how many great circuits there are in Europe perhaps being ignored by the glamorous establishment. We can officially

add the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, or the Portimao circuit as you may also know it, to the list which also includes the likes of Zandvoort and Brands Hatch. Seriously, if any track out there deserves a Formula One GP or an FIA WEC date it’s this one. Undulating up hill and down dale, it resembles a strange love-child of Barcelona, new Nurburgring and Spa, and merely watching the Blancpain Sprint Series’ finest tackle it was a majestic sight - let alone when they rolled their sleeves up and started scrapping. This being the Sprint Series, there was also at least one good battle going on at any given moment, and an added storyline in this weekend’s hostilities came from the championship battle really starting to heat up. The season-long scrap between the Grasser Lamborghini of Hari Proczyk and Jeroen Bleekemolen and the HTP Mercedes of Maximilians Gotz and Buhk has been the central focus of the entire season, and with the glamorous finale in Azerbaijan starting to glow on the horizon as it grows closer and

closer, any punch that connects right now could be a knockout.

Qualifying Race

G-Drive Racing underwent somewhat of a transformation after their absence in Slovakia; for one, their orange Audi had become an orange Lamborghini. For two, veteran Tomas Enge had put their brand new Lambo on the pole, and held it for all of one corner before that man Bleekemolen in his own Gallardo swept past. Quick starts have been the bread and butter of the Grasser squad, hauled into title contention by countless great drives by Bleekemolen and determined rearguards from Proczyk, and in this race it proved particularly useful as everyone else decided to forget how to do opening laps properly. Most egregiously was the ROAL BMWs of Stefano Columbo and Alex Zanardi (decked out in a new gold livery commemorating his recent success in hand-cycling championships) wiping each other out after just half a lap, swiftly followed by Giorgio Pantano hitting Alessandro Latif then clipping the spinning Audi just for good measure a few corners

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, 6th-7th september



later.

Weirdly, it took nearly ten minutes for the safety car to be deployed. Once the bits of carbon fibre and ego had been cleared off the circuit, the battles picked up again off the restart on 15 minutes. Bleekemolen initially had to fend off Enge, but soon the hunter became the hunted as Enge fell back into the clutches of Audi aces Rene Rast and Laurens Vanthoor. His defence was going well until a spectacular sideways moment off the final right turn on 30 minutes slid him down the order.

By now, the pit window was opening, and the HTP crew decided to get Maxi Buhk out of the lead pain train early pitting him in at 27 minutes. Most of the rest of the top 10 went the opposite route, and judging by how Proczyk came out of the pits with a rear mirror full of angry Mercedes, HTP’s tactics seemed to work perfectly - jumping them from a top-5 run into race contention. A pass for the lead looked inevitable, but not for the first time Proczyk hung on with grim determination to bank some valuable points ahead of their rivals, who came into the weekend leading the points. Behind, things remained fairly quiet, although move of the race has to go to Silver Cup contender Vincent Abril who manuevered his Audi around Thomas Jaeger’s BMW late in the going with a fantastic move at Turn 9 and 10 - on the outside. Talk about balls of steel. Jaeger later blotted his copybook with a spin on the final lap as the honeymoon period after the newcomer’s victory at Zandvoort well and truly came to a halt.

Main Race

Round 1 had gone to Grasser, but they had their work cut out doing the same thing in the main race with many more points on the line. Despite more utterly heroic efforts from Proczyk somehow keeping Maxi Gotz at bay through almost two entire laps of side-by-side racing, Gotz getting the lead on lap 3 felt as inevitable as the tides. What happened next can best be described as HTP making a crushing statement of intent - Gotz legged-it out to nearly a 13-second lead before handing over to Buhk, who had basically the equivalent of a nice Sunday afternoon drive to bring the car home with a second main race victory of the season.

Fortunately there was more than enough behind to



mean the race wasn’t over as a contest after 15 minutes - largely after another early safety car intervention for a crash between Abril and Amaarn Ebrahim. Trying to outdo ROAL’s team-mate wrecking from yesterday were the other two HTP Mercs as Lucas Wolf had the door shut painfully in his face by Sergey Afanasyev at Primeira, causing both to spin off and Afanasyev to cop a deserved drive-through penalty. Perhaps less deserved was a late 30-second time penalty for Vanthoor over our old friend track limits - which only seems to have become a majorly contentious issue this year, it seems? As much as having tarmac run-offs is probably safer, at least with grass you had no ambiguity if someone fell off - they would likely spin out and get stuck in gravel with no need for people in race control to scratch their heads and wonder if drivers ‘gained an advantage’ by falling off the track. Anyway, Vanthoor copped a harsh penalty for ‘gaining an advantage’ by running wide out of Turn 5 (which is what almost everyone was doing in both races anyway) before an excellent lunge down the inside of Bleekemolen with just 2 minutes to go. What should’ve, at the very most, been a reversal of positions in the final standings became a knock down for Vanthoor and co-driver Cesar Ramos to 8th, which seems excessive in the extreme.

Elsewhere, Alex Zanardi was having his best performance since his main race top-5 at Brands Hatch, despite losing several positions after coming out of the pits. He snuck in and boldly held Stephane Ortelli side-by-side on pit exit before completing the move to nab 5th place, before the Audi resurgence behind began - first Ortelli, then Rast and Marcus Winkelhock as well as Enge fought past the plucky Italian, who still grabbed a 9th-place finish at the flag. Another strong performance was from Pro-Am contenders Marc Basseng and Latif, who went the opposite way to HTP the previous day - staying out for as long as possible before pitting put them into top-5 contention. Like Zanardi, and despite losing some positions late on, Latif was entirely sensible in not fighting too hard as the Pro-Am points were safely netted.

Conclusion

It sounds like a cop out to merely say ‘onto the next one’, but the fact is after one win apiece for Grasser and HTP, it really is on again. Gotz only leads the Lambo trio by 23 points, with Buhk only 7 ahead after missing the Slovakiaring rounds for



inexplicable reasons. It isn’t quite tortoise and hare, but certainly Bleekemolen’s raw speed and Proczyk’s determination contrasts with Buhk and Gotz’s consistency and relentless drive. Like terminators, they just don’t stop scoring high points in each and every round.

Will it see them through to title glory? Lock in next time in Zolder to find out.

Blancpain Sprint Series Round 6: Portimao CircuitMain Race Results (Qualifying Race Result in Brackets)

1. #84 Götz/Buhk – HTP Motorsport Mercedes (2) 2. #28 Proczyk/Bleekemolen – GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini (1) 3. #9 Hamprecht/Ortelli – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (17) 4. #3 Rusinov/Enge – G-Drive Racing Lamborghini (6) 5. #2 Ide/Rast – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (3) 6. #6 Mayr-Melnhof/Winkelhock – Phoenix Racing Audi (DNF) 7. #5 Basseng/Latif – Phoenix Racing Audi (11) (Pro-Am Winners) 8. #1 Ramos/Vanthoor – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (4) 9. #33 Zanardi – Roal Motorsport BMW (15) 10. #60 Onidi/Pantano – Bhaitech McLaren (DNF) 15 #34 Fumanelli/Colombo – Roal Motorsport BMW (DNF) (Silver Cup Winners)




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Blancpain Endurance Series Finale:

BY adam johnson

As much as many of Bernie Ecclestone’s ideas these days have about as much validity as a chocolate toaster in an oven, his idea about having artificial sprinklers

around tracks for random rainfalls at least had a vain thread of logic - no matter how atrocious and cynical. If the final round of the 2014 Blancpain Endurance Series proved anything, it’s that the one way to really crank the drama up in a six-hour endurance race with championships on the line is to throw constant varying levels of rain and fog at the 50-strong field and see how they react. And whilst many lost their heads, Audi gunner Laurens Vanthoor rose through to claim a commanding race and title victory alongside co-drivers Christopher Mies and Cesar Ramos.

Normally I’m the first to cry foul over races being blighted by safety-cars at the first drops of rain, but even before recent tragic events in Suzuka, starting the Nurburgring 1000km (technically six hours but shhh) under safety car conditions was entirely the right move - even though the safety car trying to pilot the GT3 machines looked almost impossible.

Once the safety car departed for shelter after twenty minutes, it wasn’t much surprise to see several cars skittering off on the first lap alone, including outside championship contenders Santeloc Audi #26 and ART Grand Prix McLaren #98. Still in the fight remained the #7 M-Sport Bentley after its excellent pair of wins at Silverstone and Paul Ricard earlier in the year and the Blancpain Sprint Series-leading #84 HTP Mercedes.

The #99 McLaren in the hands of Kevin Estre pulled a bold move at Yokohama Curve in the soaking conditions to take the hour 1 lead. He had to give best to easily one of the finest performances of the race from Alex Buncombe in the GT-Academy Nissan. Was it, as the team’s Twitter account claimed, Jedi powers seeing him storm round the track at warp speed in the filthy conditions, or the fact the Gran Turismo games have both rain and the Nurburgring track in them to practice on? Either way, it almost seemed unfair of him to hand over to an amateur driver after such an awesome performance, and poor old Florian Strauss rapidly got swamped by the pro drivers around him.

Vanthoor Rises Through The Rain



Meanwhile, the HTP cars of #84 and #85 were well placed for the longest time, hanging in behind Buncombe’s Jedi performance to take the lead at around the midpoint. As much as John Watson continues his efforts to convince the world that Bernd Schneider is the greatest driver mankind has ever seen, he does have a point, and the German veteran has many times hauled the #84 car into contention. However not even the sheer power of his talent and chin could salvage the title fight for them, which ended for good when co-driver Harold Primat binned the car in the gravel at the final turn 16 and lost 2 laps; hard to blame him for this mistake given the rubbish conditions. HTP still recovered some pride with the sister #85 car taking 2nd overall after a determined drive from wheelmen Stef Dusseldorp, Sergei Afanasiev and Maximilian Buhk.

In the end the Mercedes team having the best race was probably Team Black Falcon, who took a surprise lead around halfway onwards with the #19 car of Hubert Haupt holding off the #1 Audi in the hands of Mies. Despite eventually having to give best to the Belgium Audi Club WRT boys, he and co-drivers Abdulaziz Al Faisal and Andreas Simonsen took a well-deserved podium at the end of proceedings with sister car #18 coming home a staggering 5th, (and 2nd in Pro-Am), in the hands of rookie Devon Modell, Anders Fjordbach and Vladimir Lunkin. Only a titanic effort from the two-man TDS Racing squad of Henry Hassid and Nicky Catsberg, the latter of whom drove nearly a total of four hours in the race, denied them overall Pro-Am victory.

With 90 minutes to go things took yet another twist as suddenly the sunshine arrived at the circuit. Only four and a half hours late, but it suddenly meant a soaking wet track was becoming a drying one. With the #1 Audi safely ensconced in the lead, opponents down the order sensed a last chance to roll the dice in season 2014. Oman Racing Motorbase’s Aston Martin was one of the first to dive in, followed by the #99 ART McLaren, who proved it was perhaps too early by promptly spinning off in the hands of Kevin Estre. Soon though, the race became ‘gosh, imagine what might have been had it been dry all day’ - certainly for the Bentley crew, who had endured a tough race with car #8 taking a battering early on and both struggling for pace in the wet.

A race like this is always going to throw up some surprises and unexpected efforts, with Team Black Falcon’s great pair of finishes and Hassid & Catsberg’s



determined drive being the picks of the bunch. Also in the honourable mentions category were Triple 8 Racing, whose drivers Jody Firth, Warren Hughes and Alexander Sims took a solid 9th place. Elsewhere, it’s rare that a team finishing 19th is deserving of praise and mentions in commentary, but the Emil Frey #14 Jaguar merely making the finish, let alone passing stronger cars by the end, was good value for some praise. Go on Jaguar...you know you want to join in the GT3 fun.

That’s for another day. For now, the day was all about Vanthoor. After being woefully off the pace in the early part of the season, a full 360-degree turnaround at Spa proved crucial for Team WRT Audi - not the first time Audi have turned around a season with a big performance at a classic 24-hour race. Their title glory was the crowning moment on a season which proved that GT3 is here to stay as a motorsport concept, and with new GT3 cars and manufacturers joining by the day, next year’s Blancpain GT Series will be nothing short of all-out war.

Just how we like it!

Blancpain Endurance Series Round 5: Nurburgring 1000kmRace Results:

1 #1 Ramos/Mies/Vanthoor – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 2 #85 Dusseldorp/Afanasiev/Buhk – HTP Motorsport Mercedes 3 #19 Haupt/Al Faisal/Simonsen – Black Falcon Mercedes (Pro-Am Winners)4 #12 Hassid/Catsburg – TDS Racing BMW5 #99 Soucek/Korjus/Estre – ART Grand Prix McLaren6 #18 Modell/Fjordback/Lunkin – Black Falcon Mercedes7 #90 Kemenater/Gai/Rizzoli – Scuderia Villorba Corse8 #7 Kane/Meyrick/Smith – M-Sport Bentley9 #888 Firth/Hughes/Sims – Triple 888 Racing10 #32 Wilson/Leonard/Meadows – Leonard Motorsport AMR Aston Martin17. #22 Loggie/Westwood - Team Parker Racing Audi (Gentlemen Trophy Winners)






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getting started in historic racing

We’ve touched on the sport of Historic Regularity rallying previously but felt the time was right to have a more in depth look at the running of an

event and what is needed to take part. It must be said having one of the best events of such kind literally right on my doorstep provides just that opportunity, so we’ll use the fantastic Vale of Clwyd Classic rally as our case in point. The event is fairly new on the calendar, running for the 1st time in 2011. Promoted by Clwyd Vale Motor Club Ltd with the multi-talented rallyist Guy Woodcock at the helm, it has in 3 short years become one of the most looked forward to rounds in the Historic Rally Car Register (HRCR) championship. It also counts towards several regional series. What competitors don’t see is that work starts for the organisers at least 6 months in advance and in many cases the day after the previous year’s event. That 6 month date is the soonest you can submit your route to the MotorSports Association for approval. However, this is only a small part of the work. There

are official bodies to liaise with, Police, Council’s etc (as all householders on the route must be notified) as well as securing the use of all the venues. This is of course before any competitor has entered. For the long suffering likes of Guy, come the day of the event, their work is nearly over and it’s down to his Chief Marshal and their band of (volunteer) helpers to keep the show running. It’s all too often forgotten that it’s run by volunteers doing it for love and in fact often at some cost just to put on the event for the crews…I digress somewhat but it’s useful to know exactly what goes on. The route generally takes a clockwise or (as this year) anti-clockwise route from there. Those interested and with mapping products to hand, the event stretched North to Mold, West to St.Asaph, and South west to Clocaenog Forest. The basic premise of these events is one of regularity timing on the open public highway (maximum average speed of 30mph but invariably much less (it varies both up and down) coupled with driving tests

BY brynmor pierce



in private forestry/country estates/ car parks etc. The events are in essence what Rally GB started out as back in the 1930’s to the early 1960’s and it’s those days they hark back too. To add to the sociability of the day (and invariably they do last for just one day), morning coffee/lunch and afternoon tea are all part of the events make up. This year’s event followed the accepted pattern with technical checks on Friday evening followed by an 8am start on Saturday morning…from the original entry of 70 cars, 66 actually started. The top 10 was bolstered this year by a quartet of very potent Porsche 911’s. Surely the winner would come from one of these? Most fancied were the Howard Warren/Iain Tullie 911 with both competitors with a bristling resume of wins. It was felt that their main threat would come from the 2011 winners; father and son team Roger/Leigh Powley; both drivers being fairly local coming from the Chester area. The first test was only 2 miles from the start situated in the car park of a local ‘country park’. Power coupled with maneuverability would see the above prediction hold true for most of the day on the tests. Indeed it was Warren/Tullie 911 that took a commanding victory from the similar car of Colton/Pickering with the big 3rd spot again being taken by locals in the form of Pete Welch/Richard Bestwick who are really getting the hang of their Dolomite Sprint The interesting thing about these events is that the most emphasis is placed on the navigator. They will be given the route during the day in various formats. (Should you be unaware of the terms Google is your friend here) - Spot heights/Herringbones/Map References/Tulip Diagrams.

These will need to be plotted onto a map whilst invariably being on the move and then having to watch your timing whilst adjusting your average speed on the special rally trip meter fitted to the dash (search for Brantz to get a good idea). The term ‘office manager’ which is liberally thrown about to describe the navigator has seldom been more accurate. The tests on the other hand are normally supplied on a pre-drawn diagram with each of the marker posts or traffic cones, given a letter of the alphabet. So it may say, left of ‘A’, right of ‘B’ then 360 degree turn around ‘C’…I’m sure you get the idea. If you’re fancying the passenger seat you will need some maps, a romer (fancy device for plotting map references) and some pens and pencils. If you’re based in the UK the aforementioned HRCR run a new navigators training day twice a year….get yourself joined up and try to get on the course. Everyone is very friendly on these events and generally will all help a lost newcomer at the start. Be warned though if you’re after instant success that’s not easy to come by, best to work on 3 years minimum apprenticeship to get into the top 10, although the classes are all fiercely fought out and awards are there to go at for all from Novice to Master. The wonderful thing about this branch of the sport is that the events are run all over the world, and we’re blessed in the UK that, in the main, those events abroad are run by the Historic Endurance Rally Organisation (HERO), so you can go from your one day £100 entry fee events, to 1 week jaunts across Europe for £3000 entry fees…the world is quite literally your oyster and all achievable in ex-actly the same car, something that is most unusual in this day and age.



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that was the year that was

I’m sure you’ve all gathered over the year that as a rule of thumb there isn’t quite the same championship focus that exists in modern motorsport within the International Historic

Racing world. That is not taking anything away from the various FIA series, but participation on a constant basis is more the exception rather than the rule for the majority of crews. That rule applies to nationally based series as well and the reasons are fairly obvious. Most cars are owner run or are run for business people who struggle for time. The other main reason is that the cars are naturally quite old and parts aren’t’ always easy to find. What could be a simple repair on say a modern Touring Car, could mean a complete draw/design and machining for an Historic. I mention all the above to give you an idea as to why (Super Tourers aside), you will not see me reporting on a series over the whole year. With Historics, and it is part of the beauty to me, you can dip in and out and people tend to look at the individual results for the Historic meetings/events rather than the

championships. Rallying is an even more complex beast in that you’ll see a massive drop off in entries towards the latter part of the year. People (for reasons that escape me) clamour for the early events after the winter lay off, but then due to lack of time/money/interest , fade away over a season only to repeat the whole thing the following year. For example, I’ve tended to always pick events that I enjoy rather than blindly chasing a championship that really only 5 people actually have a shot at; apologies there I went off on a tangent…. So September, within the UK at least, is traditionally the watershed month for various meetings and series. It would be nigh on impossible for those that have an interest in Historic racing not to notice the most British of events in the Goodwood Revival. An event, steeped in heritage, is racing’s version of Doctor Who’s Tardis or perhaps more fittingly a real life version of ‘Back to the Future’. Run at the famous Goodwood circuit under the eyes of Lord March, the event aims to capture the feel of Goodwood from it’s inception up to its demise in 1966, (be that on two

BY brynmor pierce



wheels or four).

The whole weekend is a kaleidoscope of pre 66 fashion, pre 66 sounds (both motorised and musical) and a way of life that is long forgotten to many. It must be said the day can be a little confusing; WW2 fighter pilots mingling with 60’s mods (incidentally this year Phil Daniels from Quadrophenia headed up the mods parade on track). On track; well it’s the RAC Tourist Trophy; the event of the multi million pound GT cars ….this year won by Formula One test driver Giedo van der Garde sharing with David Hart in a Cobra. The sight of E-Types/Cobras et al sliding their way around is a sight to behold. This race is staged over an hour and is for two drivers, normally in the form of hired hands, often Historic specialists or professional drivers. The hero of last year’s meeting, motoring journalist Chris Harris, couldn’t quite get onto the podium this year; sharing the E-Type of Gary Pearson they had a stirring drive to 4th, the sheer grunt of the Cobra’s proving to be too much for them. The other big race is the St Mary’s trophy for saloon cars which alternates between pre 59 and pre 66. It is an aggregate race and this year was won by the Jaguar of Anthony Reid/Justin Law. The pair didn’t have it easy though as touring car star Andrew Jordan, sharing an Austin A40 with his father Mike, ran them a close second. The first race on Saturday tends to be for the ‘professional’ driver in the team then on Sunday it’s for the non-professional (usually the owner of the car), although it must be said those lines have become slightly blurred of late. An unusual quirk of the event is that the entry is all done by invitation and not by simply filling in a form and sending a cheque. This creates a real mix of fascinating cars and crews of varying abilities. The Historic Sports Car Club, Historic Racing Drivers Club and Classic Saloon Car Club have all been seeing major growth this year. It is perhaps not surprising that CSCC now have classes for cars up to 1993 and any series that caters for cars from the 1980’s is seeing a major uplift in interest. Perhaps one of the most intriguing developments is the new HRDC



Academy. An idea from the man behind the championship, Julius Thurgood is a control formula for identical Austin A35/A30’s. The idea is to have a field of cars within a controlled championship where the complete newcomer can join in and see if they want to grow into the sport. The cars have started to hit the tracks in the last few months with 2015 looking to be a big year for it. During 2015 we will bring you the low-down on how to get involved within that very series. The UK national historic rally scene is possibly the busiest in Europe, although alas, several countries do muster a more diverse range of machinery than we do.It is no surprise that spoils in the two major series were taken by the venerable Ford Escort… In its final year under the guidance of the Historic Rally Car Register, the MSA British Historic crown went to the 68 year old David Stokes in his MK1 Escort partnered once again by Guy Weaver. ‘Stokesy’ really dominated the series and was awarded the crown for the 4th time….. In the other major series it was MK2 pairing Nick Elliott and Dave Price who took spoils in the last running of the Roger Albert Clark championship….whilst the championship will continue, it will in 2015 become the MSA British Historic series after winning a tendering process earlier in the year. On a side note it will be interesting to see if they sustain the entry level when they move to a multi-surface series, as so far it’s been gravel only. It must be said though that the last Championship round, the Yorkshire based Trackrod stages, saw a massive variety of new Historic cars from the 131 Abarth to a Celica and a smattering of Sunbeams and Corollas. Great to see. The year isn’t quite over yet as there are, of course, several events abroad to look forward to plus the 3-day Roger Albert Clark Rally and the 4-day Rally of the Tests; each one a test of car and crew which is almost unrivalled across the board. From the torrential rain that greeted us in Mid-Wales in February to the sub-tropical temperatures at Silverstone in July we really couldn’t ask for more from what has been a superb season.



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The success of Oman Racing in GT3

The Oman Racing Team made history during a thrilling final round of the 2014 Avon Tyres British GT Championship as the first ever holders of the Oman Automobile

Association licence to win the highly coveted GT3 Teams’ Championship title. (14 September)

In a sensational two-hour race, Ahmad Al Harthy led for the first hour in the #4 Oman-backed Aston Martin Vantage GT3 but in a fiercely competitive second half the car’s 75kg weight penalty and a 15-second pit stop penalty proved just too big a handicap and Michael Caine brought the car home in fourth. One place behind, after a tremendous performance from both drivers, was the #5 Oman car in the hands of reunited pairing Liam Griffin and Rory Butcher.

The result was enough for Al Harthy and Caine to be named Vice Champions in the drivers’ championship while the Motorbase Performance-run Oman Racing Team celebrated the end of its first season running

the Aston Martin marque as Teams’ Champions. Butcher also secured a top ten championship spot, claiming ninth in the drivers’ standings after an excellent debut season in British GT.

A superb performance during Saturday’s qualifying put the Al Harthy/Caine car on pole by just three-thousandths of a second from title favourites Marco Attard and Alexander Sims, with team-mates Griffin and Butcher claiming a fine fourth place on the grid as Griffin made a welcome return to the championship.

From the start, Al Harthy took control of Sunday’s two hour race and moved into a theoretical championship lead when Attard’s BMW retired with gearbox problems. Meanwhile, Griffin was delivering a hugely impressive drive to hold second, despite intense pressure from a gaggle of cars.

Both cars carried pit stop penalties due to podium finishes at Brands Hatch last time out and that negated the leading margin that Al Harthy had built.



Caine rejoined with a slender lead, but the car’s weight penalty was really hurting it under braking at a track where the car has to make three big stops in quick succession. Caine raced very hard but eventually had to give way to his pursuers and crossed the line fourth, 10 seconds down on the leading car. Without the 15-second pit stop penalty, race victory would have clinched the drivers’ title.

Meanwhile, Butcher continued the excellent work put in by his Oman Racing Team team-mate Griffin and took fifth place under pressure from the Aston Martin of former World Touring Car racer, Alex MacDowall.The result marks the end of a highly successful season for David Bartrum’s team and the 2nd title in three seasons for the Motorbase collective. A lightning turnaround is now in order though, with a quick stop off at the Kent workshop before the team heads out to Germany to compete in the final round of the Blancpain Endurance Series on the challenging Nurburgring circuit this coming weekend. (20/21 September)

Oman Racing Team Principal David Bartrum said:

“It was a very, very big task. We had to win the race, so to get pole, provide a reliable car, to lead the race was very good: we gave it our all. We won the teams’ championship, which I’m over the moon with, as that’s a reflection on the team and the boys have done a really good job this year. The drivers acquitted themselves brilliantly. All four drivers have been first class this weekend and qualifying was a fantastic effort by all. But we gave it our best, won the teams’ championship and were runners-up in the drivers’ championship, so it’s not too shabby a year.

“We’ve been a Porsche team for 10 years and this was our first year with Aston Martin. If there was any doubt that we could run an Aston Martin, I think we’ve got rid of that; I’m very proud of the team and a big thank you goes to everyone involved.”

Oman Racing Team driver Ahmad Al Harthy said:



“It just didn’t happen. We could see it coming and we knew it was premature to celebrate. It was just not meant to be, but we did an amazing job and we should keep our heads up. We won the teams’ championship and came second in the drivers’ championship, so it has been a very good season. Next time, hopefully!”

Oman Racing Team driver Michael Caine said:

“The Aston was brilliant. No issues with handling or traction. But it was ominous just how late they could brake and it was the weight that was really hurting us under braking. The Porsche got up the inside of me and I was a sitting duck. The Audi came out of Coppice and pulled alongside. I went as late as I possibly could on the brakes into the Esses thinking he’d never make it, and he just braked and went through the corner.”

Oman Racing Team driver Rory Butcher said:

“That was really tough and Liam did an amazing job in the first stint. He got up to second and kept it there despite some big pressure and gave me a shot at a podium. We had a 10-second pit stop penalty for finishing third at Brands and that gave us more work to do as it cost us two places. For the first few laps the car was dynamite, but then I just got a consistent pace. Winning the team championship is a fantastic result.”

Oman Racing Team driver Liam Griffin said:

“I enjoyed that! It was nice to be at the front. It was alright when I had clear air but as soon as I reached the back-markers it was quite tough. You have to be quite patient and keep calm and know that it is going to be the same for the other guys. I’d not driven the car for about eight weeks but the car is working well and I’ve definitely got the appetite for next year.”



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psp in f1We are not going to talk about PlayStation Portable, as the headline hints, but for Pressure Sensitive Paint (henceforth abbreviated PSP) - a method which stands between traditional F1 development paths - wind tunnels and CFD (but not a replacement for any of them). This is something that has been in use for quite some time, especially when it comes to NASA and airplanes.

WHAT IS PRESSURE SENSITIVE PAINT

In short, this paint-like coating fluoresces under a specific illumination wavelength of incident light and the fluorescent response is a function of the external air pressure being applied locally to its surface.

A typical PSP consists of a luminescent molecule and a polymer binder which must be permeable to oxygen.

There has been some use and some interest by certain F1 teams in using PSP in their own tunnel testing. 30m/s is typically the lower limit of PSP due to smaller pressure gradients below that speed. Most use PSP to validate CFD results or vice versa.

Imagine that in the end you could receive the same pressure distribution picture as you normally get from a CFD simulation run:

WHY IS PSP ADVANTAGEOUS

A key advantage to traditional experimental techniques like pressure taps and transducers:

• cost savings • not limited by model geometry• provides much higher spatial resolution than traditional methods

Essentially you’ll have a “pressure tap” at every pixel of your camera. So if you are using a 1-megapixel camera, that’s like having 1 million pressure taps on the surface. Once the experiment is set up, many runs at various conditions

can be made rather quickly by comparison to CFD and data turnaround is much quicker as it can be processed on site with some knowledge of the test conditions and local pressure taps on the model if available.Paint formulations have also been developed recently which allow for unsteady measurements of pressure using a high speed camera. Measurements can be made upwards of 10 kHz on the surface.

THE PROCESS

The typical process could be described with the following simple steps:

1. Painting: Whatever the testing object might be, the usual paint gun or airbrush could be used.

2. Excitation: The molecules inside the paint have to be excited, so there is a light illumination source applied to the painted surface.

3. Data gathering: The CCD camera kicks in collecting the fluorescent response from the illuminated surface

4. Data visualization: Different software packages could be used to visualize what’s already being recorded and thus used for analysis of pressure gradients.

Two immediate questions have arisen. Fortunately Steve Palluconi, a research engineer from Innovative Scientific Solutions Incorporated, was available for this short interview:

Question: Due to its (PSP’s) spraying technique - would that be too much disturbance of boundary layer or not at all? Negligible, maybe?

Answer: Generally the layer thickness is 20-30 microns and is very smooth; negligible for these types of tests. Pressure taps are more invasive as we’ve actually seen flow separation caused by them.

Question: Are there any estimates on cost? For example, would it be too expensive to implement or improper, for example, due to model scales (in F1 - up to 60% of the real car size)

Answer: Costs depend on the scope of the test and size of the model. Large models like the one referenced would usually be imaged with a multi-camera system. Smaller models can be imaged with a single camera. We’ve done testing on some large aircraft models.

by Kiril Varbanov



Phil Woods

So last month I wrote a road test for the new Mazda 6 and went all goo goo over it. This month I am going to turn my attention back to some things that really annoy me in my

everyday driving life. So if you are happy to read a little bit of moaning then carry on, otherwise, skip this bit and read a sweet inoffensive book by an author from the 1700’s who probably wore a flowery hat!

So you are still with me then, that’s good. This week, I’m going to focus on a few things that really annoy me, and most of them are to do with parking. If you find yourself offended in any way shape or form by this article, then good, because it means that you do one of the very things that annoy the hell out of me and many other people.

Let’s start with speed bumps, yes I have covered them before but let’s think about how we try to drive over them for the good of our cars. We try to take them so that the tyres are on either side of the speed bump meaning that the highest point is under the car, putting less strain on the suspension etc, (yes, I know some people still believe that it is better to let one wheel go over the highest point and the other avoid it all together; common sense says that’s wrong so let’s leave that there). My problem isn’t with how people drive over them; my biggest problem is with the strange people who decide to park their cars next to a speed bump (like this guy below). He doesn’t make it difficult to get past him at all does he? Not without risking your suspension. Look at the length

of road ahead without speed bumps, the guy either has no sense or he is just a complete a**e and does it on purpose.

I’ll stick with speed humps because there is another very annoying aspect to them, and again it’s down to drivers. This time it’s those idiot teenagers who modify their cars so much that they are too low to go over the speed bump at anything more than 1 mph. It doesn’t make the roads any safer, because these numbskulls rev up in between the speed bumps to try and get to as fast a speed as possible. Of course everyone catches up with them at the next speed bump and has to wait whilst they gingerly make their way over it to protect their £800 exhaust (which incidentally makes the same noise as my exhaust when it has a hole in it). Here is the typical car that you will find doing this, and he does think he/she

Speed Bumps



looks cool, trust me they really believe it!

Finally, as I totally destroy any hope that going over a speed bump will be normal again, there are those who sit with you as a passenger and forget that you are actually there. They don’t slow down at all, they don’t position themselves for a smooth journey over them, they just go, just drive over them as if they don’t exist. You end up with lunch approaching the

entrance it went down earlier, your head hits the car roof and they don’t listen to you when you say, “You do know there are speed bumps on this road, don’t you?” They usually respond with, “Yes, of course I know, I’m not blind.” No you are not blind, I agree with that, but you are stupid. These people usually complain when their car fails its MOT for new track rod ends, or the suspension snaps and it costs them a few hundred pounds,

Driving over speed humps should be a simple thing. Unfortunately it isn’t; instead it has become one of the most annoying parts of driving. If you think it ends with what I have said, then you have not been very observant. Watch the person in front next time you find a road with speed bumps; people just don’t know how to deal with them. I’ve only scratched the surface here; you guys and girls could make this column ten times as long.

Happy motoring

See You Next

Month




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Photograph and Media CreditsBlancpain Article - All photos copyright blancpain GT |BTCC Articles - All photos copyright BTCC | NASCAR Articles - All photos copyright getty images | WRC Australia Article - All photos copyright Red Bull Content Pool | IndyCar History Part 1 - 1911 500 T1 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Archives, Barney Oldfield April 1907 Lakeside Track Sand Diego Califor-nia - Wiki Media Commons - Public Domain, Ray Harroun wins 1st 500 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Archives | IndyCar News Update - Ed Carpenter and Sarah Fisher after 2011 Kentucky Win - Bret Kelley - INDYCAR, Hinch wins Iowa ‘12 - Chris Jones - INDYCAR, Simon Pagenaud wins GPoI 2 - Chris Owens - INDYCAR | Japanese Grand Prix - AMG Mercedes F1 Team, Clive Mason/Getty Images, Clive Mason/Getty Images, Mark Thompson/Getty Images | “01-Hockenheim”: Marco Wittmann celebrating first victory with RMG team prin-cipal Stefan Reinhold (left) at the season opener at Hockenheim. ©BMW“03-Budapest”: Wittmann winning in Budapest. ©BMW; “08-Lausitzring”: Marco Wittmann is DTM champion 2014! ©BMW; “9L2A0245”: Marco together with his father Herbert Wittmann at his garage in Fürth (D.) ©BMW; “IMG 9924”: The team behind the champion: BMW Team RMG based in Niederzissen, right in the heart of the Eifel Mountains. ©BMW ;“P90162987”: Marco with his father Herbert, his mother Angelika and his brother Nico. ©BMW; “P90162993”: BMW celebrating the DTM driver’s title of Marco Wittmann. ©BMW |Singapore GP - AMG Mercedes F1 Team, Charles Coates/LAT Photographic, Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Imag-es, Photograph by Vladimir Rys |


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Pitlane Reporter Issue 8