Boston grabs Lotus Elise pole
19/05/2012 - DTM - Lotus Elise Trophy Qualifying - Rob Boston
will start from pole position for the first Lotus Elise Trophy race
of the DTM weekend.
Boston proved to be the class of the field as he set a
blistering pace around the 1.2 mile Brands Hatch Indy circuit to
grab pole. He was more than a second quicker than Andrew Bentley.
Lotus Elise Trophy Qualifying Top 6
1. Rob Boston 53.578s
2. Andrew Bentley +1.140s
3. Craig Denman +1.163s
4. Tom Roche, +1.185s
5. Adam Bewsey, +1.224s
6. Stephen Gugliemi +1.286s
Buri claims Formula Ford second race
19/05/2012 - DTM - Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain -
Finland's Antti Buri made up for losing the lead in the yesterday's
race by making a visit to the top step of the podium in race
two.
Buri, driving for Jamun Racing, produced a solid drive to take
the chequered flag from Luke Williams, who spun out of yesterday's
race. Jake Cook winner of race one came home in third.
Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain Top 6
1. Antti Buri 23 laps
2. Luke Williams, +2.438s
3. Jake Cook, +3.063s
4. Julio Moreno, +17.387s
5. Fred Martin-Dye, +21.728s
6. Olly Rae + 1 lap
Victorious Vincent claims Euro Racecar honours
19/05/2012 - DTM - EuroRacecar Race 2 - Vincent Gonneau completed a
lights-to-flag victory in the second round of the EuroRacecar
NASCAR Touring Series.
Gonneau grabbed the lead from the start and never looked back as
a strong field of 22 NASCARs entered Paddock Hill Bend for the
first time. The Frenchman steadily increased his lead and crossed
the finish line ahead of Phillipe Marie and
Autosport journalist Ben Anderson, who produced an impressive
drive through the pack.
EuroRacecar Race 2 Top 6
1. Vincent Gonneau 22 laps
2. Phillipe Marie, +4.742s
3. Ben Anderson, +10.441s
4. Martin Van Howe, +11.782s
5. Alain Grand, +12.320s
6. Adrano Medeiros, +15.605s
Jaafar holds on to take top step of the podium
19/05/2012 - DTM - Formula 3 Euro Series Race 2 - British F3
driver Jazeman Jaafar made the most of his Brands Hatch circuit
knowledge to clinch victory in the second Formula 3 Euro Series
encounter of the weekend.
Jaafar was pushed all the way by Sven Muller taking the
chequered flag by just 0.392 seconds from Sven Muller with Pascal
Wehrlein a further 4.8 seconds back in third.
Formula 3 Euro Series Top 6
1.Jazeman Jaafar 28 laps
2. Sven Muller +0.392s
3. Pascal Wehrlein, +4.847s
4. Michael Lewis, +8.828s
5. Feliz Rosenqvist +9.141s
6. Carlos Sainz +9.511s
Aussie Brabham takes Scirocco honours
19/05/2012 - DTM - Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup - David
Brabham beat his British counterparts to take Legend honours in the
VW Scirocco R-Cup race at Brands Hatch today, with Mark Blundell
and Martin Donnelly claiming top ten places, whilst Damon Hill's
comeback race ended in retirement.
Brabham made a good start to overtake Blundell on the line,
whilst at the front Ola Nilsson got the jump on Jonas Giesler to
claim the lead of the race. Meanwhile Donnelly set to work in the
early laps, whilst Hill bided his time, losing a couple of places
in the process.
Sadly Hill's dream comeback was not to be and his Scirocco
retired to the pitlane at the end of lap 6, soon after a close
encounter with his competitors at Druids. However despite the
intervening years, he couldn't resist another go and headed out to
rejoin the action a couple of laps down. Unfortunately the car was
in no state to compete and he was soon back in.
"It's been really fun although I realised why I stopped racing,"
the 1996 Formula 1 World Champion quipped. "It surprised me how
quick the others were, so perhaps it's best left to them!"
Brabham, meanwhile, had worked his way up to fifth, with
Blundell seventh and Donnelly, in the wars, just about holding on
to ninth place. This included an incredible display of car control
at Clearways, when he was tipped into a lurid slide, yet lost
little time.
With Donnelly and Blundell kept occupied by the opposition, it
was left to Brabham to carry the torch for the Legends and he
stalked fourth place man Moritz Oestreich. Coming through Surtees,
he misjudged his moment and ran onto the grass, however only
two-thirds of the race had been run, so there was still time for
another assault.
Meanwhile Blundell had finally cleared Christofer Berckhan
Ramirez and was after Brabham, to restore 'rat pack' honour. But
with time now running out and only one boost left, it was a tall
order. In the end the Australian beat his British rivals, with
Nilsson taking the overall win from Giesler by less than three
seconds. Jann-Hendrik Ubben and Oestreich made it an incredibly
close contest at the front ahead of Brabham.
VW Scirocco R-Cup Race (Legends in bold)
1. Ola Nilsson, 25 Laps
2. Jonas Giesler, +2.8s
3. Jann-Hendrik Ubben, +3.5s
4. Moritz Oestreich, +3.7s
5. David Brabham, +5.8s
6. Mark Blundell, +10.0s
7. Christofer Berckhan Ramirez, +10.9s
8. Adam Gladysz, +12.1s
9. Jakub Litwin, +13.8s
10. Martin Donnelly, +14.8s
21. Perry McCarthy, +40.414
23. Julian Bailey, +50.665
DNF Damon Hill, 7 Laps
Cassidy and Randall do the busines in qualifying
19/05/2012 - DTM - Lotus Cup UK Qualifying - The Apex Tubulars
Lotus Europa of Campbell Cassidy and Chris Randall topped the
timesheets in qualifying for the hour long Lotus Cup UK race
tomorrow.
The session proved to be incredibly tight with just 1.271
seconds covering the top six drivers, but it was the Europa of
Cassidy and Randall which denied Hall from grabbing pole position.
DTM - Lotus Cup UK Qualifying Top 6
1.Cassidy/Randall 51.390s
2. Adrian Hall, +0.422s
3. Fenn/Fenn +0478s
4. McNeilly/Chong +1.022s
5. Mark Gooday, +1.257s
6. Capstick/Goff, +1.271s
Vilarino beats Thievin to chequered flag
19/05/2012 - DTM - EuroRacecar Race 1 - Spain's Ander Vilarino
claimed the opening race of the EuroRacecar NASCAR Touring Series
after a race long battle with France's Romain
Thievin.
DTM - EuroRacecar Race 1 Top 6
1. Ander Vilarino 25 laps
2. Romain Thievin +1.744s
3. Javier Villa, +2.004s
4. James Winslow, +10.714s
5. Romain Ianetta, +18.654s
6. Antoine Lioen, +19.651s
Walker walks it
19/05/2012 - DTM - Volkswagen Racing Cup - James Walker
converted his pole position into a race victory in the first of two
Volkswagen Racing Cup races at Brands Hatch.
Walker held off a spirited challenge from Mike Neuhoff bu
the Scirocco proved to be too strong for the chasing pack and
Walker went on to record an impressive win. Keiran, the
brother of BTCC driver Liam Griffin, claimed the final spot on the
podium in third.
19/05.2012 - Volkswagen Racing Cup Top 6
1. James Walker, 23 laps
2. Mike Neuhoff, +4.174s
3. Keiran Griffin, +5.336s
4. Joe Fulbrook, +6.918s
5. Jamie Cartwirght, +8.205s
6. Shaun Hollamby, +13.223s
19/05/2012 - DTM - DTM Qualifying - Bromley driver Gary
Paffett has delighted the home crowd at Brands Hatch by qualifying
his Mercedes on pole position for tomorrow's DTM race at the Kent
circuit. Christain Vietoris was a career best second with Bruno
Spengler third and Mike Rockenfeller fourth.
Qualifying 1
In the first of four Formula 1-style elimination sessions, David
Coulthard joined the action early to get as many laps of the
circuit as possible in the 16-minutes available. However it was
last year's polesitter, Mike Rockenfeller, that proved to be the
initial pacesetter.
Last year's race winner Martin Tomczyk then went quickest for
BMW, barely hundredths from the morning's best laptime. Gary
Paffett then went second quickest, by a tenth, as both Susie Wolff
and David Couthard sat in the danger zone.
Wolff picked up speed to sit just above the cut-off point but
with five minutes left, the track began to fill up once more. Title
challenger Jamie Green was by now third and looking safe, but the
same couldn't be said of Priaulx, in 15th, whilst Wolff had been
bumped back to 17th, the first of the eliminated runners.
Spengler and Farfus put BMW first and second, whilst Priaulx
fought to retain his place in qualifying two. As time ran out,
Robert Wickens, Ralf Schumacher, Dirk Werner, Coulthard, Wolff and
Rahel Frey's positions at the back of the grid were set.
Qualifying 2
The next session would determine who would fight for the top
ten. Tomczyk was again on the early pace, as was Farfus. Bruno
Spengler was also making sure that BMW would be a threat this
weekend, with a fine lap to place him second, temporarily at least.
Meanwhile Paffett was leading the Mercedes contingent, with
Rockenfeller doing the same for Audi.
Back in the dropzone, both Priaulx and Green had much to do in
the final four minutes, indeed Green made sure his next lap counted
and rocketed into fourth. Priaulx, however, was having to dig deep
and needed to find a final tenth to book his place into qualifying
three.
Ultimately, the Guernseyman would have to settle for a grid
position of 14th, behind Edoardo Mortara, Miguel Molina and Joey
Hand, whilst double champion Timo Scheider and Roberto Merhi were
also out of the top ten session.
Qualifying 3
Session three would determine places five to ten on the grid,
with the top four entering a one-lap shootout. The track was
somewhat quiet in the early moments, with just Rockenfeller,
Christian Vietoris and Green attempting laps, before Tomczyk and
Filipe Albuquerque ventured onto the circuit.
Reigning champion Martin Tomczyk fell at the final hurdle
despite setting the exact same time as fourth fastest Vietoris and
qualified fifth by virtue of setting his time afterwards. Filipe
Albuquerque qualified sixth with Adrien Tambay seventh, Mattias
Ekstrom eighth, Augusto Farfus ninth and Jamie Green 10th. The
fastest four drivers in the session were Rockenfeller, Paffett,
Spengler and Vietoris, with the four incredibly separated by less
than a tenth of a second.
Qualifying 4
The top four was decided by a dramatic one lap shoot out
session. Christian Vietoris was the first man to set a time with a
lap of 41.410s. Bruno Spengler's BMW then set out to beat that time
and was narrowly slower by five thousandths of a second. Home hero
Gary Paffett in his Mercedes was the penultimate runner to go out,
and ran slightly wide at Paddock Hill Bend. Despite this he was
fastest in all three sectors and went two tenths clear at the top
with just Rockenfeller to go. His time wasn't good enough though,
and set only the fourth fastest time, ensuring a dream pole
position for Gary Paffett.
"It's incredible, it's great to be racing at Brands Hatch," a
delighted Gary said. "It's a very challenging circuit, especially
with family and friends here. It was an incredibly difficult
session but after the first two races we were conscious of working
on qualifying form - the team have done a great job and it's paid
off. It's about getting the most out of the cars and tyres, so
we've come here and focussed on qualifying. The shortness of the
track makes every hundredth of a second count - the format is so
difficult as you have to drive the perfect lap on all four
sessions. I'm really happy - making qualifying four was an
incredible performance, then I saw Christian's lap, so I hung it
all out and I'm really happy!"
DTM Qualifying
1. Gary Paffett, GBR, HWA Mercedes, +41.266s
2. Christian Vietoris, GER, HWA Mercedes, +0.144s
3. Bruno Spengler, CAN, Schnitzer BMW, +0.196s
4. Mike Rockenfeller, GER, Phoenix Audi, +0.218s
5. Martin Tomczyk, GER, RMG BMW, 41.101s (Q3)
6. Filipe Albuquerque, POR, Rosberg Audi, 41.142s (Q3)
7. Adrien Tambay, FRA, Abt Audi, 41.156s (Q3)
8. Mattias Ekström, SWE, Abt Audi, 41.163s (Q3)
9. Augusto Farfus, BRA, RBM BMW, 41.172s (Q3)
10. Jamie Green, GBR, HWA Mercedes, +41.284s (Q3)
19/05/2012 - DTM- Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup Qualifying -
Former F1 and Indycar driver Mark Blundell claimed the bragging
rights from the 'Rat Pack Legends' in qualifying for the Volkswagen
Scirocco R Cup while Jonas Giesler secured the outright pole
position. F1 legend Damon Hill was 11th quickest overall.
Today's qualifying session took place in rather more clement
conditions than the practice, with the series regulars needing to
to adjust to Brands Hatch in fully dry conditions. In the end they
didn't need to worry, and the Legends were unable to dominate the
early running as they had in the wet.
With Damon Hill and Perry McCarthy sitting out the first few
moments, regular racers Brabham and Blundell fared best until
Donnelly hauled his car up to fifth place with twenty minutes of
the half hour session remaining.
Meanwhile Hill was now getting into his stride and lapped within
half a tenth of the Ulsterman, whilst Blundell pipped them both by
a tenth. With five minutes left of the session, the Legends had all
returned to the pits, leaving the Scirocco Cup title fighters to
finalise the grid.
This left Jonas Giesler on pole position from title challenger
Ola Nilsson, Moritz Oestreich and series leader Jann-Hendrik Ubben.
Blundell was top Legend in fifth place, with Brabham seventh,
Donnelly tenth and Hill eleventh.
However, the series rules have been tweaked over the winter and
drivers gain more 'push-to-pass' boosts the further back they are
on the grid. Combined with the Legend's racing experience, this
should give them a great chance in this afternoon's race, which
takes place at 15:45.
VW Scirocco R-Cup Qualifying (Legends in
bold)
1. Jonas Giesler, 51.446
2. Ola Nilsson, +0.201s
3. Moritz Oestreich, +0.310s
4. Jann-Hendrik Ubben, +0.406s
5. Mark Blundell, +0.490s
6. Christofer Berckhan Ramirez, +0.528s
7. David Brabham, +0.567s
8. Adam Gladysz, +0.568s
9. Matthias Baurle, +0.591s
10. Martin Donnelly, +0.603s
11. Damon Hill, +0.647s
Marciello marches to victory at Brands
19/05/2012 - DTM - Formula 3 Euro Series - Pau Grand Prix winner
Raffaele Marciello continued his run of good form by coming through
a safety car interupted race to take a well earned
victory.
Marciello made an impressive start and he stormed round the
outside of polesitter Juncadella to grab the lead on the
opening lap. A spin mid way through the race brought out the safety
car which wiped out his advantage. However, the Prema
Powerteam driver made no mistakes on the restart and guided the car
home to the chequered flag in front of Juncadella and American
Michael Lewis.
Formula 3 EuroSeries Race 1 Top 6
1. Raffaele Marciello 36 laps
2. Daniel Juncadella +1.420s
3. Michael Lewis +4.199s
4. Carlos Sainz Jr +5.166s
5. Pascal Wehrlein +6.067s
6. Sven Muller +6.598s
Farfus heads final DTM practice for BMW
19/05/2012 - DTM Free Practice 2 Part 2 - Augusto Farfus put BMW
back to the top of the timesheets in the second DTM practice
session today (Saturday), ahead of the crucial qualifying session
for tomorrow's race. Audi's Mattias Ekstrom restored pride for the
Ingolstadt marque, with Tomczyk's BMW heading the first Mercedes,
of championship leader Gary Paffett.
The BMWs were first to get up to speed in the second part of the
Saturday practice session, with Ralf Schumacher joining the party
to trade times with Joey Hand. Augusto Farfus then topped the
times, with a lap that was just a tenth off Paffett's earlier
benchmark, as attention turned toward today's qualifying session.
On the subject of Paffett, his initial efforts were spoiled by a
trip across the grass at Surtees, which necessitated a quick
clean-up in the garage.
With Farfus now under Paffett's time, Martin Tomczyk was keen to
ensure his BMW team mates were not grabbing all of the attention
from the reigning champion, and he took a further two tenths from
the Brazilian.
With many drivers pitting mid-session once more, Audi's drivers
came to the fore, with Mike Rockenfeller starring initially,
however the Le Mans winner's time, good enough for second, was
beaten by Filipe Albuquerque in the Team Rosberg A5, before Timo
Scheider trumped both in the Abt machine. Tomczyk still remained a
tenth ahead, though.
With two-thirds of the session done, Paffett finally got it
together to head the table, by the slenderest of margins, however
with a second covering 21 cars, it would be tough to beat and sure
enough, attention turned back to the garages.
With many of BMW's drivers having dropped down the order, Farfus
put the Munich marque back on top when the cars returned to the
track. Paffett tried hard to reassert himself, as Miguel Molina
ensured all three manufacturers were in the top three as the
session entered its final five minutes - the last chance to set up
the cars before qualifying.
Farfus pitted with a couple of minutes left, his morning's work
done and with Paffett unable to respond, he too sat out the final
laps, satisfied with his progress. The times were over half a
second up on last year's cars. Gaining right at the end, however,
was Mattias Ekstrom, second fastest on his last lap. Tomczyk too
improved, leaving Paffett fourth, from Molina, Scheider and
Mortara's Audis. Jamie Green ended the morning ninth, from
Rockenfeller and Tambay - the large Audi presence in the top ten
giving them hope for a good qualifying session, which starts at
12:40 today.
DTM Practice 2 part 2
1. Augusto Farfus, BRA, RBM BMW, 41.312s
2. Mattias Ekström, SWE, Abt Audi, +0.035s
3. Martin Tomczyk, GER, RMG BMW, +0.051s
4. Gary Paffett, GBR, HWA Mercedes, +0.074s
5. Miguel Molina, ESP, Phoenix Audi, +0.083s
6. Timo Scheider, GER, Abt Audi, +0.126s
7. Edoardo Mortara, ITA, Rosberg Audi, +0.135s
8. Jamie Green, GBR, HWA Mercedes, +0.164s
9. Mike Rockenfeller, GER, Phoenix Audi, +0.199s
10. Adrien Tambay, FRA, Abt Audi, +0.221s
Home hero Paffett on top in DTM Saturday practice
19/05/2012 - DTM Free Practice 3 - Local hero
Gary Paffett was fastest in the first part of DTM practice ahead of
today's qualifying session. The championship leader headed Mercedes
team mate Christian Vietoris, with Edoardo Mortara's Audi heading a
resurgence for the Ingolstadt marque after a disappointing
Friday.
The pitlane was a hive of activity during the opening moments of
the session, with just the Audis of Adrien Tambay and Rahel Frey
setting meaningful times, albeit two seconds slower than Friday's
best. Paffett and Green were the first to get under 43 seconds and
into yesterday's ballpark.
Next to go quickest was BMW's Augusto Farfus, with Paffett
pushing the margin down to a tenth over 42 seconds. As with
yesterday's sessions, there were lots of improvements throughout
the field but little in the way of a threat to the headline time.
As a result, many of the drivers retired to the pits for
adjustments, leaving the remaining runners with a clear track.
During the brief lull in the session, Miguel Molina made the
most of this rare opportunity to lap a clear track to post the
first sub-42 second lap of the weekend. This gradually teased
everyone out of their garages and initial attempts by Paffett
yielded little, until late on when he lowered the bar to 41.680
seconds. Christian Vietoris also improved, and took second place by
half a tenth.
By now the session was almost over and with most drivers back in
the pitlane, Mercedes were 1-2 in the times, with Audi improving on
yesterday's performance, the highest BMW Tomczyk in ninth. The
second 45-minute session starts after a ten minute break.
DTM Practice 2 part 1
1. Gary Paffett, GBR, HWA Mercedes, 41.680s
2. Christian Vietoris, GER, HWA Mercedes, +0.048s
3. Edoardo Mortara, ITA, Rosberg Audi, +0.142s
4. Ralf Schumacher, GER, HWA Mercedes, +0.151s
5. Mike Rockenfeller, GER, Phoenix Audi, +0.157s
6. Miguel Molina, ESP, Phoenix Audi, +0.197s
7. Jamie Green, GBR, HWA Mercedes, +0.320s
8. Filipe Albuquerque, POR, Rosberg Audi, +0.336s
9. Martin Tomczyk, GER, RMG BMW, +0.337s
10. Augusto Farfus, BRA, RBM BMW, +0.412s
19/05/2012 - The spectacular DTM German Touring Cars return to
Brands Hatch this weekend (18-20 May) for the third round of the
season with the world's fastest touring cars from Audi, BMW and
Mercedes all looking for victory away from home soil.
Regulars Audi and Mercedes-Benz have sleek new coupés to replace
the previous saloon racers and will be joined this year by series
returnees BMW, for an intense battle between Germany's big three
manufacturers. Britain's Gary Paffett leads the championship
standings after taking a win and a second place from the first two
rounds. But with BMW recording a win through Bruno Spengler and
Audi on the attack the local man will come under severe pressure at
Brands Hatch.
Former F1 drivers David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher will be
hoping to kick off their season and three time world touring car
champion Andy Priaulx will be aiming to impress in front of his
home crowd. For a full preview, please CLICK HERE.
Mclaren Formula One driver and 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button
will also make a visit to Brands Hatch on Sunday where he will sign
autographs, take part in a Q&A with Coulthard and drive a DTM
taxi around the 1.2 mile circuit. For more information on the
Jenson's appearance please CLICK HERE.
The Kent venue will also see 1996 F1 champion Damon Hill make
his racing return in the Volkswagen Scirocco Cup along with Rat
Pack members Perry McCarthy, Martin Donnelly, David Brabham, Julian
Bailey and Mark Blundell. For more information on the Legends race,
please
CLICK HERE.
There will also be plenty of action from the F3 Euroseries, the
NASCAR sanctioned Euroracer Series, MSVR's Lotus Cup UK, Lotus
Elise Trophy and the Volkswagen Racing Cup.
To find out what heppeend on the Friday when the DTM cars made
their first appearance, please CLICK HERE.
Follow all the action from the DTM with reports, live timing and
results on www.msvracing.co.uk Follow us on twitter
at www.twitter.com/msvracing.