The last racing weekend of the season and a dramatic three-way battle for the title: Packed stands an electric atmosphere in the legendary Motodrom 20 of the best GT racing drivers in the world in spectacular GT3 sports cars from seven different brands and a varied race track that has always guaranteed thrilling motorsport The DTM season finale next weekend at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg will make any racing fan's heart beat faster And the MANN-FILTER Mamba is back in the thick of it driving the 550-hp Mercedes-AMG GT3 with race number 22 but the 30-year-old Austrian is keen to use the finale to give spectators another taste of his superb skills after a season that brought both highs and lows—all the more so because Maro Engel his teammate from Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD And the best way “Luggi” can help would be by snatching important points from Engels' competitors for the title during the two one-hour races The Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER Mamba could certainly be the car to tip the scales who is currently ranked 12th overall and well below his true potential is heading to the hallowed race track on the outskirts of Heidelberg and is raring to go “I'm hugely excited for the Hockenheim season finale” "The races on this famous track are always very special with lots of spectators and a great atmosphere And after rather sticky track record so far this year our main goal is to grab one more triumph to finish off the season." the Tyrolean is a great fan of the 4.5-kilometer Grand Prix circuit "I have won DTM titles in Hockenheim in the past and love driving on this track My favorite stretches are the fast section at the entrance to the Motodrom the following Sachskurve hairpin and the last two turns before the home straight The Hockenheimring is just a really cool race track overall There are several stretches where it's easy to overtake—and nobody needs telling twice." is also looking forward to the DTM finale: "Hockenheim is practically on our and Winward Racing's doorstep Luggi and the team have proven that they can deliver the highest standards of driving We don't like to use the word "luck" but this year has seen quite a few events that had us rubbing our eyes in disbelief Even if we have had a bit of a bumpy ride in the DTM races so far We are expecting record numbers of fans once again and look forward to seeing our customers at the track cheering us on." the morning qualifying sessions are vital because the DTM starting field is a close one and most drivers' times are less than one second apart Those starting at the back in the two races will struggle to get ahead of the competition There's not much chance of them overtaking unless inserting a strategic As usual, MANN-FILTER will be reporting on events on and off the track on its social media channels, giving fans exclusive behind-the-scenes insights.  Verstappen storms to sensational win in extraordinary rain-hit German GP Get up to speed with everything you need to know about the 2019 German Grand Prix which takes place over 67 laps of the 4.574-kilometre Hockenheimring in Hockenheim on Sunday Using the links above you can find the full weekend schedule including details of practice and qualifying sessions with details of how and where you can watch the race on TV or download the 2019 German Grand Prix schedule to your mobile device © 2003-2025 Formula One World Championship Limited Lorenzo Patrese has been brought in to replace Christopher Haase at Tresor Attempto Racing for this weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup round at Hockenheim As shown on the 33-car entry list for the third round of the sprint championship Patrese will team up with Lorenzo Ferrari aboard the No The entry will move from Pro to the Gold Cup as a result of the lineup change Patrese and Ferrari are already teammates in the Endurance Cup where they share a car with Leonardo Moncini for the longer races has one car remaining in the Pro class: the No The Sprint Cup field is down three cars from the previous round at Misano 46 BMW M4 GT3 does not return at Hockenheim as Misano was the second and final round where Valentino Rossi and Maxime Martin were set to make a guest appearance alongside their ongoing commitments in the Endurance Cup and the FIA World Endurance Championship The Vincent Vosse-led squad remains represented by two cars at Hockenheim: the points-leading No 32 car for Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts as well as its No 30 Silver Cup entry driven by Sam de Haan and Calan Williams The two other cars not competing at Hockenheim are the No 11 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo and the No both of which raced in the Bronze Cup at Misano Marcus Paverud replaces Gilles Stadsbader aboard the No Miguel Ramos is due to rejoin the lineup of the No 188 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo alongside Louis Prette having missed the previous round as he recovered from surgery The Portuguese Bronze-rated driver was replaced at Misano and the Endurance Cup opener at Paul Ricard by James Cottingham but already returned to racing at last month’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa Davey Euwema is Sportscar365's European Editor Euwema covers the FIA World Endurance Championship European Le Mans Series and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Lucas Auer convert pole to victory in Brands Hatch Race 2.. Undercut strategy and fast pitstop gives AF Corse victory in Sprint Cup Race 1.. Maro Engel storm to pole for Sunday's Sprint Cup races.. Vincent Abril quickest in Pre-Qualifying at Brands Hatch; session cut short by Ford crash.. Get quick access to your favorite articles Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers Make your voice heard with article commenting Factory Mercedes driver Jules Gounon will make his DTM debut in this weekend’s final round at Hockenheim, replacing Luca Stolz at HRT Double Spa 24 Hours winner Gounon has been drafted into the #4 HRT Mercedes AMG GT3 at the last-minute after Stolz had to withdraw from the Hockenheim races due to health reasons No further information was provided about 29-year-old Stolz who was due to see out his third full season with the team in the German GT3-based series A statement from HRT read: “Luca Stolz (GER) of Mercedes-AMG Team HRT has been forced to withdraw from this weekend's DTM finale at Hockenheim for health reasons “The 29-year-old's place in the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 will be taken by Jules Gounon (AND) “The Haupt Racing Team thanks Jules for stepping in at short notice and wishes Luca a speedy recovery.” Gounon brings with him a wealth of experience of GT racing having won the Bathurst 12 Hour on three occasions and scored class victories in major IMSA SportsCar Championship enduros including Daytona 24 Hours and Petit Le Mans His illustrious CV includes two titles in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with Mercedes as well as the 2017 GT Masters title at the wheel of a Corvette C7 This year has seen the second-generation driver expand his horizons into prototype racing competing in three rounds of the World Endurance Championship with Alpine in the Hypercar class After making his first appearance in the DTM in Germany on 18-20 October, he will be back behind the wheel of the Alpine A424 LMDh in the Bahrain 8 Hours WEC finale on 2 November The HRT outfit he is joining in the DTM currently sits fifth in the teams’ standings two spots behind fellow factory-supported Mercedes team Winward The squad’s best runner in the standings is Arjun Maini in eighth on 128 points while Stolz is placed just one spot behind in ninth after scoring a first win of 2024 at the Sachsenring last month Both drivers are out of the championship fight, although another Mercedes driver Maro Engel (Winward) remains firmly in the hunt in third place, 20 points behind championship leader Mirko Bortolotti of SSR Lamborghini Engel's team-mate Lucas Auer the last remaining driver in the four-strong Mercedes roster From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport In order to keep delivering our expert journalism we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker The heat was turned up on the Sprint Cup title battle last weekend The trip to Hockenheim saw the lead in the drivers’ standings change hands twice while a new challenger emerged as the season passed its halfway mark Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter snatched the advantage with Race 1 victory for Lucas Auer and Maro Engel only for Team WRT to return to the top when Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts beat their rivals to runner-up in the second outing This is developing into one of the best duels we have ever seen for the Sprint crown Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen won Sunday’s contest for Emil Frey Racing and are by no means out of contention having made the breakthrough and captured a maiden Fanatec GT Europe win the #14 Ferrari crew might have hit form at exactly the right time The trip to Germany brought plenty more stories including some standout performances from the leading Gold Cup and Silver Cup crews as well as a perfect weekend for the new Bronze Cup leader With the next stop on the Endurance Cup tour just a few days away this is the Final Word on Hockenheim 2024.  • Auer and Engel took victory in Race 1 holding off the charging #32 BMW to bank their second Sprint Cup win of the campaign and a vital haul of points They backed this up with third in the second outing notching up a fifth podium from six races aboard the #48 Mercedes-AMG • Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen both became first-time Fanatec GT Europe winners by triumphing in Race 2  Green is the first British driver to take overall victory at a Sprint Cup round since Ricky Collard did so at the Nürburgring in 2019 while Lappalainen is the first Finn to earn an overall win in Sprint. • Emil Frey Racing scored its first outright victory since the Sprint Cup visited Zandvoort in 2021 the Swiss outfit became the first team to secure an overall Fanatec GT Europe win with three different brands having previously triumphed with Lexus and Lamborghini.  • The #32 Team WRT finished second in both races Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts climbed 17 positions to take runner-up spot in the opening contest while the second was a comparatively straightforward run from P3 to P2 The Belgian duo left Hockenheim with a two-point advantage over Auer and Engel at the top of the Sprint Cup standings • The same three crews finished on the overall podium in both races This is a rare occurrence: it last happened during the final round of the 2019 Sprint Cup season at the Hungaroring driving a Mercedes-AMG for the Black Falcon squad.  • After a tricky run of Sprint outings The #9 Mercedes-AMG came home fourth with Jules Gounon at the wheel after Maximilian Götz drove a strong first stint from 12th on the grid The car has struggled with qualifying pace at recent events but delivered a strong race performance on Sunday • The #159 Garage 59 McLaren of Tom Gamble and Benji Goethe scored points in both races for the third Sprint event in a row This consistency has helped them to sixth in the standings with two meetings to run The last time a McLaren crew finished higher in the Sprint Cup was 2013 when Sébastien Loeb and Álvaro Parente placed fourth with their MP4-12C GT3.  • Mattia Drudi and Nicolas Baert scored their best Sprint Cup finish of the season in Race 2 The #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin crossed the line in P4 but was penalised for exceeding track limits and slipped to sixth in the final classification This was nevertheless an encouraging performance • A tough Hockenheim weekend for Tresor Attempto Racing has effectively ended the team's title defence It could have been very different: Ricardo Feller qualified second for Race 2 and was a contender for the win only for suspension failure to bring his challenge to an end It leaves the #99 crew of Feller and Alex Aka 58 points adrift of Vanthoor and Weerts with 70 left to score • Liqui-Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup was the Gold Cup standout at Hockenheim The German squad switched brands ahead of the event Luca Engstler and Max Hofer had been competitive with the R8 but they appeared even more at home aboard the Huracán This was borne out by the results: they were fastest in their class in Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying and then bagged both poles as well as overall pole for Race 2 thanks to Engstler.  • The team took a comfortable victory in the opening contest and looked set to win Race 2 only for a slow pit stop to drop the car down the order though the #6 Lamborghini seemingly had the pace to fight for an overall podium and perhaps even the win.  Engstler and Hofer lead the Gold Cup standings by three points from the Saintéloc Racing Audi line-up of Paul Evrard and Gilles Magnus The #111 CSA Racing Audi crew of Lucas Légeret and Simon Gachet are also in the hunt • Tresor Attempto Racing won the second Gold Cup contest with its #88 Audi of Lorenzo Patrese and Lorenzo Ferrari who were making their first appearance in the class at a Sprint event Patrese and Ferrari also earned a seventh-place overall finish to cap a strong showing from the young Italians.  • Hockenheim produced a number of very notable performances from Silver Cup crews who scored his maiden overall pole on Saturday morning aboard the #71 AF Corse Ferrari Fleming was also impressive on his return from a back injury showing he had lost none of his speed by taking a commanding Race 2 pole • Team WRT duo Calan Williams and Sam De Haan sealed Race 2 honours The #30 BMW crew won the Pit Stop Challenge at Hockenheim while Williams was especially quick during his Sunday stint They were further rewarded with fifth at the chequered flag and sit an impressive seventh in the overall standings.  Williams and De Haan lead the Silver Cup title battle by 29.5 points with four races to run they have a realistic chance of sealing the class crown next time out at Magny-Cours • Boutsen VDS finished second in Race 2 returning to the podium for the first time since the opening event at Brands Hatch the #10 Mercedes-AMG has tended to show better pace during the races than in qualifying this term • Saintéloc Racing claimed P3 in Race 1 maintaining a quietly impressive run of performances from single-seater graduate Ivan Klymenko The young Ukrainian was on class pole at Misano and qualified second – as well as an excellent eighth overall – for Race 2 at Hockenheim He was joined for the German event by Marcus Paverud • Century Motorsport established itself as firm favourite for the Bronze Cup title with a double win at Hockenheim Darren Leung and Dan Harper reprised their British GT title-winning form to bag a pair of victories abroad the #991 BMW.  • Leung was crucial to the squad’s Race 2 triumph the Brit made up a remarkable nine positions on the opening lap to bring the #991 BMW into contention It moved into the lead after the pit stops taking over from the #97 Rutronik Racing Porsche after the German squad lost five seconds to its rivals.  • Barwell Motorsport came home second in both races at Hockenheim while Sky Tempesta Racing earned a pair of P3 finishes in Germany Both squads retain a good shot at the title: the Sky Tempesta pairing of Hui/Cheever is 11.5 points off top while Barwell's crew of Collard/Mitchell is 16.5 points adrift • The #188 Garage 59 McLaren was the fastest Bronze Cup car over one lap – demonstrated by a pair of class poles – but Miguel Ramos and Louis Prette went unrewarded at Hockenheim The opening race was scuppered by a broken alternator belt while Ramos was tipped into a spin early in the second consigning the McLaren to a ninth-place finish • Eliseo Donno's pole position for Race 1 (1m37.349s) proved to be the fastest lap posted at Hockenheim This was the first time in 2024 that a car from outside the Pro class has paced a Fanatec GT Europe weekend who set a 1m39.139s as he pulled away from the field in the second half of Race 2.  • Hockenheim saw Christopher Haase absent from a Fanatec GT Europe weekend for the first time since the 2017 Sprint Cup finale at the Nürburgring This does not quite compare with Dries Vanthoor however: the Belgian has been ever-present since the start of the 2016 season participating in 83 consecutive events across Sprint and Endurance.  • The 2024 Fanatec GT Europe campaign continues in just a few days’ time when the Nürburgring hosts the third round of the Endurance Cup (26–28 July) The Sprint Cup resumes with its penultimate event of the season at Magny-Cours on 23-25 August Here you can see the webcast of the BMW Group Press Conference at the Auto Shanghai 2025 Having retaken the lead in the championship by scoring three bonus points in qualifying on Sunday morning SSR Performance's Bortolotti became the first Lamborghini driver to clinch a title in the DTM despite dropping behind Engstler in the pitstop cycle in the hour-long race at the former German Grand Prix venue The Italian's success was made easy by a torrid start from Saturday winner van der Linde who slipped from fifth to 11th on the opening lap and couldn't make any meaningful recovery while carrying 20kg of success ballast on his Abt Audi The podium was completed by three-time DTM champion Rene Rast for Schubert Motorsport helping the BMW squad clinch the teams' title Bortolotti pulled away cleanly from pole position at the start of the race, with his team-mate Nicki Thiim acting as a rear-gunner in second ahead of Abt Audi's Ricardo Feller Engstler got the jump on van der Linde at the start and moved up to fifth while the South African continued to slip down the order on lap one as he complained about a lack of grip on team radio Bortolotti pulled out an advantage of over four seconds in the opening stint, which allowed SSR Performance to play it safe when the pitlane window opened at the 20-minute mark Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3 While his chief rival van der Linde pitted at the first opportunity to get a new set of tyres fitted to his Audi That left him vulnerable to an undercut from GRT Lamborghini driver Engstler whose tyres were already up to temperature with the German driver making a brilliant pass at Turn 11 to snatch the lead The Italian came back at him in the final quarter of the race but GRT Lamborghini's Engstler was able to hold him off to clinch a second career victory in the DTM While Bortolotti missed out on a second victory in as many race weekends the runner-up finish was enough for him to win the DTM title for the first time after near-misses in both 2022 and 2023 Rast staged an incredible drive from 11th on the grid to clinch his fourth podium of the year closing to within eight tenths of Bortolotti with an impressive charge in the final stint Fourth place went to the Manthey EMA Porsche of Thomas Preining while Thiim had to settle for fifth place after losing a likely podium finish by going off the track on his out-lap Feller held off the Schubert BMW of Marco Wittmann in the final laps to take seventh, while Winward Mercedes' Lucas Auer dropped from fifth to eighth in the closing stages of the race Mercedes was hit by an overnight Balance of Performance change that left Engel 15th on the grid while van der Linde lacked the pace to put in a recovery drive from his disastrous opening lap of the race The only retiree from the race was Maini's team-mate Jules Gounon who had to peel into the pits with nine laps to go with a right-rear puncture The manufacturers’ championship was won by Mercedes meaning all three DTM titles went to different brands Turin, December 6th, 2024 – The second season of Dodge Europe’s web series IN//OUT keeps breaking boundaries, showcasing the iconic American brand’s values and connecting with fans through exhilarating experiences. Episode 3 is now live on YouTube (Link) bringing viewers to the heart of Nitrolympx Europe’s premier drag racing event held at the famous Hockenheimring in Germany This latest episode is once again hosted by Dodge Brand Ambassador Ida Zetterström the 2023 European Top Fuel Champion and NHRA Top Fuel racer for JCM Nitro who takes viewers into the loud and fast-paced world of drag racing for the first time With over 45,000 visitors and more than 230 participants competing on the drag strip and adrenaline – all elements deeply intertwined with Dodge’s DNA Ida Zetterström shares her personal journey in drag racing which began when she was just eight years old and reflects on her rise to becoming a Top Fuel Champion She highlights the sense of community within the sport and the special bond with Dodge enthusiasts German Dodge fans were invited by the Brand and the local importer KW Auto to join Ida for a very special gathering at the U.S featuring a stunning display of Dodge Challengers The IN//OUT series celebrates the passion of Dodge enthusiasts in Europe sharing the stories of fans who are central to the brand The episode also underscores the special place Dodge holds within the world of drag racing a legacy celebrated not just in America but increasingly across Europe and the passion for Dodge know no borders,” adds Ida Zetterström “It’s incredible to see how the Brotherhood of Muscle continues to thrive and grow through events like this.” Last month, we shared the timeline for the launch of the Porsche 911 GT3 facelift (992.2) Sources now tell us that the updated 911 GT3 and Touring will be unveiled on October 18 at the Hockenheim racetrack in Germany The new 911 GT3 has already been spotted testing at the Nurburgring Spy videos have revealed an upgraded aero package It appears to have redesigned the rear spoiler while retaining its top-mounted design a revised front fascia and a reworked rear bumper The upcoming 992.2 GT3 facelift is expected to receive minor updates on the interior as well While the overall dashboard layout will be the same the semi-digital gauge cluster could be replaced with a digital screen The new 911 GT3 might receive a few tweaks on the chassis side but no major mechanical changes are expected this engine produces 502 hp and 346 lb-ft of torque and revs to 9000 rpm Transmission options include a 6-speed manual and 7-speed PDK Mirko Bortolotti captures first DTM title in tightly contested Hockenheim finale… Mirko Bortolotti was crowned DTM champion during the season finale at Hockenheim beating back a challenge from Kelvin van der Linde to secure his first series title on the third attempt Despite Van der Linde wrestling the points lead away from Bortolotti by winning from pole position during the opening race of the weekend on Saturday a second-place finish during the deciding contest on Sunday was enough for the Italian to be crowned champion Bortolotti also secured the first DTM championship for Lamborghini while he became the first Italian driver since Nicola Larini in 1993 to win the German sprint series Bortolotti came into the season finale with a lead of 15 points over nearest rival van der Linde with Winward Racing driver Maro Engel also still in contention a further five points behind 3 ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II fought off a challenge from Lucas Auer to win from pole position during Race 1 it allowed the South African to reclaim the points lead heading into the championship’s final day could only finish fifth behind Van der Linde Qualifying for Race 2 on Sunday morning would see the championship standings swing back into Bortolotti’s favor as the No 92 SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 claimed pole position for the third time this season giving the Italian a one-point lead for the title decider Bortolotti controlled the opening portion of the race from pole to maintain the lead into the pitstop window while van der Linde slipped back into the midfield after starting fifth Bortolotti rejoined the track in the lead but was passed by the No 19 Lamborghini Team Liqui Moly by GRT machine of Luca Engstler who took advantage of having warmer tires thanks to an undercut strategy Bortolotti remained in second place behind Engstler 33 Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Rene Rast closing in during the final laps the German was unable to mount an attack and finished third behind Engstler and Bortolotti with the latter crucially outscoring both Van der Linde and Engel to take the title ahead of Bortolotti’s SSR teammate Nicki Thiim The top ten for the season finale was completed by Sheldon van der Linde and Engel’s No 69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 piloted by Thierry Vermeulen was won by Schubert Motorsport as the BMW squad outscored ABT Sportsline by 35 points Mercedes-AMG won the manufacturers’ championship RESULTS: Race 1/Race 2 Ayhancan Guven captures first victory of DTM career in Oschersleben Race 2.. Lucas Auer ends lengthy DTM win drought with victory in Oschersleben Race 1.. Jules Gounon looking ahead to first full season in DTM with Winward Racing.. Ricardo Feller sets expectations ahead of Land Motorsport's debut DTM season.. Eliseo Donno takes pole position for opening Sprint Cup race at Hockenheim… Eliseo Donno beat Ben Green to lead a Ferrari 1-2 in qualifying for the opening race of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup weekend at Hockenheim recorded a lap of 1:37.349 to outpace Green’s No 14 Emil Frey Racing example by 0.274 seconds Green came closest to toppling Donno’s best effort with a last-gasp effort of 1:37.623 although the British driver was unable to secure his second overall pole position of the season 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Lucas Auer in third overall Auer will be joined on the second row by compatriot Max Hofer in the No 6 Liqui-Moly Team Engstler Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 188 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo in fifth overall Gilles Magnus took sixth for Sainteloc Racing ahead of Garage 59’s Pro-entered McLaren for Benjamin Goethe who outqualified class rivals Thierry Vermeulen and Jules Gounon jumped up to ninth with a late-session improvement while Sandy Mitchell completed the top ten in the No Saturday morning’s ten-minute shootout left a number of Pro entries out of position behind WRT’s Silver Cup car of Calan Williams in twelfth and the Century Motorsport-entered example of Dan Harper in 13th 90 Madpanda Motorsport Mercedes-AMG of Phil Keen Rutronik Racing and Tresor Attempto Racing ended the session in 25th The opening Sprint Cup race of the weekend kicks off at 2:15 p.m RESULTS: Qualifying 1 Sven Mueller fastest in Free Practice session as Sprint Cup season resumes at Hockenheim… Rutronik Racing’s Sven Mueller set the fastest time in the Free Practice session for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup round at Hockenheim Mueller reeled off a 1:39.022 aboard the No 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo driven by Lucas Auer by 0.081 seconds The second Rutronik Porsche took third with Dennis Marschall at the wheel 6 Liqui-Moly Team Engstler Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 slotted into fourth driven by Max Hofer with Gilles Magnus rounding out the top five for Sainteloc Racing Both Barwell Motorsport Lamborghinis featured in the top ten separated by 0.041 seconds while Ivan Klymenko led Silver Cup in ninth overall at the wheel of the No 26 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II Eddie Cheever completed the overall top ten in the No The session was interrupted by a single red flag triggered when Nicolas Baert hit the barriers at Turn 17 aboard the No 7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo Track action at Hockenheim resumes with Pre-Qualifying at 3 p.m RESULTS: Free Practice Lucas Auer and Maro Engel secured a hard-fought victory for Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter in today's Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup contest at Hockenheim The #48 Mercedes-AMG survived scorching temperatures and a late-race onslaught from the charging Team WRT BMW to grab a narrow advantage at the top of the standings.  Eliseo Donno took the start from pole after the Silver Cup contender delivered a superb performance in this morning's qualifying session The #71 AF Corse Ferrari repelled two serious attacks from Ben Green (#14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari) on the opening tour then began to edge away from the British racer.  Green could not sustain his early pace and gradually dropped into the clutches of Auer The British driver worked hard to keep the #48 Mercedes-AMG at bay albeit surrendering further time to Donno in the process With 25 minutes on the clock Auer finally made a move stick though Green fought the Austrian until the very end.  The Emil Frey Racing Ferrari then came under pressure from Bronze Cup leader Dan Harper who had found significant speed in the #991 Century Motorsport BMW having struggled for pace during this morning's qualifying the entire BMW contingent came to life during the opening phase of the race.  the #32 Team WRT BMW of Charles Weerts had made huge progress to run in the top five by the end of the opening stint The Sprint Cup points leader was the first of the leading cars to stop Team WRT produced by far the fastest service of the race though it was not quite enough to jump the #48 Mercedes-AMG Donno had built a healthy lead aboard the #71 Ferrari but a slow stop cost the AF Corse squad and not only the overall lead The #48 Mercedes-AMG was now out front with Engel at the controls while second spot was occupied by the #32 BMW which had gained 17 positions in a little over half an hour But Vanthoor wasn't done: he wanted the lead.  The gap stabilised around the one-second mark with the BMW looming large in Engel's mirrors without quite getting close enough to launch an attack This changed with 13 minutes left on the clock Vanthoor got a run into the hairpin and was alongside Engel on the long drag towards the arena section The German fought hard and both cars briefly ran off-track the Winward Racing machine just managing to retain the advantage.  it seemed that this would be Vanthoor's only opportunity Vanthoor was alongside for a second time as they approached the hairpin but the Mercedes-AMG stabilised and Engel had enough to fight back and stay in front.  taking the chequered flag just one second ahead of Vanthoor In what is developing into a brilliant two-way title fight the #48 Mercedes-AMG crew is now 0.5 points ahead of the #32 crew at half distance in the Sprint Cup campaign.  The #14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari finished third with Konsta Lappalainen at the wheel the Finn enjoying a relatively serene stint following Green's earlier battle with Auer This marked the second podium finish of the season for the #14 pairing and a fourth in five races for Emil Frey Racing Tom Fleming brought the #71 Ferrari home in fourth earning a vital Silver Cup win despite missing out on what could have been overall victory after Donno’s brilliant opening stint The Brit emerged behind the #30 Team WRT BMW of class rival Sam De Haan but made a move stick during the closing stages to gain ground in the Silver standings The podium was completed by the #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi in P12 overall.  Liqui-Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup took Gold Cup honours after a brilliant battle with the #25 Saintéloc Racing Audi Max Hofer started from class pole and ran towards the head of the overall order but the German squad slipped behind the Saintéloc machine during the pit stops It took an on-track pass from Luca Engstler on Paul Evrard to seal the triumph which puts the two teams level at the top of the Gold Cup standings Tresor Attempto Racing was third in class with its #88 Audi.  Century Motorsport earned Bronze Cup honours thanks to Darren Leung and Dan Harper After a brilliant opening stint from the latter Leung took the controls and maintained a significant gap over the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini of Rob Collard and Sandy Mitchell The #93 Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari was third though the Century Motorsport crew has moved to the top of the class standings thanks to today’s win Race 1 was breathless, but there’s little time to recover. The Fanatec GT Europe field will be back on-track tomorrow morning at 09:50 CEST for Qualifying 2, which sets the grid for the weekend’s second race at 14:15. As ever, all of the action can be watched live on the GT World YouTube channel • Sprint Cup returns to centre stage three weeks after CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa• Field of 33 cars spread across four classes set to do battle at German circuit• Provisional entry list: Hockenheim The Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS season resumes next weekend (19–21 July) when the Sprint Cup tackles its third round of the campaign at Hockenheim.  The trip to southwest Germany comes three weeks after the centenary CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and will represent a very different challenge from the Ardennes enduro with a pair of 60-minute races set to play out on the 4.6km circuit with eight brands represented across four highly competitive classes Team WRT dominated the previous Sprint Cup contest at Misano sweeping both races with its pair of BMW entries The #32 crew of Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts top the standings a familiar scenario for the three-time series champions The question now is whether they can be caught.  Their most consistent rival thus far has been the #48 Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter crew Misano was a challenging event for the Mercedes-AMG contingent but Lucas Auer and Maro Engel finished fifth in Race 1 and runner-up in Race 2 to stay well within striking distance at the top of the standings Ferrari squad Emil Frey Racing has also made a fine start to the season with both of its Pro cars notching up three podiums and currently sitting third in the teams' standings the #14 crew of Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen is just half a point ahead of the sister #69 of Giacomo Altoè and Thierry Vermeulen.  Benjamin Goethe and Tom Gamble have made a strong start for Garage 59 with 17 points on the board the #159 McLaren has already bettered its tally from last term More of the same – and perhaps a breakthrough podium – would make for a successful Hockenheim weekend.  Rutronik Racing scored a season-best finish of P5 in Race 2 at Misano though Porsche factory drivers Patric Niederhauser and Sven Müller will have ambitions of fighting even further up the order the team will be chasing home glory at Hockenheim Comtoyou Racing will head to Germany in high spirits after clinching overall victory at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa the #7 Aston Martin has started the Sprint Cup campaign in good form though it is yet to secure a strong result Turning qualifying speed into silverware will be the objective for Mattia Drudi and Nicolas Baert.  Boutsen VDS bagged its maiden Fanatec GT Europe podium in the Sprint opener at Brands Hatch but was not among the front-runners at Misano Local ace Maximilian Götz and fellow Mercedes-AMG factory driver Jules Gounon will look to bounce back at Hockenheim Madpanda Motorsport will field the same car for its pairing of Ezequiel Perez Companc and Phil Keen who will hope to once again benefit from the Argentine team’s superb pit work.  Tresor Attempto Racing endured a very tough Misano meeting with both of its Pro crews failing to score points at the Italian track Should it wish to defend its Sprint Cup title the Audi squad needs a strong weekend at Hockenheim something it accomplished last year with Race 1 victory Ricardo Feller and Alex Aka will share the #99 machine completing the Pro field for the German event Saintéloc Racing leads the Gold Cup battle thanks to a pair of wins for the #25 Audi crew of Paul Evrard and Gilles Magnus who head Luca Engstler and Max Hofer (#6 Liqui Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup) by 5.5 points The latter will field a Lamborghini for the remainder of the campaign having previously competed with Audi machinery.  CSA Racing continues with the German marque’s R8 model and sits a further three points back after a strong start to the season for Simon Gachet and Lucas Légeret While these squads have monopolised the wins Racing Team Turkey banked a maiden class podium last time out with Salih Yoluç and Charlie Eastwood aboard the #51 Ferrari The #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin of James Jakes and Matisse Lismont will continue to chase a breakthrough result while the #88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi moves to the Gold Cup with the all-Italian pairing of Lorenzo Patrese and Lorenzo Ferrari.  the momentum swung considerably towards Team WRT at Misano as the #30 BMW of Sam De Haan and Calan Williams scored a double victory – and a pair of overall top-10 finishes They enjoy a 20-point cushion over the #71 AF Corse Ferrari which withdrew from the Misano round following a crash in testing Thomas Fleming is able to return alongside Eliseo Donno There are also high hopes for the sister #52 Ferrari of Jef Machiels and Sean Hudspeth which scored a maiden podium at Misano.  Mercedes-AMG is represented by a pair of Silver Cup crews The #10 Boutsen VDS line-up of César Gazeau and Aurélien Panis opened the season with a win and will hope to recapture that form at Hockenheim while Reece Barr and Magnus Gustavsen will chase victory aboard the #57 Winward Racing entry Saintéloc Racing retains Ivan Klymenko who is joined by Marcus Paverud in the #26 Audi Comtoyou Racing will field Lorens Lecertua and Dante Rappange in the #12 Aston Martin while Eurodent GSM Team is yet to finalise the line-up for its #18 Lamborghini.  The Bronze Cup kicked off its Sprint campaign at Misano and will now be present at each of the remaining events Sky Tempesta Racing tops the early standings with Jonathan Hui and Eddie Cheever after the #93 Ferrari crew earned Race 2 honours at the Italian venue Their nearest challengers are comparatively new to Fanatec GT Europe a brace of podiums having capped a fine weekend at Misano for the Imperiale Racing Lamborghini duo of Dmitry Gvazava and Ugo De Wilde German squad Rutronik Racing will chase victory on home soil with Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall sharing its #97 Porsche while Schumacher CLRT will also field a 911 GT3 R for the French duo of Stephane Denoual and Steven Palette Barwell Motorsport has a pair of Lamborghini entries with Patrick Kujala and Gabriel Rindone sharing the #72 machine and Rob Collard paired with Sandy Mitchell in the #78.  Tresor Attempto Racing impressed at Hockenheim last term and will aim for a repeat performance in 2024 After helping the team to secure class honours at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa Dylan Pereira and Andrey Mukovoz will be back at the controls of the #66 Audi which will see Miguel Ramos make his first Sprint Cup appearance of the season alongside Louis Prette.  Century Motorsport is new to the series this year though with reigning British GT champions Darren Leung and Dan Harper aboard its #991 BMW the team can certainly challenge for class honours They complete a 33-car field as the Sprint Cup campaign gets set to cross the halfway mark at Hockenheim THURSDAY 18 JULY14.00–17.00: Paid Test Session FRIDAY 19 JULY10.50–12.30: Free Practice15.00–16.00: Pre-Qualifying SATURDAY 20 JULY09.50–10:00: Qualifying 114.15–15.15: Race 1 SUNDAY 21 JULY09.50–10:00: Qualifying 214.15–15.15: Race 2 • Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli (2x 50-minute races)• GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club (2x one-hour +1 minute races)• Mitjet (4x 20-minute races) Extensive live coverage will be available on the GT World YouTube channel. This is free to view around the globe and includes start-to-finish action from every Fanatec GT Europe race. Click here for more information SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3 the 2024 DTM season is set for an epic climax at Hockenheim this weekend representing as many teams and manufacturers are in pursuit of their maiden title in the prestigious German series Leading the standings is factory Lamborghini man Mirko Bortolotti who is keen to avenge his narrow loss to Porsche’s Thomas Preining in 2023 The Italian sits 15 points clear of Abt Audi driver Kelvin van der Linde while Mercedes’ Maro Engel is another five points adrift in third for Winward Racing Both Bortolotti and van der Linde have scored at least one win so far while Engel’s title charge has been built on consistency having finished on the podium in seven of the 16 races so far in 2024 A total of 56 points are on offer at the Hockenheimring double header with 25 going to the winner of each race and three additional points granted for pole position in both qualifying sessions Bortolotti is the only driver who can secure the title on Saturday he would have to score at least 14 points more than van der Linde and eight points more than Engel on the opening day of racing That would give him an insurmountable lead heading into Sunday This means that if Bortolotti takes pole position and wins on Saturday he can seal the title if van der Linde rival finishes fifth or lower and Engel does not end up on the podium Even a fourth place for van der Linde would suffice for Bortolotti if his South African rival qualifies lower than second and does not score the additional two points.If Bortolotti finishes sixth or less in the first race the fight will go down the wire on Sunday regardless of how his two rivals perform If the SSR Lamborghini driver does not score any points in Saturday qualifying even a fourth place would ensure that the title fight will be decided on the last day of the season the Italian does not necessarily have to fight for victory in the final weekend: two podium finishes would in all probability be enough for Bortolotti to secure the coveted DTM crown for the first time Because then van der Linde would have to win at least one of the two races to swing the fight in his favour The elder of the van der Linde brothers may not be able to emulate Sheldon's 2022 success on his own would not guarantee the South African the championship If Bortolotti were to follow him and finish second in both races and qualifying sessions, the Lamborghini driver would still end up three points clear. On his final weekend driving an Audi the Abt driver may therefore need some misfortune to hit his chief rival in order to win a title that slipped from his grasp in the controversial 2021 finale it will be important to make up as many points as possible on Saturday to keep himself in the fight He cannot afford to lose more than 14 points to Bortolotti on the first of the two race days if he wants to add a DTM title to a CV that includes two ADAC GT Masters titles and as many wins in the Nurburgring 24 Hours If van der Linde driver finishes ahead of Bortolotti the title will definitely not be decided until Sunday Regardless of where Bortolotti finishes on Saturday he would keep the title fight open with a podium finish in the first race it would be advisable to win from pole position in at least one of the two final races in Hockenheim This would significantly improve van der Linde's chances of success If he manages to achieve this feat on Saturday and Bortolotti only finishes fourth the two drivers will be level on points at the top of the table again before the last race If Bortolotti and van der Linde finish the season with the same number of points the latter would have a decisive advantage regardless of the Hockenheim results Because while the Lamborghini driver celebrated his first victory of the season only last time at Spielberg van der Linde has already been on the top step of the podium twice this year the number of wins will decide who gets to lift the championship trophy Maro Engel has the lowest chance of all three title contenders If the Mercedes-AMG driver doesn't take any risks on Saturday he would have to bury his title hopes early That’s because if Bortolotti scores at least eight points more than him in the first race he would already be out of the championship reckoning Engel would have to finish between fourth to seventh the newly-crowned GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup champion would also have to finish on the podium to maintain his title chances Engel would be left in a precarious situation He would have to qualify in the top three and finish the race in second place to keep a mathematical chance of winning the title Second place on Sunday would be enough to finish the year on the same number of points but Bortolotti would have more wins to his name It is not unlikely that the number of victories will ultimately decide who wins the 2024 DTM title Bortolotti and Engel end up on the same number of points The Mercedes-AMG driver would therefore be well advised to put all on the line to win Saturday’s race Then he would not only score a big chunk of points and keep his small hope of winning the title alive but would also have - just like Bortolotti - a victory under his belt If they finish equal on points and race wins the number of second places would decide and Engel is currently ahead with five second places compared to four for Bortolotti BMW squad Schubert Motorsport leads the championship by 39 points over Abt having benefitted from its status as the DTM’s only three-car team Winward, SSR Performance and HRT - the Mercedes squad welcoming Jules Gounon for his series debut this weekend in place of an unwell Luca Stolz - are also very much in the frame for the title Hockenheim is poised to be Audi’s final appearance in the DTM, with long-time partner Abt splitting with the German marque to join forces with Lamborghini Abt Audi driver Kelvin van der Linde moved into the lead of the championship with victory in the penultimate DTM race of 2024 at Hockenheim, as Mirko Bortolotti could only salvage fifth place Starting from pole position, van der Linde was able to outduel Winward Mercedes driver Lucas Auer to claim his third victory of the season and overturn a 12-point deficit to Bortolotti into a two-point advantage ahead of the title decider on Sunday Ayanchan Guven completed the podium spots for Manthey EMA Porsche, while Auer’s team-mate Maro Engel kept his slim championship hopes alive by finishing fourth ahead of SSR Lamborghini rival Bortolotti van der Linde pulled away cleanly from pole position with Auer consolidating second place after securing his first front-row start in the DTM since 2022 Bortolotti and Engel had qualified out of position in seventh and ninth respectively but both were able to climb up the order on the opening lap rising up to fourth and fifth behind Guven When the pit window opened at the 20-minute mark with Winward sending him back out after servicing his car in just six seconds but a sluggish 8.2s stop - down to a slow front-left tyre change - left him vulnerable to his Mercedes rival Although the Italian managed to rejoin the track in front despite being delayed Engel already had his tyres up to temperature and muscled his way past at Turn 8 van der Linde finally peeled into the pits from the lead of the race with Auer - who had been on his tail in the first stint - covering him next time out Winward's decision to delay Auer's pitstop initially appeared to pay off as he rejoined the track at the front but a lap later the Abt driver was able to pass him into Turn 2 to reinstate the status quo The Austrian kept the pressure up on van der Linde for the remainder of the race with the two drivers even making contact at the hairpin on lap 30 van der Linde was able to do enough to fend off his Mercedes rival taking the chequered flag by 0.508s to put himself in the best position to win the 2024 DTM title in Sunday's finale Guven had a lonely race en route to third in the lead Porsche while Engel held off Bortolotti to put himself 20 points behind van der Linde in the championship standings Jules Gounon, substituting for Luca Stolz at HRT Mercedes rapidly closed in on Bortolotti in the closing stages of the races but ultimately had to settle for sixth place on his DTM debut Emil Frey Ferrari’s Jack Aitken was the only retirement from the race Lamborghini factory driver Mirko Bortolotti claimed his first DTM title on his his third attempt earlier today at the Hockenheimring Second place in Sunday’s finale was enough for for the SSR Performance driver to realise his dream of becoming a DTM champion “That was the best second place of my career After finishing fourth and second in the past two years there was a lot of pressure,” said Bortolotti I have been with Lamborghini through thick and thin for ten years I have been able to pay back a little of the trust that they have placed in me.” The only man faster than the 34-year-old in race 16 of the season was fellow Lamborghini driver Luca Engstler from Lamborghini Team Liqui Moly by GRT who celebrated his second victory of the year Third place went to René Rast and BMW team Schubert Motorsport won the Manufacturer title in front of the 95,000 spectators trackside Bortolotti got off to an ideal start on Sunday afternoon, in front of packed grandstands at the Hockenheimring. The pole-sitter – who reclaimed the title lead earlier in the day from rival Kelvin van der Linde won Race 1 yesterday – was was soon able to pull clear followed in second place by his teammate Nicki Thiim Ricardo Feller in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 for Abt Sportsline Engstler and Lucas Auer from Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter slotted in from third to fifth Bortolotti looked on course to win the championship comfortable after the opening scramble mainly because van der Linde had dropped from fifth back to 11th place after a poor start Bortolotti had opened a lead of over three seconds and came in late for his mandatory pit stop The Lamborghini works driver rejoined the race in first place but was overtaken shortly after by a charging Engstler The 24-year-old had stopped earlier and was unstoppable on his warm Pirelli tyres Rast had climbed into third place and Thomas Preining from Manthey EMA sat fourth in his Porsche 911 GT3 R after a quick tyre change Engstler took the chequered flag after 37 laps he was followed over the finish line by the new DTM champion Bortolotti the impressive Thiim battled his way to fifth place in the final race of the season while BMW driver Marco Wittmann made up twelve positions to finish seventh ahead of the third Schubert Motorsport BMW with Sheldon van der Linde in the cockpit completed the top ten in his Mercedes-AMG GT3 Kelvin van der Linde found himself unable find a way to climb the order in the closing stages and ended up claiming a lowly 12th place finish but that is racing for you,” the South African said “We invested a lot of energy in the title race I am proud of our team after this long season.” RESULTS >>> Author: © 2023 dailysportscar.com. All Rights Reserved. Link Digital Sven Müller gave Rutronik Racing the ideal start to its home event by topping Free Practice at Hockenheim leading a close-fought session at the German venue.  Müller set the time with 30 of the 80 minutes remaining knocking Lucas Auer (#48 Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG) off top spot by just 0.081s it marks the first time this term that the Rutronik squad has finished fastest overall in a Fanatec GT Europe session The team's pace was confirmed by the sister #97 Porsche finishing P3 overall and leading the Bronze Cup class Dennis Marschall – who was equally impressive during last season's visit to Hockenheim – was 0.170s shy of Müller in the car he shares with Dustin Blattner.  Max Hofer was next in the #6 Liqui-Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup Lamborghini which paced the Gold Cup class thanks to a 1m39.229s Hockenheim is the team's first Fanatec GT Europe event using the Huracán GT3 EVO2 having previously run with Audi.  The Silver Cup pace-setter was also among the top 10 Ivan Klymenko posted a 1m39.358s aboard the #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi maintaining the form that saw the young Ukrainian bank class pole at Misano.  There were a number of surprise absentees from the top 10 though Free Practice does not always give a clear picture of the competitive order The Emil Frey Racing squad was 11th and 12th with its Ferrari entries which the points-leading #32 Team WRT BMW was only 15th.  The session saw one stoppage around 15 minutes from the end Nicolas Baert crashed the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin at the final corner The only absentee from the session was the #51 Racing Team Turkey Ferrari which also missed Thursday's pre-event test Cars will be back on-track at 15:00 CEST for a one-hour Pre-Qualifying session > RESULT: Free Practice, Hockenheim 2024 Late-session flyer gives Luca Engstler overall pole position for closing race at Hockenheim… Luca Engstler secured a last-gasp pole position in qualifying for Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup Race 2 at Hockenheim reeled off a 1:37.415 in the closing seconds of Sunday morning’s qualifying session to go fastest 99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Ricardo Feller which appeared on course for pole after the reigning Sprint Cup champion set a 1:37.448 Engstler’s late flyer dropped Feller down to second by a margin of 0.033 seconds resulting in Lamborghini’s first overall Sprint Cup pole since the series visited Hockenheim last September repeating what co-driver Max Hofer did on Saturday The Lamborghini driver was not the only one to improve upon his time late in the session with improvements also coming from Dries Vanthoor although none were quick enough to break onto the front row 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 ended the session in third Thomas Fleming rounded out the top five and took Silver Cup pole aboard the No while Mattia Drudi qualified sixth in the No Tom Gamble slotted into seventh for Garage 59 ahead of Sainteloc Racing’s Ivan Klymenko and the No 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R piloted by Patric Niederhauser Sunday race winner Maro Engel completed the overall top ten aboard the No leading the two other Pro-entered entries from the Stuttgart brand driven by Ezequiel Perez Companc and Maximilian Goetz The second and final Sprint Cup race of the weekend is set for 2:15 p.m Several startup brands and companies profess that their future supercar or hypercar will be the best the folks at McMurtry seem to walk softly and carry a big stick Just over a week ago, this pint-sized electric supercar proved it’s not a one-trick pony. Delivering 1,000 horsepower to the rear wheels thanks to its dual electric motors, it smashed the closed-wheel track record at the world-famous Hockenheimring Read: Rimac Nevera And McMurtry Spierling Show A Red Bull F1 Car What’s What The record for closed-wheel cars now stands at 1.24.43 or 3.907 seconds faster than the quickest DTM race car qualified in 2020. It’s also 14.1 seconds faster than the Mercedes-AMG One a track-focused hypercar with an F1-derived engine and there’s one more important detail; the Spéirling accomplished this feat at just 75 percent of its available power and with 75 percent of its available downforce In it, we get a very clear view of how much faster the Spéirling is compared to other hypercars. For example, on track next to a Pagani Huayra R, the McMurtry rockets around the outside of the Italian stallion as if it’s on a cool-down lap. To hear Chilton talk about the lap, it sounds as though he thinks there’s more in it. Chilton repeatedly complains about his performance saying that he’s braking too late. Despite that, the car manages to grip and rip around the ring without error. No doubt, the fan system that literally sucks the car to the ground (ala Chaparral 2J) plays a large role in keeping this car on the track. It’s a stunning demonstration of what’s possible at the bleeding edge of hypercar technology. Impressively, the Speirling was only running at 75 per cent power and downforce It does make you wonder what would be possible when everything is eventually cranked up to 100 - or rather how much of the driver’s breakfast would… you know The powertrain itself is a dual electric motor unit, which fires around 1,000bhp to the single-seater’s rear wheels. That may not sound particularly astonishing in today’s world of EV Top Trumps cards, but the Speirling weighs less than a tonne It also produces as much downforce as Jupiter does gravity when that rear-mounted fan starts to spin Put all this together, and you can see why McMurtry is keen to continue to aim for other global circuit records throughout 2024 and into 2025. We look forward to its run at the fearsome Harlow Greyhound Stadium. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. Look out for your regular round-up of news No money from the licence fee was used to create this website The profits we make from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes BBC is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation few are as notorious as the incident at Hockenheim in 1982 when Nelson Piquet set about Eliseo Salazar Brabham’s development of the turbo BMW engine had been badly delayed and the team needed a good finish at the car company’s home race With a narrow lead over Tambay’s Ferrari and half the race still to go Nelson laid into the Chilean with fists and feet The incident added nothing to the Piquet image But an interesting justification for the outburst is offered by Gregg Siddle former F3 team owner and a close friend of Piquet “In 1979 Nelson had gone to Thruxton for an F3 race and as he was driving home he saw a guy walking down the road outside the circuit,” says Siddle who’d arrived in England a few days earlier with an ambition to go F3 racing and a briefcase full of money but I’ve never let anyone race one of my cars because of the money he offered But I introduced him to someone who would do the job “What infuriated Nelson at Hockenheim was that Salazar was to blame Nelson said his first reaction had been to head-butt him in the chest So then he vented his anger in the way the world saw What the world didn’t see was what happened when a VW Kombi arrived to ferry the two back to the pits but somewhere along the way Salazar was firmly booted out.” The most embarrassing consequence of the fight didn’t spring to light until 1993 when Paul Rosche spoke to Piquet at the annual BMW party “Paul said that when they took the engine back to Munich they found the skirt on one of the pistons had started to break up,” says Piquet Imagine what the press would’ve said about that happening…” McLaren stole the show at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix with a dominant 1-2 finish that left rivals trembling Here are the key takeaways from a pivotal weekend in Formula 1 The Miami Grand Prix weekend was action packed both on and off the track Here's a look at what you may have missed from the event McLaren crushed the opposition in the Miami Grand Prix with Piastri taking his third straight win in a race that looked like Norris's to lose Mark Hughes answers the main questions from the sixth round of the 2025 season Piastri wins the Miami GP to take his third consecutive victory to consolidate his championship lead ahead of Norris SearchContact ends promising runs for Matmut duo at Hockenheim Gudet operated for injuryLIAM REDFORDJul 23 20244 min readMatmut Evolution duo Gabriela Jílková and Cindy Gudet experienced an unfortunate weekend in the GT4 European Series at Hockenheim with both races ended by contact from competitors - and eventually ending with Gudet fracturing her arm Photo credits: SRO / JEPMatmut Evolution duo Gabriela Jílková and Cindy Gudet experienced an unfortunate weekend in the GT4 European Series at Hockenheim with both races ended by contact from competitors - and eventually ending with Gudet fracturing her arm Jilkova and Gudet drove well and were caught up in incidents not of their own making as they contended for points scoring finishes within the Pro-Am class Jílková handed over to Gudet inside the top-10 with Cindy making further progress prior to the contact Gudet was holding a provisional podium position before receiving heavy contact which has left Gudet with an injury Entering the weekend sixth in the GT4 European Series Pro-Am standings Jilkova and Gudet were aiming to add to the one podium they had achieved so far this season Scoring points in both races at the previous round at Spa-Francorchamps was a notable achievement with both drivers maximising the performance of the car in an expanded field Hockenheim would provide a different challenge for the duo as they looked to move inside the top-5 of the Pro-Am class standings The Matmut Evolution pair began their racing weekend with a three-hour paid test session on Thursday before two free practice sessions on Friday It was a positive start to the event for Jílková and Gudet who finished Thursday’s test in tenth within the Pro-Am class before ending Friday morning’s free practice in eighth the duo were once again inside the top-10 of the Pro-Am class Targeting further improvements in Saturday morning’s qualifying session it was Jílková who drove in the first of two back-to-back sessions Lap times were extremely close among the Pro-Am drivers with the Czech racer setting the ninth fastest time in class Gudet produced an excellent lap time of a 1:48.270 which saw her qualify second in class and ahead of the sister Matmut Evolution car driven by Enzo Joulie Photo credits: SRO / JEPJílková was behind the wheel of the Toyota Supra GT4 for the start of race one and was looking to improve on her ninth place starting position in the Pro-Am class It was an action-packed opening lap and Gabriela did well to negotiate multiple incidents while losing just one position within class The safety car was then deployed after the cars of Victor Bouveng and Alexandre Machado had stopped on track and required recovery Jílková was on the move and overtook Emil Skaras on lap five the Czech racer was defending well from Gregory Guilvert with the Chazel Technologie Course driver moving ahead on lap six Despite the challenges of battling within the midfield Gabriela was closing in on a top-30 position in the overall classification before a second safety car was deployed for Nathan Vanspringel’s stopped Ford Mustang the pit window had also opened and although Jílková was shuffled back prior to the pitstop The French racer got up to speed quickly and set a fast out lap as she looked to move the Matmut Evolution prepared car into a strong points scoring position Gudet was involved in an extremely close six-way battle for position with less than one second covering the drivers Contact was made between multiple cars which dropped Cindy down the order into 12th position within Pro-Am her Toyota Supra sustained damaged and this forced her into the pits and retire from the race Gudet had shown great speed and was looking ahead to starting from second position within Pro-Am in race two Photo credits: SRO / JEPStarting from second position within the Pro-Am class for race two Cindy was looking to carry forward the speed she displayed in her brief race one stint The Matmut Evolution driver made a good start among the midfield runners and although dropping to fourth in Pro-Am at the end of the first lap Gudet regained a provisional podium spot on lap two after passing the Porsche Cayman of Tano Neumann with the French driver once again showing good pace in comparison to her class rivals Gudet was pulling away from the group of cars behind until she received heavy contact from Noam Abramczyk at the hairpin Abramczyk’s car arrived at high-speed and impacted the right-hand side of the Toyota Supra with Gudet taken to hospital following an injury to her arm The French driver was promptly attended and has already undergone surgery "Thank you all for your messages following my crash at Hockenheim" "Secourists came fast and my arm operation went well." "Now it's time for a bit of rest and patience to get back behind the wheel as soon as possible Thanks to all the Matmut Evolution team and M Racing for their support." Despite the Matmut Evolution duo retiring from both races with damage not of their own making Jílková and Gudet both showed good speed at Hockenheim Cindy’s qualifying effort was a particular highlight as she narrowly missed out on pole position within the Pro-Am class The talented all-female crew will aim to bounce back when the GT4 European Series visits Monza on the weekend of 21st/22nd September Or you simply want to stay up-to-date with their results Privacy Policy new design and first endurance test in the "Green Hell": BMW M Motorsport's new entry-level car made two major appearances this weekend The BMW M2 Racing presented its new design to the fans in the paddock at the DTM season finale in Hockenheim (GER) the first test race was scheduled for Saturday at the 4-hour race of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) on the Nordschleife BMW M2 Racing is the official name of the vehicle, as it is based on the BMW M2 road version the BMW M2 Racing is modified in such a way that it fulfils the technological and financial requirements of an entry-level vehicle As changes may still be made in the relatively early phase of development of the racing car details of the technical specifications of the BMW M2 Racing will not be announced until next year In the BMW M Motorsport design unveiled at Hockenheim the car will undergo further testing during the 2025 season The design includes outlines of complete layouts or individual sections of famous racetracks around the world as "Easter Eggs" for the entertainment and guessing pleasure of fans The first endurance test took place this Saturday in the camouflage design. BMW M works drivers Max Hesse and Jens Klingmann (both GER) completed the first laps of the NLS race on the Nordschleife The BMW M2 Racing was entered by the FK Performance Motorsport team and completed the four hours of racing without any technical problems Head of Customer Sports at BMW M Motorsport said "With the presentation of the new design and name of our entry-level car and the first endurance test on the Nordschleife the development of the BMW M2 Racing is entering the next phase The year 2025 will be characterised by many test drives with the aim of providing our customers with a perfectly prepared racing car from the 2026 season affordability are our maxims for the BMW M2 Racing We are focussing all our development steps on this I am delighted that we were able to experience a successful kick-off this weekend in Hockenheim and at the Nürburgring." Jens Klingmann: "The aim of this test was to take stock of the car for the first time It was about gathering experience and data With 27 laps completed without any problems worth mentioning The first impression of the BMW M2 Racing's drivability is consistently positive The mixed weather was a blessing for us because we were able to drive in both dry and wet conditions This gave us a very good picture of the driving behaviour Now it's all about analysing the collected data and making further progress in the next tests." BMW Defends the M2 Race Car's Four-Cylinder Engine 2026 Jeep Compass Unveiled: Hybrid or EV With Up to 375 HP BMW's New M2 Race Car Only Has Four Cylinders Lotus Emira With Yellow Exhaust Tips Pays Tribute to an F1 GOAT BMW Increase Prices for the 2 Series and M2 The Cadillac Celestiq Will Be as Rare as a Bugatti Eliseo Donno bagged his maiden Fanatec GT Europe pole in this morning's Sprint Cup qualifying at Hockenheim posting a 1m37.349s aboard the #71 AF Corse Ferrari to comfortably secure top spot The Silver Cup entrant hit the front with a few minutes remaining in the 10-minute session and could not be toppled by the leading Pro cars with one-lap specialist Ben Green (#14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari) a full 0.274s shy of the young Italian.  Lucas Auer qualified third abaord the #48 Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG The German squad enters its home event second in the Sprint Cup championship and is well placed to make up ground this afternoon.  Fourth overall went to the #6 Liqui-Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup Lamborghini of Max Hofer The squad has switched from Audi to Lamborghini machinery this weekend and has made an immediate impression with the Italian car.  Louis Prette was fifth overall to earn Bronze Cup pole in the #188 Garage 59 McLaren With Gilles Magnus taking P6 in the #25 Saintéloc Racing Audi – which placed second in the Gold Cup – only two of the overall top six in this session were Pro cars.  alongside Donno's breakout performance the most notable Saturday morning stories were of front-runners struggling for speed  Charles Weerts was only 19th in the #32 Team WRT BMW which leads the Sprint Cup championship ahead of this afternoon's race.  the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin was 25th; the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche qualified 26th; and the reigning champion and last year's Hockenhiem winner Donno will share his #71 AF Corse Ferrari with fellow young gun Tom Fleming in this afternoon's 60-minute contest They will look to become only the sixth Silver Cup crew to secure an overall win from well over 100 Sprint races staged since 2013 Race 1 will get underway at 14:15 CEST this afternoon, with live coverage available on the GT World YouTube channel with Qualifying 2 at 09:50 and Race 2 at 14:15.  > RESULT: Qualifying 1, Hockenheim 2024 Factory Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti was crowned the 2024 DTM champion after finishing second to Luca Engstler in Sunday's finale at Hockenheim as title rival Kelvin van der Linde struggled to 12th A version of the McMurtry Spéirling fan car that set the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard alight in 2022 has just set another new record at Hockenheim. The Spéirling ‘Pure’ currently running at around 75 per cent of its full potential the fastest lap ever set by a closed wheel car McMurtry test driver and current Festival of Speed Timed Shootout record holder Max Chilton beat the previous fastest effort a 1:28.337 set by Rene Rast in an Audi RS5 Turbo DTM during qualifying for the 2020 DTM Hockenheim round The record time was set during a two-day event where a handful of lucky people could experience the McMurtry Spéirling in full flow. This ‘Pure’ version is a validation test car for a planned production model based on the prototype that set a 39.08-second record at the Festival of Speed Its huge fan delivers ‘downforce-on-demand’ that can suck the car into the ground even when it’s standing still and works alongside an electric motor producing in excess of 1,000PS (735kW) it looks even more spectacular on a race track as it carries unbelievable speeds into the corners McMurtry is planning to push the thresholds of the Spéirling Pure’s power and downforce towards 100 per cent potential over the next year or so we’ll keep an eye out to see just how much quicker this incredible car can go and once all testing has been completed Spéirlings will start being delivered to some very lucky customers who will have the opportunity to experience this record-breaking car for themselves Book early bird tickets before the 30 April to save up to 10% Verstappen.com Racing is represented in the DTM and GT World Challenge Sprint (GTWC) by Thierry Vermeulen who drivers a Ferrari 296 GT3 of Emil Frey Racing The Dutchman previews the upcoming GTWC weekend at Hockenheim Thierry is looking forward to it: “It is now time for the GT World Challenge round 3 in Hockenheim Hockenheim has always been a strong track for us and all in all in the GT World Challenge we are currently fourth in the championship only half a point behind third and it’s all very close It is important to score good points this weekend and stay in the championship hunt.” Published on 19 July 2024 by Niels Hendrix Thierry adds: “A good to start the weekend with a strong Thursday I am happy with the car though and the balance On Friday we have two sessions: FP1 and pre-qualifying before we have qualifying and race 1 on Saturday I will be in for the first qualifying on Saturday morning but I have a good feeling and will give it my all.” Follow Max on social media and keep informed Luca Engstler secured his maiden Fanatec GT Europe pole in this morning's qualifying session at Hockenheim The #6 Liqui-Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup Lamborghini was a factor throughout the 10-minute run and posted an unbeatable 1m37.415s at the very end despite encountering traffic on his final lap The time was enough to move Engstler ahead of Ricardo Feller (#99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi) by just 0.033s It marks the maiden series pole for driver and team and the first for Lamborghini in Sprint since last year's visit to Hockenheim The #32 Team WRT BMW will start from third thanks to a strong effort from Dries Vanthoor The Belgian squad will fancy its chances of victory if it can match yesterday's performance in the pits with its stops more than two seconds faster than any other team Konsta Lappalainen kept the #14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari towards the front of the order by qualifying fourth overall the Finn has a good shot at repeating the podium that he and Ben Green secured yesterday The #71 AF Corse Ferrari was next in the hands of Tom Fleming securing Silver Cup pole and a crucial championship point in the process Sixth went to the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin closely followed by the #159 Garage 59 McLaren The #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi qualified eighth overall in the hands of Ivan Klymenko and secured second among the Silver Cup runners Rutronik Racing was ninth with its #96 Porsche while Race 1 winner Maro Engel could only manage 10th aboard the #48 Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG.  Miguel Ramos delivered a superb lap to top the Bronze Cup order The Portuguese qualified 14th overall with a 1m38.504s barely a second shy of Engstler's overall pole time The #188 Garage 59 McLaren driver will start eight spots ahead of his nearest class rival as he and Louis Prette bid for a first win of 2024.  The second race of the weekend will get underway at 14:15 CEST. As ever, full live coverage is available free of charge on the GT World YouTube channel.  > RESULT: Qualifying 2, Hockenheim 2024 With apologies for late posting of this report The Hockenheim entry list last weekend featured 25 cars including 9 LMP3s and 16 Nova Proto NP02s That is nine fewer than at Portimão as multiple teams (DKR Engineering Inter Europol Competition and DB Autosport) had clashing commitments with either the European Le Mans Series or the Tourisme Endurance Trophy There was one fewer Ginetta G61 on the entry too as CMR only fielded a single car (#12) for the German round of the European Endurance Prototype Cup with Nicolas Prost at the wheel leaving the circuit after some laps in the test session it is worth mentioning that Nerguti Competition has not returned to competition this weekend was effectively destroyed after the horrific crash of Stéphane Ortelli at Portimão There will be two new entrants in the LMP3 class: ARC Bratislava joins the European Endurance Prototype Cup with the #6 Ligier JSP320 The car will be driven by Miroslav Konopka – the owner of the Slovak team – and Balazs Volenter Haegeli by T2 Racing – a full season contender in the Michelin Le Mans Cup – enters the Championship with the #68 Duqueine D08 That car will be shared by Marcel Oosenbrugh ENTRY LIST >> Rémy Deguffroy subs for injured Louis Rossi Graff Racing driver Louis Rossi is still recovering from an accident at the Circuit de la Sarthe During one of last month’s Road To Le Mans races the Frenchman violently hit an Armco barrier He was able to step from his car on his own but was later diagnosed with a broken foot Driver is ok but it’s Red flag for Race 1 Join us LIVE now: https://t.co/w4gQ9rLd00#LMC #Michelin #RoadToLeMans pic.twitter.com/TrU8DZaO98 — Le Mans Cup (@LeMansCup) June 13, 2024 He was replaced in the #8 Graff Racing Nova Proto NP02 by Rémy Deguffroy a driver who has prior LMP3 experience with Graff Racing “The (current) car works very well and keeps on improving It’s a great source of satisfaction” said Nova Proto’s Engineer in Chief Guillem Roux (…) The car is light with 840 kg while you have less power than an LMP3 (…) We’ll be presenting a new car by the end of the year” Reduced performance expected for the Norma Proto NP02s The European Ultimate Cup Series organization has taken measures to reduce the performance of the Nova Proto NP02 and hence give a greater advantage to the LMP3 field Adjustments include a significant ground clearance increase to 50mm and a fuel tank capacity reduction to 85 liters Variable track conditions impacted free practice sessions the #154 Cogemo Racing Nova Proto NP02 shared by Jesse Bouhet Antoine Lacoste and Yohan Rossell was fastest overall in the wet (1:52.470) the #88 Team Virage Ligier JSP320 driven by Raphael Narac Jacek Zielonka and Daniel Macia topped the time sheets (1:52.470) That car led the Thursday afternoon and Friday practice sessions on dry track (1:35.694) while the quickest in the Nova Proto class was the #27 MV2S Racing shared by Christophe Cresp and Pierre-Alexandre Provost (1:36.274) the #71 ANS Motorsport Nova Proto NP02 driven by Marc Faggionato Karen Gaillard and Iko Segret topped the time sheets (1:36.001) half a second ahead of the #24 TS Sport Duqueine D08 shared by Nathan Kumar The #88 clocked a lap of 1:36.736 and finished third overall Rain poured heavily on track to the point when one of the three fifteen-minute qualifying sessions was cancelled The #17 Lamo Racing Nova Proto NP02 driven by Danny Buntschu and Frédéric Morel snatched pole (Average Best Lap: 1:54.436) They would sit on the front row of the grid with another Nova Proto NP02 – the #5 CD Sport – shared by Thomas Imbourg and Jonathan Thomas (Average Best Lap: 1:55.609) The leaders of the Championship – the #1 Team Virage Ligier JSP320 driven by Georgios Kolovos Sacha Lehman and Alex Gnos – did not qualify They would start from the back of the grid in fifth position (Average Best Lap: 1:56.571) the #61 MG-Sound Ginetta G61 and the #154 Cogemo Racing Nova Proto 02 also started the race from the back of the grid as they did not clock any lap times during the two sessions Only minutes after the green light was lit the #84 driven by Clément Moreno went off in the gravel trap at Turn 12 Miroslav Konopka in the #6 ARC Bratislava Ligier JSP320 spun off at Turn 6 and hit Philippe Mondolot’s #72 AMS Motorsport Nova Proto NP02 Both cars suffered minor rear body work damages They would both start the race from the back of the grid QUALIFYING TIMES >> CD Sport and Team Virage Take a Dominant Win at the 4h of Hockenheim The #5 CD Sport Nova Proto NP02 (pictured top) driven by Thomas Imbourg and Jonathan Thomas claimed victory in the European Endurance Prototype Cup some 41 seconds ahead of the LMP3 championship leading car – the #1 Team Virage Ligier JSP320 – shared by Georgios Kolovos It is the second overall win of a Nova Proto NP02 car this season “We had to save fuel quite a lot” said Thomas Imbourg after the race “(…) it was hard as tyres started to cool down and I had less and less grip” “We had so much reliability problems and bad luck (this season) Having it done is a monkey off our back” added Jonathan Thomas The third consecutive class victory for the #1 was a pleasant surprise for the Polish team given that they failed to qualify and started from the very back of the grid But it was bigger than we thought,” said driver Alex Gnos “Mechanics worked on the car from 10am on Saturday to 3am today I am relieved and happy we made it to the race.” The #154 Cogemo Racing Nova Proto NP02 shared by Jesse Bouhet Antoine Lacoste and Yohan Rossel took third place overall They also landed in second position in the NP02 class the #88 Team Virage Ligier JSP320 shared by Raphael Narac Jacek Zielonka and Daniel Macia landed in fourth place overall and in second position in the LMP3 class James Winslow and John Corbett finished fifth in the #7 Graff Racing They also took the final podium position in the NP02 category despite a penalizing right rear tyre puncture on the very first lap of the race the third spot in the LMP3 class went to the #24 TS Corse Duqueine D08 driven by Nathan Kumar “I struggled here last year” said King “(but) I came back with a vengeance.” The #61 MG Sound Studio suffered a clutch failure and retired on Lap 53 while the #12 CMR did not take part in the race The latter was at Hockenheim for testing only (…) very promising pace and new setup directions,” said #12 driver Nicolas Prost on Instagram “Lots of work ahead this summer but we should be able to come back very strong.” it was a disappointing race for the NP02 Championship leading crew The #9 Graff NP02 Graff Racing retired on track following contact at the Hairpin (Turn 6) with the #6 ARC Bratislava Ligier JSP320 and the #72 ANS Motorsport Nova Proto 02 RACE RESULT >> David Delien – European Ultimate Cup Series Author: SearchAlexandra Vateva wins in Porsche Sports Cup Deutschland finale in HockenheimRACERSOct 17 20244 min readAlexandra Vateva ended her 2024 Porsche Sports Cup Germany season on a high note with a strong performance at Hockenheimring securing her best Sprint Challenge qualifying result and a thrilling victory in the Endurance race Photo credits: Laptime-PerformanceAlexandra Vateva rounded out her 2024 season in the Porsche Sports Cup Germany with a brilliant weekend at Hockenheimring, securing a victory in the one-hour Endurance race alongside Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup racer Robert De Haan, whom she shared the #56 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car operated by Laptime Performance The young Bulgarian racer has been selected for the Porsche Sports Cup Deutschland Talent Pool Program and made the step up from the Porsche Cayman GT4 platform in 2023 - where she hads achieved several podiums - to driving in the GT3 class in 2024 Vateva went on to build experience over her season and joined the Porsche Sprint Challenge Benelux at Spa-Francorchamps in a one off appearance that showcased her steps forward: the Laptime-Performance driver claimed class victory in both the Belgian races eventually emerging ahead of a stellar battle for the overall win in race two The victory brought her more confidence coming into the final rounds of the Porsche Sports Cup Germany season The race weekend began on a high note during the extensive Friday test session where Vateva and her team worked to find the optimal setup for the car The efforts paid off as she secured her best qualifying position of the season in the Sprint Challenge GT3 on Saturday morning Despite two minor errors that cost her a few tenths of a second Vateva's performance was nevertheless impressive and showed that she was on the verge of breaking into the top 10 In the first race of the Porsche Sprint Challenge GT3 she quickly regrouped and fought her way back through the pack ultimately finishing in tenth place in her class then promoted to ninth after a post-race penalty for a competitor The second race of the Sprint Challenge GT3 saw Alexandra once again engaged in fierce battles among a highly competitive field for the season finale She narrowly missed out on another top ten crossing the finish line in eleventh position just one tenth of a second behind Rehkopf in P10 - and less than a second off ninth-placed Franco The focus now shifted to the Endurance race where Vateva teamed up with Dutch driver Robert de Haan a rising star in the Porsche racing world and with experience in both the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany De Haan secured pole position for the team clocking a 1:41.590 that set the stage for an exciting one-hour race Vateva took over driving duties for the starting stint and delivered a solid performance Photo credits: Laptime-PerformanceStarting from the front row Vateva kept a steady position in the early laps holding on strongly to maintain third place overall just a couple of seconds from the leading duo she eventually settled into fourth by lap nine still running competitive lap times in the mid-1:43s Vateva managed to open a two-second buffer to the car behind, the #33 Porsche of Stefan Rehkopf and held a safe fourth position: with 35 minutes to go and Vateva pitted after a very solid stint from fourth overall consistently lapping faster than the two cars ahead and closing the gap to the leaders he continued to gain ground on the race leader reducing the gap by almost three-tenths per lap De Haan's pursuit intensified as he gained a full second on lap 27 reducing the margin to five seconds when the leader received a 5-second penalty With De Haan needing to close the gap to within that penalty window De Haan went under the crucial 5-second gap Robert De Haan crossed the line 4.8 seconds behind the leader securing the victory by a mere 0.180 seconds "What an incredible way to end the season—finally taking home the win in the Endurance race!" - Vateva commented after the achievement for the strong duo "I’m overwhelmed reflecting on this journey and seeing how much we've grown My personal development as a driver has been massive and I couldn’t be prouder of the team Laptime Performance and everything we’ve overcome together Every challenge brought us closer to this moment." "A huge thank you to Wheels Manufacture for trusting me with the opportunity to represent them in the best way possible "I’m also beyond grateful to be part of the inaugural Talent Pool program in Porsche Sports Cup Deutschland as their first female driver—what an experience!" The weekend's results marked a fitting end to Vateva's season demonstrating her progress and growing confidence in the competitive Porsche one-make series as she now looks ahead to her next adventure within motorsport Author: Jules Gounon put Boutsen VDS on top in pre-event testing at Hockenheim with a 1m38.746s lap aboard the Belgian squad's #9 Mercedes-AMG The three-hour session ran ahead of this weekend's Sprint Cup meeting at the German venue.  Factory ace Gounon set the time with 10 minutes left on the clock edging ahead of Ben Green (#14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari) by a mere 0.019s The #72 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini was third in the hands of Patrick Kujala topping the Bronze Cup order in the process.  Fourth overall went to the #71 AF Corse Ferrari which returns this weekend after missing the trip to Misano The crew of Eliseo Donno and Tom Fleming have ground to make up in the championship and the former's time of 1m39.004s suggests they are well placed to do so Next up were the top two cars in the overall Sprint Cup standings: the #32 Team WRT BMW driven by Dries Vanthoor and the #47 Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG with Maro Engel at the wheel.  Liqui-Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup made a strong start with its newly acquired Lamborghini leading the Gold Cup classification thanks to a 1m39.207s from Luca Engstler The German team ran an Audi at the previous two Sprint meetings but has switched to a Huracán this weekend.  there have been a handful of adjustments to the entry list for this event the #88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi has switched from Pro to the Gold Cup with Lorenzo Patrese taking the place of Christopher Haase.  the #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin will be shared by Matisse Lismont and factory ace David Pittard Jakes has moved to the #11 Comtoyou machine which he will share with Răzvan Umbrărescu.  This will mark the first time that the #11 Aston Martin has raced in Sprint and brings the class to a season-high seven cars CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa winner Comtoyou Racing will be the biggest team on the grid with four entries.  A total of 32 cars ran in the test – the only exception was the #51 Racing Team Turkey Ferrari of Salih Yoluç and Charlies Eastwood – which saw no serious incidents or stoppages Cars will be back on-track tomorrow at 10:50 CEST for Free Practice > RESULT: Paid Test, Hockenheim 2024 Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen combined to secure their maiden Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS wins in today's Sprint Cup contest at Hockenheim returning Emil Frey Racing to the top step of the podium after a three-year absence.  The #14 Ferrari owed its victory to the efforts of both drivers and their team with a fast pit stop helping to ensure crucial track position for the second half of the race They beat the #32 Team WRT BMW and the #48 Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG whose title battle continues to ebb and flow as the season enters its deciding phase Luca Engstler took the start from pole aboard the #6 Liqui-Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup Lamborghini and fought off Ricardo Feller (#99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi) through the opening sequence of corners Lappalainen made a vital pass on Dries Vanthoor to move from fourth to third sweeping around the outside of the #32 BMW at Turn 1.  After showing early pace Feller could not maintain his pursuit of Engstler falling away from the race-leading Lamborghini and into the clutches of Lappalainen Things went from bad to worse for the Tresor Attempto squad when Feller suffered a suspected front-left suspension failure ending his challenge after just 15 minutes.  but his excellent work was undone when the #11 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin became beached in the Turn 1 gravel requiring a brief Safety Car neutralisation This bunched up the pack and seemed to play into the hands of Team WRT which has regularly been able to make major gains during the pit stop window.  this would prove to be the decisive phase of the race the #6 Lamborghini lost out significantly due to a problem changing the front-right wheel The #32 Team WRT BMW made a solid stop as Charles Weerts took over from Dries Vanthoor but the Emil Frey Racing crew rose to the occasion by servicing its Ferrari almost half a second faster than its rival.  This small margin would prove crucial as Green returned to the track ahead of Weerts The British driver has often shown impressive pace this season Now in clean air and with a fast car beneath him Weerts focussed on defending from title rival Lucas Auer in the #48 Mercedes-AMG The Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter squad had made good progress from 10th on the grid thanks to Maro Engel though Auer could not launch a serious assault on the BMW.  Green crossed the line to secure Emil Frey Racing its first overall win since the Sprint Cup visited Zandvoort in 2021 The #32 BMW beat the #48 Mercedes-AMG to second spot moving Weerts and Vanthoor back to the top of the drivers' standings with a two-point advantage over Auer and Engel The #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG was fourth after an excellent race performance from Maximilian Götz and Jules Gounon who climbed from 12th on the grid and produced some entertaining racing along the way.  The #30 Team WRT BMW of Calan Williams and Sam De Haan was fifth overall and returned to winning ways in the Silver Cup The #71 AF Corse Ferrari led the opening stint but a slow pit stop cost its crew of Tom Fleming and Eliseo Donno any chance of victory the #30 BMW received a brilliant service from Team WRT and secured its fifth overall top 10 from six races Tresor Attempto Racing led an Audi one-two with its all-Italian line-up of Lorenzo Ferrari and Lorenzo Patrese who beat the #111 CSA Racing entry of Simon Gachet and Lucas Légeret to take the win This duo finished seventh and ninth respectively The #90 Madpanda Motorsport Mercedes-AMG rounded out the top 10 after producing the fastest pit stop of the day.  Century Motorsport completed a Bronze Cup sweep with its #991 BMW Darren Leung took the start and immediately jumped to second in class behind the #97 Rutronik Racing Porsche of Dustin Blattner The British squad then moved to the lead after the pit stops were complete with BMW factory driver Dan Harper producing excellent pace to put the victory beyond doubt.  Barwell Motorsport finished as runner-up with its #78 Lamborghini after running a longer opening stint than its rivals with the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari finishing third Sunday’s Bronze Cup podium was a repeat of Saturday’s top three Fanatec GT Europe is back in action next weekend when the Endurance Cup returns with a three-hour race at the Nürburgring (26–28 July) The Sprint campaign will resume four weeks later with Magny-Cours staging the penultimate round of the short-format series on 23–25 August Hockenheim hosted its first F1 Grand Prix on this day in 1970 a race marked by a fierce slipstream battle between Lotus' Jochen Rindt and Ferrari's Jacky Ickx the dueling drivers swapped the leading position among themselves although Ickx's Scuderia teammate Clay Regazzoni managed to steal two laps in the lead from his rivals as they regrouped behind running onboard Colin Chapman's innovative Cosworth-powered Lotus 72 the great Austrian losing his life two races later in qualifying at Monza But Rindt's points tally in the championship would nevertheless see him become the only driver to be posthumously awarded the Formula One World Drivers' Championship By PH Staff / Thursday We’re accustomed by now to the McMurtry Spéirling doing eye-popping things (its record-breaking run at Festival of Speed will live long in the memory of any who witnessed it) but with the company now intent on raising awareness in Europe - as it seeks buyers who can afford the £895k plus taxes the ‘hyper-track’ Pure model actually costs - you can expect more bewildering feats to occur The team has wasted no time making a splash on the continent: at its European dynamic debut earlier this month it casually smashed the closed-wheel lap record at Hockenheim.  we use the word ‘casually’ loosely - nothing about Max Chilton’s hot lap (which came at the end of an event showcasing the car at one of Europe’s biggest dealer track days) looks casual at all But it’s worth remembering that the demonstrator is only being pushed to about 75 per cent of its potential as McMurtry continues a ‘test and validation’ programme on new circuits in different climates.  On the basis that its 1.24.43 lap time on the 2.8-mile F1 circuit was sufficiently quick to be 14.1 seconds inside the time set by a Mercedes-AMG One in 2022 it’s safe to assume that’s the ‘further record attempts’ planned for the Spéirling this year and next are likely to pay off the Hockenheimring time was 3.9 seconds quicker than the DTM qualifying time achieved in 2020 Certainly the resulting video is worth five minutes of your time there’s a 1,000hp electric powertrain underneath the single-seat Spéirling PURE and a ‘downforce-on-demand system’ - essentially a fan capable of 2,000kg of suction - that accounts for its otherworldly capacity to go around corners quickly It is also said to weigh less than 1,000kg which accounts for its ability to not hang around on a straight it will generate 3g when turning and knock out a quarter mile in 8 seconds Tracks of Europe beware: McMurtry is coming.  The Pie & PistonChat about everything else… MotorsportsWin on Sunday, talk about it on Monday SupercarsNot all cars are created equal EventsMeet your hero Matt Bird in person The LoungeNeed to get something off your chest? View all forumsPistonHeads AuctionsSign up to our emailsGet the hottest news and promotions sent straight to your inbox PistonHeads® is a registered trademark of CarGurus Ireland Limited CarGurus UK Limited is an introducer appointed representative of CarFinance 247 Limited (FRN: 653019) CarFinance 247 Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for credit broking and insurance intermediation CarFinance 247 Limited is a credit broker and not a lender The Formula Junior Historic Racing Association [FJHRA] is delighted to be returning once again to the Hockenheim Historic in 2025 for Round 2 of its Lurani Trophy FIA International Series Our cars are known for producing close and exciting racing showcasing the evolution of single seater race car design from the late 50’s to early 60’s John Surtees and Jochen Rindt raced them in period Text: Formula Junior Historic Racing Association [FJHRA] Courtesy of our friends at Belgian-Motorsport we’re enjoying the sights and sounds of some classic F1 cars as they wind their way around the Hockenheimring The headline act simply has to be the V10-engined Ferrari F130B from 1997 a car that Michael Schumacher drove to five victories that season in a tense title battle with eventual champion Jacques Villeneuve a lesser-known member of the John Player Special family that suffered a stunted existence featuring in only seven grands prix in 1974 It was a hugely experimental design that on the outside featured a unique two-tiered rear-wing but hidden away inside was a hugely ambitious electronic clutch system (a precursor to modern semi-automatic gearboxes) As was often the case during these pioneering years however and it was scrapped by the end of the year What we love most about these kinds of days though is the left-field machinery that we’d all completely forgotten about There’s a Lola LC88 out on the track a car that raced under the Larrousse name in 1988 with minimal success Next to that is an even more obscure Rial ARC1 built by the Rial Racing team and driven by Andrea de Cesaris to a best finish of fourth place at the last ever running of the Detroit Grand Prix These drivers are all understandably looking after their prized possessions so they aren’t being pushed to the limit but any chance to see cars like this in action are welcome in our eyes Welcome to Goodwood Elevenses, a helping of motoring-related amusement to help break up your day. Watch the last video: Video: Corser and Schwab storm the 2018 Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy.  As if owning your own racing car wasn’t cool enough… A chance to look at the classic F1 car off the track… Reaping the rewards of its aero-body… The FIA GT championship at Hockenheim was just perfection… Exhilarating onboard racing around Hockenheim… These things are still the peak of tin top racing… Imola 2000 qualifying and a godlike demonstration from Mika Häkkinen.. Stay in the know with our newsletters that contain all the latest motorsport news By clicking ‘sign up’ you are accepting the terms of Goodwood’s privacy notice. 5,800 bales have been recylced into the biomass energy centre to be used for energy generation visitors to the ADAC Hockenheim Historic can expect a very special treat: The racing series will complete its fourth season in 2025 Vehicles from the Le Mans Prototype 3 category The ADAC has secured the exclusive long-term rights to the LMP3 class for Germany from the rights holder Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) An LMP3 is a racing car through and through the prototypes are not based on a road car Chassis are offered by the four licensed manufacturers Adess Propulsion is provided by a V8 unit engine from Nissan Michelin is the exclusive tyre partner of the Prototype Cup Germany Two races lasting just under an hour will be held at the weekend A pit stop in the middle of the race is mandatory there will also be a driver change at the stop the series will start four more times this year as part of the DTM The B197 was driven by Alesi and Gerhard Berger during the 1997 F1 season the Austrian delivered the car’s best result – victory at the that year's German Grand Prix so it’s something special to see the car return to the site of its greatest triumph almost 30 years on Helpfully, the specs are nicely laid out at the start of the clip, reminding us all of the 420PS (309kW) V10 engine that rev to 11,000rpm – a quick look at the comments tells you how much adoration there still is for this wondrous era of F1 cars This video is divided into sections which give us a look at the car standing out on track with its bright blue livery really close up – right into the engine But it finishes where we’d all rather see it in all its glory back on the track with screaming flybys As a way to spend five minutes of your day Welcome to Goodwood Elevenses, a helping of motoring-related amusement to help break up your day. Watch the last video: Roaring opening lap at the Nürburgring in a Porsche 911 RSR Remember when he wasn’t a world champion.. Throwing in some old school GP2 cars just for fun too… Listen to visceral roar of the Benetton B192’s V8… The B193B driven by Schumacher and Riccardo Patrese was on track Members’ Meeting… This nose cam gives you an idea of how fast Formula 1 cars are.. The much-forgotten HPD ARX-04 was the opposite of a success in period… The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup returns on Saturday for the second round of the 2024 season this time at the Hockenheimring Baden-Wurttemberg After a thrilling opening round at Daytona for both the 30 top-rated Supercup regulars as well as the decorated All-Star lineup both Sebastian Job and Casey Kirwan will be looking to continue their respective hot starts to the year at the historic German venue Live streaming of the events begin on Saturday at 18:00 GMT (1PM ET) via Porsche’s channels on YouTube and Twitch with the All-Star series up first The pros will take off one hour afterwards Last Race: A popular sim racing site over the last few weeks Daytona saw a new winner in the sprint in Luke McKeown alongside an otherwise dominant performance by Sebastian Job but the pack would have to settle for second as McKeown pulled an insurmountable gap in the first race McKeown’s ART teammate Yohann Harth didn’t have the same luxury in the feature as Job had committed help from both Diogo Pinto and Chris Lulham allowing for the lead change at halfway and the eventual win Hockenheim has been the go-to opening race Teams like VRS Coanda Esports and Team Redline come out of the gates swinging regardless of the venue with the two teams responsible for five of the last six combined Sprint or Feature wins to open the last three seasons Pinto took the Hockenheim Sprint win while Campbell captured the Feature victory Track Facts: Hockenheimring Baden-Wurttemberg boasts nearly a full century of racing history ranging from the German Grand Prix to countless other sports car with the Grand Prix circuit limited to 2.842 miles despite originating as a seven-mile course in the 1930s and spending most of its history at more than four miles long iRacing’s version of Hockenheim features 10 layouts including four Porsche Experience Center circuits in the infield that put driver ability and vehicle handling alike to the test Next Up: Concluding three straight race weekends to open the 2024 season the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup and accompanying All-Star series will take on the famed Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans for Round 3 while Harth will be looking to recapture the magic of his feature victory from a season ago The All-Stars will once again compete using the Porsche 963 GTP Those events are scheduled for Saturday, February 17th, and will be live starting at 18:00 GMT (1PM ET) via Porsche’s channels on YouTube and Twitch with All-Stars on tap first The Supercup races will take off one hour afterwards For more information on the 2024 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup season, visit www.iracing.com/pesc. 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This helps us understand how effective our marketing campaigns are in leading to product purchases This is the code that allows HubSpot to track your activity We use cookies to improve your site experience Derek Bell shocked by the loss of Clark but determined to push on The opening round of the 1968 European F2 Trophy, held at a rain-soaked Hockenheim will always be remembered as one of motor sport’s darkest days After the death of Jim Clark, who had agreed to enter the race with Lotus instead of testing Ford’s new sports car at Brands Hatch Not the hollow victory of Jean-Pierre Beltoise nor the promising F2 championship debut of a 26-year-old from Pagham For a brief and tragically unrepeated moment the careers of Clark and rising talent Derek Bell who regarded the double world champion as a hero A successful F3 season in 1967 had led to Bell’s arrival in Formula 2 the following year and the star-struck driver who would later find unprecedented success behind the wheel of sports cars at Le Mans and Daytona couldn’t believe his luck when he met Clark by chance for the first time at a nearby hotel the day before his final race As he tells Motor Sport in the latest Centenary Stories podcast episode it’s a memory he still holds dear to this very day and one which would go on to shape the rest of his career “Me and my step-father had been staying at a hotel just down the road from Hockenheim that weekend,” he said “We were having a cup of tea [there] on the Saturday afternoon [after qualifying] when in walks Jimmy Clark and Graham Hill My eyes fell out my head…there are my two heroes We all sat and had a cup of tea and we chatted for probably an hour and a half At a certain point Jimmy looked at me and said ‘Where did you qualify?’ where did you qualify?’ He said ‘Oh I was seventh’ and then Graham said ‘Oh I was eighth.’ It was then I thought ‘Oh my goodness gosh I’m ahead of Jimmy Clark on the grid!’ “It was one of the most remarkable moments of my life and it still stands out Bell would retire from the race on lap 29 with a broken clutch But his performances leading up to that race which had included a brilliant win on his racing debut at Goodwood teams were in desperate need of emerging talent Bell quickly became a hot property in almost every racing category within two or three weeks I had multiple offers from big names,” said Bell “I had John Cooper on to me to test in F1 I also had Ferrari onto me to drive in F2 and F1 and Colin Chapman had asked me if I wanted to hop in an IndyCar and test with Graham at Silverstone — with the chance to go to the Indy 500 Then on top of that I had John Wyer asking me to drive the GT40 at Le Mans in 1968 Le Mans legend Derek Bell commemorates 100 years of Motor Sport on this special edition podcast “Either I was the only one out there racing or I was the only one they felt they could pick on Bell chose to sign with Ferrari for 1968 after a successful test at Monza Although he would shine in F2 — securing pole position on debut in the F2 Monza Lotteria and leading at Zandvoort before his gearbox broke — the Briton missed out on a full-time F1 drive after a spell of misfortune: retiring from Oulton Park’s Gold Cup the Italian GP and the US GP all due to mechanical failures as he scored just a single championship point in 16 entries Bell soon turned his attention to sportscar racing where he quickly found his feet: winning at Le Mans with John Wyer in 1975 Derek Bell enjoyed his best years as part of Porsche’s works Group C effort the memory of Clark’s death burdened his mind “It’s something that really set me back mentally and I’ve always wondered why I had the mentality to stand people who I knew getting hurt or killed and still carrying on.” I often remember that I never actually saw anybody dead Maybe if I’d seen a guy laying over the top of a guard rail with a broken back or something it might have got hold of me and made me think ‘Oh my god that could have been you!’ “But I still never thought about stopping I was reminded about it on several occasions Well-wishers and friends and family would say ‘I say old boy why don’t you take up something a bit more sensible Why don’t you get a job and try and become a lawyer or a doctor Do something useful in your life!’ But I was doing what I loved How many of us do what we really love?” The F1 calendar naturally evolves over time with circuits losing and regaining their positions on the schedule The last few years have seen an increase in these changes Formula 1 is a sport increasingly in demand with various cities hoping to secure the commercial benefits of hosting a Grand Prix this competition has often been at the expense of more traditional (often extremely popular) venues Five years have passed since Formula 1 visited the German circuit The most recent Grand Prix in Hockenheim (held in 2019) is widely considered a modern classic Although its eventual winner – Max Verstappen – is now regularly on the top step of the podium his victory in Hockenheim came after a race of attrition Lewis Hamilton claimed the win in another iconic race at Hockenheim the German GP lost its place on the calendar not for sporting reasons In a sport where many venues offer abundant monetary support holding onto a calendar spot is very complicated Organisers at Hockenheimring previously admitted that competing with such financial heavyweights was not sustainable the chances of F1 returning to Germany were slim However, the situation is now very different. Private investors have purchased 75% of the circuit, according to German outlet Schwetzinger Zeitung. These investors are understood to be composed of five separate companies the aim is to invest 250 million euros into the Hockenheim circuit and hundreds of jobs are expected to follow The aim is to renovate the circuit’s infrastructure and make it a viable candidate for the F1 calendar has been informed by Stefano Domenicali that modern facilities are necessary the majority of existing venues on the schedule have contracts that expire in 2025 new-found financial support should put the German venue in a strong position ahead of negotiations for 2026 there is at least hope that Germany will again feature on the yearly schedule Stefano Domenicali has floated the idea of rotating tracks on the calendar this idea is not set in stone – nor does it make the return of the German GP inevitable it increases the chances of circuits returning to Formula 1 Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur insists that the swaps between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in Miami were handled well McLaren CEO Zak Brown insists the MCL39 is not as dominant as many analysts and fans have suggested Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were forced to settle for 7th and 8th place respectively at the Miami GP Ferrari’s failure to swap Hamilton and Ferrari disappointed on numerous fronts at the Miami GP the SF-25 was still several steps away from challenging McLaren Pepper gives Lambo first Sprint Cup pole in two years after Ferrari lap time deleted… Jordan Pepper claimed Lamborghini’s first Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup pole in two years ahead of the first 60-minute race at Hockenheim The South African driver produced a time of 1:37.446 in the No 60 Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 that he shares with Franck Perera It marked the first Lamborghini pole in GTWC Europe Sprint Cup since Ricardo Feller put Emil Frey Racing on top in qualifying for the opening race at Zandvoort in 2021 now driving Attempto Racing’s Tresor Orange 1 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II came through in second by a margin of three-tenths of a second while Frederic Vervisch went third-quickest in the No Pepper was briefly beaten to the provisional pole by Albert Costa but the Emil Frey Ferrari driver had his 1:37.244 effort deleted for a track limits breach and dropped to 13th Pepper only used one set of slick Pirelli tires during his run whereas most of the other competitors opted to change mid-session Cars can use four sets over the two qualifying sessions and races Class pole-sitters ranked fourth and fifth as Dennis Marschall scooped the Bronze Cup top spot in the No 66 Attempto Racing Audi and Gilles Magnus paced Gold Cup for Comtoyou’s No Simon Gachet and Christopher Mies completed the Audi train as Christian Klien picked up ninth in the No Charles Weerts completed the top 10 in Team WRT’s No while points leader Timur Boguslavskiy will start the first race of the weekend from 28th after having his best lap time deleted for track limits It was an even tougher qualifying session for Valentino Rossi who only managed 35th overall for the first race since his maiden GTWC Europe Sprint Cup win at Misano Haupt Racing Team made a late adjustment to its Hockenheim driver lineup due to Frank Bird returning home following the death of his father Paul 77 Mercedes-AMG to partner Jordan Love and will undergo a shakedown lap this morning before taking part in the first race Love ended up taking the Silver Cup pole for Race 1 with a time of 1:38.257 which put him 12th in the overall order The first race of the weekend starts at 2 p.m RESULTS: Qualifying 1 Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365 covering the FIA World Endurance Championship Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prema’s Rafael Camara clinched pole position for the first Formula Regional European Championship race of 2024 at Hockenheim The highest-placed returning driver from last season topped the first qualifying group with the fastest lap of the event so far locked out five of the six top spots on the grid and the latter outfit’s rookie Enzo Deligny will line up alongside Camara on the front row after topping the times in the second qualifying group The field was as usual divided into two for qualifying with the draw based on times set in the second free practice session from Friday rather than the usual championship order R-ace’s Tuukka Taponen was second fastest overall 0.134s slower than Camara and the only driver other than him to set a sub-1m35s lap but will start from third place as he was in the poleman’s qualifying group lines up fourth after a close fight for top spot in his group with Deligny After a lengthy delay caused by an incident in the preceding session on track necessitating barrier repairs it was the fourth lap of qualifying before anybody posted a representative laptime just ahead of Prema’s James Wharton and ART GP’s free practice pacesetter Alessandro Giusti Wharton moved to the front next time around by just 0.008s over Camara going fastest in sector one en route to the first sub-1m35s lap of the weekend Giusti had to settle for fourth in the group after taking a trip through the gravel at turn 12 on his final lap An improvement on his final lap lifted Van Amersfoort Racing’s Pedro Clerot to fifth ahead of MP Motorsport’s Nikita Bedrin Deligny was immediately to the fore in the second group He lowered his best time by 0.045s three laps later to make sure of top spot Giltaire failed to improve on his final push laps after getting up to second and was just 0.062s slower than Deligny Prema’s Ugo Ugochukwu held third for most of the session losing some of his laps due to track limits abuse then was demoted in the closing stages by impressive late laps from R-ace’s Zachary David and VAR’s Ivan Domingues Iron Dames’ Doriane Pin will start from 18th on her and the team’s debut Established in 2011 and previously found at PaddockScout.com Formula Scout is home to regular news and features from the world of junior single-seater racing tracking the progress of future grand prix stars We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any 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