ThePitcrewOnline

12th May 202113th May 2021

Pit Crew’s Endurance Racing Explained

Endurance racing stands out from any other forms of motorsport, in that it tests not only the skill and stamina of the driver, but the reliability of the car, whether its at 24 hours of Le Man’s, 24 hours of Daytona or 12 hours of Sebring.

Car manufacturers boast and take pride in their cars winning but its not just open to the elite manufacturers (Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche, Aston Martin, Peugeot) private and independent teams (privateers) can take part, and there are several classes, for example WEC (World Endurance Championship) has 4 classes Hypercar (New for 2021 was LMP1), LMP2 and LMPGTE with 2 classes PRO & AM.

HYPERCAR (Formally known as LMP1)

Le Man’s prototypes, these are built to a set specification set out by the governing body’s (FIA, ACO) with a minimum weight of 1030kg and have a total combined output of 500KW (Engine + Hybrid system) they must be based around road going vehicles and BOP (Balance of Performance) is a level playing field, plus for WEC run on Michelin tyres.

LMP2

LMP2 cars are smaller, lighter and less powerful but they do have potentially better power to weight ratio, minimum weight allowed is 930KG, fuel tank capacity of 75 litres, with a 4.2 litre V8 engine with 500BHP.

LMGTE (PRO + AM)

Also, on the grid are LMGTE car’s these are race cars derived from street cars, they have a fuel tank capacity of 90 litres with either a normal aspirated engine 5500CC MAX or a turbo/supercharged engine 4000CC MAX plus a minimum weight of 1245KG. There are 2 classes in LMGTE (PRO) which will have drivers especially professional / factory drivers (AM) these are amateur drivers or gentleman drivers.

Within each race there is 4 races, with all classes competing for prizes, whether its for overhaul victory or winner of each class, (The podium will have 4 ceremonies).

Le Man’s is the most famous and prestigious of all the endurance races and has been held since 1923 at the 8.5-mile road circuit at Le Sarthe, Le Man’s, France, Endurance racing has several racing deries throughout the world

FIA-WEC World Endurance Championship

IMSA International Motor Sport Association (Based in the USA)

ELMS European Le Man’s Series

Asian Le Man’s Series (Based in China, Japan)

IGTC Intercontinental GT Challenge (GT Cars Only)

Plus, there are stand-alone endurance events such has SPA 24 hours, 24 hours of the Nurburgring but these are mainly for GT car’s but still have different classes (GT3, GT4) and based on different specifications & regulations.

Manufacturers use these races / events to test certain types of parts / engineering which is then put in their road cars which we buy today.

Team’s can use 2 to 4 drivers depending on the length of the race, plus depending on the event / series regulations, they must only drive for a certain length of time or stint, so a driver can double or triple stint has long the teams go by he set regulations for that series / championship.

Endurance racing his ever more popular and fans can enjoy and interact with teams and drivers in the paddock, in 2019 a staggering 252,500 fans attended the Circuit De La Sarthe for the Le Man’s 24 hours.

Terminology

LMP —– Le Man’s Prototype

LMDh — Le Man’s (ACO) Daytona (IMSA) hypercar / hybrid car

LMGT — Le Man’s Grand Tourer

BOP —– Balance of Performance

FIA —— Federation Internationale de l’Automobile

ACO —- Automobile Club de I’Quest

Hypercar – FIA ACO specialist prototype / car based on road gong vehicles

Prologue – Testing / Media Day for WEC

12th May 202116th August 2021

A Changing of the Guard? The GMR IndyCar Grand Prix of Indianapolis Preview

IndyCar will take to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course this weekend for the GMR Grand Prix.

This year, we roll into Indianapolis with four different race winners in as many races with others hot-on-the heels, ready to take snatch victories if the opportunity presents itself.

Scott Dixon comes into this race as points leader with a 22 point margin over nearest rival Patricio O’Ward. He is also last year’s Indianapolis GP winner and will be coming into this weekend with plenty of confidence – confidence that has seen him finish inside the top five in every outing this season.

But for once – it isn’t the highly-rated New Zealander that has got everyone talking.

Changing of the Guard?

Patricio O’Ward won last time out at Texas, taking his long-overdue maiden IndyCar win by beating six-time world champion Scott Dixon. The win, which had been ‘on-the-cards’ for over a year was one of many other success stories across the paddock. Among those are a range of drivers under the age of 25 including Alex Palou who won at Barber while Colton Herta took victory at St. Petersburg. Also, who could forget Rinus VeeKay who is consistently putting in strong performances with the Ed Carpenter Racing outfit?

This isn’t to say that the proverbial ‘old-guard’ are not up to the job. The likes of Scott Dixon, Will Power, and Simon Pagenaud are still serious competition while Josef Newgarden may be mistaken as a younger driver, even he is into his 30’s.

O’Ward currently sits second in the drivers’ championship. Photo Courtesy of James Black.

But while the young guns have shown glimpses of brilliance over the past few seasons, now they are consistently challenging at the front of the field. Pato’s win was something of a ‘monkey on his shoulders’ and will certainly give him the confidence that he belongs at the sharp end. If Arrow McLaren SP can deliver a title-challenging car, you better believe Pato will be a factor in most races.

Alex Palou holds one of the coveted spots at Chip Ganassi Racing and is certainly viewed as the team’s future. This at least ensures the Spaniard has the backing and resources to be a major contender for years. But the fact that he is putting in results in his first season with the team was perhaps beyond most peoples’ expectations.

Rinus VeeKay has made it no secret that top-teams have already been in contact but felt another year with Ed Carpenter would be best for his development in the series. The most likely of destinations for the Dutchman would be either Andretti Autosport or Chip Ganassi to replace Jimmie Johnsons’ part-time no. 48 entry. Wherever his destiny lies his future looks bright and will be a title contender in the next few years.

Interestingly, a third of the available spots on all podiums this year have been filled by these drivers, a significant change on past seasons. Considering Herta and VeeKay’s past success at Indianapolis – I expect them to be a factor once again this weekend at the GMR Grand Prix.

Can Penske Strike Back?

We return to a track where not only Roger Penske himself owns, but where his team has dominated in recent years. Will Power and Simon Pagenaud have stolen the spoils every year between 2015 and 2019. In addition, all excluding 2019 have been won from pole position by the winning Penske driver.

Josef Newgarden wins at the Harvest GP ’20. Photo Courtesy of Doug Matthews.

IndyCar’s last visit to the Road Course was for October’s Harvest GP doubleheader which Penske won on both times of asking – Josef Newgarden followed by Will Power from pole the next day. With five of the last nine IMS road races won from the front row, Friday’s qualifying will prove that much more important.

Newgarden is the highest placed Penske in the drivers’ championship in fourth. By their standards, they will be hoping to change that by the end of this weekend. His unfortunate start to the season at Barber has been something of a blip, finishing consistently in the top-six on every occasion since.

His teammate Will Power by contrast had his turn of misfortunate at the Texas Motor Speedway, slipping down the order and out of contention in both races. Ninth place in the championship is not good enough for the former IndyCar champion and will be looking to capitalise on his winning experience around this circuit.

The GMR Grand Prix will take place on Saturday afternoon in a condensed two-day weekend.

Friday 14th May will play host to qualifying at 21:30 (BST) while the race will get underway on Saturday 15th May at approximately 19:00 (BST).

11th May 202111th May 2021

Porsche Dominates at the Nürburgring

Porsche’s great form continued at the 6-hour qualifying race for the main event the 24 hours of the Nürburgring in June.

The Porsche 911 GT3 of Frikadelli Racing driven by Frederic Makowiecki, Patrick Pilet, Dennis Olsen & Maxime Martin brought Car 31 home to victory, with the Manthey Porsche 911 of Matteo Cairoli, Michael Christensen & Lars Kern in 2ndbut this would be short lived has they were handed a time penalty for failing to obey flag signals putting them back to 5th, this would promote the sister Frikadelli Racing Car 30 to 2nd spot with Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber, Matt Campbell & Mathieu Jaminet making it a one – two for the team, with the Pole sitting car 11 of Phoenix Racing Audi R8LMS GT3 EVO with ex Aston Martin factory driver of Nicki Thiim along with Michele Beretta, Frank Stippler & Vincent Kolb for the final spot on the podium P3.

On a warm Sunday afternoon in the forest of the Rhineland 85 cars took the start, the winning Porsche started on the grid from 5th but by the time they started on lap 2 they would be 2nd, the lead would change hands a number of times with no Safety Cars and only of local yellows covered by Code 60s, during the race and at Pit cycles, just after the 2nd hour the leading car Audi Car 11 with Stippler onboard made a very rare mistake after battling with the Porsche Car 31 of Pilet and ran off into the gravel trap just after the grand prix loop, this would hand the lead to Car 31 Porsche leaving the Audi back in 7th, the 2 Porsche team’s of Frikadelli and Manthey would put pressure on each other and this would how it would be as they went into the last hour, Cairoli car 911leading Olsen car 31.

With just 30 minutes remaining all the top cars pitted but car 31 would pit just that bit later, this would be the decisive move of the race and move the momentum to the Frikadelli Porsche Team. They would take the flag 15 seconds ahead of the 2nd place Manthey Porsche, with the 2nd Frikadelli Porsche a minute behind and 3rd.

Result

1st Car 31 Porsche – Frikadelli Racing

2nd Car 30 Porsche – Frikadelli Racing

3rd Car 11 Audi – Phoenix Racing

4th Car 07 Mercedes Team Getspeed

5th Car 911 Porsche – Manthey Racing

11th May 2021

The Debrief – Five talking points from a thrilling opening BTCC weekend at Thruxton

The 2021 British Touring Car Championship season burst into life at the weekend at Thruxton. Josh Cook won the first two races before Ash Sutton stormed to victory in a thrilling final race. A few talking points arose from the weekend’s action, with thrills, spills, and strong performances aplenty.

Never Discount Ash Sutton

Ash Sutton took victory in race three. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

The reigning champ took pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session to kick off his title defence in the best way possible. However, he was tapped by Colin Turkington into the Complex and spun, falling to the back of the grid. Not one to stay down for long, Sutton surged through the field finishing tenth on the road but was promoted to ninth thanks to Turkington receiving a penalty for their first lap collision.

Another ninth placed finish in race two put him in good position as the reverse grid draw lottery put him third on the grid for race three. The rain-affected race saw Sutton start strong and lead, before Jake Hill on slicks passed him, only for the rain to return and put Sutton back in the ascendancy to take the win. From despair on race one lap one, to victory on race three, final lap.

Jake Hill – Emergence of a new star?

Jake Hill is the championship leader leaving Thruxton. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

The MB Motorsport team merged with Motorbase for 2021, meaning Hill swapped his Honda Civic FK2 for a new Ford Focus. He was one of the stars of the weekend, taking three podiums and leading the championship as we leave Thruxton.

His skill and talent were underlined when he drove around the fastest circuit in the UK, on slick tyres, in wet and greasy conditions. That’s no mean feat, and Hill was not only quick, but he could have won if the rain had held off. A strong performance from the MB Motorsport driver, and one he will be sure to build on at Snetterton in June.

Andy Neate hit with a £2k fine

Glyn Geddie was caught up in a first lap incident in race two. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

On the opening lap of race two there was a big incident involving Andy Neate, Glyn Geddie and Jade Edwards. Neate dove down the inside of Geddie into turn one. Geddie had the corner covered and was tipped into a spin by Neate, sending both into the wall and Geddie’s Cupra Leon pirouetted in the air before landing. Edwards was on the outside and played innocent bystander as she was caught up in it.

Initially Neate suggested he had brake failure which caused him to hit Geddie. However, after checks there was deemed nothing wrong with his car and Neate was hit with a £2,000 fine and points on his licence for the incident. Why did Neate suggest brake failure instead of admitting he was at fault for the incident? Thankfully all three drivers walked away uninjured.

Life in Plato Yet!

Jason Plato secured second place in race three. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

The 53-year-old showed he’s not mellowed with age as he took a sixth, a fifth, and a second in the three races this weekend. He got stuck in and showed his great race craft in his Vauxhall Astra. He was involved in dicey battles with the likes of Dan Rowbottom, Dan Cammish and Jake Hill. The latter fighting Plato in a drag race to the line in race three, with Plato coming out on top. A fine weekend back after a year away from the grid.

Was Turkington’s Penalty Fair?

Colin Turkington had a quiet weekend following the penalty. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

The aforementioned incident between Sutton and Turkington meant the four-time champion was given a 17 second penalty. This dropped him from fourth to tenth. The reason for this was Sutton finished tenth, and so the stewards gave Turkington a penalty which put him behind Sutton.

However, this is potentially a dangerous precedent to set, as theoretically speaking, if Sutton had finished 30 seconds back, or a lap down, by this logic Turkington would effectively have to be excluded from the results. Would a standard five or ten second penalty have sufficed for what was effectively an innocuous mistake on cold tyres?

The BTCC is back, and now the long wait begins for the next weekend of action at Snetterton on June 12-13.

10th May 202110th May 2021

The Monaco ePrix Roundup: Da Costa reigns in the principality

Formula E returned this weekend, after a two week break to what is considered the glittering jewel in the motorsport crown, the glamorous and iconic streets of Monaco. Although it was familiar territory to the drivers, the venue boasted a new track layout, with the cars able to use the full track for the first time in the electric series’ history. Nyck de Vries headed into the weekend as the championship leader, but for him and Mercedes, it threw up heartbreak for the German manufacturer.

Reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa claimed a dominant pole position in the streets of the principality, beating Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns by a mere whisker. Mitch Evans started in P3 in the Jaguar, who ran just a few tenths shy of the pole time. Former champion Jean-Eric Vergne and Max Gunther lined up in P4 and P5 respectively, whilst Oliver Rowland rounded out the top six, having his laptime deleted as he left the garage too late, a factor not aided by Sergio Sette Camara’s late crash in group 4 which brought out the red flag and forced Sebastien Buemi and Tom Blomqvist to reattempt their flying laps. Title favourites Mercedes again struggled in the conditions, forced to start near the back of the grid, as was Jaguar’s Sam Bird who started in a lowly P16.

Da Costa started well, getting the jump almost immediately on Frijns and Evans, however, the Dutchman was able to stay with the reigning champion and the pair of them began to pull away from the rest of the field whilst Wehrlein and Sims got tangled together in a bizarre incident at the famous Mirabeau hairpin. Within five minutes, Frijns closed in on Da Costa and snatched the lead away. Da Costa responded by taking attack mode, but it was to no avail. The pair of them headed at the front, as Bird and Di Grassi, both of whom had started down the order began to claw their way into the points-paying positions.

Da Costa and Frijns fought for the lead as the time ticked away, both swapping positions whenever their attack modes were taken, which allowed Evans to come back into play, bringing Gunther and Vergne with him. Vergne looked impressive in the Techeetah, but made a mistake and failed to activate his second attack mode, which allowed Gunther through to fight for the podium. Da Costa used his fanboost to great effect to fly past Frijns for the lead going into the famous tunnel, whilst Evans too began his charge using his second attack mode to sweep past Frijns a lap later. Evans soon disposed of Da Costa for the lead with fifteen minutes left on the clock and everything looked in order, until Rene Rast’s Audi stopped on the climb up towards Casino Square bringing out the safety car and with it, the dreaded energy reduction.

As in Valencia, Monaco showcased a thrilling sprint to the finish line in the dying stages of the race as Da Costa, desperate to shake off the demons of two weeks prior, swept past Evans for the lead for the race out of the tunnel, a move he had used previously to pass Frijns earlier. Evans was pipped to P2 by Frijns, after the energy reduction left him vulnerable and had to settle for the final podium position. The trio were followed by Vergne who just missed out on the podium, Gunther, Rowland and Bird rounded out the top seven. Due to the failure of Mercedes’ driver and championship leader Nyck de Vries to score any points, Robin Frijns inherited the championship lead as we head to Mexico in five weeks time.

9th May 202110th May 2021

Aston Martin’s struggles continue in Spain

Both Aston Martin’s finished outside of the points in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday as the teams disappointing start to the season continues.

*Image courtesy of Aston Martin Cognizant* F
Formula 1team

In an uncharacteristically eventful Spanish GP (at the front of the field at least) Aston Martin struggled to make ground throughout the Grand Prix and despite Lance Stoll making it into tenth; he couldn’t quite hold the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly behind and went on to finish the Spanish Grand Prix in P11 ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel in P13.

Lance Stroll was evidently fighting hard for a points finish in Barcelona, making a sensational pass, sweeping past Fernando Alonso on the 11th Lap; but the Aston Martin was a far cry away from the pace of their Racing Point in 2020 and the Alpine passed into the points later in the race. Stroll was stuck in the middle of a DRS train in the midfield for much of the race emphasising many of their race pace issues.

Sebastian Vettel had a less eventful race after a slow pitstop cost him a couple of seconds but also struggling to find any meaningful pace to be able to challenge either the Alpines or the McLaren of
Lando Norris.

*Image courtesy of As*ton Martin F1 team

After the race Sebastian Vettel said “It was a tricky one. We were not quick enough in terms of race pace to really progress so I need to have a look whether there was something we could have done better. Not a trouble free race but I think it’s still probably where we are at the moment”.

Aston Martin have not made the start to the season they would have hoped for with only five championship points in the constructors championship and break fires in both cars on the way to the grid at Imola caused Aston Martin problems before the race even began; which
resulted in Sebastian Vettel receiving a time penalty as the team failed to fit his tyres before the five-minute signal.

Both owner Lawrence stroll and Team Principle Otmar Szafnauer have blamed performance issues in the opening rounds of the season on the new aerodynamic regulations that made changes to the amount of modifications teams could make to the floor of the car. Which they said had unfairly disadvantaged their car. However, despite a new
upgrade package in Portimoa, the team still don’t seem to have the car where they want it.

Although Aston Martins start to the season has been less than what they expected the longer than usual race calendar this year will undoubtedly give the team hope that there is time to push themselves up the constructor’s championship standings as the season continues.

However, with the new regulation changes coming up in 2022 the team will undoubtedly want to begin to focus more resources in the coming months on next year’s car.

9th May 2021

BTCC Thruxton – Sutton wins rollercoaster rain-affected final race

Ash Sutton took the win in a thrilling final race of the day at Thruxton. The weather was a factor with rain stopping and starting again meaning tyre strategies were needed.

Pre-race Josh Cook and Tom Ingram were handed 30 second penalties for not having their tyres on their cars in time.

While most of the front were on wets, Tom Oliphant gambled on slicks, meaning he fell down the order at the start. Sutton took second from him with Stephen Jelley led.

Sutton overtook Jelley at the Complex on lap two while Cook and Ingram served their penalties in the pitlane.

Jason Plato and Aiden Moffat had a nice battle for fourth until Moffat pulled off the road with a mechanical issue on lap seven.

On lap six the weather stopped and the drivers on slick tyres were starting to come good. Jake Hill and Oliphant started to surge through the field with Oliphant coming from 18th.

Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom pitted for slicks to try and capitalize on the changing weather but it was the wrong call.

Hill’s resurgence continued as he passed Plato for third. Tom Oliphant was given a five second penalty for not being in his grid slot correctly.

On lap nine Hill was five seconds faster than leader Sutton, and was in second place closing down the leader. By lap ten he was in the lead.

But just as Hill took the lead it started to rain again, with the pendulum swinging back into Sutton’s favour. The reigning champion regained his lead with ease on lap 14.

On lap 15 Plato moved into third, but further back Carl Boardley and rookie Rick Parfitt collided at the Complex. Parfitt resumed but Boardley drove into the path of Rory Butcher while recovering and both collided and were out of the race.

Sutton won but there was a mad dash to the line between Plato, Hill, and Gordon Shedden. Plato had the better exit and stole second place on the line.

Shedden finished fourth, Plato’s team mate Dan Lloyd made it a good race for Power Maxed Racing with fifth. WSR duo Turkington and Oliphant took sixth and seventh. Jack Goff, Ollie Jackson and Stephen Jelley rounded off the top ten.

Jake Hill leads the championship after this weekend’s racing by a point from Josh Cook with Jason Plato in third a few points behind.

Pos	Driver	Team	Car	Gap
1	Ash Sutton	Laser Tools	Infiniti Q50	22:47:671
2	Jason Plato	Power Maxed	Vauxhall Astra	+4.789
3	Jake Hill	MB Motorsport	Ford Focus	+4.859
4	Gordon Shedden	Halfords Racing	Honda Civic	+5.025
5	Dan Lloyd	Power Maxed	Vuaxhall Astra	+9.927
6	Colin Turkington	Team WSR	BMW 330i M	+10.105
7	Tom Oliphant	Team WSR	BMW 330i M	+13.212
8	Jack Goff	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	+14.014
9	Ollie Jackson	MB Motorsport	Ford Focus	+16.377
10	Stephen Jelley	Team WSR	BMW 330i M	+18.713
11	Aron Taylor-Smith	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	+21.321
12	Sam Osborne	Motorbase	Ford Focus	+24.962
13	Tom Chilton	Ciceley	BMW 330i M	+25.188
14	Sam Smelt	Toyota Gazoo	Toyota Corolla	+25.722
15	Chris Smiley	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	+38.847
16	Rick Parfitt	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	+40.064
17	Nicholas Hamilton	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	+52.655
18	Adam Morgan	Ciceley	BMW 330i M	+55.339
19	Jack Butel	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	+1:04.841
20	Josh Cook	BTC Racing	Honda Civic	+1 Lap
21	Dan Rowbottom	Halfords Racing	Honda Civic	+1 Lap
22	Tom Ingram	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	+1 Lap
23	Dan Cammish	BTC Racing	Honda Civic	+1 Lap
24	Carl Boardley	Laser Tools	Infiniti Q50	+2 Laps
25	Rory Butcher	Toyota Gazoo	Toyota Corolla	+2 Laps
Retirements
DNF	Aiden Moffat	Laser Tools	Infiniti Q50	Mechanical
DNF	Jade Edwards	BTC Racing	Honda Civic	Damage
DNS	Glyn Geddie	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	Damage
DNS	Andy Neate	Motorbase	Ford Focus	Damage

9th May 20219th May 2021

Spanish GP: Hamilton takes win number 98

image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports

Lewis Hamilton took his 98th Formula 1 win on Sunday afternoon after delivering yet another stunning drive which was strategically very reminiscent of Hungary 2019. The English driver started from his 100th pole position and fell behind to his title rival Max Verstappen but thanks to an aggressive and well thought out strategy from the Mercedes team, he was able to come back into the race and take the lead towards the very end and went on to win.

Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas was once again limited to playing the team game as he failed to match either of Hamilton or Verstappen. The Finnish driver did not quite back down after team orders were implemented which meant Hamilton had to overtake him losing some time in the process. It all ended well as the English driver was able to catch the leading Redbull and take a healthy lead in the driver’s championship. Sergio Perez in the other Redbull could only manage only a 5th place finish which brings into question, the ever present dilemma surrounding the Redbull second car.

Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari drove an excellent race finishing 4th ahead of Sergio Perez in the Redbull which means it is good signs for the Ferrari after a season to forget last year. Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari also had a very good drive after his battles with the McLaren drivers saw him finish 7th. Daniel Ricciardo in the McLaren seems to have gotten over his shaky start to the season and drove an excellent race to finish P6 while his teammate Lando Norris just seems to have taken foot off the gas after a good start to the season and managed an 8th place finish only.

Esteban Ocon started off the weekend in a brilliant fashion after qualifying P6 but could only manage P9 in the race while his teammate Alonso after being involved in the tussle for the final points position for a long time had to pit towards the end and ended up at a lowly P17. Alpha Tauri had a mixed weekend after Yuki Tsunoda’s car had an engine failure very early in the race but Pierre Gasly managed his race well after he had to overcome the challenge of Aston Martin drivers.

Aston Martin had a very under the radar showing with both the drivers Stroll and Vettel finishing outside points and the team will be left to figure out how to better their fortunes in a fortnight’s time for the Monaco grandprix. It was a better outing for Kimi Raikkonen in the Alfa Romeo than last time as he finished the race this time around and finished well at P12. His teammate on the other hand had to sit through a sub 40 second pit stop and could only manage a P15.

‘Mr.Saturday’ George Russell had yet another mellow Sunday interms of the result but the whole team will definitely take heart from a performance where he was close to P10 for the most of the afternoon but failed to put the final fight in for it and finished P14. His teammate Latifi in the other Williams finished at P16.

Haas cars had yet another slow outing during the race and Mick Schumacher managed an 18th placed finish despite a bright start from him and his teammate Nikita Mazepin only finished last of the lot while often being mentioned in the radio for not following the blue flags correctly.

Redbull definitely seemed to have the pace going into the race but they were caught out by Mercedes’ aggressive strategy just like Hungary 2019 as Lewis Hamilton drove his heart out in Barcelona. Max Verstappen will have many more chances in the upcoming part of the season to take the challenge to Hamilton on track but for now the momentum is with the British driver.

9th May 2021

BTCC Thruxton – Cook wins race marred by first lap incident

Josh Cook secured his second win from two races with the race marred by a big first lap incident between three drivers.

Andy Neate, Glyn Geddie and Jade Edwards were all in a big shunt on lap one which caused a red flag. On the restart Dan Cammish surged into second to back up his temporary team mate with Jake Hill third.

The race was red flagged on lap one as Glyn Geddie, Jade Edwards and Andy Neate were involved in a first corner collision. Neate dove down the inside at turn one of Geddie and collided. They took Edwards with them as she was an innocent bystander on the outside. Geddie hit the wall and his car pirouetted and rolled and all three were out with considerable damage.

On the restart Hill got away badly, Cammish capitalized on it and moved into third. Into the complex Ingram was battling Cook for the lead with the pair making contact. As Ingram regained his composure Cammish snuck down the inside to take second.

The Safety Car was brought out when Rory Butcher started to spin in the high speed section. He went across the track, with drivers doing well to avoid him, before hitting the tyre wall at speed.

On lap six the race continued, with Dan Rowbottom pulling off a nice move on Ingram as he struggled with ballast in his Hyundai.

The top three pulled away from Jason Plato in fourth who was being caught by the charging Rowbottom. Having pitted, Ash Sutton surged back through the field, ending the race in ninth.

Rowbottom finally passed Plato on lap ten as he got the better of the veteran out of the final chicane for fourth place.

Josh Cook has won two races from two so far. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

The top two were the quickest cars, with Cook taking his second win from two with Cammish playing a good team mate to back him up.

Hill finished third as his encouraging start to the season continues. Rowbottom secured his best ever BTCC finish with fourth and Plato came home fifth. Ingram and Turkington were next, followed by the Laser Tools duo of Moffat and Sutton. Tom Oliphant rounded off the top ten in his BMW.

Pos	Driver	Team	Car	Gap
1	Josh Cook	BTC Racing	Honda Civic	23:06:411
2	Dan Cammish	BTC Racing	Honda Civic	+0.234
3	Jake Hill	MB Motorsport	Ford Focus	+1.625
4	Dan Rowbottom	Halfords Racing	Honda Civic	+4.655
5	Jason Plato	Power Maxed	Vauxhall Astra	+4.976
6	Tom Ingram	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	+6.961
7	Colin Turkington	Team WSR	BMW 330i M	+7.303
8	Aiden Moffat	Laser Tools	Infiniti Q50	+9.291
9	Ash Sutton	Laser Tools	Infiniti Q50	+10.055
10	Tom Oliphant	Team WSR	BMW 330i M	+11.411
11	Stephen Jelley	Team WSR	BMW 330i M	+13.259
12	Jack Goff	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	+13.759
13	Ollie Jackson	MB Motorsport	Ford Focus	+15.311
14	Dan Lloyd	Power Maxed	Vauxhall Astra	+15.826
15	Aron Taylor-Smith	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	+16.944
16	Sam Osborne	Motorbase	Ford Focus	+17.540
17	Carl Boardley	Laser Tools	Infiniti Q50	+19.551
18	Gordon Shedden	Halfords Racing	Honda Civic	+19.914
19	Jack Butel	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	+26.245
20	Sam Smelt	Toyota Gazoo	Toyota Corolla	+26.623
21	Adam Morgan	Ciceley	BMW 330i M	+32.085
22	Nicholas Hamilton	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	+35.931
23	Chris Smiley	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	+1 Lap
Retirements
DNF	Rick Parfitt	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	Mechanical
DNF	Tom Chilton	Ciceley	BMW 330i M	Mechanical
DNF	Rory Butcher	Toyota Gazoo	Toyota Corolla	Crash
DNF	Jade Edwards	BTC Racing	Honda Civic	Crash
DNF	Andy Neate	Motorbase	Ford Focus	Crash
DNF	Glyn Geddie	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	Crash

9th May 20219th May 2021

BTCC Thruxton – Josh Cook takes Race 1 win

Josh Cook took the first win of the 2021 British Touring Car Championship season at Thruxton in an exciting opening race.

A first lap collision sent polesitter Ash Sutton spinning down the order. Tom Ingram’s first race for Excelr8 ended with second place and Jake Hill moved through the order to take third.

The first race is the only race all season which is ballast free, which means all drivers are on a level playing field and it’s purely a case of who’s fastest.

Sutton got away well, with Ingram and Colin Turkington in tow behind. Into the complex at Cobb, Turkington tapped Sutton in braking and spun Sutton around. This promoted Cook to the lead as he manoeuvred past the pair into a lead he never surrendered.

The Safety Car was brought out at the end of lap one as the returning Gordon Shedden tapped the back of Ollie Jackson. This sent the Honda driver into a spin before he collected Chris Smiley. The pair ended in the wall and Jackson pitted to fix an damage. Tom Oliphant appeared to be struggling to get heat into his tyres as he went off before pitting.

On lap seven the Safety Car pulled in and racing resumed. Ingram was on the back of Cook instantly, and was looking to overtake.

Sutton’s resurgence began on lap eight as he passed Sam Smelt and Oliphant. Meanwhile further up Dan Rowbottom, who replaced Matt Neal this season at Team Dynamics, moved around the outside of ex-team mate Adam Morgan at the final chicane in a very impressive move.

A transmission failure ended Stephen Jelley’s impressive return to Team WSR as he pulled into the pits.

In the closing stages there was a battle between Jason Plato, Rory Butcher, and Dan Cammish. Plato fought with Butcher for fifth, and both were passed by Cammish. He swooped into fifth and pulled away in his BTC Honda.

There was a light splatter of rain at the end of the race but nothing to bother the drivers as Cook cruised to the win, keeping up his impressive winning streak at Thruxton dating back to 2018. Ingram was second with Hill third. Turkington came home fourth, but was handed a penalty post race for his part in taking out Sutton, dropping him to tenth., Cammish, Butcher, Plato, Rowbottom, Morgan, and Ash Sutton rounded off the top ten on the road but were all promoted because of Turkington’s penalty.

Pos	Driver	Team	Car	Gap
1	Josh Cook	BTC Racing	Honda Civic	29:33:844
2	Tom Ingram	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	+2.298
3	Jake Hill	MB Motorsport	Ford Focus	+4.227
4	Dan Cammish	BTC Racing	Honda Civic	+9.323
5	Rory Butcher	Toyota Gazoo	Toyota Corolla	+11.758
6	Jason Plato	Power Maxed	Vauxhall Astra	+12.046
7	Dan Rowbottom	Halfords Racing	Honda Civic	+12.607
8	Adam Morgan	Ciceley	BMW 330i M	+19.612
9	Ash Sutton	Laser Tools	Infiniti Q50	+21.259
10	Colin Turkington	Team WSR	BMW 330i M	+21.825*
11	Aiden Moffat	Laser Tools	Infiniti Q50	+22.760
12	Carl Boardley	Laser Tools	Infiniti Q50	+26.391
13	Jack Goff	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	+26.720
14	Tom Chilton	Ciceley	BMW 330i M	+27.138
15	Tom Oliphant	Team WSR	BMW 330i M	+27.448
16	Dan Lloyd	Power Maxed	Vauxhall Astra	+27.791
17	Sam Osborne	Motorbase	Ford Focus	+29.846
18	Aron Taylor-Smith	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	+31.038
19	Ollie Jackson	MB Motorsport	Ford Focus	+33.636
20	Jade Edwards	BTC Racing	Honda Civic	+38.774
21	Jack Butel	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	+41.015
22	Glyn Geddie	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	+41.932
23	Sam Smelt	Toyota Gazoo	Toyota Corolla	+42.886
24	Andy Neate	Motorbase	Ford Focus	+45.545
25	Rick Parfitt	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	+45.928
26	Nicolas Hamilton	Team HARD	Cupra Leon	+2 Laps
Retirements
DNF	Stephen Jelley	Team WSR	BMW 330i M	Transmission
DNF	Gordon Shedden	Halfords Racing	Honda Civic	Crash
DNF	Chris Smiley	Excelr8	Hyundai i30N	Crash

– Colin Turkington handed 17 second penalty for collision with Ash Sutton on lap 1.