Category: Open Wheel Racing

Posted on

British F3 – Carlin’s Novalak on pole for Race One, Hoggard has a double-front row start

Carlin Motorsport’s Clement Novalak will start Saturday’s British F3 race at Snettertton from pole position after a tight qualifying battle between himself and Johnathan Hoggard.

Fortec driver Hoggard was 0.044s behind Novalak’s 1:43.533 after setting the initial pace and will start from pole position for Race Three on Sunday afternoon by virtue of his setting the fastest second-best lap.

Kiern Jewiss will start from third on Saturday afternoon, just a tenth away from pole position, ahead of a rejuvenated Hampus Ericsson and a solid fifth place for Neil Verhagen – the Double R duo in fourth and fifth separated by just 0.081s.

Chris Dittman Racing’s Ayrton Simmons – a podium finisher from Oulton Park four weeks ago – will go from sixth ahead of Oulton polesitter Kaylen Frederick and Manuel Maldonado.

Sweden’s Lucas Petersson qualified ninth ahead of Thai driver Sassakorn Chaimongkol, with early pacesitter Benjamin Pedersen eventually finding himself down in 11th to share row six with Malaysia’s Nadim Azman.

Ulysse De Pauw will be disappointed to find himself 13th, Pavan Ravishankar starts fourteenth while the back row comprises of Kris Wright and Josh Mason.

After five minutes of shadow boxing from the runners and riders as the cars got used to new track conditions, Hoggard punched in the first representative hot lap of the session to take pole away from Pedersen, who was the early pacesetter with Chaimongkol.

Hoggard looked like he wouldn’t be headed until five minutes from the end when Novalak, another who took his time to get used to track conditions, snatched pole away by the smallest of margins.

Elsewhere, Keirn Jewiss rescued a third from an initially middling qualifying session, Hampus Ericsson moved back to form after a slow Oulton Park during which he often found himself towards the back of the field and Kaylen Frederick backed up his speed from the Easter Weekend with a top-ten starting position, where he will be hoping for a quieter and calmer weekend after an action-packed Bank Holiday Monday.

 

IMAGE: JAKOB EBREY

Posted on

Chadwick takes maiden W Series victory at Hockenheim

20-year-old Brit Jamie Chadwick started from pole position in the first ever W Series race this afternoon in Hockenheim.

The 18 female drivers took to the grid in their mechanically identical Formula 3 race cars to begin the 30-minute race.

Chadwick made a good start going into turn one, but she outbraked herself at the hairpin, going wide and giving the lead to Sarah Moore.

Canadian driver Megan Gilkes and Emma Kimilainen from Finland made contact going down the straight into the hairpin, bringing the safety car out and forcing the duo to retire from the race. Fortunately, both were okay.

Credit: W Series

As the safety car period ended, three Brits led the field: Moore, Chadwick and Alice Powell in third.

Sarah Moore went wide at turn one at the restart which gave Chadwick back her lead. Spaniard Marta Garcia made some brave moves and moved up to third position while Moore fell down to P6.

Dutch racer Beitske Visser and Fabienne Wohlwend from Liechtenstein were fighting it out for P4 as Powell went on a charge for the lead, gaining quickly on Jamie Chadwick.

Credit: W Series

The middle of the pack were bunched up for much of the race. Japanese driver Miki Koyama was doing a superb job, progressing up to 9th from her starting position of 17th with ten minutes of the race remaining. She fought hard with Esmee Hawkey, Vicky Piria and Australian Caitlin Wood for the final points in the top ten.

With less than five minutes to go, Chadwick pulled out a comfortable gap in the lead, as Powell began to defend 2nd position from 18-year-old Garcia, the youngest driver on the grid.

Italy’s Vicky Piria dropped to P15 after having a spin and picking up a marker board in sector two before rejoining the pack.

Credit: W Series

After a difficult start, Jamie Chadwick claimed her maiden victory in the W Series, winning the maximum of 25 points and making motorsport history. Fellow Brit Alice Powell and Spain’s Marta Garcia joined her on the podium in 2nd and 3rd.

Visser finished in 4th, followed by Moore, Wohlwend, Koyama, Pepper, Rdest and Wood rounding out the top ten.

It was a thrilling first race in Hockenheim for the W Series, and hopefully, one of many more. Round two of this new and exciting series will take place on the 18th May in Zolder, Belgium.

Posted on

First for Frijns! Dutchman scoops maiden win in rainy Paris

Robin Frijns scored his first ever win in Formula E, becoming the eighth different winner this season and keeping the winning streak intact as he triumphed in adverse weather conditions at the Paris ePrix this weekend. Frijns, the first Dutchman to win a race in the series, started from P3 but took advantage of the failures of both Nissans and fought off an attacking Lotterer and damage to his front wing from contact with Sebastien Buemi to claim his first well-deserved win of the series and subsequently took the championship lead.

Qualifying proved critical due to the significantly narrowed streets that make up the Paris circuit. The first group again struggled to extract performance on track with previous race winner Mitch Evans languishing at the bottom of the timing screens due to a scrappy lap. The second group did not fare much better with hometown hero Jean-Eric Vergne only managing to grasp P5 and Sam Bird scrapping into P8. BMW’s heartache continued as Antonio Felix da Costa could only manage P9. However, it was Envision Racing’s Frijns who managed to snatch the top spot with a super-aggressive lap that left him as the man to beat.

Group three benefited from improving track conditions as Oliver Rowland soon claimed the top spot by one-tenth of a second with teammate Buemi, Pascal Wehrlein and Felipe Massa all slotting themselves into superpole contention. The final group failed to threaten the top six drivers, with Dragon’s Jose Maria Lopez the only promise only to run wide at turn 3, ruining his lap, leaving Rowland, Wehrlein, Buemi, Frijns, D’Ambrosio, and Massa to snatch the pole away.

Credit: LAT/Formula E

Massa took to the track first in superpole, earning himself an impressive time of 1.01.217. D’Ambrosio followed, but struggled and had to settle behind the Brazilian after a scrappy lap left him adrift by a hundredth of a second. Frijns continued his impressive run of form with another aggressive lap, slotting himself into P1 before he was disposed by Buemi on his run.

However, as the time ticked down, it once again became a battle of the rookies as Wehrlein again showed his impressive form, moving into the coveted top spot by a margin of four tenths. Only Rowland could challenge the Mahindra man, but fell short and had to settle for another front row start, leaving Wehrlein to claim his second pole of the season. However, celebrations were short-lived as both Wehrlein and D’Ambrosio were demoted to the back of the grid after failing scrutineering due to tyre pressures, leaving Rowland to inherit the top spot.

Due to rain showers just before the start, the race began under safety car due to the adverse track conditions causing unfair disadvantages. Rowland held the lead as racing commenced and Lotterer began to pile pressure on Maxi Gunther for P5, eager to move up the standings. However, Rowland’s luck soon ran out as the Nissan rookie locked up, sending him flying into the barriers at turn 10 as his teammate Buemi moved into the lead.

With Frijns moving into P2, he began to pressure Buemi for the lead of the race, forcing the two to make contact as Buemi attempted to activate his attack mode. Frijns expressed concern over his front wing which had become dislodged during the incident but was told to continue as Lotterer soon disposed of Gunther for P4, as the German rookie too armed himself with attack mode and immediately began to chase after Massa.

Credit: LAT/Formula E

Like his teammate before him, Buemi locked up two laps later on turn 8 allowing Frijns to force his way past and into the lead of the race as the heavens opened over the circuit. Rain battered the course as Lotterer forced his way past Massa and began hunting down Frijns for the lead. However, he was hindered by a series of full course yellows as the drivers struggled in the difficult conditions including a nasty shunt for BMW’s Alex Sims and Jaguar’s Alex Lynn, who was taken out by Edo Mortara in the dying stages of the race. Massa held P3 for much of the race, only to spin out losing his podium spot with Daniel Abt able to capitalise on the Brazilian’s mistake. As the rain continued, Frijns held firm from Lotterer’s attack and claimed victory at the first wet race in Formula E history.

Posted on

Vicky Piria: W Series presents drivers with “fair and meritocratic” opportunity

25-year-old Italian racer Vicky Piria is one of eighteen women who recently made the final line-up of the historic W-Series, the first ever all-female racing championship.

Testing at the Lausitzring circuit in eastern Germany concluded on 16th April, with the drivers having gotten their first chance to put the Tatuus T-318 Formula 3 car used in the series through its paces.

Fresh from that test, Vicky was kind enough to speak to us about her career and her hopes for the upcoming season.

Her interest in motorsport was sparked as a young girl, introduced to it through her father.

“I became interested in motorsport in a completely casual way,” Vicky said. “I was always a bit of a tomboy and I loved horse-riding. My dad one day bought a go-kart for my brother – I was very curious and competitive so decided to give it a try… Then it all started.”

Back in 2012, she became the first female driver to compete in GP3 when she raced for the Trident team.

“I believe there are a lot more female drivers today, which is a good thing. When I was racing at the time it was all new so people found it difficult at times to see me as a normal driver. But, with more female examples now, it will become more ‘normal’.”

Fast-forward to 2019 and, as mentioned, Vicky will be competing in W Series. She believes that her participation in the series has re-opened doors that she thought closed to her a while ago.

Credit: Colin McMaster/LAT Images/W Series

“Before the W Series opportunity came along, I was not expecting at all to get back into a single-seater – I was simply hopping in some GT rides and continuing my career in those.

“W Series gave me the opportunity to continue what I started at a younger age: single-seater racing. At the moment I am focusing on the now. I want to do my absolute best this season and see day-by-day what the future will bring.”

Selection for the championship comprised of two sections narrowing the pool of drivers down first from 60 to 28, and then from 28 to the final 18.

“They were both difficult, tiring and the pressure was definitely on,” Vicky said, “but it was also a good opportunity to learn new things. In Melk we were driving often on snow and ice, not quite typical for me. Making it through was my main goal – I knew I could do it and it was very important for me.”

The final 18 drivers recently got their first chance to test the series’ Formula 3-spec car, and Vicky was upbeat about how it felt to drive.

“The car is very cool, as is any single-seater. It is very different to the F3 car I drove back in 2013. It is heavier, bigger, and it requires a different driving style just like its Hankook tyres.

“I am still adapting, but after the first test in Lausitzring we definitely made a step ahead. I must say, it looks amazing!”

Credit: Colin McMaster/LAT Images/W Series

Vicky set herself the target of top-five finishes, but admitted that concrete predictions are somewhat difficult to pin down at the moment.

“There will be a lot of attention on this championship and there are only six races, so it will be a very tough competition – all of us will absolutely go with it. It is very difficult to make expectations as it is all a totally new thing.”

When asked whether it was fair to say there was a lot of camaraderie between the drivers, Vicky said, “It is true – I think that as we are all put constantly in the same identical situation and in a fair and meritocratic system, we all feel in the same boat.

“There is a lot of mutual support and we push each other a lot. But, still, we need to do the first race – maybe things will change?

Finally, Vicky had some advice to give to other women looking for a career in motorsport.

“The series is getting people talking, a lot. This gives much more awareness about female drivers and is a big opportunity for the youngest to look up to.

“The advice I want to give is to work hard but to absolutely not forget to enjoy it along the way – happy drivers are faster drivers. Regarding being a female: it is normal – act like it is normal.”

Posted on

British F3 – Hoggard: I took my chances

Johnathan Hoggard says his Race Three victory was all about taking his chances after profiting from other’s mistakes at Oulton Park.

The Fortec driver took advantage of Ayrton Simmons and Clement Novolak’s troubles at Hislop’s to move from third to first in an exciting final race in Cheshire.

Hoggard says he saw it coming.

“Ayrton got a poor exit out the chicane and Clement got alongside him on the outside. I just saw what was going to happen as you can’t get two cars through there so it was a case of just letting them sort themselves out and getting around the outside of the pair of them.

“I wasn’t expecting it to happen as it did as they’re both experienced drivers so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but when you see the two of them make a mistake like that, you have to be opportunistic.”

Having started second, the British F4 graduate slipped behind Novolak on the opening lap and admits he needs to improve his starts.

“I made a mistake at the start with my clutch control, we need to come back to Snetterton stronger with that so we’re going to do lots of preparation for that. It was a case of just making no mistakes, putting people under pressure and taking opportunities that came my way, and I managed to do that.”

Hoggard is targeting more consistency this season after a run of poor form hampered his F4 championship hopes.

“I need to be more consistent with results this year, last year it was my mid season that let me down in terms of the Championship. It’s just a case of getting those good results as we have done this weekend and seeing where we are at the end of this season.”

Posted on

British F3 – Simmons: We should be aiming high

Ayrton Simmons believes that he and his Chris Dittman Racing Team can challenge for top honours at the 2019 British F3 Championship this season.

Simmons took two podiums and a top in Race Two away from a strong weekend at Oulton Park, and was aiming higher for the rest of the season.

“We should be challenging for the top step, we had the speed in pre-season testing so I don’t see why we shouldn’t be pushing for that podium for the rest of the year and challenging for the title.

“The races last season helped me, we didn’t much testing last year,just the races but it does help to have a little bit of experience from last year to help us prepare as much as we can for this year.”

An incident midway through Race Three saw Simmons drop from the lead down to second, with the stewards demoting him to third after it was ruled that he unfairly, if unintentionally, blocked Clement Novolak after locking his brakes at Hislop’s.

Simmons held his hands up after the race and admitted an error on his part.

“I was trying to push too hard as I could tell the guys were closing in little by little each lap and I just made a small error at that first chicane. I was side by side with Novolak, we were both trying to push for the lead, we ended up going off and that’s how Hoggard passed us both.

“On the same lap I had another go around the outside at the last corner but after that it’s really hard to follow here so I didn’t have another chance.”

 

Posted on

British F3 – Hoggard seals Race Three victory

Johnathan Hoggard made it three different winners from three races at the opening weekend of the British F3 series at Oulton Park.

The Fortec driver recovered from slipping to third on the opening lap to capitalise on others mistakes and keep his head to take the spoils from Ayrton Simmons and a frustrated Clement Novolak.

Simmons had led well from the start for the first eight laps before pressure from Novolak told for the Chris Dittman Racing driver.

Simmons went off at Hislop’s before rejoining the circuit in front of Novolak’s Carlin entry, with the latter being forced to take to the grass and allow Hoggard past the pair of them with five laps remaining.

Kiern Jewiss had the best seat in the house of the top three’s squabbles but the reigning British F4 champion couldn’t land a blow on the top three despite on occasion looking the fastest of the top four contenders.

Neil Verhagen completed a solid day’s racing on Monday with fifth position ahead of Belgian drive Ulysse De Pauw.

A thrilling battle between Manuel Maldonado and Sassakorn Chaimongkol for seventh went the way of the latter, the Thai driver on more than one occasion needing to work hard to get the better of the Venezuelan cousin of former F1 driver Pastor.

Kaylen Frederick had another eventful race to drop to 14th from fourth on the grid at the first corner after a coming together with Douglas driver Jewiss. The American nursed a wounded car to 12th after suspected floor damage to complete an action-packed debut weekend for the 16-year-old Floridian.

Posted on

British F3 – Frederick takes Race Two victory

Kaylen Frederick was the victor in British F3’s second race of the weekend to make amends for a difficult first race on Saturday.

The Carlin driver had started pole for Race One, but a series of unfortunate events saw the American finish 13th.

A start not without incident saw Hampus Ericsson and Kris Wright come to blows at Shell Oils hairpin, the American retiring on the spot as he hit the wall, while the Swede made it back to the pitlane, with Ayrton Simmons retiring late on with technical issues.

Despite those incident, the Safety Car was not deployed and the American duo of Frederick and Verhagen were able to pull away from Maldonado, who had to work hard to keep Jewiss at bay early in the race.

There were no such issues in Race Two as the 16-year-old simply drove away from compatriot Neil Verhagen and the rest of the field, with Kiern Jewiss and Manuel Maldonado in a race-long scrap for third that eventually went the way of the Venezuelan.

Sassakorn Chaimongkol was next on the road but a 10s penalty for a jump start dropped the Thai driver to 13th, with Josh Mason holding almost the rest of the entire field up to take fifth, with Race One winner Clement Novolak, Ulysse De Pauw, Johnathan Hoggard and Nazim Azman.

Ben Pedersen, Lucas Petersson and Pavan Ravishankar rounded off the finishers ahead of Chaimongkol.

 

Posted on

British F3 – Novolak takes Race One victory as Frederick hits strife

Carlin Motorsport’s Clement Novolak converted a front row start into British F3 victory as he led almost from pillar to post on Saturday.

Novolak led home Ayrton Simmons, Johnathan Hoggard, Ulysse De Pauw and Sassakorn Chaimongkol in an incident-filled race that saw three retirements.
Hampus Ericsson was sixth ahead of Nazim Azman, Manuel Maldonado and Jewiss, with Josh Mason ahead of Kris Wright, Neil Verhagen and Frederick.

Kiern Jewiss, graduating from British F4, was adjudged to have caused the bulk of those DNFs by making contact with Maldonado force the Venezuelan into the pits and Lucas Petersson, Benjamin Pedersen and Pavan Ravishankar out.

Jewiss, recovering from a slow start, received a 10s penalty to drop from sixth to ninth in the overall classification.

Novolak bettered teammate Kaylen Frederick off the line as Simmons also bettered the American at the early stages of the race.

A lengthy Safety Car period followed, before the drivers were again let loose with eight minutes to go with various bits of British F3 car now collected.

Novolak calmly pulled away a small gap over Simmons and Hoggard, himself having recovered from a less than ideal start.

Frederick, the man to beat after qualifying, had an eventful but ultimately fruitless race as he dropped back before a puncture following contact with compatriot Verhagen effectively ended his race, Verhagen himself pitting with a broken front wing.

Race Two gets underway at 10am on Bank Holiday Monday, with no racing on Easter Sunday.

 

©2014-2024 ThePitCrewOnline