2002 FIA Sportscar Championship Schedule
2001 FIA Sportscar Championship Race Index
SRWC News Archive 2/25/00-9/14/01
July 30,2002 Dijon Replaces Rockingham
The 5th round of the FIA Sportscar Championship will take place at Dijon Prenois in France next month. It replaces the Rockingham event which was recently cancelled due to noise restrictions.
The Championship battle for both SR1 and SR2 classes will reconvene in the heart of Burgundy and Championship chairman John Mangoletsi believes it is the ideal venue to start the second half of the season.
"We are pleased to confirm that the next round of the FIA Sportscar Championship will take place at the Dijon Prenois circuit on the 16/17/18 August 2002," he said. "It has been a little difficult organising the officials and local prefecture requirements during this holiday period with such short notice but this has now been successfully achieved.We are very much looking forward to what will be a French double header after our last round at Magny Cours."
Dijon has a great sportscar heritage after running a 1000km event during the 1970's, the first of which was won by current FIA Sportscar entrant Henri Pescarolo in a Matra MS670 back in 1973. The circuit also hosted the French Grand Prix from 1974 -84 and has been substantially upgraded in recent years in effort to attract more topline International events.
July 15,2002 Careca Dies From Injuries
Former Simpson Engineeering and Roy Baker Racing driver 'Frederico Careca' was killed yesterday in a EuroBoss race at Most. He was 58 years old.
The Austrian who raced under various pseudonyms including 'Pierre Chauvet' was born Fritz Glaz in 1944 and started competing in the late 1960's before becoming a regular Formula 2 and Interserie racer in the 1980's.
He competed in 7 SRWC/FIA races and scored a best result of 3rd in SR2 with Simon Wiseman at Kyalami in 2000.
A real enthusaist of powerful single seaters as well as sportscars 'Fredy' as he was affectionately known by his former entrant Roy Baker had been competing in a Robin Hooker run Arrows Ford when it left the track and hit a barrier.He was swiftly taken to Most hospital where he remained in a coma. He died at 5:07pm local time.
July 10,2002 Conrero Returns To Championship
Former FIA Sportscar Championship entrant Conrero Corse will return to the Championship at the next event with their Ford V8 powered Riley & Scott.
The Torino based team that is now under the ownership of Enrico Dezzani will run Angelo Lancelotti and Gabriele Lancieri for the remainder of the season.The team last competed at Monza last April but were unable to start that event after engine problems.
Lancelotti has already raced in 2002 with Renauer Motorsport in the SR2 Tampolli Alfa but will renew his SR1 career in the six litre American built car that features a modified 'longtail' rear end.Gabriele Lancieri is an experienced Formula 3000 racer having competed last season in the International Championship with fellow FIA Sportscar entrant Durango.
July 8,2002 Piper Design To Conduct FIA Aero Stability Study
London based design engineering company, Piper International
Design Group, was recently contracted by the FIA Foundation to undertake a
comprehensive study of the aerodynamic stability of flat bottom Sportscars,
following a number of track incidents involving Sportscars leaving the
ground and in some instances, overturning.
The research study concentrates on the overturning forces that the cars are
subjected to, in a spin or high yaw and roll angle situation. Piper Design
have been investigating the aerodynamic forces to enable to the FIA
Foundation, in conjunction with the FIA, to consider, from a technically
informed position, potential design changes which would improve the
stability of Sportscars. This could include the introduction of additional
aerodynamic devices within the Technical Regulations.
Piper Design has produced a generic 40% Open Prototype Sportscar wind tunnel
model for the project, using its in-house model making facilities. A team of
specialist design engineers is carrying out a wind tunnel test programme at
the conveniently located London wind tunnel facilities used by Piper Design.
John Piper, Managing Director, Piper Design, says of the project, “We are
proud to have been selected by the FIA Foundation to carry out this
important piece of research. The project has given us an opportunity to use
the key skills of our company within one of the most important areas –
safety - and we’ve been using much of the company’s experience, expertise
and facilities to carry out the work. Our preliminary report has been
enthusiastically received by the current Sportscar teams, the FIA Foundation
and the FIA, we are now undertaking further work as a result of the initial
findings.
“We have been tasked to complete the next session of wind tunnel testing
against the clock, so that it can be part of the decision making process on
the new regulations for 2004, which requires World Council approval in
August for publication in early September,” adds Piper. “We know that we
are able to respond to this challenge and look forward to delivering the
results in due course. Piper Design is flattered to have such overwhelming
support from the whole Sportscar pit lane as well as the FIA for the work
that we are doing.”
July 7,2002 2002 Calenadar Changes
Negotiations for the replacement of the races cancelled at Rockingham, on account of noise, and Imola are in progress.
An announcement will be made next week, when these negotiations are complete.
Unfortunately this has occurred due to factors beyond our control and we sympathise with the problems that have placed the circuits in this situation.
We appreciate the efforts of David Grace and his team, and wish them luck with their continuing endeavours to bring top level motorsport to Rockingham.
Click here to read the Press Release from Rockingham
We regret the disappointment that this announcement brings. It is unlikely that an available date can be found in the UK this year, as there are only two Grade 2 circuits. If this is the case we will be making a special offer to UK fans for the remaining continental races this year. A strong, exciting UK event is scheduled in 2003.
On a positive note, there are still many teams preparing cars for the Championship and there is now more time for their preparation to be completed, thus promising increased grids at the last four races.
June 28,2002 Bjork & Oberto Back Together
2001 SR2 Champions Thed Bjork and Larry Oberto will be re-united with their Lola B2K/40 Nissan this weekend as they team up with regular driver Niklas Loven.
In an eleventh hour move, the trio will attempt to break the Lucchini stranglehold at the front and re-ignite both Loven's and SRTS's hopes of retaining the Championship.
Thed Bjork will be fresh from finishing 15th at the Le Mans 24 Hours two weeks ago while Oberto has raced just occasionaly in the States this season.
June 28,2002 Darren Manning At JCI
John Christie's JCI Developments have confirmed Darren Manning as Michael Mallock's partner this weekend at Magny-Cours, for the debut of the team's Tampolli Opel.
The former Macau winner, BAR F1 test driver and now ASCAR racer should be formidable in SR2, although the team are treating this outing as something of a "test session". Mallock and Manning will still be out to make a good impression.
Manning was a front runner in International F3000 in the past three seasons driving for the Arden International team.
June 25,2002 Bruni In Durango
Highly rated F3 and F3000 racer Gianmaria Bruni will make his sportscar debut at this weekends FIA Sportscar Championship race at Magny Cours. The 21 year old Roman will race for Durango after completing a successful test last week.
Gianmaria or 'Gimmi' as he is affectionately known will partner Alessandro Battaglin in the Judd powered car after racing for the first part of this season for Coloni Motorsport in European F3000.
Bruni won a round of the British F3 Championship last year at Donington Park beating current Jordan F1 driver Takuma Sato and now he looks set to make his mark on the FIA Sportscar Championship, joining a talented list of young drivers including Sebastien Bourdais, Boris Dereichebourg and Val Hillebrand.
June 24,2002 Minassian In Berridge Lola
Nicolas Minassian will drive in the Bob Berridge Racing run Lola B98/10 Judd at Magny Cours next weekend, partnering Berridge himself in the car that finished a highly creditable 3rd at the season opener in Barcelona back in April.
The 29 year old Frenchman who finished 6th at Le Mans last week will team up with Bob in the same car that was used to film the Luc Besson directed film about the French comic strip hero Michel Vaillante. Minassian will get to grips with the car for the first time in Free Practice next Saturday."Nicolas will be a great team mate to Bob and brings a lot of knowledge about the circuit," confirmed BBR's team manager Elliot Hickey."The car has been stripped and a new gearbox fitted after Le Mans so we should be on for another good race in France," he added.
Minassian has already driven in the FIA Sportscar Championship this season winning theb Estoril race with Olivier Beretta in the ORECA Dallara Judd.Minassian, who is based in the UK, is dovetailing his sportscar committments this season with a full year of the burgeoning ASCAR series that Bob Berridge set up last season.
June 23,2002 Magny Cours Preview
The FIA Sportscar Championship teams travel to central France for Round 4 at Magny Cours next weekend and with three winners from the first three events and the Championship race wide open in both the SR1 and SR2 classes, another action packed race is in prospect at the French Grand Prix venue.
On home ground and a year on from their maiden sportscar win, Pescarolo Sport will be looking to vault ahead of Racing For Holland and Courage Competition in the points tables. After missing the last round at Brno in May, Henri Pescarolo's team finished 10th at Le Mans last weekend and this should give them the momentum to revisit the glory of twelve months ago when Jean Christophe Boullion and current IRL front runner Laurent Redon triumphed.
The La Sarthe based team come to Magny Cours with one of the new Andre De Cortnaze influenced Courage C60's and Jean Christophe Boullion - a Magny Cours expert (he has won 6 races here so far in his career) believes that the nature of the Nevers track will suit the Peugeot V6 turbo powered C60 more than it did at Le Mans. "I think we went for too much downforce at Le Mans," said JCB. "We will find a compromise for Magny Cours but of course it is much more of a high downforce track than Le Mans is, so I think we can possibly repeat the celebrations of last year and get back in to the Championship hunt."
Sebastien Bourdais, who currently leads the FIA International Formula 3000 Championship after clinching his third race win of the season at the Nurburgring last weekend, will partner Boullion once again after the pair opened this season with a fine win at Barcelona. Sebastien, who is widely tipped to be a Formula One driver next year, will be going all out for a win in the Championship that he values as a vital part of his nurturing for Grand Prix stardom. "Sportscars have given me a good training in racecraft over the last few years," said the bespectacled racer. "Formula One is very much my aim for next year but first of all I have to win the F3000 Championship, but doing the sportscar races keeps my racecraft very sharp."
Also hoping to lift French spirits after a disastrous World Cup campaign in the Far East for the national football team will be Courage Competition in their C60JX. Also based in the Technoparc at Le Mans, Yves Courage's squad currently lie second in the championship, just four points behind Jan Lammers' Racing For Holland Dome Judd. Didier Cottaz and Boris Dereichebourg complete the list of star French drivers at this years event and Boris in particular is looking for that elusive first victory for Yves squad this season. "We had a good fightback after clutch problems at Le Mans and finished 15th which in the circumstances was a good result," said the former team mate to Juan Pablo Montoya in Formula 3000. "Both Didier and I have a good feeling for this race and we really want a win to take the Championship lead."
Jan Lammers and his Dutch team arrive at Magny Cours on the crest of a wave after scoring a superb 8th place finish at Le Mans and starring in the qualifying sessions where Jan was the only driver to push the Joest Audi's. The 45-year-old Dutchman has consistently proved that he is still one of the world's best sportscar drivers and at the moment he appears to have hit a particularly rich vein of form. "We had a great result at Le Mans and it was so satisfying for me to manage the team as well as race for it," said a still ebullient Jan just days after finishing the gruelling event. "It was a new experience and a new achievement for the team and also Dome who were both absolutely terrific throughout the whole week."
As ever, Val Hillebrand will partner Jan next weekend in the Dome S101 that will keep the chequered livery which it has become so synonymous with over the last two years.
Chasing the title protagonists will be the usual variety of chassis, including a pair of Lola B98/10's for Bob Berridge Racing and Eventus Motorsport. BBR return to the Championship for the first time since the opening race of the year at Barcelona where they scored an excellent 3rd place with Team Principal Bob Berridge sharing the driving duties with Ian McKellar Jnr. This time however Bob will be partnered by Nicolas Minassian who this season is combining sportscar racing with the new ASCAR series that Berridge has built up in the UK. The Berridge Lola was also at Le Mans in the starring role of Luc Besson's new movie about the exploits of French comic strip hero Michael Vaillante. As a result the normally black B98 will be in French racing bleue this weekend.
Eventus Motorsport's Lola B98/10 made its 2002 race debut in the last event at Brno in the Czech Republic and finished a creditable 5th in SR1. Team boss and driver Ralph Moog is confident that some revisions to the installation of the monstrous 6-litre Ford engine will thrust himself and an as yet un-named team mate in to the running for a podium finish at Magny Cours.
The Italian attack will once again come from Championship regulars R&M and Durango with their own exclusive chassis'. R&M have scored two solid finishes in the last two races but have admitted themselves of the need to test and discover more about the unique Judd powered car. The team will duly do this on the way to the race, when they stop off at Dijon for a full days testing on Tuesday to evaluate some aerodynamic revisions to the rear of the car. Team Manager Luca Berselli believes the continuous progress the team is making could bear fruit in France. "We have changed some things at the rear of the car once more to try and find some more mechanical grip and we believe that these modifications will see a big improvement," he said.
Durango have so far this season threatened a major result in the Championship and the teams regular driver Alessandro Battaglin has progressed continually in what is his first ever season of circuit racing after being a successful rally driver for over a decade. The Durango GMS Judd arrives at Magny Cours after undertaking an intensive test at the little known Slovenian circuit of Mobygrog where ex British F3 race winner and current F3000 star Gianmaria Bruni tried out the car. Most of the team's revisions centred on the clutch and gearing system, which has caused them a few reliability worries since the start of the season. "Conditions were ideal for the test and we got a lot of useful work done," said the teams sporting director Fabio Braida."We did an evaluation test between Avon and Goodyear tyres as well as some useful set up work. Gianmaria Bruni enjoyed his first drive in sportscars and shared the workload with our regular driver Alessandro Battaglin and test driver Fulvio Cavicchi."
Simpson Engineering's Riley & Scott will be back after missing two races due to engine problems. The rumbling 5.1 litre Chevrolet powered ex R&M car will be crewed by team founder Robin Smith and sportscar stalwart Richard Jones.
The 3-litre SR2 category is just as tight as their bigger brothers in the SR1 class with several teams looking to topple the brace of Lucchini's that are currently the class of the field. After three wins from the first three rounds, Giorgio Lucchini who runs the constructor and team is a very happy man indeed as his navy blue cars have so far out paced last years Championship winning Lola B2K/40 run by the SportsRacing Team Sweden squad. Gianni Collini and Fabio Mancini lead the drivers points and enjoy a ten point cushion over team mates Piergiuseppe Peroni and Mirko Savoldi who took a maximum score in the first two rounds at Barcelona and Estoril but failed to finish at Brno when a throttle problem forced them to retire. The Alfa Romeo powered Lucchini's nimbleness should ensure that both cars revel on the ultra smooth surface of the Magny Cours track.
Mattias Andersson and Niklas Loven both lie behind the Lucchini drivers in the points table and desperately need a win in France if they are to stay in contention with their Nissan powered Lola B2K/40. "It is a vital race for the whole team," said Loven. "The Lucchini's surprised us with their pace in the first three races but now we know what they are capable of and we have to counter them somehow. Mattias knows Magny Cours quite well and I am sure that he will tell me a few secrets while I am learning it."
Team Jota have been the model of consistency four races in to their debut year in International Sportscar racing. Team founders and drivers Sam Hignett and John Stack have finished in 4th place in each of the first three races and will be pushing very hard to make their first podium appearance in France. The striking orange liveired car opted to switch to Goodyear tyres for the last round at Brno and they seek to continue their impressive climb up the learning curve on a track that both drivers know from previous appearances in the Renault Clio Eurocup last season.
Another British outfit that will be a constant threat to the Lucchini versus Lola battle will be Team Sovereign and their Rapier 6 Nissan, that in the hands of Ian Flux took pole position in the opening round at Barcelona. Ian's driving partner and team boss Mike Millard hopes to debut new bodywork that the team have been developing since the beginning of the year and the Birmingham based outfit look set to enhance their reputations as serious dark horses in the 3-litre battle.
French hopes in SR2 rest with PiR Competition with their selection of Pilbeam and Debora chassis. Team boss/driver Pierre Bruneau hopes that local Sodemo Peugeot power will thrust them towards the front this weekend. "We have tested at Magny Cours about six weeks ago with the Pilbeam and got some good results," said the enthusiastic Bruneau. "We also took the Debora to Dijon last week and made a lot of improvements, so we are confident of some good points this weekend."
British racer Paul Daniels who has shown well so far this season will team up in the Debora with Frenchman Philippe Hottinguer (who drove with the team at Barcelona) and Italian Ludovico Manfredi (who drove for PiR at the corresponding event last season), while Marc Rostan takes up his usual position in the Pilbeam with the boss - Pierre Bruneau.
More home support will come the way of Didier Bonnet's return to the Championship with his faithful Debora BMW combination. Besancon based Automobiles Debora have entered with the paraplegic French racer Gilles Duqueine who will use specially adapted hand controls to race the car. He will share with experienced sportscar drivers Michel Maisonneuve and Francois Jabukowski.
New and old entrants to the Championship could also spring a surprise in central France at the weekend. The SCI team who have been regulars in the championship since 1998 scored their best ever result at Brno with a terrific second place. Raniere Randaccio and Leonardo Maddalena have forged an efficient partnership and more points are up for grabs for them at Magny Cours.
New teams coming in to the Championship include GP Racing and JCI Developments, both of whom could come in to the Championship with a bang this weekend. GP Racing currently lead the European Formula 3000 Championship with Alessandro Piccolo who will be aiming to follow in the footsteps of last years champion - Felipe Massa. For their first foray in to International sportscars GP will run former Audisio Benvenuto regular Massimo Saccomanno and his father Ernesto in a Lucchini Alfa.
Northamptonshire based JCI Developments, run by former Nissan engineer John Christie enter a Tampolli with a GM Opel engine for their first ever event. The team have tested at Silverstone, Donington and Snetterton over the Spring and have recruited teenager Michael Mallock who impressed in his debut International sportscar season with Team Swara last season.
Qualifying for the race takes place at 15.30 cet on Saturday 29th June with the race starting at 13.00cet on Sunday 30th June. You can follow the event with live text commentary on www.sportscarchampionship.com
June 21,2002 Durango Test F3000 Ace
Durango Corse tested F3000 front runner and former British F3 race winner Gianmaria Bruni last week in their Judd powered GMS chassis. The team chose the little used Mobygrog circuit in Slovenia for the two day test to evaluate modifications to the car.
Most of the teams revisions centered around the clutch and gearing system which has caused them a few reliabity worries since the start of the season."Conditions were ideal for the test and we got a lot of useful work done," said the teams sporting director Fabio Braida."We did an evaluation test between Avon and Goodyear tyres as well as some useful set up work. Gianmaria enjoyed his first drive in sportscars and shared the workload with our regular driver Alessandro Battaglin and test driver Fulvio Cavicchi."
The team are understood to be considering either Bruni or Cavicchi as partners for Battaglin at Magny Cours next weekend although Jean Phillipe Belloc, who raced with the team at Brno is also in the frame.
June 21,2002 Paralysed Racer For Debora
Paraplegic French racer Gilles Duqueine has signed to contest next weekends 4th round of the FIA Sportscar Championship with Automobiles Debora. The 44 year old racer will share the car with fellow Frenchman Michel Maisonneuve and Francois Jakubowski.
Gilles started his career in the early 1980's and was the winner of the prestigous Volant Marlboro scholarship in 1981.He soon graduated to the French F3 Championship and scored several top finishes. Sadly though Gilles single seater career was cruelly cut short when a road accident on returing from a French F3 round in 1985 left him paralysed from the waist down.
But with new systems being invented and developed, Gilles career was soon back on track and he returned to racing in 1997 in the French Supertourisme Championship in a BMW 320 where he immediately proved he had lost none of his old pace with a succession of 2nd places at Dijon, Le Mans and Nogaro.
Continuing in the very competetive French Championship in 1999 and 2000, Gilles raced with an Audi Quattro and once more proved to be a podium regular.In May of this year he got his first taste of Sportscars in the Didier Bonnet run Debora at the Magny Cours 4 Hour race and finished a fighting 2nd.
Gilles driving control system has been developed by Debora Automobiles to allow the brakes,clutch and throttle to be operated by hand and has been approved by the FIA.The system still enables his team mates to drive as per normal.
June 19,2002 GP Racing Join Series In Lucchini
European Formula 3000 Championship leaders GP Racing are the latest team to join the FIA Sportscar Championship and will make their race debut at next weekends 4th round of the championship at Magny Cours.
The Orgiano based team will run former Audisio & Benvenuto driver Massimo Saccomanno and his father Ernesto in the Alfa Romeo powered SR2 Lucchini.Massimo Saccomanno along with his ex team mate Roberto Tonetti scored a win at the Nurburgring in 2000 and GP Racing's spokesman - Andrea Osellame believes that the father/son team can challenge right at the front of the competetive 3-litre field. "Massimo and Ernesto are experienced sportscar racers and the Lucchini chassis has proved it is the best so far in 2002. It is good for GP racing to be in the Championship and get experience of this type of racing to run alongside our F3000 programme."
GP Racing are currently running Alessandro Piccolo and Martin basso in the European F3000 Championship with Piccolo leading the Championship after winning the last round at Enna Pergusa. Last year the Championship was won by current Sauber F1 driver Felipe Massa.
June 1,2002 Debora Returns
One of the original entrants in the very first season of what was then the ISRS in 1997 - Automobiles Debora will return to the championship for the first time since 2000 at their home race of Magny Cours next month. The team also plan to enter a car in at least three other races this season.
The Didier Bonnet owned team and constructor will race their car in SR2 spec after a year as a LMP675 car in 2001 when they won their class in the now defunct European Le Mans Series.In 2000 the team scored a third placed finish at Donington Park with Jean Francois Yvon and ex AGS F1 driver Pascal Fabre.
Bonnet's outfit won the inaugural SR2 Championship too in 1998 when Jean Claude De Castelli took trhe laurels after class wins at Misano,Donington and Nurburgring.
The team have not yet given details of drivers to compete in the ultra competetive SR2 division this year but one of their biggest assets in recent years has been former French F3 race winner and F3000 charger David Dussau.
June 1,2002 Sportscar Aero Conference
At a meeting held on 4 May at the Le Mans test weekend, the core group of constructors and manufacturers who have their own windtunnels, who have been meeting with FIA and ACO officials to formulate the new 2004 regulations, were presented with the first findings of the aerodynamic test programme. The new FIA Foundation, constructors and International Racing Series Ltd. have funded a windtunnel programme to establish the best solutions to improve or eliminate aerodynamic instability.
Following the Press Release issued by the FIA regarding some of the aerodynamic characteristics of sportscars/sports prototypes, both open and closed, IRS, the promoters of the FIA Sportscar Championship would like to make the following observations.
Any race car which relies on wings and aerodynamic devices which impart substantial downforce will have that downforce significantly reduced, or indeed changed to lift, as a car spins and perhaps goes backwards. In the case of sportscars/prototypes with full width flat floors, usually only when coupled with an additional condition (tyre deflation, suspension failure, etc.,) they can become airborne.
The basic design of current sportscar/prototypes dates back 9 years. Continuous development, which has primarily been aimed at increasing front and rear downforce, has increased the pitch sensitivity in the last few years. The incidence of 2 or 3 cars becoming airborne has really only been evident recently. This is NOT the same characteristic that caused Mercedes and others to take off when moving forward normally. That was caused by the nose lifting.
The FIA and the ACO (organisers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans) have been working together with the sportscar constructors to create new and identical regulations for 2004.
There is no definite yardstick for safety. It is an ongoing development, which in the light of 9 years experience, requires new research and solutions for the 2004 sportscar regulations.
The FIA and its President, Max Mosley, have relentlessly pursued the highest possible safety standards for motorsport. This new, co-operative sportscar safety project, backed by the FIA Foundation, reflects the proactive attitude and complete transparency supported by the governing body, promoters and constructors.
Pending the all-new cars for 2004, existing teams will be advised of aerodynamic modifications, determined in the windtunnel, which can realistically be applied to existing cars. It is also recommended that roll over structures are modified to meet 2003 test levels. A practical evaluation of circuit safety will also be made to minimise any risk.
IRS, the promoters of the FIA Sportscar Championship, have always put safety first. The circuits are current Grand Prix or Grand prix standard:; SR1 and SR2 have separate qualifying and the grid is split into SR1 and SR2; medical facilities and safety standards are to F1 levels. In 5 years of IRS promoted races no indication of adverse aerodynamic tendencies has been observed.
This unique co-operative aerodynamic project will raise the safety, professionalism and credibility of sportscars. It will also offer invaluable technical data to sportscar constructors to ensure their cars can be developed to uniform safety standards, and cost effectively, thus maintaining the strength of Sportscar racing in the future.
May 21,2002 JCI To Debut At Magny Cours
Team JCI completed a successful test at Snetterton on Friday, in preparation
for their FIA Sports Car Championship debut at Magny Cours next month.
The Opel powered Tampolli SR2 circulated all day with no problems and Michael Mallock once again undertook testing duties
"The car felt great," commented the BRDC Rising Star,"considering it was the cars first full test I was expecting a few small problems but it just
rolled out of the box and did exactly what I wanted it to do. The all new Swindon built engine felt very strong and along with the Magneti Marelli Electronics package, helped to give me great confidence in the car."
The car completed around 100 laps of the Norfolk circuit, evaluating the all new package, leaving the team happy with the results. "Despite this only being an evaluation run, I was easily able to lap at a competitive pace without having to push the car anywhere near its limits." Michael said, "The Dunlop rubber we were running on still felt strong despite being well used even before the test, overall I think Team JCI have a very strong package here."
The team, headed up by John Christie, will continue their test programme over the next six weeks before the French round of the FIA Sportscar
Championship, with yet to be decided drivers.
May 15,2002 Former Champ Sospiri Returns
Following Vincenzo Sospiri's example of returning to the FIA Sportscar Championship, another ex Champion comes back to the series this weekend.
1999 SR2 Champion Angelo Lancelotti will race one of the cars that he won the title with as he shares the Renauer Tampolli Alfa with Austrian Gottfried Cepin and local driver Petr Valek. Angelo returns to SR2 after several appearances in SR1, most notably with Gianluca Giraudi's Ferrari 333SP in 2000 and last year with Conrero's Riley & Scott.
Lancelotti won his championship after coming straight from Formula Renault in 1998 and partnered both Giovanna Amati and Paolo Macarri in the 'works' Tampolli squad. He took wins at Monza,Donington and Nurburgring and emeeged as a true force in the 3-litre category.
May 3,2002 Latest News
Promec Engineering completed two days of running at Vallelunga last week, putting more miles on their BMW engine in preparation for making their FIA Sportscar debut. A small problem with the engine was found on the second day of the test and could postpone their debut until the 4th round of the championship at Magny Cours in June when the team also plan to debut their Sodemo Peugeot engine.
Ralph Moog's Eventus Motorsport concluded a successful test at Dijon last week before moving on to Spa for a two day test next Monday and Tuesday.The Lola B98/10 had a trouble free outing after going through many changes to the installation the Ford V8 engine that will power the Huntingdon built chassis. Moog was upbeat after the French test."It was encouraging and we have our sights firmly set on the race in the Czech Republic for our first event."
The Luxembourg based team is in negotiations with a top German driver for the seat alongside Dr Moog.The team will also test highly rated British racer Mark Cole at Spa on Tuesday. Cole,has previously been a front runner in the Lotus Elise series and recently won the UK Porsche Cup race at Oulton park which was his first time in the car.The Briton is looking to put together a three race deal with Eventus for later in the season.
JCI Developments put the first miles on their Tampolli Opel at Donington Park yesterday. Michael Mallock shook down the SR2 car in the afternoon without any problems. "It was a successful first run for us even though it was just a systems check," said Team Principal John Christie."We will have a more intensive test at Silverstone next Tuesday where Michael will once again be in the car."
Renauer Motorsport will be back on the starting grid at Brno in two weeks time with their distinctive bright yellow Tampolli Alfa. Team boss Sepp Renauer will once again field Austrian Hanness Gsell and a possible Czech driver in the competitive SR2 field. The team is also aiming to have another Tampolli entered for selected rounds later in the championship.
Many of the FIA Sportscar Championship entries head to Le Mans this weekend for the official test day. Pescarolo Sport,Team ORECA, Courage Competition and Racing For Holland will all be undertaking vital mileage in preparation for the big race on 15/16 June. Good luck to you all.
New team Villorba Corse are set to make it three Tampolli chassis on the Brno grid after successful tests at Vallelunga and Misano recently. The Raimondo Amadio led team will run well known FIA SR2 contenders Denny Zardo and Mauro Prospero this season. The pair were regulars in the Championship last season when they scored a seasons best of 2nd place at the Monza 1000kms.
April 23,2002 Rowan Reynard McLaren's
Ray Rowan's pair of Reynard 01Q Nicholson McLaren's are set to be at the third round of the championship at Brno next month although the Midlander is in a race against time to get his new project up and running.
Last years SR2 runner-up is moving up a class to 675 spec sportscars this year and the late nature of his deal with American racing legend Dick Barbour means his team in Birmingham are working round the clock to get the cars ready.
"We have the cars now in te workshops and the engines are being sorted so we have targeted Brno to make our debut and I want to do that with both cars," said the former hillclimb champion."It is frustrating to have missed the first two races but that couldn't be helped,so we'll just have to ensure we make up for it later on in the year."
Ray has already signed rapid South African Earl Goddard for one of the seats and is believed to be on the verge of settling on drivers for the three remaining places, although he is still keen to hear from other parties.
The Reynards proved to be quick in both the ALMS and at Le Mans last year, especially in the hands of former FIA Sportscar campaigner Didier De Radigues. After racing with a Judd V8 motor throughout last year, the cars will now be powered by the 3.4 litre Nicholson McLaren unit.
April 23,2002 Promec To Run Peugeot
One of sportscars newest constructors Promec Engineering have announced that they will run a 3.2 litre turbo powered Sodemo Peugeot from Magny Cours onwards this season.
The Gianfranco Trombetti founded outfit also plan to run their existing BMW powered PJ199 chassis in conjunction with the French engined car. This two pronged attack is scheduled to begin at the end of June at the fourth round of the championship.
Meanwhile the teams Media Officer Sergio Boldrini said,"We will be testing at Vallelunga next week (29th,30th April) and we hope that will give us the green light to be at Brno with the 5 litre BMW engine.We then want to run two cars in the championship from Magny Cours onwards."
The PJ199 was oncourse to make its race debut at Barcelona but last minute engine dramas forced them to delay the programme.Trombetti is likely to share the car at Brno with former ISRS regular and GT racer Luca Drudi. Other drivers thought to be in the frame for the Sodemo engined car are ex Target 24 and Durango driver Andrea De Lorenzi and former Conrero pilot Felice Tedeschi.
April 13,2002 Estoril Free Practice Report & Times
Team ORECA emerged quickest in this mornings first free practice session with Olivier Beretta setting a fastest lap of 1m 31.356, some 1.7 seconds better than Didier Cottaz's Courage C60 JX Judd.
Piergiuseppe Peroni continued to set the SR2 pace with a best of 1m38.905s, but the top 4 in the 3-litre category were seperated by just a second.
The only incident during the session was the Racing For Holland Dome colliding with the SCI Lucchini. The Dome came off worst with broken steering and cosmetic damage to the front splitter.
FULL FREE PRACTICE TIMES
SESSION 1
1.Olivier Beretta Team ORECA Dallara Judd
1m31.356s
2.Didier Cottaz Courage Competition C60JX Judd
1m33.165s
3.Jean Christophe Boullion Pescarolo Courage C60 Peugeot
1m33.165s
4.Jan Lammers Racing For Holland Dome S101 Judd
1m34.838s
5.Mirko Venturi Durango Corse GMS Judd
1m36.983s
6.Piergiuseppe Peroni Lucchini Alfa
1m38.905s
7.Mattias Andersson SRTS Lola B2K/40 Nissan
1m39.485s
8.Alex Caffi R&M SR1 Judd
1m39.597s (only completed 6 laps)
9.Sam Hignett Team Jota Pilbeam Nissan
1m39.607s
10.Fabio Mancini Lucchini Alfa Romeo
1m39.905s
11. Mike Millard Team Sovereign Rapier 6 Nissan
1m40.512s
12.Pedro Couceiro PiR Competition Debora Nissan
1m41.077s
13.Ranieri Randaccio SCI Lucchini Alfa Romeo
1m42.739s
14.Pierre Bruneau PiR Competition Pilbeam Peugeot
1m46.014s
April 13,2002 Team Jota Racing For Good Cause
Team Jota will go in to the Estoril weekend with two extra pairs of hands courtesy of a popular charity initiative that aims to raise money for the 'Help a London Child' project.
Giving much needed help to ill, abused and maltreated children in the London area, one of the ideas that both Team Jota and the charity had was to launch a bidding war on Capitol Radio for a VIP trip to the Estoril race. It proved to be a popular idea and the winners of the grand prize were Marcus Bamberg and Paul Clifton who flew in to Lisbon on Friday evening and were immediately whisked away for a night on the tiles with some members of the team.
The pair will be getting hands on experience too, as both of them will be managing the teams pit board throughout the two and a half hour race. "Everything looks fantastic and its great to be here," said Marcus. "We are mainly F1 fans but we are going to get in to this now, especially as we will be so involved. It's for a great cause which makes the weekend all the more enjoyable."
The 'Help A London Child' charity raised over a million pounds during the Easter weekend and celebrities such as George Michael bid for a variety of corporate and adventure weekends.
Marcus and Paul will be cheering on the Jota boys this afternoon as qualifying kicks off at 15.30. The race begins at 13.30 tomorrow afternoon, which is likely to be two and a half hours that they will never forget.
April 13,2002 PiR Competition Signs New Drivers
PiR Competition have signed former F3000 racers Manuel Giao and Pedro Couciero to race their Debora Nissan this weekend.The pair will have the support of the local Estoril crowd this weekend as they battle for honours in the 3-litre category.
Both Giao and Couceiro are among the leading lights in Portuguese motorsport and reached the penultimate step on the single seater ladder in the late 1990's. Couceiro was a front runner in both the German F3 championship before making his F3000 debut at Nurburgring in 1996 with a Madgwick Lola. The following year saw him score a career best 2nd place at the International Trophy at Silverstone in with Nordic Racing.
"This will be good fun for us this weekend," said 29 year old Couceiro."We will be the un-official Portuguese national team and that is good for the event too. Manuel is a quick guy and we have the advantage of knowing the circuit inside out. But that will be neutralised by the fact that we have to learn the car."
Giao was runner up in the Formula Opel Euroseries in 1995 with Van Amersfort racing and graduated to Italain F3000 series.Giao,28 has most recently raced in the Formula Nissan series but makes what is his sportscar debut this weekend.
The deal has been sealed in conjunction with Shell Portugal who will ensure that the normally dark blue Debora will be predominantly yellow and red this weekend. Team manager Bruneau said of the deal."It is good for Portugal to have two top drivers here this weekend. I think they will do a very good job."
April 11,2002 Estoril Preview:
Round Two of the FIA Sportscar Championship gets underway this weekend at Estoril in Portugal, concluding the second part of an Iberian double header that started last weekend at Barcelona where Henri Pescarolo's team emerged victorious after a thrilling opening race.
What became obvious in Spain was that a mouth watering group of four cars had broken away to form a spectacular battle for supremacy in this years championship. With three French teams (Pescarolo, Courage Competition, Team ORECA) against the Racing For Holland outfit of Jan Lammers, fireworks were expected and fireworks were most certainly what we got in Catalunya. All four cars led at some stage during the race and all four could have won, but it was the wily Henri Pescarolo who was celebrating last Sunday afternoon as his boys, Sebastien Bourdais and Jean Christophe Boullion, took the chequered flag.
SRI
Pescarolo Sport
will also start the Portuguese race with a slight advantage having won the now defunct ELMS series race there last year. Their Team Principal, four time Le Mans winner - Henri Pescarolo thinks they will be in the best shape possible to start the season off with a double maximum score this weekend. "We had a strange weekend in Portugal last year when we won on the track and also in the stewards room," (they were originally disqualified over an accident but subsequently awarded the win), said Henri. "I think we can be closer to the Dallara on outright pace than we were in Spain and it will be a good indication of who is where in terms of speed as the Spanish race was a bit variable because of the weather."
The Le Mans based team will replace Bourdias, who is on Formula 3000 duty at Imola this weekend, with ex Panoz and Mercedes works driver Franck Lagorce. Ironically it was Lagorce who ran Boullion closest to the 1994 F3000 title and the two of them have had a healthy respect for each other since that famous season.
Team ORECA
also make a change to their driving team with ex ChampCar racer Nicolas Minassian replacing Franck Montagny, who has Formula Nissan commitments to attend to this weekend. Minassian raced for Chip Ganassi last year and has a second to none pedigree in single seater racing. He was also impressive in his sportscar debut at Le Mans in 2000 where he drove an ORECA entered Reynard, albeit only in qualifying.
The charismatic British based Frenchman was looking forward to making his championship debut this weekend. "I know the competition in the series is high," he said. "It is a nice opportunity for me to race and I am for sure looking for a victory this weekend. I know Olivier well and he is a nice guy and I know I will work well with him."
Racing For Holland
finished a bitterly disappointed 4th at Barcelona last weekend after Val Hillebrand spun away a certain victory with just 25 minutes of the race remaining. Revenge then, is uppermost in the friendly Aerdenhout based teams mind and their competitors must be reminded that last year the team scored a stunning win at the Nurburgring immediately after Hillebrand had made a similar error at Mondello Park in Ireland just a week earlier. Lammers was in superlative form in Spain seven days ago, executing one of his trademark first lap manoeuvres around the outside of both Courages, so expect more fireworks from the spectacular Dutchman this weekend.
Courage Competition
had an eventful weekend in Spain with Didier Cottaz surviving an accident, a re-fuelling problem and losing a wheel in pitlane. Fifth place was poor reward for the teams efforts and the patriotic French Racing bleue C60JX will be primed for a further assault on its maiden win this weekend. Boris Dereichebourg will partner longtime Courage favourite Cottaz, while Thed Bjork hopes to make his SR1 debut as a third driver.
R&M
had an encouraging debut last weekend with their Giorgio Stirano built chassis. The unique looking car ran 5th at one stage in the race and both the teams drivers - Mauro Baldi and Alex Caffi were suitably impressed with the cars handling. "It is much improved, particularly on the gearbox and the brakes," said this years Daytona winner - Baldi. "We have a lot of work to do but the potential is there and I think it is a high potential, especially in the aerodynamics. We have to change a few things at the rear of the car but I think we might surprise some people later this year."
A reliable source in the R&M camp also hinted in Spain that the team were looking at a possible Le Mans assault for the 2003 season in conjunction with a full title attack on the FIA Sportscar Championship.
Team Durango could also be a darkhorse for a good result at Estoril with rapid youngster Mirco Venturi having raced at the venue in Formula Renault. The 20-year-old from Reggio Emilia impressed many with his raw speed at Barcelona and his mature attitude has also pleased the team in what is a very steep learning curve for the F3000 aspirant. Team mate Alessandro Battaglin also gave a good account of himself on his first ever circuit race after competing in International rallies for the majority of his career!
SRII
If the battle is intense in SR1, then in the 3-litre SR2 division things are seriously red hot with a variety of constructors being 'nip and tuck' for outright honours. Lucchini, Pilbeam, Rapier 6 and Lola all have a chance of victory this weekend. However, if Lucchini can reproduce the form that they showed last weekend then they could be almost unstoppable. Piergiuseppe Peroni was a force to be reckoned with in Spain and the experienced Italian has found a quick and consistent team mate in ex British F3000 racer Mirko Savoldi.
If that were not daunting enough for Lucchini's opposition then the second car of ex GT racers, Gianni Collini and Fabio Mancini makes anything other than another Lucchini victory difficult this weekend. The main challengers should once again be the Lola Nissan of Mattias Andersson and Niklas Loven who scored an uneventful 3rd place last weekend.
The Rapier 6 of Ian Flux and Mike Millard will also be a contender especially in the hands of Flux who has hit a rich vein of form recently in the 30 minute qualifying sessions. Other cars to watch in Portugal could be the Pierre Bruneau's pair of chassis, one Debora and the other Pilbeam, and the SCI Lucchini of sportscar stalwarts Raniere Randaccio and Leonardo Maddalena.
April 11,2002 Minassian Replaces Montagny For Estoril:
Team ORECA make a change to their driving team at Estoril this weekend with ex ChampCar racer Nicolas Minassian replacing Franck Montagny, who has Formula Nissan commitments to attend to this weekend.
Minassian raced for Chip Ganassi last year and has a second to none pedigree in single seater racing. He was also impressive in his sportscar debut at Le Mans in 2000 where he drove an ORECA entered Reynard, albeit only in qualifying.
The charismatic British based Frenchman was looking forward to making his championship debut this weekend. "I know the competition in the series is high," he said. "It is a nice opportunity for me to race and I am for sure looking for a victory this weekend. I know Olivier well and he is a nice guy and I know I will work well with him."
April 4,2002 Barcelona Thursday Test Report:
The first track action of the season kicked off this morning at Barcelona in readiness for the first race of the 2002 season this coming weekend. With a damp track in the early morning session, few cars ventured out on to the track but as the cloud lifted and the more familiar Spanish sun bathed the circuit there was a flurry of activity in the two afternoon sessions.
Although the sessions were not officially timed, some of the teams used new tyres at some stage, working on race set up and finding their feet after a long winter break. Team ORECA wound up with the days fastest time, Franck Montagny setting a 1m33.23s lap, mainly working on Goodyear tyres which the team will run on for the first time in a race this weekend. "The car felt nice out there today," said last years Formula Nissan champion. "The main objective was to get a balance with the tyres and that is exactly what we achieved."
Racing For Holland were next quickest on a 1m34.22s after completing 54 laps with both Jan Lammers and Val Hillebrand splitting the running and getting back in to the groove after just a brief shakedown in Holland last week. "We're just coming out of our winter sleep," joked Jan. "We are just getting familiar with everything again and getting the routines going. We ran on very old tyres and got a decent balance so we should be in good shape this weekend as there is a lot more time to come."
Pescarolo Sport concentrated on sorting their new paddle shift gearbox before embarking on set up work tomorrow. Team boss Henri Pescarolo explained what the teams programme is for the days leading up to the race. "We spent the whole day with Sodemo getting the new Megaline paddle shift working in conjunction with the engine," said the four time Le Mans winner.
Sebastien Bourdais completed the morning running while Jean Christophe Boullion went out in the afternoon and set a best of 1m35.76 although times were immaterial with the work they were conducting. The lime green C60 also featured new bodywork and raised cockpit sides for driver protection.
Courage Competition concentrated on working with the Goodyear tyres which they will run for the first time this weekend. Didier Cottaz did the majority of the laps and was satisfied with the performance of his rubber while Thed Bjork got his first serious taste of SR1 power, acquitting himself very well indeed. The teams chief engineer Gianfranco Bielli explained the teams programme for the day, which yielded a best of 1m37.56s. "The main point of the runs today was to properly evaluate the tyres and get them to perform on full tanks, said the Italian. "We did this quite quickly and decided to give Thed a long run in the afternoon, because he had to learn more about the car than Didier. All in all he did a well and he should make a good partnership with the team this weekend."
Thed was bubbling with enthusiasm for the C60 but was still finding his way in the bigger cars. "You have to be a lot more delicate with the throttle and a lot more sympathetic with the car," said the reigning SR2 champion. "I did 20 or so laps in the car and I am getting faster all the time and I think I was just over a second off Didier so for the moment I am satisfied with this."
The all new R&M SR1 car also got some valuable mileage today with Alex Caffi getting his first laps in the striking Riley & Scott based chassis. The Italian's first impressions of the car were favourable. "We have no experience of the car apart from the shakedown at Varano last month so everything is learn, learn, learn at the moment," said the diminutive ex F1 racer. "We had a very small fuel pump problem this afternoon but these things we expect at the first race, but I must say the feeling is good for the car. Especially the brakes and the gearbox which are an improvement on the old car."
The Renato Moscati designed car has a unique low lying gearbox and rear bodywork section which is thought to reduce the oversteer that was a feature of the Riley & Scott through the years. Caffi, who has experienced all sorts of development programmes over the years is certainly struck with this particular project that he and team mate Mauro Baldi will be tackling in the coming months. "The idea for the car is clever because it is not a radical all new development and we are building on the aerodynamic package of the R&S and developing on top of that so I think we can use these first races to create something exciting."
The Bob Berridge Racing Lola got it's first serious running of the season with both Berridge himself and late announced team mate Ian McKellar Jnr in the Lola B98/10 Judd. Team manager Colin Bennett explained the teams first day in International Sportscar racing. "It's all new to us and we're finding our feet but making steady progress," said the former F3000 team owner. " We had a few things to iron out like the gearing for the straight as we had way too many revs on the straight. The 'diff' was also too tight but we have another day tomorrow to give both drivers a chance to work more on the set-up."
Ian McKellar Jnr was getting to grips with an SR1 car for the first time and the 23 year old former Hot Rod champion was loving the challenge that topline prototypes were presenting to him. "It’s obviously a lot different to the Salleen GTs car," he said. " The main difference is the brakes which enable you to go much deeper in to the corners. Although I have not driven single seaters I imagine that these are pretty similar, especially something like an F3000 car."
The SR2 contingent was topped by the Lucchini Alfa of Fabio Mancini who set a 1m43.41s lap, confirming the teams good work over the winter months. Team Jota also got off to an impressive start with a 1m 44.00s despite a gearbox problem which will see some spare parts having to be shipped over from the UK tomorrow. Reigning champions SRTS set a 1m46.45s lap, both Mattias Andersson and Niklas Loven learning not only the track but also the Lola B2K/40 that they will use to attempt a second consecutive title win for the Stanley Dickens led team.
The only other SR2 runners to venture out were Team Sovereign in their Rapier 6 Nissan and PiR Competition's Debora Nissan.
TOP 5 THURSDAY TIMES AT BARCELONA
1. Franck Montagny ORECA Dallara Judd 1m33.23s
2. Jan Lammers Racing For Holland Dome Judd 1m34.22s
3. Jean Christophe Boullion Pescarolo Sport Courage C60 Peugeot 1m35.76s
4. Didier Cottaz Courage C60 Judd JX 1m37.56s
5. Bob Berridge BBR Lola B98/10 1m40.58s
April 4,2002 Bjork To Drive Courage At Barcelona:
After the successful test at Le Mans Bugatti - Thed Bjork has been offered the chance to make his SR1 debut at Barcelona this weekend for Courage Competition. The Swede will partner Didier Cottaz in the C60 JX and is set to shake the car down today (Thursday) and Friday.
"It is great opportunity for me," said the 22 year old. "I will get to know the car more in the next few days with Didier, but Boris will also come and we could even run with three drivers this weekend."
In the first test session this morning few cars went out on to the damp circuit but Franck Montagny's ORECA Dallara set the early pace. Sebastien Bourdais (Pescarolo Sport),Didier Cottaz (Courage Competiton), Val Hillebrand (RFH) and John Stack (Jota) were the only others who lapped this morning. Two further sessions are set to be run this afternoon. News and Photos this evening.
April 1,2002 Barcelona Preview:
The 2002 FIA Sportscar Championship kicks off it's second season at Barcelona, Spain on 6/7 April with all the ingredients pointing to an even more dramatic year than 2001, when there were 6 different winners from the 8 rounds contested. The excitement peaked in the dying moments at the Nurburgring event when Marco Zadra's Ferrari 333SP took the title on the last lap of the last race.
The iconoclastic Ferrari 333SP has now gone in to a richly merited retirement, which has paved the way for the very latest breed of sportscars. There is set to be a distinct Gallic flavour to this season with France's best and most recognised organisations joining the Championship. Team ORECA, Courage Competition and Pescarolo Sport are among the biggest names in global sportscar competition and they are all set to wage a fascinating battle that will also include the crack Racing For Holland squad of 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours winner - Jan Lammers.
All the top privateer teams in sportscar racing will be on the grid in 2002 but there are also set to be a group of challengers to their supremacy at the front. There will be a brace of Lola B98/10's for ex Thoroughbred F1 racers Ralph Moog and Bob Berridge, the latter of which will feature the highly rated Le Mans MG ace - Warren Hughes. The all new chassis from R&M and Promec and the might of F3000 winners - Durango Corse will also be vying to break on to the podium this year.
The new season will also see other potential winners joining the fun in selected races, mixing it with those teams already committed for a full championship challenge. The majority of the FIA Sportscar Championship front runners will once again be taking the battle to the manufacturers at Le Mans in June, where last year Jan Lammers sensationally led, ahead of the might of Audi, Bentley and Panoz.
The 2002 season will also be a precursor to next years sportscar extravaganza which will start with a trip to Kyalami in South Africa and include the return of those true sportscar classics - the Monza and Spa 1000kms.
SR1 PREVIEW
TEAM ORECA (F)
After finishing a tremendous 4th in last years Le Mans 24 Hours, ORECA have committed to the FIA Sportscar Championship in the run up to this seasons French classic in June. A true French institution, Hugues De Chaunac's team will continue to race the ORECA Dallara, but this year it will be powered by Judd V10 power.
The Playstation backed team have tested throughout the build up to the season and with their star driver - Olivier Beretta, they start among the favourites in Catalunya. Beretta is a modern sportscar master having won two FIA GT Championships, the Daytona 24 Hours in 2000 and two Le Mans GTS class victories. He now aims to add more wins in Sportscars to his glittering CV and is looking forward to his first foray in to the Championship. "I have heard a lot of good things about the series and how tough the competition is," said the Monagasque racer. "I am sure it will be very hard at the front this year and the big question for us will be the tyres, as we will use Goodyears instead of the usual Michelins that we have previously raced on."
Rapid young Frenchman Franck Montagny will join Olivier in Spain. The 23-year-old knows the Circuit De Catalunya intimately after winning the Iberian based Formula Nissan Championship last year. ORECA's Sporting Director, Pierre Dieudonne believes the team is in excellent shape for the first event of the year. "We have tested at both Barcelona and Estoril to get used to the Goodyear tyres and prepare for the opening races. This will be a new challenge for us and I think it will be useful to develop the car even further."
RACING FOR HOLLAND (NL)
After a splendid first season with the Dome S101 Judd in 2001, Racing For Holland have kept continuity for the coming year by re-signing promising youngster Val Hillebrand to partner team owner and all-round sportscar legend Jan Lammers.
Both Jan and Val won the final race of 2001 at the Nurburgring and they will be hoping that will give them added momentum for the early stages of the coming campaign. The team's joint founder Mark Koense is confident that the squad's preparations will see them celebrating on the top step of the podium once again in 2002. "We have nice stability in the team, the car and the drivers so we are very much looking forward to a good second year," he said. "It is a pleasure to work with the Dome people and they have been working hard in their wind tunnel in Japan all winter. The car has gone through a continuous development since it was built and that will be carried on throughout this year."
The Racing For Holland team will once again be the fastest chess board in the world this year as they continue to run in their distinctive black and white chequered livery.
PESCAROLO SPORT (F)
Le Mans based Pescarolo Sport have committed to a full season of the FIA Sportscar Championship with one of their Courage C60 chassis powered by the 3.2 litre turbo charged Peugeot engine. Managed by four time Le Mans winner Henri Pescarolo, the team have retained a strong driver line up with experienced ex Sauber F1 driver Jean Christophe Boullion and rising French F3000 ace Sebastien Bourdais, who took pole position in last weekends opener in Brazil.
The teams technical staff too has been bolstered over the winter with former Toyota F1 designer Andre De Cortanze and longtime DAMS F3000 engineer Claude Galopin joining the team. The lime green C60 will start the year with some modifications before a new chassis will be introduced after Le Mans.
Jean Christophe Boullion believes that either old car or new, the team will be fighting for outright honours once again this year." We have the paddle shift gearbox now and also a new engine cover that we will be evaluating for the new car," said the 1994 F3000 Champion. "It is also nice to have Claude (Galopin) engineering the car, because both Sebastien and I know him from F3000. We have all the ingredients to add to our win at Magny Cours last July."
COURAGE COMPETITION (F)
Yves Courage's team returns to the Championship after being one of the pioneers and main players in the inaugural ISRS series in 1997. That year, Didier Cottaz was one of the drivers to score victories at Zolder and Jarama and he is reunited with Courage in the C60JX chassis alongside fellow French racer Boris Dereichebourg.
After a couple of years away from the limelight, Yves Courage is back with renewed vigour and believes that the tough competition in the championship will mirror his other sporting passion - Boxing! "There are good entries, good cars and the championship has become more and more interesting. I think this year will be a good battle and I am a big boxing fan which gives me and the team a good fighting instinct."
Courage Competition will also undertake a full season in the championship and in line with famous French marques in the past like Matra and Bugatti, the team will race in traditional French racing bleue colours. "We are one of the last French race car makers and we are proud of this so we hope it will conjour up some good images of the car."
Courage, like ORECA and Pescarolo attended a test at Barcelona at the beginning of March and were pleased with work generated on the chassis with Goodyear tyres and aerodynamic modifications to the rear of the car. They most recently tested at Le Mans Bugatti where more miles were put on without any significant problems."
BOB BERRIDGE RACING (GB)
A new team to the championship for 2002 is Bob Berridge Racing who will run the ex DAMS Lola B98/10 Judd in selected rounds. Bob himself will race the car in Barcelona, alongside fellow North East based driver - Warren Hughes. The MG racer has been drafted in to the team at the 11th hour but was still relishing the prospect of sampling SR1 power for the first time. "I will not actually get to sit in the car until the Friday before, during testing, but I think we can certainly give a good account of ourselves out there."
The team will be overseen by former Lotus F1 engineer and F3000 entrant Colin Bennett and the initial shakedown of the car took place at Rockingham two weeks ago, delighting Berridge who is used to serious horsepower after being crowned FIA Thoroughbred Grand Priz champion in 1997 and 1998. This outfit could be serious darkhorses for a strong result this weekend.
R&M (I)
R&M will debut their brand new carbon chassis at Barcelona that the team has been constructing since the tail end of last year. The Paolo Radici and Fabio Montani led team has retained Mauro Baldi for a third straight year and has also kept faith with Judd power. Alex Caffi is also expected to continue with the Spirano based team.
The car is loosely based on the ultra successful Riley & Scott that the team raced in 2000 and 2001 and the initial shakedowns at the Varano circuit have produced some encouraging results. The team is, however, realistic and plans to use the opening races to gain more knowledge of the new project. The car features the new viscous differential and an all carbon composite tub, as well as optimised and refined aerodynamics which were created by the teams experienced technical director - Renato Moscati.
The team will be looking to recreate the glory days of 2000 when Mauro Baldi and Gary Formato took a famous victory at Monza. The team also scored three other podium positions that year and finished second in the championship chase.
AUTOMOTIVE DURANGO (I)
Durango are back this year with their pretty Durango GMS chassis and will compete in the whole championship with promising Italian youngster Mirco Venturi and ex rally driver Alessandro Battaglin. Venturi, was a race winner in last years Italian Formula Renault Championship and is highly rated in his homeland. Battaglin, has a wealth of experience on the European Rally scene and now turns his attentions to circuit racing with Durango.
Ivone Pintone's crack team have also changed their engine for the new season with a Judd V10 replacing the V8 Mader prepared BMW that has previously powered the chassis.
The team will continue to run their FIA Sportscar campaign in conjunction with a full assault on the International F3000 Championship which got off to a fantastic start at Interlagos last weekend when Rodrigo Sperafico took a first win for the team since 1998.
SIMPSON ENGINEERING
A real racing enthusiast, Robin Smith makes a welcome return to the championship with the ex R&M Riley & Scott Chevrolet combination that was last raced in 1999. The Scot has been a sportscar stalwart since the 1970's and has assembled an equally experienced driver line up with ex Harrier driver Richard Jones and former Euro GT racer Peter Cook joining Robin himself on the driver strength.
The 5.1 litre Chevy unit is sure to complement the wail of the Judd powered cars, with it's thunderous rumble this year and Robin is as enthusiastic as ever on the eve of the first race. "It’s good to have another project up and running," said Robin. "The car should still be quick and we have the experience to make a good go of it. Our aim is to pick up some good points early in the season and we'll build from there."
EVENTUS MOTORSPORT (D)
This new team to sportscar racing, established by the former Thoroughbred F1 racer Ralph Moog, have acquired the ex Franz Konrad Lola B98/10 that led the Monza 1000kms in 2000 in the hands of Tom Coronel. Eventus Motorsport, based in Luxembourg, was set up by Dr Moog last year and they plan to contest five races in their debut season. The day to day running of the team is handled by ex Bertram Schafer engineer, Uwe Reuter
Moog will race the car at Barcelona along with veteran sportscar driver John Burton and enjoys the assistance of some Konrad Motorsport engineers. Moog has tested the car over the winter at both Barcelona and at Dijon and believes that both he and the team still need some time before full potential is realised."Both myself and the team are still learning a lot about the car, so we will use the first races as development time."
SR2 PREVIEW
SPORTSRACING TEAM SWEDEN (S)
The reigning champions return to defend their crown this year with an all Swedish line up and renewed ambition to take another SR2 title. The Stanley Dickens led team has the superb Lola B2K/40 chassis once again and with the combined engineering talents of Dick Jonsson and Markus Hotz, they start the year as favourites.
The driving strength too is impressive with ex Indy Lights front runner Mattias Andersson teaming up with Niklas Loven. Mattias has raced in the Championship before with Gebhardt in 1999, but now has the chance to shine in a full season for SRTS. "It's all very nice to be racing for what is really the Swedish national team and apart from Barcelona I know most of the tracks. I hope we can do just as well as the team did last year."
Niklas Loven was last seen in the series with Tampolli Engineering in 2000 and after a year racing for the works Opel team in Scandinavia has returned to his first love of sportscar racing. Ironically the 27-year-old was Mattias Andersson's team mate in Swedish Touring Cars last year and he will be hoping to add to his haul of two SR2 victories in 2000.
LUCCHINI ENGINEERING (I)
Lucchini Engineering once again approach the season as committed as ever with a brace of the stunning 2001 spec Lucchini SR2 chassis. Giorgio Lucchini has consistently produced race-winning cars, even taking an outright victory at that famous race in Spa two years ago.
Now though, the team firmly believes they can take their first SR2 title with Fabio Mancini and Gianni Collini moving from the FIA GT Championship to sportscars for the 2002 season. The experienced pair have been testing intensively over the winter and Fabio gave hope for a championship push by breaking the lap record at Vallelunga last month.
A second chassis will be run for team regular Piergiuseppe Peroni and his team mate - Mirko Savoldi. Mirko was a contender in the British Formula 3000 Championship back in the early nineties. The team once again opts for Alfa power.
TEAM JOTA (GB)
Another new team joining the FIA Sportscar Championship grid is the British Team Jota outfit, run and driven by John Stack and Sam Hignett. One of the ultra successful Pilbeam MP84's will be their charge in 2002 as the pair take up the challenge of international sportscar racing for the first time.
Having run in the Renault Clio European trophy last year the pair already have some experience of the circuits they will race on in 2002. After good tests at Silverstone and Donington over the winter they are well prepared to mix it with the other more experienced teams in the three-litre category. Team principal and driver Sam Hignett is looking forward to the task in hand."We're a new team but we have our ambitions and the key for the year is to run at the front. We are realistic as well and are very much looking at this move in to the championship as a long term plan."
PIR COMPETITION (F)
Longtime championship supporter Pierre Bruneau has increased his programme in 2002 to run two cars in SR2, complementing his familiar Debora with a Pilbeam that has been mated to the new Sodemo Peugeot engine.
The well organised PiR Competition team have expanded for 2002 but team boss Pierre Bruneau will still be racing, sharing the Debora, which is now powered by an IES prepared Nissan engine, with talented French F3 Promotion Class champion Philippe Hottinguer.
Longtime PIR driver Marc Rostan and the veritable Arturo Merzario will race the Pilbeam Sodemo Peugeot car. Bruneau believes the new engine could propel the team back in to the winners circle. "We are ready for this exciting challenge," said PiR boss and driver Pierre Bruneau. "We will be working in conjunction with Sodemo very closely and I think this will also show the versatility of the Pilbeam chassis in housing the engine. We expect great things from this project."
AUDISIO & BENVENUTO (I)
Audisio return for a third straight year of FIA Sportscar Championship competition and the little team from Genoa have a trio of Italian racers intent on scoring podium positions once again this year.
Giuseppe Chiminelli, Antonio Vallebona and Erminio Bonetti all graduate from the Italian Prototype Championship where they also raced for Franco Audisio's team. Roberto Tonetti, who has raced in the past two seasons, has been reduced to acting as the teams Sporting Director because of a shoulder injury. The team remain loyal to the Lucchini-Alfa combination.
TEAM SOVEREIGN (GB)
This small but efficient team ended the 2001 season on a real high after the indomitable Ian Flux claimed their first ever pole position at the wet Nurburgring qualifying session. Over the winter months the team has worked hard to hone the chassis so it can consistently compete for podium placings to add to last years 3rd place at Donington Park.
Team owner Mike Millard has decided to introduce new bodywork to the car after work in the MIRA windtunnel but as Mike himself explains it will not be ready until the Brno race in May. "We have basically had to narrow the bodywork down as the wheels we use are now smaller. We think this will give us more mechanical and aerodynamic grip after looking at the results from the wind tunnel."
Ian Flux is retained as Millard's partner and the versatile British racing legend will certainly be one to watch for his commitment and bravado throughout the season.
SCI (I)
Perennial racer Raniere Randaccio starts his fourth full season in the Championship with his loyal SCI team. Once again running the eye catching yellow Lucchini, Ranieri will once more be joined by Leonardo Maddalena who holds the record number of starts (a total of 32) in the Championship since it’s original inception in 1997.
This year the Roman team plan to introduce a 675 spec Tampolli to the Championship in mid season, hopefully for the Rockingham round in August.
SILIPRANDI (I)
Siliprandi have long been supporters of the Championship in their Lucchini Alfa and the team start the new season with Italian Prototype regular Ezio Mazza and Swiss George Paulin. They tested successfully at Barcelona last month and will be hoping that they can match their 3rd place at Monza last year when veteran Pasquale Barberio partnered Mazza.
VILLORBA CORSE (I)
A brand new team set up by Amadio Raimondo to run former Lucchini Engineering drivers Denny Zardo and Mauro Prospero. The pair will continue to run a Lucchini chassis this year and have been testing at Magione in Italy on the run up to the first race.
Zardo is a former Maserati Ghibli champion while Prospero took the Italian prototype championship in 1999 before graduating to International competition with the now defunct GPM team. Last year the pair scored a best ever result with 2nd place at the Monza 1000kms.
March 29,2002 Courage Announce 2002 Plans:
Courage Competition officially announced their 2002 programme at their season launch meeting earlier this week.
Courage have been away from the action for two years but their Paolo Catone designed C60 has raced successfully with the Pescarolo Sport and Phillipe Gache's SMG teams. Now though, Yves Courage's Competition team is back and the affable Frenchman is relishing getting back in to battle."The FIA Sportscar Championship has good entries, good cars and is becoming more and more interesting. We could have a big fight between Dome, Dallara and the Courage chassis this year. I would say that Pescarolo-Sport will be very strong in the early races thanks to the good ratio of reliability/fuel consumption of Sodemo’s engine,but we will be in there too I think."
Courage also hinted that a second car could be racing later on in the season."We are planning to enter one car for the season and perhaps two after the 24 Hours of Le Mans.We are connected with several customers, who are interested in running the Courage chassis for the second part of the season."
The Le Mans based team will kick start their year at Barcelona next weekend with the C60 JX chassis powered by the 4-litre Judd engine.Courage also announced that former Autosport supremo Gianfranco Bielli will engineer their car in Catalunya.Courage are also believed to be drawing up a study in to designing a 675 car in the future.
March 26,2002 Hillebrand Retained By Racing For Holland:
Racing For Holland have Val Hillebrand to race alongside Jan Lammers in the Dome S101 Judd in the entire FIA Sportscar Championship this season.
The team that won the final race of last years championship at the Nurburgring will also return to their famous chequered livery for the build up to the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.Tom Coronel will complete the trio for the French classic.
Jan and Val will start the season among the favourites to take the championship with continued support from the Dome factory and their chief engineer Ian Foley.More news on the teams launch which took place in Holland today soon.
March 26,2002 Warren Hughes In Berridge Lola:
MG's Le Mans driver Warren Hughes is set to make his FIA Sportscar Championship debut at Barcelona next weekend alongside his manager Bob Berridge in the Judd powered Lola B98.
The 35 year old Sunderland based driver is "90% sure" to race the ex DAMS car in Catalunya for the first round of the championship."Since I manage Warren it is a logical decision," said team owner and driver,Berridge."Everyone knows how quick Warren is and I think we will have a very strong race in Spain.The car is ready to go and we will have the testing time immediately before the race to get a base set up and work from their."
Hughes has consistently proved to be one of the UK's biggest racing btalents over the last decade having won races in every category he has competed in. After finishing runner up to Kelvin Burt in the 1991 Formula Vauxhall championship he went on to suceed in F3 and F3000 before landing a prized seat with the works MG Le Mans and British Touring Car programmes.
March 22,2002 Bjork Tests SR1:
Reigning SR2 champion Thed Bjork experienced SR1 power for the first time last Sunday when he tested Courage Competition's C60 at Le Mans Bugatti last Sunday.
The Swede had nearly three hours running in the revised C60 and impressed the team with his approach and feedback."It was a great first time for me in an SR1 car," said the 22 year old."The power is obviously the first thing that hits you but that was easy to get used to.The brakes were also impressive but generally I really enjoyed it and did not make any mistakes."
Bjork was the find of the FIA Sportscar season last year and along with partner Larry Oberto scored four SR2 wins and several overall top six positions.Thed is thought to be in the frame with Courage about a possible Le Mans seat alongside Didier Cottaz and Boris Dereichebourg as well as spearheading a possible deal with Courage and Stanley Dickens' SRTS team.
"I am sure I will be racing in SR1 sometime this year," said the Swede."Le Mans would be fantastic and I am working on it very hard."
March 22,2002 Rowan Racing Purchases Reynard 01Q:
Photo Courtesy:ALMS & Gary Dodds
Rowan Racing have purchased both Reynard 01Q chassis from American racing squad Dick Barbour Racing. The Midlands based team aim to race one of the 675 spec cars from the third round of the FIA Sportscar Championship with South African driver Earl Goddard heading the driver line up.
Rowan, who finished a close runner up in the SR2 Championship last season with a Pilbeam Nissan will also look to have the second chassis up and running in mid season. Team boss Ray Rowan was delighted with his new project."They are fantastic looking cars and I think they will be competitive, even running with some of the SR1 cars. Earl is a quick young man and with a similar high quality team mate things should be looking very good."
Goddard already has experience of the O1Q after competing in the States last year with Dick Barbour. The young South African will dovetail his sportscar commitments with his regular Boss Formula activity this season and is looking forward to another busy year. "It will be nice to be back in the FIA Sportscar Championship and racing at the best tracks in Europe once more," said the son of F3 team owner Fred Goddard."Ray runs a very good professional team and the Reynard chassis is excellent. I think we will be competitive right away."
After racing with a Judd V8 motor throughout last year, the cars will now be powered by a 3.4 litre Nicholson McLaren unit.
March 19,2002 News Round-Up:
Didier Cottaz and Boris Dereichebourg have been confirmed as Courage Competition's drivers for the first two rounds of the Championship at Barcelona and Estoril. The C60 chassis tested most recently at Barcelona and the team are viewing the first two rounds of the championship as vital to their Le Mans preparations. Cottaz was one of the pioneers of the championship in 1997 when he raced for Courage in the International Sports Racing Series, winning the Zolder race in a Courage C52.
Lucchini Engineering continued their successful winter test schedule at Vallelunga last week with Fabio Mancini once again beating the unofficial SR2 lap record, this time by some 1.2 seconds on new Yokohama tyres. Both Mancini and team mate Gianni Collini conducted a thorough test and the latter is confident that the team are now fully prepared for the forthcoming season." It was a very important test for us," said Gianni." We knew the Yokohama tyres from our GT racing last year and were impressed with them and they work beautifully on the SR2 Lucchini."
Lucchini also confirmed that they will run former British F3000 racer Mirko Savoldi alongside long time Lucchini favourite, Piergiuseppe Peroni in the sister chassis.
Eventus Motorport's Lola B98/10 will be at Dijon Prenois next week for a two-day test prior to the first round of the Championship at Barcelona. Team principal and driver Ralph Moog explained that he, "wanted to iron out a few small technical problems that were found at the Barcelona test."
The team is still talking to drivers for the forthcoming season although sportscar veteran John Burton looks likely to partner Ralph at Barcelona.
R&M continued to evaluate their new Judd powered chassis at Varano last week with team principal Fabio Montani conducting the shakedown in the absence of Mauro Baldi who was racing in America. The car ran faultlessly during the test and Montani said he had a positive feeling for the teams first ever home grown chassis. "Everything felt great with the car and we are on schedule for Barcelona," said Montani. "We may test at Paul Ricard before we go to Spain as we want to learn as much as we can about every aspect of the car."
A team mate for Mauro Baldi is still to be found but team manager Luca Bersili admitted that they are "talking to several ex F3000 drivers."
Racing For Holland are set to announce their 2002 line up next week in Holland. The team has confirmed that they will be running the Dome S101 Judd in the black and white chequered livery that was made so famous last year in the Championship and at Le Mans.
Bob Berridge's Lola will race at Barcelona after all with Bob himself in the cockpit. The multiple Throughbred Grand Prix champion has a shortlist of possible team mates for the first two races at Barcelona and Estoril.
A new team set up by former Lucchini racer Mauro Prospero will race a 2001 spec Lucchini in this years championship. Villorba Corse will run both Mauro and his 2001 team mate Denny Zardo for the full championship campaign. The pair proved to be a good partnership last year with several top six placings, including a second place at the Monza 1000kms. Experienced engineer Raimondo Amadio will oversee the new project.
March 19,2002 JCI Tampolli-Opel:
JCI Developments, an all new team set up by former Nissan team manager John Christie has been launched to contest the 2002 FIA Sportscar Championship. The new outfit will run a Tampolli SR2 chassis with a unique Opel engine managed by renowned development and preparation specialists Swindon Racing Engines.
The General Motors X30 XE V6 has already tested extensively on the dyno and shown favourable results. Swindon Racing's Andy Pycock said of the initiative; "We're very pleased that John has chosen us to join his programme for 2002. The engine actually derives from the latest Cadillac road car and has been developed over the winter."
The team will be based in Wellingborough, Northants and are likely to join the series from the third round of the championship onwards. They will run on Dunlop Tyres and will be supported by Birmingham based Marketing company www.probedirect.com Hawk Performance Brakes and Dailysportscar.com.. JCI also plan to change the car to a 675 spec car later in the season. Drivers are set to be announced soon but it is thought that Michael Mallock who has experience of the Tampolli is high on Christie's list.
March 19,2002 New Lola Team:
A 675 spec Lola B2K/40 will make its championship debut this year in the hands of Norfolk based Marshall Cooke Racing. The team will also run with a brand new 2-litre turbo engine designed by Shropshire based Millington Racing Engines (see separate story).
The team undertook their first shakedown of the brand new package at Hornington airfield last Thursday and the teams Sporting director Ed Devlin believed the test could not have gone any better. "Everything went really well, there were no problems at all. We'll be having a more thorough test this week before taking a decision on whether we will be at Barcelona or not."
The team will run Ed's son Ben Devlin who has carved a good reputation for himself in both the British GT championship and the American Grand Am series. Only 19 years old, Ben has had experience on the continent already having raced at Magny Cours, Nurburgring and Spa with the Lotus Elise Championship. The team is currently talking to drivers for the remaining seat.
March 19,2002 Simpson R&S Chevy:
Simpson Engineering will field an all British line up in this years FIA Sportscar Championship with their Riley & Scott Chevrolet.
The Gloucestershire based team have signed former Euro GT racer Peter Cook and experienced sportscar stalwart Richard Jones to spearhead their SR1 campaign.They will join team principal Robin Smith in the car.
The team have also decided to run with the 5.1 litre Chevrolet engine after comparative tests with the 6.0 litre unit at Donington Park recently.Robin Smith was delighted to have settled his drivers and is looking forward to the first race of the year at Barcelona on April 7. "Both drivers will do a good job and we are looking for some good finishes in the early races," said the Scot."I know Richard from years gone by and Peter has shown himself to be quick in Porsches and Ferrari's too."
Peter Cook raced last season in the Euro GT series with a Porsche 996 twin turbo and also has a wealth of experience in British Porsche and Ferrari championships.
Richard Jones started his racing in the Aurora F1 championship with a Surtees Ford before starting a long sportscar career that included spells with Simpson Engineering at Le Mans in 1985 and with the Matrix Nissan in 1998.His day of days came in 1982 when he shared a Dome Ford with Ludovic Faure and Mark Galvin to win the Group 4 categort at Le Mans.
March 11,2002 Durango Sign Rall Driver:
Team Durango have signed former rally driver Alessandro Battaglin to partner Mirco Venturi in the GMS Durango Judd this season. The pair will contest the full season with the team that also run Rodrigo Sperafico and Alex Muller in the International F3000 Championship.
37 year old Battaglin has a long rallying career behind him after competing for many seasons in the European Championship before recently turning to circuit racing.His most successful times were with a Lancia Delta Integrale in which he won the Rally of Pescara in 1991.
Durango are aiming to test both drivers before the test days immediately prior to the first event of the year at Barcelona on April 7.The GMS chassis will run the Judd 4-litre engine for the very first time this year in place of the Heini Mader prepared BMW engine that it used in the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
March 8,2002 New R&M Chassis Breaks Cover:
The new R&M chassis was unveiled on Wednesday at Varano in Italy with team regular Mauro Baldi conducting the initial shakedown laps immediately after arriving back from his victorious weekend at Homestead in the Grand Am race.
The team was extremely satisfied with the debut of the SR01 and are looking to an extensive test programme before the car will make its first public appearance at Barcelona in early April.
The car which has been designed by Renato Moscati and his team in Spirano, features a brand new carbon tub and an Audi like rear-end that the team hope will put them in the early running for points in the championship.A team mate for Baldi has yet to be announced although the highly rated British driver Robin Liddell is likely to test for the team shortly.
The car has been loosely based on the Riley & Scott MkIII that was raced in last years championship.The car features a double wishbone pushrod front suspension which should give the team superior torsional rigidity.
The test at Varano went according to plan and there will be further details and photographs on Monday.
March 2,2002 Oreca Fastest At Barcelona Test:
The first major test of the season finished this evening at Barcelona where Team ORECA, Pescarolo Sport and Courage Competition proved to be the main players in the two days of running.
Poor weather today (Saturday) meant that the times from Friday's warm and dry session stood, and at the top of the time sheets and it was Olivier Beretta in the Dallara Judd with a 1m 33.761s lap that eclipsed the Pescarolo Sport Courage C60 Peugeot of Sebastien Bourdais who registered a 1m 34.189s lap. Nicolas Minassian, who was making his debut in Yves Courage's Judd powered C60, after a year with the Ganassi ChampCar team in America, got down to a 1m35.092s.
All three teams were using the two day test for intensive work before the season starts in Catalunya on April 7th. Team ORECA boss Pierre Dieudonne was more than satisfied with the work that the Signes based team completed on both days. "It was a very productive test," said the ex Mazda sportscar racer."We looked at everything, from the tyres (Goodyear) to the Judd engine and some aero work. It was a normal test and there were no major worries at all."
Both ORECA and the Pescarolo Sport car went for serious times at the end of Friday's running and Sebastien Bourdais believed that there was plenty more time to come from his lime green C60."I was held up by a GT car on my fastest lap and I think I lost at least a second, but the aim of the test was to find a good set up on the Goodyear tyres," said the bespectacled Frenchman. "I am really pleased that Claude Galopin has joined the team as he was also my engineer at DAMS last year in F3000 and we worked so well together."
Despite the inclement weather today (Saturday), all the teams undertook some wet weather running. Pescarolo Sport bedded in their new signing Stephane Ortelli who will race for the team alongside Eric Helary and an other, as yet un-named driver at Le Mans. Team ORECA also had Franck Montagny on hand, who has intimate knowledge of the track after conducting thousands of miles in test and race laps while he was racing in the Spanish based Formula Nissan Championhsip last year.
The other SR1 runner was Eventus Motorsport who continued to put miles on it's ex Konrad Lola B2K/10 with owner Ralph Moog and ASCAR boss Bob Berridge clocking up the miles. Bob manged to get a few laps under his belt today despite being bed ridden the day before with the flu.
The SR2 cars also made the most of the warm and sunny conditions on Friday with Lucchini Engineering giving both their cars a shakedown. Italians, Piergiuseppe Peroni, Gianni Collini and Fabio Mancini driving the brace of 2001 spec Alfa powered cars. Siliprandi too, had their slightly older version on hand with ex F3000 racer Mirko Savoldi and Swiss gentlemen driver George Porlino driving.
March 1,2002 Barcelona Testing News:
The Barcelona test kicked off this morning with several FIA Sportscar teams present for two days of intensive running.
As the test is not officially timed the teams were playing things close to their chests at the end of the days running, but some details should be forthcoming tomorrow.
The main news on the first day has been that ex ChampCar and F3000 star Nicolas Minassian is running for Courage Competition in the C60 Judd. The Frenchman,who was 29 yesterday, has returned to sportscars after a season with the Ganassi ChampCar team. He previously drove for ORECA in a Reynard Chrysler at Le Mans in 2000 before rejoining the single seater scene.Yves Courage's men also had Boris Dereichebourg on hand.
Team ORECA were undertaking intensive testing one of their Dallara Judd's with Stephane Sarrazin and Olivier Beretta on hand. Pescarolo Sport were giving Stephane Ortelli his first taste of the lime green C60 while Eventus Motorsport got more miles on their Lola B2K/10 with team principal Ralph Moog conducting the lappery.Bob Berridge was supposed to be sharing the test with Moog,but was back in his hotel room with the flu.
The SR2 cars were also making the most of the warm and sunny conditions with Lucchini Engineering giving both their cars a shakedown with Italians Piergiuseppe Peroni, Gianni Collini and Fabio Mancini driving the brace of 2001 spec Alfa powered cars. Siliprandi too, had their slightly older version on hand with ex F3000 racer Mirko Savoldi and Swiss gentlemen driver George Porlino driving.
March 1,2002 Team Jota Continue Preparations:
The FIA Sportscar Championship's newest entrant-Team Jota shook their Pilbeam MP84 Nissan down at Silverstone on Tuesday.Both Sam Hignett and John Stack undertook testing duties and were suitably impressed with the 2000 championship winning chassis.
The car completed 35 laps of the International circuit and was only holted once when Stack came in to the pits with a small problem with the front splitter.Stack,who along with Hignett also owns the team,said of the test."The car ran faultlessly and the latest AER engine is very impressive with great power delivery."
Even though this was the first time either driver had driven the car, both posted impressive times running on full tanks and old tyres. In the last session of the day Hignett lapped within a couple seconds of the lap record for a Pilbeam and the delighted 23 year old commented."We are all very pleased with how the day went. Now we have to get on with some serious testing before Barcelona on April 8th."
February 27,2002 Barcelona Testing Kicks Off Friday:
An un-official two day test at the Circuit De Catalunya near Barcelona kicks off on Friday with some of the championships entrants taking the opportunity to put miles on their cars before pre-race testing begins on the Thursday and Friday before the first event in April.
Team ORECA,Pescarolo Sport,Courage Competition,Eventus Motorsport,Lucchini,Siliprandi will take part in the test on both Friday and Saturday.
Hugues De Chaunac's ORECA team will have a single Dallara chassis present with Olivier Beretta and Franck Montagny conducting the running with the Judd engine.The teams Sporting Director-Pierre Dieudonne said that the test would be "intensive; we are preapred to scrutinise everything from the suspension to the engine to the aerodynamics."
Courage Competition will be getting to grips with Goodyear tyres for the first time with both Didier Cottaz and Boris Dereichebourg hoping to complete race distances.
Pescarolo Sport and Ralph Moog's new Eventus Motorsport outfit will also be undertaking two days running with Dr Moog's Lola B2K/10 being shaken down by himself and fellow Lola customer Bob Berridge.
The SR2 contingent will consist of three Lucchini's (2 works cars and the Siliprandi entry). One Lucchini will be run for Gianni Collini and Fabio Mancini whilst the other will be solely in the hands of Piergiuseppe Peroni. Siliprandi will be testing Portugese racer Bernardo Sa Nogueira and team principal Ezio Mazza.
February 26,2002 SRTS Signs Two Young Drivers:
Reigning SR2 champions SportsRacing Team Sweden have signed two young Swedes to defend their title in 2002.Niklas Loven(27)and Mattias Andersson(28)will contest the whole championship in the Lola B2K/40 that won five races in 2001 with Larry Oberto and Thed Bjork.
Andersson who raced during the last two seasons in the Renault Clio Eurocup will dovetail his sportscar committments with a drive in an Opel in the Swedish Touring Car Championship. Matthias who raced briefly with Gebhardt in 1999 was delighted to have such a busy programme in 2002."I am very happy to get this opportunity," he said."The championship is very strong with some great tracks and great teams and it will enhance my International profile a great deal this year.To drive for a Swedish team and especially for Stanley who was my mentor when I was starting out in racing is very special indeed."
Niklas Loven returns to the championship after contesting five races in 2000 with Tampolli Engineering.After a break in Touring Cars in 2001 when he raced as a team mate to Andersson in the works Vauxhall Vectra team. "It will be great to race with Mattias again," said Niklas."We got a on well last year and I am confident of striking up a good partnership once again."
The Stanley Dickens run team also have ambitions for an SR1 car and their team principal is working round the clock to get a project off the ground,with Thed Bjork as a likely driver.
February 21,2002 Robin Liddell Looking At SR1:
2001 ELMS GT champion Robin Liddell is eyeing a move in to prototypes for 2002.The 28 year old who has been widely touted as the 'new Allan McNish of sportscars' is talking to several top teams in SR1 about a drive this year.
Liddell will race at Sebring next month with PK Sport,the team that he took the inaugural but now defunct ELMS GT Championship with last year after several inspired performances in the Porsche GT3.Since then the Scot has attracted widespread interest among prototype teams on the back of his performances in Europe last year and he is now set to test for one of the leading SR1 teams outfits next week."SR1 is exactly where I want to be," said Robin."After racing in Europe for the first time last year I gained some valuable experience,especially racing with guys like Stephane Ortelli so now the natural progression for me is to move in to prototypes."
Liddell is set to follow in the footsteps of Martin O'Connell,Ben Collins and Sam Hancock as a young British racer making a mark in the FIA Sportscar Championship and his reputation as a mature,technically gifted development driver will put him in good stead in the top category.
February 20,2002 Sodemo To Link Up With PiR Competition:
Photo Coutersy:PILBEAM
Sodemo will branch out in to the 3-litre SR2 category for the first time in 2002 with Pierre Bruneau's PiR Competition squad. The Magny Cours based engine builder have already tasted success in SR1 with Pescarolo Sport but now want to match that in an attack on SR2 with a normally aspirated V6 engine that is based on the larger SR1 unit and the Peugeot 607 road car.
The engine is to be mated with one of the ultra successful Pilbeam MP84 chassis that took the 2000 SportsRacing World Cup title and finished runner up last season. The car will be known as a Pilbeam Sodemo Peugeot and the all new project will cement a new alliance between PiR Competition, who have been long time FIA Sportscar supporters, and Mike Pilbeam's company who are based in Lincolnshire.
"We are ready for this exciting challenge," said PiR boss and driver Pierre Bruneau. "We will be working in conjunction with Sodemo and we aim to start testing on March 15 in readiness for the opening race. I think this will show the versatility of the Pilbeam chassis in housing the engine and we expect great things from this project."
The new engine will be introduced in two phases with a separate testing unit before the racing version makes it's debut at Barcelona on April 8th with ex Formula 3000 driver Marc Rostan being partnered by an as yet un-named team mate.
PiR Competition will also run their Debora in the championship alongside the Pilbeam, with an IES prepared Nissan engine which will greatly reduce the weight of the car. The chassis will remain untouched but Bruneau insisted that there were "many revisions to the rear of the car and a new 6 speed sequential Hewland gearbox."
The team are looking for a partner to share the seat in the Debora Nissan alongside Pierre who is scheduled to test it next week.
February 19,2002 Richardson SRII Engine:
Geoff Richardson Engineering, the Kimbolton UK based competition engine building company, announces the Richardson 306V. This is a new 60 degree 3.0-litre V6 engine that has been purpose built for the SRII class of the FIA Sportscar Championship and is also eligible for the SR-2 class of the Grand-Am sportscar championship that is held in the USA. The SR-2 regulations require engines to be production based and to be fitted with either a single 38.0mm diameter air restrictor or two 27.2mm diameter air restrictors, which effectively limit the power output to around 350bhp.
The design of the 306V has been optimised specifically for endurance racing with special emphasis placed fuel efficiency and durability of power. It is based on the all aluminium 24-valve engine used in the V6 Jaguar S-Type road car. In production form the engine generates 240 bhp at 6800rpm and delivers 221 lb ft of torque at 4500rpm. In dynamometer testing without the air inlet restrictor the 306V has developed 400 bhp at 8400rpm and 268 lb ft of torque at 6800rpm.
In keeping with the production power unit the double overhead camshafts are chain driven at the front of the engine but the original variable valve timing system has been removed as this technology is not permitted under SR-2 rules. The 306V weighs approximately 120kg without an airbox and an alternator. It's bore and stroke dimensions are currently identical to those of the production engine (89mm x 79.5mm), but a 3.4-litre version is under consideration as a future developmen
February 19,2002 Two More Lucchini's:
Audisio & Benvenuto will continue to run a two car Lucchini outfit in 2002, making it five of the Italian chassis on the starting grid.Lucchini Engineering themselves will run a two car attack and sportscar stalwart Raniere Randaccio will return for at least the first half of the season with his example, before transferring to a 675 spec Tampolli.
Audisio,who won a race at Nurburgring in 2000 will pair up regular driver Massimo Saccomanno with Fabien Peroni in the 2001 spec Lucchini while Giuseppe Chiminelli will also contest a full season with an as yet un-named team mate. Roberto Tonetti who has been an intrinsic part of the set up since it's inception in 2000 will take a back seat in this year as he is recovering from a shoulder operation.'Checco' though will still be at the races to oversee the two pronged attack as an engineer. "I will still be very much part of the team," said the Milanese,"but sadly I will not be racing. Massimo has come on a lot as a driver in the past two years and with Fabien having experience in both Gt and with the Tampolli in 2000, i think we will have a good chance of some very strong results."
The Franco Audisio owned team will continue to use Alfa engines for their campaign
February 19,2002 Oberto Back For 2002?:
2001 FIA SCC SR2 Champion Larry Oberto has expressed his desire to retain his crown in 2002. The American,based in Seattle is negotiating to cross the Atlantic once more to contest this years championship," he said." I would love to continue in the FIA Sportscar Championship. It has top competition and circuits, and a fairly level playing field. Running in the ALMS is to try for the top privateer, or running LMP 675 and play second to the big cars. Been there done that! Actually running for a SR2 or 675 championship would be great.”
Larry recently got his first tatse of SR1 power at Daytona in an Intersport Lola and throroughly enjoyed the experience,especially as he had a little help from his fellow champion Thed Bjork."Yes,Thed (Bjork) came over for Daytona. He helped with the driver changes and it was great to hang out with him for the week.”
Larry is currently in negotiations with Stanley Dickens about a seat once again this year, as is Thed Bjork and fellow Swede Niklas Loven who raced in 2000 with the Tampolli Engineering team, winning at Elkhart Lake and at Daytona.
Referring to the Intersport Lola he drove at Daytona, Oberto explained that, "the Judd took a little bit of time to get accustomed to. The only other SRl car I tested was Dyson’s, with a 6 litre Ford. There was lots of torque in the 6 litre engine but the Judd was also fantastic and once my brain readjusted to the power band and high revs I was really in to it. The big Lola, well what can I say...after driving the little Lola, it was very responsive and gave good instantaneous feedback. I would love to drive one of those machines again."
February 8,2002 Dunlop To Build SRPI Tire:
Longtime FIA Sportscar Championship SR2 tyre supplier Dunlop are to develop an SR1 tyre during the 2002 season in preparation for an all out championship assault in 2003.
The Birminham based manufacturer will shortly undertake an intensive testing programme with the new tyre and have already agreed with three teams to develop it.One of the teams is new FIA SCC entrant Ray Mallock Ltd who will run a 2002 spec Panoz Syder in this years championship.RML have been Dunlop customers for the last few seasons and will be the main focus of the SR1 research and evaluation during the early part of the season.
Dunlop sales manager Tony Gilhome made no secret of the companies motivation of becoming a force in SR1 and commented;"We have a proven SR2 product and now we want to develop an SR1 tyre as it really is a neccessary progression for us in our partnership with RML.We will have a solid testing programme at the beginning of the year and then after Le Mans we aim to give full service support."
Gilhome also went on to explain that the company viewed the FIA Sportscar Championship as an intrinsic part of their global motorsport programme."It is a logical extension to what we are doing at the moment.It fits in with our marketing objectives nicely and the fact that the organisers are working hard with the ACO on future regulations sends a clear signal to our own future strategies."
Dunlop will continue to supply the Bentley team at Le Mans this year,with whom they scored a podium position at La Sarthe last year.The SR1 tyres are different compared to the closed cockpit GTP Bentley in that the front wheels are two inches larger.A new mould therefore has had to be created and the project is already well under way at the companies racing division at Fort Dunlop in Birmingham.
Dunlop have been massively successful in sportscars over the years,winning countless Le Mans with Jaguar in the 50's and 80's. Their last victory came in 1991 when they suppied tyres to the winning Mazda of Volker Weidler/Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot.
February 8,2002 ORECA Estoril Test:
Team ORECA undertook their first test of the season at Estoril yesterday with Olivier Beretta and Stephane Sarrazin undertaking driving duties in the Dallara Judd's.
The team had intended to also run on Wednesday but were hindered by wet and windy weather conditions.The team however completed some "constructive" running according to sporting director Pierre Dieudonne."We are very much looking forward to the season ahead and had our first serious running of the year yesterday.We were encouraged by the Doran Judd win at Daytona over the weekend and are sure that we will have a successful relationship with Judd as well."
ORECA will be undertaking their first ever FIA Sportscar race at Barcelona in April and intend to run a full season with at least one car.The team,who finished 4th at Le Mans last year will also embark on another La Sarthe assault this June.
January 27,2002 Lucchini Name Drivers:
SR2 front runners Lucchini Engineering will once again enter two of their 2001 spec chassis in the 3-litre category this year.Team boss Giorgio Lucchini named two of the drivers that hope to add to the teams four previous wins this season as 1998 ISRS CN Champion Fabio Mancini and sportscar newcomer Gianni Collini.
Mancini, who has previously raced in GT's with Collini, is sure to be a challenger for race wins after taking the inaugural ISRS CN championship with RWS Porsche GT star Luca Riccitelli back in 1998,after race wins at Anderstorp,Donington,Brno,Le Mans Bugatti and Kyalami.
Collini is a relative newcomer to racing and has been Mancini's partner for the past two seasons,for RWS in 2000 when they scored an N-GT win at the A1 Ring and last season when they teamed up with ART Engineering."We are very much looking forward to racing in the SR2 division this year with Lucchini Engineering," said Collini."We tried the car out at the Vallelunga 6 Hours last November and Fabio put the car on pole,so we are confident that we can be in with the leading cars."
The team/constructors other car is almost certain to be run for longtime Lucchini driver Dr Piergiuseppe Peroni who along with team mate Sebastien Ugeux started last years Donington race from the pole before crashing out.
January 21,2002 Christian Vann Signs For Ascari:
Christian Vann has signed to race for Team Ascari in 2002 it was announced today. The 27 year old is set to race in selected FIA Sportscar Championship races,probably after the Le Mans 24 hours in June.
The 2001 Monza 1000kms winner was delighted with his new berth and was relishing the prospect of racing the A410."The car has huge potential, the team has a secure financial foundation, and the personnel are excellent. I’m well chuffed!" commented the new Ascari man."They are going all out to win this year and I want to play my part in ensuring that they do!"
Christian made his SR1 debut at Spa in 2000 with the Kremer Lola before partnering Giovanni Lavaggi at Brums for much of the 2001 season.The Midlands born and bred driver will also race at the Daytona 24 Hours next weekend.Werner Lupberger and Ben Collins are expected to stay with the team after forging a strong partnership throughout last season.
January 21,2002 Durango Sign for Full Season:
Team Durango have confirmed that they will run a full season in the 2002 FIA Sportscar Championship this year with the GMS chassis that they have contested six previous rounds of the series in the last two years.
The experienced F3000 and sportscar team have signed rising Formula Renault star Mirko Venturi for the forthcoming campaign with an as yet un-named team mate. Venturi (20) will make the jump from Formula Renault where he finished 4th in last years Italian Championship, as well as starring in a handful of Eurocup rounds.The Italian also tested for Durango in F3000 before Christmas and is thought to be learning many of the European tracks before a full season in the Grand Prix feeder formula in 2003.
Durango are believed to be weighing up the Judd V10 engine to use in the Gianni Mussato designed car that has so far shown plenty of potential in the hands of Soheil Ayari and Andrea De Lorenzi
January 18,2002 New R&M Chassis To Test Next Month:
The all new R&M chassis will make it's track debut at the beginning of March according to the teams joint owner Fabio Montani.The new SR1 challenger is nearing completion at the teams Spirano factory and is scheduled to have it's first shakedown at Magione on February 2.
The new car,dubbed the R&M 01 will use the test for evaluation purposes before heading for more intensive testing work at Barcelona and Valencia in early March.
Montani,who joined forces with Italian Industrialist Paolo Radici in late 1999 said of the teams prospects:"We can't wait to get started as we have been very busy over the winter and now need to intensively prepare the car for the first race.The front end of the car is very much based on the Riley & Scott and as such has a visual similarity but the rear is very different with a long tail to house the rear diffuser."
Mauro Baldi has been retained for a third successive season and the team are currently talking to at least two highly-rated F3000 drivers about the second seat.Baldi will carry out the initial tests of the 01.
January 18,2002 Simpson Engineering Buys R&S:
Simpson Engineering will return to the FIA Sportscar Championship this season for the first time since Kyalami in 2000 when they ran the Matrix Nissan.
The Robin Smith led team have recently acquired the ex R&M 1996 Riley & Scott that competed in the SportsRacing World Cup in 1999.The team hope to start testing the chassis that could run with either a 5.1 or 6 litre Chevrolet V8 engine in the next few weeks.Smith,who has been a sportscar entrant since the late 1970's,said of his plans."We plan to do as many races as possible,probably after Le Mans. We were scheduled to test at Donington yesterday but had to make a few mods,so we'll be out in the next fortnight to evaluate which engine we'll run and I will conduct the shakedowns myself."
The Chevy powered R&S last ran in 1999 when Alex Caffi and Andrea Chiesa raced to two podium positions for the then named target 24 team.
January 18,2002 New Promec PJ199 To Debut:
Photo Coutersy:SRWC
Promec Engineering, the FIA Sportscar Championship's newest constructor is on target to debut its PJ199 chassis at Barcelona in April after successful initial tests before and after Christmas.
Team founder Gianfranco Trombetti who originally shook the car down, was a successful racer in the 1970's,most notably in Formula 2 with a March 762 BMW; he also raced in the European Sportscar Championship with an Abarth Osella SE-021.The test took place at Magione and Trombetti expressed it to be,"a nice surprise, we did over 300kms without any problems before bad weather set in."
Long-time GT and sportscar racer Luca Drudi also undertook some lappery and could be in line for a drive with the team alongside Trombetti and former Durango racer Andrea De Lorenzi who is to test in the next two weeks at Misano-Adriatico.
The car will use a 5-litre BMW powerplant and has been fitted with carbon brakes and a sequential gearbox.The front bodywork of the car has similar characteristics with the Lola B2K/10 design with it's raised snout. The team, which is run from workshops in San Severino will take in the entire FIA Sportscar Championship and are looking to build more chassis later in the year for customers.
January 15,2002 Pescarolo Sport Driver Lineup:
Pescarolo Sport have signalled their intentions of challenging for outright honours in 2002 by announcing that Franck Lagorce will deputise for rising star Sebastien Bourdais when his F3000 commitments clash."It is a nice situation to have a driver like Franck come in to the seat when I am away,"said Sebastien."I have not yet completed a deal for F3000 but I expect to in the next few weeks, so it looks as though it will be another busy year for me," continued the bespectacled Frenchman.
Lagorce, will partner Jean Christophe Boullion at Estoril,Rockingham and Nurburgring and will re-kindle a partnership with Boullion that stretches back to 1990 when the pair were team mates in the French Formula 3 championship. Boullion just pipped Lagorce to the 1994 Formula 3000 Championship before both tasted F1 with Sauber and Ligier respectively.Frank has been a works Panoz driver for the past two seasons,racing in America and at Le Mans.
Franck Lagorce and Henri Pescarolo know each other well having shared the La Filere Courage C36 that took 7th place in the 1996 Le Mans 24-hours.
This ultra strong trio of drivers looks certain to make Boullion one of the favourites for the drivers title in the Peugeot powered Courage C60.The teams technical strength has also been bolstered by the arrival of Andre De Cortanze from the Toyota F1 team.
Eric Helary the winner of the 1993 Le Mans 24 hours with Peugeot will join the team at La Sarthe for the race in June.
January 10,2002 Spa 1000km Revived:
One of Europe's classic sportscar races is to be revived next year for the first time in 15 years.
The Spa 1000kms is to be run as part of the FIA Sportscar Championship in 2003. The race will form part of the circuit's centenary celebrations.
Series boss John Mangoletsi announced the plan to run the race at the AUTOSPORT International show this afternoon, with the chief executive of the Royal Automobile Club of Spa, Pierre Delettre.
"I am very proud to be bring back this race as part of our championship," said Mangoletsi. "It will be a great event with a large grid."
Delettre said: "It will be a special year for us in 2003 because it will mark a century of racing at Spa. The last time we ran the race was 1988."
January 4,2002 RML To Run Panoz:
Ray Mallock Limited {RML} has announced its plans today to move into sportscar racing’s top category.The Northamptonshire based team will run a 2002 spec Panoz Roadster in the championship with an as yet un-named driver line up.
The Panoz, which is the only car to have beaten the Audi in 2001, gives RML an opportunity to fight for outright wins by returning to Sportscar's top category for the first time since its involvement with the short lived works Aston Martin AMR1 programme of 1989.The team will also continue its successful relationship with Dunlop and team principal and founder Ray Mallock commented."The Mallock family have a long heritage of 'bucking the trend' by winning with front engined race cars. We make no secret of the fact at RML, that winning is the Company's key objective and this move takes us a step closer to realising that ambition."
Mallock, who engineered the Team Swara Tampolli last season and thoroughly enjoyed the close racing and friendly ambience of the FIA Sportscar paddock, is determind to make a winning start in SR1."The RML team have a track record of winning in every series in which we compete and we aim to continue that next year with the Panoz."
December 19,2001 BM Autosport Tampolli Tops Misano SRII Testing:
The BM Autosport Tampolli Alfa of Massimo Monti emerged quickest at a Misano SR2 test recently.The Italian ex F3000 star beat the existing SR2 circuit record and was a full three seconds quicker than the next car which was another Tampolli,driven by Fabio Mancini.
Monti,who will race with a new team mate next year after Renato Nobili stood down from the team,completed the cars first laps since it's last race at Donington back in August.The Goodyear shod RTA99 which won at Spa earlier this year has consistently proved to be the quickest of the Raffaele Tampolli designed cars and the teams sporting director Carlo Mantori was delighted with the test."We were testing some new engine updates,so we ran on old tyres and on full tanks so Massimo's time was all the more encouraging."
The Roncadello based team are looking for a team mate to share the second seat in the Tampolli and Mantori expressed the teams desire to have,"a quick budgeted driver that can complement Massimo's speed."
December 17,2001 Nielsen To Partner YGK In New Program:
John Nielsen's RN Motorsport team has made the surprise announcement today that they will team up with YGK Japan, through its racing division YR Magic to run a brand new British built SR1 sports-prototype in 2002.
In conjunction with their new UK partner, Guildford-based International Racing Management,RN and YGK are entering the highest level of Sportscar Racing in 2002 together by commiting to a full season of the FIA Sportscar Champiosnhip.
IRM have masterminded both an SR1 and GTS racecar design and build programme in the UK, the later based on the YGK Supersport road car.
YGK/IRM’s 2002 entry into the sport is the first year of a minimum three-year racing and development works programme. The works race team will be managed by 1990 Le Mans winner John Nielsen who said of the project."We are very much looking forward to this long term initiaitive. The plan is for one car to contest the whole FIA Sportscar season and then for the other car to join after Le Mans."
YR Magic has been in the Sportscar arena for several years both domestically in Japan and in the USA, and the company believes that the foundations are now laid to make an all-out effort against the more established runners as a constructor in its own right.
Through their racing activities, YGK / IRM are aiming to raise their profile as a forward-thinking, specialist, high-technology engineering company, with a view to increasing global awareness of its road-going high-performance supercar, from which the GTS racing car has been evolved. Already 57 orders have been placed for the road cars, now at a highly advanced stage of development, showing customer commitment to the YGK/IRM philosophy.
The power unit is a 4-litre V8, both in turbocharged form for the LMP 900 and normally aspirated for the GTS and road car. Designated the YR40, this engine is a culmination of several years design and development at the YGK headquarters in Japan under the direction of professor Hayashi Yoshimasa.
IRM chose the services of Piper International Design Group, London, to design the LMP 900 car and Zeus Motorsport, Northamptonshire, to design the GTS race car. Both companies employ dedicated design teams with years of experience. John Piper and his Chief Designer Nick Carpenter are quietly confident that they have a design which will more than match up to the other giant contenders in the LMP class, whilst Peter Sneller (flushed with his success at winning the National Sportscar Championship with his own Zeus Challenger) and his Chief Designer Martin Ogilvie (Team Lotus Chief designer) have set up a specialist engineering and design unit specifically for the development of the YGK GTS car.
December 15,2001 2002 Techical Regulations & Calendar:
The Technical and Sporting Regulations for the 2002 FIA Sportscar Championship have been approved
2002 SPORTING REGULATIONS - As from 1 January 2002
Category SR1 - Cars complying with the ACO LMP 675 Technical Regulations are now accepted in category SR1.
2002 TECHNICAL REGULATIONS - As from 1 January 2002
Engine - Air restrictor diameters for 5-valve, normally aspirated engines, will be the same as those for other engines with more than 2 valves per cylinder.
2002 FIA SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP - CALENDAR
4/7 BARCELONA
4/14 ESTORIL
5/19 IMOLA
6/30 MAGNY-COURS
7/14 ZANDVOORT(*) Subject to noise conditions
8/18 ROCKINGHAM
8/25 MONDELLO PARK
9/15 NÜRBURGRING
9/22 SPA
December 14,2001 Possible Two Car Teams In 2002:
Three FIA Sportscar Championship teams are set to double up and run two car outfits in 2002.Racing For Holland,Pescarolo Sport and John Nielsen's RN Motorsport organisation are thought to be preparing for two car assaults on the forthcoming season.
Jan Lammers who won the final race of the year at Nurburgring and finished third in the championship said."There is a chance we will run two cars next season because it makes sense financially."
The Dutch team will be looking for a partner to team up with Jan as his protege Val Hillebrand will be racing in America on the back of his impressive performances in the Dome Judd during the 2001 season.GT stars Anthony Kumpen and Jeroen Bleekmolen have already tested the S101 at Zandvoort,whilst the team is in negotiations with many other young,professional racers.
John Nielsen is expected to announce shortly that his team will undertake a two pronged attack on the championship.The Newbury based RN Motorsport team won two events in 2001 and 'Super John' is buoyant about his plans for next year."It is a very exciting time and we hope to announce something in the next couple of weeks about our plans in the FIA Championship."
Henri Pescarolo is also confident that there will be two lime-green Courage C60's next year as he too is in discussions with drivers to join Sebastien Bourdais and Jean Christophe Boullion in his impressive driver line up. Another Peugeot powered car is available for budgeted drivers and the four time Le Mans winner is relishing the prospect of a season long campaign next term."The second car is ready and will be there to run alongside our first car.We are currently working very hard in the wind tunnel on modifications to the C60 and will start our test programme at the end of January."
The Le Mans based team will also benefit from the expertise of Toyota F1 designer Andre De Cortanze who recently taken on by the Pescarolo Sport organisation."Andre has settled in well," said 'Pesca',"he will be a major asset for the team in the years to come."
A third Courage C60 is also thought to be about to join the championship with another customer team.The venture is likely to be announced in the New Year.
December 14,2001 CDL Racing Joins SRII:
Reigning TVR Tuscan champions CDL Racing will compete in the FIA Sportscar Championship next year. The Essex based team are just one of a number of outfits signing up to race in 2002.
The team will continue with their 2001 champion driver Steve Gugliemi.Guglielmi will step up with with the Bert Taylor run team and they are thought to be looking at the 2001 championship winning Lola B2K/40 chassis.
"We have sponsors who would like to do the FIA Championship", said Taylor."The championship gets good coverage and we believe Steve would do well on the international circuits," he added.
CDL(which stands for Countdown Developments)was established in 1998 and has run drivers such as Ian Flux in their short history.39-year old Gugliemi has been one of Britain's top national drivers in recent seasons,underlining that with victory in the 2001 TVR Tuscan championship.
November 30,2001 Kumpen Tests Dome:
Anthony Kumpen completed a useful test in Racing For Holland's Dome-Judd prototype at
Zandvoort this week, as he continues to examine his options for 2002.
The crack Dutch outfit, headed up by ex-F1 man Jan Lammers were pleased to offer
Kumpen the chance to drive as it searches for a new driver to strengthen the squad for the coming season.
Kumpen, based in Hasselt, near to Zolder in Belgium, has campaigned a Paul
Belmondo Racing Chrysler Viper in the FIA GT series this year, but also
experienced life with a Dutch team manager and team-mate in October, when he
and Mike Hezemans came a strong third in the Petit Le Mans, driving the American
Viperracing GTS-R.
"The ex-Formula One engine has a lot of power, and the Dome chassis seems to
be very responsive," Kumpen commented after his first run in the prototype,
"Because of the conditions, with some sand on the track surface, the rear tyres
heated up quicker than the fronts which caused a tendency for understeer, but the
car appeared quite driver friendly and a pleasure to drive.
Despite the apparent success of the test, the Belgian admitted that he was far
from decided on the future direction of his career, but hinted that a move to
prototypes was a serious consideration.
"I've not made any decision on my career for 2002, but Racing For Holland is high
on the list," he revealed, "I have received offers from other FIA GT teams, but I
will evaluate all options and make a calculated decision. The Lammers team are
very professional and there was a good atmosphere. I would like to thank Jan and
the team for giving me a solid choice to move into sportscars."
November 23,2001 New SR2 Team:
Photo Coutersy:SRWC
European Renault Clio V6 outfit Team Jota will run a Pilbeam Nissan in next years FIA Sportscar Championship.
Run by racers Sam Hignett and John Stack the Kent based team are going all out for an assault on the title with the 2001 race winning Mike Pilbeam designed MP84.
Sam, who previously raced in Formula Vauxhall for John Village Automotive and competed in last seasons Nurburgring 24 Hours with team mate Stack as well as proving to be a front runner in the Renault Clio V6 championship.
Another Pilbeam could mean there are as many as five of the 2000 championship winning cars in the championship next year.
November 19,2001 Moog Lola Testing:
Photo Coutersy:SRWC
Ralph Moog's Team Eventus Motorsport had its first outing with the newly acquired Lola -Ford at its home track of Nürburgring last Friday. During the test the teams engineers worked closely with Konrad-Motorsport (whom the car was purchased from) in order to gain as much knowledge about it as possible. “The Konrad people are great guys and it is a lot of fun to work with them,” said Team Manager Uwe Reuter.
Despite changing weather conditions over the day, the team managed to complete around 60 laps. “The car is very different to handle as compared to a Thoroughbred Grand Prix car," said Moog who was at the wheel throughout the test, "It is much stiffer and aerodynamically it gives you more down force in quick corners and under breaking.”
Walter Weber, the Eventus Motorsport chief engineer is looking forward to a close co-operation with the Konrad Motorsport experts: “As we have seen today the car already has a very high standard of build and construction. But still there is a lot of potential in the car and we will use the existing room for improvement in order to maintain the competitiveness of it.”
November 15,2001 2002 Starts Off With Iberian Double-Header:
Next years FIA Sportscar Championship will begin with an Iberian double header as Estoril joins Barcelona in the opening two rounds of the championship.The Portugese round replaces Monza which has had to be cancelled due to on-going construction work at the Italian track.
Estoril has been a popular race and test track for over twenty years and held the Portugese Grand Prix between 1984 and 1996 before being considerably changed and modernised. GT and ELMS cars raced on the challenging circuit last year but now the many Portugese racing enthusiasts have a chance to see the worlds most spectacular sportscars in action on April 14, just seven days after the season opener at Barcelona on the 7th.
FIA Sportscar Championship chairman John Mangoletsi said of the move,"Estoril is an excellent venue to go back to back with Barcelona and between the two circuits it will make for a terrific start to the year for FIA Sportscars and Le Mans entrants to kick start their seasons in a warm climate."
There will also be two additional days of testing after Estoril as well as the usual two days of testing before Barcelona.
2002 FIA SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR
Barcelona (E) - 7th April
Estoril (P) - 14th April
Imola (I) - 19th May
Magny Cours (F) - 30th June
Zandvoort (NL) - 14th July
TBA (UK) - 18th August
Nurburgring (D) - 15 September
Spa (B) - 22nd Sptember
Kyalami (ZA) - 24th November
November 13,2001 Berridge Lola B98 Update:
Bob Berridge's recent purchase of the ex-DAMS Lola B98 has led to entusiasm for 2002.
“The cars are great to drive, said Berridge, “and as soon as I knew the DAMS car
was available I knew I had to get it. We can run in the top six I'm sure next year
and maybe get a podium place or two. From what I saw at the Nurburgring the
competition will be strong and we're already looking forward to it."
Two time BTCC champion John Cleland is currently be linked to a drive in the car. Cleland, who is a friend and business associate of
Berridge, ran some sportscar races in BGTC with a Viper in 2000 and concentrated on ASCAR last year finishing second at Bathurst.
November 8,2001 Two More Lola B98's In 2002 Championship:
Throughbred F1 racers Bob Berridge and Ralph Moog have bought existing chassis to compete in full seasons of racing in the B98 design that won four rounds in 1999 with the DAMS team.
Berridge who has bought that very car is setting up his own operation and could hire his friend and business partner John Cleland who was British Touring Car Champion in 1989 and 1995.Bob, who won the Thorougbred F1 championship in 97 and 98 has competed in Williams,RAM and Arrows chassis since the mid ninties and recently made his FIA Sportscar debut at Nuburgring with the GLV Brums teams Ferrari 333SP Judd.
Of the initiative, north east based Berridge said;"The cars are great to drive and as soon as I knew the DAMS car was available I knew I had to get it. We can run in the top six I'm sure next year and maybe get a podium place or two. From what I saw at the Nurburgring the competition will be strong and we're already looking forward to it."
Ralph Moog has recently purchased the ex Konrad B98 that led at Monza in 2000.The German will run the car through his own Eventus Motorsport outfit and further details will be issued early next week.
November 5,2001 Doran Dallara To Enter Selected 2002 Rounds:
Photo Coutersy:Grand-Am
States based Doran racing will bring their brand new Lista sponsored Dallara over to Europe in 2002 to race in the FIA Sportscar Championship.
The team which is owned by longtime championship supporter, Fredy Lienhard will compete at the Nurburgring in September and possibly two other races, including the Spa date which takes place just a week after the 'Ring' event.
The team that is run by Kevin Doran currently race in the Grand Am championship but also want to compete against Europes finest next year.Team drivers Lienhard himslef and experienced Belgian -Didier Theys are likely to team up for the German race but Fredy has hinted that they are looking for a team mate to partner Didier at his home track of Spa.
Theys, who raced for the Champion Audi squad at Le Mans with Johnny Herbert last year was a regular in Europe driving for the Horag Lista Ferrari team, with Fredy in 1998 and 99. The Belgian also finished third for the works Joest Audin team at La Sarthe in 1999.
The Dallara chassis has been mated to a Judd V10 engine for the first time and made its racing debut at Daytona last week where Lienhard and Theys were satisfied with the performance of the car and engine during the three hour race.
November 1,2001 Nielsen Looking At Two Car Attack In 2002:
Photo Coutersy:SRWC
John Nielsen may run a two car outfit next year under the RN Motorsport banner with two of the Dome S101 cars that he and team mate Hiroki Katoh scored victories in at Brno and Mondello park this year.
The Dane has expressed interest in doubling up his attack after a successful first year running his own team.RN which stands for Ree/Nielsen, in deference to Nielsen and long time backer Karsten Ree,are also looking to run the new 5-litre Judd engine.The V10 GV5 is set to be tested in early 2002 and Nielsen is keen to have it in the back of a S101.
RN Motorsport are currently in negotiaitions with Kazumichi Goh in Japan about buying the S101 that was raced in Europe throughout 2001.Team Goh are also thought to be undertaking tests at Sugo in Japan in the next few weeks with the 4-litre V8 Mugen MF408S engine.Hiroki Katoh is penciled in to test the brand new unit.
October 24,2001 New R&M Chassis Nearing Completion:
R&M Racing are hopeful of testing their all new chassis before Christmas according to team principal Fabio Montani. The design that is still without a name has been worked on throughout the year and is nearing completion in the teams Spirano workshops and will soon be mated to a Judd V10 engine for the first time.
Montani, who has overseen a difficult transition al year for his team in 2001 commented on the new project; "We used the uprights for the new car on the Riley & Scott this year and we also had to build a new bellhousing between the engine and gearbox, so there was a lot going on with the car.We are doing a hell of a lot of work to get the car on the grid for next year. We have invested in the future with our all new car that we hope to be testing before Christmas."
Montani also hinted that the team could also be trying out a 5 litre version of the Judd V10 engine over the winter months,"It is definitely something that interests us and we plan to do something with it," he said.
The team are likely to keep their 2001 drivers Alex caffi and Mauro Baldi to develop and race the new car and chief engineer renato Moscati is also kept on board to oversee the testing of the new chassis.
October 13,2001 FIA-SCC Rules Insight:
From the beginning the objectives have been to build the FIA Sportscar Championship into a long term and stable championship where the constructors, teams, drivers and sponsors can invest time, effort and money with confidence.
At the FIA World Motorsports World Council meeting on the 3rd October the following was agreed:
- ACO LMP675 cars will be eligible for 2002
- Existing design cars will be eligible to race until at least 2005.
- SR2 carbon fibre tubs eligible for 2004.
- Several rule changes to bring existing cars in line with current ACO regulations. The remaining regulations requiring adjustments will be presented to the FIA Motorsports World Council December meeting.
- The eligibility regulations for 2002 will include a category for ex factory cars;
The price caps for:
new SR1 turnkey cars $680,000
ex factory SR1 cars $630,000
With the technical accord between the FIA and the ACO for new 2004 regulations(stable for 5 years)and the changes listed above everyone involved in sportscar racing now has a seven year plan for the future of sportscar construction and racing.
This a unique situation in motorsport allowing investment in to the FIA Sportscar Championship with confidence.
October 11,2001 Kyalami Postponed:
Due to the worsening international situation, the organisers of the FIA Sportscar Championship were faced with a very difficult decision. The teams leaving from Italy, together with the Championship fuel supply, would have to leave today (12th)for South Africa. If we allowed them to leave and the international situation deteriorated still further, there was a possibility that the teams leaving from Northern Europe 10 - 14 days later, and the teams who had elected to fly, could find that circumstances had changed and they were unable to travel.
Some teams are already experiencing difficulties with drivers, sponsors and technical support companies being unwilling to risk travelling.
We had entries from nearly all the top teams and, of course, with the local invitation classes in South Africa, we were looking forward to a strong grid. However, as no-one can predict what might happen in the next month, we have had to take the regrettable decision to postpone the event, rather than risk sending cars today (which would be on a round sea-trip for 9-11 weeks) with the possibility of a cancelled race. The assessment of the international situation will be made in about 6 weeks time with a view to establishing the new date.
It has been a good season for everyone connected with the Championship, and it would not be sensible to take a risk at the end of the season in such uncertain times.
We have had three great races at Kyalami and the current international situation will not effect our long-term South African calendar.
October 3,2001 Provisional 2002 FIA-SCC Calendar:
The Provisional 2002 calendar for the FIA Sports Car Championship is as follows:
April 7, Barcelona, Spain
April 21, Monza 1000km, Italy
May 19, Imola, Italy
June 30, Magny-Cours, France
July 14, Zandvoort, Holland
July 28 or Sept. 1, Great Britain (Silverstone? Brands Hatch?)
Sept. 15, Nurburgring, Germany
Sept. 22, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Nov. 24, Kyalami, South Africa
September 28,2001 Pescarolo Commits To Full 2002 FIA-SCC :
Henri Pescarolo has pledged to enter one of his Courage C60's in next years FIA Sportscar Championship. The four time Le mans winner could also enter the Peugeot powered car in the 2001 finale at Kyalami at the end of November, where he hopes to test an all new engine after the race.
"I will try to win the championship next year," said the French sportscar legend."We should have more support from Peugeot next year and hopefully with other partners we will be in a strong position to win the title."
Henri is planning to hang on to Magny Cours winner Jean Christophe Boullion and rising F3000 star Sebastien Bourdais who drove in the championship this year at Barcelona and Monza.
Another Courage could yet be scene in the championship next year with at least one high profile team currently in negotiations to run the ex SMG Judd powered car.
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