Photo: Williams Racing

The 2022 European Le Mans Series will feature several drivers and a team making the switch from junior single-seater racing.

Formula 2 race-winner and one-time Williams Formula 1 racer Jack Aitken is the most high-profile switch, with the 26-year-old joining the TF Sport-run Racing Team Turkey in the top LMP2 prototype sportscar class.

He will share the car with Salih Yoluc, currently racing in Formula Regional Asian Championship, and Charlie Eastwood. Aitken has teased that he has a further racing announcement to come, and has been doing IndyCar testing over winter since returning to action after he broke his back in last year’s Spa 24 Hours while racing a Lamborghini GT3 car.

French teenager Reshad de Gerus, 16th in a part-time Euroformula campaign last year and 17th in the Formula Renault Eurocup the year before, will go up against Aitken for Duqueine Team and has sportscar great Memo Rojas and Richard Bradley as his team-mates.

In LMP3, Chile’s Nico Pino will race in ELMS and the Asian LMS for Inter Europol Competition after making two appearances with the team in 2021. He also did a weekend in Euroformula last year, and before that raced in British Formula 4.

In the United Arab Emirates this month he will be sharing his car with Guilherme Oliveira, who was 13th in Spanish Formula 4 in 2021, and will be fighting for class wins against DKR Engineering’s Sebastian Alvarez, another to make a recent Euroformula cameo and a race-winner in GB3, and Koiranen’s Formula Academy Finland race-winner Nikita Alexandrov.

Yifei Ye will begin his career as a factory Porsche Asia Pacific driver in the GT3 class with Herberth Motorsport.

Also on track, but racing in FRAC instead, is Pierre-Louis Chovet. He has announced his main 2022 programme will be in European GT4 at the wheel of an Arkadia Racing-run Alpine A110 shared with Stephan Guerin, and has already tested with the team.

The post ELMS attracts junior single-seater stars from F2 and F3 appeared first on Formula Scout.

IndyCar teams are at the circuit today (December 6), and one-time Formula 1 starter and Formula 2 race-winner Jack Aitken is driving for Ed Carpenter Racing as he homes in on a part-time race seat with the team for 2022.

Indy Lights has the track for December 7/8, with the short layout being used. There will be 13 drivers in action with five teams, including the five drivers already signed for next season. The rest of the entry list gives a clue to who will be filling the remaining seats on the 2022 grid.

Andretti Autosport is running Hunter McElrea and Sting Ray Robb, both already announced, with Matthew Brabham and Christian Rasmussen in its other two cars and widely expected to be racing for the team as well next year.

HMD Motorsports has already poached Danial Frost from Andretti, is believed to be retaining Manuel Sulaiman and looks like it has Christian Bogle as a contender for a 2022 seat as he joins for Sebring.

The car HMD co-runs with Global Racing Group will be filled by Benjamin Pedersen for a second season, with the American-Dane recently outlining his title ambitions.

TJ Speed is in action with Kyffin Simpson, and its second car will be on track too. Artem Petrov, James Roe Jr, who recently did a GT3 test with Lamborghini team Imperiale Racing, and Ernie Francis Jr are also on the entry list but have not been named to teams, and Abel Motorsports is out with Jacob Abel but yet to confirm it will join the series.

Reigning Indy Lights champion Kyle Kirkwood, stepping up to IndyCar with AJ Foyt Racing next year, will continue with Vasser-Sullivan Racing in IMSA’s endurance rounds for 2022. He will share one of the team’s Lexus RC F GT3s with Jack Hawksworth and new arrival Ben Barnicoat.

Euroformula race-winner Barnicoat announced a week ago he has left his job as a McLaren factory driver after spending most of his car racing career with the brand.

Further down the American racing ladder, Cape Motorsports has made its second signing for the next USF2000 season.

Jackson Lee will move to Cape from Jay Howard Driver Development, with whom he finished 18th in his rookie campaign, and partner former NASCAR driver Jagger Jones.

Lee debuted in single-seaters in 2019, winning in Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series and in F1600 Championship Series a year later before winning the Team USA Scholarship.

“I am beyond excited for the opportunity to race with Cape Motorsports,” said Lee. “After testing with the team, I felt like this was the best place for me. What I learned last year, combined with the help of Dominic and Nicholas Cape and the rest of the team, will give me a great opportunity to compete for the championship in 2022.”

The post Aitken does IndyCar test at Sebring as Indy Lights grid firms up appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

Jack Aitken and Matteo Nannini, who both raced in HWA Racelab in Formula 2 this year, are looking at options in IndyCar and its supports next year.

Both already have experience of the Road to Indy, with Williams Formula 1 reserve driver Aitken having won the 2015 Pro Mazda Winterfest and Nannini having recently taken part in the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in an Indy Lights car.

Nannini, who is now racing as a half-Italian, half-Argentinian, drove for Juncos Hollinger Racing in the test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and has since been in its IndyCar workshop.

“It’s something I would consider to do,” Nannini said of Indy Lights to IndyCar’s official website.

“Especially because it’s a very great championship, because if you do well it gives you the opportunity to go up into IndyCar, a main series I really like. I would keep it in mind to do it next year.”

Juncos co-founder Ricardo Juncos praised Nannini by saying he was “different”.

“You can see he wants to be a race car driver,” he explained. “This kid seems to me that he has something inside of him that this is his life, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it.

“That’s very unusual for me, in my opinion. I’ve seen a few drivers over the last 20 years like that, but not everybody is like that.”

The 18-year-old started this year in F2 with HWA, while also competing the FIA Formula 3 Championship with the team. His F2 seat was taken by Aitken after just one round, but he found a way back into the championship with Campos Racing.

Aitken, a winner with ART Grand Prix and Campos previously in F2, struggled with HWA’s package before a back-breaking crash in the Spa 24 Hours ruled him out of further single-seater appearances.

With Williams’ 2022 line-up already decided, Aitken is now approaching teams in Formula E and IndyCar about finding a race seat he can return to single-seaters in.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” Aitken recently said to Formula Scout of his last time racing in the United States.

“I would still like to do some racing again in America. The tracks are really nice most of them, I went a few different ones. The team were a lot of fun to be with, we had some good success as well. They have quite a relaxed feeling in the paddock, which is really nice. So, I would definitely like to do it again at some point.

“There is a bigger risk [with ovals], but I’m quite interested to do it. It’s a different style of racing, and it takes a lot of skill to be up at the top level. I would be interested to do it for sure.”

There have been unverified reports that an IndyCar test has already been organised for Aitken, while Nannini is moving closer to entering Indy Lights with Juncos and is anticipated to do an IndyCar test if he signs with the team.

The post HWA drivers Aitken and Nannini eyeing US moves for 2022 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Williams Racing

Jack Aitken will return to Formula 1 for the first time since his back-breaking sportscar crash when he drives for Williams in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix free practice this December.

The 26-year-old competed for Williams in last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix in what was his race debut, having made his first free practice appearance earlier in the year at the Styrian Grand Prix.

He missed out on a full-time 2021 F1 promotion and instead moved into sportscar racing with Lamborghini customer team Emil Frey Racing. That campaign, and his stand-in run in Formula 2, was halted by a huge crash at the Spa 24 Hours in July.

• Feature: Why an F1 debut is Aitken’s just reward after a tricky year in F2

“Sneaking into Williams Racing to check she still fits,” Aitken said as he did his seat fit in the team’s FW43B car.

“Pumped to say I’ll be taking part in FP1 in Abu Dhabi with the crew again. Cannot wait to jump back in, and close off the year the right way.”

Aitken was Williams reserve driver this year alongside his racing programmes, but breaking his collarbone and back meant he couldn’t be on call in F1 for much of the second half of this season and it also kept him out of a single-seater in F2.

His F2 commitments were as a substitute at HWA Racelab once signed driver Matteo Nannini vacated his seat. In the three rounds Aitken did he scored no points, marking an underwhelming return to a series where he had won four races and claimed seven other podiums over the previous three seasons.

That seat is vacant once again for the final two rounds of the season, with Aitken and the most recent incubent Jake Hughes both in contention to fill it for the races in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

The post Aitken to make F1 return in Abu Dhabi GP practice appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: GTWCE

Williams Formula 1 reserve driver Jack Aitken has broken his collarbone, fractured his lower back and suffered a small lung contusion in a huge crash in the Spa 24 Hours.

The accident occurred in the early stages of the race at Spa-Francorchamps, as Aitken hit the wall at Raidillon then bouncws back onto the circuit in his Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo and was collected by Emil Frey Racing team-mate Franck Perera.

Two other cars got caught up in the crash. The driver of one of those and Perera were confirmed to be unharmed, while Aitken and Ferrari’s Davide Rigon were hospitalised. Rigon was released with protective plates, and Aitken stayed with his injuries.

“First of all, thank you to everyone who has supported me over the last several hours, from the marshals, medical staff trackside and at the hospital, my wonderful team, fellow drivers and all of you sending messages,” Aitken said in an official announcement following the crash.

“All things considered I feel fine, and quite lucky. I’m also sorry for my team-mates that we didn’t get to compete, and for the other cars involved.

“The aim now is to get back to the UK and start to recover as best as possible and be back in the car soon. I’m sure with the people around me I’ll manage it just fine!”

He added that “I’ve broken my collarbone and fractured a vertebra but it’s stable, fortunately” and thanked Lamborghini.

“Finally, a thank you to Lamborghini Squadra Corse for building a damn strong chassis. My thoughts also go out to the marshal that lost their life yesterday at Brands Hatch.”

Aitken is yet to score in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, the series the Spa 24 Hours is part of, but he does sit 10th in the points in the sister Sprint Cup series in his rookie season racing sportscars.

He has also raced this year in Formula 2 as a stand-in driver for HWA Racelab, with a best finish of ninth from the three rounds he’s been in one of the team’s cars for.

In the three seasons he previously spent in F2 he won four races and during that time made his F1 debut with Williams.

The post Aitken breaks collarbone and back in Spa 24 Hours crash appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

Jack Aitken and Richard Verschoor have been confirmed as being on the grid for this weekend’s Formula 2 round at Silverstone.

This year Aitken is racing in GT World Challenge Europe for Lamborghini team Emil Frey Racing, and is also Williams’ reserve driver in Formula 1 after debuting for the team last year during his third F2 season.

He was recently called back into F2 by HWA Racelab for the Monaco and Baku rounds to replace Matteo Nannini, and he took a best finish of ninth from his six races with the team. Aitken will now stay in the seat for a third round.

“Home race for Jack Aitken in Formula 2,” HWA announced on Twitter.

“After his outings in Monaco and Baku, he will also be behind the wheel of our #22 car at Silverstone. See you at the track, Jack!”

Aitken had already confirmed his presence at the circuit in a HWA capacity in addition to delivering his Williams duties, but had not revealed at the time whether he would be driving.

Verschoor meanwhile has stretched his round-by-round deal with MP Motorsport and has not only been preparing with the team since Baku but also coaching drivers in MP’s Spanish Formula 4 line-up.

He is currently 12th in the standings, with a best result of fourth from the first nine races of his F2 career.

There is a two-month break after Silverstone before the next round at Monza, which will provide ample time for Verschoor to secure the budget to complete the season. While Aitken would be available for Monza, HWA would need to find another driver to fill its second seat for September’s Sochi round as it clashes with the GTWCE Sprint Cup finale.

The post Aitken and Verschoor stay on in F2 for Silverstone round appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

Three-place grid penalties and a penalty point on each of their racing licenses have been handed out to Jack Aitken, Christian Lundgaard and Guilherme Samaia following Formula 2’s Baku qualifying.

HWA Racelab’s Aitken, who has won at the Azerbaijani street circuit in the past, earned his penalty for impeding ART Grand Prix’s Lundgaard at the castle section of the track during the Friday qualifying session.

Lundgaard meanwhile was punished for impeding Virtuosi Racing’s points leader Guanyu Zhou through the high-speed turn 13 and 14 left-handers.

Charouz Racing System driver Samaia was penalised for holding up Trident’s Bent Viscaal at the turn 3 left-hander. Viscaal took to Twitter after that incident explaining why he didn’t think qualifying 15th was representative of his pace.

“Don’t quite know how to put this, but I’ll be completely honest,” he said. “Was on course for top five until I thought I saw a red flag. Lifted, lost time, ended up P15. Embarrassing.

“Team did an outstanding job getting the car up to speed. Let’s make it up to them tomorrow!”

Viscaal’s team-mate Marino Sato picked up his own three-place grid penalty in free practice as a result of returning to the pitlane with a damaged car.

This means Charouz’s David Beckmann now starts 12th for the opening race of the weekend, ahead of Viscaal, Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport), Lundgaard, Nannini, Aitken, Lirim Zendeli (MP), Alessio Deledda (HWA), Sato and Samaia.

While DAMS’ Roy Nissany didn’t take part in qualifying after substantially damaging his car in a free practice crash, he has been given permission to race based on his free practice pace, and will do so from last on the grid for Saturday’s first sprint race and Sunday’s feature race.

The post Aitken, Lundgaard and Samaia cop grid penalties in Baku appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Jerry Andre / LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship

The last time Formula 2 was in Monaco was 2019, and now it’s being joined by the new-look Formula Regional European Championship this weekend. What can we expect from the return to street circuit racing?

It’s been two whole years since the Formula 1 circus last visited its most famous venue, the streets of Monte Carlo, and there’s a lot to discuss as F1 and its support series return there for four days this weekend.

The action begins on Thursday, with Formula Regional European Championship kicking off proceedings, and following a single free practice session Formula 2 holds its qualifying too later in the day.

On Friday the circuit is only used in the morning, allowing FREC to squeeze in its qualifying and for F2 to hold its first sprint race of the weekend, while on Saturday there is the follow-up F2 sprint, the feature race and FREC’s first ever street race.

Sunday is the day of the grand prix, and the VIPs on their yachts will be warmed up by Regional Formula 3 racers in the morning. It’s going to be a packed weekend of action, and there’s some different names to watch out for too including Williams F1 reserve driver (and one-time F1 racer) Jack Aitken standing in for Matteo Nannini at HWA Racelab in F2.

F2’s CEO Bruno Michel has spoken candidly about the state of F2 right now, and the changes it’s made for this year based on its experience of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the Formula Scout team discuss that in our latest podcast as well as what to expect from the drivers who will be in action this weekend.

Because of the shortness of the Monaco circuit, qualifying will be split into two groups for both series. The fastest driver from either group will earn pole, and all the other drivers in their session will line up from the odd-numbered grid slots, while the fastest driver from the other group will start second, and everyone else from their group start from an even-numbered grid slot. This isn’t the only effort to reduce traffic, as potentially some of the 33 FREC drivers scheduled to enter the event may not even get to race due to circuit capacity limitations.

Weekend timetable (local times)

Thursday, May 20
FREC free practice: 08:30 – 09:20
F2 free practice: 09:45 – 10:30
F2 qualifying group A: 13:20 – 13:36
F2 qualifying group B: 13:44 – 14:00

Friday, May 21
FREC qualifying group A: 07:55 – 08:25
FREC qualifying group B: 08:33 – 09:03
F2 sprint race 1: 11:45 – 12:35

Saturday, May 22
F2 sprint race 2: 08:20 – 09:10
FREC race 1: 10:15 – 10:30
F2 feature race: 17:15 – 18:20

Sunday, May 23
FREC race 2: 11:50 – 12:25

You can listen to the podcast below, or find it on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Castbox, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The post Podcast: Previewing junior single-seaters’ return to the Monaco streets appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Williams Racing

Jack Aitken will make a surprise return to Formula 2 this weekend, taking the seat of Matteo Nannini at HWA Racelab for Monaco and then the Baku round two weeks after.

The Williams Formula 1 reserve driver raced in F2 from 2018 to 2020, winning four races and coming fifth in the points with Campos Racing in his second season. He stayed at Campos for last year and got two podiums before making his F1 debut.

Nannini had signed to race for HWA in both F2 and the FIA Formula 3 Championship this year, something made possible by the two series splitting their calendars for 2021. However, the 17-year-old Italian will now focus on F3 for the rest of the year.

“I was surprised but also very honoured that HWA asked me to support the team in Monaco and Baku,” Aitken said.

“They are two of my favourite circuits and it is going to be a real pleasure! I know HWA from races in the past in which we have competed against each other. I have always been aware of their high standard. I am looking forward to returning to Formula 2 and working with HWA, in order to get the absolute maximum out of the two weekends.”

The 25-year-old is spending this year racing in GT World Challenge Europe for Lamborghini team Emil Frey Racing alongside his Williams role, and is currently 27th in the points after the first two rounds.

Aitken’s only feature race win in F2 came in Baku in 2019, and from eighth on the grid, while his best Monaco result is seventh.

Nannini, who finished in the top 10 twice during his debut F2 weekend at Bahrain in March, explained that sponsorship issues were behind him giving up the seat.

“Unfortunately I am announcing that I will no longer compete in FIA F2 this year,” said the Italian.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, my main sponsor Celli Spa decided not to keep supporting my dual campaign. I’ll continue racing in FIA F3, which turns into my sole focus for the remainder of the season.

“I’m feeling confident and motivated to complete a successful season with HWA Racelab from the French Grand Prix onwards, being up for any challenge along the way. “

The post Aitken returns to F2 as Nannini replacement for Monaco, Baku appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Williams Racing

Williams Formula 1 reserve driver Jack Aitken has announced the first of his 2021 racing programmes, which is a move into sportscars with Swiss team Emil Frey Racing.

Aitken will contest the GT World Challeng Europe Sprint and Endurance Cups in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. The series includes the famous Spa 24 Hours, which will be Aitken’s first true real-world endurance race.

The British-Korean’s experience of sportscars so far has been restricted to Esports, and he came third in last year’s Virtual Le Mans 24 Hours for Rebellion WIlliams Esports driving a digital version of the Oreca 07 LMP2 car.

“It’s very exciting to start on a new discipline and add a new set of skills to my experience in single seaters, and I can’t wait to start learning,” said Aitken.

“The Lamborghini Huracan GT3 has been a pleasure so far, and I hope I can add some success to its already impressive record.

“I’ve met much of the team at Emil Frey already and felt comfortable working with them from the start, they have a professionalism and attention to detail that matches anything I’ve seen so far in my career. This year will be a fantastic opportunity for me to broaden my abilities as a driver, and I intend to make the most of it.”

At the end of 2020, Aitken made his F1 debut with Williams as a substitute for George Russell at the Sakhir Grand Prix after making one free practice appearance earlier in the season. He qualified 18th for his first race, and finished 16th with a spin.

Last year was otherwise a less-than-rewarding one for Aitken on track, with his third campaign in Formula 2 only resulting in two podiums and 14th in the standings. This had come off the back of a 2019 season in which he won three races.

Aitken will share the #114 Emil Frey Racing car with Formula Regional European Championship graduate Konsta Lappalainen.

The 19-year-old Finn won the 2018 Formula 4 North European Zone title before spending two seasons in FREC with his father’s KIC Motorsport team. His best finish was a second place, and he picked up two other podiums.

For the GTWCE Endurance rounds, 2017 French F4 champion and rising sportscar star Arthur Rougier will also drive the #114.

Another driver making a move into sportscars is Rui Andrade. The Euroformula regular debuted in prototypes with Algarve Pro Racing in the Asian Le Mans Series earlier this year, and ended up finishing the four-race season in third overall.

He will now race for the team in the European Le Mans Series in a Oreca 07 shared with Aitken’s fellow 2020 F1 debutant Pietro Fittipaldi and John Falb. Andrade told Formula Scout he thinks he won’t be making a Euroformula return in 2021.

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