Photo: Hellofoto

The Champions of the Future season concluded at PF International with local knowledge coming to the fore.

On the senior OK class karts, Joe Turney was triumphant. He topped free practice, then beat the track record in qualifying but was not fastest as Noah Monteiro bettered him by 0.029s.

Rain made for tricky heats, with Turney and Freddie Lloyd winning five each. Turney twice won by more than 10s.

Salim Hanna Hernandez and Scott Lindblom each claimed two heats, and McLaren junior Dries Van Langendonck won one on his senior karting debut.

Lloyd dominated the wet first superheat by 10.154s, and Fionn McLaughlin pipped Turney by 0.167s in the second.

Poleman Lloyd, Gus Lawrence (of the local PFI Karting team) and Matthew Higgins pre-empted the start signal for the final’s formation lap. On the actual start Lloyd nailed it to lead Turney and Lawrence, who traded places on laps four and six.

On lap eight, Lloyd pulled 0.983s clear as Turney made a mistake and Hanna dived past Lawrence. Turney rapidly closed back in, and on lap 15 took the lead at the second hairpin and never looked back.

Lawrence had regained third, but Hanna got back past. McLaughlin finished fifth, despite a clash with fellow Red Bull junior Scott Lindblom that put him out. Van Langendonck was sixth, and Higgins lost seventh to a penalty for an agressive move.

Pre-event points leader Thibaut Ramaekers was disqualified for a technical nonconformity, which helped Turney – who moved ahead of him before the final – take the title.

Van Langendonck impressively claimed the OK Junior crown despite not racing.

Noah Baglin led Ilie Tristan Crisan, title outsider Christian Costoya and James Anagnostiadis in qualifying. Filippo Sala and Anagnostiadis won three heats each, with the latter’s results his first points of 2024. Anagnostiadis became a Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior in July, but 28th in the CIK-FIA European championship has been the highlight of a lacklustre 2024.

Costoya kept his title hopes going with two heat wins, and Rocco Coronel doubled up too.

Anagnostiadis was dominant in the wet to win superheat one, and fellow Mercedes-AMG junior and Prema team-mate Kenzo Craigie won superheat two. Niklas Schaufler finished 10th to be Van Langendonck’s main title rival entering the final.

Costoya was eliminated on lap one in a clash, and on lap two Craigie, Sala and Scott Marsh passed Anagnostiadis. Marsh took the lead in a three-wide hairpin move on lap three, and Anagnostiadis overtook Sala on lap four.

Schaufler drove into Arjen Kraling’s rear then had Harrison Mackie drive over the back of him on lap five, but did not lose 12th.

A double switchback move earned Craigie the lead on lap six, as a rapid Coronel leapt to third and Sala dropped to fourth after attempting to snatch first. Coronel then took second, which became first after Craigie ran wide on lap seven and sank to fourth.

Sala passed him too on lap 10, and Marsh reclaimed the lead on lap 13. It became a four-way fight again and he clashed on the back straight with Coronel (who had a penalty for an earlier clash with Craigie).

Sala took second from Coronel on lap 14 and chased the leader, but did not need to since he bunched up the field. Once again Sala’s attempt to take first left him fourth, and it was similar for Coronel and Craigie as Marsh put in a defensive masterclass to stay ahead of a lead group of 10.

Craigie was runner-up after Coronel’s penalty dropped him to seventh, just ahead of Anagnostiadis. Sala was third, and Schaufler finished 17th.

Results round-up
OK final (22 laps)
1 Joe Turney Kart Republic [Kart Republic] 20m14.010s
2 Freddie Lloyd Fusion Motorsport [Kart Republic] +1.100s
3 Salim Hanna Hernandez Prema [Kart Republic] +4.430s
4 Gus Lawrence PFI Karting [Tony Kart] +5.160s
5 Fionn McLaughlin VDK Racing [Kart Republic] +10.056s
6 Dries Van Langendonck Forza Racing [Exprit] +12.986s
7 David Cosma Cristofor Kart Republic [Kart Republic] +14.090s
8 Joseph Smith Victory Lane [Kart Republic] +14.138s
9 Jimmy Helias Victory Lane [Kart Republic] +15.312s
10 Olin Galli CRG [CRG] +15.640s
Fastest lap: Smith 54.634s

OK Junior final (19 laps)
1 Scott Marsh Tony Kart [Tony Kart] 18m20.982s
2 Kenzo Craigie Prema [Kart Republic] +0.381s
3 Filippo Sala Ricky Flynn Motorsport [Lando Norris] +1.016s
4 Jarrett Clark Forza Racing [Exprit] +2.733s
5 Kit Belofsky Fusion Motorsport [Kart Republic] +3.215s
6 Arjen Kraling Kart Republic [Kart Republic] +4.615s
7 Rocco Coronel Victory Lane [Kart Republic] +5.236s
8 James Anagnostiadis Prema [Kart Republic] +5.418s
9 Devin Walz Forza Racing [Exprit] +5.793s
10 Joel Pohjola Tony Kart [Tony Kart] +7.042s
FL: Roman Kamyab, 56.427s

The post Marsh’s defensive masterclass denies Mercedes juniors in CotF finale appeared first on Formula Scout.

Daniel Cammish made a triumphant return to Formula Ford with a clean-sweep of the first three races of the British championship’s winged-era at Brands Hatch.

The 23-year-old was back in the category he finished third in in 2010, before coming sixth in Formula Renault UK in 2011 and missing most of 2012 after sustaining an injury in the Eurocup opener.

Cammish beat fellow returnee and 2011 dominator Scott Malvern to pole position for all three of the weekend’s races at the Kent circuit. He led Saturday’s race from lights-to-flag, though his JTR teammate Camren Kaminsky finished up just eight tenths behind on his debut.

George Blundell completed the podium on his first race in the new EcoBoost car after getting past Luke Williams. Finland’s Lassi Halminen, who has spent the last two years in the Formula BMW Talent Cup and Intersteps Championship, recovered from an early spin to claim fourth at the flag, relegating Jamun Racing pair Williams and Nico Maranzana on the penultimate lap to fifth and sixth respectively.

Malvern meanwhile was running third before a power delivery problem forced him into retirement.

The reigning Formula Renault BARC champion was able to give Cammish a harder time of things in race two on Sunday morning. He dropped to third behind teammate Williams at the start but found his way back past on lap seven. He then cut the gap to Cammish from 3.7 seconds to under half a second, but was made to settle for second place.

Williams dropped out with electrical gremlins, handing the final podium spot to 17-year-old Argentine Maranzana. Kaminsky and Halminen were left to fight over fourth, but finished up in the Paddock Hill gravel trap after contact on the penultimate lap. That gave fourth spot to Blundell and fifth to Autosport’s Ben Anderson, a regular in the club-level Formula Vee who was handed a late call-up by Jamun to replace Argentine Juan Angel Rosso, who was injured in a testing accident.

Cammish completed his perfect weekend with a third pole-to-flag win at the end of the day. His cause was helped by a first-lap tangle between teammates Malvern and Maranzana that sent the latter to back of the 12-car pack before recovering to eighth. Williams benefited to finish in second after starting back in sixth, with Kaminsky taking third.

Maranzana survived his incident with Malvern to come home in fourth ahead of Halminen, while Anderson got the better of Blundell to finish his weekend with sixth.

Cammish heads the early championship standings with 91 points, with Maranzana and Blundell tied for second on 64 and Kaminsky on 51. Fellow rookie Harrison Scott had a solid if unspectacular weekend with three top nine finishes to sit just three points behind Kaminsky, while Williams and Malvern are a further one and three points back respectively after their unfortunate weekends.

The next round takes place at Donington Park on 21 April.

The post Roundup: Cammish treble in Formula Ford opener appeared first on Formula Scout.

A chronic lack of funding has made the F1 dream difficult, but Scott Malvern has impressed on the track by following up his dominance in Formula Ford last year with the Formula Renault BARC title at the first attempt…

Factfile:
Full name: Scott Aaron Malvern
Date of birth: 23 February 1989 (age 23)
Nationality: British
Currently: Formula Renault BARC champion

Scott Malvern clinched the Formula Renault BARC Championship title at Silverstone last weekend, adding a second straight single-seater title to the British Formula Ford crown he claimed in dominant style in 2011 and once again proving that he deserves a chance at a higher level despite the lack of money behind him.

Scott began his career in karting, rising through the ranks in the Cadet, Junior TKM and TKM Extreme classes and onto ICA and Formula A in 2006 and 2007. He looked to try and move into single-seaters for 2008 but struggled to raise the budget and settled for working with top Formula Ford squad Jamun Racing, taking Tim Blanchard to second in the championship as his number one mechanic. He used the knowledge gained to set some impressive times when he tested for various Formula Ford teams at the end of the year.

In 2009 he entered the Formula Ford 1600 National Championship with Cliff Dempsey Racing and won the title with six wins from 14 races. He moved up to the main championship in 2010 and thanks to some amazing consistency he finished every race in the points and 22 of the 25 races in the top five, outscoring Scott Pye by a single point. However, dropped scores meant that Malvern had to settle for second place as Pye claimed the championship. His performances were enough to see him nominated for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

Scott remained in Formula Ford for 2011, now racing for Jamun. He dominated the championship, winning 18 of the 24 races. He was also the winner of all four EuroCup weekends, winning nine of the 11 races, and crowned his season with victory in the Formula Ford Festival. He was again nominated for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

Scott at the GP3 test at Barcelona at the end of 2011 (Photo: GP3 Media Service)

He tested in GP3 and Formula Two over the winter but could not get the budget together to make such a step up. He instead had to settle for a last-minute drive in Formula Renault BARC and made the most of it, taking three wins and a total of 11 podiums from the 14 races. That allowed him to beat third-year driver and last year’s runner-up Josh Webster to the title, even though Webster won five times.

Talent rating: It’s hard to get a precise grasp of Scott’s talent without seeing how he stacks up in a truly competitive championship, but there’s little more he could have done in the past three years. With no testing and a mid-season change of teams, he’s proven that his Formula Ford success was no fluke. The only pointer we have to how well he could do in quicker machinery are the F2 and GP3 tests he did, where his times weren’t outstanding but it was a big step up for someone from the wing-less Formula Ford. 7/10

Chances of getting to F1: Scott’s lack of financial backing will make the next step difficult enough, let alone enable to him to go on to the top step of the junior ladder, and his age will probably deter driver development programmes from taking him on. Has been funded this year largely by businessman Patrick Cullen, also acting as driver coach for Patrick’s son Ryan in Formula Ford. Ryan’s eyeing a GP3 move next year and it’s not unthinkable that Scott could get a seat alongside him, although that would require a large outlay from Cullen Sr. Even if F1’s highly unlikely, Scott deserves a chance to show what he can do at the next level. And he’s certainly good enough for a long career in some discipline or other. 2/10

Visit Scott’s official website
Follow @ScottMalvern on Twitter
Visit Scott’s Wikipedia page

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography/Renault

The post Two straight titles: Scott Malvern appeared first on Formula Scout.

Red Bull’s Russian beats rival Norman Nato to win both races at the penultimate Formula Renault Alps round in Italy to retake the points lead ahead of the season finale…

Formula Renault Alps

Daniil Kvyat added two more wins to his 2012 tally in the penultimate race weekend of Formula Renault 2.0 Alps to move back ahead of season-long rival Norman Nato and into the standings lead.

Kvyat claimed pole for both races, winning the first by seven seconds. Nato took second, after getting ahead of Formula Abarth frontrunner Bruno Bonifacio who had qualified second for his Renault debut with the returning Prema squad. The third of the title contenders Paul-Loup Chatin also passed Bonifacio at the start, before the Brazilian spun out of fourth on lap four. Simone Iaquinta inherited P4 ahead of Patrick Kujala and Bonifacio’s teammate and fellow Abarth convert Luca Ghiotto who had started fourth. Stefan Wackerbauer was seventh ahead of Brazilian pairing Guilherme Silva and Victor Franzoni with William Vermont in tenth. Another debutant of note was French F4 graduate Egor Orudzhev with former Superleague champion Adrian Valles’ new team. The Russian qualified a highly impressive seventh but slipped back at the start before retiring.

Race two saw an identical podium, with Kvyat again winning from pole but this time only 1.7 seconds ahead of Nato after the Frenchman started from second on the grid. Chatin was again third while Bonifacio took a fine fourth. Kujala passed Ghiotto for fifth with Aurelien Panis enjoying a good run to seventh ahead of Franzoni, Alexander Albon and Iaquinta.

Kvyat has 201 points with Nato on 188 and Chatin still in mathematical contention on 157. The season concludes in Barcelona in two weeks’ time at the World Series by Renault season finale, where Kvyat will also be chasing title glory in the Eurocup.

Formula Renault BARC

The Formula Renault BARC season concluded on the British Touring Car support bill at Silverstone, with Scott Malvern claiming a second single-seater title in two years as he added to his dominant Formula Ford triumph from 2011.

Morris heads title rivals Webster and Malvern (Photo: Jakob Ebrey/Renault)

Fresh from being featured in the first episode of the ‘Britain’s Next F1 Star’ TV documentary on Thursday, Seb Morris claimed a double pole position and won both races. In the first, Josh Webster fended off title rival Malvern to finish second and narrow the gap between them to 11 points going into the finale. Michael Epps was fourth with Chris Middlehurst fifth, while Matthew Brabham finished his first race in Europe in sixth. The grandson of Jack and son of Le Mans winner Geoff won this year’s US F2000 title and got the chance to compete in Europe through the separate Team USA Scholarship scheme.

Malvern went from fourth to second at the start of the second race and finished just behind Morris after having a look to pass the 16-year-old at one stage. His result sealed him the title, while Webster finished down in 13th, just ahead of Brabham, after getting caught up in a collision between two other cars. Kieran Vernon completed the podium in third. With dropped scores taken into account, Malvern finished up on 368 points, Webster on 335 while Morris completed his maiden single-seater campaign in third on 274.

PaddockScout Driver of the Weekend: With equally dominant weekends, it’s a tie between Daniil Kvyat and Seb Morris.

Next weekend: Jake Dennis should secure the Formula Renault NEC title at the Spa season finale.

The post Roundup: Kvyat wins twice at Mugello to take Alps lead appeared first on Formula Scout.

German rookie moves well into title contention after getting his maiden victory in the third race of the Nurburgring weekend, as Juncadella and Marciello get in to trouble…

Formula 3 Euro Series

Daniel Juncadella boosted his championship lead in the first of the three races at the Nurburgring, taking an untroubled win from pole position. Sven Muller was a strong second with Pascal Wehrlein third ahead of his teammate Felix Rosenqvist. Guest driver Jazeman Jaafar was fifth ahead of title contender Raffaele Marciello, while Carlos Sainz Jr and single-seater returnee Alexander Sims completed the top eight.

That put Sims on pole for the reverse grid second race, having previously set the pace in Friday’s test in T-Sport’s Nissan-engined car. The Brit was forced to switch to sportscars as the start of 2012 when he lost his backing from Gravity Sports Management after failing to make their targets in GP3 last year, and was racing at the Nurburgring to qualify for the Macau Grand Prix later this year. He successfully converted his pole into a victorious Euro Series return. Marciello finished second to take maximum Euro Series points, ahead of Rosenqvist, Wehrlein, Muller, Tom Blomqvist, Jaafar and Juncadella. Sainz was third until he was handed a drive-through penalty for having his mechanics still working on the car after the time limit before the race

Juncadella was on pole again for race three but had contact with Rosenqvist heading towards the first corner that resulted in the Spaniard being given a drive-through. Wehrlein inherited the lead, going on to claim his maiden F3 win ahead of William Buller. Sainz was third until he was spun around by Sims – who needed to pit for front wing damage as Sainz dropped to the back. That gave third to Jaafar, ahead of Emil Bernstorff, Blomqvist, Michael Lewis and Luis Sa Silva. Juncadella and Sainz had fought back to eighth and ninth until Sainz forced his compatriot off track. Juncadella retired with damage, while Sainz was handed his second penalty of the weekend. Meanwhile, Prema teammates Marciello and Muller came together on the first lap, ending their races.

Juncadella remains in the lead of the championship on 150 points, but Wehrlein is up to second on 138 ahead of Marciello on 136.5 and Buller on 128.5. Round six of eight takes place at Zandvoort next weekend. Juncadella’s first race win gave him the lead of the FIA European Championship ahead of Marciello.

Formula Pilota China

Karting graduate Antonio Giovinazzi claimed his maiden cars victory in the first of the races at round three at Ordos. Shota Kiyohara, returning to the series after missing the previous round, was on pole but finished in third place behind Giovinazzi’s teammate Sean Gelael. Dan Wells qualified fourth, but stalled at the start before fighting back to seventh.

Giovinazzi was on pole for race two and converted that into a second win, with his Eurasia teammates Gelael and Parth Ghorpade joining him on the podium. Kiyohara was fourth, with Wells only making up one place to sixth.

The Brit turned his weekend around in race three, taking the lead from pole-sitter Gelael at the first corner and going on to win by nine seconds. Gelael retired with technical problems, with Ghorpade taking second and Giovinazzi completing the podium.

Giovinazzi’s two wins hand him the points lead on 114, with Wells on 100. The next round is at Guangdong on 15/16 September.

Formula Renault BARC

Josh Webster closed on points leader Scott Malvern by beating him to victory in the first race at Donington Park to record his fourth straight race win. Malvern fought back though by winning race two from pole, while Webster could only manage fourth behind David Wagner and Chris Middlehurst. Wagner scored his first win of the season from pole in race three ahead of Malvern and Seb Morris, while Webster was sixth. With just one round to go at Silverstone in October, Malvern leads on 324 points while Webster has 301.

PaddockScout Driver of the Weekend: Pascal Wehrlein – Another strong performance from the F3 rookie. Who had him down as a title contender at the start of the season?

Next weekend: A busy weekend of action, headlined by the Formula Renault 3.5 Series’ trip to Silverstone.

The post Roundup: Wehrlein closes on Euro Series lead at Nurburgring appeared first on Formula Scout.

There were off-weekends for the title rivals in GP2 at Hockenheim, while in GP3 Patric Niederhauser grabbed another win and Mitch Evans extended his advantage…

GP2 Series

A damp track saw most of the field start on wets for the feature race in Hockenheim, but a gamble by Johnny Cecotto to start on slicks paid off big time. As the track dried out quickly, Cecotto drove his way through the field while everyone else headed for the pits. When Cecotto eventually made his mandatory stop he stayed out in the lead to win his second feature race of the season. Fabio Leimer took second, ahead of Stephane Richelmi – the only other man to start on slicks.

Felipe Nasr took fourth ahead of polesitter Giedo van der Garde, while Nigel Melker slipped to sixth after flying into the lead in the difficult conditions at the start. Points leader Luiz Razia was seventh, with James Calado taking eighth and the reverse grid pole.

The Racing Steps driver drove away in the sprint race to make a well-earned return to the top step of the podium after his win in Malaysia. Van der Garde was second, with Nasr completing a fine weekend with third. Leimer was fourth ahead of Esteban Gutierrez and Cecotto. Post-race penalties promoted Razia’s rival Davide Valsecchi to seventh, after an earlier spin. Razia too spun and dropped to the back on the first lap before recovering to tenth.

Razia leads Valsecchi by ten points, and despite their bad weekends they’re still more than 30 points clear of anyone else – Gutierrez’s weekend hampered by a grid penalty for a Silverstone collision. The season continues this weekend at the Hungaroring.

GP3 Series

Heavy rain caused the first race to start behind the safety car, but a number of drivers were still on slicks, including front row starters Daniel Abt and Mitch Evans. Those driver then came in to change to wet tyres, but with conditions worsening the race was then red-flagged. Conor Daly led when the race eventually got back underway, but he was passed for the lead by Patric Niederhauser, who was able to add to his victory from Race 2 in Valencia.

Kevin Ceccon completed the podium on the road but was later penalised for not having his tyres fitted in time at the start of the race. That meant that fellow Italian Giovanni Venturini finished third on just his second weekend in the series. Matias Laine was fourth, while the conditions helped fellow Finn Aaro Vainio to recover from a grid penalty and finish fifth, ahead of his title rival Evans. Tamas Pal Kiss was sixth, with Abt and Evans recovering to seventh and eighth.

Abt beat Evans off the line in race two to take the lead, before a lengthy safety car period as Vicky Piria received medical attention after an aerial crash at the hairpin. At the restart Evans retook the lead from Abt, before another safety car period after Fabiano Machado took to the air after running wide at turn one. Evans crossed the line to take his third win of the season, ahead of Abt and Daly. Pal Kiss, Laine, Vainio, Tio Ellinas and Venturini.

The win extended Evans’ lead over Vainio to 18 points, with Abt, Niederhauser and Daly separated by just one point in the battle for third. The Hungaroring hosts round six of eight.

Conor Day was beaten to the win in the first race, but still took two podium finishes (Photo: GP3)

Auto GP

Former F1 driver Antonio Pizzonia returned to single-seaters for his home round at Curitba, and finished up having won both of the races. The Brazilian won the first after a poor start for pole-sitter Adrian Quaife-Hobbs. Still, third place behind main rival Pal Varhaug was going to be enough for the Briton to win the title but a nightmare pitstop saw him finish third. Sergey Sirotkin completed the podium, ahead of Daniel De Jong and Chris van der Drift.

Quaife-Hobbs mastered his start in the second race to jump from third to first, and had a 35 second lead when he headed for the pits to make his mandatory stop three laps from the end. He misjudged his entry though and slid into a tyre wall and into retirement, handing victory to Pizzonia. Van der Drift and De Jong completed the podium ahead of Sirotkin, while Varhaug’s fifth place meant that he can not catch Quaife-Hobbs at the season finale at Sonoma, handing the Brit the title.

Formula 3 Sudamericana

Formula Abarth points leader Nicolas Costa took a win and a second place at the season opener at Curitiba, a result matched by 18-year-old Fernando Resende.

Formula Two

15-year-old Matheo Tuscher claimed his maiden win at Paul Ricard, after claiming his third pole position of the year in qualifying. Points leader Luciano Bacheta was second, ahead of fellow Brits Daniel McKenzie and Dino Zamparelli. Markus Pommer, Kevin Mirocha, Mihai Marinescu and Christopher Zanella completed the top eight.

Pommer won the second race from pole, ahead of Tuscher and Zanella. Mirocha was fourth, Bacheta fifth, Zamparelli sixth, Marinescu seventh and McKenzie eighth.

Bacheta continues to lead the points by 32.5 points, with Tuscher second. There are six weeks until the penultimate round of the season at the Hungaroring.

Tuscher enjoyed his best weekend in F2 yet (Photo: Formula Two)

F3 Open

Niccolo Schiro joined Gianmarco Raimondo and Mans Grenhagen in the title battle by winning both races at Paul Ricard. Points leader Raimondo finished both races in second place, while Grenhagen was only 16th in the first race before coming third in race two. Facu Regalia, who chose F3 Open over Auto GP and GP3 at the weekend, was the man who completed the podium in Grenhagen’s absence in race one.

Formula Renault BARC

Josh Webster boosted his title chances with a double win at Croft, fresh from his class-winning F3 debut at the Masters of Zandvoort. Scott Malvern maintained his standings lead with a fourth and a second, but it was a bad weekend for the third title contender and single-seater rookie Seb Morris, who retired from the first race and was 11th in the second race.

PaddockScout Driver of the Weekend: Seeing as a certain 31-year-old former F1 driver doesn’t really fall into PaddockScout’s remit, I’ll give the award this week to Matheo Tuscher, who’s just about young enough to be Pizzonia’s son.

Next weekend: GP2 and GP3 again from the Hungaroring, while the best in F3 are in action at the British series round at Spa.

The post Roundup: Second wins of the season for Cecotto and Calado appeared first on Formula Scout.

Jack Harvey wins the opening race of the British F3 season at Oulton Park and leads the points standings at the end of the first weekend…

British Formula 3

Racing Steps Foundation driver Jack Harvey got his British F3 title assault off to the best start at round one at Oulton Park. The Carlin driver claimed a double pole position in qualifying on Friday, meaning he would start the first and third races from first place. He would convert that into a dominant victory in Race 1 on Saturday morning, with a supreme drive in damp conditions.

His Petronas-backed teammate Jazeman Jaafar made a good start to his third year in the series, claiming second place after getting past Harry Tincknell off the line. Tincknell fell behind another of his Carlin teammates Carlos Sainz as well as leading Fortec contender Hannes van Asseldonk. Red Bull Junior Sainz went on to complete the podium on his debut in the championship, but fellow newcomer and recent Toyota Racing Series runner-up van Asseldonk sliding off the track on the very last lap as he chased down Sainz. Tincknell inherited fourth, ahead of last year’s dominant Formula Renault UK champion Alex Lynn.

All 12 finishers in Race 1 were reversed for the Race 2 grid, putting Aussie national class runner Duvashen Padayachee on pole for the 20 minute dash. His rival Spike Goddard took the lead at the start, and held on for several laps with a queue of quicker cars behind him. Pipo Derani eventually fought his way past, and was still leading when the safety car was called out after Fortec teammate Lynn had clipped a tyre wall and come to a stop. The race restarted for one final lap, and Derani held on to claim his first win in F3. Compatriot Pietro Fantin was second and the first of the Carlin quintet, leading Jaafar, Tincknell, Sainz and Harvey across the line.

Harvey was on pole again in the third race at the end of the day, but it was F3 debutant Felix Serrralles who beat him into turn one, having already surprised by going second quickest in qualifying. Meanwhile, Derani failed to get away and the safety car was needed as his stricken car was recovered. After the restart Serralles gradually eased away from Harvey to record a debut victory, the Puerto Rican adding to his recent race win in the Toyota Racing Series. Harvey’s second place handed him the early championship lead, with Tincknell beating Sainz to the final podium spot. Jaafar took fifth in front of Lynn and Fantin.

Harvey sits six points clear of Jaafar, with Tincknell, Sainz and Serralles close behind. The field moves on to Monza in Italy for round two next weekend.

Formula Ford GB

Also in action at the Cheshire circuit was Formula Ford GB, also with a brand-new chassis. Finland’s Antti Buri won the first race ahead of Argentina’s Eric Lichtenstein and Brit Jake Cook. Cook took the honours in race two ahead of Buri and Fred Martin-Dye, while race three saw a third different winner in the form of Luke Williams with Cook and Buri completing the podium. Buri and Cook are tied for the points lead, with the next round at Brands Hatch in support of the DTM and European F3 on the weekend of 18-20 May.

Formula Renault BARC

Webster crosses the line to win race one (Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography)

Another championship, another three races and another three different winners, this time at Snetterton. Ginetta Junior champion Seb Morris claimed pole for all three races, but his race one lead was lost when he ran wide on lap two. Late series returnee Josh? Webster inherited the lead and would go on to win the race. Record-breaking Formula Ford champ Scott Malvern had actually stolen the lead from Webster but was denied a debut win after getting stuck in sixth gear. David Wagner and Macaulay Walsh completed the podium.

Race two saw Morris successfully convert pole into victory, with a margin of seven seconds to his nearest rival. Webster stole second place from Malvern on the final lap when the latter again suffered from gear problems.

Everything did come together in race three for Malvern, benefiting when Morris stalled and going on to win. Webster was second with Jake Dalton in third.

Webster leads the points ahead of Morris and Malvern. Round two takes place at Rockingham on 19-20 May.

PaddockScout Driver of the Weekend: Jack Harvey – He showed himself to be the quickest man in the British F3 field this weekend, and he’ll hope that he can retain that advantage for the rest of the year.

The post PaddockScout Roundup: Harvey makes a winning start appeared first on Formula Scout.

The British Formula 3 grid has shrunk in size a bit over the winter, with the main class down to just 12 entries for the season opener compared to 19 12 months ago. It looks as though it’s going to be a battle between the five Volkswagen-powered cars of superteam Carlin (winners of the last four titles) and the four Mercedes-engined Fortec cars.

Carlin

Photo: Chris Gurton Photography

Leading Carlin’s lineup is Jack Harvey. The Racing Steps Foundation driver is embarking on his second year in the category. After finishing runner-up in Formula BMW Europe in 2010, where he won more races than champion Robin Frijns, Harvey had a tricky start to his maiden F3 season with Carlin last year. Despite his nationality, he had a lack of track knowledge on the British circuits compared to his rivals. This was proved when he won at the Nurburgring at the start of the mid-season continental trip, in which he also clinched podium finishes at Paul Ricard and Spa. He maintained that form until the end of the year, finishing ninth in the final standings.

It should be noted that Felipe Nasr struggled with the jump from Formula BMW to F3, as did Esteban Gutierrez. After his learning year last year, Harvey will be aiming for the title this time around. Still only 18, he has been setting the pace in pre-season testing, and should be winning races from the off.

His biggest rival is likely to be Carlos Sainz Jr, a driver Harvey raced back in Formula BMW. A rookie he may be, but Sainz has the material to win first time. This is the fourth year Red Bull have placed a driver in British F3, with Carlin, straight out of Formula Renault. On all three previous occasions, their drivers won: Alguersuari, Ricciardo and Vergne. No pressure then…

Runner-up in the Formula Renault Eurocup and champion in the North European Cup last year, Sainz is at least as talented as that trio. He may only be 17 and have two years of car racing behind him, but he has the skills needed to win right away. His chances will be helped against those with experience by the brand new Dallara chassis, which will mean that everyone has had to start from near-scratch.

Although Harvey and Sainz look strongest, the remaining three drivers in the Carlin lineup shouldn’t be scoffed at. Jazeman Jaafar returns for a third year in the category and his third with Carlin. He won the Formula BMW Asia title back in 2007, having only turned 15 in the November of that year. Last year the Petronas-backed Malaysian lay third in the standings after three podium finishes from the opening couple of rounds. Unfortunately he only picked up one further podium, dropping him to sixth overall.

After testing in Formula Renault 3.5 at the end of last year we’d expected him to move on, but he’s continued for 2012. The 19-year-old will hope experience will pay off and get him the title, but we’re not sure he will be able to compete with the raw talent of some of his rivals. That said, he’s been topping the timesheets during pre-season testing, and looks like he could be a match for Harvey and Sainz.

Another to give his teammates a run for their money in testing as been Harry Tincknell. Twice a fifth-placed finisher in Formula Renault UK in 2009 and 2010, punctuated by a winter series title, the Brit continued his modest record thus-far by ending up 11th in his rookie F3 season last year. A switch to Carlin from Fortec over the off-season seems to have given him a boost, that and the brand new chassis in use this year.

Going by his pre-season form Tincknell will easily be joining Harvey, Sainz and Jaafar on the winner’s rostrum, adding to the sole victory he scored at Brands Hatch last year. Whether the 20-year-old can take the fight to them in the points race remains to be seen however.

Completing Carlin’s quintet is Brazilian Pietro Fantin. He impressed at times in his first full season in British F3 last year with the now-absent Hitech team, most notably at Rockingham where he took pole position and a double race win. Better track knowledge should make the 20-year-old a more regular threat at the front. So should the switch to top team Carlin.

He’s been a bit adrift of the ultimate pace in testing though, and regularly been the slowest of the Carlin bunch. In itself that doesn’t mean he won’t be at the sharp end, but a title challenge looks unlikely at the moment.

Fortec

Photo: Chris Gurton Photography

Fortec’s hopes are undoubtably pinned on reigning Formula Renault UK champion Alex Lynn, who sticks with the team for his graduation to F3. It took him a year’s experience in Renaults before dominating proceedings last season, but this time he looks set to be an F3 frontrunner from the off.

Lynn has consistently been the best-placed of the non-Carlin runners during testing, and the 18-year-old looks set to be the guy most-likely to take the challenge to Carlin in the title race.? Regular race wins should happen, but we’re not sure he’s quite going to have enough in his locker to win the title. A top three berth is a more realistic target, while still being a significant achievement in itself.

Lynn looks to have a considerable edge over his Fortec teammates, even though a couple are more experienced at this level. Last year was Pipo Derani‘s second in F3, having contested the lesser German F3 Cup the season before.

That experience didn’t count for much though, as only a handful of points finishes meant he finished down in 15th in the final standings, and that only after a podium at the penultimate round at Donington. A switch from Double R to Fortec could boost the 18-year-old Brazilian’s chances, but he doesn’t seem to have the talent needed to match Lynn.

Lynn’s nearest challenger from within his own team will almost certainly be Hannes van Asseldonk. Last year was only the Dutchman’s second in cars, like Lynn, but he was already racing in F3 in Germany. He had a promising season, ending up fifth in the final standings. The real achievement of his season however was repeating that result at Macau, against the best in the business.

The 20-year-old further added to his credentials over the winter with a fine campaign in the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand. He ended up second in the final points, and was clearly the best of the large overseas contingent. On paper that experience should give him the edge over Lynn, but perhaps a lack of track knowledge has been the reason why he has fallen short in testing.

Another man to have put in a strong campaign in TRS completes Fortec’s lineup. Puerto Rico’s Felix Serralles has been racing for Fortec in Formula Renault for the past year in a bit, since coming over from the US. He had a solid 2011, coming 12th in the Eurocup and picking up a couple of podiums as a guest entrant in the UK championship.

TRS saw him claim a race win on his way to eighth in the final standings, despite missing an entire weekend. More podium finishes this year should be the aim, and the 19-year-old could even sneak a race win or two with the reverse grids.

T-Sport

Photo: Chris Gurton Photography

Moving away from the two main teams, and onto T-Sport, a team that carried Sergio Perez to a mighty fourth place in 2008. Then they were still using Mugen-Honda power, and after a stint with VW they’ve put their faith back in the Japanese with a new Nissan unit tuned by Tomei. Just one new car for now, which will be driven by Nick McBride.

The Australian steps up from Formula Ford, where he was classified third last year. He also showed promisingly in the Formula Renault Finals Series, placing sixth. The new engine seems to have run well in testing, and so 21-year-old McBride could be the one to break the Carlin-Fortec monopoly.

T-Sport also enter one car in the rookie (or national) class for another Australian graduating from Formula Ford GB, Richard “Spike” Goddard. The 19-year-old came tenth in the standings in his first season in Europe.

Double R

Photo: Chris Gurton Photography

The team originally established by Kimi Raikkonen and his management has taken a tumble in recent times and this year struggled to get any cars on the grid at all. In the end it has managed to fill three cars, two in new cars in the main category. The first of those is driven by Malaysian Fahmi Ilyas. After arriving in F3 last year after two seasons in Formula BMW, Ilyas managed just two top ten finishes – and that was with Fortec.

He did win one of four European F3 Open races he contested, but the move down the pitlane to Double R combined with a lack of pre-season testing could make life difficult on paper. The shrinking of the grid however should see the 20-year-old more often in the points, with reverse grid podiums perfectly possible.

The deal that put Geoff Uhrhane in the team’s second Dallara F312 came together even later, since the last pre-season test. Another Formula Ford graduate, he finished fifth in the British championship last year. A total lack of testing certainly will make for a tricky start to the 20-year-old Australian’s rookie season.

Yet another Aussie in the team’s rookie class car – 21-year-old Duvashen Padayachee. He’s raced in Formula BMW in Asia for the past two years, finishing fifth in the JK Racing standings last year. He’s done less testing that compatriot Goddard, and seems to be second-best to him in the tests he has done.

Formula Ford GB

Supporting British F3 this weekend and for most of the season in British Formula Ford. The championship that produced the likes of Jenson Button and Mark Webber not too long ago has really slumped in recent seasons in terms of graduates. But it’s still a series that can produce rising stars, including GP3 racer Tio Ellinas. Returning racers Jake Cook and Luke Williams should be contenders, and so could their Jamun Racing teammate Eric Lichtenstein of Argentina. Also in the mix could be the JTR pairing of Scholarship champion Cavan Corcoran and Ecuador karting graduate Julio Moreno.

Formula Renault BARC

Another British series getting underway this weekend is Formula Renault BARC, starting off at Snetterton. The BARC championship is quickly growing from its history as a club-level championship, particularly with the demise (for now) of its big brother Formula Renault UK. Former graduates include 2010 Formula 2 champion Dean Stoneman. The reputation is growing so much in fact that this year Escuderia Telmex, the scheme behind Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez, has sent two young Mexicans along – Diego Menchaca and Jorge Cevallos.

Two big names are Josh Webster, the runner-up last year and MSA Team UK member who had been due to race in FRUK until its cancellation, as well as last year’s record-breaking Formula Ford champion Scott Malvern, who had been eyeing a move to Formula 2 until a lack of backing nearly forced him out of racing altogether.

Joining Menchaca at Fortec are reigning Ginetta Junior champion Seb Morris, Laura Tillett, who steps up to cars after racing in the World Karting Championships, and Chinese driver Martin Cao. Danish Formula Ford runner-up Jacob Nortoft lines up with Hillspeed, with a strong past in karting behind him. There are a number of other drivers who could be in contention in what promises to be a closely-fought season.

The post PaddockScout Preview: New British F3 season commences appeared first on Formula Scout.

The Formula Renault 3.5 Series title battle is settled at the season finale at Catalunya, and the British Formula 3 season concludes at Silverstone…

The battle between Carlin teammates Robert Wickens and Jean-Eric Vergne for the Formula Renault 3.5 crown has managed to capture the attention of the Formula 1 freternity this year, and the destination of the title was finally decided at Catalunya this weekend.

Wickens came into the weekend with just a two point advantage over Vergne, but things swung further his way in qualifying. While the Canadian took his seventh pole of the season, Vergne could only manage ninth place.

Wickens did what he had to do in the race, dominating proceedings and winning by 21 seconds. The story of the race though was Vergne fighting his way through into second place, to limit the damage done and keep the gap between the two at a manageable nine points going into Sunday’s finale. Russian driver Daniil Move completed the podium in third ahead of Alexander Rossi, Sergio Canamasas and Nick Yelloly.

Albert Costa took pole for Sunday’s race, with Wickens lining up alongside him on the front row and Vergne back in fifth. Costa converted his pole position into a maiden win on home soil, while both Wickens and Vergne retired. They made contact on the opening lap that broke Wickens’ suspension, with Vergne slipping down the order until being hit by Fairuz Fauzy. All this meant that Wickens became champion. Yelloly finished the race in second place behind Costa, with Brendon Hartley third.

Final Formula Renault 3.5 Series standings after 9 rounds:

1. Robert Wickens, 241 points (+ 25 points)
2. Jean-Eric Vergne, 232 (+ 18 )
3. Alexander Rossi, 156 (+ 18 )
4. Albert Costa, 151 (+ 25)
5. Daniel Ricciardo, 144 (Absent)
6. Kevin Korjus, 120 (+ 0)

The Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season also concluded at Catalunya, with the title having already been decided in favour of Robin Frijns last time out. Defeated rival Carlos Sainz Jr was out for some revenge on home soil, and took pole for the first race. However, it would be fellow Spaniard Javier Tarancon who would score a first win in the series, one week after clinching the Formula Renault Alps title. Sainz was second, with Red Bull teammate Daniil Kvyat storming through from 18th on the grid to complete the podium.

The second race saw further home glory when Alex Riberas also scored his maiden win, from pole position. Sainz was second again, with Norman Nato in third.

Final Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 standings after 7 rounds:

1. Robin Frijns, 245 points (+ 22 points)
2. Carlos Sainz Jr, 200 (+ 26)
3. Daniil Kvyat, 155 (+ 15)
4. Will Stevens, 116 (+ 12)
5. Stoffel Vandoorne, 93 (+ 18 )
6. Alex Riberas, 82 (+ 25)

Tarancon was one of two Spaniard's to score their first Eurocup win on home soil at Catalunya. Photo: World Series by Renault

The season finale of the British Formula 3 season took place at Silverstone, where the focus was on the battle for the runner-up spot behind champion Felipe Nasr. Carlos Huertas held the position coming into the weekend, but had just one point over Carlin teammmate Kevin Magnussen. Magnussen claimed first blood with victory in the first race ahead of Scott Pye and Nasr. Huertas meanwhile could only finish seventh.

Race two saw guest driver Alexander Sims take victory, ahead of Brazilians Lucas Foresti and Pietro Fantin. Magnussen and Huertas finished eighth and ninth respectively.

Magnussen began the third race from pole but was beaten off the line by Huertas, and the Colombian finally went on to take his first win in the category at the end of his third year of trying. Second was enough for Magnussen to take the runner-up spot in the points, while Rupert Svendsen-Cook took the final podium spot in the season finale.

Final British Formula Three standings after 10 rounds:

1. Felipe Nasr, 318 points (+ 16 points)
2. Kevin Magnussen, 237 (+ 42)
3. Carlos Huertas, 222 (+ 26)
4. Will Buller, 197 (+ 14)
5. Rupert Svendsen-Cook, 191 (+ 12)
6. Jazeman Jaafar, 187 (+ 12)

The British Formula Ford season also came to an end at Silverstone. Australian Geoff Uhrhane won the first race, while already-crowned champion Scott Malvern took his 18th and final win of the year in the second. Dutchman Jeroen Slaghekke won the third and final race, clinching him the runner-up spot overall ahead of Nick McBride.

PaddockScout Driver of the Weekend: Albert Costa – Spaniard finally took an FR3.5 win at the final race of his second season, having been at the head of the timesheets throughout the weekend on home soil. Could be crucial as he tries to raise the funding for future seasons.

The post PaddockScout Weekend Roundup: 8-9 October appeared first on Formula Scout.

With the GP2 and GP3 seasons over, it’s time for the JK Racing Asia Series to step into the spotlight (quite literally!) as support for the Grand Prix in Singapore…

The JK Racing Asia Series is the new name for Formula BMW Pacific, after the German marque withdrew its involvement in the championship. This year has been dominated by two drivers in particular – Austrian Lucas Auer and Malaysian Afiq Ikhwan.

After winning one of the races in support of the Malaysian GP, car racing rookie Auer then won all four races at the same Sepang circuit in May. Second year driver Ikhwan then won all four races at Sentul in Indonesia in July. Auer, the nephew of Gerhard Berger, holds a 34 point lead over Ikhwan. This weekend will be their first race in two months after the Guangdong round was cancelled due to a typhoon.

The title fight was intensified yesterday with the announcement of a GP2 test with Tony Fernandes’ Caterham AirAsia team for the winner.

Elsewhere, the penultimate round round of the British F3 season takes place at Donington Park, with all eyes on the battle for the runner-up spot after Felipe Nasr secured the crown last time out at Rockingham. Kevin Magnussen moved into the position there and would be a safe bet to hold onto it with five wins so far this season. Will Buller and Carlos Huertas are both close behind though.

They will all have a new driver to contend with this weekend though, as newly-crowned GP3 champ Valtteri Bottas joins Double R with hopes of racing at the Macau GP. The Finn was ominously fastest in this morning’s test session at Donington. He previously ran in F3 in the Euro Series in 2009 and 2010, winning the Masters at Zandvoort in both years.

Bottas will be the man to watch at Donington this weekend. Photo: British F3

The penultimate round of British Formula Ford also takes place at Donington, where Scott Malvern is set to seal the title having dominated the season so far with 15 wins from 18 races.

The Formula Renault North European Cup season concludes at Monza (which we here at PaddockScout certainly wouldn’t consider as ‘North Europe’). Carlos Sainz Jr won the title last time out, and Daniil Kvyat has a 79 point lead over third-placed Stoffel Vandoorne with a maximum of 90 up for grabs from this weekend’s three races.

JK Racing Asia isn’t the only Formula BMW-based series racing this weekend. The British Intersteps and Swiss Formel Lista championships conclude at Croft and Monza respectively. Car racing rookies Jakes Dennis and Alex Walker go head-to-head for the Intersteps title, while their fellow Brit Philip Ellis is hoping to steal the Lista title from German Dennis Wusthoff having won the last four races.

The post PaddockScout Weekend Preview: 24-25 September appeared first on Formula Scout.