Month: May 2022

Report: Hockenheim Race 2

Posted on May 8, 2022 by - General

In the fight for victory in the FORMULA classification, the action came to a head on the last lap. Class wins for Gerstl, Schlegelmilch, Colombo and Hasler.

BOSS GP rookie Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez (CZE, MM International) set an incredible pace for almost twenty minutes and already looked like the secure winner when his tyres started to degrade badly. Chovanec-Lopez’s GP2 car clearly started to drift more and more. In a powerslide he still tried to keep the fast-approaching Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) behind him, but the effort was in vain. Colombo managed his Pirelli P-Zero slicks better and thus took the FORMULA victory in Sunday’s 25-minute race.

Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) was again able to collect a trophy at the podium ceremony, he finished third. Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) crossed the finish line in an unthankful fourth place. The experienced Italian defeated Michael Aberer (AUT, MA Motorsport), who kept Martucci busy at the beginning of the race. Today, Aberer was able to score a good result after his retirement yesterday.

Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering) finished sixth in class, ahead of Giancarlo Pedetti, who put in a clean performance as he did yesterday in his BOSS GP debut race. The best German was Walter Steding (Scuderia Palladio) in eighth place. Despite a collision at the start of the race, Alexander Seibold (GER, Scuderia Palladio) was also able to finish the race. Much to the delight of many fans, because Seibold started with a special helmet design as a tribute to the unforgotten Swiss Formula 1 and sports car racer Jo Siffert.

Well-attended grandstands in best early summer weather at the Jim Clark Revival in Hockenheim

The other classes:

The OPEN category of the Formula 1 cars was again a straightforward affair for Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the first car of Scuderia Toro Rosso (now Alpha Tauri). Despite an early technical knockout, Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom Racing) and Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) were able to score second and third respectively.

Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA, HS Engineering) in the yellow-and-black World Series V8 machine performed as he did in Race 1 and, starting from last place on the grid, managed to overtake most of the field in the opening laps. The Latvian left all FORMULA cars behind and won the new classification of the modified BOSS GP cars.

After Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport) could not take part in the race yesterday, the Austrian was eager to get through today. He succeeded and even more: Hasler claimed victory in the SUPER LIGHTS six-cylinder classification.

The two races in the Bosch Hockenheim Historic can be watched in replay at www.hockenheim-historic.de/en/live

The next two races of the BOSS GP Racing Series will follow in four weeks’ time (3-5 June 2022) as part of the Rundstreckentrophy at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.

Note: The overall standings are currently still unofficial, as the modified FORMULA car class is only just being added to the regulations.

Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Report: Hockenheim Race 1

Posted on May 7, 2022 by - General

Tens of thousands of fans listened intently as the BOSS GP made its comeback at the Hockenheimring.

In the first race of the 2022 season, Latvian Harald Schlegelmilch (HS Engineering) achieved the rare feat of taking FORMULA class victory from the last grid position. After a couple of laps, the former German Formula 3 trophy winner was already in the top three of the class, and on the sixth lap he finally overtook the FORMULA leader Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez (CZE, MM International). Schlegelmilch thus won for the fourth time in the BOSS GP Racing Series after Spielberg and Brno 2021. Chovanec-Lopez was also delighted with second place in his BOSS GP debut race.

Behind them, a three-way battle between the Italians Marco Ghiotto (Scuderia Palladio), Simone Colombo and Luca Martucci (both MM International) was going on for a while – including tyre lockups and a couple of overtake attempts. On the penultimate lap, Colombo managed the decisive braking manoeuvre against Ghiotto in the hairpin. Colombo thus jumped onto the podium “last minute”.

With a light gap, the Irishman Paul O’Connell (“I’m living my dream”) from HS Engineering finished in sixth place. 7th place in class was still being fought for all the way to the finish line: Bianca Steiner (AUT, Steiner Motorsport), who had already passed Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio) in the meantime, complained about a sudden loss of power. In the end, it was just not enough to challenge Steding for seventh place. Giancarlo Pedetti (ITA, Nannini Racing) also finished his debut race in the BOSS GP Racing Series in the top ten with a ninth place.

OPEN race winner Ingo Gerstl from Team Top Speed

The OPEN class was once again safe for Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the Toro Rosso F1. Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) from Tübingen in a Benetton F1 kept out of all the FORMULA class fights and secured second place. His Benetton twin Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom) was only seen for a short time, he had to retire from the race early on due to technical problems.

Michael Aberer (MA Motorsport) was among those beaten in race 1: The Austrian did it like Sebastien Vettel once did and sunk his chances for a top position in the gravel bed of the Sachs curve – but the damage to his GP2 car should be repaired by the second race. Start time for race 2 is tomorrow Sunday at 3:55 p.m. (CEST), before that the warm-up runs at 11:05. You can follow all the action via livestream on www.hockenheim-historic.de/en/live

Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Report: Hockenheim Qualifying

Posted on May 7, 2022 by - General

Already on Saturday morning, the grandstands in the Motodrom were well attended and the open paddock at the Bosch Hockenheim Historic was crowded. Early birds were rewarded with V10 and V8 sounds from the BOSS GP.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed), the BOSS GP champion from 2008, 2016 to 2020, took the first pole position of the year. Unsurprisingly, the man from Salzburg set the superior fastest time in this season’s first qualifying session with 1:21.093 in his Toro Rosso STR1. BOSS GP rookie Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez (CZE, MM International) will start the race alongside him. The 17-year-old with Formula 3 experience was thus the fastest driver in the FORMULA classification. Behind him, his teammate Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International), last year’s FORMULA runner-up, will start the race. Fourth place was taken by Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom) in the 1997 Formula 1 Benetton, who despite a small spin at the start of qualifying managed to finish well ahead.

Due to his high demands, three-time BOSS GP champion Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) in the original GP2 car of Charles Leclerc was somehow disappointed with his 5th place. The Italian already complained yesterday about not coping well with the medium-fast track. Behind him Michael Aberer (AUT, MA Motorsport) will start into race one. Despite two spins, he was able to keep improving until the end of the session and move up to sixth place.

Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) and Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering) will start the race from row 4. Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) will only start from grid position nine due to a penalty, Bianca Steiner (AUT, Steiner Motorsport) will start from 10th after little practice time on Friday.

Bianca Steiner in her GP2 car

The 17-strong grid will be chased this afternoon by Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA, HS Engineering). After very good practice times, former BOSS GP race winner will only start the race from second-last place on the grid. Already in the outlap the drive shaft broke on the modified World Series by Renault bolide. However, the Austrian team will be able to repair the car before the race start (3:30 p.m. CET). Hopefully, local hero Andreas Fiedler will also be able to do the same, as he and his team will try to fix the temperature problems on his bilious green GP2 car.

The first of two races this weekend will be over a distance of 20 laps. Please remind, that the OPEN class drivers will already see the checkered flag after 15 minutes. BOSS GP’s race 1, like the other races at the Jim Clark Revival at the Hockenheimring, can be followed via livestream from 3:20 p.m. CET today: www.hockenheim-historic.de/en/live

Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Preview: Hockenheim

Posted on May 4, 2022 by - General

Three years after its last appearance at Hockenheim, the BOSS GP Racing Series will be back at the start of the traditional event in honour of Jim Clark next weekend. We have summarised everything you need to know.

Tens of thousands of fans will return to the Motodrom from 6 to 8 May 2022 to honour the widely honoured Scottish racing driver Jim Clark, who tragically lost his life in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim in 1968. They will all bring the past back to life this weekend through intense racing action.

However, the organisers of the Bosch Hockenheim Historic are not afraid of building a bridge to the modern age. And so the BOSS GP Racing Series has not only been a regular part of the Jim Clark Revival for years, but also a real crowd-puller. The Big Open Single Seater series was born out of a fundamental question: What should be done with the numerous old cars from classes such as Formula 1, IndyCar, GP2, Auto GP, A1 GP, Superleague Formula or even the World Series? Put them in a museum? Or bring them back to the race track? The answer was obvious. And so the BOSS GP 2022 enters its 28th season this coming weekend. Here are the entrants for the first of six season events in 2022:

No.NameNationTeamClassCarBuild inModel
1Ingo GerstlAUTTop SpeedF1Toro Rosso2006STR1
7Ulf EhningerDEUESBA RacingF1Benetton1997B197
8Phil StratfordGBRPenn Elcom RacingF1Benetton1997B197
10Harald SchlegelmilchLVAHS EngineeringOPENDallara2012World Series V8 by Renault
15Christian FerstlAUTTop SpeedFORMULADallara2011GP2
22Michael AbererAUTAM MotorsportFORMULADallara2005GP2
27Marco GhiottoITAScuderia PalladioFORMULADallara2011GP2
28Bruno JarachITAEesti MotorsportFORMULADallara2008GP2
31Paul O’ConnellIREHS EngineeringFORMULADallara2012World Series by Renault
32Simone ColomboITAMM InternationalFORMULADallara2017F2
37Luca MartucciITAMM InternationalFORMULADallara2011GP2
43Giancarlo PedettiITANannini RacingFORMULADallara2014GP2
44Thomas JakoubekAUTTop SpeedFORMULADallara2008GP2
46Alexander SeiboldDEUSeibold Auto + SportFORMULADallara2005GP2
47Walter StedingDEUScuderia PalladioFORMULADallara2011GP2
51Zdenek Chovanec LopezCZEMM InternationalFORMULADallara2011GP2
66Andreas FiedlerDEUFiedler RacingFORMULADallara2008GP2
110Bianca SteinerAUTSteiner MotorsportFORMULADallara2005GP2
111Alexander GeierAUTGeier RacingSUPER LIGHTSTatuus2003World Series by Renault
115Andreas HaslerAUTHasler MotorsportSUPER LIGHTSDallara2009World Series by Nissan

Support races:

In addition to the BOSS GP Racing Series, five other formula series will be part of the Bosch Hockenheim Historic: Formula 2, plus the Historic Race Car Association‘s racing cars represent the legendary junior Formula Ford, Vee, Super Vee and Formula 3. The Raceclub Germany is home to various single-seater categories up to Formula 1. The Lurani Trophy is a reminiscence of the legendary Formula Junior, which formed the springboard for a great career for countless top talents. And the Historic Formula Vee Europe is, as the name suggests, about one of the most successful and long-lived junior formulas in history. They all open up a glimpse into a past in which perhaps not everything was more beautiful, but in which legends were written and which is associated with numerous and varied memories, not only among older racing fans.

Fans of historic touring cars, GTs and prototypes will also get their money’s worth at the Bosch Hockenheim Historic. Five other racing series are dedicated to the automotive jewels with roofs, some of which date back to the 1950s, and which offer absolute highlights in the colourful programme of the traditional event, and not only in the form of the brute racers of the legendary Group C.

Timetable and livestream:

Friday, 6 May 2022
12:40–13:10     Free Practice 1
16:45–17:15     Free Practice 2

Saturday, 7 May 2022
09:40–10:10     Qualifying
15:30               Race 1 (20 minutes) LIVESTREAM

Sunday, 8 May 2022
11:05–11:15     Warm-up
15:55                Race 2 (25 minutes) LIVESTREAM

The programme on Saturday and Sunday, including the two races of the BOSS GP, can also be watched for free from home in the livestream with live commentary: www.hockenheim-historic.de/en/live

Side events at the Hockenheim Historic

An event like the Bosch Hockenheim Historic thrives above all on interaction with the fans. The paddock and pit area are open and visible to everyone. All the action on the race track will be broadcast on Saturday and Sunday via a large video screen in the Sachs Curve, so that the spectators in the inner grandstand will be well informed at all times about what is happening on the rest of the 4.5-kilometre Grand Prix circuit. In addition, a wide range of information is displayed on the big screen. And if you want to enjoy some quiet time before, during or after your visit to the paddock and grandstands, you can simply visit the Jim Clark exhibition in the congress pavilion.

Tickets:

The ticket prices reflect the family character of the event. Friday tickets start at 10 euros, day tickets for Saturday and Sunday are available from 30 euros, and those who want to experience the entire weekend up close and personal can get in for 45 euros. And for those who like it a bit more exclusive, VIP packages are available from 200 euros. Tickets are available via the online ticket shop or by calling the hotline at +49 6205 950 222.

Picture: Michael Kavena/BOSS GP