Catégorie : General

Report: Race 2 Spielberg

Posted on mai 25, 2019 by - General

A dramatic race at the end of the Pirelli Masters 2019. Gerstl and Bracalente as lucky winners.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) had to start from last place like yesterday. However, this did not stop the Austrian from winning his home race in the Toro Rosso STR1 ten-cylinder beast.

Gerstl continuously pushed forwards and passed the naturally slower Formula 2 cars without much risk. In lap 12, he overtook OPEN rival Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom) in the Benetton for second place, one lap later he passed race one winner Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center), who had been in the lead up to then.

Start for race two in the rain

Just before the start it started to rain. All drivers changed to Pirelli Cinturato rain tyres. In the middle of the race the rain shower stopped, and it began to dry up on the racing line. At that time Rookie Bracalente lost his lead, one lap later after Gerstl he had to let pass Stratford too.

Behind Gerstl and Stratford, the fight for victory in the FORMULA class began: Bracalente had to defend against Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) repeatedly. Four racing cars now fought for overall victory – Gerstl, Stratford, Bracalente and Ghiotto. On several occasions Ghiotto tried to get past Bracalente, but it took him the very last lap to make it.

Gerstl crossed the finish line just 0.4 seconds in front of Stratford. Behind them Ghiotto defended the class lead, but only up to 200 metres before the finish. In the last corner he spun on the slippery track and Bracalente slipped through again – this race couldn’t have ended much more dramatically.

FORMULA podium: f.l. Marco Ghiotto, Alessandro Bracalente and Florian Schnitzenbaumer

Florian Schnitzenbaumer (DEU, Top Speed), who crossed the finish line behind Bracalente and Marco Ghiotto, also finished on the FORMULA podium today. The reigning FORMULA champion and Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International) fought a duel worth seeing, which was finally decided by a mistake of Mangini in turn 1. Schnitzenbaumer did complain about his own aggressiveness, but with today’s performance he can finally take home a trophy after his retirement yesterday.

Sergio Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) finished fifth in class, Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Inter Europol) confirmed the performance of the previous day with 6th place in FORMULA. Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed) and Christian Eicke (SUI, Speed Center) duelled for 7th place for a long time, with a better end for Jakoubek.

Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) experienced a weekend to forget. The double winner from Hockenheim could not even start on the first race day, in the second race he retired after six laps. Race 5 and race 6 of the BOSS GP 2019 will follow in three weeks in the Royal Park of Monza. From June 14th to 16th, the BOSS GP will contest the Competizione BOSS GP on the fastest racetrack on the calendar.

Top 3 points standings:
OPEN class: Ingo Gerstl (75 points), Phil Stratford (47), « Piter” (44)
FORMULA class: Alessandro Bracalente (92), Marco Ghiotto (80), Armando Mangini (54)

Race 5 and race 6 of the BOSS GP 2019 will follow in three weeks in the Royal Park of Monza. From June 14th to 16th, the BOSS GP will contest the Competizione BOSS GP on the fastest racetrack on the calendar.

Report: Race 1 Spielberg

Posted on mai 24, 2019 by - General

Debut victory for Alessandro Bracalente at the Pirelli Masters.

Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) is the glowing winner of the first of two races this weekend. The rookie wins a BOSS Grand Prix for the first time at only his third start. The 30-year-old was on his unbeatable way right from the start. As the first pursuer of the long-time leader Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom) he took the lead when Stratford slowed down with gearbox problems.

Stratford finished fifth overall and won the OPEN class. Ulf Ehninger (DEU, ESBA Racing) was allowed on the OPEN podium for the very first time. For Ehninger it was the first BOSS GP race. With an overall 9th place he was right in the middle of the action and visibly happy about his success. So it was a double victory for the 1997 Benetton’s.

First BOSS GP win for Alessandro Bracalente

OPEN championship leader Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) started a brilliant race to catch up from last place. But even the fastest race lap didn’t help at the end: After eight laps and just when Gerstl catched leader Stratford, his race ended with a technical problem.

Back to FORMULA: Sergio Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) finished second, Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) third. Remarkable: With Bracalente, Ghiotto and Martucci were three Italians on the podium.

Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) finished fourth, even though Marco was involved in a collision with Florian Schnitzenbaumer (DEU, Top Speed) at the start. Schnitzenbaumer had to retire just at the scene of the accident.

Podium ceremony with the world class musicians Robby Musenbichler and Willi Langer

Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Inter Europol) was fifth in his class and thus delivered his best performance of the season. Behind him a duel between Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed) and Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International) was raging for a long time. De Plano beat Ripoli in the end.

Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center) finished eighth in the FORMULA. The Swiss started from the penultimate row and made up many places with clever manoeuvres, especially in the early stage of the race. Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed) overtook Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol) in the last lap, who was in the top-10 for a long time.

Unfortunately, fifth place on the grid remained empty, Andreas Fiedler could not even start the race.

Tomorrow will be the fourth BOSS GP race of the season, starting time is 15:45. Before that there will be a ten-minute warm-up at 10 am.

Report: Qualifying Spielberg

Posted on mai 24, 2019 by - General

Surprise in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring: Stratford and Bracalente in row 1.

Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom Racing) took pole position in both BOSS GP races at the Pirelli Masters 2019, putting a BOSS GP crowd favourite at the front of the field: Stratford’s Benetton B197 is a real eye-catcher. Since last year, the car also has the signature of his ex-pilot Gerhard Berger on it’s painting. For Stratford, the pole position is his first in the BOSS GP. It’s also a conciliatory result, as last year he was unable to compete in the season finale on this circuit due to a gearbox failure.

With a fabulous time of 1:17.332 min Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) fought his way into the front row. This also makes the BOSS GP rookie the fastest pilot in the FORMULA class.

Florian Schnitzenbaumer (DEU, Top Speed) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) will start from row 2. Ghiotto was fastest in the second qualifying group. Little by little he improved his times, at the end he set the very good time of 1:19.158. Similarly well managed Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International) his Pirelli P Zero tyres. The experienced Italian also drove his fastest time at the very end of the 20-minute session and starts alongside Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing). Yesterday Fiedler complained about problems in the first of the two left corners at the Red Bull Ring. But with 5th place in qualifying the championship leader will be able to have a serious say about the victory

Sergio Ghiotto (Scuderia Palladio), Luca Martucci (MM International), Gianluca Ripoli (MM International) complete the Italian package in places 7 to 10.

Salvatore de Plano had to change to the spare car this morning. Instead of his yellow-red GP2 Dallara he drives the rest of the weekend with a black-and-red car. Although he only completed seven laps, de Plano was able to finish in the top 10.

Philippe Haezebrouck finished eleventh, beating Inter Europol team mate Walter Steding by a narrow two-tenths of a second.

Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed) is starting the race in 13th place. Ulf Ehninger (DEU, ESBA Racing) in the second 1997-Benetton starts the hunt in 14th place. Ehninger was able to rewind 14 laps without any problems and collected valuable kilometres for him in a Formula 1 racing car he was not used to yet.

The Swiss Speed Center drivers Peter Göllner and Christian Eicke start from 15 and 16.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) had to move to the second qualifying group after an engine change. With only two laps, OPEN leader Gerstl didn’t set a qualifying time. Gerstl will start from the very last position in the race as it looks.

Race 1 will take place today, Friday: Start is at 15:30. Race 2 follows tomorrow at 15:45 o’clock, before there will be a warm-up at 10.

Report: Free Practice Spielberg

Posted on mai 23, 2019 by - 5, General

Review of day 1 at the Pirelli Masters in Austria.

The BOSS GP drivers used the practice sessions on Thursday to get familiar with the 4.3-kilometer track and to find the fastest drivers for Q1 tomorrow.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) secured the best combined time with a 1:11.996 min. The Toro Rosso pilot targeted the BOSS GP record time of 1 minute 10 seconds from last year in the second free practice. A gearbox failure at the very beginning of the session stopped this plan. But tomorrow record champion Gerstl will definitely be at the start again.

The 16 other pilots had no major problems: Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom Racing) set the best time in the second free practice session with 1:17.078, even though the Benetton driver only completed one installation lap in the first practice session.

The fastest FORMULA driver in today’s session was BOSS GP rookie Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center). He was followed by Florian Schnitzenbaumer at his comeback. The reigning BOSS GP FORMULA champion will probably start 2019 only on this one race weekend. With the fourth-best total time he can compete tomorrow in Q1. Also qualified for Q1 is Sergio Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio).

Brother Marco (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) failed like Hockenheim double winner Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) at the cut by a few tenths of a second. But tomorrow in Q2 the two will have more driving time at their disposal to complete a fast lap. Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) was faster than fellow countryman Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed) today, and thus confirmed his performances at the Red Bull Ring from last year.

The qualifying for the 17 pilots will take place tomorrow at 10:45 am. Today’s top 5 start in Q1 (8 minutes time), the remaining drivers in Q2 (20 minutes time). The fastest driver from the two combined sessions will be the first to start the race at 3:30 pm.

Preview + Guide Spielberg

Posted on mai 22, 2019 by - General

Formula 1, Formula 2 and World Series cars are back on track in the Alps. Europe’s fastest racing series will be competing at Pirelli Masters on the Red Bull Ring from 23 to 25 May 2019.

Motorsport fans never get closer to Formula 1: The BOSS GP is coming to Austria for its second race weekend in 2019. In the package are the fastest racing cars in the world and the 20 heroes who drive them. The one-make championship KTM X-Bow Battle and the DMV GT series are also part of the line-up.

When is the BOSS GP on track?
The race weekend starts already on Thursday and ends (!) on Saturday. On Friday there will be the first race of the BOSS GP. Premiere: Saturday morning there will be for the first time a 10-minute warm up session of the Big Open Single Seater.

Thursday, May 23 2019
13.30–13.55: Free Practice 1
17.00–17.25: Free Practice 2

Friday, May 24 2019
10.45–11.15: Qualifying
15.30–15.50: Race 1 (20 min)

Saturday, May 25 2019
10.00–10.10: Warm up
15.45–16.10: Race 2 (25 min)

Where can I find the BOSS GP cars?
The BOSS GP teams are in the garages with numbers 1 to 9 in the pit lane. Andreas Fiedler’s team is based in the paddock behind the garages. There you will also find the BOSS GP catering from Sabel Racing and the Hollerweger Pirelli tyre service.

How do I get tickets for the Pirelli Masters?
Admission is free on each of the three days. Seating is free on all open grandstands and access to the paddock is not restricted. This allows fans to watch the teams and drivers from the front row at work.

Where can I follow the Pirelli Masters online?
All results on bossgp.com
Up to date with Instagram @bossgpofficial and Facebook @bossgpofficial
The latest pictures from race weekend in our gallery on bossgp.com

Report: Race 2 Hockenheim

Posted on avril 28, 2019 by - General, Uncategorized

In front of DTM driver Timo Glock the BOSS GP stars showed a lot of overtaking action in the second race. Ingo Gerstl (OPEN) and Andreas Fiedler (FORMULA) win again.

The flying start to the second BOSS GP race of the year went off without a hitch. Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) was repeatedly the one who was able to take the lead in the FORMULA class in the initial phase. At the flying start he snatched Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed) and Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center), the man on FORMULA pole position.

Bracalente and De Plano were able to catch up again after a few laps and put Fiedler under increasing pressure. But the winner of the first race made no mistakes. After eight laps Fiedler was again flagged as class winner. Thus, the runner-up of 2018 is also the first leader of the standings in FORMULA. Rookie Bracalente and De Plano were among the winner on the podium. This meant that De Plano were able to take home a trophy after the penalty in the first run.

Start for race 2: Gerstl leads the field in his Toro Rosso into turn 1

Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) could just prevent a spin in lap 1. Although he lost a few places at first, in a courageous duel with Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Inter Europol) for 4th place he finally kept his nose in front.

Team mates Armando Mangini and Gianluca Ripoli (both ITA, MM International) duelled throughout the race. The better end belonged to team boss Mangini (6th).

OPEN podium: f.l. ‘Piter’, special guest Mario and Ingo Gerstl

In the OPEN class Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the V10 Toro Rosso won. ‘Piter’ (FRA, Ray-Ban) once again stood on the podium next to Gerstl. For the Frenchman these were the first podium places of his BOSS GP career.

The Sound of Speed will be performed next time from 23rd to 25th May, then the BOSS GP will race at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Report: Race 1 Hockenheim

Posted on avril 28, 2019 by - General, General

The first race of the BOSS GP in Hockenheim had a lot to offer. Andreas Fiedler wins the FORMULA class, Ingo Gerstl wins the OPEN class.

Update 14:05: The penalty against Marco Ghiotto has been rescinded. The result in the FORMULA class is as follows: 1st Andreas Fiedler, 2nd Marco Ghiotto, 3rd Alessandro Bracalente, 4th Gianluca Ripoli.

The decisive scene in the FORMULA class happened six minutes before the end of the race. Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Inter Europol) stopped at the exit of first corner. Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed) came around the corner in the slipstream of leader Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing). When Fiedler avoided the standing car on the left, De Plano only had to go right. But he overtook Fiedler, which is forbidden under yellow. Only a few moments later the safety car was sent on the track and the field was neutralized.

The drama wasn’t over yet, because Salvatore de Plano spun at the restart and thereby lost the lead of the race. The race control decided to discontinue the race due to the recovery of De Plano’s vehicle – which is why, according to the regulations, the lap before the restart counts for the final result. De Plano (7th place) was prosecuted after the race with a time penalty.

Instead it was underdog Andreas Fiedler who cheered, setting the fastest times especially at the start of the race and quickly building up a lead over his rivals. Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) kept a cool head in a turbulent race and finished 3rd in his first BOSS GP race.

Andreas Fiedler wins the BOSS GP FORMULA class in Hockenheim

Gianluca Ripoli and Armando Mangini (both ITA, MM International) drove an inconspicuous and controlled race. Due to the penalty for De Plano, Ripoli and Mangini finished 4th and 5th in the FORMULA.

The cool temperatures in Hockenheim caused problems for all drivers who found it difficult to bring the tyres up to operating temperature. Remarkable are the performances of Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed; 7th place), Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol; 8th place), Christian Eicke (SUI, Speed Center; 9th place) and Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center; 10th place), who kept their cars on the track and scored a good number of points.

Sergio Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) provided a shock moment on the way to the pre-start. The accident with wall contact ended without any serious consequences for Ghiotto. He was able to get out of the car on his own and completed a medical check at the Medical Center. Thanks to the fast work of the marshals at the Hockenheimring, the BOSS GP was able to complete the full 20 minutes of the race.

Ingo Gerstl in front, followed by Salvatore de Plano and Andreas Fiedler

The OPEN class was an easy challenge for Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the Toro Rosso STR1 after the technical failures of the two Benettons earlier this weekend. ‘Piter’ was classified second. Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom) already parked his GP2 Judd in the grass in the warm up lap.

The first race was postponed from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning due to the rain. The flat underfloor of the racing cars would have caused them to lose the traction because they ‘float up’. Not only the vehicles and their pilots would have been endangered, but also the marshals and the many volunteers.

The second race takes place at 2:10 p.m. local time.

Report: Qualifying Hockenheim

Posted on avril 27, 2019 by - General

The first BOSS GP qualifying session in 2019 was a very exciting one in the FORMULA class. Ingo Gerstl in the Toro Rosso on pole position.

Update 1:34 p.m.: The fastest FORMULA pilot, Alessandro Bracalente, has to start from P12 in first race after a 10-grid-penalty. Bracalente was penalized by the race control for overlooking a flag signal.

At first the five best drivers of the Friday practice sessions went onto the track in the Top 5 Qualifying. Immediately after the traffic light switched to green, it started to rain slightly in the north curve, the hairpin bend and the Motodrom. But there was no bigger rain shower, so all drivers were able to continue on the Pirelli P Zero slick tyres.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) set a not surprising best time in his Toro Rosso from 2007. With 1:22.505 min he was several seconds behind last year’s record due to the worse weather conditions.

The Italian Armando Mangini (MM International) was able to secure second place. His fellow countrymen Marco and Sergio Ghiotto (both ITA, Scuderia Palladio) did less well today than they did yesterday. Both spun, but were able to resume. While Marco Ghiotto, Monza winner 2018, finally had to be satisfied with 8th place, only 15th place remained for brother Sergio with a time of 1:40.5 min.

In the first half of the 20-minute session Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed) and Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) were fastest. They quickly pushed themselves in front of the fastest FORMULA driver from the Top 5 qualifying, Armando Mangini.

While De Plano decided not to go out for a second time, Fiedler went out for a second try, but stayed behind De Plano. The last attacks on the FORMULA best time came from Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) and Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International). Bracalente had already impressed yesterday when he set the best time in the 1st free practice. With 1:29.8 min he secured the class pole at his first BOSS GP appearance. De Plano and Fiedler will start from row 2, Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom) and Luca Martucci from row 3, Mangini and Marco Ghiotto from row 4.

Best of the Inter Europol team was Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA). The former Le Mans driver finished ninth. Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed) cracked the Top 10 shortly before the end. Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International) starts from 11, Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol) from 12. ‘Piter’ (FRA, Ray-Ban) starts from 13th. After a Friday once without technical troubles we can still expect a lot for the races. With his World Series by Renault he classified this time in the OPEN class.

The race starts today at 16:10 local time. The first of two races is over a distance of 20 minutes.

Report: Free Practice Hockenheim

Posted on avril 26, 2019 by - General

Alessandro Bracalente, Speed Center Dallara GP2 skipping through the rain

Two half-hour practice sessions were held on day 1 at the Jim Clark Revival in Hockenheim.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) sets the best time in the Toro Rosso STR1 on Friday. With conditions getting better and better, the multiple champion used the favor of the minute and little traffic and drove with 1:33.647 the best time of the day. Not only once he did push the noise level to the extreme with his V10-Cosworth.

It was debutant Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) who made a good impression. In the first, rainy practice session Bracalente set the best time, in the second he ranked second behind Gerstl. This makes the young Italian one of the top favourites for pole position in the FORMULA class in tomorrow’s qualifying (10:10 a.m. local time).

Phil Stratford had to switch to the unfamiliar GP2 car

Marco and Sergio Ghiotto (both ITA, Scuderia Palladio) also presented themselves strongly. The brothers were in the top ranks in both half hour trainings. With Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) another Italian put himself in a good position for qualifying. His experienced team mate Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International) drove the fourth fastest time in FP2.

Salvadore de Plano (ITA) drives for team Top Speed this year. De Plano missed out the first practice session, in the second session the fast Italian finished eighth. Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom Racing) was ninth overall in training 2. Due to problems with the Judd engine in his Benetton, Startford drives a GP2 Dallara with a Formula 1 Judd engine on board. Ulf Ehninger instead drives the legendary Benetton Formula 1 from 1997: Ehninger (DEU, ESBA-Racing) makes his BOSS GP debut this weekend. In second practice he had an accident at the exit of the first corner. The front and rear wings of the light blue Formula 1 were damaged during the impact into the barrier on the inside; the driver escaped with no injuries.

Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Inter Europol) was off the track several times, but was quite satisfied with his times at the comeback in the BOSS GP. Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol), Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed), Christian Eicke (SUI, Speed Center) and « Piter » (FRA, Ray-Ban) did plenty of laps. These pilots are expected to make a significant improvement tomorrow.

Rain makes life of drivers difficult

The first training was characterized by rain and some interruptions, among others Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) slipped into the gravel bed. But all spins went off without major damage. Despite the difficult conditions many drivers tried to gain kilometres on the Pirelli Cinturato rain tyres. For tomorrow a slight weather improvement is announced, but for Sunday heavy rain is expected.

Gerd Thöny’s yellow Jordan will remain in the pits this time, delays in the getting a race licence will make it impossible for Thöny to start in Hockenheim. This means that 14 cars in the FORMULA class and 3 OPEN cars are on the grid tomorrow.