Mese: Giugno 2023

Report: Race 2 Red Bull Ring

Posted on Giugno 11, 2023 by - Generale, Generale

Sixth race of the BOSS GP Racing Series season: Gerstl, Pizzonia, Colombo and Eisinger-Sewald celebrate double wins. Vettel again on the podium today.

15 minutes for the BOSS GP F1 Class and 25 minutes for the other drivers were on Sunday’s timetable. Many visitors took advantage of Father’s Day in Austria to make the trip to the Red Bull Ring. Ingo Gerstl in the Formula 1 Toro Rosso did not miss the opportunity to stay longer on the track with his F1 (in compliance with the regulations) and to duel with Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) in the tuned World Series 4.5 for the overall victory – much to the delight of the spectators. In the end, Gerstl also won the sixth race of the season in the F1 class ahead of Ulf Ehninger (GER) in the 1997 Benetton.

Like yesterday, OPEN participant Antonio Pizzonia took the overall lead for a while on Sunday. After a full course yellow period, the Brazilian was able to hold on to the lead for a few more laps and further improved on his times from yesterday with lap times just over 1:15 min, which was easily enough to win the class. Second place went to Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering) in the 3.3-litre World Series, who finished well ahead in the overall standings today.

The FORMULA class was turbulent at times. Lapping, many position changes but finally the same winner again: Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) remained untouched today, even though it was close at times. In the early stages, Fabian Vettel (Top Speed) was the first to take the lead. The 24-year-old German overtook Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) already in the first corner and stayed with Colombo for a long time afterwards. But like yesterday, Vettel lost pace at the end of the race. This gave Marco Ghiotto another chance to overtake Vettel’s Fanatec GP2. Colombo used this stage of the race to pull away decisively. With season win no. 5, the Italian is now also pulling away from his opponents in the championship standings. Behind Marco Ghiotto, Fabian Vettel also took third place today. With two third places, Vettel proved his driving qualities in an open-wheeler, a return at Misano is possible.

“Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) remained without any mistakes today and stayed close to the Top-3 until the end. With 4th place, the ambitious Italian scored a lot of points for the overall ranking. Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing) was able to hold his own against his opponents in the midfield despite used tyres. Bruno Jarach (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) followed in 6th place in the class, ahead of Thomas Jakoubek (Top Speed) as the best Austrian in 7th place. Team boss Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International) also found a satisfying end to his comeback weekend as a driver with 8th place.

Alexander Geier (GER, Geier Racing), on the other hand, experienced a painful end to his race. The man from Salzburg was already in second place in front of Vettel. A few laps before the chequered flag, he was disappointed to end the race in the pits with a gearbox problem.

SUPER LIGHTS driver Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (AUT, Red Rose Racing) was happy that today’s race was five minutes longer. After a spin in turn 3 and a second one when coming back onto the track, he had already fallen far behind Henry Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing). Two laps from the end, however, Eisinger-Sewald in the Ralt Formula 3000 managed to catch up and finally overtook Clausnitzer’s less powerful World Series car. For Eisinger-Sewald it was a celebrated double victory, but Clausnitzer remained the leader of the standings. Third place went to Walter Colacino (ITA), who shared the car with his colleague Sebastiano Sibani (ITA) this weekend.

The BOSS GP continues the European tour already in mid-July. On 22/23 July 2023 will visit World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in Misano. Points will than be awarded in the OPEN, FORMULA and SUPER LIGHTS classes.

Pictures: Erwin Strassnigg/BOSS GP

Report: Race 1 Red Bull Ring

Posted on Giugno 11, 2023 by - 5, Generale

The BOSS GP Racing Series was the highlight of the first race day at the Red Bull Ring Classics 2023, with Gerstl and Pizzonia taking the next wins, Colombo claiming FORMULA victory and a maiden win for Eisinger-Sewald on home soil.

In front of a huge crowd and in the best spring weather, the world’s fastest single-seater cars put on a great show in Spielberg. In the first half of Saturday’s 20-minute race, Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the Toro Rosso F1, Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) in the Benetton F1 and Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) in the modified World Series Dallara stayed close together. Pizzonia quickly passed Ehninger and made his way towards Gerstl. The latter played along and the two experienced drivers swapped positions. Pizzonia led the field after a safety car interruption, but Gerstl shifted up a gear and took the lead again with lap times under 1 minute and 15 seconds, winning for the fifth time this year. While Antonio Pizzonia secured the full points in the OPEN class, Ulf Ehninger took second place in the Formula 1 cars. Second place in the OPEN class went to Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering), who missed out on a much better overall finish with a flat spot on one of the front tyres.

The top positions in the FORMULA class were again closely contested: Even though Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) and Fabian Vettel (GER, Top Speed) made several attempts to challenge Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) for the win, Colombo remained patient while overlapping slower cars and won again just ahead of Ghiotto. Fabian Vettel was able to separate the Italian duo in the middle of the race, but after the safety car phase Ghiotto was able to pick up the pace faster and overtook the German again. Vettel, however, was extremely satisfied with third place on his debut in a Formula racing car.

Podium on Saturday: f.l. Ghiotto, Clausnitzer, O’Connell, Ehninger, Pizzonia, Colombo, Gerstl, Eisinger-Sewald, Vettel

Alexander Geier (AUT, Geier Racing) also had a stunning FORMULA debut. The young Austrian managed the second-best lap time in the class with his Dallara GP2, finishing fourth in the classification behind Vettel. Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing) followed in 5th place, Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) in 6th. Seventh placed “Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) lost a better position shortly before the end with a spin. Marco Minelli (ITA, AM Sport System) was also unlucky on his debut. He spun at the end of the second lap at the last corner and had to retire from the race early on.

Austrian Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (Red Rose Racing) drove to a home victory in the SUPER LIGHTS class. After a problem with the gearshift linkage in qualifying, the Formula 3000 car of the BOSS GP rookie ran flawlessly. He thus prevailed over the German Henry Clausnitzer (WF Racing) at his second race weekend in the BOSS GP Racing Series.

The second race starts on Sunday at 10:40a.m. local time.

Photos: Erwin Strassnigg/BOSS GP, Michael Jurtin

Report: Qualifying Red Bull Ring

Posted on Giugno 10, 2023 by - Generale

New Pirelli tyres were used in the hunt for the fastest time in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring Classics. Best starting positions for Gerstl, Pizzonia, Colombo and Clausnitzer.

Many spectators ran even faster from the car parking to the grandstands, when they heard the roar of the Formula 1 engines. The packed ranks followed 19 BOSS GP Racing Series cars in qualifying on Saturday morning. With a speedy time of 1:11.524 min, Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) showed incredible pace in his ten-cylinder Toro Rosso from 2006. With an average speed of almost 220 km/h, the man from Salzburg amazed numerous visitors. Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) was unlucky in the 1997 Berger Benetton. The 2021 champion spun in turn 3 on his first fast lap and was not able to restart the car afterwards.

Still without traction control, but with a lot of driving pleasure, Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) sets the tone in the OPEN class in the World Series Dallara with 4.5-litre Gibson engine. Team-mate Paul O’Connell (IRE) was afflicted with engine problems on Friday, but he was able to take part in qualifying and qualified 11th overall.

Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) did not miss a beat in the third qualifying session of 2023. The Italian secured pole position in the first qualifying session and thus starts the races at the Red Bull Ring with the best starting position in the FORMULA class. But it was close again, only one tenth of a second was left by long-term rival Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) on his fastest lap compared to Colombo. Ghiotto tactically went out late in Q2, so he stayed out of traffic, improved lap after lap and came close to Colombo’s best time on his last fast lap.

The fight for pole position was also taken up by Fabian Vettel (GER, Top Speed) in the second Fanatec GP2. The German brilliantly performed in his premiere in a single-seater racing car. He went out on track late in the session for a finale shot. After setting the best time in the first sector he lapped the 4.318-kilometre circuit in 1:19.411 – which earned him third place by the narrow margin of not even two tenths of a second. “Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) confirmed his consistent performance just behind the front runners with fourth place in class and will start the race with a chance of a podium finish. Behind him was Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing), who is again in a promising position after his return to the podium last time out in Hockenheim. Behind the two Top Speed drivers Florian Schnitzenbaumer (GER) and Thomas Jakoubek (AUT), Alexander Geier (AUT, Geier Racing) made a good debut in the GP2 car.

In the class of the SUPER LIGHTS, again only one driver was able to stay unscathed: Henry Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing) secured pole position in the V6 World Series car, while both Sebastiano Sibani (ITA, Colacino) and Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (AUT, Red Rose Racing) had to pit early in their Formula 3000 cars.

The first of two races starts today, Saturday, at 15:50 local time and runs over a distance of 20 minutes (F1 Class 15 minutes). Tickets are still available at the box office. The races can also be followed via live timing.

Photos: Erwin Strassnigg/BOSS GP

Preview: Red Bull Ring

Posted on Giugno 6, 2023 by - Generale

The Red Bull Ring Classics from 9 to 11 June 2023 will celebrate its premiere in Spielberg. Joining them at Austria’s Formula 1 circuit is Europe’s fastest racing series,

Fans can expect a unique mix of Formula 1, Formula 2 and GP2, World Series and Formula 3000 cars. For the first time Sebastian Vettel’s younger brother Fabian will compete in the BOSS GP Racing Series next weekend. With him on the grid: ex-Formula 1 driver Antonio Pizzonia and thousands of horsepower.

Fabian Vettel makes his debut in a GP2 race car next weekend

Entries

First and foremost, Salzburg’s record champion Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) will compete in the BOSS GP F1 Class. With his Toro Rosso STR1, he not only holds various track records, but has also conquered the hearts of numerous fans with the V10 Cosworth engine. Gerhard Berger’s Benetton from 1997, today driven by Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) in its original livery, also brings back nostalgic memories.

Modified cars that no longer comply with the original regulations of their racing series compete in the OPEN class. The best-known representative in this illustrious field is former Formula 1 driver Antonio Pizzonia. The Brazilian competed for BMW Williams on this circuit in 2003, this year once again he is chasing F1 cars in the field with a World Series V8 bolide with a big 4.5-litre Gibson engine. Team-mate Paul O’Connell from Ireland will start with a World Series car powered by a 3.3-litre Cosworth engine and will be able to fight among the GP2 cars. Both mentioned race cars are entered by HS Engineering.

The field of Formula 2, GP2 and World Series 3.5 cars features several highlights. 24-year-old Fabian Vettel (GER), who recently competed in the ADAC GT Masters, among others, is driving in the BOSS GP Racing Series for the first time. With a GP2 car from the Austrian Top Speed team, the driver from Heppenheim could cause a sensation in FORMULA class right from the start. Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) comes to Spielberg as the overall leader. After three wins in four races this season, he has already pulled a few points clear of his toughest rival Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio). Other contenders for the top positions include Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) in the Fanatec GP2, “Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) and Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing). The debut of Alexander Geier (AUT, Geier Racing) from Salzburg in the GP2 car will be interesting. Last year, the young man from Salzburg made a big impression in the SUPER LIGHTS category. With the experienced hillclimb driver and organiser of the Rechbergrennen, Christian Ferstl (AUT), a Styrian local hero will also be competing in this class with a GP2 Dallara.

The 21-strong field is completed by the Formula 3000 of Walter Colacino (shared with Sebastiano Sibani; both ITA) and the V6 World Series of Henry Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing) as well as Stefan Eisinger-Sewald’s (AUT, Red Rose Racing) Ralt-F3000 in the SUPER LIGHTS class.

Timetable

Friday, 9 June
14:10–14:35          Free Practice 1
16:35–17:00          Free Practice 2

Saturday, 10 June
09:10–09:40          Qualifying (separated in two groups)
15:50–16:10          Race 1 (20 minutes/F1 Class 15 minutes)

Sunday, 11 June
10:40–11:05          Race 2 (25 minutes/F1 Class 15 minutes)

all times CEST

Tickets

Day tickets for Saturday and Sunday cost 28 Euro each in advance booking (www.redbullring.com), the weekend ticket is available for 42 Euro – paddock and pit lane walk are included.

Support events

In addition to BOSS GP, nine other racing series will ignite fireworks of historic motorsport. Spectacular racing cars from all over the world will be on display. Further highlights are the Group C Supercup, the CanAm & Sportscars, the Super Sixties and the touring cars from the Golden Era of DRM, DTM and STW.

Photos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP, Vettel