Europes fastest racing series starts into an exciting year next weekend at the Jim Clark Revival at Hockenheimring with 19 starters.
First stop: classic meets modern
The season for the Big Open Single Seater begins traditionally at Hockenheim in Southern Germany. Next weekend (April 20-22), two races of the spectacular BOSS GP are scheduled in a setting that could hardly be more beautiful: Bosch Hockenheim Historic, in honour of Jim Clark, who died in Hockenheim on April 7, 1968, attracts tens of thousands to the Hockenheimring every year. Jim Clark’s 50th anniversary of his death is commemorated this year with numerous exhibitions and special tours commemorating the Formula 1 legend. In addition, more than 500 cars from all classes and epochs will gather in the Motodrom. Open doors await the spectators everywhere, as the ticket includes free access to the paddock, the exhibition pavilion, the pit roof and the pits themselves.
2017 podium in Hockenheim: f.l. Stratford, race winner Gerstl, Jaksch
Entries: BOSS GP
Four Formula 1 cars are listed, all of them eligible to compete in the OPEN Class: BOSS GP Champion Ingo Gerstl from Austria with the very first F1 Toro Rosso, the American Phil Stratford in the light blue and white Benetton from 1997, Bernd Herndlhofer (Austria) with Arrows A22 and the German entrepreneur Wolfgang Jaksch in the popular Super Aguri. There is no engine capacity limit in the open class – ‘anything goes’ is the motto here.
| Starting No |
Name | Team | Nat. | Car |
| 1 | Ingo Gerstl | Top Speed | AUT | Toro Rosso STR1 |
| 7 | Phil Stratford | Penn Elcom Racing | USA | Benetton B197 |
| 21 | Bernd Herndlhofer | H&A Racing | AUT | Arrows A22 |
| 26 | Wolfgang Jaksch | F-Xtreme Racing Team | GER | Super Aguri SA06 |
15 cars are competing for points in the FORMULA Class, which has a maximum engine capacity of 4.2 litres: Four World Series racing cars and eleven GP2 racing cars complete the field of participants at Hockenheim, including the GP2 cars from the three BOSS GP rookies Bianca Steiner, Thomas Jakoubek and Manfred Loach from Austria. Loach’s racing machine is probably the most striking car in the field – the Dallara is painted in pink due to the sponsor.
Pink Panther: Manfred Loach in Brno for the first test in his eye-catching Dallara GP2
In addition to Jaksch, four more Germans will race at this first BOSS GP race weekend 2018: Karl-Heinz Becker, Florian Schnitzenbaumer, Andreas Fiedler and Walter Steding.
| Starting No | Name | Team | Nat. | Car |
| 100 | Thomas Jakoubek | Top Speed | AUT | Dallara GP2 |
| 101 | Peter Göllner | Speed Center | SUI | Dallara GP2 |
| 110 | Bianca Steiner | Top Speed | AUT | Dallara GP2 |
| 111 | “Piter” | Ray-Ban | FRA | Dallara WSbR |
| 181 | Manfred Loach | Top Speed | AUT | Dallara GP2 |
| 212 | John Reaks | Speed Center | GBR | Dallara WSbR |
| 222 | Veronika Cicha | H&A Racing | CZE | Dallara GP2 |
| 321 | Andreas Fiedler | Fiedler Racing | DEU | Dallara GP2 |
| 323 | Armando Mangini | MM International | ITA | Dallara GP2 |
| 411 | Karl-Heinz Becker | Becker Motorsport | DEU | Dallara WSbR |
| 430 | Martin Kindler | Kindler Motorsport | SUI | Dallara WSbR |
| 505 | Walter Steding | Inter Europol Competition | DEU | Dallara GP2 |
| 555 | Christian Eicke | Speed Center | SUI | Dallara GP2 |
| 888 | Florian Schnitzenbaumer | Top Speed | DEU | Dallara GP2 |
| 999 | Salvatore de Plano | MM International | ITA | Dallara GP2 |
Schedule: BOSS GP at Bosch Hockenheim Historic
The 4.5-kilometre Grand Prix circuit and the supporting events compete, so to speak, for the spectators’ favour. On each of the three days of the event from 9.00 a.m. on the race track is literally round-the-clock. The BOSS GP series runs two 25-minute training sessions, one half-hour qualifying session and two 20-minute races. Testing takes place on Thursday (April 19) throughout the day.
Friday: April 20, 2018
10:00 am-10:25 am: Free practice 1
16:15-16:40: Free practice 2
Saturday: April 21, 2018
10:35 am-11:05 am: Qualifying
17:00-17:20: Race 1
Sunday: April 22, 2018
13:20-13:40: Race 2
The schedule featuring all racing series can be found under this link
Phil Stratford in his 97′ Benetton drives around a corner in the famous Motodrom
Tickets for fans: Bosch Hockenheim Historic
There’s an introductory offer for ten euros on Friday. A day ticket for Saturday or Sunday costs 30 euros each, 45 euros for the weekend. Wheelchair users and children up to 14 years have free entry – paddock and free choice of seats included.
Tickets can be ordered on site, via the online ticket shop or by calling the hotline +49 6205 950-222.
Im Hotel Friesacher Anif trafen sich die Fahrer und Verantwortlichen zur Saisonfinal-Gala bei der BOSS GP Koordinator Christian Gaense durch den Abend führte und mit einem Videorückblick auf die Saison den Abend eröffnete.
Nach dem ersten Gang wurde FORMULA Klasse Champion Christopher Brenier gemeinsam mit Luis Michael Dorrbecker (2. der Gesamtwertung) und Salvatore de Plano (3.) geehrt. Zusätzlich zur Trophäe gab es für jeden Piloten ein Highlight-Video seiner besten Momente der Saison. Zum Dessert folgte die Ehrung von OPEN Klasse Meister Ingo Gerstl, ebenso wie von Peter Milavec (2. der Gesamtwertung) und Frits van Eerd (3.).
Einen Sonderpreis erhielt Karl-Heinz Becker, der in diesem Jahr sein 20-jähriges Jubiläum in der BOSS Serie feierte. Der Deutsche ist längst eine Legende, fightet immer noch mit Riesenengagement, und ist dabei noch richtig schnell! Der höchst sympathische „Nörgler“ erhielt den „Master of Complaining“ Award.
