BOSS GP driver Armando Mangini retires, but remains with the series.
BOSS GP veteran Armando Mangini has announced his retirement from active racing at his home race in Imola. Mangini has been part of the BOSS GP family for nine consecutive years. The Italian contested a total of 72 races in Europe’s fastest racing series. A hand injury after a practice accident prevented races number 73 and 74 in Imola. Armando took it calmly: “I wanted to stop anyway.”
Monza 2018: Mangini on his way to the biggest sporting success of his long BOSS GP career
The Italian had his biggest sporting success last year in Monza. He won the Sunday race of the FORMULA class in his Dallara GP2 car. In a chaotic race he kept a cool head and drove to victory with constant lap times. These characteristics distinguished him for many years. Without making stupid mistakes, he drove the high-performance machines at a pace that challenged his often younger teammates.
Mangini (m.) with his friend and rival Walter Steding (l.) and his mechanic Mario (r.) at the farewell party
Mangini announced his plans at a farewell party at the Cuvée Sensorium victory ceremony in the BOSS GP hospitality. “Now it’s time to give the younger ones a chance.” As a farewell gift Armando gave his long-time competitors on the track and friends beside the racetrack bathrobes with personal imprints.
For next year, however, Mangini will remain in the BOSS GP as team manager. MM International is planning to have more than three cars at the start next season, according to Mangini. We wish him all the best – behind the pit wall and in his private life.
Action-packed 7th season race of the BOSS GP 2019 at the TT Circuit.
Let’s start
with the sensation of today’s race day: Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International)
surprisingly wins for the very first time a race in BOSS GP. Already in the
qualifying a surprise was on the horizon, with class rank 4 he achieved his best
qualifying result so far. In the race, unlike his immediate opponents, he
remained free of mistakes and benefited from a 10-second penalty for Alessandro
Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center), who had led most of the race.
After the
first start was aborted (a driver spun in the warm-up lap) the field was forced
to stop on the start-finish straight. At the restart, not all engines started
in time, so the crews were working on it even after the 30-second signal – which
is not allowed according to the regulations. Bracalents got – like some of the
other drivers – a time penalty added to the result.
Marco
Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) took the lead in the FORMULA class after a
good start of the race. Still in the first half pole setter Bracalente passed
Ghiotto again. The subsequent duel between the two title favourites was a short
one, however, as Ghiotto made a rare mistake and spun off the track. Ripoli
finally won ahead of Bracalente and Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International).
Mangini did it as so often, kept a cool head and crossed the finish line
without any major troubles. This brings the veteran 3th place in the FORMULA
ranking.
Philippe
Haezebrouck (FRA, Speed Center) and Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International)
dropped from the podium due to penalties after a strong race. Andreas Fiedler
(DEU, Fiedler Racing) was within reach of the FORMULA podium for a long time,
but in the final phase he suddenly lost a lot of speed and thus some positions
(7th place).
OPEN podium in Race 1 at Assen: f.l. “Piter”, Gerstl and Laub
In the OPEN
class for Formula 1 cars Ingo Gerstl controlled the race from lap 1 onwards in
his Toro Rosso STR1 and extended the overall lead with his fifth victory of the
season. Hans Laub (DEU, Speed Center) finished second in the Forti FG03. The
driver and mechanic in one person skipped qualifying in the morning and started
a great race to catch up from the last grid position and overtook numerous
FORMULA racers in the race. “Piter” (FRA, Ray-Ban) was happy about
another trophy in his collection with 3rd place.
Tomorrow
will be the 8th race of the season. At 9:45 a.m. the Big Open Single Seater line-up
for a ten-minute warm-up session. The race itself starts at 11:50 a.m.,
directly before the DTM’s main race.
Before Max Verstappen and Co. compete in a Dutch Grand Prix next year, BOSS GP will give Netherlands a taste of Formula 1 this weekend in Assen.
This year, the BOSS GP teamed up with the German Touring Car Masters to offer the 100,000 fans an incomparable racing line-up. While Assen is new for the DTM, the 4.5-kilometer TT Circuit is familiar territory for the BOSS GP. The fastest racing series in Europe was part of the GAMMA Racing Day in recent years.
What does the DTM event offer?
It all starts on Thursday in the city centre of Assen
with its 68,000 inhabitants: From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. there will be a show run on
the Vaart Zuidzijde, with free admission and demo rides of all racing series of
the weekend. BOSS GP with the fastest racing cars in the world and the heroes
who drive them can also be seen in action.
From Friday to Sunday there will be full day action on
the TT Circuit with a total of six sessions of the BOSS GP. The Big Open Single
Seater series makes possible, that formula cars of the highest categories can
still be seen at their original purpose: Racing against each other. Also
driving are DTM, Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux, Lotus Cup Europe and the Women’s
Formula Series W Series. Of course, Assen can’t do without bikes on the
traditional motorcycle track either: Moto2 demo laps fill the breaks between
the races.
BOSS GP schedule Assen
Friday, 19 July 2019:
11:40–12:10 Free Practice 1 (30 Minutes)
14:45–15:10 Free Practice 2 (25 Minutes)
Saturday, 20 July 2019:
10:50–11:20 Qualifying (Q1: 8 Minutes/Break: 2 Minutes/Q2: 20 Minutes)
11:35–12:20 Pitwalk
12:00–12:20 Autograph session all drivers BOSS GP (Show Stage Paddock)
17:10–17:30 Race 1 (20 Minutes)
19:00 Live concert DJ Fedde Le Grand (Show Stage Paddock)
Where can I find the BOSS GP cars, teams and drivers?
A part of the BOSS GP is located in the pits, the other teams in large tents behind pit lane. Fans can watch the BOSS GP teams at work closely, as admission to the paddock is included in all ticket categories. In addition, the pit lane will be opened twice a weekend for fans during the pit walk. Motorsport fans can’t get closer to Formula 1 anywhere else.
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.
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.
The 25th season of BOSS GP starts this weekend at the Hockenheimring in Germany. With more track time and more power than ever.
Europe’s fastest racing series has been around for 25 years, ten of them under the label BOSS GP. Reason enough to get the party rolling for the Big Open single Seater 2019. The season traditionally begins on the Formula 1 circuit of Hockenheim near Stuttgart this weekend (26 to 28 April).
Two races of the spectacular BOSS GP are on the schedule, in a setting that could hardly be more wonderful: The Bosch Hockenheim Historic, in honour of Scottish racing driver Jim Clark, who died in an accident in Hockenheim on 7 April 1968, attracts around 500 starters and more than 20,000 fans to the Motodrom every spring. The ticket includes free access to the paddock, the exhibitions, the pit roof and the pits themselves.
Competitors: BOSS GP 20 drivers are registered for the race weekend in Hockenheim. With record champion Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Toro Rosso STR1), Gerd Thöny (LIE, Jordan EJ13), Phil Stratford (USA, Benetton B197) and Ulf Ehninger (DEU, Benetton B197) four Formula 1 cars have been announced.
There will also be 15 Formula 2 cars on the grid, including local heroes Andreas Fiedler (runner-up in the FORMULA class 2018) and Walter Steding.
The definitive starter list will be published later.
Apart from Andreas Fiedler (paddock), the teams and drivers of the BOSS GP will be based in the front pits (numbers 3 to 21).
You can’t get any closer to the beasts: open doors in BOSS GP
Timetable: BOSS GP at Bosch Hockenheim Historic The 4.5-kilometre Grand Prix circuit and the supporting events will compete for the favour of the spectators. Each of the three days of the event start at 9 am. Alongside the BOSS GP, the highlights are the FIA Lurani Trophy, the CanAm racing cars and the Young Timer touring cars.
The BOSS GP will have two half hour practice sessions on Friday. On Saturday morning the qualifying for the starting grid of both races will take place. The first race (20 minutes) will be held on Saturday, the second race (25 minutes) on Sunday at prime time at 2:10 pm. Before that there will be an additional warm-up for the drivers and fans in the morning.
Thursday (25 April) is test day.
Friday, 26 April 2019 11:20–11:50: Free Practice 1 16:00–16:30: Free Practice 2
Saturday, 27 April 2019 10:10–10:40: Qualifying 16:10–16:30: Race 1 (20 min)
Race start last year: Gerstl leads, Stratford and Schnitzenbaumer follow
Weather Forecast: Typical for April Packing an umbrella can be helpful this weekend. In typical April weather with a change of sunshine and rain the drivers must adapt to changing conditions. At temperatures of around 10 to 15 degrees Celsius.
Tickets: Bosch Hockenheim Historic For Friday there’s an offer for 10 euro. A day ticket for Saturday or Sunday costs 30 euro each, 45 euro the weekend. Wheelchair users and children under the age of 14 have free admission – paddock and free choice of seat included.
Tickets can be ordered on site, via the online ticket shop or by calling the hotline +49 6205 950-222.
From 3 to 5 April, the teams and drivers of the BOSS GP will have the opportunity to test at the Automotodrom in Brno.
Three weeks before the start of the season in Hockenheim, tests will be held at the BOSS GP circuit in Brno, Czech Republic. From Wednesday to Friday you can drive a total of 24 hours.
The race will take place in half-hour units, from 9 am to 6 pm. From 13 to 14 o’clock only the lunch break interrupts the driving time. One unit costs 60 Euro incl. VAT. You can set up in the paddock on 2 April from 15 o’clock onwards. Pits are available for 150 Euro incl. VAT per day.
Vehicles from other categories and classes will also take part, a maximum of 40 cars are allowed on the track at the same time.
The test day is organised by Maverick Rescue and the Automotodrom Brno. Interested parties can register by e-mail at www.maverickrescue.cz or by telephone at +420 777 679 389. Further information is available at maverick.rescue@seznam.cz
Team Speed Center organises a test day on 29 March 2019 in Navarre, Spain. Teams and drivers from the BOSS GP are very welcome.
The early test is an ideal opportunity for BOSS GP drivers and teams to prepare for the upcoming season. On Friday, March 29, 2019, drivers will be able to drive their race car for 1,500 Euros (net) all day on the track. The test day is hosted by the German BOSS GP team Speed Center. For more information on how to get there, hotels etc., interested parties can contact team principal Markus Lehmann by e-mail at info@speed-center.com
Navarre is a province in the north of Spain, on the border to France. The Circuito de Navarra is in the city of Los Arcos and is almost four kilometres long. The FIA classifies the circuit as Grade 2, as does, for example, the BOSS GP circuit in Brno. For those who don’t know the Circuito de Navarra, the following onboard video of a Formula 3 car will give you a first look:
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkRead more
