Tag: Championship

New date for Mugello

Posted on May 17, 2020 by Keke Platzer - General

Good news: The BOSS GP return to Tuscany can take place from 9–11 October.

Originally scheduled as the season opener, the race in Mugello had to be postponed from March to October due to corona measures. Whether spectators will be allowed to attend the race cannot be confirmed at this time.

This means that six race weekends are still on the calendar in 2020. The season is supposed to start on 20/21 June in Misano. Followed by Brno, Assen and the Italian double Mugello and Imola in October. A new date for the Jim Clark Revival in Hockenheim will be published soon. BOSS GP is in close contact with the German organizers to make this traditional race happen.

Last call

Posted on February 26, 2020 by Keke Platzer - General

Drivers and teams can still register for a BOSS GP full season program until Friday, the 28th of February.

For those who have not yet registered for the 2020 BOSS GP season, now is the right time! The last day for the registration for all races and therefore a cheaper registration fee compared to single entries is next Friday, February 28, 2020.

However, interested drivers and team will have the option of registering as guest drivers for individual events after that date. Further information on registration and regulations can be requested from race coordinator Malin Strandberg: race@bossgp.com or +43 650 784 07 84

Report: Race 2 Imola

Posted on October 13, 2019 by Keke Platzer - General

FORMULA title decision: Bracalente wins the race, Marco Ghiotto the championship.

How can it be better? The final decision for the championship title in the FORMULA class was made in the twelfth and last BOSS GP season race of 2019. Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) went into the race weekend with better chances. After Alessandro Bracalente’s (ITA, Speed Center) victory in Saturday’s race his lead reduced from 15 to 12 points. This means: Ghiotto had to be at least sixth today if Bracalente scores another victory in Sunday’s race.

Ghiotto already had a shock moment at the start of the warm-up lap when his red GP2 Dallara did not come off the spot. Lucky for Ghiotto: Because a second car also stopped, Ghiotto could line up again in the second row of the grid for the rolling start. The Scuderia Palladio was able to breathe a short sigh of relief.

The best start behind OPEN champion Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) had Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International), who almost caught Bracalente at the top. Ghiotto not only lost the place to Martucci, but also to Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed). However, Ghiotto overtook both again in the early stages and even managed to catch up with Bracalente with a couple of fast lap times. With second place he was fully on target for the title.

And it remained like that. Bracalente won the last race of the season and ended the year with an incredible result for a rookie: 5 victories, 10 podium places and only two retirements. In the end, one too many to defeat his fellow countryman Ghiotto, who also has a great score: 9 podium finishes and 2 victories, but only one DNF. After six exciting race weekends in Hockenheim, Spielberg, Monza, Assen, Brno and Imola, the new FORMULA champion Ghiotto and his opponent Bracalente finally separated by only nine points.

For the first time Marco Ghiotto is the champion of BOSS GP FORMULA class

Third place in the race went to Martucci, who fought again with de Plano until the middle of the race. De Plano finished fourth ahead of Andreas Fiedler, who secured third place in the championship with a damaged gearbox.

The best duel was delivered by Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Speed Center) and Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International), with a better end for the Frenchman. Until the last lap both were within striking distance of each other on the 4.9-kilometer course. Towards the end of the 25-minute race, Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center) also caught up with the two, but could no longer attack. He finished the season with a respectable eighth place. Nicolas Matile (MCO, Zig-Zag) finished ninth in the class. By the way good news for the championship: His Team Zig-Zag Motorsport Service announced that they would be competing in more than two races next year.

Overall winner of the race was Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed), who once again put the pedal to the medal today in his Toro Rosso STR1. Although his mechanics gave everything, Phil Stratford had to load his Benetton B197 into the van early due to a defect. Second in the OPEN class and new runner-up instead is “Piter” (FRA, Ray-Ban), whose team managed to repair a big oil leak just before race began.

Next up: The BOSS GP annual award ceremony will take place on 7 December in Salzburg.

Report: Race 1 Imola

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Keke Platzer - General

Alessandro Bracalente reduces the gap to championship leader Ghiotto by winning his 4th race of the year.

Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) drove unchallenged to his fourth victory of the season in the FORMULA class. The BOSS GP rookie thus reduced the gap to Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) in the points standings from 15 to only 12 points. Now it is clear that the championship will be decided in the last race on Sunday. Ghiotto followed Bracalente throughout the race like a shadow. Only at the end of the race he lost the connection to Bracalente and the gap grow to an high of four seconds at the finish line.

Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) showed an incredible pace at the finish. At the beginning of the race he dropped back to 9th place, but on the last lap he made it onto the podium. For Martucci it is his fifth visit on the podium in 2019. In a courageous last lap manoeuvre, he overtook Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed), who seems to have bad luck on his racing boots. For de Plano it was nevertheless the second-best result of the season and the highest finish since the Hockenheim season opener.

Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) was also involved in the fight for the podium at the opening stage of the race. In the end he finished fifth. He scored five championship points more than Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Speed Center), who finished seventh. Tomorrow Haezebrouck and Fiedler will fight for third place in the FORMULA ranking.

Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag) could not set any time in qualifying because his car had not been repaired in time. That didn’t stop him from moving up to 6th place from last position on the grid. For several laps he battled with Haezebrouck for position.

Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol) was surprisingly in the top 6 at the beginning of the race, ahead of Martucci and Haezebrouck. With rank 8, he finished in good midfield this time.

Nicolas Matile (MCO, Zig-Zag) finished 9th with the only Auto GP Lola in the field. Peter Göllner won the internal team duel between him and Christian Eicke (both SUI, Speed Center).

Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International) and Ulf Ehninger (DEU, ESBA Racing) had to retire early in the race. Because Ripoli stopped at the warm-up lap, he had to start at the back of the grid at the Indy start. He tried to improve his position in the first lap and collided with Ehninger’s Benetton in the Tosa hairpin.

The overall victory was again secured by Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed). Not surprisingly, the already crowned OPEN champion in his Toro Rosso dominated the eleventh race of the season.

The 12th and last race of the BOSS GP anniversary season will take place tomorrow Sunday at 2:10 p.m., before that at 10:30 a.m. is BOSS GP’s warm-up session.

Report: Qualifying Imola

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Keke Platzer - General

The last qualifying session of 2019 promises high tension in the fight for the BOSS GP FORMULA title.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the Toro Rosso STR1 takes his fifth pole position in the sixth race of the year. Behind him title contender Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) set the fastest time of the FORMULA drivers and put himself in a good position for the first race on Saturday afternoon (starting time: 15:50). With 1:30.641 he was a solid six-tenths faster than championship leader Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio), who will start the race in third place from the second row of the grid. On the very last lap Ghiotto managed to drive into the top-3. Should Ghiotto win the first race, Bracalente must finish at least sixth to postpone the title decision until the last race on Sunday.

Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) starts from row 2 next to Ghiotto. This means that three Italian will chase pole setter Ingo Gerstl through Tamburello, Acque Minerali, Rivazza and Co. Benetton driver Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom) had to retire from qualifying early. There had already been a leak in the gearbox yesterday. With just one fast lap he qualified in fifth place on the grid.

The fastest driver in Q2 was Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed), who qualified sixth overall. After a messed-up season, he wants to perform strongly in the finale.

Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) increased his pace from lap to lap as usual. When hardly anyone could further improve his lap times, Fiedler drove the seventh fastest time. So, Fiedler starts a row ahead of his fiercest competitor for third place in the championship: Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Speed Center).

Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol) proved the strong impression from the free practice sessions on Friday with rank 10. With 10th place he was able to repeat his best qualifying result of this year in Assen.

The first of two races this weekend will have a distance of 20 minutes and begin at 3:50 p.m. – according to the forecast at dry weather and 22 degrees.

Preview & Guide Imola

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Keke Platzer - General

Stratford (Benetton F1) follows a MM International GP2 car

The grand finale of the BOSS GP anniversary season will take place from 11 to 13 October – back in Imola after a two-year break.

The hilly and challenging course in the Italian town of Imola is the ideal venue for this season’s finale of Europe’s fastest racing series. Built in the 1950s, the Imola circuit has seen many triumphs and tragedies. The track, named after Enzo Ferrari and his early deceased son Dino, is still a highlight for every racing driver today. Although the track has not been on the Formula 1 racing calendar for several years, the 4.9-kilometre-long asphalt track has all the ingredients of a world-class track. Imola is also the only track in the BOSS GP calendar to be driven counterclockwise. This affects the set-up of the racing cars (more left turns) as well as the pilots themselves, where the neck muscles, for example, are subjected to different stresses. At the last appearance in Imola in 2017 the race winners were Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) and Rinus van Kalmthout (NLD, Mansell Motorsport).

Why the BOSS GP Grande Finale is worth visiting?

The sixth round of the season with races 11 and 12 will decide the championship title in the FORMULA class. While Toro Rosso driver Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) has defended his title in the OPEN classification prematurely, two Italians in their Formula 2 cars fight for the first place in the FORMULA ranking: Marco Ghiotto (Scuderia Palladio) goes after three second places en suite into the final round with a lead of 15 points over Alessandro Bracalente (Speed Center). A technical retirement at the last race in Brno meant that Bracalente is now the chaser. 50 points can still be scored in Imola, so Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) has still theoretical chances for the title. Practically he is fighting for third place against Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Speed Center). Who may put on the “crown”, will be determined at the very latest next Sunday.

In addition to BOSS GP, modern and historic sports car and touring car series are part of an exciting race weekend. The Renault Clio Cup, Lotus Cup and Alfa Revival Cup will, as usual, ensure exciting motorsport too.

BOSS GP schedule Imola

Friday, 11 October 2019:
10:45–11:15 Free Practice 1 (30 Minutes)
15:40–16:10 Free Practice 2 (30 Minutes)

Saturday, 12 October 2019:
10:50–11:20 Qualifying (Q1: 8 Minutes/Break: 2 Minutes/Q2: 20 Minutes)
15:50–16:25 Race 1 (20 Minutes)

Sunday, 13 October 2019:
10:30–10:40 Warm-up (10 Minutes)
14:05–14:45 Race 2 (25 Minutes)

How do I get tickets for the Imola event?

Admission to the main grandstand is free on all three racing days. The paddock is also opened to interested visitors.

Where can I find the BOSS GP race cars and pilots?

The teams and drivers of the BOSS GP are in the pit garages 23 to 32. Some cars are parked in the paddock next to the BOSS GP hospitality.

How can I follow the BOSS GP Grande Finale online?

Livetiming on www.autodromoimola.it/live-timing-imola
All results on bossgp.com
Championship standings on bossgp.com
Up to date with Instagram @bossgpofficial and Facebook @bossgpofficial
The latest pictures from race weekend in our gallery bossgp.com

Report: Race 1 Spielberg

Posted on September 22, 2018 by Keke Platzer - General

Plenty of action in the starting phase, a home win for Ingo Gerstl, Rookie Alain Valente wins FORMULA and with Florian Schnitzenbaumer the BOSS GP has a new class champion.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed, Toro Rosso STR1) made burnouts on track and delight thousands of fans on the stands. The series winner had reason to be happy after an impeccable drive in the first race of the Spielberg weekend as part of the DTM. Gerstl won for the tenth time in eleven races scored so far in 2018. With 1:13.027 min he also did the fastest lap of the whole DTM weekend.

Second in the OPEN was Hans Laub (DEU, Speed Center, Forti FG-03), who only started from 13. Laub fought the whole race in the midfield of FORMULA, among others with Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International, GP2 Dallara) and Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol, Dallara GP2). For Laub it was the first finish and also the first podium at the second appearance this year.

OPEN podium (f.l.): Hans Laub, Ingo Gerstl and Phil Stratford

Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom, Benetton B197) was already touched at the right rear wheel during the flying start and had to head for the pits with a puncture in lap 1. With lap loss he returned to the track and fought his way through the field. But in the 20-minute race he was not able to catch up with the others.

Although the track had dried up by noon, the conditions remained cold. This was a disaster for some drivers right at the start: Sergio Ghiotto (ITA, MM International, Dallara GP2) and Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International, Dallara GP2) spun off the track in the warm-up lap. For two favourites the race was over before the actual start. Not much further came Salvatore De Plano (ITA, Top Speed, Dallara GP2) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, MRC Sport, Dallara GP2). After a good start and some position improvements, the two Italians spun in turn 1 and had to retire from the race early. The consequence of the incidents was a three-lap safety car phase.

Florian Schnitzenbaumer is the new champion in FORMULA class

Florian Schnitzenbaumer is the new BOSS GP champion in FORMULA class

Alain Valente (SUI, Speed Center, Dallara GP2) was more considerate despite his first start at a BOSS GP race. The 21-year-old survived the difficulties of the first lap without damage, first overtaking Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing, Dallara GP2) and then Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center, Dallara GP2). This makes Valente the eighth winner (!) in the most varied BOSS GP season in the FORMULA class of all time.

With second place Fiedler had done almost everything to keep the championship battle on. But Florian Schnitzenbaumer (DEU, Top Speed, Dallara GP2) finished sixth in his class for the secure his first championship title. The German seemed to be relieved to have reached his season’s goal.

Before tomorrow’s final race, Fiedler is already set for second place overall in FORMULA, and the second German was correspondingly delighted.

Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center, Dallara GP2) probably surprised himself the most once again. With the fourth podium place in the last five races he confirmed the strong performances of the last race weekends in Brno and Assen.

Only one of six Italians crossed the finish line: Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, Speed Center, Dallara GP2) finished fourth. Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International) already had to park his Lola Formula 3000 in the pits in lap 1. Thus, Mangini also lost 3rd place in the championship. With 121 points he is four points behind Walter Steding and 6 points behind Christian Eicke. Steding finished sixth today, Eicke seventh – so nothing has been decided yet with these small point gaps.

Race 2 will take place tomorrow at 15:10 local time directly after the DTM race. The stream on www.bossgp.com/livestream starts already at 14:55.

FORMULA podium (f.l.): Andreas Fiedler, Alain Valente and Peter Göllner

Quote after the race:
Alain Valente (1st place FORMULA): “I could use the feeling from my sports car experience today. At the beginning I was lucky not to get involved in the accidents, then I stayed cautious with cold tyres and brakes at the beginning. My goal is to become a professional racer, maybe this result will help me.”

Pictures: Michael Jurtin/BOSS GP

Report: Race 2 Brno

Posted on September 9, 2018 by Keke Platzer - General

Ingo Gerstl secured his fourth BOSS GP OPEN title in the third last race of the season; the driver of the race was again Marc Faggionato.

The highlight of the Masaryk Racing Days in Brno was scheduled for Sunday at noon. The engines howled on time and Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) and Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom Racing) started from the front row at the flying start. Throughout the race Gerstl, Stratford and Wolfgang Jaksch (DEU, F Xtreme Racing) remained within sight. But Gerstl’s tenth victory of the season was never in danger. The Toro Rosso pilot thus also fixed the third championship in three years, Gerstl won today for the fifth time a BOSS GP title after 2008, 2011 (FORMULA), 2016 and 2017.

A word about the overall podium could perhaps have been said by the man of the race: Marc Faggionato (MCO, ZIG-ZAG Motorsport Service) had, as yesterday, the difficult task of starting from the rear. A clutch problem prevented the start in qualifying, so he was positioned at the back of the grid. From there, he already took 8th place on the first lap and then 4th overall in the middle of the race. With lap times faster than Stratford and Jaksch he caught up tenths by tenths like yesterday but catching up was no longer possible at this point. Nevertheless, Faggionato managed to win for the second time at the second start of the year.

OPEN podium f.l. Stratford, Gerstl and Jaksch

FORMULA podium f.l. Göllner, Faggionato and Schnitzenbaumer

Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center) was also very pleased with his podium finish. After the Assen double, Göllner stood on the podium for the third time this year. Championship leader Florian Schnitzenbaumer (DEU, Top Speed) was also allowed to take part in the award ceremony and thus extended his lead to Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing), who finished fourth in the FORMULA. Fiedler is 38 points behind Schnitzenbaumer before the final in Spielberg (21-23 September 2018); 25 points are given for a victory in the BOSS GP.

Nicolas Matile (MCO, ZIG-ZAG Motorsport Service) drove in the only Auto GP bolide without any problems to class rank 5. As already in race 1 Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol), Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed) and Christian Eicke (SUI, Speed Center) fought a tough fight in the midfield. Steding was able to hold his own against Jakoubek in the very last corner and finished sixth in the FORMULA.

H&A Racing had to complain of a double loss: Veronika Cicha (CZE) could not finish her home race either, nor Bernd Herndlhofer (AUT), who at times was on a podium course.

MM International with the drivers Salvatore De Plano and Armando Mangini (both ITA) did not start. One of their mechanics was seriously injured the day before. On behalf of the BOSS GP organisation and all teams and drivers we wish him and his relatives the very best for his recovery.

Pictures: Michael Jurtin/BOSS GP