Tag: Faggionato

Report: Race 1 Paul Ricard

Posted on April 8, 2023 by - General

Anglo-American Peter Mann’s Formula 1 Ferrari F2008 led the BOSS GP Racing Series field into the first race of the season. This was just one of many highlights at the Grand Prix de France Historique on Saturday.

Once again, both Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) and his Toro Rosso STR1 Formula 1 car kept a “cool head”. The record-breaking champion secured the winner’s trophy at the first of 14 races of the 2023 season. The Salzburg native was presented with his winner’s trophy by French racing legends Jean Alesi, Rene Arnoux and Franck Montagny in the atmospheric setting of the paddock. Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) in second place and Didier Sirgue (FRA, LRS Racing) in third place in the BOSS GP F1 Class also enjoyed the applause of the fans.

At the grid walk the spectators got a closer look to the BOSS GP jewels

Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) was busy handing out autographs before the start, before he burned lap times under 1:50 minutes into the asphalt a few minutes later. Finally, to the delight of his team, he set an impressive best time of 1:47.092 in the World Series car – victory in the OPEN class was only a formality. It was the first victory for Pizzonia in a single-seater car since his triumph in the AutoGP championship eight years ago.

The FORMULA class was explosive: Pole setter Marc Faggionato (MCO), wearing the MM International colours for the first time, stalled at the start of the warm-up lap and had to take the flying race start from the back of the field. However, after just a few corners, the Paul Ricard specialist was back in the leading pack. There, the duel between Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) in their GP2 Dallara cars resumed on the first lap. After a mistake by Colombo and a subsequent collision between the two Italians, the race was over for Ghiotto, Colombo on the other hand had to pick up a new car nose in his pit. All this helped Faggionato overcome the incident at the pre-start and race towards victory. The Monegasque took his third BOSS GP win today after double victory in Brno 2018, while Colombo was similarly rewarded for a race to catch up, taking second. Unimpressed by the duels around him, “Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) remained successful with third place. Giancarlo Pedetti (ITA, Nannini Racing) in a strong fourth place was unfortunate to just miss the podium. Jean-Christophe Peyre (FRA, Zig-Zag) finished fifth in his home race in the only AutoGP car on the grid.

Rene Arnoux (l.) with the successful BOSS GP drivers

Due to the incidents in the FORMULA class, SUPER LIGHTS driver Henry Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing) was also able to finish the race in the top-10 and take a class win in his very first BOSS GP race.

The second race over 25 minutes starts tomorrow at 15:15 local time and can again be seen with extensive pre-race coverage in the livestream.

Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Report Race 2 Mugello

Posted on April 11, 2021 by - 5, General

Gerstl wins in the OPEN category, Ghiotto after recovering from an early spin in FORMULA class.

Another day, same question: dry or wet tyres? It had rained again and again at the Mugello Circuit during the day. But shortly before the start of the second race, parts of the track had dried up. Most of the drivers nevertheless relied on the Pirelli Cinturato rain tyres, even at the risk that they would not last the full 25-minute distance on an increasingly dry track. Exceptions were the two MM-International drivers Stefano Colombo and Luca Martucci (both ITA), who started the race on slicks. But with low outside temperatures of around ten degrees Celsius, they had a tough time in their GP2 Dallara single seaters.

Not so Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed), who immediately fled at the start. The pole setter entered turn 1 in his Toro Rosso STR1 first and did not relinquish his position at the top until the end of the race. Second in the OPEN classification was Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing), who, after his premiere victory yesterday, also finished on the podium today and, together with Gerstl, will travel to the next race as BOSS GP championship leader.

BOSS GP newcomer Gianluca De Lorenzi in his Auto GP car showed another strong performance

In FORMULA class, Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) won today as in race 1. The decisive move was made by the Italian just before the end of the race. Ghiotto had spun in lap 1 and then started a terrific chase that had its climax on the penultimate lap: Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag) defended his lead hard, but always remained fair. The decisive manoeuvre came at the exit of the medium-fast turn 12, where Ghiotto poked into a gap on the inside lane and overtook Faggionato. Gianluca De Lorenzi (SMR, GDL Racing) finished third in the class behind the two, sticking to the rear of Faggionato for a long time but ultimately having to let Ghiotto go as well.

Fourth place went to Salvatore De Plano (ITA, MM International), who made amends today after an early retirement yesterday. Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing) changed to rain tyres shortly before the start, which helped him to move up to 5th in class. Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) achieved another convincing result at his first BOSS GP event with 6th position. Behind him came Walter Colacino (ITA) in the Formula 3000 with an Alfa Romeo sports car engine, who was able to drive the full 25 minutes of the race today without any troubles.

The overall standings after the first of six race weekends are available here.

Photos: Michael Jurtin/BOSS GP

Report Qualifying Mugello

Posted on April 10, 2021 by - General

A thrilling duel for pole position between Faggionato and De Lorenzi.

It had rained on Saturday morning, so qualifying was not divided into two groups as usual, rather it was open to everyone straight away. This ensured fair conditions for everyone as the track dried up. In wet conditions at the Mugello Circuit, the Pirelli Cinturato rain tyres were clearly the first choice.

First on track was Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International), who was surprisingly the fastest FORMULA driver on his BOSS GP debut yesterday. In the rain he started gently at first but improved steadily and confirmed his Friday performance with class position 4.

Gianluca De Lorenzi (SMR, GDL Racing) needed even less time to get used to the Zytek-fired Auto GP Lola in these tricky conditions. The Nürburgring specialist is back in a monoposto after a long break and right in the middle of the class usually dominated by GP2 cars. At the beginning of the practice session, he even matched Formula 1 driver Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the Toro Rosso STR1, who, however, was able to set the clearly best time with 1:52.969 in increasingly better conditions during the course of the timed practice.

In the time sheets behind them, Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag) and De Lorenzi were involved in a thriller that lasted until the chequered flag waved. De Lorenzi bumped the Monegasque out of the lead with a 1:57.978 on his very last flying lap. Faggionato however, was still on a fast lap and used it for the counterattack: 1:57.368! Faggionato thus secured pole position – his second – in the FORMULA class.

Next to De Lorenzi is reigning FORMULA champion Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) on row 2, with Colombo and Salvatore de Plano (ITA, MM International) starting behind. Luca Martucci first tried the rain line for a long time, but a spin stopped him from improving his time later in the session. In the end, the race winner of last year came in sixth in his class.

The German Ulf Ehninger (ESBA Racing) is getting more and more used to his hot equipment. Things also went well for the Benetton driver in the wet: he starts the race from grid position 8. On row 5: Nicolas Matile (MCO, Zig-Zag) and Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed), who delivered a strong performance in his first ever BOSS GP qualifying session and finished 8th in class.

The remaining rankings are available on the event page.

The first of two races of the BOSS GP Season Opening starts today, Saturday, at 15:55 local time. The race will be broadcast on Italian television (MS Motortv) and on the YouTube channel from race organiser Gruppo Peroni.

Photo: Michael Jurtin/BOSS GP

Report Free Practice Mugello

Posted on April 9, 2021 by - General

The first impressions of BOSS GP 2021.

The first day of a new season is always something very special, and this year was no exception: new teams, new drivers, new cars and new liveries showed up at the Mugello Circuit on Friday morning. The two half-hour free practice sessions were used extensively by all the drivers. Many of them completed their first kilometres after the long winter break and wanted to get their muscles and minds back in shape. In addition, the crews recorded a lot of data behind the pit wall and fine-tuned the set-up.

BOSS GP record holder Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) set the fastest time in his Toro Rosso STR1. As usual, he used FP1 to set the fastest lap of the day (1:28.861). BOSS GP rookie Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) surprised as fastest FORMULA driver in today’s practice sessions. The experienced kart driver has thus immediately joined the circle of favourites. Only slightly slower than Colombo was Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag), who also wants to fight for victory this weekend.

Salvatore de Plano (ITA, MM International), who last won a BOSS GP race in 2018, would like to join the party as well. The return to MM International and into a GP2 race car started promisingly anyway (class rank 3 in practice). Fourth and fifth fastest today were Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio), the two dominators of last year. Both may not have reached their full potential in practice. Incidentally, Ghiotto completed the most kilometres of all the drivers with 27 laps counted.

BOSS GP rookie Gianluca de Lorenzi (SMR, GDL Racing) was also in the mix as he sets the fastest time for an Auto GP driver today. Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing) was still struggling with the fine tuning. Last year’s race winner, however, can possibly hope for rain in the races. First qualifying of the year starts tomorrow at 10:05 a.m., before race 1 will get underway at 15:55 local time.

Photo: Michael Jurtin/BOSS GP

Report Race 1 Mugello

Posted on October 10, 2020 by - General, Uncategorized

FORMULA: Martucci beats Ghiotto, Gerstl ahead of Ehninger in the OPEN class

The BOSS GP drivers have a lot to tell after this race. Of all things, it started to rain at the start of the warm-up lap on the 5.4-kilometre-long Mugello Circuit. To ensure a safe start to the race and to give the teams time to change to rain tyres, the race was stopped once again and started a few minutes later behind the Fanatec Safety Car. But not everyone switched from slicks to the Pirelli Cinturato rain tyres during the break. Nicolas Matile (MCO, Zig-Zag), Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Coloni) and Bruno Jarach (EST, Eesti Motorsport) took the risk, but their tyre choice turned out to be a mistake as soon as the race was started. At various points around the track it began to rain more heavily again. The changing conditions subsequently made it incredibly difficult for the drivers to find the right pace. But the BOSS GP drivers did an outstanding job and managed to keep their powerful Formula 1, Formula 2 and Auto GP cars on track.

Behind the Austrian Ingo Gerstl (winner of the OPEN class) in the Toro Rosso F1, Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) fought an epic battle for the victory in the FORMULA class. In lap 1 Ghiotto first passed Martucci. At mid-race, the action came to a head: After a few tentative attempts, Martucci made the decisive manoeuvre at over 300 km/h on the start-finish straight. Nearly there was contact. But the duel was not over yet, because now Luca had to be up front in difficult track conditions. Marco followed only a few metres behind and tried to pass Martucci once again. To show how close it was between Martucci and Ghiotto: The best lap time of the two was only 0.003 seconds separated (in favour of Ghiotto). But it was no longer enough for the championship leader, instead Martucci’s team had reason to cheer this time. It was the first victory ever for the tall Italian in the BOSS GP Racing Series, and what a victory that was!

Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag) was able to follow the two Italians in their home race for a couple of laps. He finished in a strong third place. Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing) also delivered a surprisingly good race. The third in the championship in 2019 has bought a new Dallara GP2 and is using this season’s races as a test. Because his team had no rain tyres at hand, the German had to drive to his tent in the paddock and then start from pit lane. Relatively quickly he moved up to fifth place in his class, but the gap to the front was already large. Until the halfway point of the race, Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio) was on a good way to a fourth-place finish. But Steding lost ground in the second half of the race, and his position to compatriot Fiedler.

Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International) also drove impeccably, finishing sixth in his class behind Steding. Last year Mangini had announced his retirement. Today he proved that this was probably premature. Probably the hardest race had Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Coloni). He was the only one who stayed on dry tyres until the end of the race and therefore had no chance. It is probably only thanks to his driving qualities that he was able to finish the race safely.

A ten-minute warm-up will be held tomorrow morning from 10.20 a.m. The second race of the weekend start 14.30. Rain showers are predicted.

Photo: Roberto Piccinini/Actualfoto

Report Races Spa

Posted on August 2, 2020 by - General

Ingo Gerstl is chasing Riccardo Ponzio for the lead

The BOSS GP Racing Series showed two fantastic races at Spa.

The compact schedule of two days, the challenging 7-kilometer track and the measures taken against Covid-19 made this race weekend a demanding one for man and material. However, the gentleman series mastered this challenge excellent and put a smile under the masks of everyone involved.

The time differences between the drivers were not only small on paper, no, also the racing among the drivers was impressive. In both races the lead changed several times: Temporarily Riccardo Ponzio (ITA, Adriatica Racing) and even the fastest FORMULA driver, Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) were leading the races. In the end, however, V10 power of the Cosworth engine and Ingo Gerstl’s (AUT, Top Speed) experience made the difference. Even minor driving mistakes in both races could not prevent Gerstl’s season wins 3 and 4.

Nevertheless, the beaten Riccardo Ponzio was over the moon. For the first time, the 22-year-old was able to drive his Jaguar R3 over two complete race distances and had the opportunity to show in some stages what is possible for car and driver. We can look forward to some more exciting duels this year.

OPEN class podium in Race 1 and 2: f.l. Ponzio, Gerstl, Ehninger

For Marco Ghiotto the two class wins in Spa-Francorchamps mean the lead in the FORMULA championship ranking. BOSS GP rookie Roman Hoffmann (Hoffmann Racing) also makes a big step forward in the classification. The Austrian not only skillfully made some drifts in both races, but was also able to finish on the podium twice. These were the first BOSS GP trophies for the former touring car ace.

Behind the Leading Car, driven by Fanatec CEO Thomas Jackermeier, the race started as usual with a flying start. In both races, many cars were side-by-side in the approach to the first hairpin. In race 1 Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) tried to gain places at the start, but had to pull back. For the Italian it was an average weekend by his increased standards. He finished fourth in class at his Spa premiere. In the second race he had a spectacular duel with pole setter Marc Faggionato (MCO, Top Speed). Just a couple of laps before the end the two touched each other slightly and Martucci spun out. But with a 22-point gap, Martucci is now Ghiotto’s first chaser. Faggionato could continue and finished third. Walter Steding (GER, MM International) can also be extremely satisfied with fourth place. Due to his consistent performances he is in the Top-4 of the points standings as well.

Race 2 battle between Martucci and Faggionato did not end good

If you have missed the races, you can watch a replay of all the BOSS GP action from Spa on our YouTube channel.

Report: Race 1 Imola

Posted on July 12, 2020 by - 5, General

Fantastic season opener for the BOSS GP at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

Chris Höher (AUT, Top Speed) wins the race in the FORMULA class. Although he was beaten by Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) in the qualifications, in the race none of his fellow racers were able to keep up with Höher’s impressive pace. The 23-year-old former GT3 ace flawlessly secured his fifth BOSS GP racing victory.

Behind him, two thrilling duels kept us in suspence for almost the entire race. Martucci and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) competed for second place in the FORMULA class, while  Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag) and Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Coloni) engaged in a fierce battle for fourth place. While Martucci had to defend himself against Ghiotto until the very end and took a hard-fought second place, the fate of who would take fourth place was determined by a defect in Faggionato’s car, which tipped the scales in favour of de Plano in his A1 GP car. Walter Steding finished the race fifth just behind Nicolas Matile, while Christian Ferstl (AUT Top Speed) finished seventh, which crowned him the best of the six rookies.

In the OPEN class of Formula 1 cars, five-time BOSS GP overall winner Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) did not give in. He drove his Toro Rosso STR1 to overall victory without any troubles. Second place went to Ulf Ehninger, who achieved his best BOSS GP result so far. Riccardo Ponzio (ITA, Adriatico Competition) was unable to start with his Jaguar R3 due to mechanical failure. Race 2 starts at 16:15.

Report Qualifying Imola

Posted on July 11, 2020 by - General

Ingo Gerstl on pole, fastest FORMULA driver was Luca Martucci.

The first qualifying session this season for the BOSS GP Racing Series brought a big surprise. While Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) will once again start from pole position with the Toro Rosso STR1, the Italian Luca Martucci (MM International) will start for the very first time from row 1. At his home race, the GP2 driver brought himself into an excellent position in the battle for victory in the FORMULA class.

From row 2 the actual favourites Christopher Höher (AUT, Top Speed) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) will start the first of two races this weekend. Only a few tenths of a second separated the three fastest GP2 drivers from each other.

Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag) was able to fulfil high expectations by finishing fifth overall. After a messed up 2019 season, Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Coloni) can be pleased with 6th place, as this is his first time in an A1 GP Lola car. Walter Steding (DEU) also boasted an impressive performance as as he qualified in his first outing with his new team Scuderia Palladio ahead of Ulf Ehninger (DEU, ESBA Racing) in the Benetton B197 Formula 1. Roman Hoffmann (AUT, Hoffmann Racing) proved to be the fastest of the BOSS GP rookies: he finished 10th overall.

Riccardo Ponzio (ITA, Adriatica Competition) could not participate in the qualifying. The engine of his Jaguar R3 needs to be changed until tomorrow. The 20-minute race 1 starts at 11:15 and, race 2 over a distance of 25 minutes at 16:15.

Report: Race 2 Brno

Posted on September 8, 2019 by - General

Christopher Höher dedicate his win in Brno 2019 to his recently deceased father

Second win for Höher and Gerstl at the Masaryk Racing Days.

Christopher Höher (AUT, Top Speed) certainly didn’t have an easy time in race 2. Although the guest starter took the second win in FORMULA class this weekend, he only won slightly ahead of Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio).

At the beginning of the race Höher could follow the leading OPEN driver Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed). Gerstl already secured his fifth championship title in the OPEN class in the first race of the weekend. In race 2 he managed to win his eighth race of the season in his Toro Rosso STR1.

Behind the dominator, however, it was another exciting race in FORMULA class: Due to Höher overstraining his tyres at the beginning of the race in pursuit of Gerstl, he only defended himself on the literally last groove towards the end of the race. Ghiotto tried everything – drove to the left, drove to the right – but Höher remained ice-cold and held first position until the finish line.

Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) was the closest rival to Höher in the first stage of the race. On lap 4, however, the leader of the standings dropped positions, one lap later he parked his car in the pits with a clutch failure. A major setback in the championship as rival Ghiotto took 22 points with second place. Before the championship finale Ghiotto is 15 points ahead of Bracalente. In Imola a maximum of 50 points will be awarded.

f.l. Marco Ghiotto, OPEN winner Ingo Gerstl, FORMULA winner Christopher Höher and Luca Martucci

Despite a spin, Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) finished third with a very strong closing stage. It was Martucci’s fourth podium finish this season. In the fight for the podium the decision was made after a Full Course Yellow in turn 1. There he overtook Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) who showed a strong pace with the fastest lap and some position wins at the start of the race. Fiedler could score at least two points more than Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Speed Center) with 4th place. In the standings, Fiedler is now back on 3rd place, but only one point ahead of Haezebrouck. This duel also promises excitement in the final races of the season.

During middle of the race it looked good for Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag) too. In the battle with Höher and Ghiotto for the front Faggionato spun by himself. Because the engine stopped running, the second race of the weekend for the fast Monegasque was over too.

Behind Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International) Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol) finished seventh with an impeccable performance. With an outstanding performance Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center) drove from the last grid position into the top-8. Nicolas Matile (MCO, Zig-Zag) in the only Auto-GP Lola spun shortly before the end and threw away a top result at the guest start.

Europe’s fastest racing series will return to Imola for the finale in five weeks. The Grande Finale of the BOSS GP 2019 will take place on October 12th and 13th.