Tag: GP2

Report: Qualifying Hockenheim

Posted on April 21, 2018 by - General

Not surprisingly, the Austrian Ingo Gerstl takes pole position. De Plano and Schnitzenbaumer in the FORMULA only seperated by two hundredths of a second.

OPEN:
Only two of the four registered cars could start into qualifying today: Ingo Gerstl in his Toro Rosso and Phil Stratford in the Benetton, which the technicians managed to repair overnight. Bernd Herndlhofer and Wolfgang Jaksch had to pack their cars yesterday.

With 1:25.2 min Stratford improved his times in comparison to the previous day noticeably, against the ten years younger STR1-Cosworth of Gerstl of course no cure grew. The Austrian managed to finish under 1:20 with 1:19.664 min.

 

Phil Stratford's Benetton is repaired and back on track

Phil Stratford’s Benetton is repaired and back on track

FORMULA:
This is where the music plays, especially when it comes to the excitement of the race: The fastest times were set by the drivers in Qualifying 1, which is reserved for the five fastest drivers from yesterday’s practice. Florian Schnitzenbaumer in the Dallara-GP2 of Top Speed led until shortly before the end of the only eight-minute session. Salvatore de Plano, who set the best time in the first free practice yesterday, beat the German in the penultimate lap and improved his time from 1:29 to 1:27.9 min. Only two hundredths of a second separated the two FORMULA pilots. De Plano was annoyed about a mistake in the first flying lap in the braking of the second corner, which almost cost him his pole. Schnitzenbaumer expects a close race between the two GP2 drivers.

Armando Mangini (MM International) is already in third place in the FORMULA class by far, but still very satisfied. On the track at Hockenheim, which he did not like, the Italian managed to get a good starting position for the first race this afternoon.

The second qualifying group was disturbed by interruptions. Martin Kindler stopped in the Mercedes Arena, a wheel nut had come loose – the car was towed away.

Shortly after the release Manfred Loach and Andreas Fiedler collided in the warm-up lap. Understandably Fiedler ran badly into the top speed pits. Loach damaged his front wing and also had to park his car at the side of the track, so the fast Austrian only starts from 13 at his BOSS GP debut; Fiedler has to start far more back from 16. Bianca Steiner (Top Speed) did a better job, she came close to the FORMULA front runners; behind de Plano, Schnitzenbaumer and Mangini she is fourth in the FORMULA class.

Best non-GP2 of the FORMULA racers was Karl-Heinz Becker, who got his red Worldseries car ready right before the qualification and will start later as tenth.

The first race starts today at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Race 2 starts Sunday at 13:20.

Right before they collide: Manfred Loach in front of Andreas Fiedler

Right before they collide: Manfred Loach in front of Andreas Fiedler

Report: Free Practice 2 Hockenheim

Posted on April 20, 2018 by - General

John Reaks and "Piter" in their World Series cars

Ingo Gerstl (Top Speed) was fastest in his V10-Toro-Rosso for the second time; Florian Schnitzenbaumer was first in FORMULA this afternoon.

The victory in the OPEN class leads – this is to be expected – over BOSS GP champion Ingo Gerstl, also because of the struggeling competitors:

  • Bernd Herndlhofer already had to have his Arrows A22 packed, after yesterday on the day of testing everything was still running smoothly, today nothing worked at all. Troubleshooting will continue at home and another attempt will be made at the second race at the Red Bull Ring (18-20 May).
  • Wolfgang Jaksch is still hopeful to participate in the qualifying tomorrow (10:35 a.m. local time). The Super Aguri Cosworth suffers from heart disease, at least the fuel pump could be brought meanwhile to run.
  • The fourth entered in the OPEN class, Phil Stratford (Penn Elcom Racing), was just ahead of the first FORMULA driver with 1:30.621 min. After he stopped in the morning, the mechanics continue to search for the cause in the afternoon.
Ingo Gerstl fastest in his Toro Rosso

Ingo Gerstl twice fastest in training on Friday at Hockenheim

 

  • With only one interruption, the BOSS GP came through the afternoon session. Bianca Steiner (Top Speed) spun at the branch of the new track, but with the help of the marshals she could continue.
  • The Frenchman “Piter” improved his time by three seconds compared to the morning (1:34.5 min) – despite a performance deficit compared to the GP2-Mecachrome he keeps up well with his World Series Renault.
  • Andreas Fiedler (Fiedler Racing) complained that the track “gives less” than last year. But with 7th place he is right in the middle of the very close FORMULA field. Only two and a half seconds lie between positions 4 and 9. Considering that some were still on the road with old tyres today, the most excitement can be expected here.
  • The fastest FORMULA pilot of the morning Salvatore de Plano (MM International) had to miss the second session. Increased engine oil temperature prevented the car from leaving the pits. Instead, Florian Schnitzenbaumer was fastest in Dallara-GP2, with 1:30.922 he was almost seven seconds behind his team mate Gerstl’s Formula 1.
  • Last, but happy was John Reaks at Speed Center. At 68, the Briton is second oldest in the field and for the first time at Hockenheim: “You learn lap by lap”, he said after the training. The fastest man of the team from Germany was Peter Göllner in 7th place.
  • Karl-Heinz Becker from Germany would also have liked to learn, but the engine did make that impossible. His engineer was contacted in Japan – but so far he could not help by remote control either.

Pictures of today’s practice sessions available here:

Hockenheim Historic 2018

Report: Free Practice 1 Hockenheim

Posted on April 20, 2018 by - General

Salvatore de Plano war schnellster FORMULA-Fahrer

Ingo Gerstl (Top Speed) set the best time in his Toro Rosso STR1, Salvatore de Plano (MM International) in his GP2 was the fastest FORMULA driver.

25 minutes of practice were on the schedule, but some red-flag interruptions shortened the driving time in the first free practice session. Due to the tight schedule, the clock continues to tick even during a red flag.

  • Salvatore de Plano sets the first time under 1 minute 30 seconds. In the end the Italian from MM International was second fastest behind Gerstl, and with 1:29.158 the fastest FORMULA pilot. “One second faster is possible”, last year’s runner-up said after the first practice session.
  • Phil Stratfords Benetton B197 stranded in the middle of the session in the hairpin bend, the mechanics suspect problems with the battery. Previously, he had finished second in the FORMULA classification.
  • H&A Racing and F Xtreme Racing are very busy: Both Wolfgang Jaksch‘s Super Aguri and Bernd Herndlhofer‘s Arrows had to visit the pit after only a few laps due to technical difficulties. Veronika Cicha was the only one in the team who could do a normal training – but she complained about the used tyres.
  • At Top Speed all eyes are on the three rookies: Manfred Loach completed fewer laps than planned, the red flags also stopped him – the Austrian could continue after a spin.
    Bianca Steiner came through the training without a spin, she came 5th in the FORMULA class and is considered an insider tip for the races.
    Debutant Thomas Jakoubek spun in his first lap at the Motodrom, at the end of the penultimate corner. After the engine stalled, the Austrian had to get out and the car was towed away.
  • The Swiss Peter Göllner (Speed Center) spun just after tipping the throttle in the hairpin bend and his GP2-Dallara also had to be towed away. Three minutes before the end, the session was released again after the second interruption.
  • The fastest driver of the morning session was Ingo Gerstl (Top Speed) with 1:22.122 min. His newly revised V10 engine was only tried for the first time yesterday on the race track.

Ready for the ninth season: The BOSS GP 2018

Posted on April 18, 2018 by - General

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.

Podium of race 2 of the OPEN class in Hockenheim.

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.

Manfred Loach im pink-lackierten GP2-Dallara beim Vorsaison-Test in Brünn

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 im 1997er-Benetton in Hockenheim 2017

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.