Tag: Qualifying

Report Qualifying Mugello

Posted on April 10, 2021 by Keke Platzer - 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 Qualifying Brno

Posted on September 5, 2020 by Keke Platzer - General

Ingo Gerstl and Marco Ghiotto will start from row 1.

As expected, the qualifying in the FORMULA class turned into a three-way battle for pole position. Best in class was FORMULA points leader Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio), who beat Roman Hoffmann (AUT, Hoffmann Racing) by only two tenths of a second. Hoffmann achieved his best qualifying result so far and puts his Dallara GP2 on the second row of the grid for both races. Next to him Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) will be on the hunt through the Automotodrom Brno.

Walter Steding (DEU, Scuderia Palladio) was able to repeat his performance from Friday in Q1. He will start from 5th position, Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Coloni) qualified behind him. De Plano in his A1GP car was the only driver to improve his time at the end of Q2. In the end, he was only missing Steding’s time by a hundredth of a second. Three Austrians follow in positions 7 to 9: Bianca Steiner (Steiner Motorsport), Christian Ferstl (Ferstl Racing) and Christopher Höher (Top Speed). Höher, who won the season opener in Imola, only drove a timed lap.

Fastest in the third qualifying session this year was again Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the Toro Rosso STR1. With 1:35.544 he was only slightly behind his own lap record. Green Flag for race 1 with a distance of 20 minutes will be this afternoon at 15h25.

Photo: Dirk Hartung

Report Qualifying Spa

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Keke Platzer - General

First row for Gerstl and Faggionato.

The heroes of the BOSS GP Racing Series blasted through the Ardennes at around 300 km/h. Fastest in today’s qualifying was once again Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed). With a time of 1:55.836, he was the only driver to stay under the two-minute mark for one lap.

Marc Faggionato (MCO, Top Speed), who will exceptionally start for Top Speed this weekend, also put in a strong performance. With a time of 2:03.888 he was four tenths faster than champion Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio). Ghiotto will start from the second row, together with fellow countryman Riccardo Ponzio (Adriatica Competition). His beautiful Jaguar R3 was repaired by the team overnight, allowing Ponzio to participate on race day.

Fastest driver in the second qualifying session (for all drivers outside the top 5 of free practice) was Roman Hoffmann (AUT, Hoffmann Racing). With this he surprisingly pushed Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) out of the top 5, with Walter Steding (DEU, MM International) and Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) following in the other places. Michael Aberer in the World Series by Renault classified ninth fastest. Ulf Ehninger in Benetton Formula 1 will start the race from tenth position.

Both races can be followed today, Sunday, in the live stream at www.bossgp.com/livestream. Race 1 starts at 12:05, race 2 at 16:05.

Report Qualifying Imola

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Keke Platzer - 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: 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.

Report: Qualifying Brno

Posted on September 7, 2019 by Keke Platzer - 5, General

Ingo Gerstl flys by in his Toro Rosso STR 1 in 2019 Brno Qualifying

First row for the Top Speed drivers Gerstl and Höher.

Qualifying for races 9 and 10 of the BOSS GP 2019 was held at 11 degrees outside temperature and in drizzle. At least the choice of tyres was easy: all the drivers went for the Pirelli Cinturato rain tyre. Despite the difficult weather conditions the BOSS GP pilots did a good job keeping their racing cars on the slippery track.

As expected, Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in Toro Rosso STR1 took another pole position for the two races in Brno. Next to him Christopher Höher (AUT, Top Speed) starts from row 1 in the best FORMULA car.

Despite a spin at the beginning of Q2 Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) got into the right rhythm. With position 3 he starts one place ahead of rival Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center). Bracalente had to deal with less driving time in Q1 for yesterday’s top 5. Although the conditions in both sessions remained the same, the drivers from Q2 were able to rewind significantly more laps. In the rain this is usually an advantage.

From row 3 the reigning champion Florian Schnitzenbaumer (DEU, Top Speed) and Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Speed Center) will start the races. Haezebrouck finished the session with an even faster time, but it was cancelled due to the disregard of a yellow flag. The same happened to four other pilots.

Last year’s winner Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag) ended up eighth behind Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing), Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed) in ninth place despite little rain experience, Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) in 10th place overall.

Nicolas Matile (MCO, Zig-Zag) and Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International) starting from row 6. Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol), who rolled out with a defect shortly before the end of qualifying, and Christian Eicke (SUI, Speed Center) will start from row 7. Teammate Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center) missed the qualifying session, but can start in the races.

The first race over 20 minutes starts today at 14:50 on Saturday.

Report: Qualifying Assen

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Keke Platzer - 5, General

Assen trembles: BOSS GP on lap record chase in qualifying.

The pole position was secured for the third time in 2019 by Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed). A further improvement of his personal lap record from yesterday (1:18.246) was just not possible. The record champion will try to improve in race one with his Toro Rosso STR1 again.

The best-in-class FORMULA driver will also start from the front row of the grid: Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) grabbed pole with an advantage of over a second. It was also the Italian’s third FORMULA best time in the 2019 BOSS GP anniversary season.

Championship leader Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) didn’t miss a beat and follows in row 2, along with ever more consistent Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International). Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International) completed the Italian quartet with 5th place, his best BOSS GP qualifying result so far.

Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Speed Center) confirmed the improving pace of the last races – he starts from 6th place. Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed) had technical problems yesterday and only managed three laps in the two practice sessions. Today he did 12 laps and qualified as overall seventh.

Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) stayed focused even with a TV onboard camera hanging away and finished eighth. In row 5 are Armando Mangini and Walter Steding. Christian Eicke starts behind from 11, “Piter” from 12.

The qualifying session was disappointing for Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center), who is well known for his strong performance in Assen. He had to park his GP2 Dallara at the side after only three laps. Together with rookie Ulf Ehninger (DEU, ESBA Racing) in the F1 Benetton B197, he will start the 20-minute race from row 7 this afternoon.

Hans Laub (DEU, Speed Center) in the 1996 Forti skipped the timed practice. The first race of the BOSS GP within the DTM in Assen starts today Saturday at 17:10 o’clock. According to the current weather forecast rain showers are to be expected. For sure the Pirelli Cinturato rain tyres are standing by in the pits.

Report: Qualifying Spielberg

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Keke Platzer - General

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.

Report: Qualifying Hockenheim

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Keke Platzer - General

The first BOSS GP qualifying session in 2019 was a very exciting one in the FORMULA class. Ingo Gerstl in the Toro Rosso on pole position.

Update 1:34 p.m.: The fastest FORMULA pilot, Alessandro Bracalente, has to start from P12 in first race after a 10-grid-penalty. Bracalente was penalized by the race control for overlooking a flag signal.

At first the five best drivers of the Friday practice sessions went onto the track in the Top 5 Qualifying. Immediately after the traffic light switched to green, it started to rain slightly in the north curve, the hairpin bend and the Motodrom. But there was no bigger rain shower, so all drivers were able to continue on the Pirelli P Zero slick tyres.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) set a not surprising best time in his Toro Rosso from 2007. With 1:22.505 min he was several seconds behind last year’s record due to the worse weather conditions.

The Italian Armando Mangini (MM International) was able to secure second place. His fellow countrymen Marco and Sergio Ghiotto (both ITA, Scuderia Palladio) did less well today than they did yesterday. Both spun, but were able to resume. While Marco Ghiotto, Monza winner 2018, finally had to be satisfied with 8th place, only 15th place remained for brother Sergio with a time of 1:40.5 min.

In the first half of the 20-minute session Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed) and Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) were fastest. They quickly pushed themselves in front of the fastest FORMULA driver from the Top 5 qualifying, Armando Mangini.

While De Plano decided not to go out for a second time, Fiedler went out for a second try, but stayed behind De Plano. The last attacks on the FORMULA best time came from Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) and Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International). Bracalente had already impressed yesterday when he set the best time in the 1st free practice. With 1:29.8 min he secured the class pole at his first BOSS GP appearance. De Plano and Fiedler will start from row 2, Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom) and Luca Martucci from row 3, Mangini and Marco Ghiotto from row 4.

Best of the Inter Europol team was Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA). The former Le Mans driver finished ninth. Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed) cracked the Top 10 shortly before the end. Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International) starts from 11, Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol) from 12. ‘Piter’ (FRA, Ray-Ban) starts from 13th. After a Friday once without technical troubles we can still expect a lot for the races. With his World Series by Renault he classified this time in the OPEN class.

The race starts today at 16:10 local time. The first of two races is over a distance of 20 minutes.

Report: Practice & Qualifying Spielberg

Posted on September 22, 2018 by Keke Platzer - General

The fastest racing series in Europe brings the fun of racing back to the Red Bull Ring. The start grid for both races was already set up yesterday due to the bad weather conditions today.

Saturday started as predicted very wet. Even in difficult conditions the brute BOSS GP bolides were on the track. For safety reasons the race control decided to run the timed practice as 3rd free practice and to set up the starting grid from the combined times of FP1 and FP2.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed, Toro Rosso STR1) took first position in qualifying for the seventh time in the seventh race meeting of the season. From the first to the second practice he improved by more than three and a half seconds. With 1:12.082 min yesterday he was still far behind the times of May, when the local hero had already scratched the 1:10 mark. In the rain, dominator Gerstl was only fifth in the Formula 1 car, which surprised him: “Maybe there’s something wrong with the timing,” smiled Gerstl, who had already been confirmed BOSS GP Champion 2018 before the final races this weekend.

Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom, Benetton B197) complained about technical problems in the first practice session and a reduced driving time for him. But in the 2nd practice he easily finished second overall. He used the rain this morning for training kilometers. Stratford, who lives in California, has hardly any rain experience, but announced for the races: “Should it rain, I’ll drive”.

Luca Martucci was once off track, but very quick in dry and rain

Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International, Dallara GP2) surprised everyone: The Italian with Formula 3 experience is the fastest FORMULA driver of Friday and will lead this class into the race. In the rain practice Martucci set the best time, so he is the favourite this afternoon (starting time: 16:00, also in the Live stream).

Salvatore De Plano (ITA, Top Speed, Dallara GP2) starts from row 2. The Italian this weekend has to switch from his regular team MM International to Top Speed. At MM International all cars were rented this time. At Top Speed they offered the fast Italian an alternative home, he thanked it with a successful Friday.

Championship duel between Florian Schnitzenbaumer (l.) and Andreas Fiedler (r.)

Florian Schnitzenbaumer (DEU, Top Speed, Dallara GP2) starts from row 3 and thus directly ahead of his only remaining competitor for the championship: Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing, Dallara GP2). Schnitzenbaumer has set himself the goal to enter today’s race attentively and ideally to make the title clear today.

Between Schnitzenbaumer and Fiedler stands Marco Ghiotto (ITA, MRC Sport, Dallara GP2), who won the brother duel with Sergio (ITA, MM International, Dallara GP2). Sergio Ghiotto starts from 10th place, but in Saturday’s rain he showed with second place that he still has potential for the front. Gianluca Ripoli (ITA, MM International, Dallara GP2) starts from 8th place, newcomer Alain Valente (SUI, Speed Center, Dallara GP2) from 9th place.

Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center, Dallara GP2), who has been on the podium twice in the last three races, will start from row 6 together with his team mate Christian Eicke (DEU, Dallara GP2). Hans Laub starts with his Formula 1 Forti in the middle of the FORMULA field from 13th position. Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol, Dallara GP2) starts from 14th. Eicke, Steding and Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International, Lola F3000) are still fighting for 3rd place in the championship. Mangini starts the race with a disadvantage, because he is the only one to start in a Formula 3000 and was far behind his immediate opponents yesterday.

Trouble for Thomas Jakoubek on Friday

For Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed, Dallara GP2) it was already over yesterday after a gearbox damage. Unfortunately, we also have to miss out on the second Toro Rosso from Top Speed. Frits van Eerd had to cancel at short notice, substitute driver Markus Lehmann was only on the track in the first practice session.

Pictures: Michael Jurtin/BOSS GP