Tag: Ulf Ehninger

EN: 2024 season review F1 & OPEN

Posted on December 3, 2024 by - General

The championship title in the top class of Formula 1 cars went to Ulf Ehninger this year. In the OPEN cars, it was Antonio Pizzonia who defended his title.

This year there was a duel that has never been seen before in the Formula 1 World Championship: Benetton versus Toro Rosso, Ulf Ehninger versus Ingo Gerstl. It could also be described as a remote duel, especially as Gerstl (Team Top Speed) had to watch his opponent from pit wall on serveral occasions at the beginning of the year because of technical problems on his 2006 Toro Rosso. Ehninger (ESBA Racing) in the light blue 1997 Benetton with Judd engine took three victories in the first four races, while the Austrian Gerstl picked up in the second half of the season where he left off last year. With five wins in a row, things got tight again at the top of the standings towards the season finale. But just one race before the end, Ehninger secured the title early with a second place in the first race in Mugello. Luckily for the German, he retired in the second race. This is Ehninger’s second championship title in the BOSS GP Racing Series after his maiden success in 2021.

Many fans gather in front of the Top Speed Garage

At the beginning of the year, Thomas Jakoubek (Team Top Speed) also joined the grid with his beautiful Lotus T127 (from the 2010 Formula 1 season). The Austrian is set to make further starts next year. Just how important the Formula 1 cars are in the 30th year of the BOSS GP Racing Series was demonstrated by Ingo Gerstl’s appearance at the show run in the center of Assen, where the BOSS GP figurehead was joined by David Coulthard to promote the races.

Thomas Jakoubek at the BOSS GP premiere of his Lotus T127 at the Hockenheimring

In the OPEN class, which is positioned between Formula 1 and the GP2 and World Series cars in the FORMULA class, it was a solo race for Antonio Pizzonia (HS Engineering). Despite little competition for his World Series V8 4.5, the former Jaguar and Williams driver also had a lot of fun in his second year in the BOSS GP Racing Series, which he also shared with the cheering fans in the grandstands several times with donuts after the chequered flag.

Pizzonia celebrates victory at the Red Bull Ring to the delight of the spectators

For the Grande Finale in Misano, Pizzonia was faced with competition from within the team. Haralds Slegelmilhs, the 2022 OPEN champion, returned to BOSS GP. The two drivers from the Austrian team had a tough, but always fair, duel in both races. Because Pizzonia did not get off the line at the flying start in the first race, the Latvian Slegelmilhs was able to capitalize on this. It was the only race in which Pizzonia started and did not take full points. However, the Brazilian took his revenge on Sunday and reversed the order, with guest entrant Haralds Slegelmilhs taking the fastest race lap and a new lap record at the Misano World Circuit.

Antonio Pizzonia, chased by Haralds Slegelmilhs in Misano

The top 3 in each class will be honored on 7 December 2024 at the big Champions Night in Maria Alm in the Austrian mountains.

Interested drivers can already pre-register for the 2025 season. Send a non-binding inquiry now to office@bossgp.com

Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

DE: Saisonrückblick 2024 F1 & OPEN

Posted on December 3, 2024 by - General, Allgemein

Der Meistertitel in der Königsklasse der Formel-1-Boliden ging in diesem Jahr an Ulf Ehninger. Bei den OPEN-Boliden war es Antonio Pizzonia, der seinen Titel verteidigte.

In diesem Jahr gab es ein Duell, dass es so in der Formel-1-Weltmeisterschaft nie gab: Benetton gegen Toro Rosso, Ulf Ehninger gegen Ingo Gerstl. Man konnte es auch als Fernduell bezeichnen, musste vor allem Gerstl (Team Top Speed) Anfang des Jahres mit technischen Problemen an seinem 2006er-Toro-Rosso mehrfach zusehen. Ehninger (ESBA Racing) im hellblauen Benetton von 1997 mit Judd-Motor holte in den ersten vier Rennen drei Siege, während der Österreicher Gerstl in der zweiten Saisonhälfte dort anknüpfte, wo er in der Vorsaison aufgehört hat. Mit fünf Siegen en suite wurde es an der Tabellenspitze zum Saisonfinale nochmals eng. Doch bereits ein Rennen vor Schluss konnte sich Ehninger mit einem zweiten Rang im ersten Lauf in Mugello vorzeitig den Titel sichern. Glück für den Deutschen, denn im zweiten Lauf schied er aus. Für Ehninger ist es der zweite Meistertitel in der BOSS GP Racing Series nach dem Premierenerfolg im Jahr 2021.

Zahlreiche Fans tummeln sich vor der Top-Speed-Garage

Am Beginn des Jahres bereicherte auch Thomas Jakoubek (Team Top Speed) mit seinem schönen Lotus T127 (aus der Formel-1-Saison 2010) das Fahrerfeld. Nächstes Jahr sollen weitere Starts des Österreichs erfolgen. Wie wichtig die Formel-1-Boliden auch im 30. Jahr der BOSS GP Racing Series sind, zeigte u.a. Ingo Gerstls Auftritt beim Showrun in der Innenstadt von Assen, wo das BOSS GP-Aushängeschild zusammen mit David Coulthard die Werbetrommel rührte.

Thomas Jakoubek bei der Premiere des Lotus T127 am Hockenheimring

In der offenen Klasse, die zwischen den Formel 1 und den GP2- bzw. World-Series-Autos der FORMULA-Klasse angesiedelt ist, war es ein Solo für Antonio Pizzonia (HS Engineering). Der ehemalige Jaguar- und Williams-Pilot hatte auch in seinem zweiten Jahr in der BOSS GP Racing Series trotz wenig Konkurrenz für seinen World Series V8 4.5 viel Spaß, den er mit Donuts in der Auslaufrunde mehrmals auch mit den jubelnden Fans auf den Tribünen teilte.

Pizzonia feiert den Sieg am Red Bull Ring zur Freude der Zuschauer standesgemäß

Zum Grande Finale in Misano bekam Pizzonia stallintern Konkurrenz zur Seite gestellt. Mit Haralds Slegelmilhs war der OPEN-Meister des Jahres 2022 zur BOSS GP zurückgekehrt. Die beiden Fahrer des österreichischen Teams duellierten sich in beiden Rennen wenig zimperlich, aber immer fair. Weil Pizzonia im ersten Rennen beim fliegenden Start nicht vom Fleck kam, war der Lette Slegelmilhs in der Lage, daraus Profit zu ziehen. Es war das einzige Rennen, bei dem Pizzonia an den Start gegangen war und nicht die volle Punktzahl mitnahm. Doch der Brasilianer revanchierte sich am Sonntag und drehte die Reihenfolge wieder um, einzig die schnellste Rennrunde und damit auch einen neuen Rundenrekord am Misano World Circuit ließ sich Gastfahrer Haralds Slegelmilhs nicht nehmen.

Antonio Pizzonia, in Misano verfolgt von Haralds Slegelmilhs

Die Top-3 jeder Klasse werden am 7. Dezember 2024 bei der großen Champions Night in Maria Alm in den österreichischen Bergen geehrt.

Interessierte Fahrer können sich bereits für die Saison 2025 voranmelden. Sendet jetzt eine unverbindliche Anfrage an office@bossgp.com

Fotos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Formula 1 ”just for fun”

Posted on March 11, 2022 by - 5, General

Ulf Ehninger from Tübingen in Germany surprisingly won the BOSS GP OPEN class title in 2021. We spoke to the defending champion ahead of the season opener in Hockenheim (6-8 May 2022) to discuss the speciality of running a classic Formula 1 car.

Let’s look back to 2021: What are the strongest memories of your masterpiece?

ULF EHNINGER: “Probably that we made it at all! We didn’t even realise it until Monza. It was only when Thomas Hummer from Pirelli told me at the podium ceremony that we had a chance that we started thinking about it. Before that, we wanted to be completely relaxed about it – it was just for fun. I learned that if I take the pressure off, it works better. Ingo Gerstl helped me to understand the set-up of the car. I didn’t feel comfortable in the car for a long time, now I feel the car and its limits much better.”

Was verbindet dich mit dem Benetton B197?

EHNINGER: “The car is great, I often stand languishing in front of it. Actually, the car is much too beautiful to drive. You should know, that it’s probably also the Formula 1 car with the most kilometres worldwide!”

What do you need to be able to do to drive a car like that?

EHNINGER: “James Hunt once said, ‘big balls’. Before I get into a car like this, I have quite a mental dilemma When you sit in it, however, it’s gone. But it’s still a huge challenge to drive it. After the first free practice session I’m completely blown away – and confronted with a lot of impressions – that takes a lot of effort. Gerstl pulls the trigger, I have to feel my way. Engineer Dario Pergolini helped me a lot with his analysis tools. I can’t even describe the feeling of driving such a racing car. Acceleration is the quickest thing to get used to, but I’ll never get used to the cornering speeds.”

How did it come about in the first place? You don’t buy a Formula 1 car in a supermarket …

EHNINGER: “I drove endurance races for a long time. But my dream was always to drive a Formula 1 racing car, which I wanted to do for my 50th birthday. The fact that I now own and drive one myself and have already driven almost 3,000 kilometres in it – that’s a dream come true. I drove a sports car in the Jim Clark Revival at the Hockenheimring in 2018. We broke the drive shaft. After the repair, we walked through the paddock late at night. As we passed Phil Stratford’s pits, a sticker said ‘Sale’. Rather jokingly, we then called the number and ended up with Kevin Mansell and Phil Stratford, who informed us about the car the very next day. It then took some time, as the car was in the USA, until we could get started. But our goal has always been to run the car ourselves and not have another team look after it.”

That sounds good, but not easy.

EHNINGER: “I do most of the work myself and also drive the truck. The search for parts can be very tiring, it can take three months to find something. In winter, everything is checked – every sealing ring, the entire chassis for possible damage and so on. The spare parts have to be rebuilt. We are currently working on a solution to increase the short running times of the gearbox. After the race at the Red Bull Ring (3-5 June 2022, note), the engine will then come in for an overhaul.”

Why can’t you get enough of it anyway?

EHNINGER: “I think it’s nice to spend a race weekend together with others. I have been super well welcomed into the BOSS GP. It was always said that only the rich ‘snobs’ race there – but it wasn’t like that. So we enjoy spending a weekend like this as a community rather than attending track days somewhere anonymously. Last year the Italians invited us for dinner, and even though we didn’t know Italian and they didn’t know German, we had a delicious evening of conversation.”

Your team ESBA Racing originally comes from endurance racing, how are you set up?

EHNINGER: “As you rightly say, ESBA already existed before the Benetton, roughly since 2016. We had already bought a truck for it, which we still use today to spend the night at the race tracks. Jochen, with whom I’ve been friends for over 30 years, has been with me from the beginning. When I’m driving, he’s with me. When he rides, I’m with him. I met Jens through a friend. He has become a valuable team member and is now also involved with Glickenhaus. He’s passionate about Benetton, and without him it wouldn’t work at all. Then there is Dario, who has brought professionalism to the team.

Can you briefly summarise your racing career so far?

EHNINGER: “Career is perhaps a little overstated (laughs). More than 20 years ago, I really wanted to race on the Nordschleife. Together with friends we built a BMW E36 M3 – without much time or money. Later I also drove an Audi and a Porsche – even the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring twice. The Nordschleife is certainly the greatest track there is.

What I like about the BOSS GP Racing Series is the way the people tick, that you can have fun together and that politics is in the background. With Pirelli, we have a strong partner and are certainly on the right track. I wish, more being done for young talent.”

What are your plans for the new season?

EHNINGER: “In addition to a few races in the BOSS GP, I will also try to drive another historic race car a few times, namely a V8 Star bolide (German silhouette series from the early 2000s, note) – the original Hasseröder car from Harald Grohs.”

Photos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Report Race 2 Monza

Posted on October 3, 2021 by - General

Grande Finale in Monza. The fastest race series in Europe more than lived up to its name, under the most difficult conditions Ulf Ehninger was crowned the new champion of the BOSS GP Racing Series.

Already in the morning, the royal park of Monza presented itself grey in grey. Thomas Hummer, the man in charge of Pirelli for BOSS GP, was also looking at the sky: “It’s really difficult, if it stays like this I would take the slicks.” Shortly before the start, the rain became heavier. Most of the drivers opted for the rain tyres.

Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) did not let himself be ruffled, and in the manner of a Zen master, the Benetton driver brought his first OPEN title home. “I didn’t take any risks, changed gears early and stayed out of everything. I can’t believe it, I never expected something like this,” Ehninger could hardly believe his achievement. For Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) it was a mixed weekend. “I want to congratulate Ulf, he was always on point and deserved the title,” the old champion paid tribute to the new one.

The day’s win went to Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) again. This time, however, the FORMULA driver had to fight much harder than on the previous day: “I started on rain tyres, in the safety car period I changed to slicks. Thanks go to my mechanics.” With the fresh rubbers, the Italian was able to catch up with the long-time leader Paul O’Connell (IRL, HS Engineering), who himself took the lead with a remarkable manoeuvre in the first Lesmo bend, and overtook him shortly before the end. O’Connell was nevertheless very pleased. “I played poker, we often have conditions like this on the island, I risked the slicks, it paid off in the end,” the likeable Irishman revealed.

FORMULA podium race 2: f.l. Paul O’Connell (2nd), winner Marco Ghiotto and Thomas Jackermeier (3rd)

Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) also made it onto the podium for the first time. The rookie showed an excellent performance and was suddenly in the lead due to various tyre changes of the competitors. “On Friday I drove the Toro Rosso with which Sebastian Vettel won here for the first time, now I’m on the same podium, even in the rain. That’s really mega,” the Fanatec CEO was completely beside himself.

In the first half of the race, Michael Aberer (AUT, MA Motorsport) was one of the fastest. The rain specialist was able to make use of his experience on the slippery terrain and was soon to be found in the leading field. In the end, switching to dry tyres would probably have been the better choice, so only eighth place remained.

Series coordinator Willie Beck was also suitably satisfied after the GlobeAir Grande Finale: “We’ve seen a fantastic season without any accidents, as a BOSS GP family we’ve grown together even more this year, which gives us confidence for the new season.”

Photos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP, Robert Lösch