SPEED EuroSeries News - December 2011

The organisers of the FIA International Authorised SPEED EuroSeries are pleased to announce the calendar for the 2012 season.

The 6 event, 12 race programme will once again feature at Le Mans Series events, starting with the opeing LMS event at the Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet before joining up with the new FIA World Endurance Championship meeting at Spa Francorchamps.

In a change to previously published details, the championship will now make a visit to Imola in June before heading to Donington in July. A journey into Eastern Europe will see SPEED race at the incredible Brno track and will finish on the Grand Prix circuit at Barcelona, Spain for the end of season fiesta.

The dates are:

The points scoring structure of the championship has changed for 2012 with 3 categories in which to score: Elite, Sporting League & Classic League.

The Elite Class will be the general FIA classification and will feature all drivers taking part in the races throughout the season.

A new category has been established, referred to as the Sporting league (often known as the gentleman drivers’ category) which will acknowledge the talents and results of eligible drivers registered for the Sporting Drivers League.

A final category is being initiated to award owner-drivers of earlier model CN cars. A specific model list of these makes of vehicle will be posted on the SPEED website in due course and additional awards instigated for this category.

Championship organiser, Oli McCrudden: “The 2012 calendar gives competitors a season of real race tracks at quality events. We’re very pleased to be part of the LMS events on the calendar; Paul  Ricard will see the spectacular launch of the LMS and SPEED year whilst Donington and Brno are two of the most formidable drivers’ circuits in the world. The FIA WEC event at Spa will be a real highlight; we had 25 cars there in 2011 and it promises to be an even bigger event as the WEC makes its first European splash in 2012. The finale at Barcelona will see SPEED starring, comes at a good time in the year and is the perfect location for a grand finale. We’re looking forward to a great year.”

The decision to run three categories in the championship recognises the clear demand for extra race opportunities.

“There’s a vast amount of older chassis on the market available at remarkably low prices and we want to offer people a way into sports proto racing on this stage at a low-cost level,” says McCrudden. “Entry fees for these older chassis will be priced accordingly to encourage high entry levels and points and trophies will be available for drivers in the Classic League. Whilst we feature some star names on the grid, we remain firmly a pro-am series and it’s important to recognise that gentleman racers are putting in superb performances week in, week out. Amateur drivers’ achievements will be recognised in the Sporting League.”

More details on events, entry fees etc will be available online shortly.

A Gibson Motorsport CN sports prototype will feature on the 2012 SPEED EuroSeries grid, the latest in a line of new chassis designs to announce participation in the championship and will include aero input from a member of Red Bull Racing’s aero department.

Following on from announcements from manufacturers such as Ligier, Juno and Tatuus, this serious declaration from Gibson Motorsport follows in the tradition of bespoke chassis manufacturers from the north east of England challenging in SPEED, with Wakefield-based WFR having secured the 2011 drivers’ title with its own chassis this year.

The new Gibson Motorsport GH19 has been developed over a number of years with the first design encompassing a space frame clad with honeycomb aluminium. However, due to carbon fibre tubs permitted in SPEED for 2011/12 it was decided to focus the team’s efforts on a carbon fibre within the design.

The design draws from the team’s extensive experience in building sport racing cars over the last three decades including the all conquering Vision Clubman cars developing to the Nemesis Supersports cars of the late 1990’s through to 2011. The team’s Nemesis Proto cars were designed to be used as an aerodynamic/mechanical test bench and enjoyed great success winning both Championships in the Cup and Proto Classes by huge margins. The season culminated in 19 wins, 20 poles, 20 fastest laps and 9 lap records.

Drawing from his time in Red Bull Racing’s Aero Department, Dave McKenzie has concentrated on aerodynamic efficiency for both straight line and cornering speeds. The new GH19 has been designed using Solid Works, CFD and the latest generation of multi-body dynamic packages.

The first carbon monocoque is due to be finished week commencing 19th December and the first complete car testing in the first week of March. Gibson Motorsport’s Dan and Paul Gibson will be piloting the car.

Customer car production capacity will be available over the course of 2012. Interested parties should contact Daniel Gibson on:

daniel@gibson-motorsport.com

Website: www.gibson-motorsport.com

The new season trailer is available on our SPEED YouTube channel to whet the appetite for the year ahead.

As well as being an entertaining few minutes of footage, it should also prove a useful tool for drivers, teams et al in promoting the series to potential sponsors. A download file can be obtained by request to organisation@speedeuroseries.com

Portuguese race team, Martins Speed, will run the Juno CN sports prototype car in the 2012 season.

Luis Martins, team manager and driver with over 15 years experience: “The main reasons for the teams decision to buy a Juno were the fact that it is a very fast, reliable and beautiful race car and that both Juno Racing Cars and their representative in Iberia, Comval Racing, are keen to continuously develop the car and make it better, faster and more reliable as they have been doing each year.”

MARTINS SPEED will have Juno Racing Iberia support at all SPEED EuroSeries race meetings in 2012 season to offer their clients valuable factory service, know-how and support.

“We believe that the partnership with Juno Racing Iberia is going to be beneficial to all our clients, as we combine the last 5 years experience in sport prototypes with their know-how and experience with the cars. I believe that we provide the conditions for any professional driver or gentleman driver to embrace a very competitive project for the 2012 season,” states Luis Martins.

After winning the Portuguese Championship in 2010 the team wants to go racing on the international arena and has identified the SPEED EuroSeries as the right championship to aim.

Drivers interested in joining this new project for the 2012 season should contact team manager Luis Martins: Luispedromartins@gmail.com or Juno Racing Iberia: magalhaes@comval-racing.pt