SPEED EuroSeries News - Event Reports

Alessandro Latif and Ivan Bellarosa (Honda Wolf) won both races in front of an electrifying crowd of tens of thousands at the FIA WTCC event at the Hungaroring as the SPEED EuroSeries got under way for 2013.

Despite a disapponting entry, the SPEED machines were beautifully presented and the huge Hungarian crowd that was in attendance for local WTCC star Norbi Michelisz appreciated the spectacle. IN qualifying, the Wolf was challenged by the RLR Msport Honda Ligier of Simon Phillips and Rob Garofall. The latter mounted a challenge to the Bellarosa lap times having not been in a car for over 18 months and showed why he is a driver to be reckoned with. Julien Schell (Pegasus Racing Honda Ligier) and Niki Leutwiler were also keeping the Wolf in their sights during qualifying but ultimately the 2012 Champion prevailed. Behind the three leading protagonists, the second Pegasus Ligier of the excellent Amandine Foulard and returning Gentleman racer, Belgian Jean-Lou Rihon vied for position with the Dean Stirling/Matt Draper and Garry Findlay/Fraser O’Brien Tigas. O’brien was making his debut in the series.

Race 1 was a 90 minute affair which saw strong battles between the drivers with the front there cars seeing the ‘pro’ drivers starting the race. After the driver changes, youngster Latif was charged with teh task of maintaining the lead and his lap times remained impressively steady to secure his first podium visit in SPEED. The Wolf pairing were joined on the podium by the two Ligiers of Phillips/Garofall and Leutwiler/Schell. Leutwiler made a fantastic effort to chase down Phillips after the driver change, closing at over a second per lap but as the cars drew alongside each other on the start-finish straight with just 10 minutes remaining, the Swiss racer span out of the fight at turn 1 and had to settle for third.

In race 2, Latif lead the first half hour when he changed to Bellarosa. After that the Wolf was not challenged for the lead and whilst entertaining races were had throughout the field, the same drivers made the podium – with Schell and Leutwiler ahead of Garofall and Phillips this time.

With a Euro 10,000 prize fund offered by the Series organisers and suppliers, all drivers went away with a win bonus on their accounts.

Full results and details on the Hungaroring event page on the SPEED website.

Some familiar faces will be on the SPEED EuroSeries grid at the Hungaroring this weekend when the championship kicks off as part of the huge FIA World Touring Car Championship event.

Rob Garofall, a previous winner of the UK SPEED Series, will be at the wheel of the RLR Msport prepared Ligier JS53 alongside anotehr former SPEED UK racer, Simon Phillips. Garofall was a runner up in the inaugural Daytona Challenge in 2010 when he narrowly missed out on a Daytona drive prize when his car failed at the last race of the season. Phillips, part of the Norma UK outfit in 2009-10 seasons, went on to race in the RLR LMP2 ELMS entry in 2011 alongside Garofall and Barry Gates.

Elsewhere, Simon Phillips’ former Norma UK teammate, Jean Lou Rihon, will be joining racy lady Amandine Foulard as the pair take to the track in the Pegasus Racing Ligier JS53 – one of two cars run by the outfit this weekend. The other will be driven by former SPEED EuroSeries race winner, Julien Schell who partners with Swiss ace, Niki Leutwiler.

Last year’s Champion, Ivan Bellarosa, will this season run with his Wolf driving with young star in the making, Alessandro Latif. The pair have already competed in other races this season and collected honours so should be one to watch. Other racers expected are Stef Romecki and Dom Cauvin.

The 2012 SPEED EuroSeries Champion, Ivan Bellarosa, impressed on one of the biggest stages last weekend as he drove a Starworks Ford Riley in the Daytona 24. Ivan was racing as part of the Sunoco Daytona Challenge prize that he picked up over the 2012 SPEED EuroSeries season.

Driving alongside former Indy racing League IndyCar Series driver Scott Mayer (Wisconsin), 2012 FIA GT3 European Championship and GRAND-AM Sports Car Series driver Gaetano Ardagna Perez (Venezuela), former F1 and World Series by Renault driver Jan Charouz (Czech Republic) and current AMG Mercedes F1 test driver and Murphy Prototype LMP2 drive Brendon Hartley (New Zealand), Ivan impressed everyone with his performance.

The car ran as high as1st in the race with Ivan starring behind the wheel and double-stinting on occasion. Unfortunately, with just 5 and a half hours remaining there was contact in turn 5 and damage sustained to the rear end and a cracked gearbox on the car forced its retirement. It was a sad end to a very impressive effort from Bellarosa and the Starworks team but nevertheless a chance in a lifetime provided through the SPEED association with fuel supply partner, Sunoco. Drivers taking part in SPEED 2013 will again have the opportunity to win the prize (Bellarosa will not be eligible in 2013).

Register for the 2013 SPEED EuroSeries now to be part of it!

Brazilian F1 ace, Enrique Bernoldi, took pole position for both races at the SPEED EuroSeries Barcelona rounds with the JD Motorsport Tatuus PY012 but it was 2012 Champion, Ivan Bellarosa in his Wolf GB08 who took the honours after a hard race 1. The second race saw Bellarosa dominant after Bernoldi retired with the Osella of Fabio Francia and David Uboldi second and a recovering Darren Burke third.

The SPEED EuroSeries 2012 season came to a close at the weekend with a Barcelona finale at which seven manufacturers competed in glorious sunshine for race honours. With the championship title already wrapped up by Italian Wolf driver, Ivan Bellarosa, the grid also included entries from series new boys, Tatuus & Osella joining the seasoned regulars of Ligier, Juno, Norma and Tiga with seven new drivers on the entry list.

With the qualifying session and both 90 minute races on the Saturday after 7 hours of testing in the preceding days, it was a hardcore event for the teams and cars.

Alessandro Latif’s Wolf was the first casualty of the day, a timing chain breaking on the engine early in the qualifying session to bring his weekend to an unfortunate end. The remainder of the field battled it out with Bellarosa posting quick early times but ultimately usurped at the top of the sheets by Bernoldi.

At the start of race 1 there was controversy. As Bellarosa pulled alongside the Tatuus, Bernoldi was adjudged by the stewards to have moved across forcing the Wolf to go 4-wheels on the grass. This put Bellarosa behind at the first corner with Darren Burke (Team Excool Juno) and the Osella of Fabio Francia getting up into the top three. Bernoldi earned himself a drive through penalty for the move which he duly took, but at a time when the field was grouping behind the safety car brought out to aid the recovery of erstwhile championship contender, Antony Gandon.

Gandon’s Norma had been running well in fifth when, heading into turn 6, it suddenly veered left and went backwards into the wall. The driver was fine but the car was damaged beyond repair at the circuit. Gandon, second in the points table, would have to sit out the evening race to wait to see whether Guglielmo Belotti, in another Wolf, would score enough points to overtake him for the second place overall. Belotti, winner of the sporting driver league for gentleman racers, claimed the latest in a series of podiums this season with third place at the end of the race and would require 6 points or more to get above Gandon in race 2.

Elsewhere, newcomers Xavier Cazabon and Angel Amilibia were making a good showing in their Norma M20FC. Having suffered electrical problems in testing the team had worked hard to fix the car and showing good pace until lap 25 when the car span out damaging the rear wing. The team showed great effort to get the repairs done in time for race 2 but by the 1 hour point of the race when all stop and driver changes had been completed, it was still Bellarosa out front with Duncan Williams now in the Team Excool Juno, the Osella and Bernoldi chasing hard. Williams was next out – a puncture forcing the car off and into retirement. Bernoldi was to suffer similar fate with a puncture followed by a broken accelerator. He would have a worse time of it in race 2 when going off at the end of the straight and burying the front end of the car in the tyre wall. It was a sad end to a fantastic first showing by the JD Motorsport team and Bernoldi who as well as pole position set the fastest lap in the race.

Veteran F1 racer Philippe Alliot, co-driving with Swiss driver Philip Plaisance, was the car catching the eye. Belotti was running in second late into the race but the Ligier JS53, recently the star of the SPEED section on the Honda stand at the Paris Motor Show, was making good progress and, with just a few laps remaining got ahead of the Italian to claim a stunning second place and pick up the Sporting Driver trophy for Plaisance.

In Race 2, the green flag lap saw Bernoldi and Bellarosa continue their battle with the cars jockeying for space. At the green light the Italian got the jump on the Brazilian and headed off into the lead before Bernoldi went off. That left Francia and the experienced Mike Newton in the AD Team Tiga challenging in third ahead of Cazabon in the Norma. The second G-Cat Racing Wolf of new boys Neil Primrose and James Swift was also making great waves, running 5^th after 30 minutes. Having finished 6^th in race 1 in the pairing’s first race together in the car it was a very promising debut; when on lap 19 when the car stopped with mechanical it was a disappointment for all concerned but the team worked to replace a failed alternator with the car returning to the track with 25 minutes remaining for some valuable track time for the drivers. Guglielmi Belotti was also left disappointed; his race for second in the title chase was thwarted when the car pitted and retired gifting Gandon the second place without the Frenchman having to race. Belotti can’t be too disappointed though following a great year’s racing from the Stilo Racewear man.

With 45 minutes to go of the 2012 SPEED EuroSeries season, which in just its second year of existence saw 63 drivers competing across Europe, the Osella of Fabio Francia pitted from the lead leaving Newton to take the lead of the race, the first time lap lead by a Tiga this season and a milestone event in the reborn marque’s tale. But behind him, car 45, the Champion – Bellarosa – was lying in wait for Newton to pit and hand over to Dean Stirling before taking the lead himself and heading on to secure his 24^th victory of the season.

Cazabon handed over to Angel Amilibia after 27 laps from third behind Newton who waited longer – until 31 laps in – before putting Stirling into the race. Behind them Uboldi was already into his rhythm with Duncan Williams having already handed over to Burke. It was a charge to the line, disrupted by a yellow flag when the TFL Racing Juno of Fredi Briedl and Niki Leutwiler span at turn 5 and was retrieved as the shadows lengthened across the circuit. Some cars had headlights on whilst others, namely the Wolf cars, did not have headlights at all.

With 30 mins remaining, Burke was up to third behind Uboldi and Bellarosa with Stirling back out in fourth ahead of Alliot. Stirling was to suffer with some loose body work just 16 minutes from the end of the race and was forced to pit delaying his efforts further. Amilibia lead Lionel Comole who has partnered racy lady, Amandine Foulard in the other Springbox Ligier JS53 with Antonio Mastroberardino next. Foulard has been improving all season and with Lionel Comole, looked in good form. Over the closing stages the car moved up into 5^th ahead of the Norma of Amilibia and behind team mate Alliot. They would finish in 4^th and 5^th respectively ahead of Amilibia, Stirling and Mastroberardino.

The closing stages were a formality. Bellarosa, carrying 20kg of success ballast as he has so many times this season, cruised to the win – an excellent performance by the Avelon prepared Wolf. Uboldi brought the Osella home to a podium spot in its first race with SPEED and Darren Burke closed out the top three with a solid run for the Juno.

The championship tables are available on www.speedeuroseries.com

Photos etc to follow…

Ivan Bellarosa won race 1 at Dijon last weekend and in doing so became the 2102 SPEED EuroSeries Champion having dominated the season in his Team Avelon prepared Honda Wolf GB08.

With 10 rounds of the season completed, Bellarosa has been victorious in all but 2 of the races with numerous pole positions and fastest lap points also added to his name. The victory in France put him 52 points ahead of his closest challenger, talented youngster Anthony Gandon (TFT Racing Honda Norma), with just 34 on offer at the final races at Barcelona in October.

Bellarosa headed home Darren Burke and Duncan Wiliams’ Team Excool Honda Juno; Burke had looked strong and Williams was showing good pace in his stint but the Wolf chased him down in the closing stages. In third place, Sporting Driver League leader Guuglielmo Belotti brought home the second Wolf for another visit to the podium. Dean Stirling brought the rapidly improving AD Team Tiga home in fourth – the team’s best result of the year.

In he first race Gandon suffered from engine problems and the team worked overnight to change the engine for the race on Sunday which he went on to win with a very solid drive as Bellarosa suffered a rare technical problem of his own – not before setting the fastest lap of the race with 40kg of success ballast carried on board. With a number of other retirements over the race, veteran F1 star Philip Alliot and driving partner, Swiss racer Philip Plaisance set about the hunt for Gandon with Alliot turning back the years to post some very quick lap times with an improving engine performance in his Springbox Honda Liger JS53 and booked a first podium visit for the pair. A sterling performance from Dean in the Tiga took his back to the podium in third.

Images, results and classifications are available on the SPEED EuroSeries web pages.

The final rounds of the 2012 season will take place on 4-6 October at Barcelona (see testing opportunities for 4th October)

The Championship trophies will be presented at the end of season party in the paddock on the Saturday night.

Italian SPEED EuroSeries racer, Ivan Bellarosa, has won the Sunoco Daytona Challenge competition and will race in the Daytona 24 Hour Race in January.

Success in the SPEED EuroSeries in his Wolf GB08 this season has given Ivan this incredible opportunity and delivered a prize worth $250,000 with several days testing in the US, all expenses, the race entry and the car provided with a top Grand AM team to run with.

Going into the 5th meeting of the 2012 SPEED calendar carrying 40kg of success ballast in the car, Bellarosa needed just one point to secure the prize and in the cosets qualifying yet this season, he managed to end the second session of qualifying just 0.067 seconds ahead of the flying TFL Racing Juno of Sarah Reader and Garry Findlay with the Excool Juno of Duncan Williams and Darren Burke in third.

Details of the qualifying sessions from Dijon can be found on the Results page for the event on the SPEED website.

Race 1 starts at 14.20hrs this afternoon…

Following the ACO and ELMS decision to cancel the last two rounds of the European calendar at Brno (Czech Republic) and Algarve (Portugal), SPEED EuroSeries organisers have finalised arrangements with the promoters of an event at Dijon to replace the rounds of the 2012 SPEED EuroSeries planned for the Brno event.

The weekend originally scheduled for Brno on 7-9 September 2012 will now take place on the same weekend at the attractive and friendly circuit in France. This will replace Brno in the Speed EuroSeries championship calendar and therefore count as a full points scoring event in the normal way and will feature two 90 minute races.

Stuart McCrudden, SPEED Organiser: “Dijon is a much easier travel destination than Brno and we hope that this opportunity will attract a strong entry with additional cars from France, Italy and Germany attending.”

The SPEED EuroSeries finale, to be held at Barcelona in October, remains unaffected and is set to provide a spectacular end to the second season of the SPEED EuroSeries.

More details to follow…

Wolf GB08 driver Ivan Bellarosa continued his winning ways in the Donington Park rounds of the SPEED EuroSeries. However, a full 40 kilos success ballast enabled his rivals to close up. The margins of victory were a mere 3.881 and 2.034 seconds respectively at the end of the 90 and 60-minute races; the Italian may now have won seven of the eight rounds but there were now those who must have fancied their chances against him.

Foremost amongst these must have been young Brit Darren Burke who shares the Team Excool Juno CN2012 with Duncan Williams. Bellarosa’s Avelon Wolf was on its usual pole position for the 90-minute Saturday evening race, with Burke in second place. Rain had been forecast but there was just a dusting of precipitation as Bellarosa got the drop on Burke only for the latter to take the lead round the outside at Starkeys. Nigel Greensall (HGRT/RLR Ligier) and Gugliemli Belotti (Avelon Wolf) gave chase.

What little rain there had been in the air was soon over and as the track became grippier, the gap between the two leaders remained close. On lap seven they were almost side-by-side. One lap later, the safety car was deployed with Ton Mastroberardino’s Wolf stationary in a dangerous position.

By lap 11 it was back to racing with the first three pulling out on the rest of the field. In these days of spec racing, it should perhaps be noted that there were, at this point, three different chassis in the first three and four in the top five. Burke put in the fastest lap so far (he was eventually to record fastest lap of the race on the 30^th circuit) but it was still nose to tail at the front.

As sole driver of his Wolf, Bellarosa was first to pits, not long after the 30-minute mark. Burke remained out with a lead increasing over the new second place man, Greensall. Back in the race, Bellarosa climbed through the field although not lapping any faster than the leader. By half distance, Burke was still pulling away up front with a lead of 18.030 seconds with his Italian rival now up to fourth place. Within 10 laps he was second.

The pattern of the race was likely to change once the leading Juno made its pit stop. On lap 37 Burke peeled off, handing over to Duncan Williams who joined with a 14.720 second lead. It could not last and Bellarosa inexorably reeled him in. Over eight laps the gap fell steadily before the Wolf moved into the lead. So it remained for the final 10 laps but Williams hung on to keep Bellarosa honest. Three more cars finished on the same lap all with solo drivers, Belotti heading Sarah Reader (TFL Racing Juno) who was suffering from a chest infection all weekend, and Anthony Gandon (Team TFT Norma). The latter pair fought hard to the end, finishing about a quarter of a second apart. “He hit me and knocked me sideways,” said Sarah of one incident toward the finish.

With the Burke/Williams Juno on pole for Sunday’s 60-minute race, it looked likely that there would be more of the same. “We’ve got a bit of a plan to get to the top of the podium,” said Darren just before the beginning. This time it was Duncan at the wheel for the start and he got away well to lead with Jono Coleman in the HGRT/RLR Ligier trying to make it three abreast at the front. Bellarosa was under Williams braking for the Melbourne hairpin with Coleman also challenging the erstwhile leader. Williams then spun and from then on it went downhill from then on for Team Excool.

Meanwhile Anthony Gandon was showing intent with the fastest lap so far. With Coleman’s Ligier now suffering from electric maladies, Gandon moved up into second place and the race at the front settled down. Bellarosa pulled inexorably away, while Williams pulled into the pits with water loss. The car did eventually set off again but later, with Burke at the wheel, retired with alternator failure.

With 12 laps down Gandon had moved up to about 2 seconds adrift of the leader, a gap that remained relatively constant for some time. By this stage the top four positions were all held by solo drivers, none of whom were able to make their obligatory pit stops before half distance. Following the round of stops, Bellarosa pulled out a lead of over seven seconds. For a while the Italian reckoned he was being held up by a backmarker but he appeared to have the race in hand and, although Gandon closed in the final laps it was victory number seven for Ivan.

Gugliemli Belotti ensured that there were two Wolf drivers on the podium while the suffering Sarah Reader determinedly took fourth. Towards the end, the lady was chasing a possibly troubled Belotti hard. “You could smell his brakes a mile off,” she reported.

By Ian Wagstaff for dailysportscar.com

Victory margins of just two and of under four seconds, close for any endurance race, featured in this weekend’s SPEED EuroSeries races at Donington Park where Italian, Ivan Bellarosa, continued his great season with another two victories but his rivals closed the gap as the series for 2-litre Honda powered sportsracers enter the second half of the season.

Saturday’s 90-minute race saw Juno driver Darren Burke take the lead at the start, the Kent-based racer fighting to extend a small lead on the pole man Bellarosa’s Wolf. Burke was quick, as proven in qualifying, but with four different chassis contesting the first five places, the competition was hot. The solo-driver of the Avalon Wolf, Bellaosa remained in contention until Darren handed over to team mate, Duncan Williams who rejoined in the lead but was going to have to battle hard to keep hold of the top spot. From this point Ivan, who was carrying a 40-kilo success ballast and running the SPEED EuroSeries’ new engine rev logging system, (developed by the series organisers in association with Sabresport), inexorably reeled in the leader and, with 10 laps to go, moved to the front. A second Wolf, that of Gugliemli Belotti finished third ahead of a tussle between a plucky Sarah Reader (TFL Racing Juno), who was suffering from a chest infection all weekend, and Anthony Gandon (TFT Racing Norma).

With the Burke/Williams Juno on pole for Sunday’s 60-minute race, it looked likely that there would be more of the same. However a spin at the front of the field at the end of the first lap, overheating and then alternator problems meant a troubled day for the Team Excool Juno and it was Anthony Gandon who took over the mantle of Ivan’s main challenger, chasing him hard and finishing a mere 2.034 seconds behind. Gugliemli again finished third but only after a frenetic battle with Sarah.

The SPEED EuroSeries recommences in Brno on September 7-9. Ivan Bellarosa’s rivals will have gained confidence from this weekend and will be out to halt his dominance of the season.

For detailed race report click here.

A rare break in Britain’s damp summer offered the SPEED EuroSeries competitors a chance to qualify in dry conditions on the Donington Park track on Saturday morning, and it provided the series with an equally rare sight of Italy’s Ivan Bellarosa (Wolf GB08) not dominating the qualifying.

Darren Burke (Juno CN2012) kept the Italian honest throughout the session, with just one tenth of a second separating them after 45 minutes. Bellarosa was quickest overall and on pole for the first race of the weekend on Saturday evening, but with the car’s second fastest lap deciding the grid position for the second race, Burke claimed pole for race 2. Series returnees Jono Coleman and Nigel Greensall placed third for both races in the RLR Msport Ligier JS51.

Race 1 starts at 17.00hrs Saturday. Clouds currently building over the circuit…