Month: April 2019

Report: Race 2 Hockenheim

In front of DTM driver Timo Glock the BOSS GP stars showed a lot of overtaking action in the second race. Ingo Gerstl (OPEN) and Andreas Fiedler (FORMULA) win again.

The flying start to the second BOSS GP race of the year went off without a hitch. Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) was repeatedly the one who was able to take the lead in the FORMULA class in the initial phase. At the flying start he snatched Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed) and Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center), the man on FORMULA pole position.

Bracalente and De Plano were able to catch up again after a few laps and put Fiedler under increasing pressure. But the winner of the first race made no mistakes. After eight laps Fiedler was again flagged as class winner. Thus, the runner-up of 2018 is also the first leader of the standings in FORMULA. Rookie Bracalente and De Plano were among the winner on the podium. This meant that De Plano were able to take home a trophy after the penalty in the first run.

Start for race 2: Gerstl leads the field in his Toro Rosso into turn 1

Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) could just prevent a spin in lap 1. Although he lost a few places at first, in a courageous duel with Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Inter Europol) for 4th place he finally kept his nose in front.

Team mates Armando Mangini and Gianluca Ripoli (both ITA, MM International) duelled throughout the race. The better end belonged to team boss Mangini (6th).

OPEN podium: f.l. ‘Piter’, special guest Mario and Ingo Gerstl

In the OPEN class Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the V10 Toro Rosso won. ‘Piter’ (FRA, Ray-Ban) once again stood on the podium next to Gerstl. For the Frenchman these were the first podium places of his BOSS GP career.

The Sound of Speed will be performed next time from 23rd to 25th May, then the BOSS GP will race at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Report: Race 1 Hockenheim

The first race of the BOSS GP in Hockenheim had a lot to offer. Andreas Fiedler wins the FORMULA class, Ingo Gerstl wins the OPEN class.

Update 14:05: The penalty against Marco Ghiotto has been rescinded. The result in the FORMULA class is as follows: 1st Andreas Fiedler, 2nd Marco Ghiotto, 3rd Alessandro Bracalente, 4th Gianluca Ripoli.

The decisive scene in the FORMULA class happened six minutes before the end of the race. Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Inter Europol) stopped at the exit of first corner. Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Top Speed) came around the corner in the slipstream of leader Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing). When Fiedler avoided the standing car on the left, De Plano only had to go right. But he overtook Fiedler, which is forbidden under yellow. Only a few moments later the safety car was sent on the track and the field was neutralized.

The drama wasn’t over yet, because Salvatore de Plano spun at the restart and thereby lost the lead of the race. The race control decided to discontinue the race due to the recovery of De Plano’s vehicle – which is why, according to the regulations, the lap before the restart counts for the final result. De Plano (7th place) was prosecuted after the race with a time penalty.

Instead it was underdog Andreas Fiedler who cheered, setting the fastest times especially at the start of the race and quickly building up a lead over his rivals. Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) kept a cool head in a turbulent race and finished 3rd in his first BOSS GP race.

Andreas Fiedler wins the BOSS GP FORMULA class in Hockenheim

Gianluca Ripoli and Armando Mangini (both ITA, MM International) drove an inconspicuous and controlled race. Due to the penalty for De Plano, Ripoli and Mangini finished 4th and 5th in the FORMULA.

The cool temperatures in Hockenheim caused problems for all drivers who found it difficult to bring the tyres up to operating temperature. Remarkable are the performances of Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed; 7th place), Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol; 8th place), Christian Eicke (SUI, Speed Center; 9th place) and Peter Göllner (SUI, Speed Center; 10th place), who kept their cars on the track and scored a good number of points.

Sergio Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) provided a shock moment on the way to the pre-start. The accident with wall contact ended without any serious consequences for Ghiotto. He was able to get out of the car on his own and completed a medical check at the Medical Center. Thanks to the fast work of the marshals at the Hockenheimring, the BOSS GP was able to complete the full 20 minutes of the race.

Ingo Gerstl in front, followed by Salvatore de Plano and Andreas Fiedler

The OPEN class was an easy challenge for Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the Toro Rosso STR1 after the technical failures of the two Benettons earlier this weekend. ‘Piter’ was classified second. Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom) already parked his GP2 Judd in the grass in the warm up lap.

The first race was postponed from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning due to the rain. The flat underfloor of the racing cars would have caused them to lose the traction because they ‘float up’. Not only the vehicles and their pilots would have been endangered, but also the marshals and the many volunteers.

The second race takes place at 2:10 p.m. local time.

Report: Qualifying Hockenheim

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: Free Practice Hockenheim

Alessandro Bracalente, Speed Center Dallara GP2 skipping through the rain

Two half-hour practice sessions were held on day 1 at the Jim Clark Revival in Hockenheim.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) sets the best time in the Toro Rosso STR1 on Friday. With conditions getting better and better, the multiple champion used the favor of the minute and little traffic and drove with 1:33.647 the best time of the day. Not only once he did push the noise level to the extreme with his V10-Cosworth.

It was debutant Alessandro Bracalente (ITA, Speed Center) who made a good impression. In the first, rainy practice session Bracalente set the best time, in the second he ranked second behind Gerstl. This makes the young Italian one of the top favourites for pole position in the FORMULA class in tomorrow’s qualifying (10:10 a.m. local time).

Phil Stratford had to switch to the unfamiliar GP2 car

Marco and Sergio Ghiotto (both ITA, Scuderia Palladio) also presented themselves strongly. The brothers were in the top ranks in both half hour trainings. With Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) another Italian put himself in a good position for qualifying. His experienced team mate Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International) drove the fourth fastest time in FP2.

Salvadore de Plano (ITA) drives for team Top Speed this year. De Plano missed out the first practice session, in the second session the fast Italian finished eighth. Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom Racing) was ninth overall in training 2. Due to problems with the Judd engine in his Benetton, Startford drives a GP2 Dallara with a Formula 1 Judd engine on board. Ulf Ehninger instead drives the legendary Benetton Formula 1 from 1997: Ehninger (DEU, ESBA-Racing) makes his BOSS GP debut this weekend. In second practice he had an accident at the exit of the first corner. The front and rear wings of the light blue Formula 1 were damaged during the impact into the barrier on the inside; the driver escaped with no injuries.

Philippe Haezebrouck (FRA, Inter Europol) was off the track several times, but was quite satisfied with his times at the comeback in the BOSS GP. Walter Steding (DEU, Inter Europol), Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed), Christian Eicke (SUI, Speed Center) and “Piter” (FRA, Ray-Ban) did plenty of laps. These pilots are expected to make a significant improvement tomorrow.

Rain makes life of drivers difficult

The first training was characterized by rain and some interruptions, among others Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) slipped into the gravel bed. But all spins went off without major damage. Despite the difficult conditions many drivers tried to gain kilometres on the Pirelli Cinturato rain tyres. For tomorrow a slight weather improvement is announced, but for Sunday heavy rain is expected.

Gerd Thöny’s yellow Jordan will remain in the pits this time, delays in the getting a race licence will make it impossible for Thöny to start in Hockenheim. This means that 14 cars in the FORMULA class and 3 OPEN cars are on the grid tomorrow.

Race Guide Hockenheim

Phil Stratford in GP2-Judd, followed by Ingo Gerstl in his Toro Rosso F1

The Bosch Hockenheim Historic is the first BOSS GP race event in 2019. Our guide leads you through the weekend including a link to Live Timing.

How can I follow BOSS GP this weekend?
Live Timing
Practice, Qualifying and Race results
Sector analysis, speed traps and starting grids
The best pictures and clips on Instagram @bossgpofficial and Facebook @bossgpofficial
Photos in our gallery on bossgp.com

When is the BOSS GP on track?
Friday, 26 April 2019
11:20–11:50: Free Practice 1
16:00–16:30: Free Practice 2

Saturday, 27 April 2019
10:10–10:40: Qualifying
16:10–16:30: Race 1 (20 min)

Sunday, 28 April 2019
10:10–10:20: Warm-up
14:10–14:45: Race 2 (25 min)

Ready for the anniversary: the BOSS GP 2019

The 25th season of BOSS GP starts this weekend at the Hockenheimring in Germany. With more track time and more power than ever.

Europe’s fastest racing series has been around for 25 years, ten of them under the label BOSS GP. Reason enough to get the party rolling for the Big Open single Seater 2019. The season traditionally begins on the Formula 1 circuit of Hockenheim near Stuttgart this weekend (26 to 28 April).

Two races of the spectacular BOSS GP are on the schedule, in a setting that could hardly be more wonderful: The Bosch Hockenheim Historic, in honour of Scottish racing driver Jim Clark, who died in an accident in Hockenheim on 7 April 1968, attracts around 500 starters and more than 20,000 fans to the Motodrom every spring. The ticket includes free access to the paddock, the exhibitions, the pit roof and the pits themselves.

Competitors: BOSS GP
20 drivers are registered for the race weekend in Hockenheim. With record champion Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Toro Rosso STR1), Gerd Thöny (LIE, Jordan EJ13), Phil Stratford (USA, Benetton B197) and Ulf Ehninger (DEU, Benetton B197) four Formula 1 cars have been announced.

There will also be 15 Formula 2 cars on the grid, including local heroes Andreas Fiedler (runner-up in the FORMULA class 2018) and Walter Steding.

The definitive starter list will be published later.

Apart from Andreas Fiedler (paddock), the teams and drivers of the BOSS GP will be based in the front pits (numbers 3 to 21).

You can’t get any closer to the beasts: open doors in BOSS GP

Timetable: BOSS GP at Bosch Hockenheim Historic
The 4.5-kilometre Grand Prix circuit and the supporting events will compete for the favour of the spectators. Each of the three days of the event start at 9 am. Alongside the BOSS GP, the highlights are the FIA Lurani Trophy, the CanAm racing cars and the Young Timer touring cars.

The BOSS GP will have two half hour practice sessions on Friday. On Saturday morning the qualifying for the starting grid of both races will take place. The first race (20 minutes) will be held on Saturday, the second race (25 minutes) on Sunday at prime time at 2:10 pm. Before that there will be an additional warm-up for the drivers and fans in the morning.

Thursday (25 April) is test day.

Friday, 26 April 2019
11:20–11:50: Free Practice 1
16:00–16:30: Free Practice 2

Saturday, 27 April 2019
10:10–10:40: Qualifying
16:10–16:30: Race 1 (20 min)

Sunday, 28 April 2019
10:10–10:20: Warm-up
14:10–14:45: Race 2 (25 min)

All times local time

The time schedule with all the racing this weekend can be found under the following link: www.hockenheim-historic.de/en/info/timetable/

Race start last year: Gerstl leads, Stratford and Schnitzenbaumer follow

Weather Forecast: Typical for April
Packing an umbrella can be helpful this weekend. In typical April weather with a change of sunshine and rain the drivers must adapt to changing conditions. At temperatures of around 10 to 15 degrees Celsius.

Tickets: Bosch Hockenheim Historic
For Friday there’s an offer for 10 euro. A day ticket for Saturday or Sunday costs 30 euro each, 45 euro the weekend. Wheelchair users and children under the age of 14 have free admission – paddock and free choice of seat included.

Tickets can be ordered on site, via the online ticket shop or by calling the hotline +49 6205 950-222.

BOSS GP on Amazon

Heroes of Racing

The docutainment series Heroes of Racing is now available on the streaming platform Amazon Prime Video.

Two episodes of the first season of Heroes of Racing can now be watched on Amazon Prime after being broadcast on the pay TV channel auto motor und sport TV last year. Other episodes will be added at a later date.

The main characters of the docutainment series Heroes of Racing are top star Ingo Gerstl and team boss Markus Lehmann. Former racing driver Sebastian Stahl reveals interesting facts about the technology, explained in an understandable way for laymen and yet a rare insight for freaks.

Das Paar hinter der Idee zur Fernsehserie: Christian Effer und von der 7 Berge Filmwerkstatt

The duo behind the idea of a BOSS GP TV series: Christian Effer and Christina Hermanns from 7 Berge Filmwerkstatt

 

Pictures: 7 Berge Filmwerkstatt (poster), Michael Kavena/BOSS GP