Month: September 2020

No BOSS GP race in Assen

Travel restrictions prevent arrival.

The race weekend of the BOSS GP Racing Series at the Gamma Racing Days in Assen, planned for 26th and 27th September, had to be cancelled. Stricter measures to contain the corona virus in many European countries are preventing numerous team members of the international BOSS GP starting grid from travelling to Assen.

There is currently no additional event planned for the cancelled race in the Netherlands. The next BOSS GP race is scheduled for 10th October at the beautiful Mugello F1 and MotoGP circuit in Italy.

Report Race 2 Brno

Walter Steding (Dallara GP2)

Big surprise in the Sunday race: Double victory for Scuderia Palladio.

Although it was raining overnight, the track mostly dried up until the second BOSS GP race at the Masaryk Racing Days was started. As a result, all the drivers went onto the track on Pirelli P Zero dry tyres. Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) got a bad start from row 1, but he defended his class lead and followed Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) on the first meters. Right behind him Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) managed to overtake Roman Hoffmann (AUT, Hoffmann Racing) right on lap 1, just like he did yesterday.

Hoffmann had to defend himself against Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Coloni) and Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) which were pushing from behind. On lap 3 De Plano and Fiedler collided in turn 1. While de Plano was able to continue his race almost undamaged, Fiedler’s GP2 Dallara was visibly damaged. De Plano finished the race in 5th place, Fiedler behind Christian Ferstl (AUT, Ferstl Racing) still in 7th place.

The situation came to a head at the front when the overall leader Gerstl steered his Toro Rosso Formula 1 into pit lane. An overheated engine forced the winner of all previous season races to make a stopover. Marco Ghiotto thus took the overall lead in the race, which he did not give up until the checkered flag.

In the meantime, Chris Höher (AUT, Top Speed) also mixed up the field. However, like yesterday he had to park his car in the pits early. Meanwhile, Ghiotto’s teammate Walter Steding (DEU) caused a sensation. During the middle of the race he passed Hoffmann for third place. The Austrian defended himself hard, but that was not enough. A few laps later Martucci was also overtaken by Steding in the penultimate corner. For Steding, second place in today’s race was the first podium since his most successful racing season in 2015. For Marco Ghiotto’s Scuderia Palladio it was also the first one-two victory in the team’s history in BOSS GP.

For defending champion Ghiotto the overall standings after 6 of 12 races look very promising. Rival Luca Martucci is already 30 points behind. Walter Steding, who is only one point ahead of Roman Hoffmann, now follows in third place.

You can watch BOSS GP in race action again at the Cuvee Sensorium Grand Prix in Assen in three weeks’ time.

Photo: Dirk Hartung

Report Race 1 Brno

Ghiotto (GP2) and Gerstl (Toro Rosso)

Ghiotto fights a duel with Gerstl and extends his lead in FORMULA.

For the first time this year, racing fans were able to experience the BOSS GP Racing Series live on site at the Masaryk Racing Days in Brno. The sound of V10 and V8 engines and the late summer temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius attracted a few thousand spectators on Saturday.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) was the clear favourite for the overall victory. But Gerstl did not make use of the full potential of his Toro Rosso STR1 F1 car and so Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) suddenly caught up with him in the middle of the race. Twice the lead changed between the two of them, until Gerstl finally prevailed. Ghiotto took it easy and with the class win he was able to further extend his lead in the FORMULA standings.

The gap to his competitors Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) and Roman Hoffmann (AUT, Hoffmann Racing) was much larger than initially expected. Martucci overtook Hoffmann right after the start and then settled for second place in the class. BOSS GP rookie Hoffmann remained third and was able to take home a trophy for the third time in a row despite gearbox problems.

Because Walter Steding (DEU, Scuderia Palladio) could not get away at the pre-start, a race to catch up followed with some overtaking manoeuvres worth seeing. In the end he only just missed the podium with 4th place in his class. Steding also overtook Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Coloni), who finished fifth in the FORMULA class.

Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) gained the most positions, moving up from 9th to 6th right in the starting phase. Bianca Steiner (AUT, Steiner Motorsport) remained in the race ahead of Christian Ferstl (AUT, Ferstl Racing) and Christopher Höher (AUT, Top Speed), who, however, made his way to the pits early.

Tomorrow’s warm-up starts at 9h05, before the second race gets underway at 12h20. As in race 1, the starting order will be according to the result of qualifying session. If the weather forecast is correct, the Pirelli Cinturato rain tyres could be in use tomorrow.

Photo: Dirk Hartung

Report Qualifying Brno

Ingo Gerstl, Toro Rosso STR1

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 Free Practice Brno

Review of a surprising Friday at the Masaryk Racing Days.

If we look at today’s practice times, we can expect an exciting battle for pole position tomorrow, especially in the FORMULA class. With only small gaps Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) and Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) as well as Roman Hoffmann (AUT, Hoffmann Racing) qualified for the qualifying of the five fastest pilots from the free practice sessions. Hoffmann in particular could give the two fast Italians a good run for their only fifth race tomorrow in a GP2 Dallara. For the first time Walter Steding (DEU, MM International) also qualified for Q1. Can he even compete for a podium tomorrow?

The fastest drivers qualified for Q2 are Salvatore de Plano (ITA, Coloni) in his A1GP car and Florian Schnitzenbaumer (DEU, Top Speed). Bianca Steiner (7th in class; AUT, Steiner Motorsport) tried to settle in today. She make her comeback in the BOSS GP Racing Series after a long break from racing. Only for the second time at the start of a BOSS GP racing weekend is hill climb specialist Christian Ferstl (AUT, Ferstl Racing), today it was enough for eighth place in the class, and he is expecting even more on Saturday and Sunday. Behind him in the tableau follow Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International), Andreas Fiedler (DEU, Fiedler Racing) and Bruno Jarach (EST, Scuderia Palladio).

Fastest today was Brno lap record holder Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in his Toro Rosso STR1 with V10 Cosworth power. He set the best time with 1:39.051. The qualifying session, divided into two groups, will start tomorrow Saturday at 9:30 am.

Photo: Dirk Hartung

Preview & Guide Brno

The season’s races number 5 and 6 of Europe’s fastest racing series will take place this weekend at the Automotodrom in Brno.

The second largest city in the Czech Republic will once again host a Big Open Single Seater event this year. On the Brno racetrack, fast and flowing curves alternate with section that is technically demanding to say the least, making it many BOSS GP racing drivers’ favourite track. On the 5.4-kilometer-long track, the engine power of the V10 and V8 rockets is also decisive, as the Czech roller coaster takes a steep surge in the last third of the track.

Visitors are welcome this time

For the first time this year, viewers can experience the BOSS GP Racing Series live. A day ticket for the open grandstand’s (with a video wall) costs only 4 euros; parking is free of charge. Only the access to the paddock is unfortunately not possible for visitors due to the regulations for the containment of the Coronavirus. In addition to the headliner BOSS GP, numerous other racing series can be seen from Thursday to Sunday: The ESET V4 Cup with races from GT, TCR and one-make trophies, plus the Drexler Formula Cup, the Suzuki Swift Cup Europe and historic racing classes.

When are the BOSS GP cars on track?

Friday, 4 September 2020
11.10–11.40    Free Practice 1
15.15–15.45    Free Practice 2

Saturday, 5 September 2020
09.30–10.00    Qualifying
15.25–15.55    Race 1 (20 minutes)

Sunday, 6 September 2020
09.05–09.15    Warm-up
12.20–12.55    Race 2 (25 minutes)

Updates will be published as usually on Instagram @bossgpofficial and Facebook @officialbossgp