Categoria: Generale

Report: Brno Race 1

Jackermeier celebrates his premiere victory in tricky conditions, Colombo turns “pole” into victory in FORMULA class, SUPER LIGHTS triumph for Geier.

The weather gods had no mercy on the drivers of the BOSS GP Racing Series. A few minutes before the start of the first race, the heavens opened their floodgates. The race on the partly wet track thus became a challenge for the pilots in their Big Open Single Seaters.

BOSS GP F1 Class

Pole setter Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed), like his team mate Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed), was faced with a difficult decision in the Formula 1 car class due to the rain shower before the start of the race: keep dry tyres on or put on the Pirelli Cinturato wet weather tyres? Parts of the track were damp, others dry. Jackermeier and Gerstl both opted for the dry tyres on their cars. Jackermeier with his Toro Rosso STR3 with Ferrari V8 made ideal use of the pole position and started furiously into the race. Ingo Gerstl came into the pits after the warm-up lap and had to stop his Toro Rosso STR1 temporarily. A few minutes before the end of the race Gerstl drove back onto the track but promptly returned to the pits. Jackermeier managed the lead ideally, made no mistakes in the treacherous conditions and celebrated his first victory in the BOSS GP. 

2nd place for Ingo Gerstl (le.) behind debut winner Thomas Jackermeier (ri.)

BOSS GP FORMULA Class

All drivers in the FORMULA Class opted for the Pirelli P Zero dry tyres at the start of the race. The driving skills of the steering wheel acrobats were thus put to the test even more. Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) made ideal use of his first starting position and was able to pull away first in the drying conditions. Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) held back in the initially damp conditions. However, the experienced Italian put rival after rival to the sword and worked his way up to second place. In the final minutes there was a thrilling duel between Colombo and Ghiotto for the win, but Colombo managed to save the victory over the finish line. Francesco Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) drove in second place for a long time, but after a hard fight on the start-finish straight he had to let his team boss and colleague Ghiotto pass. Salvatore de Plano (ITA, MM International) and Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio) rounded off the top-5 of this spectacular race in FORMULA class. Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing), who was classified in the front of the field in qualifying, came into the pits just before the end of the race and had to park his GP2 car early.

Close finish between Colombo (f.) and Ghiotto behind

BOSS GP SUPER LIGHTS Class

In the SUPER LIGHTS category of the six-cylinder cars, Alexander Geier (AUT, Geier Racing) secured the next victory ahead of Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport). Geier, who started the race on slicks, took the lead from Hasler shortly after the start and eventually controlled the pace at the front. In the final sprint Hasler tried to close the gap to Geier once more. Ultimately in vain, Hasler drove home a safe second place in drying conditions.

Good race by young Austrian Geier in difficult track conditions

After the spectacle today, the fans can look forward to part 2 of the racing action on Sunday. The second and final race of the BOSS GP in Brno will take place tomorrow from 12:50 local time (livestream).

Photos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Report: Brno Qualifying

Colombo with surprising best qualifying time, Jackermeier on pole position in the BOSS GP F1 Class, Hasler dominates SUPER LIGHTS in Brno.

Formula 1 rookie Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) will take the BOSS GP F1 Class to the green flag for the first time in his career. The German set the fastest time of 1:47:271 in his Toro Rosso STR3, Sebastian Vettel’s legendary winning car at Monza in 2008. Series dominator Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) did not take part in qualifying with his Toro Rosso STR1, but will try to take part in the race.

The absolute fastest time in qualifying for both BOSS GP races was set by Italian Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International). Colombo played to the aerodynamic strengths of his Formula 2 car and secured pole position in the FORMULA class. His time of 1:43:879 could not be beaten by any of his rivals. Defending champion Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) was more than two seconds ahead in second place with 1:46:733. The top three were completed by Francesco Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) with a time of 1:46:776, Malavasi’s best qualifying performance so far. Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing) will start the race from fourth place with a time of 1:47:192. For him, it is a good result on his comeback after numerous technical problems.

In the BOSS GP SUPER LIGHTS, Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport) secured the best time with 2:01:679. He thus distanced his main rival Alexander Geier (AUT, Geier Motorsport) by more than a second.

The races scheduled for today, Saturday, at 2 p.m. and tomorrow, Sunday, at 12:50. Before the races, there will be a grid walk for spectators on site, and you can watch the races from home via livestream.

Photos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Report: Le Castellet Race 2

Rene Arnoux presents the winners’ trophies to Gerstl, Schlegelmilch, Chovanec-Lopez and Geier.

The atmosphere at the third event of the 2022 BOSS GP season was unique: visitors had the opportunity to buy tickets for the grid walk and thus get close to Big Open Single Seater and experience the tension before the start at first hand. Not only hundreds of fans took advantage of this, but also the French racing legends Jean Alesi, Rene Arnoux and Jean-Pierre Jarier. They were on hand for souvenir photos, as were the BOSS GP cars and their current drivers.

BOSS GP F1 Class

Toro Rosso, Benetton and Jaguar in a joint race – this unique picture was delivered by the BOSS GP Racing Series in Le Castellet. The legendary Formula 1 cars completed the first laps of Sunday’s race in formation, but in the end the same result as the day before was in the books: Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) took the win ahead of Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) and Didier Sirgue (FRA, LRS Racing).

Didier Sirgue showed at the home race that a twenty-year-old Formula 1 car is far from old hat

BOSS GP OPEN Class

Once again Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA, HS Engineering) was chasing the Formula 1 cars in the World Series car with an improved V8 engine. With the fastest race lap, the Latvian won the OPEN class, which was newly introduced this year for cars without a displacement limit. To the delight of the fans who held out in the heat, he did some donuts after the race, immortalising himself at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

Schlegelmilch pushes as hard as possible to catch the F1 cars from other generations

BOSS GP FORMULA Class

The Portuguese Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez (MM International) was unbeatable again today, Sunday, in a race that was 5 minutes longer than the day before. Again MM International team mate Simone Colombo (ITA) was involved in a thrilling fight for position 2 behind Chovanec-Lopez. This time, however, he defended the position in the last third of the race against Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag). With degrading tyres towards the end of the race, Colombo kept his nerve and thus also second place. Faggionato managed a conciliatory result with third place after retiring early yesterday after a spin. Once again, Francesco Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) was left without a place on the podium. With a further improvement in performance, however, he was ultimately only a good seven seconds off the podium. His team boss and racing colleague Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) retired already in the early stages. This means a setback for the overall standings. The defending champion is now already 47 points behind Chovanec-Lopez and 35 behind Colombo.

The best Frenchman in this class was Alain Girardet (FRA, GDL Racing) in his World Series car in the second race. Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) finished in sixth place. This is remarkable, because the Italian had to fight his way back to the front from the end of the field after a spin in the early stages. The fights for positions behind were also worth seeing, among others with David Moretti, Walter Steding and Thomas Jackermeier.

Dominates the FORMULA class this season so far: Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez

BOSS GP SUPER LIGHTS Class

Alexander Geier (AUT, Geier Racing) sensationally managed to do the double at his BOSS GP race debut: The only 16-year-old Austrian in the V6 World Series car did a good job today as well and even dueled with the faster FORMULA cars at times. With two race wins and the full points tally this weekend, he was able to make up some points on the first-placed driver in the overall standings, Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport).

Alexander Geier delighted the French spectators in the retro colours of the Renault World Champion cars of 2005 and 2006

The BOSS GP Racing Series now takes a summer break. Nevertheless, there is still work to be done, because the teams are using the time to revise the high-end racing cars and make them ready for the second half of the season. In twelve weeks, Europe’s fastest racing series will continue this year’s championship. At the traditional Masaryk Racing Days in Brno from 9 to 11 September, races 7 and 8 of the season will be held.

Pictures: Jean-Marie Biadatti/PhotoClassicRacing.com, SMW MEDIA

Report: Le Castellet Race 1

In front of the shining eyes of French racing legends Jean Alesi and Rene Arnoux, the BOSS GP drivers and their unique bolides braved the heat of the Cote d’Azur.

The 20 drivers of the BOSS GP Racing Series started the fifth race of the 2022 season at an outside temperature of 32 degrees Celsius. Because one vehicle stalled at the pre-start and recovery took some time, the race was restarted a few minutes later behind the safety car.

BOSS GP F1 Class

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) did what he had done many times in 2022: controlling the pace. Mindful of the valuable Toro Rosso F1, he tried to keep his rivals under control in the rear-view mirror. He succeeded with style, winning the F1 classification for the fifth time this year. After some technical problems on the Benetton B197, Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) also saw the chequered flag again today. At his first start in Le Castellet he drove a flawless race, which was rewarded with points for second place. At the beginning of the race Didier Sirgue (FRA, LRS Racing) followed him in the rear-view mirror. However, he subsequently lost contact to Ehninger. Nevertheless, Sirgue, who made his BOSS GP comeback after a break of several years, finished the race in third place in the beautiful Jaguar R2 (with R5 livery).

BOSS GP OPEN Class

Rene Arnoux congratulates the Top-3 in the BOSS GP F1 Class

Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA, HS Engineering) was allowed to pick up the winner’s trophy for the class without engine capacity limit. However, his own incentive is to chase the Formula 1 cars. With the fastest lap of 1:48.371, the former Formula 3 professional was also only a few tenths off the fastest lap of the race in the first race, driven by Ingo Gerstl.

BOSS GP FORMULA Class

Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez (PRT, MM International) extended his lead in the fiercely contested FORMULA Class classification with his fourth win of the season. However, the most exciting duel of the race again took place behind the race winner. Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) seamlessly continued their duel from the last race weekend at the Red Bull Ring. Throughout the race Ghiotto “hung” in Colombo’s gearbox, several times he tried to pass Colombo, even on the approach to brave turn “Signe” at the end of the long Mistral straight. In the end, it was Colombo again who held on to second place, as he had done in Spielberg. Francesco Malavese (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) narrowly missed the podium with 4th place. Behind Malavese followed the fastest Auto GP Lola of Nicolas Matile (MCO, Zig-Zag). Matile did not allow himself a break, but also took part in the race of the Formula 1 cars from the 1970s afterwards. Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio), who was able to drive to the chequered flag after technical problems in qualifying, and Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed), who had switched from Formula 1 to the GP2 Dallara after a gearbox failure on his Toro Rosso STR3 on Friday, finished 6th and 7th place. Best Frenchman in the FORMULA classification was David Moretti (Griffith’s) in ninth.

Yannick Dalmas with the second place driver in FORMULA class Simone Colombo

BOSS GP SUPER LIGHTS Class

The youngest competitor in the BOSS GP Racing Series at 16 years of age, Alexander Geier (AUT, Geier Racing), converted his first pole position at his first race appearance straight into a victory. This meant that Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport) was unable to take full points for the first time this season. With second place, however, Hasler remains unchallenged in the lead of the standings.

First victory for Alexander Geier (r.)

The sixth race of the season follows tomorrow Sunday at 3:30 p.m. local time. Before that, there will be a ten-minute warm-up at 9:35 am. The race can be followed live on French television and as today on the YouTube channel of the TV station Automoto la chaîne (only in France).

Pictures: SMW MEDIA

Report: Le Castellet Qualifying

Quickest times for Gerstl, Schlegelmilch, Chovanec-Lopez and Geier in qualifying for the French Historic Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) leads the BOSS GP F1 Class to the green light for the fifth time this season. Gerstl in the Toro Rosso STR1 took the clear pole position for the two races at the Le Castellet Grand Prix circuit with a time of 1:42.953. Next best F1 driver in qualifying was Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) in his Benetton B197. Ehninger is racing at Le Castellet for the first time and is already coping amazingly well with the demanding circuit on day two. A highlight for the French fans is the appearance of Didier Sirgue (FRA, LRS Racing) in the Jaguar R2. Sirgue qualified third in Eddie Irvine’s car from the 2001 Formula 1 season. As recently proved at the Red Bull Ring, the F1 Class will again start the race at the Grand Prix de France Historique around twenty seconds ahead of the rest of the field. This is to reduce the risks at the start of the race.

The closest to Gerstl’s best time was again Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA, HS Engineering) in his modified World Series car. Schlegelmilch is therefore the favorite to win the OPEN classification.

The leader of the FORMULA class, Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez (PRT, MM International), also set the pace in qualifying. Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) qualified second in class, ahead of fast BOSS GP returnee Marc Faggionato (MCO, Zig-Zag). Close behind was Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio), who managed to move up the results list from far behind with a spot-on lap just before the end. Francesco Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) was able to meet the expectations after the good practice sessions on Friday and finished fifth ahead of Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International).

In the BOSS GP SUPER LIGHTS Class, Alexander Geier (AUT, Geier Racing) prevailed over his compatriot and season dominator Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport). Geier thus also rewarded his team, which put a lot of working time into the Formula Renault bolide with V6 engine after a fire at Hockenheim.

The two races will start today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday) at 3:30 p.m. local time. There will already be the grid walk from 2:50 p.m. The races can be followed live on the Automoto La chaîne YouTube (only in France) stream.

Picture: Jean-Marie Biadatti/PhotoClassicRacing.com

Preview: Le Castellet

The BOSS GP Racing Series is coming to Le Castellet with a top-class starting field for the French Historic Grand Prix (June 17-19, 2022). Racing legends await teams and drivers there.

Just two weeks after the races at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, the BOSS GP Racing Series continues its European tour in France. The fourth edition of the Grand Prix de France Historique at Circuit Paul Ricard provides the ideal setting to bring the past back to life. Located near the sea, between Marseille and Toulon, fans and drivers can expect an event full of awakened memories.

With a bombastic grid of over 25 cars, including Formula 1 race cars from Toro Rosso, Jaguar and Benetton, IndyCars and monopostos from Formula 2, GP2, World Series and Auto GP, Europe’s fastest racing series will contest rounds 5 and 6 of the season at Le Castellet. Also taking part are four Frenchmen: Didier Sirgue (Jaguar R2), David Moretti (GP2), Jean-Christophe Peyre (Auto GP) and Alain Girardet (WSbR), joined by Nicolas Matile (Auto GP) and Marc Faggionato (GP2), who will be competing under a Monegasque license.

Entry list:

Race Track:

The 5.8-kilometer Circuit Paul Ricard is a track that is demanding from a driving point of view and at the same time has some high-speed passages to offer. Well situated climatically, with around 180 different track variations and extremely safe, the circuit is a paradise for test drives for good reason. The Big Open Single Seater’s last race here was held in 2017.

Timetable (CEST):

Friday, 17 June 2022
11:00–11:25     Free Practice 1
15:45–16:10     Free Practice 2

Saturday, 18 June 2022
10:10–10:40     Qualifying
15:30–15:50     Race 1 (20 minutes)

Sunday, 19 June 2022
09:35–09:45     Warm-up
15:30–15:55     Race 2 (25 minutes)

Supporting program:

The fourth edition of the event is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the FFSA (French Automobile Sports Association) and the fabulous history of Formula 1. In addition to the BOSS GP Racing Series, the program includes races with legendary cars from the 1970s (Historic F1). Furthermore, there will be races of the Historic Formula 2 (built before 1979), Formula 3 and Formula Renault Classic and Formula Ford 1600 with no less than 45 starters. Under the title “100 km du GPFH”, older and younger GTs and sports prototypes will also be competing.

A total of twelve races, spread over Saturday and Sunday, are on the racing program. Numerous other Formula 1 vehicles will be on display in the paddock. Fans can also do their own laps in F1 simulators or learn something new at the F1 technology exhibition. The paddock is freely accessible to visitors. No wonder that this also attracts numerous French motorsport stars to the Cote d’Azur. Jean Alesi, Rene Arnoux, Yannick Dalmas, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Patrick Tambay, Pascal Fabre, Jean-Marc Gounon, Patrick Gaillard and others have announced their visit.

Tickets & TV broadcast:

Tickets are available from 25 euros, for more details visit www.gpfrance.com/en/french-historic-grand-prix/ticketing

Admission is daily from 9 am.

The program on Sunday will also be broadcast on French television, on the channel Automoto La chaîne.

Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP, Jean-Marie Biadatti, Bernard Canonne

L’uomo che si è fatto da sé

Dal kart da corsa alla Formula 2: Simone Colombo (35 anni, di Milano) mostra come si fa. Nella nostra intervista, il pilota di MM International spiega perché la BOSS GP Racing Series lo ha affascinato.

Lei proviene dal karting professionale e l’anno scorso è passato a una vettura di Formula 2. Come è nata questa scelta? Come è stato possibile?

SIMONE COLOMBO: “Ho iniziato con i kart e poi ho smesso quando ho trovato lavoro. Non ho corso per sette anni e sentivo che mi mancava qualcosa. Ma quando lavoravo non potevo fare entrambe le cose, quindi non potevo continuare a fare karting. Così ho cercato di iniziare a correre ed è per questo che sono qui. Nel 2021 ho corso la mia prima gara in assoluto. Ho appena iniziato a correre con le auto di formula e non ne so molto. Ma quest’anno ho fatto molti test prima della prima gara”.

Ma sembra molto abile, non commette molti errori. Le auto GT non erano un’opzione per te?

COLOMBO: “No! Solo monoposto, questo è il massimo”.

Perché gareggia nella BOSS GP Racing Series?

COLOMBO: “Per divertirmi! Mi piace l’esperienza, i circuiti, la macchina. Non ci sono molte opportunità di guidare questo tipo di auto”.

Di cosa si occupa la sua azienda Mondokart?

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is BOSS-GP-Monza-RobertLoesch-3-1024x682.jpg
Un inizio promettente: Nella stagione di debutto di Simone, nel 2021, si è subito classificato secondo nella classe FORMULA.

COLOMBO: “Vendiamo ricambi per kart e kart. Lavoriamo duramente per essere molto bravi e veloci nelle spedizioni. Siamo una sorta di ‘Amazon del karting’. Il karting è molto grande in Italia perché la maggior parte dei kart sono prodotti in Italia e tutti i principali produttori sono in Italia”.

Quali telai vendete?

COLOMBO: “Vendiamo CRG, Tonykart, ma abbiamo anche molte altre marche. Lavoriamo con tutte le aziende del settore. Inoltre, siamo anche produttori di kart, ma questa non è la parte più importante dell’attività”.

Qual è il suo obiettivo per questa stagione agonistica, cosa si aspetta?

COLOMBO: “Voglio fare meglio dell’anno scorso. Forse posso ottenere il primo posto nel campionato, ma non so se ci riuscirò. Quest’anno ci sono anche dei nuovi corridori… Mi limiterò a fare un passo alla volta”.

Foto: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP, Robert Lösch

Report: Red Bull Ring Spielberg Race 2

Plenty of fans listened to the sounds of the BOSS GP Racing Series today. Numerous duels characterized the second round of the Rundstreckentrophy in Austria.

BOSS GP F1 Class

In the early stages of Sunday’s race, the two Top Speed teammates Ingo Gerstl (AUT) and Thomas Jackermeier (DEU) circulated around the 2.7-mile Formula 1 track in their Toro Rossos synchronously. Jackermeier even recorded his first leading miles in the BOSS GP Racing Series. This was remarkable, as it was only his second race in a Formula 1 car. In the second half of the race, however, Gerstl shifted up a gear and took the lead again in his Toro Rosso STR1. The Austrian not only drove to home victory but also to his fourth win of the 2022 season. Jackermeier finished the race in second place, as he did yesterday, and can thus look back on a highly successful debut weekend in the Toro Rosso STR3. Third place went to last year’s champion Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) in the 1997 Benetton.

BOSS GP OPEN Class

As pole setter of the second starting group, Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA, HS Engineering) was once again trying to catch up with the Formula 1 cars in front of him. Schlegelmilch drove to a safe start-finish victory in the OPEN class in his modified World Series car. Anton Werner (GER, Ryschka Motorsport) in the only IndyCar car finished second.

BOSS GP FORMULA Class

Chovanec-Lopez (Dallara GP2 Mecachrome) won both races in the FORMULA class

With an advantage of half a minute in the final classification Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez (PRT, MM International) dominated the class, which was mainly filled with Formula 2 cars. In contrast to yesterday, he tried to build up a bigger lead with fast lap times already in the early stages, which he succeeded in doing. With victory number 3 this season, Chovanec-Lopez also extended his lead in the standings. Behind the winner, the competitors were increasingly fighting with each other: Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) duelled for second place for a long time. Because Ghiotto was losing ground towards the end of the race due to overheated brakes, the reigning champion was only able to finish 3rd behind Hockenheim race winner Colombo. Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) in the green glittering GP2 Dallara drove unchallenged to fourth place.

The best fights for positions were again delivered by the group around Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering) in the World Series V8 car, Michael Aberer (AUT, MA Motorsport), Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio) and Bianca Steiner (AUT, Steiner Motorsport) in their GP2 cars. The positions changed several times, including some impressive braking manoeuvres. In the end, it was Steiner who prevailed, delighted with fifth place and a flawless race but annoyed with a botched qualifying session. Behind O’Connell and Aberer, Giancarlo Pedetti (ITA, Nannini Racing) was also able to work his way up the order in the race. Steding finished ninth, Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed) finished tenth, glad to see the chequered flag this time.

Andreas Hasler takes full points in the Spielberg races

BOSS GP SUPER LIGHTS Class

The class of the six-cylinder cars was reserved for Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport) from Styria, who made the short journey home with two winner’s trophies. For the next races, the BOSS GP rookie plans to finally be able to call up the full engine power of his older World Series car.

Hasler will have his next opportunity to do so in just two weeks’ time, at the BOSS GP races as part of the French Historic Grand Prix in Le Castellet (June 17-19, 2022).

Report: Red Bull Ring Spielberg Race 1

After pole position comes the victory: Class wins for Gerstl (F1), Schlegelmilch (OPEN), Chovanec-Lopez (FORMULA) and Hasler (SUPER LIGHTS).

The first race of the BOSS GP Racing Series took place in perfect weather conditions and at the best starting time just after 2 pm. For the first time, the race was divided into two starting groups, first the BOSS GP Formula 1 class and then, with a gap of about 20 seconds, the OPEN, FORMULA and SUPER LIGHTS pilotes.

BOSS GP F1 Class

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) continued his winning streak from Hockenheim. The man from Salzburg with his Toro Rosso STR1 won the first BOSS GP race at the Rundstreckentrophy. His Top Speed teammate Thomas Jackermeier (GER) drove a flawless debut race in his Toro Rosso Formula 1 car and finished in second place behind Gerstl. For a while he was able to follow his much more experienced teammate. Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) drove an flawless race and deservedly picked up a trophy for third place.

The most successful drivers of race 1 in Spielberg

BOSS GP OPEN Class

After a safety car period, Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA, HS Engineering) also gave the Formula 1 cars in front of him a good run for their money towards the end of the race. Schlegelmilch won the OPEN class in his modified World Series car ahead of the rare IndyCar (IRL-IR8) of Anton Werner (GER, Ryschka Motorsport).

Hard, but fair racing: Fine battles in midfield

BOSS GP FORMULA Class

Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez (PRT, MM International) was unbeatable as expected after his strong qualifying performance. With his second victory of the season, Chovanec-Lopez regained the sole lead in the FORMULA class standings. Behind him, the two Italians Simone Colombo (MM International) and Marco Ghiotto (Scuderia Palladio) fought a hot duel as expected. While Ghiotto struggled with overheated brakes, Colombo also overshot the breaking points a time or two. In the end, Colombo prevailed over Ghiotto. Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio) finished fourth with his best performance of the season. Giancarlo Pedetti (ITA, Nannini Racing) finished 5th, just ahead of Bianca Steiner (Steiner Motorsport), who performed well in the race, as the best Austrian in this class. Victory in the BOSS GP SUPER LIGHTS Class went to Styrian local hero Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport).

The fourth race of the season starts tomorrow Sunday at 2 o’clock local time.

Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP, Henry Gasselich/VOLLGAS!

Report: Red Bull Ring Spielberg Qualifying

Pole position for Ingo Gerstl at his home race in Austria.

With a lap time of 1:12.076 min Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) set the best time in qualifying on Saturday morning with his Toro Rosso STR1. In front of a well-attended crowd, the man from Salzburg squeezed one fast lap after another out of his Formula 1 and the Pirelli P-Zero tires and continued to improve several times. Second fastest Formula 1 driver was Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) in his very first outing in Sebastian Vettel’s winning car (Monza 2008), the Toro Rosso STR3. Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) was able to qualify his Benetton B197 without any problems on class position 3 today after a defect on his front wing yesterday in the practice sessions.

As expected, the fastest OPEN driver was Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA, HS Engineering). In the modified Dallara World Series car he set clearly the fastest lap with 1:15.644 min. Anton Werner’s (Ryschka Motorsport) IndyCar is also an eye-catcher in the OPEN category. The German qualified in the middle of the FORMULA field.

Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez (CZE, MM International) did not show any weakness in FORMULA qualifying. The ex-Formula 3 driver dominated the class ahead of reigning champion Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio), Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) and Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International). The three Italians were separated by only three tenths of a second, and close fights for positions in the races are to be expected here. Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio) and Michael Aberer (AUT, AM Motorsport) follow in 5th and 6th place. Technical problems slowed down Bernd Herndlhofer (AUT, H&A Racing) at his BOSS GP comeback, he starts into the races from position 11 in class.

Styrian local hero and BOSS GP rookie Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport) was able to improve significantly compared to the practice session and will go into the races today Saturday (14:25) and tomorrow Sunday (14:00 local time) as the best-placed SUPER LIGHTS driver.

Picture: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP