Tag: Dallara

Self-made man

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Keke Platzer - General

From race kart to Formula 2: Simone Colombo (35, from near Milan) shows how it’s done. In our interview, the MM International driver explains why the BOSS GP Racing Series has captivated him.

You come from professional karting and switched to a Formula 2 car last year. How did that come about?

SIMONE COLOMBO: “I started karting and then stopped when I got my job. I didn’t race for seven years and I felt I was missing something. But during my job I couldn’t do both, so I couldn’t continue karting. So I tried to start motor racing and that’s why I’m here. In 2021, I drove my first race ever. I just started racing formula cars and I don’t know much about it. But this year I tested before the first race a lot.”

But it looks very skillful, you don’t make many mistakes. Were GT cars actually not an option for you?

COLOMBO: “No! Only single seaters, that’s the maximum.”

Why do you race in the BOSS GP Racing Series?

COLOMBO: “To have fun! I enjoy the experience, the tracks, the car. There are not so many opportunities to drive this kind of cars.”

Promising start: In Simone’s debut season in 2021 he immediately became runner-up in the FORMULA class

What does your company Mondokart do?

COLOMBO: “We sell kart parts and karts. We work hard to be very good and fast in shipping. We are sort of the ‘Amazon of karting’. Karting is very big in Italy because most karts are produced in Italy and all the main manufacturers are in Italy.”

What kart chassis do you sell?

COLOMBO: “We sell CRG, Tonykart, but we also have many other brands. We work with all the companies in the sector. In addition, we are also manufacturers of karts ourselves, but that is not the biggest part of the business.”

What is your goal for this racing season, what do you expect?

COLOMBO: “I want to do better than last year. Maybe I can get first place in the championship, but I don’t know if I will be able to do that. There are also some new riders this year … I will just take it step by step.”

Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP, Robert Lösch

Report: Hockenheim Race 2

Posted on May 8, 2022 by Keke Platzer - General

In the fight for victory in the FORMULA classification, the action came to a head on the last lap. Class wins for Gerstl, Schlegelmilch, Colombo and Hasler.

BOSS GP rookie Zdenek Chovanec-Lopez (CZE, MM International) set an incredible pace for almost twenty minutes and already looked like the secure winner when his tyres started to degrade badly. Chovanec-Lopez’s GP2 car clearly started to drift more and more. In a powerslide he still tried to keep the fast-approaching Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) behind him, but the effort was in vain. Colombo managed his Pirelli P-Zero slicks better and thus took the FORMULA victory in Sunday’s 25-minute race.

Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) was again able to collect a trophy at the podium ceremony, he finished third. Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International) crossed the finish line in an unthankful fourth place. The experienced Italian defeated Michael Aberer (AUT, MA Motorsport), who kept Martucci busy at the beginning of the race. Today, Aberer was able to score a good result after his retirement yesterday.

Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering) finished sixth in class, ahead of Giancarlo Pedetti, who put in a clean performance as he did yesterday in his BOSS GP debut race. The best German was Walter Steding (Scuderia Palladio) in eighth place. Despite a collision at the start of the race, Alexander Seibold (GER, Scuderia Palladio) was also able to finish the race. Much to the delight of many fans, because Seibold started with a special helmet design as a tribute to the unforgotten Swiss Formula 1 and sports car racer Jo Siffert.

Well-attended grandstands in best early summer weather at the Jim Clark Revival in Hockenheim

The other classes:

The OPEN category of the Formula 1 cars was again a straightforward affair for Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the first car of Scuderia Toro Rosso (now Alpha Tauri). Despite an early technical knockout, Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom Racing) and Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) were able to score second and third respectively.

Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA, HS Engineering) in the yellow-and-black World Series V8 machine performed as he did in Race 1 and, starting from last place on the grid, managed to overtake most of the field in the opening laps. The Latvian left all FORMULA cars behind and won the new classification of the modified BOSS GP cars.

After Andreas Hasler (AUT, Hasler Motorsport) could not take part in the race yesterday, the Austrian was eager to get through today. He succeeded and even more: Hasler claimed victory in the SUPER LIGHTS six-cylinder classification.

The two races in the Bosch Hockenheim Historic can be watched in replay at www.hockenheim-historic.de/en/live

The next two races of the BOSS GP Racing Series will follow in four weeks’ time (3-5 June 2022) as part of the Rundstreckentrophy at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.

Note: The overall standings are currently still unofficial, as the modified FORMULA car class is only just being added to the regulations.

Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Report Race 2 Monza

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Jakob Heher - General

Grande Finale in Monza. The fastest race series in Europe more than lived up to its name, under the most difficult conditions Ulf Ehninger was crowned the new champion of the BOSS GP Racing Series.

Already in the morning, the royal park of Monza presented itself grey in grey. Thomas Hummer, the man in charge of Pirelli for BOSS GP, was also looking at the sky: “It’s really difficult, if it stays like this I would take the slicks.” Shortly before the start, the rain became heavier. Most of the drivers opted for the rain tyres.

Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) did not let himself be ruffled, and in the manner of a Zen master, the Benetton driver brought his first OPEN title home. “I didn’t take any risks, changed gears early and stayed out of everything. I can’t believe it, I never expected something like this,” Ehninger could hardly believe his achievement. For Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) it was a mixed weekend. “I want to congratulate Ulf, he was always on point and deserved the title,” the old champion paid tribute to the new one.

The day’s win went to Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) again. This time, however, the FORMULA driver had to fight much harder than on the previous day: “I started on rain tyres, in the safety car period I changed to slicks. Thanks go to my mechanics.” With the fresh rubbers, the Italian was able to catch up with the long-time leader Paul O’Connell (IRL, HS Engineering), who himself took the lead with a remarkable manoeuvre in the first Lesmo bend, and overtook him shortly before the end. O’Connell was nevertheless very pleased. “I played poker, we often have conditions like this on the island, I risked the slicks, it paid off in the end,” the likeable Irishman revealed.

FORMULA podium race 2: f.l. Paul O’Connell (2nd), winner Marco Ghiotto and Thomas Jackermeier (3rd)

Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) also made it onto the podium for the first time. The rookie showed an excellent performance and was suddenly in the lead due to various tyre changes of the competitors. “On Friday I drove the Toro Rosso with which Sebastian Vettel won here for the first time, now I’m on the same podium, even in the rain. That’s really mega,” the Fanatec CEO was completely beside himself.

In the first half of the race, Michael Aberer (AUT, MA Motorsport) was one of the fastest. The rain specialist was able to make use of his experience on the slippery terrain and was soon to be found in the leading field. In the end, switching to dry tyres would probably have been the better choice, so only eighth place remained.

Series coordinator Willie Beck was also suitably satisfied after the GlobeAir Grande Finale: “We’ve seen a fantastic season without any accidents, as a BOSS GP family we’ve grown together even more this year, which gives us confidence for the new season.”

Photos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP, Robert Lösch

Report Race 1 Monza

Posted on October 2, 2021 by Jakob Heher - General

Championship decision postponed: Already the pre-start threw the qualifying into disarray. In the end, FORMULA Champion Marco Ghiotto won in the Monza Park and spoke of an “easy” victory.

With 22 degrees Celsius outside and 33°C asphalt temperature, the drivers found perfect racing conditions to get the Pirelli tyres into the ideal temperature window. Already on the grid the Toro Rosso of pole setter Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) caused problems. “It must have been a sensor problem in the gearbox, it would have been fine, but for safety reasons I preferred to park the car after the start,” a disappointed Gerstl stated. In the championship, the Austrian suffered a severe setback and is now seven points behind Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) with one race to go.

As Phil Stratford’s (USA, Penn Elcom Racing) Benetton remained in the pits due to gearbox problems in qualifying, it was Ehninger who took the win in the Open class. In the overall classification, however, the Benetton driver was beaten by Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) and Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International Motorsport). The two Dallara GP2 drivers flew around the course in pairs at the start before Ghiotto prevailed by just under three seconds.

“At the beginning I tried not to give Colombo any slipstream, the effect is particularly strong in Monza. Once I shook him off a bit, it was an easy win,” stated the confident champion. For Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International Motorsport) the home race ended abruptly. His GP2 rolled out at the beginning of the famous Ascari chicane while he was safely in third place.

Behind Ehninger, the battle for 4th place raged, with Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio) and Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International Motorsport) duelling it out for the entire race. Mangini tried several times to takes over out of the slipstream, but braked in the first chicane on his most promising attempt, had to go wide and could not get closer than seven tenths to the German again.

The most exciting duel took place behind Paul O’Connell (IRL, HS Engineering) for 7th place. Michael Aberer (AUT, MA Motorsport), who drives his car in the legendary Gold Leaf colours, drove close behind Thomas Jakoubek (AUT, Top Speed) the entire race before he struck in the Parabolica corner on the last lap. “I picked someone to fight with, to see where I actually stand. It was my first race in the dry, for that I am very, very satisfied, it was an awesome match,” Aberer summed up.

Tomorrow Sunday at 12:50 local time the GlobeAir Grande Finale of the 2021 BOSS GP season will take place in Monza.

Photos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Report Qualifying Monza

Posted on October 2, 2021 by Jakob Heher - General

A turbulent qualifying session for the GlobeAir Grande Finale at the Royal Park of Monza ultimately brought a pole position for Ingo Gerstl and a tragic hero in Phil Stratford.

Right at the beginning of Q1 Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the Toro Rosso brought out the hammer, set a 1:29.0 on his first flying lap and improved again by 1.6 (!) seconds on the second lap. All the others were beaten by this time. The closest was Phil Stratford (USA, Penn Elcom Racing), who only managed to move up to second place with just one timed lap. Before he caused a red flag.

“Unfortunately, the gearbox got stuck in 6th gear, we had problems yesterday as well. My mechanics worked all night, we only finished 5 minutes before qualifying, they are true heroes,” the US driver knew to thank his crew. At the moment, the crew is trying to get the Benetton from the 1997 season running again for the race. The second Benetton in the field, driven by Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing), made it to the second row of the grid in 4th place.

FORMULA driver Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International Motorsport) broke the phalanx of Formula 1 cars with the GP2 Dallara and achieved an excellent starting position for a possible first win of the season with grid position 3. Behind them it tightened up – Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) and Luca Martucci (ITA, MM International Motorsport) rushed around the track in pairs, gave each other slipstream and shared the third row of the grid in the end.

In the meantime, qualifying was interrupted again by a red flag. Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) had lost control of the GP2 when braking for the first chicane and brought the car to a halt on a sausage curb. However, race control quickly radioed the all-clear and, with the help of the marshals, the rookie was able to resume his drive. Michael Aberer (AUT, MA Motorsport) had a similar incident. Nevertheless, the Austrian still managed to finish 11th on the grid.

In between, Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio), Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing), Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International Motorsport) and Paul O’Connell (IRL, HS Engineering), four drivers in positions 7 to 10 on the grid, still have a chance of a podium in the FORMULA class.

The first race in the Temple of Speed will start today at 15:35 local time.

Photo: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Weekend for speed freaks: BOSS GP in Monza

Posted on June 29, 2018 by Keke Platzer - General

Speed is not only a term here, but it can be felt – so is the danger. In the Royal Park of Monza, the BOSS GP is once again making a stop this weekend, in the best weather and with excellent food.

Third stop: through the park
The Big Open Single Seaters are coming after Hockenheim and Spielberg on another traditional race track: the Monza Eni Circuit, as the track has recently been called, was an uninterrupted part of the BOSS GP Series from 2011 to 2016. This year the track is back as headliner of the Peroni Race Weekend.

Autodromo Nazionale Monza: Temple of Speed
The 5.793-kilometre circuit in the Royal Park of Monza is one of the most impressive racing facilities in the world. It is one of the last high-speed tracks in the world and one of the most challenging tracks in Europe for drivers.

Located just 15 minutes by car northeast of Milan, it is located in the metropolitan area of Italy’s second largest city. Many drivers and fans combine their visit with an excursion to the city centre and to nearby Lake Garda.

The 688 hectare park (twice as large as Central Park in New York, by the way) has been the home of the Autodromo since 1922. After Brooklands and Indianapolis, the circuit was the only third permanent racetrack in history built specifically for motorsport. The steep curves of those days still exist today and are a popular visitor point.

Hans Laub in his 1996 Forti will start again in this year’s edition of the Monza race

Participants: BOSS GP
The unchallenged OPEN class leader Ingo Gerstl (Top Speed) will face competition from Rinus van Kalmthout. The 17-year-old Dutchman contests the Indy Lights series in the USA. In the Dallara-GP2, equipped with a Judd engine (8 cylinders, 4 litres displacement), he wants to collect more kilometers in a powerful racing car in Monza. Already last year he showed extraordinary performances. Wolfgang Jaksch will also be back. The German didn’t get his Super Aguri running at Hockenheim, but now everything is supposed to work for Monza. At the last second Hans Laub also announced a Formula 1 car for the OPEN. With the Forti FG 03 the German has a rare racer from 1996 under his butt.

Start-No.	Name	Team	Nat.	Car
1	Ingo Gerstl	Top Speed	AUT	Toro Rosso STR1
7	Phil Stratford	Penn Elcom Racing	USA	Benetton B197
11	Rinus van Kalmthout	Mansell Motorsport	NED	Dallara GP2 Judd
22	Hans Laub	Speed Center	DEU	Forti FG 03
26	Wolfgang Jaksch	F Xtreme Racing Team	DEU	Super Aguri 06

12 starters are registered in the FORMULA class, among them some returners: Wolfgang Jordan and the two Italians David Moretti and Marco Ghiotto. For FORMULA leader Florian Schnitzenbaumer, Andreas Fiedler could be the most dangerous in the absence of Bianca Steiner, Johann Ledermair and Salvatore De Plano. Armando Mangini is the third Italian to compete in the home race.

Start-No.	Name	Team	Nat.	Car
100	Thomas Jakoubek	Top Speed	AUT	Dallara GP2
105	Wolfgang Jordan	H&A Racing	DEU	Dallara GP2
111	“Piter”	Ray-Ban	FRA	Dallara WSbR
150	David Moretti	Griffith’s	ITA	Dallara GP2
210	Marco Ghiotto	Ghiotto	ITA	Dallara GP2
222	Veronica Cicha	H&A Racing	CZE	Dallara GP2
321	Andreas Fiedler	Fiedler Racing	DEU	Dallara GP2
323	Armando Mangini	MM International	ITA	Dallara GP2
411	Karl-Heinz Becker	Becker Motorsport	DEU	Dallara WsbN
505	Walter Steding	Inter Europol Competition	DEU	Dallara GP2
555	Christian Eicke	Speed Center	SUI	Dallara GP2
888	Florian Schnitzenbaumer	Top Speed	DEU	Dallara GP2

Monza is not only interesting because of the Autodromo

Timetable: BOSS GP at Peroni Race Festival

Friday, 29 July 2018

10:40–11:10: Free Practice 1
16:15–16:45: Free Practice 2

Saturday, 30 June 2018

10:35–11:05: Qualifying
16:40–17:00: Race 1

Sunday, 1 July 2018

11:30–11:55: Race 2

Free entry and open paddock
Peroni has become the very heart of Italian motorsport. The bustling organisers of the Gruppo Peroni Race thus also attract a large number of spectators to the race track. Free admission during the three days of racing in Monza is a special offer. You can visit the paddock to get a rare insight into the work of the teams. There is a free choice of seats in the stands. If teams grant access, the boxes may also be viewed. The BOSS GP teams are in the garages with numbers 51 to 60, Andreas Fiedler (Dallara-GP2) pitched his tent in the paddock again, at the same level as the other BOSS GP teams in the paddock. Parking for motorcycles costs 5 Euro, for cars 10 Euro. Access is Viale Vedano 5 in Monza.

Other racing series on this race weekend are the German sports car series DMV GTC, the Northern European Formula Renault 2.0 and the Renault Clio Cup Italy. Historic cars compete in the Campionato Italiano Auto Storiche, the Alfa Revival Cup and the FIA Lurani Trophy for Formula Junior cars. All in all, a mix of jewellery from the recent and older motorsport past worth seeing.

Ready for the ninth season: The BOSS GP 2018

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Keke Platzer - General

Europes fastest racing series starts into an exciting year next weekend at the Jim Clark Revival at Hockenheimring with 19 starters.

First stop: classic meets modern
The season for the Big Open Single Seater begins traditionally at Hockenheim in Southern Germany. Next weekend (April 20-22), two races of the spectacular BOSS GP are scheduled in a setting that could hardly be more beautiful: Bosch Hockenheim Historic, in honour of Jim Clark, who died in Hockenheim on April 7, 1968, attracts tens of thousands to the Hockenheimring every year. Jim Clark’s 50th anniversary of his death is commemorated this year with numerous exhibitions and special tours commemorating the Formula 1 legend. In addition, more than 500 cars from all classes and epochs will gather in the Motodrom. Open doors await the spectators everywhere, as the ticket includes free access to the paddock, the exhibition pavilion, the pit roof and the pits themselves.

Podium of race 2 of the OPEN class in Hockenheim.

2017 podium in Hockenheim: f.l. Stratford, race winner Gerstl, Jaksch

Entries: BOSS GP
Four Formula 1 cars are listed, all of them eligible to compete in the OPEN Class: BOSS GP Champion Ingo Gerstl from Austria with the very first F1 Toro Rosso, the American Phil Stratford in the light blue and white Benetton from 1997, Bernd Herndlhofer (Austria) with Arrows A22 and the German entrepreneur Wolfgang Jaksch in the popular Super Aguri. There is no engine capacity limit in the open class – ‘anything goes’ is the motto here.

Starting No	Name	Team	Nat.	Car
1	Ingo Gerstl	Top Speed	AUT	Toro Rosso STR1
7	Phil Stratford	Penn Elcom Racing	USA	Benetton B197
21	Bernd Herndlhofer	H&A Racing	AUT	Arrows A22
26	Wolfgang Jaksch	F-Xtreme Racing Team	GER	Super Aguri SA06

15 cars are competing for points in the FORMULA Class, which has a maximum engine capacity of 4.2 litres: Four World Series racing cars and eleven GP2 racing cars complete the field of participants at Hockenheim, including the GP2 cars from the three BOSS GP rookies Bianca Steiner, Thomas Jakoubek and Manfred Loach from Austria. Loach’s racing machine is probably the most striking car in the field – the Dallara is painted in pink due to the sponsor.

Manfred Loach im pink-lackierten GP2-Dallara beim Vorsaison-Test in Brünn

Pink Panther: Manfred Loach in Brno for the first test in his eye-catching Dallara GP2

In addition to Jaksch, four more Germans will race at this first BOSS GP race weekend 2018: Karl-Heinz Becker, Florian Schnitzenbaumer, Andreas Fiedler and Walter Steding.

Starting No	Name	Team	Nat.	Car
100	Thomas Jakoubek	Top Speed	AUT	Dallara GP2
101	Peter Göllner	Speed Center	SUI	Dallara GP2
110	Bianca Steiner	Top Speed	AUT	Dallara GP2
111	“Piter”	Ray-Ban	FRA	Dallara WSbR
181	Manfred Loach	Top Speed	AUT	Dallara GP2
212	John Reaks	Speed Center	GBR	Dallara WSbR
222	Veronika Cicha	H&A Racing	CZE	Dallara GP2
321	Andreas Fiedler	Fiedler Racing	DEU	Dallara GP2
323	Armando Mangini	MM International	ITA	Dallara GP2
411	Karl-Heinz Becker	Becker Motorsport	DEU	Dallara WSbR
430	Martin Kindler	Kindler Motorsport	SUI	Dallara WSbR
505	Walter Steding	Inter Europol Competition	DEU	Dallara GP2
555	Christian Eicke	Speed Center	SUI	Dallara GP2
888	Florian Schnitzenbaumer	Top Speed	DEU	Dallara GP2
999	Salvatore de Plano	MM International	ITA	Dallara GP2

Schedule: BOSS GP at Bosch Hockenheim Historic
The 4.5-kilometre Grand Prix circuit and the supporting events compete, so to speak, for the spectators’ favour. On each of the three days of the event from 9.00 a.m. on the race track is literally round-the-clock. The BOSS GP series runs two 25-minute training sessions, one half-hour qualifying session and two 20-minute races. Testing takes place on Thursday (April 19) throughout the day.

Friday: April 20, 2018

10:00 am-10:25 am: Free practice 1
16:15-16:40: Free practice 2

Saturday: April 21, 2018

10:35 am-11:05 am: Qualifying
17:00-17:20: Race 1

Sunday: April 22, 2018

13:20-13:40: Race 2

The schedule featuring all racing series can be found under this link

Phil Stratford im 1997er-Benetton in Hockenheim 2017

Phil Stratford in his 97′ Benetton drives around a corner in the famous Motodrom

Tickets for fans: Bosch Hockenheim Historic
There’s an introductory offer for ten euros on Friday. A day ticket for Saturday or Sunday costs 30 euros each, 45 euros for the weekend. Wheelchair users and children up to 14 years have free entry – paddock and free choice of seats included.

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