Tag: Gerstl

AMF honours for BOSS GP drivers

The champions of the 2023 season received more honours in Austria last January.

The Austrian Motorsport Federation (AMF) celebrated the winning drivers of the previous year in a magnificent setting at the Congress Center and Casino in Baden, around 30 kilometres from Vienna. As a racing series based in Austria, we were given this honour. The champions Ingo Gerstl (BOSS GP F1 Class) and Henry Clausnitzer (SUPER LIGHTS) gladly attended the evening. On behalf of HS Engineering, team owner Michael Hascic received the trophy for the OPEN title win by Antonio Pizzonia. FORMULA winner Simone Colombo had to be excused due to the start of the karting season in Italy and the obligations that go with it.

This time, the BOSS GP Racing Series with its representative Keke Platzer also had the opportunity to present the series on stage in a discussion with AMF General Secretary Michael Fehlmann ahead of its 30th anniversary in the 2024 season.

Photos: Gregor Nesvadba

Report: Races Monza

The crowds at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza enjoyed three days of top-class motorsport at the Nardi Compressori Race. Italian Colombo wins second FORMULA title in a row. Japanese Noda impresses on debut.

The first race on Saturday will probably go down as one of the races that started the latest in BOSS GP history. After a lengthy rain interruption in the afternoon, the BOSS GP timetable was also delayed. The first (20-minute) race did not start until after 6 pm, however when it did, it offered a stunning ambience at the Parco di Monza as apology for the wait.

The Formula 1 racetrack also saw two highlights with F1 history featuring Ingo Gerstl’s Toro Rosso STR1 and Antonio Pizzonia. Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) had to give way to the Brazilian for overall victory in both races this time. Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) impressed not only with the victory in the OPEN class. By using a “low downforce setup” on the World Series V8 with a 4.5-litre engine he was able to achieve a top speed of over 330 km/h. Ingo Gerstl is now officially the champion of the BOSS GP F1 Class and joins the confirmed champions of the 2023 season, Antonio Pizzonia (OPEN) and Henry Clausnitzer (SUPER LIGHTS).

Gerstl followed closely by Pizzonia, in the background Marco Ghiotto

A decision was also made in the FORMULA class, where the epic duel between two Italians continued. In qualifying, Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) had scored a coup by having more time in Q2 than his rival Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International). He used this time to go for the fastest time again at the end of the session with new Pirelli tyres. Ghiotto got it right and put himself in a better position for the two races.

Their duels made their mark on the races in this competitive class with Formula 2 (GP2) and World Series cars. An unfortunate situation in the first race took Ghiotto out of contention for victory. However, with third place in class, he at least saved a large number of points. In the second race, once more Ghiotto kept up with championship leader Colombo and tried everything to keep the title race open. But once again it was not enough. With the double victory, Colombo will travel to the finale in Mugello (6-8 October 2023) as the old and new champion. It is the former karting professional’s second title in the BOSS GP. This extends the series of championships for Italian drivers to five in a row.

But newcomer Juju Noda (JPN, HS Engineering) was also in the mix and impressed many commentators with her ability to learn quickly. For the former driver in the W Series and the Euroformula Open, it was a successful debut in the league of the “Big Open Single Seater”. Places 2 and 3 were a showcase of talent for the 17-year-old in the World Series 3.5. Team-mate Paul O’Connell (IRE), competing for the first time in the team’s 4.5-litre World Series in the OPEN class, also contributed with two second places to the fact that HS Engineering once again collected a lot of silverware.

Race 1 podium ceremony

Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing) made his comeback after a break and showed with fourth place in the second run that he also belongs to the top group. Other notable results: 5th place for Checco Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) and 6th place for newcomer David Richert (CDN, MM International) in the second race. After a premature retirement in the first race, Felix and Michael Grosse-Aschhoff (both GER, Asche Racing) were able to score in the second race, as was Bruno Jarach (ITA, Eesti Motorsport).

Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (AUT, Red Rose Racing) gained some new fans in the iconic Ralt F3000 with retro design. He scored full points twice in the SUPER LIGHTS and is now on course for second place in the championship.

Photos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Report: Races Assen

Once again, the event in Assen was a motorsport festival for both participants and spectators.

Tens of thousands of fans in the grandstands at the TT Circuit in Assen (Netherlands), saw Europe’s fastest racing series in action at Jack’s Racing Day. A huge show program surrounded the practice sessions and races of the BOSS GP Racing Series this Saturday and Sunday. Among others, former Formula 1 driver Nyck de Vries hit the track in a World Series car of BOSS GP team HS Engineering. Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) also made headlines, smashing both the track record and the official lap record (set in the race). With 1:15.861, the Austrian lapped the current MotoGP track in his Toro Rosso STR1 Formula 1 car faster than anyone before.

The Dutch Formula E World Champion Nyck de Vries in the HS racing car

The results

The fifth race weekend of this season produced four double winners: Ingo Gerstl (BOSS GP F1 Class), Antonio Pizzonia (OPEN), Simone Colombo (FORMULA) and Henry Clausnitzer (SUPER LIGHTS) secured both race wins in their classes. For Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) and Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing) these successes also mean the premature win of the championship. The duel of the weekend saw again Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) battling for victory in the FORMULA class. These two GP2 drivers were once again split by just a few tenths of a second. There were also celebrations for Simon Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed), who was on the podium for the first time in race 2. In Race 1, Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio) was invited onto the winner’s photo, showing with third place on his return that he has lost none of his speed.

Podium of race 2: f.l. Ghiotto, Colombo, Pizzonia, Gerstl, Clausnitzer, S. Jackermeier

Next up for the BOSS GP Racing Series is Brno on September 9-10, where there will be the premiere of the BOSS GP Show Runs. Next points will be awarded in Monza again, where the engines will be fired up from September 22-24.

Photos: SMW MEDIA, WF Racing

Report: Race 2 Red Bull Ring

Sixth race of the BOSS GP Racing Series season: Gerstl, Pizzonia, Colombo and Eisinger-Sewald celebrate double wins. Vettel again on the podium today.

15 minutes for the BOSS GP F1 Class and 25 minutes for the other drivers were on Sunday’s timetable. Many visitors took advantage of Father’s Day in Austria to make the trip to the Red Bull Ring. Ingo Gerstl in the Formula 1 Toro Rosso did not miss the opportunity to stay longer on the track with his F1 (in compliance with the regulations) and to duel with Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) in the tuned World Series 4.5 for the overall victory – much to the delight of the spectators. In the end, Gerstl also won the sixth race of the season in the F1 class ahead of Ulf Ehninger (GER) in the 1997 Benetton.

Like yesterday, OPEN participant Antonio Pizzonia took the overall lead for a while on Sunday. After a full course yellow period, the Brazilian was able to hold on to the lead for a few more laps and further improved on his times from yesterday with lap times just over 1:15 min, which was easily enough to win the class. Second place went to Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering) in the 3.3-litre World Series, who finished well ahead in the overall standings today.

The FORMULA class was turbulent at times. Lapping, many position changes but finally the same winner again: Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) remained untouched today, even though it was close at times. In the early stages, Fabian Vettel (Top Speed) was the first to take the lead. The 24-year-old German overtook Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) already in the first corner and stayed with Colombo for a long time afterwards. But like yesterday, Vettel lost pace at the end of the race. This gave Marco Ghiotto another chance to overtake Vettel’s Fanatec GP2. Colombo used this stage of the race to pull away decisively. With season win no. 5, the Italian is now also pulling away from his opponents in the championship standings. Behind Marco Ghiotto, Fabian Vettel also took third place today. With two third places, Vettel proved his driving qualities in an open-wheeler, a return at Misano is possible.

“Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) remained without any mistakes today and stayed close to the Top-3 until the end. With 4th place, the ambitious Italian scored a lot of points for the overall ranking. Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing) was able to hold his own against his opponents in the midfield despite used tyres. Bruno Jarach (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) followed in 6th place in the class, ahead of Thomas Jakoubek (Top Speed) as the best Austrian in 7th place. Team boss Armando Mangini (ITA, MM International) also found a satisfying end to his comeback weekend as a driver with 8th place.

Alexander Geier (GER, Geier Racing), on the other hand, experienced a painful end to his race. The man from Salzburg was already in second place in front of Vettel. A few laps before the chequered flag, he was disappointed to end the race in the pits with a gearbox problem.

SUPER LIGHTS driver Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (AUT, Red Rose Racing) was happy that today’s race was five minutes longer. After a spin in turn 3 and a second one when coming back onto the track, he had already fallen far behind Henry Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing). Two laps from the end, however, Eisinger-Sewald in the Ralt Formula 3000 managed to catch up and finally overtook Clausnitzer’s less powerful World Series car. For Eisinger-Sewald it was a celebrated double victory, but Clausnitzer remained the leader of the standings. Third place went to Walter Colacino (ITA), who shared the car with his colleague Sebastiano Sibani (ITA) this weekend.

The BOSS GP continues the European tour already in mid-July. On 22/23 July 2023 will visit World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in Misano. Points will than be awarded in the OPEN, FORMULA and SUPER LIGHTS classes.

Pictures: Erwin Strassnigg/BOSS GP

Report: Race 1 Red Bull Ring

The BOSS GP Racing Series was the highlight of the first race day at the Red Bull Ring Classics 2023, with Gerstl and Pizzonia taking the next wins, Colombo claiming FORMULA victory and a maiden win for Eisinger-Sewald on home soil.

In front of a huge crowd and in the best spring weather, the world’s fastest single-seater cars put on a great show in Spielberg. In the first half of Saturday’s 20-minute race, Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the Toro Rosso F1, Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) in the Benetton F1 and Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) in the modified World Series Dallara stayed close together. Pizzonia quickly passed Ehninger and made his way towards Gerstl. The latter played along and the two experienced drivers swapped positions. Pizzonia led the field after a safety car interruption, but Gerstl shifted up a gear and took the lead again with lap times under 1 minute and 15 seconds, winning for the fifth time this year. While Antonio Pizzonia secured the full points in the OPEN class, Ulf Ehninger took second place in the Formula 1 cars. Second place in the OPEN class went to Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering), who missed out on a much better overall finish with a flat spot on one of the front tyres.

The top positions in the FORMULA class were again closely contested: Even though Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) and Fabian Vettel (GER, Top Speed) made several attempts to challenge Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) for the win, Colombo remained patient while overlapping slower cars and won again just ahead of Ghiotto. Fabian Vettel was able to separate the Italian duo in the middle of the race, but after the safety car phase Ghiotto was able to pick up the pace faster and overtook the German again. Vettel, however, was extremely satisfied with third place on his debut in a Formula racing car.

Podium on Saturday: f.l. Ghiotto, Clausnitzer, O’Connell, Ehninger, Pizzonia, Colombo, Gerstl, Eisinger-Sewald, Vettel

Alexander Geier (AUT, Geier Racing) also had a stunning FORMULA debut. The young Austrian managed the second-best lap time in the class with his Dallara GP2, finishing fourth in the classification behind Vettel. Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing) followed in 5th place, Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) in 6th. Seventh placed “Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) lost a better position shortly before the end with a spin. Marco Minelli (ITA, AM Sport System) was also unlucky on his debut. He spun at the end of the second lap at the last corner and had to retire from the race early on.

Austrian Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (Red Rose Racing) drove to a home victory in the SUPER LIGHTS class. After a problem with the gearshift linkage in qualifying, the Formula 3000 car of the BOSS GP rookie ran flawlessly. He thus prevailed over the German Henry Clausnitzer (WF Racing) at his second race weekend in the BOSS GP Racing Series.

The second race starts on Sunday at 10:40a.m. local time.

Photos: Erwin Strassnigg/BOSS GP, Michael Jurtin

Report: Qualifying Red Bull Ring

New Pirelli tyres were used in the hunt for the fastest time in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring Classics. Best starting positions for Gerstl, Pizzonia, Colombo and Clausnitzer.

Many spectators ran even faster from the car parking to the grandstands, when they heard the roar of the Formula 1 engines. The packed ranks followed 19 BOSS GP Racing Series cars in qualifying on Saturday morning. With a speedy time of 1:11.524 min, Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) showed incredible pace in his ten-cylinder Toro Rosso from 2006. With an average speed of almost 220 km/h, the man from Salzburg amazed numerous visitors. Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) was unlucky in the 1997 Berger Benetton. The 2021 champion spun in turn 3 on his first fast lap and was not able to restart the car afterwards.

Still without traction control, but with a lot of driving pleasure, Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) sets the tone in the OPEN class in the World Series Dallara with 4.5-litre Gibson engine. Team-mate Paul O’Connell (IRE) was afflicted with engine problems on Friday, but he was able to take part in qualifying and qualified 11th overall.

Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) did not miss a beat in the third qualifying session of 2023. The Italian secured pole position in the first qualifying session and thus starts the races at the Red Bull Ring with the best starting position in the FORMULA class. But it was close again, only one tenth of a second was left by long-term rival Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) on his fastest lap compared to Colombo. Ghiotto tactically went out late in Q2, so he stayed out of traffic, improved lap after lap and came close to Colombo’s best time on his last fast lap.

The fight for pole position was also taken up by Fabian Vettel (GER, Top Speed) in the second Fanatec GP2. The German brilliantly performed in his premiere in a single-seater racing car. He went out on track late in the session for a finale shot. After setting the best time in the first sector he lapped the 4.318-kilometre circuit in 1:19.411 – which earned him third place by the narrow margin of not even two tenths of a second. “Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) confirmed his consistent performance just behind the front runners with fourth place in class and will start the race with a chance of a podium finish. Behind him was Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing), who is again in a promising position after his return to the podium last time out in Hockenheim. Behind the two Top Speed drivers Florian Schnitzenbaumer (GER) and Thomas Jakoubek (AUT), Alexander Geier (AUT, Geier Racing) made a good debut in the GP2 car.

In the class of the SUPER LIGHTS, again only one driver was able to stay unscathed: Henry Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing) secured pole position in the V6 World Series car, while both Sebastiano Sibani (ITA, Colacino) and Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (AUT, Red Rose Racing) had to pit early in their Formula 3000 cars.

The first of two races starts today, Saturday, at 15:50 local time and runs over a distance of 20 minutes (F1 Class 15 minutes). Tickets are still available at the box office. The races can also be followed via live timing.

Photos: Erwin Strassnigg/BOSS GP

Report: Race 2 Hockenheim

The Hockenheim Historic once again offered a lot to the spectators on Sunday. Double wins for Gerstl, Pizzonia, Colombo and Clausnitzer.

Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) was clearly enjoying himself as he held the lead for a while with the World Series V8 ahead of the Formula 1 of Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed). For several laps the two swapped the lead in the race until Gerstl finally picked up the pace and saw the black and white chequered flag for the BOSS GP F1 Class first. The race for the premier class ended after just 15 minutes to reduce the running time of the valuable cars. For Pizzonia, it continued for another ten minutes, which he filled with more lap times just short of the 1:30 barrier. Pizzonia, who drove to class victory yesterday with a failed traction control system, also secured full points in OPEN class today. Climbing onto the class podium with him was team-mate Paul O’Connell (IRE) in a Dallara World Series car that had also been modified.

Duel in SUPER-LIGHTS category: Jody Stadelmann (le.) and Henry Clausnitzer (ri.)

Once again Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) met on the track. The “eternal duel” in FORMULA class continued, at least in the early stages, until Colombo was able to shake off his rival with strong lap times after a safety car interruption. With his third victory in four races this season, Colombo was already able to build up a cushion on his fiercest rivals. Behind Ghiotto, Alexander Seibold (GER, Seibold Auto + Sport) held third place until shortly before the end. Marc Faggionato (ITA, MM International) stopped at the pre-start and then rushed after the field. Shortly before the end of the race he caught up with Seibold and tried to overtake the German several times. Seibold held his ground for a long time, but then had to give way in front of the Mercedes grandstand. However, with 4th place Seibold got his best BOSS GP placing so far. As the best German he also stayed ahead of Andreas Fiedler (GER, Fiedler Racing), who had started with used tyres and therefore could not start any more attacks to the front. A collision between Florian Schnitzenbaumer (GER, Top Speed) and “Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) ended their race. Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) also spun off the track in a promising position at the exit of the Bernie Ecclestone bend.

In the SUPER LIGHTS class, “to finish first, you first have to finish” was the key this time. Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (AUT, Red Rose Racing) went home to the workshop already on Saturday evening after a gearbox failure, but Jody Stadelmann (SUI) in the Formula Nippon was able to take part in today’s race after a steering failure yesterday. The victory, however, went to Henry Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing), who has become a series winner with his fourth victory in the fourth race.

f. le.: Stadelmann, Ghiotto, O’Connell, Ehninger, Pizzonia, Colombo, Clausnitzer, Gerstl, Faggionato

It is now five weeks until the third event of the season. For the first time, BOSS GP will be part of the Red Bull Ring Classics programme from 9 to 11 June.

Pictures: Angelo Poletto

Report: Race 1 Hockenheim

In front of a record crowd at the Bosch Hockenheim Historic, the BOSS GP Racing Series brought Formula 1, Formula 2 and co. back to the Hockenheimring. Podium finishes for the Germans Henry Clausnitzer, Ulf Ehninger and Andreas Fiedler.

Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) dominated the BOSS GP F1 Class in the Toro Rosso STR1 and controlled the pace ahead of Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) in the nine-year older Benetton B197. For Gerstl it was the third victory, for Ehninger the third podium of the new season.

Once again, Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) focused on the hunt for the fastest lap. With a time of 1:29.007 min, he succeeded in doing just that in the World Series Dallara-Gibson. Paul O’Connell, who had travelled from Ireland and was also serviced by HS Engineering, was moved to the OPEN class after qualifying. His car is a 2002 World Series Dallara with a 3.3 litre Nicholson McLaren tuned Cosworth V8 giving it significantly more power than originally. O’Connell classified in the front group among the Formula 2 and in second place in the OPEN class behind Pizzonia.

The BOSS GP orchestra played big

There were numerous movements in the FORMULA class over the 20-minute race. Despite a safety car phase after a spin by Alexander Seibold (SUI, Seibold Auto + Sport), Andreas Fiedler still had enough time to advance into the top three. The German made his way from 8th on the grid and defended the last spot on the podium against “Checco” Malavasi, who had to settle for 4th. For Fiedler, it was his first podium since 2020 right on his debut in a 2008-generation GP2 Dallara.

At the front, it was another epic duel between Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International) and Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio), which kept coming to a climax all the way to the finish line. In the end, 0.085 seconds decided victory and second place. Colombo kept the upper hand, took his second win of the season and extended his lead in the standings.

Florian Schnitzenbaumer (GER) recovered from a spin in the early stages and still managed to finish 5th ahead of Top Speed team-mate Thomas Jakoubek (AUT). The duel between Thomas Jackermeier (8th) and his son Simon (10th) was won by Thomas. He will also be on display at the BOSS GP Hypercar Demonstration tomorrow Sunday at 9:35 am when he will pilot his over 1,000-hp Aston Martin Valkyrie around the 4.6-kilometre circuit.

Henry Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing) could hardly believe it as he took victory in the SUPER LIGHTS for the third time in three races. Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (AUT, Red Rose Racing) was still able to take home the trophy for second place in the class. However, due to a clutch failure and subsequent damage to the gearbox, he had to retire from the race early. As this is irreparable on site, Eisinger-Sewald’s Ralt RT23 Formula 3000 will not be seen again until the next event at the Red Bull Ring.

A second race over the longer distance of 25 minutes will follow on Sunday. The race start is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. and can again be followed in the livestream.

Photos: Angelo Poletto

Report: Qualifying Hockenheim

Pole position for Gerstl in the Toro Rosso STR1. FORMULA: Colombo finishes slightly ahead of Faggionato. O’Connell in front in his comeback in the SUPER LIGHTS class.

Thousands of spectators crowded into the Motodrom early in the morning. The Hockenheim Historic is expecting a record number of spectators on Saturday. The qualifying of the BOSS GP Racing Series at the Hockenheimring took place early this morning in perfect spring weather. The best grid positions for the two races were determined.

In the BOSS GP F1 Class there was no surprise: Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) took pole position for the second time this year in his 2006 Toro Rosso Formula 1, with a lap time of 1:21.140 min, just slightly behind his pole time from last year. He will be joined on the front row of the grid in both races by German Ulf Ehninger (ESBA Racing) in the Benetton B197.

19 years after his last appearance at Hockenheim, Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) is back at Hockenheim. The ex-Formula 1 driver will start for the second time this weekend in HS Engineering’s modified World Series Dallara. The Brazilian will be back in the hunt for the Formula 1 cars in his OPEN class race car.

Florian Schnitzenbaumer shows strong pace at his motorsport comeback

The FORMULA class had never been so close in qualifying. The top 5 were separated by less than one and a half seconds on the fastest lap. The Italian MM International team celebrated a row one “lockout”: Simone Colombo (ITA) beat Marc Faggionato (MCO) by one tenth of a second. Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) follows in 3rd place, who has his usual more difficult time at the Hockenheimring. “Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio) and Florian Schnitzenbaumer (GER, Top Speed) also expect to have a chance of a podium finish. The latter, on his return after a break of several years, is to be found at the front of the field right away and was able to set a good lap time despite an aborted second attempt. Alexander Seibold (GER, Seibold Auto + Sport) also had a fantastic qualifying session in his first BOSS GP race in 2023. The German will start from 7th in class in an eye-catching design combination with a homage to Valentino Rossi and Jo Siffert.

In the SUPER LIGHTS, after the solo of Henry Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing) last time in France, there is a lot going on this time. An outstanding best time was set by Paul O’Connell (IRE, HS Engineering), who is driving an older Dallara with a eight-cylinder engine this year. With a best time of 1:32.368 min he qualified in the middle of the field of GP2 cars. The two newcomers Jody Stadelmann (SUI) in a G-Force-Mugen from Japan and Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (AUT, Red Rose Racing) follow in 2nd and 3rd place on the grid.

The start times are 14:40 on Saturday and 14:05 on Sunday. Both races will be livestreamed.

Photos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP

Report: Race 2 Paul Ricard

In the longer race on Easter Sunday, Ingo Gerstl, Antonio Pizzonia and Henry Clausnitzer were able to add a second victory. Simone Colombo takes revenge in the FORMULA class.

In front of thousands of spectators and once again in the best spring weather in Le Castellet, Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Top Speed) in the Toro Rosso STR1 continued his winning streak. As Didier Sirgues (FRA, LRS Racing) could not start the Jaguar R2 today, Gerstl and Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) remained among themselves in the BOSS GP F1 Class. Gerstl therefore took a more relaxed approach and left the fastest lap to another driver. With 50 points from the first two races, the Austrian is already setting the path for the next title. Who can challenge him at Hockenheim?

The runner-up, Benetton driver Ulf Ehninger, was pleased to be able to present Jean Alesi’s former car to the fans twice over the full BOSS GP F1 race distance. Next up is his home race at the Hockenheimring.

Former Formula 1 driver Antonio Pizzonia (BRA, HS Engineering) put the pedal to the metal again today and set the fastest lap time of 1:47.991 (lap average 194.7 km/h). Towards the end of the race, the OPEN driver made his pit crew sweat again as he allowed the FORMULA group’s gap to melt down to 0.8 seconds. Pizzonia will be racing the entire season for HS Engineering.

Pizzonia leads the second group, behind are Faggionato, Colombo and Ghiotto

In the FORMULA class, today was the day of Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International). After a turbulent duel with compatriot Marco Ghiotto (Scuderia Palladio) in the first race of the season, the order was quickly sorted this time. At the start Ghiotto tried to overtake Colombo, but this was not successful and as the race progressed the lead increased to around five seconds. Finally, Colombo crossed the finish line 2.5 seconds ahead of Marco Ghiotto and 24.7 seconds ahead of “Checco” Malavasi (ITA, Scuderia Palladio). Malavasi thus repeated his podium finish from yesterday.

Thomas Jackermeier (GER, Top Speed) fought his way to a great fourth place. For a long time he was involved in a duel with David Moretti (FRA, Griffith’s), who delivered an excellent performance today. Until the last lap he was on course for fourth place before he had to park his car on the Mistral straight. Marc Faggionato (MCO) in the MM International GP2-Dallara was also out of luck: After the Monegasque had competed in no less than three races at the Grand Prix de France Historique yesterday and took victory in all of them – including the BOSS GP – he had to retire early today in both the Formula Ford race and the second heat of the BOSS GP. Faggionato was thus denied the chance of another double victory after Brno 2018.

Fourth place in FORMULA class for GP2 driver Thomas Jackermeier, who supposed to be in his Toro Rosso ST3

Rookie Henry Clausnitzer (GER) and his team WF Racing celebrated another finish at their first BOSS GP race weekend. He was rewarded with another 25 points for the class win in the SUPER LIGHTS six-cylinder class.

The next opportunity for teams and drivers to take to the track in their Big Open Single Seaters is in Baden-Württemberg in just four weeks’ time (5–7 May). Traditionally, the BOSS GP Racing Series competes there at the Bosch Hockenheim Historic in honour of Jim Clark.

Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP