The 2011 Championship delivered some fantastic racing with the Formula KGP Championship going down to the wire at the final round and this season looks set to be even more spectacular.

Ginetta factory driver and 2011 Formula KGP champion Michael Simpson said; “I’m delighted that Ginetta is going to support Formula KGP this season, I have moved from KGP to race in Ginetta’s for 2012, so it’s a natural progression for KGP to achieve such a collaboration with Ginetta.”

All Formula KGP drivers in the 2012 S1 Formula KGP Championship will carry Ginetta logos and the Formula KGP logo will also carry Ginetta branding. Ginetta will support Formula KGP with prizes of merchandising, factory tours and some hospitality prizes at selected Ginetta events.

Furthermore, the top the drivers in the Formula KGP 2012 S1 Championship will win a test day in a Ginetta G50 where they will be assessed by the Ginetta factory.

There will also be a place at the test for a wild card Formula KGP driver to be chosen Chairman of Ginetta and 2006 Le Mans 24hr winner Lawrence Tomlinson. He said; “Formula KGP has many synergies with our Ginetta business, they both offer unrivalled performance and an affordable price. Formula KGP produces some of the best young karting talents in the UK and Ginetta wants to help them by showing them the door to the next level.”

The first round of the 2012 Ginetta Formula KGP S1 championship kicks off at the PF International near Grantham on April 21st/22nd.

For more information visit www.kartgrandprix.co.uk or follow us on Facebook: Kart Grand Prix UK.

The Historic Racing Drivers Club with its highly professional approach and enviously regarded catalogue of well supported races, presents a marvellous array of machinery to delight the crowds.

Five HRDC races encompass some of the best historic racing cars and drivers imaginable, with the headline ‘Touring Greats’ for Pre-’60 touring cars just one of the highlights. Many of the cars seem unlikely competition contenders, but the rules are specifically written to attract the likes of the Hillman Minx, Rover 105S, Borgward Isabella, Standard Vanguard and Daimler Conquest. A full grid bodes well for a superb race.

The slightly more modern ‘TC63’ for pre-’64 cars is equally diverse, with such gems as a Mercedes Benz 300SE, Studebaker Lark Daytone 500, Vauxhall VX4/90 and the MG Magnette of HRDC founder Julius Thurgood. The race is dedicated to the memory of the late Alan Mann.

Ted Williams from Nailsea, a veteran of Castle Combe and historic racing generally, swops from an AC Cobra shared with son Mark to his Austin Healey 3000 in the 45 minute ‘GTS65’ race for pre-’66 historic sports cars. Another Williams – Barry ‘Whizzo’- is amongst the opposition. The legendary Whizzo will be sharing a Posrche 904/6 with Richard Frankel. The Morgan Plus 4SLR of Keith Ahlers should be interesting, but American muscle may rule if the day is dry.

The ‘Grand Touring Greats’ for sub 1500cc cars provides one of the most interesting races with a huge field of mainly ‘Sprite’ based specials including three wonderful WSM cars, one of which is driven by former FISC European champion, Ian Hulett. Barrie Williams gets another ride in an Ashley GT and there’s even the Le Mans prototype car from 1966. The main opposition for the BMC based cars comes from the Alfas, including the Giulietta SS, with the Williams/Frankel partnership again behind the wheel.

In this the 50th anniversary year of the MGB, it’s fitting to welcome the first ‘MGB50’ race to Castle Combe, with a number of stunning cars, including the fast 1963 ‘Roadster’ of James Cottingham and a WSM GT.

Equally entertaining will be the usual trio of races from the circuit’s own stable, with the Castle Combe Sports and GT championship receiving a welcome injection from Vadabar International. It’s M.D., Doug Watson from Blagdon, is wheeling out his new BMW E63 M6, a 5 litre, V10 monster, in the modified road car class, his opposition including the husband and wife team of Brian & Ilsa Cox in their pair of SEAT Leons.

The‘ big banger’ unlimited capacity sports racing cars are also back this year, none bigger than the 7 litre Chevrolet engined Aquila of Salisbury’s Nigel Mustill.

Making his debut in the less modified class D is Swindon’s Dan Ludlow, making a transition to a Caterham Superlight from being a front runner in various MGs.

Back to defend his title, which he also carried off in 2009, is Simon Tilling from Vernham Dean in his Radical SR3, with the likes of Bath drivers, Guy Parr and Des Andrews in their respective Nemesis and Megahart and Wrington’s Darcy Smith in his Radical SR4, looking to get a piece of the action.

Spectators have an opportunity to get close to the drivers and cars from the championship with a grid walkabout from mid-day.

Parr will have a busy day as he has also entered the Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship supported by National Mobile Windscreens. A year later than planned, Parr will be out in the Fiesta which took Jason Cooper to the 2009 title.

He will have his work cut out in class B though as 2008 champion, Will Di Claudio from Chippenham, is back after a year off. His 106 Peugeot is likely to be super fast, making him one of the odds-on favourites for 2012.

Bristol’s Mark Wyatt will be looking to add to his collection of class titles with his Astra, his overall championship ambitions somewhat in the hands of his opponents such as reigning champion, Tony Dolley from Bridgwater, always a threat in his Peugeot 206.

Trowbridge’s Mark Funnell will be the man to beat if it rains, with his Mini Cooper S and Burton’s Rob Ballard is back with his SEAT Cupra which brought him a win last year. Kevin Bird from Ditcheat brings out his unique BMW 130i M-Sport with a year’s development behind it.

As if that level of competition was not enough, the championship also welcomes back Southampton’s Adam Prebble in the elderly but super quick Rover 220 Turbo, whilst returning to the fray after some absence is Cirencester’s Lloyd Allard in the Allard Motor Sport Golf TDi-R, the only diesel car competing that day. Also VW mounted is Bath’s Angus Gorringe in his new Polo GTi.

Charles Hyde-Andrews-Bird from Shepton Mallet has his Fiesta in the under 1.4 litre class.

Saltford’s Steven Jensen is back with his best ever chance of taking the Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 championship, though Easter Monday will be his first outing in his Spectrum 011C after his spectacular accident in it last year.

Nick Jones, from Chepstow, is in a similar car, whilst the young chargers Roger Orgee from Langport in the Van Diemen RF00 and Luke Cooper from Yatton Keynell in the Swift SC10, will be as eager as ever.

Bob Higgins, the former quadruple FF1600 champion from Bath, makes it a family affair by entering a Van Diemen RF2012 in class A with son Adam from Chippenham buoyed up from winning class B last year in his RF94. Brother Richard, from Burnham on Sea, completes the Riadro trio of Van Diemens with his RF90.

Making a return to the series is Tewkesbury’s Paul Barnes in a Swift SC93, his best previous result being 3rd in the championship in 2005.

Monday’s action starts at 8.35 am with qualifying, racing getting under way from 12.40 pm.

Admission prices are yet again held from last year at £15 for Adults, £7.50 for OAPs, £2.50 for Paddock Transfer, whilst accompanied children under 16 are admitted free.

For further information, visit the Castle Combe Circuit online at www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk, Facebook or Twitter.

On the same weekend that former FKS Mini Max Champion George Russell was nominated as Britain’s representative in the 2012 CIK-FIA Academy Championship, 16 young contenders began their collective bid to join Russell on the role of FKS Mini Max Champions and get their hands on one of TAG Heuer’s exclusive prize watches.

Whilst Saturday’s opening round played out under cool but dry skies at a much modernised Kimbolton, Sunday’s second round couldn’t have been trickier for both drivers and mechanics as intermittent showers made tyre choice a massive headache and led to one of the biggest upsets in the 17-year history of the Championship

Formula Kart Stars Rotax Mini Max Championship

With an exciting mix of returning drivers, graduating Cadets and fresh faces more than compensating for the slight drop in numbers compared to previous years the opening round saw Lando Norris (RL Racing Department) score his maiden FKS triumph after numerous close calls during his time in the MSA British Cadet Championship.

Starting from the outside of  the front row heat one winner Norris pulled off an audacious outside passing move on poleman Philip Rawson (AIM Motorsport) going into Stow Corner on the first lap and was never headed, leaving the rest to fight over the minor placings. Rawson eventually held off qualifying pacesetter Connor Mills (Chris Rogers Motorsport) and Harry Williams (Coles Racing) for second place while heat two winner Jack McCarthy (Project One) suffered a spin and finished 15^th.

The weather turned Easter Sunday into a lottery but when the chequered flag finally fell the driver holding the winning ticket was Inem Coker (Campfield Racing) who not only claimed victory on his FKS debut but also scored his first victory of any kind in MSA racing following an inspired tyre gamble by team boss Marc Campfield.

Plagued with engine troubles on Saturday that prevented him from finishing a single race, Coker was one of only two drivers to start the final on wet tyres and while the rain stayed away for the entire final, the track never warmed up enough to allow his slick shod rivals to take advantage.

At one point Coker held an eleven second lead and while heat two winner Mills and Norris, who took pole position for the heats and won the opening race, were catching him by the end, Coker held his nerve and took the chequered flag to universal applause with five seconds to spare.

Despite being caught up in a crash at the start Norris could console himself with a slender championship lead over Mills with ten rounds remaining.

Click here for full results from FKS at Kimbolton(Visited 96 times, 29 visits today)

Having successfully established himself as one of the very best drivers in the country during the 2011 Formula Kart Stars MSA British Cadet Championship, Dan has pushed himself beyond his comfort zone this year by graduating to the more powerful and keenly-contested Mini Max category with Tooley Motorsport. He has wasted little time in demonstrating that he will continue to be a force to be reckoned with as his burgeoning career shifts up a gear.

“It’s going really well,” acknowledges the talented young Dereham-based hotshot. “We’ve come into Mini Max and been immediately up at the front and battling with drivers who finished in the top ten nationally last year. I’m actually quite surprised that we’ve settled into it all so quickly. In Cadets, it took me a couple of years to get fully up-to-speed, but in Mini Max, it’s taken only a few weeks.

“It seems to suit my driving style better; there’s a lot more grip, and you need to have strong arms for that, so I’ve really stepped up my fitness programme this year. You’ve generally just got to be much tougher in Mini Max – both physically and mentally.

The CIK invited the MSA to nominate a single driver to contest the Trophy, a world championship for 13- to 15-year-olds, over three events: Braga, Portugal (8 July); Angerville, France (26 August); and Bahrain (10 November).

Russell, aged 14 from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, began karting in 2006. He won the MSA British Cadet Kart Championship in 2009 and took the 2010 Super One and Formula Kart Stars Rotax Mini Max titles, before being crowned the 2011 European Champion at Zuera in Spain. He is the first driver to win the Kartmasters Grand Prix in three different classes in consecutive years, and also won the TaG Junior crown at the SKUSA SuperNationals XV in Las Vegas last year.

Russell said: “It’s a massive privilege to have been chosen by the MSA because the Karting Academy Trophy is a very prestigious championship. My aim is to add another title to my CV and Britain’s karting record, and hopefully the international karting experience I’ve had recently will help me to achieve that goal.”

MSA Performance Director Robert Reid, who headed the Performance Panel that made the selection, said: “We received several strong applications from some very promising young karters, which made choosing just one very difficult indeed. However, George’s national and international record speaks for itself, and consultation among some of the leading figures in UK karting confirmed that he is best placed right now to make the most of this great opportunity. We will do some preparation work with him before the events to make sure he has the best possible chance of success.”

Webb signaled his intentions from the outset by setting the fastest time in qualifying, with Goodwin also confident after going 7^th quickest. Making his Euro Challenge debut, Guan Yu Zhou also impressed by posting the 11^thbest lap with Jessica Backman completing the top twenty.

The heats produced mixed fortunes for the drivers, and in turn, very different emotions. Goodwin claimed a career-best pole position for the pre-final with Webb joining him on the front row. Jessica battled her way onto the 12^th row of the grid, but Zhou found himself in the Second Chance Heat after a series of tough encounters put paid to his chances of a fairy-tale opening to the season.

Harry won the pre-final, with Jessica crossing the line in 21^st place. A rash response to being hit on the previous lap resulted in a black flag for Jay.

“It was a rush of blood to the head,” observed team manager Warwick Ringham. “If he hadn’t done it he’d have finished in the top four and been fighting for the win in the main final. He knows that and won’t make the same mistake twice again.”

He added: “Zhou had a DNF in one of his heats and that put him in the Second Chance race almost immediately. He showed great character to come through the field and learned a lot. Jessica was bullied around in her heats, but showed that she’s made a massive improvement. Harry was really, really good and thoroughly deserved his victories. He’s looking very strong.”

Rotax Winter Cup champion Harrison Scott started brightly in the Senior category with 3^rd overall in timed qualifying. Just behind in 4^th was Ash Hand with Andy King unusually down in 23^rd. Andreas Backman had arrived in Belgium feeling very much ‘under the weather’ but rallied to qualify 30^th-fastest. In the heats he suffered and found himself contesting the Second Chance Heat. A fine 9^th place showed what might have been.

“Andreas struggled with illness throughout and it was only on Sunday that he felt better but by then it was too late,” Warwick reflected.

Scott endured no such dramas to win the pre-final. King made up ground to finish 11^th after starting 23^rd but Hand’s good work was undone by another driver taking him off and he eventually finished 12^th.

An exciting main final saw Harrison score his second podium of the day with 3^rd. Ash recovered from another on-track clash to cross the line in 9^th with Andy battling to 13^th. “They all did really well,” said an upbeat Ringham. “Perhaps they’re not quite the results they all deserved, but I can’t fault any of them. They gave it their all and Harrison is up and running now. He looks good and Ash and Andy are far from out of the running at this early stage. It’s all to play for!”

credits to Bas Kaligis for the images

Strawberry Racing uses the Tony Kart Racer EVRR chassis and Cream Racing Engines.

For more information about OTK products and Cream’s preparation services go to www.strawberryracing.co.uk. Or call 0114 269 6215 / 0114 288 9933

Held at South Wales Karting Centre located just 15 minutes from junction 35 of the M4 we offer racing for all major classes on what is regarded by many as the finest ‘drivers circuit’ in the country. Our race entry and practice fees remain some of the cheapest around with a full days practice and race entry costing just £80 for members and £90 for non members. Plus our special online entry deal for members consisting of a full days practice and race entry for just £75 has been continued for 2012.

We will be accepting entries by post and online up to the 8th March so why not come and try racing at what is probably the best value for money club in the country!

We are closer than many think and can be reached from Bristol within 75 minutes. For full details and online entry please visit www.llandowkartclub.co.uk or call Colin on 07817 449617.

Hi David, firstly can you give me a prediction for this weeks British GP?

Well not with any accuracy, as it’s an evolving process but let’s say a mix of Red Bull and McLaren… (laughs) fuck I don’t know… based on form prior to Valencia I would have said McLaren were likely to win Valencia and Red Bull would win Silverstone, but it seems to be just up in the air right now as they develop things, but let’s say Red Bull because they dominated Barcelona and Silverstone is a Barcelona’esque circuit.

And have you actually had a chance to drive the new Silverstone yet David?

Yeh at the launch of the actual new circuit I drove the Red Bull car for a couple of laps, yeh it’s very much Silverstone because of the opener of the lap, copse and becketts and what have you, so it’s only when you get to Club that they’ve changed the track, they’ve put a little kink in half way round club which personally I would have left because club you ended up with people taking different lines because of the nature of the corner which I think visually looked quite good and also gave the drivers a feeling that you could get out the dirty air… but what do I know (laughs)… the clever designers have come up with something and the fast section at Abbey will be pretty impressive so you know, keeping with the spirit of high speed corners of Silverstone. I don’t know about the stadium part with the 90 right and the hairpin which takes you onto the back of the club straight but again maybe someone will get down the inside into the 90 right, I don’t think anything will happen at the hairpin because it’s so close to the 90 right, and then you got the back straight down in front of the BRDC clubhouse and I think that because of the nature of that, it dropping away, it’s slightly downhill and off camber so I think you will see some mistakes there, and I do think you will see people having a go. The fact that you can’t see the apex will be a reason why someone might not want to have a go because if you fuck it up basically (laughs) your off on the grass and whatever, i’m a great believer in creating corners that are just so sort of wide on the exit that a driver will have the confidence to have a go and if he gets it wrong he’s got enough road on the exit so that the two of them can battle it out on the run out. You make corners with the same width on the exit as you’ve got on entry then you go on a narrow line and run wide you basically just lose the place on the exit and maybe another one so you know you’ve got to give the driver the situation to think ‘well I’ve got nothing to lose if I have a go’ than if there is something to lose in having a go you just won’t take the chance.

We had the opportunity to speak to Allan this month, quizzing him over his career, his greatest experiences in racing and what he thinks of LMP cars compared to F1 cars.

So sit back and enjoy a huge in depth interview with one of Scotlands greatest sporting talents.

Current Road Car?
Audi Q5

Favourite Holiday Destination?
Malaysia or Thailand

If you weren’t a driver, what would you be?
I’d probably have something to do with the family car dealerships.

Most embarasing sporting moment?
Probably Petit Le Mans last year where I binned it on the formation lap.

Childhood hero?
Giacomo Agastini

Hi Allan, we’ve had lots of questions sent in by our university students so be prepared for a grilling… our first question is you’ve had the opportuinty to drive in both F1 and in sports cars. What do you think is the best route through the lower formulas of racing these days?

Hmmm…. that is a tough question because there are so many opportunites and options. Formula Renault is a fantastic base to start with no question. Then after that it all depends on funding but my best piece of advice is to go where the money is. If you’ve got a major sponsor then I would head into Euroseries F3 or GP2. As much as everyone wants to be in F1, there is less seats available for that than in all the premiership football teams in England. The chances of making it are very unlikely and you would be one of the very very very fortunate few.

Do you see any value in going to Formula Ford straight out of karts, as these have no slicks or wings and are not relevant to higher levels of racing anymore?

I think if you’ve got the opportunity to go straight into Renault, it’s definitely an easier step than going into Formula Ford because the grip / power / weight ratios are very similar to what you’ve done before. Thats not a general rule, and it’s not to say Formula Ford is not a good idea but the standardised route right now is through BMW/Renault.

With the budget limitation suggested for F1, and the ban on in season testing, do you think this presents less of an opportunity for new drivers to break into F1?

I think the testing being banned does yes because when I started testing with Mclaren back in 1990, testing was unlimited so from my point of view in that first year I think I did 30 test days, that’s more than a seasons worth of testing nowadays. However on the other side then with budgets hopefully being restrained a little bit more then they’ll be less focus on names that can and could bring sponsorship. I think its’ definitely more difficult now that its ever been to break into the top flight.

You got the chance to drive a Mclaren at Estoril with Ayrton Senna. Do you still carry anything from this day with you now?

Yeh the first thing was it was a daunting experience at 19 years old to be suddenly sitting in a Formula 1 car and next door is your teacher for the day if you like, who was Senna. I’d met him before but actually meeting him on a sort of social level as well as a professional level was quite inspiring and also something that will stick in my mind because he’s not here anymore. The car wasn’t difficult to drive, the steering was lighter than a Formula 3000 car, the throttle response was very good and gradual out of the V10 Honda and it was comfortable. The two major things was that it was very physical because of Estorial having such long fast corners, so basically my head fell after about 40 laps. The second thing was there was a hell of a lot more power, i’d gone from 180bhp to something over 600bhp, thats alot of horsepower!