Petch wins Woodpecker, Payne is BTRDA champion with PirelliStephen Petch took victory in the Woodpecker Stages Rally, but it was fellow Pirelli driver Charlie Payne that wrapped up the BTRDA Rally Series crown.
Petch took the lead on the second stage and remained out front until the finish of the Ludlow-based gravel event, triumphing by eight seconds alongside Michael Wilkinson in their Ford Fiesta R5+.
He said: “This has been a long time coming. We haven’t won a round of the BTRDA since 2013 and we missed out on victory at this event that year by just two seconds so it’s nice to come back and finish the job off really.”
Payne finished second among the BTRDA-registered drivers in his Fiesta to secure the BTRDA Gold Star title, co-driven by Carl Williamson.
Callum Black enjoyed a strong first rally in a Pirelli-equipped Fiesta R5+ to finish fourth in BTRDA. He had Elliott Edmondson – navigator to European Junior leader Chris Ingram – calling his pacenotes.
Pirelli driver Francis secures Welsh Rally titleLuke Francis has clinched the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship title.
The Pirelli driver rolled his Mitsubishi Evo IX out of the penultimate round, the Woodpecker Stages Rally, on the second stage. That ended his chances of beating Charlie Payne to the BTRDA title, but he was still able to celebrate at the end of the event that he could no longer be caught in the Welsh standings.
Francis and co-driver John H Roberts had previously claimed five maximum scores from as many starts in the Welsh series.
Like BTRDA champion Payne, Francis has earned a free entry to next month’s Wales Rally GB.
Dennis leads all-British podium in Pirelli-backed GP3 at MonzaJake Dennis claimed his maiden GP3 Series victory in the first race at Monza last weekend, with compatriots Jack Aitken and Jake Hughes joining him on an all-British podium.
Dennis had been pipped to pole position at the classic Italian circuit by championship leader Charles Leclerc, but was able to pass the Monaco driver for the lead after a few laps. One lap later, Dennis’ team-mate at the Arden squad Jack Aitken – fresh from his first win at Spa-Francorchamps a weekend earlier – moved past Leclerc to take second.
Hughes had started down in eighth place as the result of a grid penalty, but drove a fantastic race in his DAMS-run car on the championship’s Pirelli P Zero tyres to make it onto the podium for the third time this season.
Dennis and Aitken enjoyed strong races on Sunday too, climbing to fourth and fifth from row four on the reverse grid. Hughes lost out the start but recovered well to claim 10th.
Sixth in race one, Anglo-Thai driver Alex Albon kept up his title ambitions with second in race two and remains third in the standings. The four drivers under the British flag hold positions five to eight, with Dennis now ahead of Aitken, Matt Parry – who came ninth in race one at Monza – and Hughes.
Brits out of luck in Pirelli-supplied GP2 at MonzaThe three British drivers competing in the Pirelli-backed GP2 Series all scored points finishes at Monza, and were unfortunate not to get more from the event.
In the Feature Race, Jordan King was the best-placed of the trio in seventh place, but could have been close to a podium was it not for a mix-up from the safety car mid-race. He briefly led at the start of the Sprint Race, but finished up in fourth. The Manor Formula 1 development driver remains fifth in the standings however, and has reduced the gap to a top-four place to just three points.
Oliver Rowland came home ninth in both races, losing out on seventh in the Sprint Race following a penalty for first-lap contact. The Renault Sport Academy member sits seventh in the standings, one place ahead of Alex Lynn.
Williams development driver Lynn qualified alongside King on the third row of the grid, but had to start the Feature Race from the pits after a technical fault. He showed strong race performance however, climbing to 12th in the opener before taking fifth in the Sprint Race.
The next round for both GP2 and GP3 take place in Malaysia on October 1/2.
Mosler and Radical wins at Snetterton on Pirelli tyresThe Dutch-based Supercar Challenge powered by Pirelli raced at Snetterton for the first time last weekend, with a Mosler and a Radical driven to outright victories at the Norfolk circuit.
The first race took place entirely in very wet conditions. The Radical RXC led early on in the hands of Tom Ashton, but he was soon passed by the Mosler MT900 of Daniel Campos Hull, who handed over to Kosta Kanaroglou on the car’s route to a dominant victory. With the Radical forced to retire, Tim Grey and Oliver Hewitt finished second in their Praga R1T while the Supersport class-winning SEAT of Dennis Houweling and Aart Jan Ringelberg was third. Jos Jansen (Porsche 997 Cup) and Niels Kool (BMW 135i) won the GTB and Sport divisions respectively.
Race two was held in dry conditions, with the Radical leading from the start in the hands of Ashton and Rob Wheldon. Gray and Hewitt take second again, with Campos Hull and Kanaroglou forced to settle for third on this occasion. Ward Sluys and Michael Verhagen won GTB in their BMW M4, Dennis de Borst and Martin de Kleijn took their SEAT to Supersport victory while Carlijn Bergsma and Pieter de Jong won Sport in a Lotus Exige.
Four young drivers to battle in BRDC British F3 decider with Pirelli
The 2016 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship concludes at Donington Park this weekend, with four drivers set to fight for the title in the Pirelli-supplied category.
Carlin driver Ricky Collard leads the standings going into the final round, but despite a double win at Snetterton last time out, the Hampshire-based driver has an advantage of only 15 points over his nearest rival Brazilian Matheus Leist of Double R Racing.
With 95 points still up for grabs from the final three races, Australian driver Thomas Randle from Douglas Motorsport and Lanan Racing’s Cambridgeshire ace Toby Sowery remain in contention, although are 51 and 62 points respectively behind Collard.
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