201222 welcome IN ASSOCIATION WITH Spa Francorchamps always produces exciting races and is a favorite circuit with many drivers. JAMES CALADO RACE REPORT GP2 Series GP2 Series action resumed after the summer break at the Circuit de The highly competitive GP2 series again Spa Francorchamps, Belgium produced drama and incident, but through Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, and James continued his pre-break it all came James Calado with two excellent 1 2 3 form by scoring two assured podium finishes to move up to third place in the championship with four races remaining. podium finishes and a strong haul of points. GRID 2 7 Jolyon Palmer, in the same races suffered mixed RACE 2 3 James qualified an impressive second for Saturday’s 25-lap Feature fortunes but again showed his racecraft and race alongside pole-sitter Rio Haryanto. Eventual race winner Marcus Ericsson managed to squeeze past James late on the first CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION speed with a stirring second race. Also at Spa, 3 lap of the race, pushing James back to third. After the majority of in the GP3 series, Lewis Williamson and Alex www.racingsteps.co.uk the field had made their compulsory stops, Haryanto spun off the Brundle were in the thick of two drama filled track, promoting James to second. Following a lengthy safety car @jamescalado races. Both were unlucky not to score more and subsequent red flag period James was running solidly behind Ericsson and crossed the line to secure the second podium spot. points from the races but both showed good Race one was action packed and very pace at times over the weekend. In the USA on difficult. We had a lack of pace and I James started from seventh for Sunday’s Sprint race and made an the streets of Baltimore Oli Webb was unlucky lacked experience in the dry at Spa so I wasn’t too happy incredible start in his Lotus GP car, catapulting up the inside into not to score a podium in the Indy Lights race at the start. When the rhythm came though, I still struggled second position behind Josef Kral by the exit of the first corner. He after damage dropped him from the front of the with pace. The Sprint was a fantastic race. I got a lightning ran consistently well over the 18-lap race, putting pressure on Kral race. Josh Hill experienced the highs and lows start and had good pace throughout. It was tough to keep but sticking in second. However, after suffering tyre degradation with Kral and save the tyres though. The last three laps in the closing stages of the race, James was passed at the final of motorsports at Most in the Formula Renault chicane by Felipe Nasr, leaving him to fill the final podium spot. Northern European Cup. Dominating qualifying were unstable under braking and that allowed Felipe and the first of three races set Josh up for a through at the last corner. It was nice to be on the podium twice and I was happy with the points. great weekend. Sadly mechanical and accident damage jeopardized his subsequent two races GP2 Series Media leaving Josh to wonder what might have been a perfect weekend. Tim Harvey Director, BRDC SuperStars www.brdc.co.uk/superstars JOSH HILL RACE REPORT Formula Renault Northern European Cup Josh secured his third victory of the season in the Formula Most, Czech Republic IN ASSOCIATION WITH Renault Northern European Cup with a dominant lights to 1 2 3 flag win in race one at Most, crossing the finish line almost GRID 1 2 6 ten seconds ahead of his nearest competitor and posting RACE 1 DNF 6 the fastest lap of the race. On Sunday morning Josh took to the grid in second position CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION for race two. Snatching the lead before turn one, he was 3 again able to pull out a substantial lead with no other car www.joshhillracing.com able to match his pace. He looked set to secure his second @JoshHillRacing win of the weekend when, just a few laps before the end of the race, he suffered an electrics failure and his car stopped We had a perfect start to the weekend on track. with two fantastic qualifying sessions For race three Josh lined up in P6. Making another strong and a race win and we were looking good for another start he was up to P4 at the start and closing in on third race win, and at least another podium finish. However, place. However, Gabriel Casagrande made an overzealous the results on Sunday mean we leave quite disappointed move on him which dislodged his front wing. Immediately as we were hopeful of more championship points. after the contact Josh was suffering with oversteer and However, we can take a number of positives away from struggling with pace. He dropped down to P5 and, in the the weekend, including the pace that we have in both closing stages of the race, was pushed wide on to the grass qualifying and the races. and relegated to P6. Chris Schotanus LEWIS WILLIAMSON RACE REPORT GP3 Series Ahead of the weekend’s GP3 Series rounds at Spa, Status GP Spa Francorchamps, Belgium confirmed that Lewis would drive for the team for the Belgian IN ASSOCIATION WITH 1 2 3 and Monza rounds of the championship, securing him a race seat GRID 6 1 through to the end of the season. RACE 8 7 Lewis qualified sixth for Saturday’s Feature race, but lost a place in the scramble at La Source hairpin immediately after the start. CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION He then pulled off a magnificent move into Eau Rouge to take sixth 17 back from Aaro Vainio, but the Finn re-passed at Les Combes. Lewis www.lewiswilliamson.com then lost a further position on lap two when he ran wide. After @lewis__17 five laps the race was red flagged following an accident involving Robert Cregan and the drivers received half points. His eighth place In the Feature race I seemed to struggle finish secured him pole position for Sunday’s Sprint race. on the straights early on, and I made a In Sunday’s 12-lap Sprint Lewis started well but lost a place at mistake when I ran wide and lost the place to Daly. But the first corner. Over the ensuing seven laps Lewis embarked on a then our car started to come into the zone, and it would fierce battle with Conor Daly, eventually losing out to the American have been good if the race had continued. On Sunday the on lap seven when he ran wide. On lap eight Antonio Felix Da Costa main thing was to keep Conor behind me but when I ran pushed Lewis down to fourth and on the final laps he struggled with wide the tyres just went completely. It was a real shame debris on his tyres which caused understeer. After a hard fought and very frustrating but now we go forward to the final battle Lewis crossed the line in seventh position. round at Monza. GP3 Series Media JOLYON PALMER RACE REPORT GP2 Series The GP2 weekend at Spa saw Jolyon get off to an impressive Spa Francorchamps, Belgium start, qualifying his iSport car in dry conditions in fifth position for IN ASSOCIATION WITH 1 2 3 Saturday’s 25-lap Feature race. GRID 5 22 As the race got underway on Saturday afternoon, Jolyon got bogged RACE DNF 10 down at the start and fell to seventh. He began to close in on sixth- placed Davide Valsecchi when the safety car was deployed on lap CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION seven. He made his compulsory stop when the pitlane opened 11 under the safety car but, due to traffic, was delayed in his release www.jolyonpalmer.co.uk from the pits and lost places, emerging in 12th. After a one-hour red @jolyonpalmer flag period, Jolyon was immediately on the pace moving up to sixth of the drivers that had already pitted. Over the next eight laps he I got a poor start in the first race and lost put pressure on Luiz Razia but on lap 17 Razia hit him as he tried to a couple of positions. After that I lost out overtake, damaging his front wing and putting him out of the race. with the pit stops as I had to queue up behind Marcus. I Starting from the back of the grid in the 18-lap Sprint race on dropped to P12 at the red flag but then was coming back Sunday, Jolyon got off to a lightning start, avoiding an incident through the pack well until Razia chopped me. Our pace packed opening and moving up to 10th by the end of the first lap. was very strong though. On Sunday I had a great first lap He ran as high as eighth, slipped to 11th over the ensuing laps to move up from 22nd to 10th but ran over some debris, but ultimately crossed the line in 10th to record a solid finish after damaging my front wing and floor. A top five was possible starting in 22nd. without the damage. GP2 Series Media OLI WEBB Firestone Indy Lights Streets of Baltimore, USA IN ASSOCIATION WITH 1 2 3 GRID 4 RACE 6 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION 7 www.oliwebbracing.com @oliverjameswebb Qualifying was okay for me, I was starting in a pretty good place on the second row. In the race I got a good start and was fighting for second position but I was hit in turn one of the first lap.