Archive for category: Championships

Perfect racing weekend for Bhai Tech Racing. The team scored an amazing double win in GTS at Nürburgring. The Italian team based in the advanced factory of Mestrino (Padua) and directed by the engineer Mr. Roberto Costa, drove an almost perfect racing weekend, leading both McLarens MP4 12C driven by Pantano/Suzuki and Van Der Drift/Razia to the first and second place of GTS, in the two races which made up the third event of International GT Open Championship.

Low temperatures and a thick fog welcomed teams and drivers, forcing Championship planners to change the weekend schedule, getting drivers to perform the two 15 minutes qualifying sessions consecutively. Despite difficult weather conditions, Advanced Vehicle Centre McLarens got the GTS first pole of the season with Van Der Drift’s 1’59’’436 (3rd position overall) and Suzuki’s 10^th place. In the second session it was the Padua- born ex F.1 driver Giorgio Pantano who set the best chrono (5^th overall) ahead of his Brazilian teammate Razia (GTS’ 5^th place and 8^th overall).

In the two races, which were both run in the dry, the four drivers equally shared out the first and second position, which is the 4^th place overall. At the end of the 70’ race on Saturday afternoon, the #66 Brazilian and New Zealander racing crew almost got the podium, finishing 4^th overall ahead of the Italian and Brazilian duo, scoring the GTS class double win.

In the Sunday’s event it was the duo Pantano /Suzuki who won the race, followed by teammates who respectively finished 4^th and 6^th overall.

“It was a fantastic weekend as we achieved good results, but it was also very intense, as we were very tight on time. There was only 1 hour break between the two qualifying sessions and race-1. So I want to pay our staff and drivers many compliments on their performances as they all were fantastic”, says the technical director Mr. Roberto Costa “We had a good race pace in the first two races, even if the track’s low temperature condition didn’t help us. We had to deal with a completely new situation as we got a handicap in race-2. We managed to handle the handicap very well as we know our race pace.”

The development work at the factory is bearing fruits and the team is going to the right direction “The work done at the factory between the Portimao racing weekend and this one was really important. Anyway, we will continue to develop the car as we have to improve in every sector. This is the reason why we’ll go to Jerez on Saturday 8^th to drive a 3-hour- testing session, to get ready not only for the next racing event (to be held on the Spanish track) but also for the following racing weekends”, comments the Brazilian engineer “Success like the one achieved in Germany is an incentive to continue to work and progress”, ends Mr. Costa.

Three weeks after the Portuguese racing weekend in Algarve, Bhai Tech Racing team is getting ready to get back on track for the third International GT Open racing weekend to be competed on the mind-blowing track of Nürburgring next weekend.

On the strength of the first points scored in the first Portuguese round, thanks to the team’s four drivers Pantano/Suzuki and Van Der Drift/Razia, the Mestrino-based team which is directed by the engineer Mr. Roberto Costa, has painstakingly worked at the Advanced Vehicle Science Centre, the team’s cutting-edge headquarter (2.800 square metres over three floors), to develop the two McLaren MP4-12C racing cars. The staff has carried out the car development work, analyzing data coming from the first two racing events, which were both run in different weather conditions “We’re carrying out a complete development; we haven’t focused only on next race. We’ve planned a long term programme, to be extended to following races”, says the Brazilian engineer.

Low temperatures and rain are once again forecasted for the next racing weekend; such weather conditions are far from being ideal for car-tyres duo “Unfortunately weather conditions won’t be on our side again, as rain tyres don’t interact with our car in a correct way. At Paul Ricard we demonstrated to be able to keep a good race pace in the dry, but we had hard times in the wet. So, we’ll have to try to find the best set-up for the race. With the support of our drivers, we’ll continue to carry out our development programme.”

Drivers have taken several driving sessions at the advanced 6-DOF full- motion driving simulator, which is the technological centre’s flagship. It is fully immersive with five off-board projectors and a 210 ° 8 m diameter curved screen and rear view visuals “ Drivers have continued to work at the simulator to study and analyze the German track, running about 850 laps. We’re also developing a GT car configuration platform to join the already existing Formula car configuration platform”, ends Mr. Costa.

The racing weekend will start on Friday with two sessions of free practice lasting 60 minutes each, to go on with the two qualifying sessions and race-1 scheduled for Saturday morning. Race-1 will start at 4pm and last 70 minutes. Race-2 will take place on Sunday, starting at 12pm and finishing at 12.50pm.

Spotlights were focused on the first season of the Padua-based team in the International GT open Championship, whose opening race was run on the transalpine track of Le Castellet, last weekend.

The opening race was featured by rough weather: rain, fog and low temperatures gave the team, who is directed by the engineer Mr. Roberto Costa, the chance to gain experience at the wheel of the two new McLaren MP4 12 C GT3, driven by the two couples of drivers Pantano/Suzuki and Van der Drift/Razia, who all made their debut in the International series.

Given the fact the Mestrino-based team was making an all-round debut in the series, it didn’t let anybody down, as it gained km, collected data and set encouraging split times since free practices, leading the two cars at the top of the standing. In qualifying 1, the four Formula car racers showcased all their talent by qualifying in the second row; the car #65 driven by the Italo-Brazilian couple Pantano/Suzuki qualified ahead of the team mates. During the race luck was not at the side of the Italian team, as Van der Drift’s race was ruined by a collision with the Aston Martin, because of which the driver from New Zealand had to quit the race in advance after a turnabout.

In the final stage even the second car, driven by Suzuki, exited the scene. The crash was violent and the damages caused by that couldn’t be fixed on time to take part in the second qualifying session, during which Luiz Razia cheered up by qualifying in the first row and setting the second best laptime. Once again the final verdict didn’t do justice to Van der Drift who, after taking control of the car and pitting for a long time to have some parts of the bodywork fixed, finished 15^th  .

“We cannot be pleased with the final result, as we didn’t manage to solve few problems in the wet. Everything was new to us and we had never raced in such conditions before. The choices we made unfortunately didn’t pay off. Now we’ll work side by side with McLaren to analyze all data, even the ones concerning Dunlop rain tyres”, says the technical director Mr. Roberto Costa “The car was competitive in the dry. We don’t have to forget that we’re only at the first stage of the development. The team is so competitive and it’s composed by experts. We’re thinking about next race in Portimao.”

The staff is ready to go back to the cutting-edge Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre to analyze all data and get ready for the next challenge to be held on the track of Portimao (May 11^th /12^th).

“Backstage”, our column dedicated to the world of preparatory series, those Championships which are the backstage of F1 and have the important role of discovering and preparing future racing champions, will start again.

Let’s have a look at the Formula Renault, Alps and WSR 3.5 Championships’ first racing weekend which took place on the tracks of Vallelunga and Monza. Each racing weekend will be commented by the long-experienced manager Giovanni Minardi.

“As expected, the Formula Renault Alps saw the supremacy of the three Prema drivers Bonifacio – Ghiotto – Fuoco. I’m expecting an interior fight to be delivered throughout the Championship. Who will be able to better manage the outcome, making as less mistakes as possible, is going to win the title. Since there are so many participants, recovering will be so difficult. The 16-year-old Fuoco had a very brilliant start of season, finishing 2nd and 1st in the two races. Antonio made the most of all the work done over the past season, during which he occasionally took part in the F.Abarth free practices driving a Tatuus of the Federation. Luca Ghiotto delivered a very good performance, as well, finishing 5th and 2nd,” Minardi says “ I would have expected something more from De Vries, a McLaren driver, who was beaten out by the guys coming from F.Abarth and Kart.

Prema Team is the favourite team for his achievements and for the drivers “ Among opponents, much attention has to be paid to De Vries (Koiranen), to his teammate Silva , to Euronova’s driver Sasahara , to Ramsay who’s coming straight out from F.Abarth and to the Italian driver Kevin Gilardoni. Positive start also for BVM, despite the team did only little pre-season testing.”

38 cars took part in the opening event of the European F.R.2.0 Series at Hockenheim, where three different races were won by three different drivers “Three races and three different winners, this is a sign of how much competitive the Formula Renault Nec is. The main actors would be Esteban Ocon, Oliver Rowland and Andrea Pizzitolla, the three drivers of the three best teams (Art Gran Prix, Manor MP and Fortec). Unfortunately, even in this championship we can notice that Italian drivers are missing. The only Italian driver is Ignazio D’Agosto, who had an unlucky start; I hope he will uphold the honour of the Italian flag throughout this difficult racing season. As far as teams are concerned, it is worth to mention the debut of JD Motorsport, the team from Novara, who ruled the Italian F3 championship with its driver Riccardo Agostini in the past season. The team delivered a good performance; I hope they’ll uphold the reputation of Italy scoring great successes among so many foreign teams.”

In the World Series by Renault 3.5 championship, Vandoorne and Da Costa shared the highest step of the podium in the two races “Our expectations were all fulfilled. Da Costa is the man to defeat, especially in consideration of the excellent performances delivered over the past season, when he entered half a season. Seeing Vandoorne we have the confirmation that who manages to take over in the Eurocup 2.0, manages to deliver good performances also at the wheel of the Dallara in the WSR 3.5. At the moment, I don’t see other drivers whose performance level is as high as his, except Sorensen, Pic and Magnussen who will be the balance.”

Even this year the “made in Italy” scored a sad record. The closer we get to the pinnacle of motorsport, the more difficult it is to find Italian drivers “Our drivers can hardly find sponsors. If we have a look at the GP2 and WSR 3.5, we notice that many drivers are directly supported either by their parents or by multinational companies such as Red Bull. Outside Europe there is someone who still wants to invest; this doesn’t happen in our country. Only in the Auto GP Championship, which is a “low cost” one if compared to WSR or GP2, we can find Italian drivers. Many people, disappointed by the difficult economic situation, decide to make a career in the karting. If Fuoco himself hadn’t entered the FDA, he would have continued to run with the kart; it would have been a pity, as I think he will be long talked about “, the manager form Faenza says in the end.