Posted on 24 March 2010 by Andrew Calder
Here are some photos and video footage from the BTCC Media Day at Brands Hatch
Matt Hamilton approaching Druids
Dave Pinkney approaching Druids
Forster Motorsport
Amd Milltek Racing
Team Aon
Jason Plato
3 drivers for West Surrey Racing WSR?
More photos are available here (Flickr)
Video content available soon.
Photos: Andrew Calder
Posted on 24 March 2010 by Andrew Calder
Touring Car veteran Jason Plato topped testing at the first official test day of the 2010 BTCC season. Driving the new Chevrolet Cruze he produced a laptime of 48.662s on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. Gordon Shedden was second quickest overall in the Honda Civic and Tom Chilton was third for Team Aon.
A couple of hours before the pitlane opened, the BTCC announced a 23 car entry for its 2010 season.
The test day (BTCC Media Day) took the format of two 3 hour sessions. The morning session starting at 10am and the second session starting at 2pm. A number of laptimes in the sessions were quicker than the qualifying/race lap records of last year, though this is due in part to the newly resurfaced Brands Hatch circuit and the new Dunlop tyre. In both sessions, the two Team Aon Fords (Tom Onslow-Cole and Tom Chilton) were the quickest recorded on the speed traps.
Morning session:
Steven Kane topped the timesheets for the morning session with a 48.821. Second fastest was the Ford Focus of Tom Chilton who posted a time of 48.854. Third fastest was Honda Racing’s Gordon Sheddon with a 48.907. A steering fault caused Jason Plato to sit out the first session of the day.
Afternoon session:
The afternoon session started with damp conditions and the teams waited a while before sending their cars out. Eventually, the repaired Chevrolet Cruze of Jason Plato was fastest with a time of 48.662. Gordon Shedden and Tom Chilton continued their strong form from the morning session with laptimes of 48.817 and 48.829 respectively.
A full list of the times is available from TSL timings.
Stay tuned for a preview of the 2010 BTCC season.
Posted on 17 March 2010 by Andrew Calder
In this mid-week review Formula One, GP2 Asia and the IRL go under the microscope.
F1
Sunday saw the first race of the Formula One season at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain. After much anticipation and excitement, the race was a bit of an anti-climax. Little overtaking and little action (on track or pitstop related) has the world’s press speculating as to whether the rule changes for this year were ill advised. Some are calling for the rules to be changed immediately, while others are calling for patience, given that it was only the first grand prix of the season. Mark Webber has certainly made his views clear on his Twitter feed.
The race failed to provide the entertainment fans were expecting. While the rules have been scrutinised, the new look Bahrain circuit didn’t do the F1 paddock any favours with its additional slow and tight corners. It would be good to see the Sakhir circuit revert back to its previous layout.
The RedBull of Sebastian Vettel and the two Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa looked a class above the rest. While Vettel was unfortunate to suffer a failure, the form of the Ferrari team must be a bit ominous to the other teams in the paddock. The bookies favourite, Alonso, looked at home and showed the class of a Formula One champion and Brazilian Felipe Massa drove very impressively on his return to the sport.
As a speculated long term target for Mercedes GP, Sebastian Vettel put in a fine performance in qualifying and drove well in the race. If he continues to drive so well, you may wonder what damage it will do to RedBull if he leaves. Of course, he could make RedBull a team of his own. They may well win the championship this year so he will see no point in leaving. The lure of a traditional brand in Mercedes may be too hard to turn down in the long term. Michael Schumacher made Benetton a team of his own in the mid-90s, before leaving for Ferrari. While you can argue that losing such a talent would hurt any team, the Benetton team were never the same. Whether RedBull will have a similar fate, it will be interesting to see how things develop.
On the broadcasting front, the BBC did a good job of the coverage this weekend, despite having to deal with a couple of items outside of their realm. The first being the lack of onscreen graphics during the practice and qualifying sessions (the race was not so much affected). While the onscreen graphics provided the time of the driver in the #1 spot, it failed to show the running order of the drivers in the session, so we were left to guess who was in positions 2 -24. The BBC has received a number of viewers feedback about this and will be talking to the authorities involved. The other issue was the bizarre no show of the F1 drivers on the grid. Martin Brundle, despite his best efforts must of thought it was a bad day at the office. The ban of drivers’ physios on the grid by Bernie Ecclestone, made the drivers stay away from the grid in protest. Hopefully this silly issue will be rectified and normal service can be resumed in Melbourne.
Next race: Melbourne, 28th March
GP2
The final two rounds of the GP2 Asia series supported the F1 crowd at the Bahrain circuit this weekend. Brit Oliver Turvey topped free practice, qualified 3rd but was unable to convert it into a good race result and finished 9th in the feature race and 11th in the sprint race. Fellow Brit Sam Bird qualified 11th and made good progress in the feature race, finishing 6th. On Sunday’s sprint race, Bird got his first podium with the ART Grand Prix team, finishing 2nd to Italian Giacomo Ricci.
Next race: Main GP2 series starts 8th May in Barcelona
IRL
The first race of the IndyCar season took place on the streets of Sao Paulo. The track proved to be a test for the drivers with its many bumps (memories of late 80s/early 90s US F1 races) and dusty surface. Qualifying was postponed to race day after the series director received feedback from the drivers over safety. The pole was eventually grabbed by Dario Franchitti.
The race itself saw a first lap, first turn pile up. New boy Takuma Sato appeared to lose control under braking, causing Scott Dixon to spin. In trying to avoid Dixon, other drivers collided and Mario Moraes’ car launched over the car of Marco Andretti. Andretti lucky to escape unharmed. Mid-way through the race, the weather took a turn for the worse and the race was red flagged for 35 minutes due to the standing water on the circuit. The race was won by Australian Will Power. The accolade of top Brit went to Dan Wheldon who finished in 5th place for Panther Racing. Dario Franchitti finished 7th, Mike Conway finished in 8th, Justin Wilson finished in 11th and Alex Lloyd finished 18th on his debut in the series.
Race highlights available here (Official IRL channel)
Next race: St.Petersburg on the 28th March.
[Image courtesy of the GP2 Media Service]
Posted on 16 March 2010 by Andrew Calder
Motorsports commentator Ben Edwards and his wife Belinda talk to Track Talent about their careers, their plans for 2010, and their motorsports company Entreprix.
Q. Since 1987 you have had your own company called Entreprix. Can you tell us what your company does and what is involved?
A. The company is involved in the organisation of motorsport, from championships to individual events, and in putting across the excitement and understanding of the sport through top class commentary.
Q. Was the idea of setting up your own company something you had both been thinking about for a number of years or was is it something that you both started through circumstance?
A. Belinda – I set the company up back in 1987, initially to try and find sponsorship for drivers, and then switching to championship administration when invited by Honda to put together the Honda CRX Challenge for 1988. The way that the company has evolved is a combination of planning and circumstance. Ben was operating as a self employed commentator for many years, but in 2006 we decided to join forces under the Entreprix banner so that we could look at combining our talents on some joint projects as well as continuing the roles we already had.
A. Ben – Through Entreprix, Belinda was doing all of my administrative work for many years, and when we sat down and thought about how we wanted to develop things in the future, it made sense to work together more completely and so I joined Entreprix.
Q. How have you promoted your business over the years and what tips, if any, can you give to potential entrepreneurs who are thinking of setting up their own business?
A. Belinda – Most of the work that comes through Entreprix has been via contacts within the motorsport business. It’s a small world, and you find yourself working with people who you last worked with a few years ago in a different role! We are not the sort of company that is looking at a large database of customers. We have specific clients who want a particular role fulfilled, so promoting the business tends to come through word of mouth from satisfied clients. To set up a business in motorsport, it is important to get out to events, talk to people and keep your face about, and also to do a decent and honest job; there are too many people that come into the sport attracted by the so-called glamour who just want to make some quick money. They are usually found out pretty fast and don’t survive.
Q. As a company run by a husband and wife; Ben, can you tell me what qualities Belinda possesses and what she brings to the role?
A. Belinda is amazing! She has incredible amounts of energy and self motivation, and she is brilliant with people. She has the ability to juggle all sorts of issues at the same time, organise them into specific areas, and communicate what needs to be done in a friendly and fun manner. She’ll work all hours of the day and night to get things done, but is able to have a laugh about it at the same time. She’s an inspiration.
Q. Belinda, can you tell me what qualities Ben possesses and what he brings to the role?
A. Passion for the sport, knowledge and phenomenal commentary skills, and his ability to communicate with both the layman and enthusiast without being patronising. His experience as a driver helps me in my organisational role as well, because he can see things from a competitor’s stand point.
Q. (To Belinda). Your early career was based in marketing and advertising, what made you decide to then focus on the motorsports industry?
A. Sheer chance really; I was going out with someone who was involved in club racing but who had friends throughout the business, and suddenly an opportunity appeared that I just couldn’t turn down, and then suddenly there I was involved in motorsport.
Q. When people hear the name Ben Edwards, they associate it with motorsports commentary. Your career started as a Formula Ford mechanic and then progressed to racing driver in Formula First. Who were your influences in your young career?
A. The strongest influences on my career were 2 brothers, Rob and Chris Creswell. Rob had raced Formula Ford but then switched to running a successful team, while Chris was a quick driver and an instructor at Brands Hatch. I started out as a weekend helper to Rob when he was running the likes of Andy Ackerley, Karl Jones, Rick Shortle and Chris Ringrose. I learnt so much from all of them, and then Chris got me the opportunity to start working at the Brands Hatch racing school, and then helped me buy the Formula First car with which I won the inaugural championship.
Q. You are seen as one of the best commentators in the business, but have there any been any occasions where it has not gone to plan?
A. Plenty of occasions! Such as losing the pictures while commentating on a Champ Car race at Mid Ohio and having to commentate by guess work; or losing power to the microphones in Brazil for F1 and having to share a telephone with John Watson; or being thrown out of Magny Cours for having the incorrect pass and only being allowed back in to carry on my work a few minutes before the start of the DTM race there. Usually things work out OK, but it can be nerve racking at times.
Q. Ben, do you have any new projects or roles in 2010?
A. It looks like 2010 is going to be a season of consolidation. I’ll be doing BTCC again for ITV and quite a few Superleague races for Endemol TV. I’ll also be doing Porsche Supercup highlights and Formula BMW Europe.
Q. Belinda, do you have any new projects lined up this year?
A. Yes, I am now working with the GT Cup Championship, coordinating the series on behalf of Bute Motorsport. I have to say I’m really impressed by the number of drivers that have signed up, and despite the difficulties in the economy, it just shows that people want to go racing in an affordable yet fun way.
Q. Last year saw the launch of Formula 2 and this year sees the launch of the GP3 series. With new formulae being started when there is a financial downturn, do you think the industry is sustainable in its current form?
(Readers may want to read our article ‘Too many formulae‘)
A. Ben – I believe that there are too many championships fighting for the same piece of ground, particularly when it comes to the top level single seater series. As a commentator, I attempt to keep up with the talented drivers that are coming up through the ranks, but there are now so many ranks that it is impossible to assess the true quality of the drivers that win titles at F2/F3/GP3/Masters level. I would love to see a simplification of the ladder to Formula One, but while there are drivers out there looking at different options for different amounts of money, and organisers quite happy to take that money, I can’t see it changing.
Q. Ben, you are part of the ITV team that provides excellent coverage of the British Touring Car Championship. What are you looking forward to seeing this season?
A. I’m looking forward to seeing more of the same from last year! It was a superb championship battle and I hope that there are a few last minute deals put in place to ensure we have the likes of Turkington, Plato, Neal and maybe Giovanardi going at it hammer and tongs. I’m also keen to see how the new generation engine performs in the hands of Andrew Jordan in particular, as despite a tough season in 2009, I still feel he has huge potential for the future.
Guest question from James Mappin. Q. You have been commentating in the BTCC for a number of years now. What would you regard as the best BTCC race you have commentated on?
A. It has to be the last race of 09. The title changed destination many times during that race and it was just brilliant to see the way that Turkington dealt with the pressure to emerge triumphant.
Q. The first time I (Andrew Calder) listened to your commentary was when you worked for Eurosport on the CART series with Jeremy Shaw. Is there a distinct difference between the organisation and atmosphere of a race in America and a race in the UK?
A. Yes, there is a difference. I was lucky enough to commentate on Champ Cars at a time when the series was at full strength, and drivers such as Zanardi, Franchitti, Paul Tracy and Michael Andretti were at the height of their powers. Despite the level of competition, there was a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere in the paddock. Drivers in the States tend to talk to each other and to the fans more than they do in Europe, and although you can’t compare directly because the sheer intensity of fan interest is less in the US than over here, it was still a very pleasant place to be.
Q. Ben and Belinda, have you ever thought about running your own team in a championship or is this something you do not wish to do?
A. Both: No, it’s not something that we would want to do. We have both seen how difficult it can be to do well, and neither of us have the car preparation skills or knowledge to want to go down that route.
Q. Away from the world of motorsport, what do you like to do in your spare time?
A. Spending time with each other, away from a race track. We both love being involved in the sport but because we both work in it, it is good to switch off and go for a walk, or a weekend away. Belinda enjoys art and design and is getting more and more into yoga, while I enjoy doing some karting in my free time or tinkering with classic cars.
Track Talent: Thank you for taking the time to speak to Track Talent and have a good 2010 season.
Posted on 10 March 2010 by Andrew Calder
2010 promises to be a season of entertainment and intrigue. The word to describe Formula One for this year would be ‘new’. This year we will see new drivers, new teams, new rules and a new circuit. Add in the return of a 7 time champion and you have the ingredients for a very good season of racing.
The 2009 season saw Brawn GP’s Jenson Button crowned world champion. A champion that few would of predicted at the start of that season. While it was novel to see a ‘new’ team in the shape of Brawn GP rise to the top and beat the likes of McLaren and Ferrari, the novelty waned through the season. This was partly due to the lack of good races in the season. While most think of Brazil as the race of 2009, there weren’t many contenders for that title. Given the excitement and events of 2008, maybe we became accustomed to high levels of entertainment in Formula One.
As a quick preview of the 2010 season here are some of the major changes for 2010:
Posted on 09 March 2010 by Andrew Calder
2010 will witness a new series start in the form of GP3. While on the face of it a new formula is a good thing, a more in-depth look suggests that maybe it is not.
Last year Jonathan Palmer and his MSV company launched their new FIA approved series – Formula 2. The Formula 2 name was back after a 25 year absence. In the heyday of the 70s and 80s drivers such as René Arnoux, Jacques Laffite and Jonathan Palmer were all champions and used as a springboard to progress their careers. When Formula 2 was brought back in 2009 the championship administrators wanted to re-establish the Formula 1 – Formula 2 link. Given time this may happen but Formula 2’s problem is that it has to vy with the established and respected GP2 series. Both of these ’second tier’ formulas have their benefits, the GP2 series offers drivers the experience to drive faster cars and drive some of the circuits that Formula 1 does. Formula 2 aims itself as a ‘good value’ formula, providing 425bhp cars (power upped in 2010) for a fraction of the cost of driving in the GP2 series.
If we class Formula 1 as the premier class in single seater racing, and classify GP2 and Formula 2 as ’second tier’, you can see that the next area to look at is the ‘third tier’.
When a young driver looks to further his career he may choose to enter a championship that offers racing at tracks that are used in more senior formulae. Another driver might choose to enter a championship that offers racing at a wide range of tracks and offers a variety of challenges. With possible finance limitations and sponsorship demands to be accounted for, choosing the right formula for a young driver to enter is quite a choice.
These decisions are especially prevalent in the third-tier Formulas. A brief list of the formulae I believe can be classified in this category are:
Does the choice of many championships hurt general competition? Maybe so. If you have a set of 100 drivers, with the choice of 3 championships, the competition in those 3 championships is going to be closer than in a situation where the 100 drivers had a choice of 5 championships to take part in.
The launch of the GP3 series could have a direct effect on the Formula 3 Euro Series. Past champions of this championship include Lewis Hamilton, Romain Grosjean, Niko Hülkenberg and Jules Bianchi. After these drivers won their F3 Euro Series title, they all moved onto GP2 the next year. So the introduction of a new formula ‘a junior GP2′, run by the administrators of the Gp2 series is likely to entice those drivers who might of thought to take part in the F3 Euro Series, to take part in GP3 instead.
The current financial climate affects all in the motorsport industry. Team bosses are working with tighter budgets and championship organisers need to run their championship with less income and still try to appeal to a larger market as possible. Whether the current number of single seater formulae is sustainable, time will tell.
[Images courtesy of ART Grand Prix and British F3]
Posted on 09 March 2010 by Andrew Calder
As a regular karter, I race at my local track (Sandown Park) on a monthly basis. I have driven at Buckmore Park and had the intention of trying out two other Kent based tracks, Bayford Meadows and Lydd. When Lydd was acquired earlier this year by the Daytona group it was seen as a positive thing, given the success of their Milton Keynes and Sandown Park tracks. So when I received an invite to the official opening of the track I was very pleased. I accepted.
A member of the Daytona staff then emailed me further details of how the day was going to go. I was informed that Martin Brundle would be there to officially open the circuit and there would be the chance for me to take part in an endurance event. This was good news as I have always enjoyed Martin Brundle’s perspective when he does commentary and respected his achievements in sportscars and Formula One.
The day arrived and the weather was dry and bright but bitterly cold. Having parked the car, I was then lead to a Mercedes M class where the driver would take me to the pavilion. I had to show my pass and sign in. As more people arrived, I heard the distinctive voice of Martin Brundle. It was pretty neat to see him and listen in on what questions people were asking him, while at the same time feeling a bit in awe and a little surreal. I sat down and put my gear on the floor and had a quick drink before the upcoming drivers briefing. I then noticed on the next table there was Sarah Moore (2009 Ginetta Juniors champion) with her family. Having watched ITV’s extensive coverage of British Touring Cars, I had seen and admired Sarah taking part in the Ginetta series that supports the British Touring Cars.
We then had a drivers briefing where all that were taking part in the team endurance race had to listen to the instructions and guidance of the Daytona staff. We watched the safety briefing video (which has Martin Brundle in it), and then shown the track layout and the ins and outs of the DMax karts we would use. I had driven these particular karts when the DMax championship visited Buckmore Park last year.
Martin Brundle then officially opened the circuit and the teams for the race were announced. I saw my name and found out that my team mates were called Tony Tobias and Simon Lester and our kart was number 116. The format of the race event was a 5 lap practice for each driver and then the 90min race which would include the driver changes and pitstop for refuelling. I headed to the pitlane and met my team mates. Once I found that Tony Tobias was Head of Business Development at Autosport and that Simon Lester was the Executive Chairman of the Daytona group, I found myself in high company! With senior staff from Autosport and Daytona I thought I had better do well in the race!
Practice started and I got back to grips with the DMax kart and started to learn the Lydd circuit. The tyres on all of the karts were brand new so the first drivers in practice needed to be a bit careful and scrub the tyres in. When practice was over and my team mates had their practice the starting grid was formed.
As part of a photo op, Daytona organised the karts on the grid in starting order and then got some grid girls to stand by the karts. Simon then headed off to his helicopter (!) and hovered about 30 feet off the ground while a photographer took some pictures looking down at the grid from the side of the helicopter. It was a nice touch and I’m sure the photos will look good.
We started 19th on the grid and Tony started the race. Twenty minutes in and we were up to 14th. Thirty minutes in and I put out a pitboard for Tony to come in and change driver. I would take the second stint. I got in and drove up the pitlane. The pitlane at Lydd is quite long and adhering to the pitlane speed limit is almost agony as you just wish to floor the accelerator and feel the performance of the kart. Out on track the kart felt very good and handled well. After a few laps I started overtaking people though I wasn’t sure whether I was lapping backmarkers or taking position, I couldn’t tell. A few laps later on I felt a little nudge from behind at turn 6. I kept position but one lap later Sarah Moore overtook me. For once I didn’t feel upset at losing a position but more of the feeling of ‘cool, I just got overtaken by Sarah Moore, as you do’.
As the laps went on I overtook some more drivers and found myself enjoying a number of good battles. Whether it was the circuit, or the karts, or a combination of both, there were a number of areas on the track for overtaking. The circuit has some good corners and the small hill/lip before turn 7 is a nice feature. Turn 8 is a corner where, and to quote Martin Brundle you “hug like your favourite granny”, where you hold the kart tight to the edge as you go round the left hand turn, balancing the throttle before flooring it on the exit and down to the last few corners of the circuit.
I saw the pitboard for me to refuel and I came in on the next lap and got out of the kart while the pit crew put in the fuel. They asked me if our team was going to do a driver change, I thought we would so that Simon could take over but I could not see anyone around and so I got back in the kart and drove back on to the circuit. With the fuel tank full, the kart felt and handled quite differently. I now experienced mid-corner oversteer. I coped with it so it was a bit of fun but did affect our lap times. A little later on the pitboard for me to come in went out. I saw Tony with a smile on his face and he took my place in the kart.
As well as the pavilion, there is also a building that sits on a small hill and overlooks the track. Daytona had laid on complimentary food and drink and was a welcome place of warmth on a cold day. My girlfriend told me I had got upto 4th place before I came in. I was buzzing, I really enjoyed the kart and the track and happy with my own performance.
I think we finished 12th in the end.
The day was very enjoyable and the event was fun and competitive. It was good to see drivers of the likes of Martin Brundle, Jack Clarke and Sarah Moore racing. I noticed BTCC director Alan Gow spectating proceedings too. The event was well planned and the staff were friendly and helpful. Big thanks to the staff at Daytona Motorsport.
Andrew Calder
Daytona Motorsport website – (link)
Some more photos: Via the Flickr album – (link)
Photos: Andrew Calder
Posted on 09 March 2010 by Andrew Calder
Saturday saw the official opening of Daytona’s Lydd kart circuit. Acquired earlier in the year, the Daytona group now has four circuits in its portfolio. Former F1 driver and BBC commentator Martin Brundle opened the Kent based track and took part in a Pro-Am 90 minute team endurance race.
The event also saw Ginetta Juniors champion Sarah Moore and Formula 2 driver Jack Clarke take part in the racing. Using the DMax karts (2 stroke Rotax based), the winners of the race were Rick Parfitt Jr, Charles Bradley and Glen Freeman.
The Lydd circuit will host both Daytona’s own arrive and drive events and also private kart events. The Lydd circuit plays hosts to rounds 4 and 8 of the 2010 Vodafone DMax championship (16th May and 5th September respectively).
For my personal account of the day please see the article here.
Daytona Motorsport website – (link)
Photos: Andrew Calder
Posted on 08 March 2010 by Andrew Calder
Welcome
Welcome to the website of Track Talent UK. Track Talent is a non-commercial “magazine” based website which will have articles on the world of motorsport. There will be a focus on British motor-racing talent and profiles to promote both drivers and organisations.
While Track Talent is a personal project I aim for the site to be both professional and personable. The site is open to guest writers and contributors.
I hope you enjoy visiting Track Talent and feel free to leave a comment.
Andrew Calder
