Junior Open Wheel Talent

Greg Mansell has parted ways with Ultimate Racing in the World Series by Renault. It is currently being reported that he will join Comtec Racing for the final two events at the Nurburgring and Motorland Aragon. That said, there hasn't been any official confirmation of the move to Comtec.

The motivation for the departure isn't clear, but there is quite a bit of speculation going on among fans of the World Series by Renault.

Ultimate boss Barry Walsh said:

"It if of course with regret that we announce that Greg is leaving us.

"He was a popular team member who showed that he has a clear talent and progressed from race to race. We wish him all the best in his racing career."

If I had to speculate, I would say that Greg is unhappy with his results this season. I'm not sure where Barry Walsh is getting the "he has progressed from race to race" statement. Greg's average finish in the first six races was 12.2, his average finish in the last six races (including two DNF's) has been 16.7. His teammate Miguel Molina has had much more success with the team, finishing inside the top-ten in 76.9% of his race starts. Perhaps Greg felt that Miguel was getting too much attention?

Adriano Buzaid is scheduled to test a World Series by Renault car at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve today and tomorrow with Interwetten Racing. The 21-year-old Brazilian driver is currently 4th in the British F3-International class and is likely using the opportunity to garner additional seat time for the upcoming British F3 race at Algarve in September.

Buzaid has been remarkably consistent this season, finishing inside the top-ten in 92.9% of his race starts to date. He has finished 42.9% of his starts in the top-five. His maiden win and best finish of the season came last weekend at Spa-Francorchamps where he won by nearly six seconds on a rain soaked circuit.
(photo: www.adrianobuzaid.com)

GP2 driver, Alberto Valerio signed with Comtec Racing for a one-off race in the World Series by Renault at Portimao. Valerio is most likely using the opportunity as a means to obtain additional seat time on the Portimao circuit, prior to his GP2 outing.

The 23-year-old Brazilian driver has one win this season in GP2 (Silverstone), and currently sits 10th in the overall championship with Team Piquet GP.

There has been a lot of debate as to whether or not Jaime Alguersuari [pronounced: Heimi Al-gay-shuari] is ready for Formula One. Most of the comments I have received or heard revolve around, "He's Not Ready", "He's Only In Formula One Because of Repsol".

On the other hand, there are a few who think the timing is right and faithfully support the 19-year-old Spaniard.

I think it is safe to say that there are far more negative comments about Alguersuari's move to F1 than positive comments. Which is unfortunate. Offer any driver the opportunity to race a Formula One car and 100% of them (assuming they have a goal of racing professionally) will jump at the chance to compete in Formula One--- whether they are ready or not. It's the ultimate stop in the motorsports ladder. So, it's hard to blame Alguersuari for his decision to accept the invitation to drive in Formula One. That said, there are most likely enough career minded people around the youngster to step in and say, "Hey, this just isn't the right time, be patient... your time will come".

So you might ask, did Jaime jump the gun? Well, I wish I had the answer for you. The truth remains to be seen. I think we can all agree that it would have been nice to see him complete at least one full year in the World Series by Renault, if not two, before committing to F1,... but that doesn't mean he can't develop into a Formula One great by making the move now.

Sebastian Vettel entered Formula One with a similar amount of experience (and at a young age) and today he is currently 2nd in the Formula One World Championship with 2 wins, 3 pole positions, and 5 podiums in 9 races..... that puts him on the podium in 55.6% of his races (to date) in 2009. What about Kimi Raikkonen? Let me start out by saying that I realize the cars are different and that Alguersuari is entering Formula One at a different time than when Kimi entered F1 (2001), but, in case you forgot, Raikkonen went directly from a Formula Renault 2.0 car to a Formula One car. He managed to find his way to the podium four times in 2002 and won the World Championship in 2007. As stated above, the comparison isn't exactly apples-to-apples, but it's a worthy mention. What about Christian Klien? Christian might be a good example of a driver who jumped the gun. He came into Formula One directly from the F3 Euro Series (having finished 2nd in the 2003 championship). He entered Formula One with rather high expectations due to a very promising resume. Unfortunately, he never really had the results most had hoped for. Did it ruin his career? No. Could he have had a better Formula One career if he had waited? Probably. The thing to remember is that every driver is different and every team is different. Success rates are always going to vary in Formula One.

Let's not forget to have realistic expectations for F1's newest debutant this weekend at Hungary. The 19-year-old is heading into a race weekend having only performed straight line tests and he isn't driving for 'the best team in the paddock', if you know what I mean. For example, Jaime is replacing Sebastien Bourdais, who had an incredible resume but failed to really standout in Formula One (his best finish was 7th in September, 2008). I think we can all agree that Bourdais is a very talented driver, regardless of his success rate in Formula One. So it goes.

I will say that it's unfortunate to see Bourdais dropped right as the team is making some performance upgrades to the car, which will undoubtedly increase the aerodynamic and mechanical performance of the car. But that's another story.

In this morning's practice, Alguersuari performed very well. In the first session he was only 0.23 seconds behind teammate Sebastian Buemi. In the second session, he failed to improve as much as the balance of the field, but he did improve his laptime from the first session.

As for the money situation, it's important to remember that nobody gets into F1 without proper funding, so, I don't really understand the argument stating, "He's only in F1 because of Red Bull and Repsol". It's unfortunate that money plays such a huge role in motorsports but that's something we're all going to have to accept. Yes, it's true that he has tremendous backing and it's also true that he wouldn't be where he is today without that financial support. That said, he has certainly turned some head's with his results. He was exceptional last season in British F3, where he won the championship with 5 wins and 12 podiums. This season, in the World Series by Renault, his results haven't been exceptional, but they haven't been bad either. He has finished inside the top-ten in 81.2% of his race starts (to date). His best finish was 3rd at Le Mans. His average finish in the first five races was 8.6. His average finish in his last six races is 7.2. So he is showing improvement and if he continues to run in the World Series by Renault and Formula One, I think it's safe to say, we will continue to see him develop as a driver.

I think Alguersuari hit the nail-on-the-head in the recent Formula One press conference:

"I'm relaxed, I know what I can do, I know what people expect from me and the most important thing is that I know what I have to do. As I said before, it's another car, another race in my racing career, and in the end it's just one steering wheel and two pedals like everything. That's the target: to learn and to drive."

As for what the future holds, time will tell. Feel free to discuss below in the comment section. I know there are various opinions on this matter.

I received official confirmation this morning that British F3-International points leader, Daniel Ricciardo will make his World Series by Renault debut with Tech 1 Racing at Portimao. He plans to contest the remainder of the WSR season with the exception of the Nurburgring event due to a schedule conflict with his British F3 program.

Ricciardo has been very impressive in British F3 this season, finishing inside the top-five in 83.3% of his 2009 race starts. The 20-year-old Australian driver should adapt to the Formula Renault 3.5 car with relative ease.

(photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography/www.danielricciardo.com)

After being away from the computer for a few days due to a mini-vacation, it's time to catch up on all the racing news and results. Rather than put all the news into individual posts, which are already dated, I decided to just put everything in one spot via a 'Linkage' post.

Skip Barber
Skip Barber National standout Connor De Phillippi won Round 7 by going from 3rd to 1st in the final lap.
Round 7: Complete Results

Skip Barber Karting Scholarship winner Court Vernon won his first Skip Barber National race over the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.
Round 8: Complete Results

Formula BMW-Americas
Gabby Chaves won the first race of the weekend at Lime Rock Park in dominant fashion. The win moves the Colombian driver back into the points lead.
Round 8: Complete Results

Australian driver James Kovacic celebrated his 16th birthday in style by claiming his first Formula BMW victory in Race 2 at LRP. Not only did Kovacic win, he became the first driver to win from a spot other than pole position, so far this season. He started the race in 5th. Honorable mention should go to Alex Ellis who led most of the race only to see the victory slip away in the closing laps.
Round 9: Complete Results

F2000 Championship
Matthew Inge ran a solid race to take his second win of the season in the F2000 Championship, while racing at Summit Point Motorsports Park. Championship leader Chris Miller finished the race in second place. Alegra Motorsports driver Fabio Orslon continues to develop as he finished the race in 3rd.
Race 1: Complete Results

Tim Minor found his way to the top spot of the podium in the second race of the weekend at his home track (SPMP). Championship leader Chris Miller continued his renowned podium streak by finishing 2nd. Ben Searcy found his way to the podium after being DQ'd from a fifth place finish in Race 1---due to missing the minimum weight requirement by a mere 3lbs.
Race 2: Complete Results

You can read the F2000 Championship weekend notebook here>>.

Atlantic Championship
Simona De Silvestro made history this weekend by becoming the winningest female driver in the 36-year history of the Atlantic Championship. Simona claimed her fourth career Atlantic victory at Lime Rock Park. The previous record was held by Katherine Legge, who had 3 career Atlantic victories. John Edwards had a great run to finish 2nd after starting 5th. His performance earned him the hard charger award. Borja Garcia put in another solid performance to finish 3rd in Round 5. The result marked his second podium of the season.
Round 5- Complete Results

Formula 3 Euro Series
Jules Bianchi dominated the competition at Zandvoort this weekend for Rounds 7 & 8 of the 2009 championship. The 19-year-old driver has won four races this season and leads the championship by 17 points.

The Hard Charger of Round 7 was Atte Mustonen who improved 11 positions-- 20th to 9th.
Round 7- Zandvoort Complete Results

The Hard Charger of Round 8 was Stefano Coletti who improved 12 positions-- 24th to 12th.
Round 8- Zandvoort Complete Results

World Series by Renault
Bertrand Baguette dominated the weekend by winning both races at Le Mans. Baguette leads the championship by 19 points over Marcos Martinez (2nd) and James Walker (3rd).

The Hard Charger of Round 10 was Dani Clos who improved 10 positions--20th to 10th.
Round 10: Le Mans Complete Results

The Hard Charger of Round 11 was Edoardo Mortara, who improved 15 positions--21st to 6th. Honorable mention should go to Miguel Molina who improved 8 positions--10th to 2nd.
Round 11: Le Mans Complete Results

Dani Clos will be driving for Epsilon Euskadi this weekend at Le Mans. The team hasn't made an official announcement, but, the rumor is that Clos will be replacing Chris van der Drift. Chris has been struggling to find the necessary funding all year, so it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see him replaced. That said, it would be really disappointing to see him out of the car as he has shown so much promise. Another possibility, which is also quite likely, is that we will see Spaniard Adrian Valles out of the car at Epsilon for the Superleague Formula race at Belgium. Valles is currently leading the Superleague Formula championship in the Liverpool FC car.

Edoardo Mortara will join Tech 1 Racing this weekend as Brendon Hartley focuses on the F3 Euro Series race at Zandvoort.

John Martin will be running Superleague Formula this weekend, which opens up a seat at Comtec. Earlier today, the team announced that Cristiano Morgado will replace Martin for the Formula Renault 3.5 race at Le Mans. Morgado has been racing in the South Africa Formula Volkswagen series, where he is currently third in the championship.

The World Series by Renault visited Silverstone this weekend for Rounds 8 & 9 of the Formula Renault 3.5 championship. Marcos Martinez extended his points lead after taking the race win in Round 8. The victory marked his fourth win of the season. Frenchman Charles Pic dominated Race 2 (Round 9) by driving from flag to flag to take the win.

The hard charger of Race 1 (Round 8) was Guillaume Moreau. The 26-year-old Frenchman made his return to the World Series by Renault after spending some time racing a Corvette in the the FIA-GT1 series. His return to single-seater racing could be considered a success as he improved the most positions in Race 1 at Silverstone. Moreau improved seven spots to finish 16th after starting 23rd.

The hard charger of Race 2 (Round 9) was Sten Pentus, who improved 8 spots. This is Sten's 3rd hard charger nomination this season. The 27-year-old Estonian driver managed to finish 7th after starting 15th. His best finish of 2009 occurred at Cataluyna, where he drove from 19th to 2nd.
______________
World Series by Renault
Round 8- Silverstone
Complete Results

World Series by Renault
Round 9- Silverstone
Complete Results
______________

Italiaracing.net is reporting that Guillaume Moreau has signed with SG Formula for the World Series by Renault. The 26-year-old Frenchman is currently driving a Corvette in the FIA-GT1 series. He spent the last two years in the World Series by Renault. In 2008, he ran nine events for KTR. His best finish was 3rd at Spa after starting 9th. In 2007, he finished 14th in the WSR points championship after claiming one victory and two podiums.

The World Series by Renault drivers spent the weekend in Hungary, racing at the famed Hungaroring circuit.

Chris van der Drift was the hard charger of Race 1 by improving 10 positions. He finished 13th after starting 23rd in the 28-lap event. His best lap was a 1:35.835.

World Series by Renault
Hungaroring
Full Results-Race 1

Michael Herck, of the GP2 series, was the hard charger of Race 2 after improving an impressive 21 spots. Herck started the race in 26th and finished 5th in the 25-lap race. His best lap was a 1:35.868. The final tally was a nice change for Herck, whose results have been marred by a string of DNF's this season.

World Series by Renault
Hungaroring
Full Results- Race 2

Over the last few days...there has been a few roster changes in the World Series by Renault. Here is the latest...

Mihai Marinescu has parted ways with Interwetten and intends to run a race or two with RC Motorsport. In the meantime, Interwetten has decided to fill the vacated seat with GP2 driver Michael Herck---who is scheduled to run 3 events with the team.

I've also received a tip---which is just that until I receive official confirmation--- that Formula 3 Euro Series driver Jon Lancaster will be driving for Comtec in this weekend's WSR event at the Hungaroring. If the rumor is true, Lancaster will partner Jon Martin under the team tent. Martin had a real solid debut for the team at Monaco--where he improved 8 positions--earning the hard charger award.

There will be a few roster changes in the World Series by Renault heading into Budapest next weekend.

Filip Salaquarda has announced that he will be leaving RC Motorsport and signing a deal with Prema Powerteam for the remainder of the 2009 season.

Edoardo Mortara, of the GP2 series, will be making his Renault 3.5 debut with SG Formula at Budapest. The decision likely revovles around additional track time--with the GP2 Series heading to Budapest in late July.

Over the past weekend, the World Series by Renault completed Round 5 of the championship as a support race for the prestigious Formula One Monaco Grand Prix.

We have a two-way tie for the hard charger honors with both John Martin and Omar Julian Leal improving 8 positions during the race. As we all know, passing on the streets of Monaco is difficult at best---so, earning a hard charger honor at this circuit is quite impressive.

John Martin was given the official hard charger title due to a better finishing position. The 24-year-old Australian driver managed to drive from 20th on the grid to finish 12th, just outside of the top-ten. It would appear that his efforts to learn Monaco via PlayStation paid off. (photo: www.johnmartinracing.com)

Omar Julian Leal offered an equally impressive run by also improving 8 positions during the race. The 19-year-old Colombian driver started the race in 22nd and finished 14th in the final tally. Despite starting farther back in the field than ever before, the end result marked his career best finish in the World Series by Renault (to date). (photo: www.omarjulianleal.com)

World Series by Renault
Round 5: Monaco
Full Results

John Martin will drive for Comtec in the upcoming World Series by Renault race at Monaco. This will be his first time on the circuit...

“I have never seen the place before, let alone turned a lap around there. But I have driven it on the PlayStation. So I am not really going into it with any expectations; not having been there before and not having driven a Formula Renault 3.5 car before. But a podium would be an awesome result.” said Martin.

Hopefully the use of the PlayStation system for memorizing tracks will prove as beneficial as the use of YouTube by Charles Hall at Watkins Glen in last year's Star Mazda Championship.

Formula Master driver Filip Salaquarda has signed with RC Motorsport to run with the team in the World Series by Renault for the remainder of the 2009 season. He will also continue his Formula Master efforts with I.S.R. Racing.

Speaking of his Formula Master endeavors... it will be interesting to see how his reunion with the Valencia security is handled when the series returns to Spain later this month. Ironically, his best finish of 2008 came at Valencia--when he finished 6th.

If my google translator is working properly, it would appear that SG Formula may be joining the World Series by Renault.

The World Series by Renault completed their third and fourth races of the season last weekend at the historic Spa-Francorchamps. Marcos Martinez continued his winning ways in Race 3 by claiming the top spot by 3.816 seconds over Bertrand Baguette. Martinez currently leads the championship with 45 points (3 wins) to his credit. Baguette put in a dominating performance of his own by improving 6 positions during the race; finishing 2nd after starting 8th; earning him the Hard Charger title for Race 3. Miguel Molina claimed the third and final spot on the podium. Other notable hard-chargers in Race 3 are Tobias Hegewald and Chris van der Drift who also improved 6 positions each.

In Race 4, James Walker claimed the win by 6.421 seconds over Baguette; who again had a nice race to finish runner-up. This was a solid run by Walker who has had his share of bad luck in the opening rounds, but has shown promise throughout every session. Miguel Molina rounded out the top-three once again, finding his way to the podium for the second time in as many races. The Hard-Charger of the weekend is Sten Pentus, who has impressed me thus far into 2009. The 27-year-old driver put in another solid drive, improving 9 positions to finish 11th after starting 20th. He is currently ninth in the overall standings.

Results Race 3
Results Race 4

I've been falling behind on my World Series by Renault updates and for that I apologize. There are quite a few news items to hit on, especially with Round 1 being completed last weekend in Barcelona.

First off, congratulations to Marcos Martinez who swept the opening round at Barcelona in his Pons entry. A very nice run by the 23-year-old Spaniard, who now sits in first place in the 2009 standings. He is followed by Adrian Valles and Christopher van der Drift, both of which are driving for Epsilon.

Secondly--Sten Pentus and Adrian Zaugg--both deserve some press after improving the most positions over the weekend in Cataluyna. Pentus had the best drive of the weekend by improving 17 positions, charging from 19th on the starting grid to finish 2nd. Adrian Zaugg also had a nice run on Saturday, finishing 10th after starting 22nd.

Roster Updates

• Most of us knew this one was coming,.. but Pasquale Di Sabatino joined RC Motorsport. This will be his third season in the series. His best finish last year was 2nd at Monza.

• Mihai Marinescu and Adrian Zaugg joined Interwetten. Former IndyCar/Indy Lights driver Franck Perera was also rumored to be eyeing a seat after completing a test with the team. Marinescu joins the team after spending last year, focusing on the Formula BMW series---Europe, Americas, and Pacific. He won a race in the Formula BMW-Pacific series at Macau. Adrian Zaugg has already proven a nice addition to the team with his run last weekend (see above). He is also running in the A1GP series for Team South Africa--so he may have a few schedule conflicts limiting his points later in the year.

After the whole ordeal of losing a driver earlier this week, Tech 1 has now officially signed F3 Euro Series driver Brendon Hartley to run, the first three races and possibly more, in the World Series by Renault for 2009. Hartley has already been confirmed to compete in the F3 Euro Series this year with Carlin Motorsport, so he will only be running select races with Tech 1 in the World Series by Renault (for now).

This is a great opportunity for the 19-year-old New Zealand resident. It will be interesting to see how he manages his time this year as it will be tough to run both series, but the experience garnered should prove worthwhile.
(photo: www.brendonhartley.co.nz)

Which never happens...right?

Late last month, it was announced that Russian driver Daniil Move had signed with Tech 1 Racing for the 2009 World Series by Renault. The announcement was posted on several racing websites worldwide...including this one. The original story is still posted at Autosport.com. However, there seems to be a little controversy over the previous announcement as http://www.auto-sport.ru is now claiming that the 23-year-old Danill Move has officially signed with P1. (In order to read the release, depending on what language you speak, you may need to use google translater to translate the story from Russian to English.)

Basically, the auto-sport.ru story states that Tech 1 rushed the press release and no formal arrangements had been made between Move and Tech 1. Daniil had apparently been waiting for a deal with P1 instead, who he felt was the best match for his racing career. It's possible that we will see another follow-up story on this-- stating there was a "Lost In Translation" moment-- and Daniil Move is yet to sign with either team for 2009.... stay tuned.