The Goodwood Festival of Speed organizers are planning to run the legendary Brabham-Alfa Formula 1 "Fan-Car" as part of a celebration of 40 years of the team’s history this year. The unique Alfa Romeo-powered Brabham BT-46-B won its one and only race, the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix, with triple world champion Niki Lauda at the wheel. The chassis, which used a huge fan mounted under the rear wing to suck the car down onto the track, was declared illegal by motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, when it proved much faster than its opposition. It is hoped that the car will form part of the cavalcade of racers at the eponymous team of triple world champion Jack Brabham, the first man to win a world championship in a car of his own make. Event founder Lord March said, "Sir Jack has been a great supporter of Goodwood. I hope we have lots of Brabham people here to join us in a tribute to one of the sport’s all-time greats and his racing cars."

Vauxhall’s Jason Plato topped the time sheets at Thruxton Circuit in the fourth official test of the www.theAA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship. Teammate Yvan Muller followed in second place while James Thompson came in third place in his Team Egg Vauxhall Astra.

Plato said: "We had a very good day today; we made some changes to the car, some of which were very positive ones. We accomplished about 80 percent of the program today and had some good results."

Roland Dane, Managing Director of Triple Eight Engineering was also pleased with the results. He added: "Everything went pretty smoothly today; the guys are quick enough and we now have to make sure our reliability is what it should be."

Team Peugeot Sport experienced a day of mixed fortunes with two of their three drivers in action. Steve Soper started the day in his Peugeot 406 before having to switch to a third Peugeot after crashing his car at Church as a result of a puncture. Soper went on to set his best time of the day placing him in fifth place. Teammate Dan Eaves experienced a shorter run in his car as he was forced to return to the garage midway through the day with a broken drive shaft. Eaves set the sixth fastest time.

Mick Linford, Peugeot’s Motorsport Director, commented: "We certainly learned a lot more about the car today and we found some more straight line speed. We accomplished some good work and the team is confident that we are moving closer to the Vauxhalls."

The Alfa 147 of JS Motorsport experienced its first full test session and completed a total of twenty-nine laps at the Hampshire Circuit.

John Shields, Managing Director of JS Motorsports commented: "We are very pleased with today’s running. Obviously we now know the points that we have to improve upon. Today was good as it gave Dave (Pickney) the chance to get acclimatized to the car. At the moment, everything seems to be very good and we just need time to develop the car and then I think we can be very quick."

In the BTC Production category, Roger Moen set the fastest time of the day in his HTML prepared Peugeot 306. Moen scored two second-place finishes at Brands Hatch last weekend and is current leader of the BTC Production class.

Jonathan Heynes, Team Principal of HTML, said: "We had a good day here, the circuit seems to suit our cars as we have a good engine. We completed a race distance today and everything stayed together, which is always encouraging."

There was plenty of action at Brands Hatch on Easter Bank Holiday Monday as the new-look www.theAA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship attracted 18,000 spectators to the opening rounds of the 2001 season.

The new regulations provided close, competitive racing, producing numerous overtaking maneuvers and thrills for the crowds. Jason Plato and James Thompson left the famous Kent circuit sharing the lead in the BTC Touring Championship, with HTML’s Roger Moen heading up the BTC Production category.

BTC PRODUCTION CLASS SPRINT RACE

HTML secured a one-two victory in an action-packed BTC Production Sprint Race that saw the Safety Car out twice.

A dramatic start pushed the Tech-speed prepared Peugeot 306 of Paul O’Neill sideways on the exit of Paddock Hill bend. The car rolled in the gravel and saw an early end to the race for the brother of Spice Girl Melanie C. JanSpeed’s Gavin Pyper took advantage of the commotion to move into second position. The HTML of 1999 National Saloon Champion Simon Harrison was undoubtedly the pacesetter from pole position and was the man to catch throughout the duration.

The safety car was out again on Lap 9 after the Honda Accord of Jim Edwards Jr. made contact with Colin Blair, forcing the Alfa Romeo to roll in the gravel in an almost identical position to O’Neill. Three laps later and the race was on again, but was short-lived for James Kaye, who was brought in by the scrutineers for safety reasons after a nudge left his exhaust hanging off.

Harrison went on to win the first round of the Championship with teammate Roger Moen finishing two seconds behind. He commented: "It was a close race. It’s clear with this sort of racing that each manufacturer has advantages as well as disadvantages. Today the advantages on our car counteracted the disadvantages but we’re not always going to have it all our own way, that’s for sure. I had a bit of a moment toward the end at Paddock Hill bend—I think my tires were starting to get a bit out of shape which certainly makes the Feature Race a bit of an unknown entity! I’m delighted with the result and couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season."

HTML Team boss Jonathan Heynes added: "It was a great race. We were really happy with the way the cars were running and the drivers did a great job. The Sprint Race distance was the furthest that the cars have ever run so I was really impressed with the reliability. We can’t get complacent and Thruxton is still going to be a big challenge".

BTC TOURING CLASS SPRINT RACE

Vauxhall’s Yvan Muller and Team Egg’s James Thompson lined up on the front row for the BTC Touring Sprint race with the intention of leading from the off. However, an impressive start from Vauxhall’s Jason Plato saw a three-car dash to the first bend, which resulted in Plato clinching Thompson’s second place position—a place that he would hold for the duration of the twelve-lap race. Team Egg Sport’s Phil Bennett finished in fourth place, making it a clean sweep for the Vauxhall Astra Coupés.

Vauxhall Motorsport Manager Mike Nicholson stated: "I think the new format technically is fantastic. The cars look good, sound good and there was some great racing out there that obviously bodes well for the future. I expect the Peugeots to be stronger at Thruxton but we’ve just got to make sure we keep a little bit of an edge on them. I think it’s safe to say that I’m fairly happy with first, second, third and fourth!"

Dan Eaves led the way for the Peugeot trio of 406 Coupés ahead of teammates Matt Neal and Steve Soper. Soper was forced to make a return to the garage after suffering from a suspected loose wheel. He later rejoined the race and finished in seventh place behind Matt Neal.

First round teething problems dramatically reduced the grid for the start of the BTC Touring Sprint Race. Technical problems forced the Lexus IS200 of ABG Motorsport to take a spectators role, whilst JS M was only able to run one Alfa Romeo 147.

BTCC FEATURE RACE

Twenty-six cars lined up for the start of the Feature Race with no team knowing exactly how the cars and tires would perform over the fifty-lap distance. The Vauxhall Astra of Phil Bennett from Team Egg Sport made the best start with a lunge from third position on the grid, which saw him get the better of Jason Plato by Paddock Hill bend. Unfortunately for Bennett, the Safety Car was put out on Lap Two following a spin by Annie Templeton, which caused the Team Egg driver a loss of momentum. Plato took advantage and reclaimed second position behind teammate Yvan Muller.

Muller led for almost half the race before an electrical problem caused the engine to misfire half way through the Frenchman’s in-lap to his pitstop. Muller lasted a further two laps before retiring and leaving teammate Plato to spearhead the Vauxhall challenge.

A thrilling battle between the Vauxhall of Plato and the identical Astra of Team Egg Sport’s James Thompson became the highlight of the Feature Race, providing the spectators with exhilarating race action.

The move of the weekend undoubtedly came when Thompson forced Plato wide around Paddock Hill bend and the two cars ran side by side for an entire Lap. Thompson eventually got the better of Plato and took the lead, which he managed to defend to the checkered flag.

He commented: "Today was good fun, I really enjoyed it. Obviously it’s great to have the Production guys out there. There is just so much going on out there in the Feature Race but you’ve got to be committed to take the challenge and be a bit risky. Thruxton could well be a different story but we’ll have to wait and see."

Barwell Motorsport’s James Kaye came in first for the Production category, conserving the BF Goodrich tires well throughout the 50 Lap duration. It was HTML’s Simon Harrison that set the pace for the majority of the race before loosing a wheel coming round Paddock Hill bend on Lap 49. Kaye took the lead and the podium position, putting Barwell Motorsport ahead in the Production Team Championship.

The www.theAA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to Thruxton in three weeks time (6th/7th) May) for Rounds 3 & 4.

Yvan Muller made an impressive start to his 2001 BTCC campaign today, when he qualified on pole for both the Sprint and Feature Races. The Vauxhall Astra Coupé driver was strongly supported by his Vauxhall teammate Jason Plato, with the entire Triple 888 engineered Astra squad of four cars making a clean sweep of the first two rows of the grid for both races. Jason Plato completes the front row, while Team Egg Sport drivers James Thompson and Phil Bennett line up on the second row for the main Feature Race. The shorter Sprint Race sees Thompson qualify second while Plato and Bennett take up row two.

"We’ve had a very good day today, as we have achieved everything we planned prior to qualifying. The cars ran very well; obviously there are one or two small changes we need to make this evening, as we are never totally satisfied. Double pole is a fantastic way to start the championship", enthused Muller.

It was not all plain sailing in the Touring category, as many teams struggled with first round teething problems. Team Peugeot Sport failed to run Matt Neal’s car in qualifying due to the clutch and gearbox having to be replaced. Lack of time prevented the Peugeot ace from taking to the track and he will start the races at the back of the Touring grid. The team is upbeat and confident that the repairs will be made in time.

Teammates Steve Soper and Dan Eaves qualified in fifth and sixth positions, Soper struggling with power steering problems.

The Lexus IS200 of ABG Motorsport will be joining Neal at the back of the grid as problems meant it also failed to qualify. Team boss Tim Blake explained: "We are obviously disappointed that the car still hasn’t run. This was due to technical problems with the gearbox. All the team will be working throughout the night and we’re optimistic that the car will run tomorrow."

In the Production category, the Peugeot 306s of Silverstone-based HTML claimed pole and second place for both races with Simon Harrison less than 3 tenths of a second ahead of teammate Roger Moen. "Obviously I’m delighted with the result today," commented Harrison. "The Team has put a lot of work in and it has paid off. This result puts me two points ahead of the other Production drivers, and makes me the first leader of the 2001 BTCC. "

HTML’s closest threat came from the Alfa Romeo of Gavin Pyper, who will be starting from the second row of the grid. The Scot is more than pleased with the early results of his car. "The car ran very smoothly here today and we were very pleased to qualify third; the only problem was that there was so much traffic on the track. The car is good fun to drive and it went really well."

All teams were encouraged by the new tires supplied by BF Goodrich. Spokesman Michael Hodges commented: "It all went satisfactorily today and it was good that the drivers could get a few miles under their belts. I am not aware of any issues and everyone seemed quite delighted with the results."

European Touring Car Championship racer Tom Ferrier will rejoin the British Touring car Series for the Thruxton Event this coming weekend in the JS M Alfa Romeo 147. Ferrier, who drove for Gary Ayles in an Alfa 156 in the Production Class last season, will replace Darren Malkin in JS M’s Touring Class car after Malkin experienced a shortfall in sponsorship funds.

JS M boss and ex-BTCC champion Tim Harvey had his first test in the car at Silverstone last week, and may race again later in the year. He said: "It still needs some work, but we’re making progress."

GA Janspeed and JS Motorsport have reason to celebrate this week after collecting their first pieces of silverware in the www.theAA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship this weekend in front of a crowd of over 14,000 at Oulton Park.

Round 5—The Sprint Race

The new-look BTCC combined Sprint Race produced the results that BTC Production fans and teams have been waiting for—a clean sweep of the podium by Moen, Pyper and Harrison. Moen claimed the first victory of his BTCC campaign in the HTML prepared Peugeot 306, just ahead of Gavin Pyper’s Alfa Romeo 156. A ten-second penalty, however, was later imposed by TOCA Tour officials to both Moen and Pyper, producing a revised outcome to the race. The final result handed Harrison the win, placed Barwell Motorsport’s James Kaye in second position and demoted the original winner Roger Moen to third place.

A ten-second time differential was all there was to separate the start of the BTC Touring pack and the Production category. The Tourers were forced to play catch-up by competing a Race distance of 16 laps as opposed to the 15-lap race distance for the Production cars. The race this weekend, however, was always going to be closer than the inaugural combined Sprint at Thruxton two weeks ago. The time differential had been reduced and expectations were that the battle for the podium would all be down to the last two laps of the race.

The best start went to the rear wheel drive Lexus IS200 of Kurt Luby, which catapulted at the lights from 5th position on the grid to second place by Old Hall. The ABG Motorsport prepared car has shown remarkable improvements from it’s inaugural race at Thruxton two weeks ago, but still has some work to do before it reeling in the Vauxhalls.

Championship leader Jason Plato made a disappointing start after experiencing clutch problems. He commented: "I had a very bad start as I struggled with the clutch and had to stall the engine as I thought I was going to jump the start. Luckily for the second race, we have a rolling start as we won’t be able to get the clutch out of the car in time."

The Production teams started ten seconds later with the three cars of Pyper, Harrison and Moen battling it out for the places from the first Lap. Harrison lost the lead to teammate Moen and the GA Janspeed Alfa Romeo of Gavin Pyper. Moen held on to take the win with Pyper securing second. The result was later reversed due to driving standards infringements. Harrison now closes the gap in the Production driver’s Championship to just two points between himself and Championship leader James Kaye.

The HTML Peugeot 306 of Simon Harrison and the Barwell Motorsport Honda Accord of James Kaye shared the Production Class spoils at Thruxton last weekend, just as they did at Brands Hatch three-weeks ago.

The Peugeot driver comfortably held his pole advantage to the checkered flag, but was significantly aided by the chaos behind him that took out several key rivals.

While the Alfa 147s proved to be extremely fragile in the Touring Class race, finishing 12th in the 1^st heat and retiring in race 2, the GA Janspeed Alfa Romeo 156 of Gavin Pyper, which had been right in the thick of things in the Production class, despite also being held up by collisions in the front of the pack, was also hampered by a fluid leak that slowed its pace at the end. The problem also prevented Pyper’s Alfa from starting the Feature Race, while teammate Colin Blair suffered the first of two power steering failures that brought an early end to his Alfa’s two runs.

Dave Pickney, who drove a somewhat steady race with his JS M Alfa 156 in the feature race, was the only Alfa to finish and was able to hold on to 8th position at the checker.

Alfa To Help Form 2002 Season ETC Rules & Format

Three of Europe’s leading carmakers have formed a focus group to accelerate the rule-deciding process for the FIA European Touring Car Championship’s new format for the 2002 racing season. Alfa Romeo, Volvo and BMW have set up a separate panel from the Touring car Technical Working Group—comprised of Honda, Nissan, VW and Seat (Spain) —to pin down the new regulations, before it submits them to the FIA World Motorsport Council meeting in June.

The trio, led by Alfa, is pursuing a similar route to the British Touring Car Championship’s budget-conscious Touring Class rules. They are aiming for similar mechanical regulations, but less aggressive aerodynamics and bodywork. They are likely to limit body shells to 4-door models, rather then allowing the smaller 2-door coupes as commonly seen in the BTCC.

Volvo Motorsports boss Olle Odsell said: "We felt progress wasn’t quick enough. The working group was to big, so we’re getting together with Alfa and BMW to specify things. The rules haven’t been decided, but that’s the route we’re going down. We think they should look more like road cars (than the BTCC)."

Round 6—The Feature Race

The Rolling start of the 30 lap Feature Race saw all four Vauxhalls cleanly through Old Hall. Muller retained his pole position lead but the main battle was for fifth. The return of Tim Harvey to the series in the JS Motorsport Alfa Romeo renewed a rivalry of old between himself and former teammate Steve Soper in the Peugeot. It was clear that both cars were fairly evenly matched, with the second Peugeot of Dan Eaves also involved in the equation. Eaves managed to hold off the Alfa for 10 laps before Harvey got the better of the 406 at Cascades. The pit stops would be crucial.

Muller pitted first for the Vauxhalls, followed on the next lap by Plato. It was Plato’s stop that was the quicker of the two and the Brit took the lead after emerging from the pit lane fractionally in front of his teammate.

Peugeot ran into trouble with their stops with both drivers stalling their 406 Coupes. Harvey went ahead and moved up to third position after the Vauxhalls of Bennett and Plato withdrew due to mechanical failures. A delighted Tim Harvey said afterward: "It was good racing and I really enjoyed it. It was nice to be able to pass and re-pass which we didn’t use to be able to do in Super Touring. There’s also a lot more to come with the car but it had great grip and balance today and it’s good to know that we had the Peugeots and Lexus beaten on sheer speed."

Muller went on to claim his second victory of the day, giving him a 12-point lead in the Championship over James Thompson. He said: "It was a tough race because of the braking and the traffic and I also had somebody on my back for a long period of time, so I just tried to keep enough gap between Jason and myself and not make any mistakes."

The BTC Production Race produced a maiden Feature Race victory for GA Janspeed’s Gavin Pyper in his Alfa Romeo 156. Having led from the start, he finished some twenty-eight seconds ahead of second-place finisher Gareth Howell. This now places the young Scot in third place in the BF Goodrich Tires Production Drivers Championship. Pyper said: "The car was consistently quick but I wanted to just drive at a pace which would make sure I lasted the race distance and win. I’ve waited a long time for that podium place and it felt fantastic!"

HTML’s Simon Harrison achieved his goal of topping the Drivers Championship this weekend and now leads second-placed James Kaye by seven points.

ETCC Super Touring Race 2: Giovanardi Strikes Back

Pit lane start ends Tarquini’s chances of a double

Fabrizio Giovanardi ended Gabriele Tarquini’s winning streak in the FIA European Touring Car Championship in the second race at Zolder, Belgium. First race winner Tarquini was forced to start from the pits as his JAS team had to change his Honda Accord’s power steering box between races. After getting stuck behind a stalled car, he was already 24 seconds behind the leader on the opening lap and, despite setting a sequence of fastest laps, went off into the Sterrenwacht gravel, ending his hopes of a points finish.

"I lost 10 seconds because Symanzick stalled in front of me and it’s forbidden to overtake in the pit lane," said Tarquini. "Maybe I pushed too hard after that because I spun, it was my mistake."

Giovanardi made a great start from his slot near the back of the reversed grid and, more by luck than judgement, managed to keep Roberto Colciago’s fast-starting Audi Quattro behind him into the first corner. They were third and fourth by then, with Giovanardi grabbing second from Paolo Zadra’s BMW at the chicane, where Colciago took the gravelly route but soon followed suit and up to third.

"The start was really important for this race," said Giovanardi. "To be third by the first corner was really good."

Pole sitter Sandro Sardelli, who was delayed with a puncture in the first race, managed to lead for a lap and a half in his PRO Motorsport Nissan Primera, but Giovanardi found a way past exiting the chicane on lap two. Colciago then passed the a lap later, and was closing on Giovanardi when his Audi suddenly lost power on lap four, forcing him into the pits and out of the race.

With Giovanardi out on his own, attention turned to a brilliant battle for second between Sardelli, Nicola Larini (Alfa Romeo 156) and Matt Neal (Nissan Primera). Although Neal hadn’t cured his rear brake problem from race one, which caused a lurid slide and accidental contact with Larini at the Jacky Ickx chicane, he went on to outbrake both Larini and Sardelli to snatch a well-earned second place.

"The locking rears were still catching me out," admitted Neal. "To finish second with such a problem was very pleasing. I was being very gentlemanly towards Larini—I didn’t want to hit another Alfa after the first race!"

Fabrice Walfisch (Honda Accord) just held on to fifth place from a charging Gianluca de Lorenzi (BMW).

Race two results:

1. Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo 156) 13 laps
2. Matt Neal (Nissan Primera) +4.502s
3. Nicola Larini (Alfa Romeo 156) +5.499s
4. Sandro Sardelli (Nissan Primera) +7.015s
5. Fabrice Walfisch (Honda Accord) +8.356s
6. Gianluca de Lorenzi (BMW 320I) +8.866s

Peruzzi killed after barrel-rolling Alfa

Chairman of imports into Germany for Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia Christian Peruzzi died in an accident during second qualifying for the Nurburgring 24-hour race on Friday.

Peruzzi was to race an Alfa 147 diesel in the endurance event, along with three German journalists. During qualifying, the 38-year old's Alfa left the famous Nordschlieffe circuit between the Aremberg and the Schwedenkreuz section - one of the fastest parts of the 25.359km track. Peruzzi is thought to have been going almost 120mph when he lost control, hit the kerb and barrel-rolled several times, with the car coming to rest on its roof.

The session was stopped and doctors were on the scene of the accident almost immediately, but found there was little they could do. Peruzzi sustained massive head injuries.

Peruzzi joined Alfa Romeo after his graduation as an economist in 1988 and was a keen motorsport enthusiast. The part-time racer was one of the people behind Alfa Romeo s works-involvement in the DTM in the mid-90s and was also a strong supporter of the new Alfa 147 Diesel one-make series, which will make its debut in Germany at the end of this season.

After discussions between representatives of Team Scuola Sportiva, which ran the Alfa Romeo-entry, and the race organisers, it was decided the event would continue. Practice went on into the evening last night (Friday).