Four Way Battle for 2011 Clio Cup Honours.

The 1.94 Mile Rockingham Motor Speedway is the venue for rounds thirteen and fourteen of the 2011 AirAsia Clio Cup this weekend. In what has been an unforgettable season to date, as the field arrives in Northamptonshire, the top four drivers are separated by just seventeen points.

Currently topping the points is former double Champion Paul Rivett in the Lumison BlueSquare Data/Stancombe Vehicle Engineering run car, with an eleven point advantage after a quiet weekend at the Snetterton 300 circuit last time out.

The unpredictability of the Clio Cup meant that he extended his advantage over Aron Smith (Team Pyro) by eight points. Smith recently made his BTCC debut at Knockhill.

Rivett is ready to stamp his mark on the Rockingham race weekend: “I always love Rockingham as I do with all of the circuits,” explains Rivett. “The infield section is absolutely brilliant and there is a great combination of corners.

“Were going to do our best now to set the pace for the rest of the year and were going to be on that front row and stay out of trouble, I’m very feeling very confident thinking about the title.”

Both Smith and James Dixon (Total Control Racing) have proved this season that they are forces to be reckoned with as they arrive at Rockingham having secured three and four victories in the 2011 campaign to date. Snetterton 300 saw Smith retire from the opening encounter while tasting victory in the second while for Dixon, the opposite happened – he won the opening race before retiring from the second.

“I’m looking forward to going back to Rockingham as we were quick there earlier on in the year”, says Dixon, who currently trails Rivett by 15 points. “I’m feeling very confident but would really like to take away a good couple of wins from there to boost my hopes of winning the championship at the last round at Brands Hatch.”

“I’m very pleased to be in the title hunt,” said Smith. “Heading to Rockingham I would really like to leave the weekend with a few wins under my belt. I have raced there previously in the Winter Series a few years back and got a brace of second place finishes. I think with the track knowledge that I have of the circuit, I am very capable of achieving good things this weekend.”

The fourth driver in the hunt is James Colburn (Westbourne Motorsport). He currently lays fourth overall but only seventeen points off leader Rivett – this is all the more impressive as he is yet to win a Clio Cup race.

“Rockingham has some good memories for me as I gained my first ever Clio Cup podium there last year,” says Colburn. “I think that we are going to be very strong there this weekend. It’s going to be quite tight at the sharp end as all of the title contenders have raced here in a Clio Cup car previously.”

Nicolas Hamilton secured two hard fought results, in his first season of racing. The younger brother of 2008 Formula 1 World Champion Lewis only made the decision to embark on his own racing career a few weeks before the start of the season. He is in good spirits ahead of the trip to Northamptonshire.

“I’m looking forward to returning Rockingham this weekend as this is the first track that I drove on at the Media day test back in March,” says Hamilton. “Rockingham is a good track to learn as there are so many variations, it really helped me improve as a driver and shake off some bad habits that I had. Last time out at Snetterton was our best weekend to date so I really feel that the top ten is a realistic aim as I am more experienced now compared to back in March.”

As part of Rockingham’s 10^th anniversary celebrations, Mark Gibbons, a fan of the AirAsia Renault Clio Cup, will also line up on the grid for the race weekend as a team-mate to Rivett at Stancombe Vehicle Engineering, as a prize run by the circuit.

Gibbons, who is no stranger to the series having previously contested a number of rounds back in 1994, will be looking to thrive on the opportunity of racing against some of Britain’s most promising talents.

Ten people were selected to attend an assessment day, which featured a high profile judging panel consisting of double British Touring Car Champion Chris Hodgetts, Former British Touring Car Racer and Renault Clio Cup Champion Danny Buxton, Darren Burke and Stefan Hodgetts.

AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK action gets underway on Saturday September 17th with qualifying at 11:20 and race 1 at 16:15. Race 2 takes place on Sunday at 14:40.

Will History be made at Rockingham?

Rockingham plays host to rounds fifteen and sixteen of the 2011 Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship with current Championship leader Alex Lynn (Fortec Motorsport) leading the way with an advantage of forty one points over Tio Ellinas (Atech GP).

Lynn heads into the weekend looking to celebrate his eighteenth birthday in style. He currently sits just two wins away from breaking the seventeen year old record of eleven wins in a season, set by James Matthews during his 1994 Championship winning season.

“Rockingham is a great circuit for us and I think that it will suit our car quite nicely,” explains Lynn. “I’m really looking forward to the meeting and hopefully we can have another good result and extend our points lead over Tio. To have the chance to beat James’s 17 year-old record would be a massive point in my career to add to what has already been a fantastic season, I have loved every minute of it.”

Ellinas arrives at Rockingham after a difficult weekend last time out, during the World Series by Renault event on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. The young Cypriot racer has been a consistent visitor to the podium, with eleven top three finishes from fourteen races so far this season secured a third and fourth at Silverstone and he is looking to take the Championship fight to Lynn in Northamptonshire.

“My approach is to put myself in the best possible position to win races,” says Ellinas. “Everything is still possible in the championship battle, it’s not a huge problem right now but we have to hope that somewhere down the line Lynn has a bad weekend and that I am able to capitalize on that and gain some more wins.”

It isn’t just the battle for the Championship which is yet to be resolved, as the battle for third and fourth place is just as fierce. Ollie Rowland (Fortec Motorsport), the current Graduate Cup leader currently holds the upper hand after Silverstone GP, having extended his advantage over Jack Hawksworth (Atech GP) – Hawksworth will be looking for a return to the form he showed at Croft earlier in the season, when he secured victory in round nine.

After a fourth and a second at Silverstone GP we have improved quite a lot,” says Rowland. “I really like racing on fast circuits so I think that Rockingham will suit me quite well. It’s going to be a tough to beat Alex but that is the aim and I’ll work hard going into the next race, hopefully we can make more progress and get that win.”

Other drivers to watch out for at Rockingham include Daniel Cammish (Mark Burdett Motorsport), who joined the series at Oulton Park with a limited amount of testing but who secured a maiden podium finish at Silverstone GP and will look to improve on that result at Rockingham.

“I’ve got some really fond memories of Rockingham as I took pole position there in my second ever car race,” says Cammish. “We haven’t driven there in a Formula Renault yet but I hadn’t at Silverstone GP, so it will be interesting to see what comes.

“Rockingham is a very technical track but I have always been a big fan of the infield section, particularly the hairpins, so I know that I will be able to find quite a lot of time there. I definitely think that we are going to be in the mix this weekend.”

Jordan King (Manor Competition) is another driver to watch out for, having secured a podium finish earlier in the season before being crawly denied a maiden victory in the series at Snetterton.

Qualifying ahead of rounds fifteen and sixteen of the 2011 Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship takes place at 10.20 and 14.30 on Saturday, 17 September with the races taking place at 10.40 and 16.00 on Sunday, 18 September.

No Brazilian Trip for Superleague Formula.

The Superleague Formula races in Brazil have been cancelled after the series organisers recieved news from the bosses of the Goiania Circuit that they would not be ready to host the series over the 8^th/9^th October.

Goiania had been expected to host the third round of the FIA sanctioned series but with the 2.37 Mile track undergoing resurfacing work, which will not be completed in time – the decision was taken to cancel the trip there and the following race weekend, which was due to take place over the 15/16 October, as there wasn’t enough time to arrange a replacement race weekend.

Robin Webb, Competitions Director said about the announcement: “Unfortunately time has run out for us to commit to transporting the cars and equipment across the Atlantic. For a European-based operation it is simply too much of a risk to send everything there without being wholly confident Goiânia is ready to hold a race. It’s also unfair on our teams and drivers who have understandably been seeking our assurances on this matter. I know our colleagues in Brazil are as frustrated as I am but realistically there was no other satisfactory decision we could consider. I want to make it clear however that this has in no way affected the chances of hosting a race next season.”

Next up for the series is a trip to China and Beijing over the 29/30 October.

French Challenge for Formula Renault ALPS.

Paul Ricard in France sees the penultimate round of the 2011 Formula Renault ALPS series, as it joins forces once again with the World Series by Renault event this weekend, 17/18 September.

In the opening five race weekends, the series has seen six different race winners and with four races left, the destination of the crown is still unknown and the nettle will go down to the season finale in October, at Spa-Francorchamps.

Heading to Paul Ricard, the battle for the Championship is still wide open and the current Championship leader is Javier Tarancon (Tech 1 Racing). The Spaniard moved ahead of French driver Yann Zimmer (Arta Engineering) last time out at Hungaroring, but at present, only leads the Championship by eight points.

Only fourteen points behind Tarancon is his team-mate, Paul-Loup Chatin (Tech 1 Racing) – the Frenchman heads to Paul Ricard having secured a victory at the Hungaroring last time out as well as securing his maiden Eurocup Podium at Silverstone a few weeks back. The top three in the Championship have won half of the races in 2011, while Tarancon is the qualifying king with six Pole Positions.

Behind the top three is another race winner – Melville McKee (Arta Engineering) has secured three victories to date this season, at Imola and the Red Bull Ring. He is not out of the reckoning for the title.

Leading the Italian charge is Kevin Gilardoni (Team Torino Motorsport). Gilardoni won on the streets of Pau and is currently sixth in the standings, behind Austrian Thomas Jager (Epic Racing) but ahead of the next best Italian, Stefano Colombo (Epic Racing).

Eighth and ninth in the Championship are Cristiano Marcellan (Tech 1 Racing) and Federico Gibbin – Gibbin secured the honours in the very first Formula Renault ALPS race at Monza but since then, he had been out of luck.

Other Italian drivers in Formula Renault ALPS are brothers Edolo and Vittorio Ghirelli (One Racing) – Vittorio secured a podium finish during the first race of the weekend at Hungaroring. Female representation on the grid comes from Giada De Zen, who will be racing for Team Torino Motorsport.

The weekend schedule will see a Free Practice session held on Friday, with qualifying taking place at 18.50 Saturday, and it is due to finish at 19.15.

Rounds eleven and twelve will take place on Sunday, starting at 11.30 and 18.25.

Caine Confirmed at Airwaves Racing.

Michael Caine has officially been confirmed as the third Airwaves Racing driver for this weekend’s eighth race weekend at Rockingham, after the rumours of a third car for the team have been around all season – with various names being mooted for the third seat.

After a series of negotiations within the team and the sponsors, David Bartrum has confirmed that the Motorbase Performance run Airwaves Racing will expand to a three car outfit, having put the woes of their Knockhill adventure behind them.

Team Principal Bartrum said about the announcement of Caine graduating to the BTCC: “Michael Caine is the longest serving Motorbase Performance driver so we know him as good as we will ever know any other driver. Michael does everything he can for the team; he’s a Motorbase team player through and through and is the perfect team-mate to drive alongside Mat [Jackson] and Liam [Griffin].”

“The team and Michael are under no illusions that he’s taking on a particularly tough task at the hardest point of the season but with his personality he will be a great addition to the BTCC. I know a lot of people want to see him have this chance so I hope that all the fans will give him the support he rightly deserves.”

Caine, who will pilot the #6 Airwaves Racing Ford Focus joined the team in 2006, having previously raced in British GT and Le Mans. He has been a regular contender in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, having finished as the Championship runner up in 2008 and 2010.

Caine said about the announcement:  “It’s an opportunity that I thought would never ever arise and I’m delighted.  I just hope that I can wear the Airwaves brand with pride and represent Motorbase and the sponsors in the correct manner to deliver the results that the team deserve and support Mat and Liam with their challenge for the Championship, and in my little way, hopefully enjoy it!”

The final preparations are well underway before the trip to Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire, where the team will aim to bounce back from their Knockhill problems and close the gap to the Championship leaders.

Oly Collins, Team Manager of Airwaves Racing is pleased to finally have the third car out on track:  “It’s good to finally have the third Airwaves car out and absolutely fantastic to have Michael [Caine] in the seat. He’s very much part of the Motorbase team and has been for some time. After a demo run in the car at Snetterton, he got the BTCC bug as did some of the sponsors and it’s great that he’s finally getting the chance to run in the  BTCC and to help the Airwaves Racing team with our Championship challenge.”