Junior Open Wheel Talent

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Renger van der Zande has decided to leave the British F3 championship, where he is currently second in the points standings, and join Motopark Academy in the F3 Euro Series at the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend.

This is all pure speculation, but the real story probably goes something like this…

Renger was brought in early this season by Hitech team manager David Hayle to help teammate Walter Grubmeller.  With the team championship all but wrapped up heading into the season finale, Renger is likely parting ways with Hitech so that Grubmeller can pick up the second spot in the championship.  Max Chilton, who is currently fourth, won’t be able to overtake Renger for third (even with the Dutchman vacant and competing in the F3ES).

Regardless, all parties involved seem to be kosher and van der Zande is looking forward to this weekend’s F3 Euro Series event:

“I drove for Motopark in Oschersleben this year and it is a great team. I hope to be back on the pace straight away but it is never easy joining a series during the season. Although I have done it once this year and I hope to achieve the same success in the last 3 rounds of the European Series”

“I have enjoyed my time in British F3. It is a great, historic series where many top drivers have won and for me to have got 3 victories and 9 podiums in total and not having done the full season, I am very happy. I want to thank Hi Tech for giving me the chance to race.”

It will be nice to see Renger back in the Formula 3 Euro Series this weekend.  He finished 14th after starting 25th in early August, when he made his one-off debut with Motopark Academy at Oschersleben.  He ran 20 races with Prema Powerteam in the 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series, finishing 4th in the overall championship.

The Formula 3 Euro Series drivers spent the weekend at Brands Hatch for Rounds 13 & 14 of the 2009 championship.

Volkswagen Powerplant

It was a fairly eventful weekend and one that championship leader Jules Bianchi would like to soon forget.  Bianchi crashed in Round 13 after getting together with Tiago Geronimi.  It appeared to me that if Geronimi would have given Bianchi room at the exit of Paddock Hill Bend, the duo could have made it through easily.   That said, Paddock Hill Bend  is a very fast corner and leaving room for a competitor at the exit is easier said than done.  Regardless, it wasn’t the end result that either driver had hoped for.  Bianchi also retired in Round 14 after just six laps.  He still holds the overall lead in the championship by 16-points.

Mika Mäki scored his first win of the 2009 season in Round 13.  Round 14 offered a historical finish as Brendon Hartley scored his first career win in the Formula 3 Euro Series.  It was also the first win in the series for his team; Carlin Motorsport.  Perhaps even more impressive, is the fact that this was the first weekend sweep for Volkswagen in 2009.

Weekend Hard Chargers:

• Round 13- Pedro Enrique improved 6 positions, finishing 17th after starting 23rd.
• Round 14- Nick Tandy improved 9 positions, finishing 12th after starting 21st.

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Complete Results

Stefano Coletti will miss this weekend’s Formula 3 Euro Series race at Brands Hatch after suffering a slight fracture of the sternum via a crash in his latest GP2 outing at Spa.  The 20-year-old driver was battling for a top-ten finish, after starting from pitlane, when he lost the car and impacted the barriers.  The incident occurred with only a few laps remaining.  Coletti is currently participating in a rehab program with hopes of returning later this month for the Barcelona round.  The season concludes October 23-25, 2009 at the Hockenheimring in Germany.

Prema Powerteam signed Tim Sandtler as a replacement for Coletti at this weekend’s event at Brands Hatch.  It was initially reported that the team would be fielding three cars, but I’m assuming they wanted to get a backup driver ready in case Coletti wasn’t able to return. Sandtler has previous experience in Formula BMW, F3 Euro Series, and International Formula Master.

James Allen of JA.F1 published a nice piece yesterday revolving around Felipe Massa’s replacement for Spa (Belgian Grand Prix)…. and beyond if necessary.   At this time, Luca Badoer will drive for Ferrari at Spa.  His performance will likely determine his future as Massa’s temporary replacement.

The story gets interesting when James mentions Formula 3 Euro Series driver Jules Bianchi as a possible Ferrari recruit.  Bianchi has been stellar this year in the F3 Euro Series, claiming 6 wins, 8 podiums, and 3 pole positions.  Those numbers put him on the top step of the podium in 50% of his race starts.  He currently leads the championship by a significant margin.

In late July, Adrien Tambay suffered a concussion while playing football in the paddock at Spa. The situation was kept pretty quiet, but it was announced today that he is well on his way to a full recovery. He hopes to be back in the car for the Formula 3 Euro Series event at Brands Hatch, which is scheduled for the first week in September.

I’m sure by now most of you have heard that F3 Euro Series driver, Adrien Tambay has suffered a head injury while playing football in the paddock at Spa. The 18-year-old Frenchman was scheduled to make his British F3 debut this weekend. Unfortunately, that will be put on hold as Tambay is currently in the hospital for his injuries. Adrien is the son of ex-Formula One race winner Patrick Tambay.

I haven’t received word on the severity of the injury, but will post updates in the comment section as they become available.
(photo: www.tambay27.com)

American Jake Rosenzweig is scheduled to drive in the British F3 race this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps with Carlin Motorsport. The 20-year-old race driver is a regular for Carlin Motorsport in the F3 Euro Series but was offered a one-off opportunity to drive for the team in British F3.

I failed to mention this in my weekend recap of the F3 Euro Series event at Zandvoort, but Rosenzweig finished 3rd in Sunday’s race. The result marked his first career podium in the F3 Euro Series. He was the highest finishing Volkswagen driver in the field, in fact, he and Jean Karl Vernay are the only Volkswagen drivers to finish on the podium in 2009 (after 8 events). Adding to that, Vernay–who drives for Signature– isn’t a rookie, whereas Rosenzweig is. Prior to the start of the 2009 season, I stated that this might be a break-out year for Rosenzweig. I’m not sure you could term his season so far as a break-out year, but he is well on his way.

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

After making what many assumed was a one-off debut with Kolles & Heinz Union in last weekend’s Formula 3 Euro Series event at Norisring, Nick Tandy has signed a contract with the team to compete in the remaining 2009 F3ES events. The catch is, he will be dropping his British F3 efforts with JTR. Tandy was currently in third place in the British F3-International Class after 8 Rounds. He claimed his first BF3 win just over a month ago at Rockingham.

JTR has announced that they plan to continue their 2009 British F3 campaign and are actively looking for a replacement driver. Many are wondering if American Josef Newgarden, who drives a JTR entry in the British Formula Ford series, will step-in and fill the seat.

The Formula 3 Euro Series drivers spent last weekend at the Norisring circuit in southern Germany. Jules Bianchi and Christian Vietoris claimed the race wins on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. There were a few other drivers who managed to put in some incredible drives and deserve some press.

Johnny Cecetto Jr. earned the hard charger award on Saturday by improving 9 positions. The 19-year-old Venezuelan driver finished 17th after starting 25th.

Round 5- Full Results

On Sunday, Brazilian driver Tiago Geronimi put in the drive of the weekend by improving an astonishing 22 positions. The 20-year-old rookie finished 5th after starting 27th.

Round 6- Full Results
(photo: http://f3euroseries.com)