Junior Open Wheel Talent

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)

In sad news, Formula Two driver Henry Surtees, the son of 1964 F1 World Champion John Surtees, passed away following a freak racing incident at Brands Hatch. The 18-year-old driver was struck in the head by a detached wheel from another competitor’s car while exiting Westfield Bend.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to Henry’s family and friends. Feel free to leave comments in the section below.

Richard Kent who currently sits in second place in the Star Mazda standings after Round 1, will not compete this weekend at Virginia International Raceway after breaking his fibula. Apparently, he tripped crossing the street–according to the Andersen Racing press release– he will return to the drivers seat for Round 3 at Miller Motorsports Park. This is truly unfortunate for Richard, but I guess accidents do happen (even if they involve tripping over a curb). In the meantime, we wish Richard the best and hope to see him back in the car very soon.

This unfortunate story reminds me of an NHL report last year, when the St. Louis Blues No. 1 pick (2006) Erik Johnson, ended his season by stepping off a golf cart. It leaves the rest of us sitting here saying…. Did this just happen?

I have just received word that nineteen year old British F3 driver Steven Guerrero was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. From what I can gather, Guerrero is in serious condition with multiple injuries. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.

Guerrero, who hails from Colombia, finished 2nd in the British F3-National class in 2008 with 2 wins and 9 podiums. He also spent two years in the Formula BMW-Americas program driving for HBR Motorsport. Stay tuned for updates.

(photo: http://www.jamesbearne.com/)

Atlantic Championship front runner, Carl Skerlong will miss the series finale after sustaining a concussion during Tuesday’s promoter test at Road Atlanta. The crash occured in Turn 2 of the 2.54 mile racetrack, located in Braselton, Georgia. The 20 year old Pacific Coast Motorsports driver arrived in Atlanta on Monday holding down fourth place in the overall driver championship, but will now have to watch the final round from the sidelines.

Apparently the doctors have also warned him not to indulge in paddock surfing.

Skerlong was released from the Northeast Georgia Medical Center after receiving a precautionary CT-Scan late Tuesday. Due to certain risks associated with a head trauma, Skerlong will not be cleared to race.

Former F1 and Champ Car great Nigel Mansell did some laps in a go-kart on the new layout at Thunderbolt Raceway (NJMP). He must have given his son Greg a few tips after the venture; Greg Mansell received the official hard charger note in the box score over the weekend enroute to a career best finish of 7th in the Atlantic Championship race on Sunday. Greg’s brother Leo Mansell finished 12th in Sunday’s race.

ATS Formula 3 driver Hamad Al Fardan survived his tremendous wreck at The Nurburgring without any serious injuries only to break his metatarsus in a leisure activity, forcing him to miss the next two rounds of the Championship.

Several Indy Lights drivers were scheduled to try out dirt track racing over the weekend at Terre Haute, Indiana..in an effort to raise money for flood victims of Wabash Valley. Unfortunately the event was cancelled due to rain (isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?).
The event has since been rescheduled for October 4th.

International Formula Master driver, Chris van der Drift became the first Kiwi driver to try out the new Ferrari powered A1GP Car.

World Series by Renault driver Fabio Carbone will be driving a Nissan Nismo GT-R next weekend in a one-off at the Suzuka 1000km.

Italian Motors driver and current VW TDI Cup Championship leader, David Jurca, had another successful weekend by finishing sixth at Lime Rock. Retaining his championship lead.

British F3 hotshoe, Andy Meyrick looks to make his return to the racetrack for the British F3 series finale at Donington Park following a mysterious illness that has sidelined him since early July. We hope for a speedy recovery for the Welsh driver as he has consistently proven his talents behind the wheel.

Former open wheel star, A.J. Allmendinger is reportedly “feeling the pressure letting up“, despite a recent article by Marty Smith of ESPN.com claiming the opposite. Just this week, A.J. was named to the Atlantic Championship All Star Team. It would be a shame to see A.J. on the sidelines for 2009.

Kart racing may never be an Olympic sport, but American gearbox champion Gary Carlton continues to “Globetrott for ICC Success”.

Bahrain’s hottest F1 Prospect, Hamad Al Fardan, was hospitalized over the weekend after a crash at the Nurburgring in the German F3 Championship. The 21 year old was later released despite some serious bruises.

Atlantic Championship driver David Garza dislocated his hip last weekend while training in his hometown of Monterrey, Mexico. His driving coach, and current A1GP driver, David Martinez will replace Garza this weekend at Road America in the #7 Atlantic Car. This will be a good opportunity for Martinez to get back into a car and show what he can do. The Mexican driver has three Champ Car starts with Forsythe Racing and 2 starts for Team Mexico in their A1GP car.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. was released from the hospital on Sunday following surgery to clean up a staph infection inside his left knee. The doctors worked on removing an infected bursa sac along with the infected portion inside the knee joint. Apparently the infection was created due to continual bruising, due to the high g-forces inside the cockpit. At this time, the medical staff has not announced whether or not Arie will be cleared to race at the Kentucky Speedway on August 9th. Luyendyk Jr. will follow up next Tuesday at the Indiana Orthopedic Hospital, hopefully the surgery will have cleaned everything up as a staph infection can be very dangerous.