Motorsports

Soaked weather conditions greeted drivers of the All-Japan Formula 3 open-wheel series as they entered the 9th round of the series, taking place at Fuji Speedway. Although the weather stabilized by the time the field entered the qualification round, the track still wasn’t dry enough to allow for a full-on slick tire compound. These conditions, however, did not stop Mardenborough from performing well.

As one of the most famous circuits in the world, Mount Panorama has been a daunting challenge to drivers from around the globe since it opened 78 years ago. Unlike modern auto racing complexes, it runs a single layout, with the current 6.2 km (3.8 mi) circuit hosting major events like the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in February and the Bathurst 1000 in October. That will be changing in the future, with a second layout being added to the East of the existing circuit.

The 100th anniversary Pikes Peak International Hill Climb challenge recently finished, with French racing driver Romain Dumas taking the top spot with a time of 8’51.445 behind the wheel of the Norma M20 RD (#30) in the Unlimited class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRg5Sp1iQMc

The PWC circus stopped at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin this past weekend to take in two rounds at one of the fastest road courses in the US: Road America. By Sunday evening, the most-decorated team in the series’ history would emerge victorious, with a display of dominance the likes of which hasn’t been seen much this year.

The battle for All-Japan Formula 3 Championship title is heating up. After a successful 6th round at Okayama International Circuit during which Jann managed to grab his first victory, an ill-fated collision penalty handed out at the 7th round at Suzuka slightly hurt his successful progress.

It’s an age-old argument that has been at the centre of attention for quite a while, but the usefulness and validation of professional racing simulators has been called into question yet again, this time by F1 World Champion Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Last weekend’s Grand Prix took place in Azerbaijan – a new race in the calendar – and in regards to steps taken to learn the Baku circuit, Hamilton was more critical than most about the simulation suites provided by F1 teams:

With both grief and tears, supporters of the largest Japanese car manufacturer will remember this last weekend at the prestigious Le Mans festival. Toyota lost the race which was seemingly destined to be a sure victory, the first one for the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ after a long 25 years of hovering around the podium’s top spot.

Hotel rooms are booked up, restaurant reservations are all filled, and traffic jams are occurring outside of rush hour. While this would be business as usual in any city with a healthy tourism industry, in the French city of Le Mans it can only mean one thing: it is June and another 24-hour endurance event is about to kick off, bringing a massive influx of foreigners to support the most prestigious motorsport race in the world.

2016 marks the 100th anniversary – but only the 94th running – of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado. Gran Turismo became a platinum sponsor of the event last year, and will expand that relationship by having Polyphony Digital president Kazunori Yamauchi not only attend the event, but drive one of the three Acura pace cars.

Located between Great Britain and Ireland, the small Isle of Man annually hosts one of the most dangerous and thrilling motorcycle events in the world: The International Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race. Although the race is entirely devoted to motorcycles, for the last several years Subaru has been coming to the course in order to challenge the four-wheel lap record. Their latest entry saw a significant improvement, beating the 2014 record by more than 100 seconds!

All-Japan Formula 3 Championship is a small open-wheel series that takes place at various landmark circuits all over Japan. Each weekend drivers are required to tackle two rounds per course (for total of 16 rounds) if they want to claim the title at the end of season. Well known 2011 GT Academy graduate Jann Mardenborough is one of the drivers currently taking part in this interesting event.

What a difference a month makes. When we last caught up with the Pirelli World Challenge after Round 7 (here), Johnny O’Connell and Michael Cooper were leading the points tally in their pair of Cadillac ATS-V.R’s, followed closely by Alvaro Parente in a McLaren 650S GT3. A significant gap existed between Parente and the two Porsche drivers that rounded out the top five – Michael Lewis and Patrick Long. 2011 GT Academy winner Bryan Heitkotter sat in ninth, while his teammate JD Davison slotted in directly behind Patrick Long.

We often hear of people transitioning to professional racing thanks to video games. The GT Academy initiative is perhaps the most obvious example, but it’s hardly the only one. Slightly Mad Studios, the studio behind Project CARS, has released a documentary focusing on the inspiring story of Nicolas Hamilton’s career progression.

https://youtu.be/djZToFEFw_0

It is never too late to share the latest developments in motorsport circles involving GT Academy graduates. Today’s spotlight is reserved for 2011 GT Academy graduate Jann Mardenborough, who recently won his first GT300 race in the second round of the 2016 Super GT season.

Many consider June 2008 the birth of the ‘Gamer-to-Racer’ movement – this was the starting date of the immensely popular and successful GT Academy. Before the Sony-sponsored initiative however, there were pioneers who made the jump from digital to reality through different racing simulations. One of these drivers is Mark Drennan, a sim-racer who started off on the classic ‘Grand Prix Legends’ and has recently obtained a drive in the Battery Tender MX5 Cup. The story of how Drennan got his big break is exciting as it is inspiring for the racing simulation community.

This season of the Pirelli World Challenge has had no shortage of excitement. For 2011 GT Academy grad Bryan Heitkotter and teammate JD Davison – both behind the wheel of a NISMO GT-R GT3 in the top GT class – it started strong. The big Nissans were well-suited to Circuit of the Americas, enabling Heitkotter to nab silver in Round 1, with Davison close behind in 4th. Sadly, complications during the second race of that first weekend pushed them down to 19th and 13th, respectively.

Last week we reported that Polyphony Digital’s CEO Kazunori Yamauchi would be returning to the Nürburgring in the lead up to the 2016 ADAC 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Sharing the driving duties of the #101 BMW M6 GT3 with Matias Henkola, George Richardson, and Max Sandritter, Yamauchi was set to participate in the top SP9 class under the Walkenhorst Motorsport banner.

The second season of JD Motorsport Organization and Nissan Canada’s Micra Cup is about to kick off in less than a month. One of the 30 drivers who will get the opportunity to steer the wheel of these one-make machines and reach for the trophy is Nicolas Hammann, the 2014 North American GT Academy champion. As one of the few newcomers who didn’t compete in the previous season, it is a challenging path to conquer, but worth of his talent and skills.