wsr/fr3.5 silverstone

[bella]

finally! i know a lot of people are planning to turn up for this one, so let's hope the weather holds out.

no driver changes since the hungaroring races apart from anton nebylitskiy returning from the naughty step. pons haven't confirmed anyone for their second car yet, so it'll be interesting to see who they can find to race.

on a seperate note, theres 35 entries (plus some tba's) for the fr2.0 eurocup races, and although there's not more than 20 meganes they've provided some pretty entertaining racing so far this season.

plus we get to see the 2012 fr3.5 car in person for the first time which'll be pretty interesting

i've attached the entry list and the timetable for anyone considering a visit. it's well worth the effort if you're undecided

pre-race previews:
fr3.5
http://tentenths.com/news/showentry.php?e=2484

fr2.0 eurocup
http://tentenths.com/news/showentry.php?e=2483

megane trophy
http://tentenths.com/news/showentry.php?e=2482

weather forecast
http://uk.weather.com/weather/10day-Buckingham-UKXX0687

[Valker]

Originally Posted by bella

on a seperate note, theres 35 entries (plus some tba's) for the fr2.0 eurocup races, ...

Off topic(ish), but could you please post FR2.0 entry list too?

[bella]

sure, here's the eurocup entry

[jondownunder]

Great, didn't know until now that Grosjean will be demonstrating the 2012 car

bella, are those entry lists available to media only? Cos if not I couldn't work out where you got them!

Do you have entry lists for F.Renault UK, the Meganes and Clios too please?

The downloadable programme entry lists are obviously out of date, and missing the Clio Cross Channel thingy entries altogether.

[bella]

sorry jon, just got the normal wsr ones, sro and renault uk seem to think they're running and promoting fight club . they're issued with the pre-race press releases for every round, along with the timetable. i've attached the megane trophy entry list as requested though.

edit: if you're going, then mobile phone network access last year was absolutely pants, texts came through delayed and data connections were a mere figment of our imaginations, so i can recommend pre-downloading the timetable pdf to your phones for reference on the day! also if you're arranging to meet anyone, ring them, don't text them

[strider]

Hey, bella, how did you get to add the attachments or is that an Admin only tweak?

[bella]

pdf attachments i think is a perk of being a forum preacher if it's available it's in the advanced reply options below the bit where you rant and where you can choose to subscribe to replies and so on

[jondownunder]

Originally Posted by bella

i've attached the megane trophy entry list as requested though.

Thanks, bella

[Valker]

Originally Posted by bella

pons haven't confirmed anyone for their second car yet, so it'll be interesting to see who they can find to race.

Nick Yelloly
http://twitter.com/#!/nickyelloly/st...65475296686080
http://twitter.com/#!/nickyelloly/st...65605437550592

[gomick]

Glad Ricciardo is racing

[bella]

Originally Posted by Valker

Nick Yelloly
http://twitter.com/#!/nickyelloly/st...65475296686080
http://twitter.com/#!/nickyelloly/st...65605437550592

crikey that's... risky for the driver. no disrespect to the lad at all but it's definitely going to be an uphill battle.

thanks valker

hopefully ricciardo will pull his socks up for this round. i think it will reflect badly on him as a driver if he can't keep focussed in fr3.5, regardless of his future in f1. the top 15 is so close that it's really down to the driver being 100% committed and accurate.

[N.A-D.R]

Yeah last round was a shocker for Ricciardo. Wasn't really him though the team just weren't competitive enough, since he dominated the same round last year at Tech 1. I'm sure he will be strong at Silverstone though it's a track hes been good at.

[bella]

perhaps now the field is so close, the cars are so well established and engineered by all teams that the excuse of "the team" not being good enough from anyone isn't really a valid one. we saw how well adam carroll got on with p1, and aleshin was considerably better than nebylitskiy in the same car at hungary. drivers with such a certain future in f1 should really be able to extract the best from a car and engineer. in theory.

can you really blame a couple of tenths a lap on a setup issue?

granted, that's really simplified, but...

[Banger racer]

I can't wait for this weekend. Going on Saturday as crowds get mental on Sunday. More looking forward to seeing Clio Cup and FRUK then the rest and just hopnig the weather holds out!

I heard from a friend there's only three UK entries in the Clio Cup race which isn't great.

[jondownunder]

Staying a bit off-topic, I wonder why the Clio Cup UK isn't on the Silverstone bill? Instead we get this Dutch Clios round/Cross Channel Challenge event.

Still looking for an entry list if anyone has one. Can't find a thing on the internet. A few interesting names from single seaters in the well supported Dutch series, if they all come over - including ex F1 driver Michael Bleekemolen:

http://www.clio-cup.nl/rijders

[bella]

i think they canned it over the winter due to cost issues - i thought they'd done the same with the uk formula renault as well, but clearly not. though i think that was the one that should have gone but i guess they had no way of telling so early on that it was going to be such a quiet year for entries.

testing starts tomorrow morning, so check the usual wsr site for timing and an entry list based on that.

[jondownunder]

Thanks. Not really bothered myself anyway, as Clios don't particularly interest me, much prefer to see even a poorly supported F.Renault UK if it came down to one or the other. Just seemed odd that the jewel in the crown of their calendar wasn't on this year, and with no clashing event. Assumed it would be some kind of favourable financial situation given they're Renault championships tagging onto the WSbR meeting.

Originally Posted by bella

testing starts tomorrow morning, so check the usual wsr site for timing and an entry list based on that.

Ah, good advice, didn't occur to me there was testing tomorrow, should be able to see that before I leave in the evening

I was curious if Nicolas Hamilton was one of the British drivers in the Clios, but I see from his Twitter that he isn't racing, but he will still be there on Saturday and Sunday. James Dixon is racing for those that are interested.

[bella]

take your brolly. sunday's forecast looks grim

there's the usual 2 friday collective testing sessions for each of the regular 3 series, plus sessions for the local series as well. if you want to go to the autograph sessions, be there really early and try and avoid sunday. it might be greatly improved in the new paddock though!

as much as i want a nice dry warm weekend for obvious reasons (the last totally dry weekend was monaco in may, before that motorland), the rain might keep some of the less pleasant elements of the crowds away.

[jondownunder]

Originally Posted by bella

if you want to go to the autograph sessions, be there really early and try and avoid sunday.

Have times/locations been released for these?

In any case I'm hoping to get some pictures signed in the paddock around the garages/transporters/awnings... got to get my head around the new Silverstone layout first. I remember when I last went in 2009 looking for drivers was virtually impossible on Sunday with so many people milling through the paddock. Damn free tickets!

the rain might keep some of the less pleasant elements of the crowds away.

That's what I thought 'looking on the bright side' too... neanderthal chavs walking around with cans of Stella I can do without

[bella]

the times are on the timetable i posted at the start of the thread, but they can run early and close early as well, especially if they're busy. it can take 10 minutes to clear the pitlane and on a short timetable with tv commitments it's pretty important to keep to time.... they do happen if it's raining but the drivers don't tend to stay out the whole time.

it will be difficult to find drivers after that session to be honest - the downside of it being a really big event in the uk is that a lot of the guys who aren't comfortable with being bugged every 5 minutes for autographs outside of the sessions just stay in the trucks (especially with our climate ). not all of them are like that - guys like albert costa and sten pentus are really into meeting people when they have the time.

the er, beer drinkers bother me too, but i tend to look on the bright side and look for the many families with the young kids getting their first look at motorsport. it's a really engaging meeting compared to the btcc, and i think it's a great impression for them to be exposed to. i think it's a shame there's too many people on the pitlane walkabouts so the kids can't get to meet the drivers but again, i guess it's a victim of its own success. maybe next year they need to limit the ticket allocation a bit.

[jondownunder]

Originally Posted by bella

the times are on the timetable i posted at the start of the thread, but they can run early and close early as well, especially if they're busy. it can take 10 minutes to clear the pitlane and on a short timetable with tv commitments it's pretty important to keep to time.... they do happen if it's raining but the drivers don't tend to stay out the whole time.

Oops, I scanned that with the words "autograph session" in mind but I guess it's obvious that the pit walk doubles up as an signing session

Will try it on the Saturday though I guess even then the crowds will be horrendous. Will be interesting to take a look at the new pits.

Originally Posted by bella

it will be difficult to find drivers after that session to be honest - the downside of it being a really big event in the uk is that a lot of the guys who aren't comfortable with being bugged every 5 minutes for autographs outside of the sessions just stay in the trucks (especially with our climate ). not all of them are like that - guys like albert costa and sten pentus are really into meeting people when they have the time.

Yeah, I remember from before it wasn't the best environment for finding drivers... I do empathise with them at the bigger events. I remember at one of the Donington meetings a F.Renault Eurocup driver (Carlo van Dam?) crashed at the Old Hairpin and spent the rest of the race with a queue of kids lining up to get his autograph!

the er, beer drinkers bother me too, but i tend to look on the bright side and look for the many families with the young kids getting their first look at motorsport. it's a really engaging meeting compared to the btcc, and i think it's a great impression for them to be exposed to.

Absolutely, all credit to Renault for doing something a lot of other events/sponsors/brands could learn from. It's just the selfish part of me that thinks I'd happily pay to go to this and not have to do battle with the crowds!

[jondownunder]

Updates to F.Renault Eurocup entries based on live timing -

#3 Tech 1 Racing - not there
#7 Koiranen Motorsport - Joni Wiman (FIN) replaced by Hans Villemi (EST)
#16 Epic Racing - not there
#17 Epic Racing - Thomas Jager (AUT) - not there
#18 MP Motorsport - Kevin Kleveros (SWE) replaced by Alexei Chucklin (RUS)
#37 KTR - Meindert van Buuren (NED)
#38 Keo Racing - not there
#73 Fortec Motorsport - Mitchell Gilbert (GBR)
#74 MP Motorsport - not there - Alexei Chucklin (RUS) in car #18 instead

Didn't notice any other differences. Some of these may be testing-only changes I guess.

Just noticed Yelloly was 4th in the first collective FR3.5 test - very impressive!

[bella]

Originally Posted by jondownunder

Yeah, I remember from before it wasn't the best environment for finding drivers... I do empathise with them at the bigger events. I remember at one of the Donington meetings a F.Renault Eurocup driver (Carlo van Dam?) crashed at the Old Hairpin and spent the rest of the race with a queue of kids lining up to get his autograph!

it's fun to see who changes out of their overalls immediately and goes into stealth mode to avoid being spotted and hassled, and which drivers choose to casually linger around looking like a racing driver who needs some hero worship to make up for a bad qualifying session

Originally Posted by jondownunder

It's just the selfish part of me that thinks I'd happily pay to go to this and not have to do battle with the crowds!

i can recommend most of the foreign rounds if you prefer things a little more civilised it'll be interesting to see what the takeup is for paul ricard in a couple of weeks. they've been vastly overestimating the crowds so far, the figures for hungary were a long way off the mark. i think i heard they count the cars in the carparks and assume a certain number of people per car. on that basis i fully expect them to come out and suggest 200,000 were at silverstone come monday...

fr3.5 collective test 1 - http://intranetwsr.alkamelsystems.co...20TEST%201.PDF
fr2.0 eurocup collective test 1 - http://intranetwsr.alkamelsystems.co...20TEST%201.PDF

[bella]

here's the fruk entry list for the test... (click thumbnail for full size image)

[jondownunder]

Here are the Formula Renault UK entries based on testing. Only change to the entry shown in the programme is the addition of Serralles, also racing in the Eurocup...

0 Felix Serralles PUR Fortec Competition
3 Josh Hill GBR Manor Competition
5 Alice Powell GBR Manor Competition
7 Pedro Pablo Calbimonte BOL Fortec Motorsport
11 Oscar King GBR Atech Reid GP
12 Jack Hawksworth GBR Atech Reid GP
16 Dan Wells GBR Atech Reid GP
22 Daniel Cammish GBR Mark Burdett Motorsport
25 Mitchell Gilbert GBR Fortec Motorsport
28 Eftihios Ellinas CYP Atech Reid GP
36 Alex Lynn GBR Fortec Motorsport
42 Jordan King GBR Manor Competition
44 Oliver Rowland GBR Fortec Motorsport

Edit: Beaten to it!