TCRGRUPPEC^ GMBH22 AUGUST 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 9PIT + PADDOCKVILLENEUVE RACES PORSCHE
Jacques Villeneuve returned to
Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia
action at the Swedish circuit of
Karlskoga last weekend. A radio
problem meant the 1997 Formula 1
champion pitted one lap before the
finish in race one, before he claimed
eighth position in race two.SPEED BREAKS HIS BACK
Former Toro Rosso F1 driver Scott
Speed has broken his back following
a heavy landing after a jump in
a rallycross event. Speed was
competing in a Subaru WRX STI in the
second Nitro Rallycross event at Utah
Motorsports Park, part of the Nitro
World Games conceived by extreme
sports star Travis Pastrana. The
36-year-old Speed was found to have
broken three vertebrae, putting the
remainder of his season into doubt.TIDEMAND FOR TURKEY
Swede Pontus Tidemand will be
back in the M-Sport Ford World
Rally Championship team for next
month’s Rally Turkey. Tidemand, who
contested the first two WRC rounds
of the season with M-Sport, will
complete what would be a three-car
line-up of Fiesta WRCs should Elfyn
Evans be back in action after his back
injury. Gus Greensmith continues to
deputise for the Welshman on this
weekend’s Rally Germany.ROSSI & HINCH TO BATHURST
IndyCar stars Alexander Rossi and
James Hinchcliffe are to team up for
an attack on Australia’s biggest race- October’s Bathurst 1000. The pair
will share a Holden Commodore run
by the Walkinshaw Andretti United
team, crewed not only by WAU staff
but also personnel from Rossi’s
Andretti Autosport squad plus the
United Autosports sportscar team.
While the race will be Rossi’s debut
in an Australian Supercar, Hinchcliffe
competed at Surfers Paradise in 2012.
POWELL’S IMSA CHANCE
W Series race winner Alice Powell
will make her IMSA SportsCar
Championship debut this weekend.
Powell, who spent several seasons out
of the sport before W Series put her
back in the cockpit in 2019, will drive
a GTD-class Acura NSX GT3 for Meyer
Shank Racing at Virginia International
Raceway. She replaces Christina
Nielsen, who is on Suzuka 10 Hours
duty, alongside Katherine Legge.IN THE HEADLINES
TCR GERMANYWorld Rally Championship title contender
Thierry Neuville took a sensational
hat-trick of pole position, fastest lap and
victory on his circuit racing debut in TCR
Germany at the Nurburgring last weekend.
Neuville, third in the WRC standings
with Hyundai, had tested the South
Korean manufacturer’s i30 N TCR car
before the weekend and said he was
“surprised about the speeds you could go”.
The Belgian topped the first free practice
session and then secured pole on Saturday
morning ahead of the weekend opener.
The 19-lap race wasn’t straightforward
for 31-year-old Neuville, as he had to
survive a restart following a safety car,
called when Bradley Burns parked his Pyro
Motorsport Honda Civic by the track after
it had caught fire, but after the restart he
led every lap on his way to victory.
With Neuville not eligible to score
points in TCR Germany as a guest driver,
his Team Engstler team-mate Max Hesse
appeared happy to hold second, finishing
4.233 seconds behind Neuville.
The top 10 finishers lined up in reverse
order for the second race on Sunday,
meaning Neuville began the race in 10th.
While the action started in the dry, rain
began to fall and the race was red-flagged
as it increased in intensity, with Neuville
classified sixth and Hesse winning.
“It was a great opportunity for me,
especially before the Germany Rally,
to drive a little bit on Tarmac,” Neuville
told Autosport. “Every minute you can
get in a car is good, so I’m pleased to
be here and enjoying it.”Neuville confirmed that he wants to take
part in a 24-hour race in the future – and
could do so in a GT3 car – but he wants to
spend at least the next two years focusing
on his quest to score a first WRC title.
“The opportunity [to contest the
Nurburgring 24 Hours] is there every
year to be honest with Hyundai, also
the 24 Hours of Spa there’s always the
opportunity to drive with a good team,”
added Neuville. “It really doesn’t match
with the WRC at the moment. It’s too
time-consuming and takes too much
energy so I prefer to focus on the WRC.”
Antti Buri, the 2012 UK Formula Ford
champion, scored a fourth and a third in
his LMS Racing Audi, and the Finn leads
Hesse by 22 points in the standings with
two rounds remaining.
JACK BENYONNeuville wins tin-top race debut