Autosport – 18 April 2019

PIT + PADDOCK

W^ S

ER

IES

Beitske Visser leads

Megan Gilkes at

the Lausitzring

18 APRIL 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 9

IN THE HEADLINES

LE MANS FIELD UP TO 62 CARS

The Le Mans 24 Hours grid will be increased

to a record 62 cars for his year’s race with

the addition of two temporary garages at

the start of the pitlane. The move means the

High Class Racing and United Autosports

LMP2 entries move up from the reserve list.

EKSTROM BACK IN RALLYCROSS

Two-time DTM champion and 2016 World

Rallycross title winner Mattias Ekstrom will

return to the WRX fray for next month’s

round at Spa, on 11 May. Ekstrom stood

down from full-time competition at the end

of last season, but his EKS team is continuing

to run Audi S1s this season. While he’ll be

racing an Audi in Belgium, it won’t be one of

his own – instead it’s with fellow Swedish

squad JC Raceteknik. He’ll be joined by

former Blancpain GT Audi ace Enzo Ide, who

is making his rallycross debut after buying

an S1 from EKS at the end of last season.

HOY TO MAKE WRX DEBUT

Cycling superstar-turned-sportscar racer

Chris Hoy is to make his WRX debut in next

week’s Barcelona round. The 43-year-old will

drive an Olsbergs MSE-built Ford Fiesta run

by Xite Racing, and was due to get his first

taste of the machine at Pembrey this week.

LECLERC AND YE ARE F1 JUNIORS

Two more leading talents have been

vacuumed up by F1 junior programmes in

recent days. Arthur Leclerc, brother of Ferrari

F1 newboy Charles, has become a Sauber

Junior for his switch from French F4 to its

German equivalent. Leclerc Jr will race for

the US Racing team of Gerhard Ungar and

Ralf Schumacher, which ran Lirim Zendeli

to the 2018 title. Meanwhile, Chinese talent

Yifei Ye joins compatriot Guan Yu Zhou in the

Renault ranks. Ye, a title contender in the

Formula Renault Eurocup last season, is

racing in FIA F3 this year with Hitech GP.

BTCC ISSUES HYBRID INVITATION

British Touring Car Championship organiser

TOCA has issued an invitation to tender for

the supply of a hybrid system planned for a

2022 introduction. Last year the BTCC began

an investigation into hybrid push-to-pass

technology. The plan is for a specified hybrid

unit to be fitted to all cars as an addition to

their current two-litre turbo powerplant.

AUSTIN BACK ON TRACK IN ALFA

BTCC race winner Rob Austin will return to

the wheel of the HMS Racing Alfa Romeo

Giulietta during the annual mid-season

tyre test at Snetterton in July. HMS decided

to take a sabbatical from the category in

2019 to allow it to regroup and focus on

returning the following year.

INDYCAR Fernando Alonso hit the track at Texas Motor Speedway last week with the Carlin-supported
McLaren IndyCar team as he gears up for his second Indianapolis 500 assault. He drove one of McLaren’s
two Dallara-Chevys on the 1.5-mile oval. Photograph by Owens/IMS

Women rack up mileage

W SERIES

A final pre-season three-day test for

the new all-female W Series has taken

place this week at the Lausitzring, with

two weeks to go before the series gets

under way at Hockenheim.

The final grid of 18 drivers – who

were picked from an intensive selection

process – had the opportunity to

further familiarise themselves with the

Alfa Romeo-powered Tatuus F-

Formula 3 car they will race in

the inaugural season.

The drivers, who include recently

crowned MRF Challenge champion

Jamie Chadwick and ex-GP3 points

scorer Alice Powell, had previously

driven the car as part of the final

selection test at Almeria last month.

Each car is operated by Hitech GP, with

the Lausitzring test giving each driver

the opportunity to work closely with

her allocated engineer.

Series director Dave Ryan said:

“We have a lot of work to do not just

on car performance, but also just as

importantly on working with the drivers

on start procedures, race starts and

operating out of a remote paddock and

keeping to a fixed, very tight schedule.”

LUCY MORSON