FIA Cross Country World Cup
Molly Taylor has continued her foray into international off road racing with a successful debut in Baja Aragon.
After a difficult World Rally Championship round in Estonia earlier this month, Taylor’s switch to a Can-Am off road buggy proved a positive one, showing plenty of pace throughout the challenging event.
Competing in the FIA Cross Country World Cup round for South Racing Can-Am alongside the highly experienced German co-driver Dennis Zenz, Taylor managed to pull off a respectable fifth in class after two official timed sections.
In what was her first ever drive in the team’s Can-Am Maverick X3, the 33-year-old had plenty of pace throughout the 580 competitive kilometre event with her best section result coming on Saturday morning where she finished second fastest.
While the current Extreme E Series leader still had some hairy moments, it was a highly successful outing with plenty of learnings to come out ahead of the next round.
“I had a great time in Baja Aragon. It’s my first ever race doing Baja so I didn’t really know what to expect but we just loved every minute off road,” Taylor said.
“We loved the roads and the challenge. To work with the South Racing Crew was awesome as well - we are very happy.”
British F3 Championship
Christian Mansell and Bart Horsten had highly profitable weekends in the British Formula 3 Championship with both drivers moving up in the standings after the round at Spa-Francorchamps.
Of the two though, it was the younger Mansell who ended up with the better weekend overall as the 16-year-old also enjoyed his best weekend of the season.
During qualifying, Horsten showed better pace, securing pole position for both race one and two, however the West Australian was unable to capitalise, finishing both races in fifth and fourth respectively.
Mansell on the other hand ended up winning that opening race after a stellar drive and the fastest lap before grabbing third place in the round's second race at the expense of Horsten - just eight tenths the difference between the two at the chequered flag.
In the final race of the weekend, which was a reverse grid, Mansell finished the higher of the two in P6 and seven bonus points due to his overtakes, while Horsten finished in 10th place and six extra points.
Heading into the round, Mansell was fourth on the standings and Horsten in eighth place, however both drivers moved up with Mansell going to third and Horsten leapfrogging four drivers to slot into fourth just behind Mansell.
The next round of the British F3 Championship will be at Snetterton Circuit on 7–8 August.
British GT Championship
Harry Hayek’s first full season in the British GT Championship has seen another difficult outing take place with the New South Welshman forced to retire for the second consecutive round.
The McLaren academy driver was teamed up with local driver Katie Milner in one of three Jenson Team Rocket RJN prepared McLaren 570S GT4s with the fourth round of the championship taking place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa.
In what was his first time racing on the famous Belgian circuit, Hayek and co-driver Milner had a decent start to the weekend, their eventual practice sessions leading up to a P8 in qualifying.
The duo then continued their charge up the field for the race itself and were on track for a class podium before a very late tyre puncture saw the #3 McLaren forced back to the garage.
While it was a difficult result, Hayek will have the opportunity to bounce back next month with the next round of the championship just two weeks away at Snetterton Circuit.
Formula European Regional
Hayek wasn’t the only Australian in Spa over the weekend with Tommy Smith continuing his season in the Formula European Regional Championship.
A difficult meeting behind the wheel saw Smith end up in the mid 20s for both practice sessions before qualifying in P22 and P26 for the category’s two races during the round.
The Victorian was unable to make up a place during the first race as he battled hard for a top 20 spot against JD Motorsport teammate Ido Cohen and Axel Gnos but fell just short and ended up finishing where he started in P22.
In the second race, Smith had it all to do as he looked to work his way up the field, but was unfortunately forced to retire after just four laps – adding further disappointment to what has been a challenging season.
The Formula European Regional Championship now has a lengthy break for the rest of the summer with the next round to run as a support category to the International GT Open at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on 11-12 September.
