Driver changes afoot in WSR?

Just like the recent driver changes in GP2, it looks like the WSR field will undergo a few tweaks before the next round in Monaco.

It has come out today that Borja Garcia may be about to lose his seat at RC Motorsport, and from the article below it sounds to me like he has some sort of sponsorship problems:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67421

At Fortec Motorsport, Julian Theobald has been on a race-by-race deal so far this season, but apparently the team have been in talks with Andy Soucek and he could be in the car from Monaco onwards. The only slight problem with the deal is that as Soucek was the official development driver for the new WSR car, Fortec would have to gain permission from the other 12 teams in order to run him.

http://www.italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=18998&cat=5

Would be a shame to lose Garcia, as I'm a big fan of his. From what I've read so far (race reports in Autosport), he's had a pretty poor start to the season though, so perhaps someone's who has watched the races can shine a bit more light on this.

And there was me thinking WSR would have some kind of driver stability this year with no Eurointernational in the field... :D

Seriously though, I really hope Soucek gets in at Fortec. The team seem to be on the fringes of becoming proper front runners and Soucek is a far better driver than his treatment at FMS in GP2 deserved. Its not too late to catch up either!

http://italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=19138&cat=5
Fauzy drives Fortec at monaco.

Would be a shame to lose Garcia.

didnt garcia finish 2nd to danielsson in 2006 :rolleyes: - he shouldnt even be racing in this series IMO, should've progressed surely ;)

Well if you would fund him a GP2 drive he surely would not object. He obviously does WS again to stay in the picture.

so his funding only gets him so far does it??? how many years has he been racing in wsr i wonder :rolleyes:

He has the career path of a ping-pong ball, 05 in GP2, 06 in WSR, 07 in GP2 and 08 in WSR :)

Garcia's done two years in GP2 (2005 & 2007) with the year in between in WSR with RC Motorsport, so yeah he certainly seems to have reached a ceiling.

In '06 when he came 2nd (5pts behind Danielsson) he did manage to finish ahead of Maldonado, Soucek, Parente, Hanley, Valsecchi and Vettel, but they all seem to be moving in the opposite direction to him now.

He was linked with a Williams test drive role earlier this year (perhaps through being a former Toyota favourite?), but nothing seemed to come of that.

Maybe it's time to bout tin-tops for him? ;-)

Nah I reckon he'll end up in GTs before tin-tops. Could be quite good in a prototype at Le Mans, with some experience.

Nah I reckon he'll end up in GTs before tin-tops. Could be quite good in a prototype at Le Mans, with some experience.
Yeah, I'm sure that Epsilon Euskadi wouldn't mind another decent Spanish driver in one of their EE1 coupes.

While I'm on here, anyone else received their Silverstone WSR tickets yet? Mine came through last Saturday :)

Got'em m8, been waiting 1.5 months.

Yes WSR, Mine hit my door mat monday morning :woot:

Just a hunch, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Esteban Guerrieri driving for Ultimate Signature (or whatever they're called) at Monaco.

I feel sorry for Garcia. I think he is really underrated. Everyone was waxing lyrical about Karun Chandhok at Durango, but while he did win at Spa, Garcia finished the season 10th overall after scoring in nine of the races.

Think he is GP2 material, which is why I'm a bit mystified he's been well off so far this year, particularly as he paced testing.

italiaracing announce Guerreri driving for Ultimate in WSR, they are not sure instead of who it will be (Carbone or Cantelli)

I hope it's not Carbone, but I have a feeling it will be unless they want two experienced drivers?

Surely it's better to have two experienced drivers? I doubt it will be Fabio as he was still hanging out with the Ultimate F3 team on Wednesday.

I feel sorry for Garcia. I think he is really underrated. Everyone was waxing lyrical about Karun Chandhok at Durango, but while he did win at Spa, Garcia finished the season 10th overall after scoring in nine of the races.

Think he is GP2 material, which is why I'm a bit mystified he's been well off so far this year, particularly as he paced testing.

I have to say, I completely agree with you. I think he was definately the faster (or at least more reliable) of the Durango pair last year, and why Chandhok was moved to iSport while Garcia was dropped is a mystery. (Well, I'd say it was 90% down to Chandhok's nationality, which is hardly fair).

As for his performance this year, my guess: A crushed spirit.

He's already done it in WSR. Why do it again?

Maybe he didn't have other options? Maybe wanted to rebuild that spirit and come back to GP2 again next year? Do not know, he came back. IMO he should be retained for the remainder of the season, or at least taken over by another team. I doubt he can pay for a drive in LMS or FIA GT this year. It's better to wait for 2009 and try to get a contract. I am sure, because of a nationality and racing craft he'll find a paid work in PROTO/TCC. And mark my word, he will come back this year with strong results if he get chance.

Chandhok career rolls because of his nationality IMO, because of his natonality Red Bull signed him up probably because of his nationality he'll race in F1 in the next two years.

Anyway, it's Tappy and Alcaraz.

I have to say, I completely agree with you. I think he was definately the faster (or at least more reliable) of the Durango pair last year, and why Chandhok was moved to iSport while Garcia was dropped is a mystery. (Well, I'd say it was 90% down to Chandhok's nationality, which is hardly fair).

I think is not so much a mistery why García isn't in GP2, specially when has no more the support he had before. Now is harder to him to find a place there.

italiaracing announce Guerreri driving for Ultimate in WSR, they are not sure instead of who it will be (Carbone or Cantelli)

Well, I'm quite amused for the news about Tebby, but still have to see him racing in the Ultimate/Signature Dallara to believe it fully.

I'm with chunterer about Fabio Carbone, the Brazilian also did a similar role years before, when he tested the SLC chassis in the F3 Euroseries. But we have to see more his motivation, previous results and inner panorama in depth to consider if he or Cantelli would be the one who could left the place in favour of Guerrieri.

Think its pretty certain Guerrieri will be in Ultimate Signature at Silverstone, especially if you read the comment about him 'moving on to exciting new challenges' in the Ultimate F3 press release... Really hope its alongside Carbone though...

As for Tappy, if that report is true then I'm glad he has the chance to prove himself, but it is a shame it seems to be at the expense of Garcia. Hopefully he might re-appear later in the season with someone else.

http://www.italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=19685&cat=5

Looks like we have some more driver changes ahead of the Hungarian round this weekend. RC Motorsport have split with Aleix Alcaraz, with former Ultimate Signature driver Claudio Cantelli taking his place. Meanwhile, Maximo Cortes is apparently having budget problems so Alcaraz could take his place at Pons Racing.

Here we go again...anyone for a KTR seat?

Daniil Move and Guillaume Moreau are gone...

I'm not really surprised to see Move go but I am a little about Moreau. He's a fast driver but for whatever reason he wasn't really able to show his true pace.

It is unusual for a team to lose both it's drivers within a few days of each other though. I do remember back in 2006 GD Racing had to skip the Nurburgring round when Patrick Pilet and Matteo Meneghello both left a few days before event. The next race weekend isn't until the end of August so KTR have plenty of time to try and find replacements.

Hopefully Guillaume will receive his chance in GP2, he deserves a break with top team, he had such a promising 1st season in 2005 F3 Euroseries and from then on... Good luck to him in his endurance career.

Apparently Moreau had already made it clear that he was leaving before the last race...or so I hear ;)

Mind you that KTR has lost some of its crew members as well.

I think KTR are one of the teams that just haven't got to grips with the new car. I have it under good authority that some teams do not like the new machine at all. Apparently it's had a lot of design modifications since it was first revealed to counter problems that should have been eradicated before it was raced, hence why some are performing better than others... And they are now very difficult to overtake in too.

Might explain why some teams/drivers that I thought would be doing well have struggled a bit this year. It is also interesting to hear that both Move and Moreau are leaving because of the car, and not the team.

At least Moreau has LMS to fall back on, which probably sped up the decision process. With GP2 set to see some driver changes soon too, I wonder if they'll be downgrading for the rest of the season.

Siso Cunill will race one of the KTR cars from Nurburgring onwards - he is 17 and has been racing in Formula Renault this year.

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/renault/news/167861-0/spanish_teen_secures_ktr_seat.html

Italiaracing reporting that Duncan Tappy has had to give up drive because of money problems. Given he scored well in Hungary, that is a massive shame. Hope he can scrimp something together last minute!

Italiaracing reporting that Duncan Tappy has had to give up drive because of money problems. Given he scored well in Hungary, that is a massive shame. Hope he can scrimp something together last minute!

:( Truly unfortunate. I wouldn't be surprised to see him make a few more sports car starts though.....

http://www.rcmotorsport.it/news.asp?idcategoria=1&id=164
http://www.italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=20322&cat=5

Looks like GP2-reject Paolo Maria Nocera is Tappy's replacement. I feel sorry for Duncan as I thought he did a decent job in his four races.

RC Motorsport, on the other hand, really are having a terrible year. They are now onto their fifth driver in the World Series and they've scored just four points in the F3 Euroseries.

Blimey, I think Siso is good but this will be a step up for him.

A terrible shame for Duncan, who could be a real talent if he just had the chance. If I had a corporate team sponsor, I'd certainly consider him for any drive I had any influence over.

Duncan, in my opinion, is a likely A1 Team GBR choice... he has done rookie testing for the team, and matches their description of a driver with no commitments, who can do the entire season.

Duncan, in my opinion, is a likely A1 Team GBR choice... he has done rookie testing for the team, and matches their description of a driver with no commitments, who can do the entire season.

He's driving for Spurs in Superleague this weekend!

And the second KTR seat will be taken by Sergey Afanasiev from the Le Mans round on.

He's driving for Spurs in Superleague this weekend!

Yeah... I read that not long after I posted the comment. It's a shame as I was looking forward to the possibility of Duncan in A1... ah well, GBR have plenty of other drivers to choose from.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/70779

Filipe Albuquerque is to replace Mario Romancini at Epsilon Euskadi for the final two rounds. It doesn't say it in the Autosport article, but Italiaracing.net are reporting that Romancini had sponsorship problems.

Filipe had a fantastic debut season last year, winning a race and ending up as top rookie so it's nice to see him back in the series again.

Greg Mansell has tested Ultimate's WSR-car at Snetterton.

Blimey, wondered where he had got to!

Not going to buy it for Euroboss are they?

Yeah, and apparently he beat the WSR lap record at the track, setting a time of 58.6s. According to Barry Walsh, both Mansell and Ricardo Teixeira (who also tested) are being considered for a possible race seat next season.

In other driver news, Renault-Sport.com are reporting that Sten Pentus will drive for Red Devil Team Comtec at Barcelona next weekend, taking the seat vacted by Pasquale di Sabatino. Pentus is a 26-year old Estonian and has been racing in British Formula Renault this year.

http://www.driverdb.com/drivers/4620/career/

Not going to buy it for Euroboss are they?

Why Euroboss? Regarding Pentus, he seems to be a below average driver in FR, he shouldn't be graduating to a championship winning WSbR team IMO.

Blimey, wondered where he had got to!

Not going to buy it for Euroboss are they?I think you're mixing up Greg Mansell and former EuroBOSS champion Scott Mansell?

Regarding Pentus, he seems to be a below average driver in FR, he shouldn't be graduating to a championship winning WSbR team IMO.
Tell that to Ms Mann as well :laugh:

I think you're mixing up Greg Mansell and former EuroBOSS champion Scott Mansell?

I know, but you've got to admire the effort at implementing some irony. ;)

Wonder who P1 will get in place of van der Garde? Renault release says he won't be there, even though he is on the entry list.

Since they are up for the team title, they're going to need someone good. I doubt Miss Mann will be flying the flag.

As for Pentus, at least Afanasiev will experience what it is like not to be last...

would it be beyond the realms of possibility for grubmuller to appear for the final round for p1?

or for the whole of the next 2 or 3 years?

I hope not! That would make two average drivers graduating into two top teams for the final round!

From what I heard it's done, from a positive point of view - it may mean Asmer getting into WSbR next year. He would be interested after his dismal GP2 part season.

Max Chilton will be testing with Comtec at Castellet and Valencia

With all firness, Asmer should get a BMW 320si to drive, if not in WTCC, than maybe in BTCC or STCC. He was the odd tester at BMW, I still think why did they sign him, if they didn't want him to test much, OK he tested when it mattered to BMW, but did he test much?!

Ofc, FR3.5 can kick start his career, but even if he wins, his backing looks to me to be somewhere south from Danielsson's backing. Money is a worry for Estonian, I know he has ambitions, but IMO he shouldn't get drives in GP2 and FR3.5 but push good TC/GT drives, I think he should rethink that Japan link, if BMW doesn't want him.

Am I only one who thinks FR3.5 is losing the plot?

Being young racing driver, he would take his last small chance, then go to Big in Japan!