Fired up for Macau!

The season is almost over and what a season it’s been! 2012 has seen the team finish in the top three of all six series we have taken part in – three of which have seen a Fortec driver take the championship title!

Back in September Matt Parry took the 2012 Intersteps championship, October saw Jake Dennis win the Formula Renault NEC championship and most recently Robin Frijns won the World Series by Renault FR 3.5 championship. Both Matt and Jake have been testing out some options for next year and Robin has since been testing with the Sauber and Red Bull F1 teams at the young driver tests in Abu Dhabi – definitely expect to see him out on the F1 grid sometime soon!

Robin and the team after winning the championship – we were just a tiny bit happy!

We’re really proud of all our drivers and the team who have been working extremely hard all year, day after day, week after week, to make sure our guys have the best out of their cars and the best training away from the track.

However our season isn’t over just yet! This weekend sees the final race on the calendar – the legendary Macau F3 race. As we speak our British F3 team of Pipo Derani, Alex Lynn and Felix Serralles plus Harry Tinknell, who returns to us for the race, are out in China preparing for the weekend’s races.

The bright lights of Macau host the F3 Grand Prix this weekend

The team flew out last weekend, so they had time to adjust to the massive eight hour time difference and familiarise themselves with the track. It’s the guys first time at Macau so it was important for them to get as much time as possible at the famous circuit in order to learn about the layout and the race itself. Of course they haven’t got off that lightly, the hard work has also being going on at home with everyone doing simulator training as well as reading up on the circuit.

Felix and Alex both finished in the top five of the British F3 championship, which was a fantastic achievement for the rookies, Harry and Pipo also had great success in the series finishing on the podium numerous times. Despite being Macau rookies we know how talented they all are and the whole team is rareing to go and make an impression!

We can’t wait to get going now and get the engines revved – first practice starts tomorrow (Thursday 15^th November) at 10.55am local time. Keep up with all the latest results on our Twitter feed ‘@fortecm’ and on our Facebook page by searching ‘Fortec Motorsport.’

It’s not over yet…

Since our last blog a lot has been going on, with one or more of our squads out every weekend! However despite being mid-October our season is far from over; three of our teams are out competing this weekend at Brands Hatch, Hockenheim and Catalunya, the BARC Winter Series has only just begun and of course we have the legendary Macau race (more news to come shortly!) in November to look forward to.

The past month seems to have flown by, with championship wins and success all round for each of our teams. So far 2012 has seen us win two championships, with young racer Matt Parry taking the Intersteps championship and Jake Dennis becoming the Formula Renault NEC champion.

Our British F3 rookies, Alex Lynn and Felix Serralles, both did extremely well for their first seasons and finished inside the top four of the championship. Seb Morris also had success finishing third in the BARC championship and ended the season on a high with a double win at Silverstone.

However there has been little time to celebrate, we’ve just arrived in Barcelona at the Circuit du Catalunya as another championship comes to an end this weekend – the World Series by Renault. Our FR 3.5 and FR 2.0 Eurocup squads are raring to go but as the dark clouds loom over-head, and the forecast reports thunderstorms for the next few days, it looks like weather could again play a big factor in the races!

Going into the final two rounds, our FR 3.5 racer Robin Frijns stands just five points behind the championship leader Jules Bianchi – if Robin can fend off Bianchi then the championship title is his. In the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Oliver Rowland is looking for a top three finish in the championship. He currently sits just 18 points away from third place and will be pushing his rivals hard.

Although the British F3 has finished for the season our squad have had little time off. The final round of the F3 Euro Series this weekend sees Alex Lynn, Felix Serralles and Pipo Derani all out on track at Hockenheim to get some practice in at an F1 circuit. Despite not gunning for the championship, our squad will certainly be eyeing up some race wins.

This weekend also sees the first round of the BARC Winter Series at Brands Hatch. BARC regulars Laura Tillett, Hongwei Cao and Seb Morris will be out on track, as well as Jack Aitken (stepping up from Intersteps) and newcomer Philo Armand who joins the team for the round.

As you can tell we have a lot to do but as we get ready to go racing make sure to stay connected with us; like our page on Facebook by searching ‘Fortec Motorsport’ or follow us on Twitter ‘@fortecm’ – cheer us on by using the hashtag #TeamFortec……wish us luck!

What a busy few months!

Sorry for the lack of blogging but this season has been so busy for the team we’ve barely had the chance for a break! However with the season coming to a head we wanted to give you a quick round up of the latest news.

Over the last few months the Fortec squad have been out doing what we do best – wining races, and as this weekend we go into the last rounds of the British F3 and Intersteps plus the penultimate rounds of the WSR FR 3.5 and Eurocup FR 2.0, our Fortec racers are topping the points tables.

The last Intersteps round sees Matt Parry at the top of the championship table, with Jack Aitken and Cameron Twynham just behind! Croft will see the boys’ battling it out, and with the championship title up for grabs we’re expecting a fair fight from our guys

Donington Park hosts the final British F3 round this weekend and our team; Felix Serralles, Alex Lynn, Pipo Derani and Hannes Van Asseldonk are fired up and ready to finish the season on a high. After the last round at Silverstone we were all worried about Felix and his championship fight when he got carted off to the medical centre in an ambulance, but we’re pleased to say his back is now fine and despite some bruising the laid-back Peurto-Rican is raring to go. With just 6 points separating Serralles from the current championship leader, this weekend really is all to play for!

Across the pond in Paul Ricard, our WSR team is soaking up the sun at the French track (we’re not jealous at all!) with the FR 3.5 and FR 2.0 guys for their penultimate round. Robin Frijns is looking to extend his lead in the FR 3.5 championship and in the FR 2.0 Ollie Rowland is looking to break into the top 3

For our FR 2.0 NEC squad they are taking a well-earned break until their last round in Spa on the 13^th/14^th of October. Jake Dennis currently leads the championship by 56 points but with the other Fortec guys’ just behind in the points table, there could be a fight until the bitter end.

Next weekend sees the BARC team wrap up their season at Silverstone. With strong performances throughout the season each of our guys (and girls!) are looking to impress and we know they will give the other racers a run for their money!

Like us on Facebook by searching ‘Fortec Motorsport’ and follow us on Twitter ‘fortecm’ to keep up with the latest news  - and with that said….let’s go racing!

 

Working 24/7 – what a way to make a living

It’s been a while since our last blog post and it’s safe to say that things have become very busy here at Fortec recently! We just wanted to let you know quite how hard our boys have been working to get our cars in the best possible shape for 2012. They might be in the background at the races but our mechanics and engineers are the absolute backbone of the team and while it hasn’t quite been 24/7 it has sometimes felt like it for our guys!

So we’ve finally been out racing – our InterSteps, BARC, and British F3 teams have all racked up some racing mileage and recorded some fantastic results in a great start to the season. Meanwhile, our NEC, Eurocup, and Formula Renault 3.5 teams have been testing around Europe, regularly topping the timesheets.

The results don’t just come out of nowhere, though and while some might think that the real work happens at the weekend and our boys can relax in the week, our mechanics and engineers have been working late into the evening and even early into the morning for weeks in the run-up to the season-openers. Takeaways have been the order of the day as the teams have worked tirelessly to prep the cars for the season, and while it’s our drivers who go out and do a great job out on track, bringing home the glory, it’s our trusty mechanics who are putting in the hours at the factory to give our drivers the best possible car and the best possible shot at victory at the all-important race weekends.

Take Easter for example; a quick turnaround from Oulton Park to Monza meant that our British F3 cars had to be loaded up and ready to leave by Tuesday morning. There was little time for Easter celebrations as our mechanics worked through Easter Sunday and Monday in an effort to get the cars prepped and ready for our next outing in just a couple of days.

These guys are absolutely dedicated to doing the very best job and getting the best results for the team and they do a fantastic job – when they finally do get a break, they will certainly have earned it.

Keeping cool, staying fit – how to train Pakari style

When one of our drivers sent us a photo of what he’s been getting up to over the winter break, we thought hey this is a bit different, why not show our fans how some of our drivers like to have fun and stay fit, all at the same time…

 
While those of us in the UK may be shuddering at the thought of a maximum temperature of a few degrees, turning up the heating, wrapping up warm and hoping all those snow shovels at garages and supermarkets are just attempts to scare us into parting with more cash, one of our drivers is revelling in the icy conditions of his homeland.

 
Indeed, a daytime high of four or five degrees might even seem mild for Formula Renault Eurocup driver Mikko Pakari and his family and while we may be guilty of neglecting our gardens over the winter months, the Pakaris make full use of their lake and Finland’s rather chilly climate as they take part in a traditional Finnish sport, perfect for the adrenaline junkie – ice racing.

 
The Finns are renowned for their love of racing and rallying on ice and ice racing forms an important part of Pakari’s winter training programme. For Mikko, it is the perfect way to stay fit and have fun, while spending time with his family (his father was also a keen racer) ahead of a jam-packed season in Europe. Ice racing is not only extremely physically demanding, but it adds another element of unpredictability, which then necessitates finely tuned reactions and excellent driver/rider awareness; all of these elements are crucial for a racing driver as they are required to make split second decisions and react instantly to events out on track, while the G-forces they encounter and the speeds that they reach demand drivers to be at the peak of their physical fitness. It’s also important for drivers to pursue a fitness programme that they can gain some enjoyment from and this seems like a perfect way to do that!

As temperatures are set to stay below freezing for a few months yet, there’s plenty of time for Mikko to enjoy himself out on the ice, while also preparing for the step up to racing cars in 2012.

Looks like great fun, doesn’t it?!

p.s our January edition of the Fortec newsletter is out tomorrow – you can subscribe to it here

2012 is go go go!

Firstly, while it might be a little late, we would like to wish all of our fans a very Happy New Year from everyone at Fortec. We hope you enjoyed the festive period and that 2012 is treating you well so far!

We’ve been very busy over the last few weeks and we’re raring to go for the 2012 season, particularly with the addition of some new drivers to our line-up and the unveiling of this year’s Dallara F3 car at the AUTOSPORT show last week. Let’s bring you up to speed with what’s been going on since our last blog just before Christmas.

Driver announcements

Over the last three weeks we have confirmed four more drivers who will race for the team in 2012 in what is destined to be an extremely exciting year for the team. Towards the end of December  we announced that Ed Jones would be joining the Formula Renault Eurocup squad for 2012; the youngster, who impressed in the inaugural year of the InterSteps Championship with Fortec in 2011, joins McLaren AUTOSPORT Award winner Oliver Rowland and young Finn Mikko Pakari at the Eurocup team.

Elsewhere, Puerto Rican star Felix Serralles is to move up to the British Formula Three International Series with the team. After a consistent year in the Formula Renault Eurocup Championship and taking part in a number of UK rounds as a guest entrant, Felix proved he had what it takes to progress up to the British F3 Series and he was remarkably quick in testing towards the end of 2011. Felix is currently competing in the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand ahead of the 2012 British F3 season and we wish him the very best of luck! So far, Felix has recorded a sixth-place finish, a seventh-place finish, and a fourth place finish.

We also welcome two newbies to the team for the upcoming season. Karting sensation Cameron Twynham breaks into car racing this season with our InterSteps team and he’ll be hoping to build on Jake Dennis, Alex Walker and Ed Jones’s successes in 2011. Another new addition to the Fortec squad is Martin Cao who joins the Formula Renault BARC team after having competed in both single-seater and touring car events prior to 2012.

 

The AUTOSPORT show

There’s no better way to see in the 2012 season than the annual AUTOSPORT show. The event, held at Birmingham’s NEC, always attracts huge crowds and this year was no different with some particularly special exhibitions, featuring two of our very own cars.

One of the most talked about cars of the entire show was the all-new Dallara F312 and we were extremely proud to show ours off. Fortec’s Mercedes-powered car took pride of place at the Historic Sports Car Club stand, which showcased British Formula Three through the ages, and mapped the evolution of the F3 car perfectly. If you haven’t already seen it, here’s a picture of our 2012 car in all its glory – looks pretty good, doesn’t it?!

Our new Formula Three Car on show at the HSCC stand

Also on show was Jake Dennis’s Championship winning Formula BMW InterSteps car; Jake’s car, in its distinctive Racing Steps Foundation livery, formed part of the British Automobile Racing Club’s stand.

Jake Dennis's 2011 InterSteps car on show at the BARC stand

Fortec drivers were also in action out on track over the four days. Alex Lynn formed part of the MSA Team UK team in the Celebrity Karting Race on Thursday afternoon; the 18-year-old drove the final leg of the race in style to take a dominant victory for the team. Lynn was also in action in the Live Arena over the weekend, while Oliver Rowland – as part of his McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award prize – showcased the Formula Two car to the delight of the crowd.

We hope that everyone who managed to make it to the show enjoyed themselves and got to see a glimpse of our cars up close and for those of you who weren’t able to make it, put it on your to do list for 2013

 

MSA Driver Development Scheme

One more piece of good news before we leave you; Oliver Rowland and Alex Lynn have both been named as part of the MSA Driver Development Scheme. The Fortec pair joins five other drivers, who will be guided by National Race Coach David Brabham.

 

So that’s it from us for this week – stay tuned for more news by following us on twitter and facebook …we hope to have more for you soon!

Singing, a signing, and some seriously good testing

Winter is here and Christmas is nearly upon us – that means three things for us here at Fortec. One, a last dose of winter testing before the Christmas break, two, a bit of a re-paint, and three, it’s nearly time for the Christmas party…we know that one of those is sliiiightly less exciting than the other two, but the boys made it fun all the same.

Valencia…

We and the drivers have had our fair share of early Christmas presents, but they keep on coming with some great results from our last test in Valencia. It hardly felt like Christmas out there though, with temperatures up in the late teens, while back home in Daventry it’s felt positively arctic at times!

A whole host of Fortec cars headed out to Valencia this week for some valuable testing time. Out on track were the British F3 cars and they were joined by the Formula Renault 2.0s and a couple of BARC cars. We’re not going to lie, we had a pretty phenomenal test out in Spain – a great end to an incredible 2011.

Why so great? Well let’s start with the F3s; Alex Lynn finished as the fastest man of all on the third and final day of testing out in Valencia. The youngster finished just under one-and-a-half tenths clear of Carlos Sainz Junior, with Felix Serralles in fourth place and the pair has been impressively consistent all week, mixing it up with the more experienced F3 drivers and we’re very proud of them for doing such a great job and keeping the focus in the run-up to Christmas!

The Renault 2.0s had a similarly impressive week, and they have one more day’s testing today. So far, Oliver Rowland has been the best of the bunch, finishing top of the timesheets in both sessions, leading a Fortec one-two from Mikko Pakari in the first session, and heading an impressive 1-2-3-4-5…7(!) on Tuesday.

Now that's what we like to see!

 Driver news…

If you missed it, this week saw the announcement of another driver for 2012. We’re delighted to welcome Mikko Pakari to the team for next year. The young Finn will make the step up from karting to race in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup team in 2012. He’s been remarkably quick in testing and we’re really excited to see what he can do next year.

Mikko Pakari joins the Fortec Eurocup squad for 2012

Back home in Daventry…

While you could be forgiven for wondering if the drivers out there in Valencia know it’s Christmas time at all (apologies, couldn’t resist), the Christmas cards and chocolates have been pouring in (sorry boys, we’ve eaten them all now…even the Turkish Delights have been gobbled up) and although the guys haven’t had any cars to prep, they certainly haven’t been slacking. Oh no, Christmas time back at base means it’s time for a re-paint – it’s no fun, but racing can’t be fun ALL the time – to some fabulous Christmas songs and some quite remarkable renditions from the lads….Last Christmas was particularly special and had we had a video recorder to hand, we could well have released it and really given ‘Little Mix’ and others in contention for Christmas number one a serious run for their money.

 

That’s about it from us for this week…This time next week we’ll be recovering from the Christmas Party, when we’ll finally all be together again after a manic month!

Before we go, one last thing – do you have an iPhone? You’ll never miss another news story from us again with the FREE Fortec app and our really cool Pocket Fortec app is just 69p. With Pocket Fortec, you can hear what it really sounds like to be flat out, imagine you’re in a Fortec pitstop in your living room and much, much more!

Pocket Fortec