Grand Prix Rejects

V8fan12 wrote:Ahmet Burakgazi puts his name forward for one of the Fantomette seats

V8fan12 wrote:Ahmet Burakgazi puts his name forward for one of the Fantomette seats

As does James Wilmington.

East Londoner wrote:

peteroli34 wrote:

East Londoner wrote:
DMR are interested in signing either Skye Summers or Siobhan McMahon to spearhead their challenge for 2019.

Siobhan would be delighted to join DMR for 2019

Fantastic. Does she bring any personal sponsorship?

Autosport wrote:Pereira secures DMR ride as McMahon loses out

Leading junior team DMR announced today that Portuguese driver Diego Pereira has signed a deal to join the team for the 2019 AutoReject 2.0 series. The 19 year old has two seasons of 2.0 under his belt, and tested for the team back in late 2017. Pereira was planning to race in the aborted Indy Lights series for 2018. Now, he returns to the 2.0 fold to partner Indonesian rookie Gunter Maskan, in an all-new line-up for the team which took Katie May to the 2018 AR2.0 championship. Team boss Liam McGuigan spoke to Autosport.

"We are very pleased to announce our 2019 line-up is completed by Diego. With Katie and Rafael (Martins) no longer eligible to run in the series, we believe our new line-up is strong, fast, and capable of keeping DMR at the front of the AutoReject 2.0 field. Diego is a former race winner, and we're delighted to give him the chance to get his career back on track after the Indy Lights series folded. Gunter tested for us over the winter and we were impressed by his feedback and nuance in the cockpit"

Autosport understands that the Irish F4 racer Siobahn McMahon was on the verge of securing the second DMR seat, however it is believed a sponsorship deal collapsed at the last moment, and Pereira's prior experience and Portuguese Telecom sponsorship was paramount to him securing the deal. AR2.0 race winner Skye Summers was also in contention for the seat before joining Peak Motorsport.

DMR will run a split livery for the 2019 season, with Maskan running a KFC Indonesia livery, whilst Pereira will use the traditional DMR blue and green.

matisena wrote:Team Name: MASEN Racing Team
Colour Scheme: Yellow, like old Jordan
Main Sponsors: Antel, Petrobras, Megatone
First car #, driver and personal sponsors: Martin O'Donell(GBR) Vodafone
Second car #, driver and personal sponsors: Evgenya Kuminsky(RUS) Zenit

matisena wrote:Team Name: MASEN Racing Team
Colour Scheme: Yellow, like old Jordan
Main Sponsors: Antel, Petrobras, Megatone
First car #, driver and personal sponsors: Martin O'Donell(GBR) Vodafone
Second car #, driver and personal sponsors: Evgenya Kuminsky(RUS) Zenit

Ataxia wrote:I also still need a) a confirmed driver for the Jones #19 car, and b) wiki pages for the following:

Helena Lindstrom

AndreaModa wrote:I'll get to it, when's the deadline chief?

autoreject.com wrote:Perfect Pierre is saint of Monza

Polesitter Pierre St. Laurent secured his second AutoReject 2.0 feature race victory of 2019, putting in a flawless performance to emerge the victor of an otherwise hectic race.

St. Laurent made an excellent getaway off the line, staying clear of Ramon Lorenzo and Michela Martin into the first chicane. The trio battled mightily in the opening laps, trading the lead after various points to give the Italian crowd a thrilling spectacle.

Lorenzo soon fell away, but impressive rookie Josephine Leifeld took the Lotto driver's place in the battle for the win. However, St. Laurent held off the challenges and set about creating a buffer to avoid losing time in any further scraps.

The Canadian - who has fought back from a number of high-profile injuries - was able to streak ahead and win in style, four seconds ahead of second-placed Juliana Ivarsdottir, who made steady progress through the front of the field across the course of the race.

Martin secured the final podium position ahead of Leifeld, while St. Laurent's Driver Performance Laboratory stablemate Zenaide Voeckler took fifth place.

Dagan Jamakovic took a surprise sixth having emerged from the back of the field. The Bulgarian managed to pick his way through various incidents to finish ahead of Voeckler driver Kyoko Katayama. Gabriela Scopelli and Harry Matthews scored their first points in AutoReject 2.0 by finishing eighth and ninth, as Lorenzo assumes reverse grid pole for the sprint race after rounding out the top 10, passing a damaged Danuta Poplawski at the Parabolica.

A number of incidents put some of the more high-profile drivers out of the running for any meaningful results, including an embarrassing collision between both Ecurie Prenois drivers as Tobias Baumgartlinger made contact with Jazmin Caldeiro, after the Mexican was slow on the exit of the second Lesmo.

Both Quicktechs were eliminated after contact at different stages, and Diego Pereira had to pit for a new wing after contact with Lorenzo at the Variante Ascari on lap four.

autoreject.com wrote:Leifeld takes dramatic Monza sprint race win

Josephine Leifeld took her first AR2.0 victory in the Monza sprint race, narrowly holding off from both Michela Martin and Zenaide Voeckler.

Starting fifth, Leifeld managed her Continental tyres in the early stages before charging up to the front three of Voeckler, Martin and polesitter Ramon Lorenzo. Dealing with Lorenzo quickly as the Spanish driver started to struggle, Leifeld then passed Martin soon after.

Voeckler and Leifeld then traded places, before the German managed to steal a march on the Driver Performance Laboratory driver with just two laps to go. However, both Voeckler and Martin then caught back up, setting up a thrilling final lap showdown. Martin took the lead on the straight, but Leifeld reclaimed it into Curva Grande.

Martin rallied and tried a move at the first Lesmo, but after Leifeld defended the Brit benefitted from a tow into the Variante Ascari to snatch the lead late.

Leifeld reclaimed it even later, making a risky move down the inside of the Parabolica to claim a famous victory with Martin and Voeckler following in her tow.

Kyoko Katayama was part of the early lead battle but fell away to fourth, as Skye Summers made a late charge to score her first points of 2019 with fifth. Gabriela Scopelli and championship leader Pierre St. Laurent came home in sixth and seventh, while Lorenzo rounded out the top eight.

autoreject.com wrote:Zenaide zooms to Morocco feature win

The Driver Performance Laboratory team continued its monopoly on feature race victories in AutoReject 2.0, with Zenaide Voeckler taking her first victory in the series at Morocco.

Voeckler made an excellent start to steal ahead of Skye Summers and Josephine Leifeld, thrusting her way into the battle for the lead in the early stages. As Diego Pereira fell away from the fight, Voeckler and DPL stablemate Pierre St. Laurent battled with polesitter Jazmin Caldeiro for control of the race.

St. Laurent then had to pit for a new wing after he and Caldeiro then came together, paving the way for Voeckler to march into the lead and build a gap over the rest of the field.

Although Caldeiro and Pereira later challenged for the win, Voeckler produced a number of assured defensive moves to stave off the advances of the pair and clinch victory on the streets of Marrakech, the series' first ever race on African soil.

Caldeiro grabbed second on the final lap after Pereira's car sprung an oil leak at the end, forcing the Portuguese driver to settle for fourth as Skye Summers took the last spot on the podium.

Tobias Baumgartlinger and Josephine Leifeld finished fifth and sixth, as Michela Martin won out in a huge battle for seventh, beating Helena Lindstrom, James Wilmington and Ramon Lorenzo to the line.

Lorenzo starts tomorrow's race from pole position, having finished 10th.

autoreject.com wrote:Front-row Wilmington claims sprint in grueling heat

James Wilmington was the surprise winner of the AR2.0 sprint race at Marrakech, in which scorching conditions claimed many victims over the 13 lap race.

Wilmington picked up the lead at the start, blasting past fellow front-row occupant Ramon Lorenzo at the first chicane, and rarely looked challenged from then on.

At the midpoint of the race, Union Saver's Michela Martin briefly harried Wilmington and snatched the Canadian's lead, but the Equipe Fantomette driver immediately fought back to wrest control of the race.

Martin didn't have an answer, and had to settle for second as Wilmington burst through the heat haze to win. Diego Pereira joined the pair on the podium, after dispatching Helena Lindstrom and Ramon Lorenzo to reach third place. Lorenzo came home fourth ahead of Tobias Baumgartlinger, who managed to cross the line with his engine billowing smoke.

Baumgartlinger's engine was not the only one to fall foul of the 38-degree temperatures, and the humidity ensured that a number of Cosworth 2.0L engines cried enough before reaching full distance.

Rejectsport wrote:Van Kerckhoven must 'fly or die' this season - Giovanni Roda

Kevin van Kerckhoven must pick up his game and 'fly or die' by the end of the year, according to Nismo Academy Voeckler driver coach Giovanni Roda.

The Belgian has suffered from a mercurial season, picking up a victory and a podium at Magny-Cours, but earlier in the season at Monza, he failed to finish higher than 19th in either race.

Roda, who is a veteran of the AutoReject World Series, has said that van Kerckhoven's performances must become more regular, and quickly so, otherwise his future in the academy is at risk.

"We have lots of interesting drivers to look at, and there is a set lifecycle for an academy driver in a particular series," said Roda.

"Kevin is in his second season, and he has the outright pace to win the championship. There's no doubt about this. He can't challenge for the title with the level of inconsistency he's shown so far though."

"Kevin has two options. Either he can do a good enough job to reach AutoReject 3.5, or he will need to find his own Plan B. From the moment he joined there has been a long-term strategic development plan in place, now he must deliver on the objectives."

"In other words, he must fly or die."

With four race weekends left in the 2.0 season, van Kerckhoven is 5th in the championship, 37 points behind championship leader Diego Pereira.

www.sportschau.de wrote:Mupltiple AutoReject 2.0 Teams in Financial Trouble?

According to a report of an Italian business magazine, multiple teams in minor series AutoReject 2.0 are on the verge of financial breakdown. Whilst the report has not named specific teams, it features a very conclusive analysis of how a severe lack of sponsorship has left only a handful of teams, mostly those already associated with a major ARWS manufacturer or those with significant amount of success, who operate on a profit or break even.

This report concludes that, from 2020 onwards, AR 2.0 will see either a significantly smaller grid or a severe increase in part-time entries. The financial issues are unlikely to be resolved, as series income is not big enough to help the struggling teams with increased prize money. With only a couple of TV deals existing and the majority of broadcast income being advertising revenue from multiple streaming websites, there is only little increase of income to be expected.

With rumours of Cengiz Atali being hired away from Best In The World to replace Jan Kristiansen as AR2.0 Commissioner, the series is considered an unsafe investment within the financial world which only increases the stuggle of finding sponsorship and could potentially lead to a devastating butterfly effect. AutoRejects have not been available to comment on either the rumours regarding the Atali signing or the Italian report.