It seems like only yesterday that we were lamenting the sweltering heat of the tube and already Bonfire Night is upon us. Yet, as the seasons change, the quality of motorsport coverage on the High Speed Television channel stays the same and this weekend is no exception!
We start with live coverage of the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Shanghai, the first race since the announcement that Audi will terminate their 16-year sportscar programme at the end of the season. After their narrow defeat by Toyota in Fuji, Audi’s Loic Duval, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis will want to respond with a victory and give themselves the best possible chance of taking the title fight to the wire in Bahrain. However, Porsche trio Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb can win the title with a round to spare if they can take a first victory since Le Mans, so motivation won’t be in short supply. In the GTE-Pro category, Ford go in search of their second successive win after a dominant 1-2 in Japan, while the LMP2 and GTE-Am titles can also be decided if results go the way of Signatech-Alpine and AF Corse.
The International GT Open championship has provided us with tremendous entertainment all season long and that isn’t about to change this weekend, with plenty of interesting additions to the field for the Barcelona finale. The guest stars are headed by Porsche factory driver Kevin Estre – making his second appearance of the year after a cameo with McLaren at Estoril – and GT4 European champion Peter Terting, who will share an Attempto Motorsport Porsche. The all-Pro pairing will be tough to beat, but TF Sport guest drivers Jon Barnes and Mark Farmer will hope to give them a run for their money and in doing so, steal the thunder from champions-elect Giovanni Venturini and Thomas Biagi in their bright orange Lazarus Lamborghini.
The EuroFormula Open title was decided in favour of Leonardo Pulcini last weekend in Jerez, but don’t for one moment think that will see a reduction in the level of competition. Only Pulcini has taken more wins this year than second-generation racer Colton Herta and the impressive 16-year-old will be eager to end the season on a high. However, the American will have to get the better of rookie champion Ferdinand Habsburg, who fluffed his lines from pole in Jerez and had to follow Pulcini home in second.
Elsewhere, there were plenty of questions yet to be answered. Mick Schumacher narrowly lost out on the German F4 title, but would he be able to make up for it by winning the Italian F4 championship in the Monza season finale? The son of seven-times Formula 1 World Champion Michael, 17-year-old Mick missed round two at Adria, but is still only 25 points behind series leader Marcos Siebert of Argentina with 75 still available.The identity of the Mini Challenge champion had also yet to be determined. Following his monster shunt at Oulton Park, could Charlie Butler-Henderson bounce back and see off the challenges of David Grady and Nathan Harrison at a foggy Snetterton?
But that’s not all! If you enjoyed following the BRDC British F3 championship and Ginetta GT5 Challenge on Motors TV this year then you’ll be in for a treat, as we bring you a comprehensive season review of both championships on consecutive evenings. The eagerly-anticipated return of the F3 moniker to Britain for the first time since 2014 didn’t disappoint, as Matheus Leist fought Ricky Collard and Toby Sowerey to the final round. Star of the future Lando Norris also made a few cameo appearances, winning four times – the same as champion Leist – while Australian youngsters Thomas Randle and Thomas Maxwell marked themselves out as potential stars of the future.Naturally, there were plenty of thrills and spills to be had in the Ginettas too. Although Ollie Chadwick was more often than not the class of the field, the three-way battle for second between Matt Chapman and brothers Ryan and Jonny Hadfield was motorsport at its best. So warm yourself a mug of cocoa, grab some marshmallows and settle in for some top four-wheeled entertainment!
Saturday 5th November
14:05 – LIVE EuroFormula Open, Rd 8, Barcelona (Race 1)15:00 – LIVE International GT Open, Rd 7, Barcelona (Race 1)19:25 – VW Racing Cup UK, Brands Hatch Indy20:00 – Mini Challenge, Rd 7, Snetterton21:00 – Ginetta GT5 Challenge, Best-Of
Sunday 6th November
02:30 – LIVE FIA World Endurance Championship, Rd 6, 6 Hours of COTA10:05 – Porsche Carrera Cup France, Rd 6, Paul Ricard12:05 – LIVE EuroFormula Open, Rd 8, Barcelona (Race 2)13:00 – LIVE International GT Open, Rd 7, Barcelona (Race 2)21:00 – BRDC Formula 3 Championship, Best-Of
