Mosler Lover

Quick video update: Britcar and Dutch Supercar at Donington

2011-05-08T23:35:00.003+01:00

Back home, nursing my sunburn. Two vids featuring the Moslers in both the Britcar four-hour and the Dutch Supercar Challenge. More gory detail tomorrow.

The season so far

2011-05-07T19:21:00.010+01:00

The 2011 GT season is well and truly underway worldwide so it's time for Mosler Lover to play catch-up.

It's a leaner line-up for the marque this year compared to 2010 but there's still Moslers competing for honours all around the world.

Once again, the Dutch Supercar Challenge has attracted the most Mosler entries. Albeit one less than expected; Berry van Elk's car catching fire after an oil leak at Hockenheim and ending up as a charred hulk.

Thankfully the weekend went better for one Mosler driver. Alex van 't Hoff took the Mad and Daring team to top spot of the podium in race two.

There's no Mosler in the British GT this year but Britcar has two entries. Paul White and Calum Lockie at Strata 21 are out to impress; meanwhile, Javier Morcillo and Manuel Cintrano have already taken two podiums for Azteca with a second at Silverstone and third at Rockingham.

Down under, Klark Quinn has set the pace in the Australian GT series with two wins at the Clipsal Adelaide meeting, putting him into the championship lead.

In the V de V endurance series, Gabriel Abergel and Xavier Pompidou of Ruffier Racing took pole position in Jarama and finished seventh overall.

With the first round of the Japan Super GT postponed in the wake of the earthquake, Mevin Choo has had just the one outing in the GT300 class MT900M, finishing 15th in the 400km race at Fuji.

I'm off to Donington tomorrow for both the Dutch Supercar and Britcar races. Azteca have their Mosler on pole for the latter; Martin Short led the first Dutch race almost all the way before reported electrical problems forced his retirement. Here's hoping for plenty of excitement and not too much rain down at the Old Hairpin...

Photos (c) Dutch Supercar Challenge, Azteca, Australian GT, V de V.

Back on the grid...

2011-03-21T16:23:00.003Z

Mosler Lover is returning. We've just got to get the gearbox sorted and give the bodywork a lick of paint.

First update will be early April.

Time for the chequered flag

2010-08-26T22:21:00.003+01:00

Reluctantly, it's time to put Mosler Lover to bed. I just don't have the time to update the site anymore - I don't even get out to the circuits too often.

Thanks to everyone who's called by and enjoyed the site. Special thanks to the guys at Gravity International, MeXT, Eclipse and Topcats who were kind enough to contribute reports and photos along the way. Extra special thanks to Alex at Mosler Challenge, Jan Stevenson and Martin Short at Mosler UK and the man without whose vision I'd have had nothing to write about, Warren Mosler.

And a huge thanks to Matt from Classic Dreams for bacon buttys, cold beers and a balcony which let me get video footage like this:

So the next time I'm at a GT circuit and someone wants to know what's just blasted past them, I can say "...it was a seven-litre V8 Moweslerr" ;-)

Dutch Supercar Challenge: video update

2010-04-04T19:55:00.000+01:00

Dutch Supercar Challenge: Quick race report

2010-04-04T17:56:00.000+01:00

Barely sixteen minutes of racing bookended by high drama for the Moslers - race 2 of the GT Dutch Supercar Challenge was short on time but long on incident.

Six Moslers made in onto the pit straight for the start of the race but only three made it to turn one. Kevin Riley seemed to lose control on cold tyres as the rolling start took the green flag and he punched his KRM Mosler into the pit wall. Cue havoc in the pack behind; Berry van Elk stuffed his car into the wall too whilst the Moore International Mosler took a trip into the gravel/dirt that currently edges the track. The car dug in and rolled, ending up on its roof.

With the pit straight strewn in Mosler parts, the red flags were out. Thankfully, no-one had been injured. Clearing the wreckage took time and with the Superleague show running the clock, race time for DSC was ebbing away.

When racing finally got underway, Martin Short pushed hard and built up a slight lead in what had become a sprint to the line. The Topcats Mosler went with Short before being dropped off by an ever-improving Cor Euser in the Ferrari.

The last few turns of the race gave an unexpected twist, though. Advancing onto back markers, Short swung left into Luffield as Euser dived right. Boxed in, the Mosler lost ground as Euser pulled clear into Woodcote and took the chequered flag. Short said there was nothing he could have done - the Mosler had cut out into the last turn and he was left with no drive to fight Euser to the line.

Provisional result: 1st Cor Euser, Ferrari F430; 2nd Martin Short, Mosler MT900R; 3rd Ben Cluclas, Mosler MT900R

PS - if, at any time soon, T-Mobile can offer me a broadband service that holds a signal long enough to upload a video, I'll have some moving pictures to offer as well.....

Photos (c) Mosler Lover except for crash pictures (c) Dutch Supercar Challenge

Dutch Supercar Challenge, Silverstone 04-05 April 2010

2010-04-03T20:21:00.000+01:00

Some things never change. If it's Silverstone in April, it rains. If Cor Euser is on form, regardless of the car he's driving, he's up at the front. If there's more than one Mosler in a race, they're hunting in a pack. The Dutch Supercar Challenge is over in England for its Easter holidays and there are more Moslers than ever before vying for podium places.

Qualifying for Saturday's 60-minute saw Cor Euser slot not his Marcos but a Ferrari into pole position. Martin Short and Kevin Riley put their Moslers into second and third respectively. The marques' other entrants also put on a strong show, with another three Moslers in the top seven.

Race one on Saturday got off to a damp start. With tyre optimisation and pit stop strategy to the fore, bold driving was always going to be rewarded. And so the British Moslers came to dominate with Martin Short, Topcats and Kevin Riley locking out the podium. Three Ferrari 430s followed them, including that of the apparently cautious Cor Euser. Berry van Elk came home in seventh, with Moore International Racing making eighth on their Dutch Supercar debut. Alex van t'Hoff brought the Mad & Daring Mosler home in nineteenth.

Mosler Lover will be trackside tomorrow for race 2.

PREVIEW: 2010

2010-03-31T21:30:00.003+01:00

2010 looks set to be a bumper year for the Mosler marque right across the world.

After last year's late rule interpretation shenanigans, it's good to see that the Mosler is allowed to run a full season in the British GT this time around. Sadly, Dan Brown won't be in the hot seat for Rollcentre this time as he took a place at STP Ferrari. Whilst Martin Short looks to fill the gap left by Dan's departure, another team is set to run a car as well; Moore International Motorsport, with Willie Moore and Paul White, are set to join Rollcentre in the championship after the opening rounds at Oulton Park.

The Britcar season is already underway, with the McInerneys back in the Eclipse Mosler.They were beaten by the pit strategy of the MJC Ferrari at Brands Hatch but are well placed for a strong run this year. No more Mosler entries have been confirmed in the championship yet, but this year sees the return of the 24 hour endurance event at Silverstone where the marque will surely be looking to make its presence felt.

The European endurance championship V de V has four Mosler entries this year. Boutinaud Racing (Gabriel Abergel and Xavier Pompidou), BF Racing (Manuel Ferreira and Ludovic Bour), and Team Bermax-Massi (Damien Kohler and Bob Erazin) line up alongside the series organiser himself (Eric Van de Vyver along with Tony Samon). Their season got underway this month with a four hour race at Jarama where Abergel and Pompidou took second place.

The Moslers down under are out in strength, too. The Australian GT series sees Father and son team Tony and Klark Quinn with a drive each for the VIP Petfoods team; Ash Samadi pilots the Beta Tools Mosler and Ian MacPherson drives for the IMAK KWIKMIT outfit. Sadly, Tony Quinn stuffed his car into the wall during qualifying for the opening round in Adelaide (about 50 seconds into this clip):

There's an interesting development this year in Japan. Melvin Choo will run a Mosler for ThunderAsia in the Super GT championship in the GT3000 class; half the power of the standard GT Mosler with a 3.4 litre Judd V8.

Which leaves the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Incorporating the Mosler Challenge, we've been used to seeing Rollcentre boss Martin Short and BlueBerry's Berry van Elk battle it out with occasional support form a couple of other Mosler outfits.

Well, this year the grid is positively groaning - as well as Short and van Elk, another five Moslers are confirmed entrants for the opening round at Silverstone. Kevin Riley Motorsport and the Topcats team are well known to Britcar fans; Moore International Motorsport also join the throng with Paul White looking to exploit the form that brought him second place in last year's Britcar 500. Javier Morcillo of Spain steps into the ex-Woodcock Brothers car and the Mad & Daring team add a Mosler to their 2010 collection, to be driven by Alex van 't Hoff.

We'll be at Silverstone on Sunday for the first Mosler Lover race report of the season, and will bring you a race preview late tomorrow. It could be a barnstormer of a race. With so many Moslers in action around the world, looking competitive, it could be a barnstormer of a season everywhere.

2010: here we go!

2010-03-30T21:24:00.000+01:00

With a couple of races already run and the Easter weekend approaching, it's time to shift Mosler Lover up through the gears.

Tomorrow we'll be presenting the ultimate 2010 season preview - who's running where along with the latest photos that we can get our hands on.

On Friday there's a special preview of Dutch Supercar Challenge meeting over the weekend at Silverstone, with the largest Mosler grid ever assembled.

Over the weekend, I'll be at Silverstone to see how the opening round of the Mosler Challenge unfolds and bring you video footage of what promises to be the best turn-out for the marque ever seen.

Mosler Lover will then bring you a monthly update of news, results, interviews and features.

Buckle up - it's going to be one hell of a season!

Happy New March from Mosler Lover

2010-03-11T20:53:00.000Z

Being a tad busy, updates have been tardy. Expect an onslaught of updates and previews over the next week. Honest!

Happy New Year from moslerlover

2010-01-02T17:12:00.003Z

It's 2010 and we're back. Last year was a difficult one; all those problems are now behind us and we're looking forward to a racing start into the new year.

Throughout January, we'll be bringing you all those race reports missing from last season - bear with us, there's a huge backlog to clear. Then we'll be looking into our crystal ball to see what the new season holds for the Mosler marque, one that's gone truely global in the last year.

Many thanks to all the contributors of race data and photography in 2009 - we'll aim to use as much as we can as we play catch up and look forward to meeting up with you all in 2010.

Moslers Excluded from British GT

2009-08-15T18:40:00.002+01:00

Here's the story as reported to Daily Sports Car by Martin Short, Mosler Europe: I'm too incandescent at the moment to make any further comment...

In response to a series of protests from David and Godfrey Jones and their Preci Spark Ascari team, managed by Mike Jordan, the MSA's National Court has ruled that the Mosler MT900 GT3 is no longer eligible to race in the GT3 Class of the British GT Championship.

In addition, results and points scored by Mosler drivers Dan Brown and Martin Short, including and post Snetterton (the time of the final Jones protest), have been wiped from the record, so Rollcentre's Dan Brown is no longer in contention for the British GT3 title (until this ruling he had scored 60 points, just nine behind the Preci Spark drivers).

Henceforth, unless the British GT Regulations are re written, Mosler GT3's can only race in the Invitation Class of the Championship. This option is currently unworkable for Martin Short and his Rollcentre team.

The National Court's findings include this sentence: "It is, however, the view of this court that the problems and the difficulties, especially for the Mosler, would seem to have been caused in large part by the actions of SRO in apparently knowingly permitting the Mosler to compete in a Class for which it was patently ineligible."

Moslers were entitled to compete in the Belgian GT Championship because a National GT3 Class was specifically included in that country's series, but no such class was ever specifically written into British GTs where, in the Court's words, "the Mosler was permitted by SRO to run within the Homologated GT3 Class".

Without FIA Homologation, it follows, according to the National Court decision that the Mosler cannot compete in the GT3 Class, despite the go-ahead from SRO that it could. The problem is that SRO neglected to formally add the words 'and National' to the Rule "FIA and National GT3 Cars are eligible within the Championship Regulations" (although other sentences allowing the SRO to accept any car within British GT existed).

This indicates a conflict between the SRO and the overall management of the British GT Series, the MSA. SRO had given written and verbal affirmation that National GT3 cars were eligible, in fact , re-inforcing this well established policy, accepted the Mosler entry both before the season began, and at each subsequent race event. Rollcentre is hopeful that SRO and the MSA will come together and recognise the omission of the words 'and National' was indeed a technical oversight that they can immediately correct, and not a matter of ongoing policy.

Meanwhile, the issue over those two inadvertently omitted words (and National) in the formal regulations have proved costly for the SRO, the Championship, Rollcentre Racing and Mosler Europe and most importantly and tragically, Dan Brown.

Ironically, the Jones brothers are racing a car with a current performance advantage due to another technicality. The Ascari was originally only entitled to run in FIA GT3 several years ago because there were relatively few marques available in the European Championship's first year and without any Ascari entries in Europe this year, the Ascari couldn't be 'performance equalised' for FIA GT3, the result of which has been that all Balance of Performance measures accrued for the Ascari over the last 3 years have been dismissed. Consequently, the Preci Spark entry has been running without last year's 80 kg of ballast, and without the higher 20mm ride height Equalisation measure.

Martin Short: " We took part in the British GT this year to compete in the GT3 class against other high performance and competitive race teams for the National British GT Title, something the Invitation class does not offer. The fact that this unfortunate, semantic incongruity has now befallen us, with three quarters of the Championship gone by, and with the best young driver in BGT since Jonny Cocker taken out of the title running simply beggars belief.

"Hopefully, the British GT Championship will return to a better state next year. In the meantime, we will run where we are welcomed.

"As a postscript, I find it incredible that the MSA approves the regulations, and then decides they are wrong. Moslers were running under these specific regulations three years ago."

Dutch Supercar Challenge; Rizla Racing Assen 09.08.09

2009-08-10T09:44:00.004+01:00

Martin Short slotted the factory car into top spot on the grid under slippery conditions at Assen. When Cor Euser's Marcos tyres began to tire, Short took the initiative and put the hammer down all the way to the line. Berry van Elk came home in sixth.

Race two didn't prove too fruitful for the Moslers. van Elk span when he was surprised by a pitting Ferrari, stuffing his car into the Armco.

Short had stalked the leaders until the engine let off, a problem he hadn't encountered in over two seasons. He retired on lap 21, thankful that Cor Euser had a below-par day as well.

Photos (c) Robbert Maas, www.supercarchallenge.nl

Dutch Supercar Challenge: Zolder Superleague, 19.07.09

2009-07-21T09:42:00.032+01:00

With Martin Short competing in the British GT at Donington, Berry van Elk flew the Mosler flag in the latest Dutch Supercar outing at Zolder.

Having qualified in third, van Elk was bogged down straight from the start and had to work hard at regaining places. He clawed back to fourth before a too-short pitstop resulted in a drive-through penalty and no chance of making the podium.

Race two saw van Elk battle with Corvettes and Vipers before consolidating second position by the flag.

Photos (c) Robbert Mass and Roel Louwers, www.supercarchallenge.nl

Dutch Supercar Challenge: Spa Euroraces 28.06.09

2009-06-30T15:34:00.001+01:00

Back to Spa again for another round of the Dutch Supercar Challenge. The usual suspects were up at the front in qualifying; Cor Euser stuck the Marcos Mantis onto pole, with the Moslers of Martin Short and Berry van Elk in third and fourth. One notable non-starter was Andrew Beaumont in the Topcats Mosler.

Race one saw Euser make a strong start, yet Short was relentless in tracking the Marcos around the famous Ardennes circuit. Having dispatched Pastorelli for second place, Short passed Euser as the latter's battery began to fail. When van der Voort's Beemer crashed out, the safety car was deployed and the field took a mad dash into the pits under yellow flags.

With his now-customary success penalty, Short re-entered the race back in seventh place but began a relentless climb back through the field. Passing the ETEC Viper at the bus stop chicane put Mosler Europe into the lead; the race was red-flagged with five minutes to go with Short at the front. Another convincing win, bolstered by a solid drive by Berry van Elk who brought the V Max Mosler home in third.

Race two saw an uncharacteristic tactical error by Short. With an early safety car out to clear wreckage, he hoped to pit whilst the field crawled around. But the safety car came in too early for him; when he emerged from the pits the pack were back to full speed and not even a flying Mosler could catch them.

van Elk was well placed in fourth place as the race progressed. Then, a real turnaround; the two leading cars were called in to take drive-through penalties. Now, Berry had a scent of victory. Passing Werkmann's Opel V8 Star into Les Combes on the penultimate lap, the young Mosler driver pushed on to take the chequered flag - his maiden win in the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Martin Short came home in tenth, with Andrew Beaumont and Pat Gormley impressing in eighth.

The Moslers have an enviable track record around Spa and today proved to be no exception. Congratulations to Berry van Elk for what we hope will be the first of many Mosler wins.

Photos (c) www.supercarchallenge.nl where video highlights are available too

DSMEC: 500km of Zolder 14.06.09

2009-06-18T09:56:00.000+01:00

Sadly, the MeXT Mosler didn't race in the 500kn; it was still undergoing repairs from its huge shunt at Zolder back in April.

British GT: Knockhill 13-14.06.09

2009-06-16T09:49:00.001+01:00

As the British GT headed over the border to Scotland, Gregor Fiskin joined championship leader Dan Brown in the Momo Mosler for the Knockhill rounds.

It was the Preci-Spark Ascari that led the field away from the lights in race one. Dan Brown battled hard but couldn't squeeze the Mosler past the Jonesmobile before the pitstops. When the Ascari came in for its handover, Brown got the hammer down and enjoyed three laps at the front before making his pitstop as late as possible. Gregor Fiskin brought the Mosler out just as Godfrey Jones charged the Ascari down the main straight and into the lead.

A safety car period proved pivotal. Afterwards, the Ascari made good pace with clear air in front whilst Fiskin was mugged by the VRS Ferrari and then shuffled back to fifth in traffic by the time he took the flag.

Race two was even more disappointing. Fiskin stuffed the Mosler into the kitty litter at Carlube and was stranded for four laps, ruining any chance of a good finish. Despite breaking the pitlane speed limit twice - once whilst carrying out a drive-through penalty for the first speeding incident - the Ascari managed to finish fourth and take enough points to wrestle the championship lead away from Dan Brown.

Dutch Supercar Challenge; Zandvoort 14.06.09

2009-06-16T08:29:00.001+01:00

Round three of the Dutch Supercar Challenge took place around the dunes of Zandvoort in North Holland.

Martin Short, fresh from export duties in Malaysia, hotfooted it from Schiphol to the circuit in time for qualifying. His old adversary, Cor Euser, took the Marcos onto pole by a tenth of a second from Short's Mosler. Berry van Elk qualified in sixth.

Engine problems seemed to bedevil Short's season, though; his crew were hard at work on the car after qualifying in order to make the grid for race one. But whatever magic dust they sprinkle around does the trick - Short got the drop on Euser (not for the first time this season) and took the lead on lap one. The Marcos looked consistently quicker, though, and Euser sprang back into the lead on lap six.

Safety cars and pitstops then shook up the race rhythm. Berry van Elk had been running well before losing it on a hard curb and beaching his Mosler. I speak little Dutch, so I guess at the end of this clip he's saying something like 'gosh, that's unfortunate, I was driving really rather well up until I made that silly mistake".

With the safety car out and the pitstop window about to open, chaos ensued. Drivers were slowing up to enter and exit the pits at the most opportune moment as the safety car snaked the field around. Short found himself in the lead after a second safety car outing, even though he'd had 55 seconds success penalty added to his stop. The lead was short lived, though; having stopped just before the pitlane entrance when waiting for it to open, he was given a drive-through penalty. Short did his best to make up time with a clear track ahead of him before taking the drive-through and emerging in third behind Euser and the leading Porsche 997.

Short closed down Euser but couldn't pass, crossing the line behind in third as the Porsche of van de Laar and Bleekemolen took the win. Later, Euser would be stung with a thirty-second penalty for a slow getaway from the pitlane so Short was elevated into second.

Race two saw less incident but a fantastic surge from Berry van Elk. Starting at the back of the grid after his off in race one, Berry had the whole field ahead of him to carve through. Euser and Short fought all race through, the Marcos taking the win. Short suffered a fuel pump failure that led the Mosler and Marcos to bump briefly; Short kept on running but lost valuable time whilst starting the reserve pump. With sixty seconds of success penalty on his pitstop as well, the Mosler Europe car still fought on and came home in a creditable fourth place.

Star Mosler performer of the day, however, has to be Berry van Elk. From the rear of the grid, he scythed through the field and took a well-deserved podium position by finishing third.

Martin Short leads Cor Euser in the championship by 14 points as the season continues in Spa at the end of June.

Photos (c)Roel Louwers and Jacqueline Pelsmacker at www.supercarchallenge.nl

As always, highlights of the race can be seen on the Dutch Supercar Challenge website

British GT: Rockingham 31.05.09

2009-06-02T10:24:00.000+01:00

The Momo Mosler continued to impress around the Rock.

The invitational Barwell Motorsport Ginetta G50Z set the pace in race one. Dan Brown kept the Mosler in contention and took the lead as the Ginetta pitted, but any chance of victory evaporated when Dan span at the hairpin. Gregor Fiskin brought the car home in fifth (fourth in GT3) with the Ginetta taking the win with the Rosso Verde Ferrari finishing second to win the GT3 class.

Race two saw Gregor keep tabs with the lead group despite qualifying ninth, aided by the field bunching under the safety car after the MTECH Ferrari turned to flame.

With five laps to go, the Preci-Spark Ascari led the field round by a gnat's chaff from the Mosler and the impressive invitational Ginetta. The G50Z put a move on the Mosler and then out-breaked the Ascari three laps later to take the lead. More drama followed, as Brown took the Ascari on the final lap to claim the GT3 honours behind the Ginetta.

That victory put Dan Brown to the top of the driver's championship and Gregor into sixth.

Update issues

2009-05-13T07:19:00.000+01:00

My steam-driven broadband connection is playing silly beggars - I can barely hold a signal long enough to get this published, nevermind upload video - so updates from Britcar/DSC Rockingham et al will be on their way when normal service is resumed.

British GT: Spa 09-10/05/09

2009-05-11T13:49:00.005+01:00

The British GT was off on its jollies to Spa with two Moslers vying for honours. Daniel Brown and Stuart Hall were looking to add to their maiden victories at Oulton whilst Rollcentre boss Martin Short teamed up with Gregor Fiskin in the factory car to give the whippersnappers a lesson in how to handle the daunting Ardennes circuit.

It was the teenager who set the pace for race one, though, as Brown pushed the Momo Mosler onto pole. He didn't stay there too long, dropping to fourth before scaling back to second before the mandatory pitstop. But the handover to Stuart Hall was to be their undoing; the stewards adjudged the stop to be one second short of the minimum time permitted. Hall was called in to serve a stop-and-go penalty which put paid to their chances of victory.

Meanwhile, the old warhorses were on a charge. Fiskin had kept close to the rampant Ascari and inherited the lead when the Momo Mosler came in for its penalty stop. After their own stop, Short kept on the Ascari's bumper as they ran pell-mell down to the Bus Stop. "I put myself right where he couldn’t see me, right up his backside, and just before the braking area dived to the inside expecting him to close the door, but he didn’t," said Short. "I think it was the easiest overtaking manoeuvre of my career.”

The factory Mosler kept the lead to the line to claim the duo's first podium of the British GT season. Stuart Hall plugged away to bring the Momo car home in fifth.

Race two saw the Moslers start in third and fifth, Martin Short taking the higher grid slot. Hall didn't last long, a spin on lap four putting paid to their chances. In foggy conditions, Short couldn't contain the Viper early on but kept in third. Fiskin almost latched onto second after the pitstop but was hindered by a slow outlap and a tap from a backmarker - the ABG Viper stealing past once more.

The Viper went on to take the Rosso Verde Ferrari for the lead and the win, Fiskin bringing the factory Mosler home in third place.

Photos (c) www.britishgt.com

Britcar: Rockingham 02-03.05.09

2009-05-05T13:00:00.000+01:00

There were Moslers all over the Rock this weekend as Britcar ran alongside the Dutch Supercar Challenge.

Unfortunately, the Topcats Mosler wasn't one of them. Rachel Green rear ended the car at 85mph into an armco post, putting the car was out for the weekend with bodywork, suspension and subframe damage. Up at the pointy end of the grid, though, the Eclipse and Rollcentre cars locked out the front row.

The question would be how long they would stay there. Qualifying had revealed a problem unique to racing at Rockingham; riding the curved bank forced fuel away from the pump and resulted in engine cut-out. Not what you need when flying towards the Deane hairpin.

From the rolling start, Short held the bank and slotted into the lead with the Eclipse car fighting off the attentions of an engulfing pack. By lap 12, McInerney was running in third but then slowed to a crawl - fuel pressure problems has hobbled the Eclipse car. Short kept the factory car in the lead, but his advantage was nibbled away lap after lap. After a lengthy stop, Gregor Fiskin took the Mosler back out but soon returned to the pits. Even though the fuel tank was half full, the fuel just wasn't feeding in. The team hoped that a top-up would coax the pump back into life, but the dash to splash was deemed judged to be too late. The Mosler was hit with a two-lap penalty and right out of contention.

At least their poor performance in race one added spice to race two. Grid placings for the Sunday outing are decided by the previous race's placings, so that put two hungry Moslers at the back of the pack ready to race through. The mechanics had worked hard on both cars to try and solve the fuel feed issues and both teams were hopeful of better results this time around. Within a few laps, Gregor Fiskin had carved through the field in the factory car and taken second place. Whilst Michael McInerney moved through the pack too, Fiskin took the lead on lap 11. Before the pitstops, it was Moslers running first and third as the Eclipse car hauled itself into a potential podium place.

Sean McInerney brought the Eclipse car out in ninth place and started to chase down the leaders. But soon he was blazing round - literally. The back of the Mosler was engulfed in flame as the fuel tank breather dumped fumes over the exhaust as the Eclipse car rounded the banked section. McInerney dumped the car at Tarzan and beat a hasty retreat. Out came the safety car and so the pack backed up behind Martin Short, out in the lead with the factory Mosler. Short stretched out the lead once more only for more fuel feed problems slowing the Mosler. The lead slipped from Short as the race ebbed away and the factory car had to settle for third place.

Start of the Saturday race;

Photos (c) P J Cherry

Dutch Supercar Challenge; Rockingham 03.05.09

2009-05-05T10:28:00.000+01:00

Well, it wasn't Donington; I was looking forward to seeing the Dutch Supercar Challenge at my home circuit, but the (slowly) ongoing works there led to a venue swap. Off to the Rock, then, for the championship's only UK round.

Qualifying proved to be nip and tuck as Martin Short traded fastest laps with Cor Euser in the Marcos. Short prevailed, leaving the 'Flying Dutchman' in second. Sat just behind them both on the grid was the only other Mosler in this round, Berry van Elk, in fourth.

With literally a grandstand view for race one, I felt the Rockingham roar as the field sped past on their rolling start. Martin Short took the field over the stripe and maanged not to get mugged in the banked run up to the Deane hairpin. Keeping Cor Euser at bay, the Mosler Europe car began to strech out a lead until the safety car was called out - Berry van Elk left his bonnet on the approach to Chapman after a disagreement with the back end of a Lamborghini. Berry made it back to the pits (as this video shows) but it was race over for the V-Max Mosler.

On the restart, Euser managed to put a flyer on Short and the Marcos took the lead. With success penalities slowing the Mosler Europe team's pitstop, that lead began to grow. Even a late stop-go penalty for Euser, who undercooked his own pitstop, wasn't enough of a hindrance to let Short claw back the top spot. He had to settle for second place as the only Mosler finisher.

Race two on Sunday saw Euser claim pole with Short alongside in second. This time it was the Mosler driver who was first to pounce, taking the Marcos into the first corner for an early lead. Catching the backmarkers by lap ten, Cor saw his chance and regained the lead as the lead pair negotiated the traffic.

Short, though, was content to play a waiting game. Diving into the pits as soon as the window opened, the Mosler was clad in new rubber and set off in pursuit. He was soon lapping at up to three seconds faster than before; Euser seemed satisfied to stay out for longer. When the Marcos finally pitted at the end of the window (with no tyre change made) the Mosler was only six seconds behind and lapping two seconds quicker than the leader.

Lap 23 saw the lead change for the last time. Euser missed the hairpin and span whilst trying to recover; Short put the hammer down for the pass and emerged nine seconds clear at the end of the lap. The Mosler cautiously extended its lead to take the chequer almost 17 seconds ahead.

A keen strategy had pressured Euser when it mattered and gave Short another deserved DSC win. Meanwhile, Berry van Elk had a storming drive from the back of the grid, finishing fourth overall with just not enough laps in the race for him to close the gap on the Passat V8 that took third place.

Here's more footage of race one from the roof of the pitblock:

The official DSC video from the event can be seen here

All photos (c) Roel Louwers at the Dutch Supercar Challenge website apart from in in-car shot; thanks to Martin Short for that one

DSMEC: Belgian Race Kick Off 25-6 April 2009

2009-04-29T16:16:00.001+01:00

Zolder was the nezt stop off for the Dunlop Sports Maxx Endurance Challenge with the MExT Mosler hoping to do more than hobble down the pitlane as they did in Spa.

The car had been shipped back to Mosler UK for a series of updates and setup testing with the team saying the car then 'felt like new and the difference was huge'. Handling improvements were offset by engine probems in practice but the mechanics had them sorted before qualifying.

MExT put their Mosler seventh on the grid, an encouraging result after the disappointment at Spa. Sadly, that's where their good luck ran out - dodging a BMW at the race start left them with nowhere to go apart from into a Porsche. This clip from Pitstop.tv shows the incident, about two minutes in:

As you can see, the car was damaged heavily and they were firmly out of the race. MeXT are hoping to have the car fixed in time for the 500km of Zolder in June.

Photos (c) Jeroen Colpaert at grabx-art.be

V de V: Paul Ricard 24.04.09

2009-04-25T20:57:00.000+01:00

The podium is getting closer for BF Racing after another solid endurance race in the V de V series.

Paul Ricard hosted the rain-lashed second round of the championship with a four-hour race. Manuel Ferreira and Ludovic Bour qualified in third and, in atrocious conditions, were mixing it with the leaders before steering and gearbox problems hampered their pace. The BF Mosler kept on rolling, though, to finish fourth.

PREVIEW 2009: Belgian GT

2009-04-23T09:32:00.001+01:00

Uncertainty shrouds the future of Moslers in this years Belgian GT championship.

Gravity have been advertising a Mosler for sale, G&A have sold theirs to Mext (for the Dunlop Endurance Cup) and there are no marque entries for the opening race at Zolder this weekend.

Despite reports that David Shelton could be racing a Mosler this year, no further details have emerged.

Although the series includes marques such as the Audi R8, Ford GT and Ford Mustang, only twelve GT3 cars will make the initial grid. Here's hoping that a Mosler presence is lurking somewhere, if only for the Zolder 24 hour race later in the year.

25-26 Apr Belgian Race Kick Off, Zolder
09-10 May 1000 km of Spa, Spa-Francorchamps
05-06 Jun 12 Heures de Spa, Spa-Francorchamps
10-11 Jul 25H VW Fun Cup, Spa-Francorchamps
22-23 Aug 24 Hours of Zolder, Zolder
24-25 Oct FIA GT Championship, Zolder

DSMEC: Spa-Francorchamps 4-5th April 2009

2009-04-20T09:49:00.001+01:00

Spa hosted the first continental European outing for the Mosler with the opening round of the Dunlop Sports Maxx Endurance Cup (DSMEC).

The MeXt team of 'gentlemenn drivers' Lieven Goegebuer and Dirk Van Elslander were running the ex-G&A Belgian GT car from 2008.

After a number of set-up issues, the pair qualified in 18th. With only three Class 1 cars on the grid, there was every chance of a strong finish for the Mosler. Sadly, it was not to be - it struggled to make it out of the pitlane to the startline before the clutch then gave out.

Here's hoping MeXt get a longer run out when the series moves on to Zolder at the end of the month.

The ever-excellent pitstop.tv have footage from the race - the towed Mosler at 2:16 and an interview with Lieven Goegebuer at around 5:19

Photo (c) http://www.mext-racing.be

British GT: Oulton Park 11-13th April 2009

2009-04-16T11:37:00.000+01:00

Oulton Park over the Easter weekend saw a welcome return for the Mosler into British GT after a year's absence. The factory-backed Rollcentre team, starting with one car, had high hopes given the Mosler's championship-winning record. Stuart Hall and Daniel Brown are one of the youngest ever driver pairings in British GT, Daniel still only seventeen as he made his series debut.

Race one on the Saturday saw the Momo-sponsored Mosler muscle its way onto pole. Brown pushed hard in the early laps, cold tyres holding no fear for him as he pulled out a lead over David Jones in the (dare I say) stunning Ascari KZ1R. With the gap up to nine seconds at the driver changeover, Stuart Hall took the Mosler onward and kept increasing the lead before easing off to take a clear win over the Ascari and a distant-third Rosso Verde Ferrari of Hector Lester and Allan Simonsen.

With no racing on Easter Sunday, the GTs were racing again on Bank Holiday Monday in front of an expectant Oulton crowd. Looking out over from Denton's I was looking forward to seeing the Mosler lead the field out of Old Hall Corner... but it was Simonsen in the Ferrari who came into sight first. The Rollcentre Mosler was struggling on new brake pads - fitted after problems late on it race one, hence the easing-off then - which allowed Rosso Verde to push though from second on the grid.

The racing was tight with Hall sitting firmly on Simonsen's rear bumper. Both lapped with little more than a second between them as the mandatory pitstop approached. Stuart Hall took the Mosler over and was soon sizing up the Ferrari, now driven by GT veteren Hector Lester. Would young blood prevail over the old guard? Hall started to size up manoevers to place a winning overtake but it wasn't necessary; Lester spinning out at Old Hall Corner to allow the Mosler to romp away to victory.

"I was a bit surprised when Hector went off," said Daniel, "because I hadn't put him under any pressure at that point. But I was also concerned because it might have meant a safety car period and that would have cut my lead." Lester was able to rejoin, though both the Jones' Ascari and the Craig Wilkins Viper pushed him down to fourth.

A stunning winning weekend for Rollcentre then, with two poles and two fastest laps to go alongside the race wins. It was one of the most enjoyabe racedays I've been to, not just for the Mosler win but because Oulton Park was such a superb circuit - good parking, decent food, toilets that worked and some of the best spectator views I've experienced. I'll certainly be back here in seasons to come.

The British GT now takes a break enforced by the Donington debacle and returns in May with a weekend away at Spa.

Photos (c) Richard Crawford at Flickr

Video (c) me with more from the day over at Youtube

Dutch Supercar Challenge: Spa-Francorchamps 12 April 2009

2009-04-14T11:42:00.015+01:00

Spa in springtime; the Dutch Supercar Challenge returned with Short odds of more Mosler victories.

Ready to defend his 2008 crown, Mosler UK's Martin Short ran strongly in qualifying to put the factory car first on the grid for Saturday's first race. With a solid season behind him and the learning curve hopefully a little flatter this time around, Berry van Elk ran well and put his Mosler onto fourth spot. The Woodcock brothers returned for another Supercar season, qualifying in sixteenth place. No outing this weekend, though, for Harry Mecke or the KRM car.

Race one saw Short take command from the start with potential non-Mosler rivals falling by the wayside. Both Euser's Marcos and Pastorelli's V8 Star developed mechanical problems; only Peter Versluis in the Corvette Z06 provided any hope of a serious challenge. The lead Mosler proved too strong for the rest of the field, though, Short keeping the factory car out in front to take the season's maiden win. Despite a thirty second penalty for overtaking under yellows, Versluis kept second with Berry making it a Mosler 1-3 as he grabbed third spot on the podium. The Woodcocks finished in eleventh and didn't feature again that weekend.

The second race saw Short start from the front but with a fifteen-second victory penalty to take at the pitstop. Early laps were tight, with the Rudolph Viper harrying Short until the Mosler laid down consistently fast laps to establish the lead. The rest of the competition looked as if it was going to be slim again, with Pastorelli, Versluis and van Elk all dropping off with technical problems and Cor Euser starting the Marcos from the pitlane after his earlier woes.

When Short brought his Mosler in for the mandatory pitstop, he'd established a fifteen second lead. With a fifteen second penalty to take, it looked like the race was primed for action... so Martin was bemused to exit the pits with an extended lead. It seemed that the only pairing with the ability and stomach for the fight was Cor Euser and the Marcos, clawing his way through the field having started last, but even he wasn't going to catch the fast-lapping Mosler.

Short eased off significantly towards the end but still took the chequered flag over eighty seconds in front of Euser.

So, two poles and two wins for the Mosler factory team and another podium for Berry van Elk. Martin Short did say "a win's a win" but I bet he's enjoy stiffer competition when the DSC take their spring break over in the UK at Rockingham in May.

Photos (c) Roel Louwers at www.supercarchallenge.nl

Race highlights (including interview with Martin Short) available on the DSC site

Quick race report: British GT, Oulton Park

2009-04-13T19:06:00.003+01:00

The sun shone over the Cheshire parkland circuit today as the Rollcentre Mosler blistered its way to a two-race-winning weekend.

Having shoved the Momo-sponsored car onto pole for both races, Stuart Hall and Daniel Brown took their first win on Saturday with only a dicky braking issue causing concern towards the end.

Race two saw Simonsen thrust the Rossa Verde Ferrari past Hall into Turn One but the Mosler harried hard. They carried round in formation for the first half of the race. After the driver changes, Daniel Brown was itching for an opportunity to pass - and lap 23-ish gave it him on a plate as Hector Lester span out. Brown brought the Mosler home and gave Rollcentre a dream start to their 2009 British GT season.

Full report and videos to follow.

UPDATE: Donington cancellations

2009-04-09T21:41:00.003+01:00

I'm gutted to find out that the British GT and Britcar meetings at Donington have been cancelled.

With no racing license issued by the MSA, both series look set to move down to Rockingham.

This is a real kick in the balls for me - I was looking forward to seeing five Moslers sweep down the Craner Curves. Moreso, I was looking forward to a couple of months worth of great racing that I can catch a bus to get to; my carbon footprint being somewhat smaller than average given that I don't actually drive a car (don't own a car, don't have a license, never had a lesson. Yes, there's a rich vein of irony in a guy being a GT fan but not knowing how to drive).

Something fishy's going on at DP; all they've done so far is put a half-arsed tunnel in. That needs some Arnco and a catch fence. But that hasn't been done.... so DP have taken down the Dunlop Bridge, fecked up the tunnel, jeapordised a season's racing and done swipe all about constructing anything else.

Well, Mr Gillet, you've now got a few clear months to twaddle about now that FPA, Brit GT and Britcar have pulled out. Are you going to now going to send the tractors in? Have you actually got the money to send the tractors in?

And can anyone give me a lift from Derby to Rockingham ;-)

PREVIEW: Dunlop Sport Maxx Endurance Cup

2009-04-09T12:17:00.002+01:00

Mext Racing will run a Mosler in the Belgium-based Dunlop Sport Maxx Endurance Cup.

The series visits Zolder, Spa and Assen for races between two and four hours with a ten-hour season finale at Zolder in November.

With four classes of GT and Touring Cars in competiton, there's likely to be plenty of lively racing. Mext have taken on the ex-G&A Mosler that competed in the Belgian GT last season with Dirk van Elslander and Lieven Goegebuerwill racing in Class One.

http://www.mext-racing.be/
http://www.dunlopendurancecup.be

4-5/04 Dunlop First Race (Spa Francorchamps)
25-26/04 Belgian Race Kick Off (Circuit Zolder)
14/06 500 km van Zolder (Circuit Zolder)
17-18/07 Zolder Super Prix (Circuit Zolder)
12-13/09 Truck GP (Circuit Zolder)
23-24/10 Finale Races (Assen (NL))
14/11 Zolder 10 Hours (Circuit Zolder)

Photo (c) Mext Racing

PREVIEW 2009: British GT

2009-04-01T10:04:00.001+01:00

The Mosler is back in British GT as Rollcentre front a two-car team for 2009.
As well as racing here when his Dutch Supercar commitments allow, Martin Short will field a full-season entry driven by BRDC 'Superstar' Stuart Hall and the seventeeen-year-old rising star, Daniel Brown.

Short is optimistic that the returning Mosler will be competitive in a strong-looking field that for 2009 includes four Ferraris, a brace of Lamborghini Gallardos and a Ford GT. "Stuart and Dan are going to make a very strong team," Short believes, "and that our team focus is very much on them, on the Mosler, and on regaining the championship title which we last won in 2003.”

Both young drivers have been involved with Rollcentre already - Stuart Hall being part of their 2007 Le Mans 24 Hours team and Dan Brown victorious alongside Martin Short in the Moslers Britcar win at Silverstone last weekend.

The MOMO-sponsored Mosler was looking good at the British GT media day and I'm certainly looking forward to seeing at full throttle during the season opener at Oulton Park over the Easter weekend.

11-13/04 Oulton Park
25-6/04 Donington
09-10/05 Spa
30-31/05 Rockingham
13-14/06 Knockhill
04-05/07 Snetterton
16-19/08 Silverstone
19-20/09 Brands Hatch

Photo (c) (top) www.britishgt.com, (mid and bottom) Jan Stevenson

Australian GT: Melbourne 26-29 March 2009

2009-03-31T07:35:00.011+01:00

Pit lane starts, last lap incidents and safety car shenanigans... the Australian GT moved to Melbourne and the Moslers were in the thick of the action again.

Craig Baird had blistered the Mosler/Shell/Stahlwille to the head of the grid with a sub-two-minute record-breaking qually lap. But such pace led to the Mosler being issued with an intake restrictor on top of the 100kg of penalty weight being carried. Come the start of race one, Baird failed to make the rolling start and joined from the pitlane... and then swung back in having failed to complete a full lap.

It transpired that team owner and Mosler Australia distributor John Teulan had decided to change the engine mapping on Baird's car, leaving Baird concerned that he would be swamped at the start.

Things didn't run smoothly for Teulan either, locking up the rear on lap 5 to leave his Mosler in the kitty litter.

Race two therefore saw both Moslers starting at the back of the grid. John Teulan didn't last long - another rear lockup saw him off track and into the wall on lap three. Craig Baird, meanwhile, set off to scythe through the pack. Having made 18th place by the end of lap one - passing half the field in doing so - he continued to pressure the pack and was running in ninth by lap five.

Then on the last lap, Baird went one Lambo too far. In trying to pass Dean Grant's Gallardo, he took both cars off circuit and out of the race.

So, race three saw Baird at the back of the grid again. And, as in the previous race, Baird set about butchering the field as he moved from 35th to 12th in the space of a lap. The safety car was soon out as an Elise took a liking to the barriers before an Exige and Porsche had a coming together. After two laps, a flag was out on the start/finish line... the chequered flag! Race three had turned into a one lap sprint and two-lap safety car parade! It seems the race was halted early in order to get the day's scheduel back on track - that's what happens when you share a stage with those pesky F1 prima donnas I suppose.

No points awarded for the farcical race three and two DNFs for Baird and Teulan made for a frustrating Mosler Melbourne weekend. Two wins for David Wall in the PR Technology Porsche GT3 Cup S puts him at the top of the championship, Craig Baird slipping to eleventh. John Teulan is one spot from propping up the table in 22nd.

Photo by drinking_black_coffee on Flickr

Britcar: Silverstone International 28th March 2009

2009-03-31T07:25:00.015+01:00

Hard rain, hail and GTs. Must be Silverstone in the springtime. Britcar 2009 got underway with four Moslers vying for honours in both the overall championship and the UK's first Mosler Challenge.

Qualifying saw the Moslers strung through the top end of the order; the McInerneys highest placed in third, the KRM combo of Riley and Flux one row back in sixth and the factory car with team boss Martin Short and ex-Formula Palmer Audi graduate Dan Brown in eighth. Rachel Green and Henry Fletcher started the Topcats car down in fourteenth place.

As the field rolled round to the grid, Martin Short pulled swiftly into the pits. This was worrying - had the car sprung a problem already? The pack took two warm-up laps before being unleashed but still Short hadn't re-appeared. As I froze myself into my seat at Woodcote, the lights went green. When the field reappeared at the end of the first lap, there were two surprises - Flux had bludgeoned the KRM car into the lead from their sixth slot start and Short was back out hunting the pack down. It appeared he'd dove in to don slicks, anticipating the drying circuit, but there had then been confusion about pit-lane-starting procedure which held him (and several others) back.

Sean McInerney took Eclipse up to second early on. Initial tyre choice seemed to become an issue, as some of the pace-setters seemed to start struggling and end up as overtaking fodder for Short. The factory Mosler was tearing through the order, already up to eighth by the end of lap six. Flux had pushed hard to open out a reasonable lead, but Short was whittling the gap away and had taken the lead by lap twenty.

As Dan Brown took over the Rollcentre Mosler at its mandatory pitstop with less than an hour to go, he kept it out in the lead with both the earlier-stopping KRM and Eclipse cars still running in the top ten. The former came in for a quick splash and Ian Flux put the hammer down to try and improve on fourth place. Sadly, the engine couldn't take the strain and the Mosler was forced to retire with about half and hour to go. Also, somewhere around was the Topcats Mosler although it wasn't troubling the front-runners.

In his first competitive Mosler outing, Dan Brown brought Rollcentre home to take the chequered flag and top spot in the Mosler Challenge. The Prosport LM3000 came second and the superb looking Ginetta G50Z took third (as well as the Class 1 win). Fifth place for Eclipse gave them second place in Class 1 as well as the Challenge.
Topcats finished down in 24th and the retired KRM in 25th.

Good to see a Mosler take the win with a lush piece of driving by Mr Short. Hopefully the Mosler Challenge can still attract a few more entries, even in these straitened times, perhaps even by the time Britcar reaches round two at Donington for their May Bank Holiday meeting.

All wobbly video and slightly-Photoshopped pictures are (c) Simon H Johnson

Australian GT: Adelaide Clipsal 500 19-22 March 2009

2009-03-31T06:53:00.000+01:00

Thirty cars, three races, one victor - the Mosler Down Under story began with a rollercoaster first chapter featuring spills, thrills and a trio of race wins for the marque.

Craig Baird took the Mosler/Shell/Stahwille team to the top of the podium after each race of the Australian GT opening weekend in Adelaide. Pushed hard in each by the Porsche of David Wall, Baird made the most of the Mosler's muscle to notch up three victories. Race three saw Baird and Wall escape early from a pack that seemed to have a fatal attraction to the concrete and kitty-litter, with four cars failing to make it round the first lap. Wall traded top spot with Baird before the Mosler stamped its authority on the race and secured a trio of victories.

But the Adelaide weekend was bittersweet for Mosler Australia distributor John Teulan. He lost his Mosler on lap five of race one and didn't make it out onto the grid again.

PREVIEW 2009: Britcar

2009-03-27T10:59:00.001Z

The 2009 Britcar GT Championship promises Moslers driven by past winners as well as fresh faces.

Eclipse, pictured above in testing, return with the McInerneys (their international committments permitting). Flux and Riley have also thrown their hat into the ring. Topcats will be back too, with Henry Fletcher and Rachel Green lining up for race one at Silverstone.

Also on the entry list for the season opener is Mosler UK's Martin Short, juggling Britcar alongside defending his Dutch Supercar crown and the occasional jaunt in the British GT. Martin has Britcar drives available and the UK's first Mosler Challenge will run through the season.

So, four Moslers are expected to line up for the first race round Silverstone International on March 28th. We'll be there to bring back our first video report of the new season.

Photo (c) Paul Cherry

PREVIEW 2009: Dutch Supercar Challenge

2009-03-27T10:50:00.000Z

A healthy grid of Moslers is predicted for the Dutch Supecar Challenge in 2009.

Martin Short will defend his title as well as race in Britcar when the races don't clash. Riley and Flux return too along with the Woodcock brothers. Berry van Elk will be looking to harry the old guard again. And Harry Mecke returns, having secured the services of Patrick Simon as a co-driver.

The season gets underway at Spa in April and visits England over the first May bank holiday - I'll be at Rockingham to watch the largest Mosler field ever!

12-04: Francorchampions, Spa Francorchamps
03-05: Britcar, Rockingham
14-06: Masters of F3, Zandvoort
28-06: Euroraces, Spa Francorchamps
19-07: Zolder Superleague, Zolder
09-08: Rizla Racing Day, Assen
04-10: Spa Racing Festival, Spa Francorchamps
25-10: DSC Finaleraces, Assen

V de V: Jarama March 22nd 2209

2009-03-24T10:32:00.000Z

The first Mosler outing in Europe for 2009 was at the Spanish circuit of Jarama for the opening round of the V de V GT Touring Endurance championship.

BF Racing entered their MT900R, maintained by Perspective Racing and driven by Manuel Ferreira and Ludovic Bour. They qualified in third and finished fifth in their first competitive outing in the marque.

I don't get much information about the V de V races so, if you know of any websites that report on the series apart from vdev.fr please let me know.

Photos (c) Mario on Flickr

PREVIEW: VdeV 2009

2009-03-10T10:22:00.000Z

Another major European championship has a Mosler entry for 2009.

The VdeV test day at the end of February saw Thierry Perrier of Perspective put a GT3 specification car through its paces. It will be raced by Ludovic Bour and Manuel Ferreira in the Modern Endurance class. With the lower-spec 'Club' Mosler also being offered for racing this year, there are high hopes that more of the marque may yet make the starting grid in this popular French endurance championship.

Official championship website: http://www.vdev.fr/

Timetable:

20-22 March Jarama 4 hour
24-26 April Paul Ricard 4 hour
29-31 May Val de Vienne 3 hour
26-28 June Lausitz 8 hour
28-30 August Dijon 3 hour
25-27 September Ledenon 3 hour
23-25 October Magny-Cours 6 hour
20-22 November Estoril 6 hour

Photo (c) www.endurance-info.com

PREVIEW 2009: Australian GT

2009-03-09T10:29:00.000Z

Our first preview of the 2009 season sees the Mosler venture Down Under.

John Teulan becomes the official distributor for the marque in Australia and his team, Statewide GT Racing, will run two Moslers in the Australian GT championship. He'll drive one car himself with the other piloted by former V8 Supercar driver Craig Baird.

Further Mosler orders for Oz are pending. With this year's championship including the likes of the Dodge Viper, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Maserati, the marque is up against stiff competition in its debut season.

It all kicks off at the Clipsal circuit in Adelaide, March 19th-22nd.

Official website: http://www.gtchampionship.com.au

Calendar:

Round 1, Clipsal 500 Adelaide, March 19-22
Round 2, Albert Park GP Circuit, March 26-29
Round 3, Phillip Island, May 16-17
Round 4, Eastern Creek, July 18-19
Round 5, Sandown International Raceway, November 27-29

DUBAI 24 hour 2009

2009-02-27T10:17:00.000Z

Gravity International fielded the only Mosler in this year's Dubai 24 hour enduarnce race.

Loris de Sordi, Vindent Radermecker, Eric Lux and Gerard Lopez were joined by Chinese A1GP and GP2 driver Ho-Pin Tung.

They qualified 17th overall and second in their SP2 class for 24-hour specials.

After six hours, the Mosler was up to 13th place but it proved unlucky for Gravity. The engine blew, forcing a lengthy pitstop and eventual retirement.

Photo (c) Eric Teeken, Dubai 24 website

BRITCAR: Brands Hatch 'Into The Night' 15.11.2008

2009-02-27T08:23:00.000Z

With jokers to be played and championship places to be decided, Britcar came back to Brands Hatch for the season finale - ninety minutes of night driving around the tight Indy circuit.

A dusk qualifying session saw Moslers block out the front row, the McInerneys on pole with the Topcats Beaumont and Taylor next to them. The Aston of Drayson and Cocker recovered from an earlier mishap to slot into third.

That trio ran together in order up to the mandatory pitstop, Taylor taking a a brief lead ten laps in before Sean McInerney out-dragged the Topcat three laps later. The Moslers traded fastest laps, Taylor eventually blistering a 47.788 t record the best of the day.

After thirty laps and another safety car period, the Eclipse Mosler had pulled a three-second-plus lead. But backmarkers were beginning to clog the road ahead, allowing Taylor to close the gap back up.

An early pitstop and a safety car period saw the Barwell Aston jump up to second as the late-pitting Topcats Mosler slid back down the order. Up front, the Eclipse car was harried by Johhny Cocker as the gap between them was worn away. Eventually, after 104 laps of Brands, the Mosler took the chequered flag a mere 2.2 seconds in front of the Aston.

Topcats settled for third; having played their joker, the double points awarded gave them all they needed to claim the Class 1 title for Andrew Beaumont and Henry Taylor.

No Moslers in the overall championship honours - consistent points scoring in the lower classes denied any of the marque's teams that crown - but there were some great race victories throughout the season.

Photos - Last picture (Topcats Mosler) by Nick Dungan on Flickr, all others courtesy of clip-motorsports on Flickr.

DUTCH SUPERCAR / MOSLER CHALLENGE Assen Final 26.10.08

2008-10-31T09:51:00.018Z

The last weekend of the Dutch Supercar Challenge sees the field in Assen for the two final races. Martin Short had the chance to take the overall championship as well as the inaugural Mosler Challenge title.

Slotted behind the championship rival's Viper on the grid, Short to his Mosler from fourth to second at the start as the Viper jostled with the pole placed Arjan van der Zwann. With Cor Euser taking the lead, Short knew he'd have to push hard to make the most of the early part of the race, as penalty seconds at the pitstop would diminish any time cushion he could build up.

An accident on the pit straight saw the safety car deployed and the field having to drive to pitlane as a diversion. Four laps of this saw Short's time advantage eroded. When the lights went green again, Short knew he'd have to push Euser hard and eventually took the Marcos on lap 8. With just three clear laps before the mandatory pitstop, Short planted pedal to metal in an attempt to mitigate the ensuing time penalties.

After the stops, Martin Short was down in tenth place; Berry van Elk had clawed his way from the back of the grid to sixth and the KRM car was looking masterful as Ian Flux took the wheel in third. There in fourth was the ETEC Viper, Short knowing that he needed to close the gap to have a chance to taking the title today. Pushing hard often comes at a price, though, and the factory Mosler span out on the fastest corner of the track. Short kept the Mosler out of the wall and back into the race, but now had even more catch-up work to do amongst the backmarkers.

The Moslers continued their steady ascent. Ian Flux took second place from Cor Euser and Berry van Elk fought his way up to fifth. Short was taking things steady when the day took an incredible turn; the ETEC Viper suffered a blown engine and was out of the race. As he passed his stricken rival, Short knew that eighth place or better would give him enough points to take the championship.

He began carving back upfield and reached seventh by the last lap. Up front, Ian Flux in second pushed the leading DTM Audi TTR hard, the latter spinning in the Strubben hairpin allowing KRM to take the race win. Berry van Elk also pulled out an overtake to claim fourth spot. Martin Short dropped a place in a nervous finish but eighth was enough to take the 2008 Dutch Supercar Challenge title.

Race two may have seemed anti-climatic with the title now decided. Instead, heavy rain livened up the last Assen race.

Berry van Elk suffered clutch problems again before the start, though thankfully they were fixed to allow him a start from the second row. With KRM on pole in and Martin Short looking to put in a champion's finish to the season, the scene was set for a classic Mosler tussle up front.

By turn one, Short was already up to fourth and had the lead the end of the first lap. Cor Euser harried him for eight laps, the Marcos eventually gaining the upper hand.

The other Moslers were having a mixed race - Berry van Elk running wide and beaching, then Ian Flux doing likewise. But Harry Mecke kept up a great wet pace and finished fifth overall.

Short was happy to let the ETEC Viper past as he brought the factory car home in third place, another race podium and another Mosler Challenge win for the Dutch GT champion.

Photos (c) Marc de Waart and Robbert Maas, www.supercarchallenge.nl

SPANISH GT: Jerez 18/19 October 2008

2008-10-21T16:06:00.003+01:00

You just know how this story's going to go, don't you?

Motor Competicion qualified 12th, didn't finish race one and didn't start race two. They wrap up this frustrating season in November at the Algarve circuit.

Photo (c) www.gtsport.es

SPANISH GT: Valencia 28-29 September 2008

2008-10-21T15:52:00.003+01:00

Let's keep this brief. Villalba and Gutierrez did not finish in race one and came 17th in race two. A disappointing Spanish GT championship for the Mosler isn't getting better.

Photo(c) www.gtsport.es

BELGIAN GT: Zolder Final Race, 18-19 October 2008

2008-10-21T12:58:00.007+01:00

With the title still undecided, the Mosler teams were both contenders and potential kingmakers as the Belgian GT Championship entered its last round at Zolder.

Race one saw Kumpen on pole and eager for victory; “We want to finish off the season on a high note, in the same way that we started it off”. Marchal and Radermecker filled out the front row for Gravity with De Keersmaeker and Kenis just downfield in sixth. Sadly the G&A car didn't even make it to the race start, the driveshaft giving way the warm up lap. As the Gravity twins roared away, there was trouble further back with the A+ Viper crashing heavily into a wall and the championship leader, Damien Coens, skidding off after a few hundred metres.

That left Anthony Kumpen and Ron Marchal clear up front in their own little race. They stayed 1-2 after the pitstop and were untroubled by other competitors. Birthday boy Bert Longin held off Radermecker to take the win - by just 0.239 seconds.

Race two saw Radermecker on pole and the other Moslers on the third row. The battle for the title remained wide open as, with just twenty-five minutes to go, the safety car came out and bunched the pack together.

When the race went green again, Franchi's GPR Porsche skidded hard into lead runner Coens in the Ferrari 430. That let the Moslers loose at the front of the field. The Gravity pair fought all the way to the line, with Kumpen just pipping Marchal to the win by just an incredible 21 hundreths of a second.

Kenis and De Keersmaeker brought the G&A car home in third place to lock out the podium for Mosler.

Winning the races was only part of the championship equation, though. Gravity needed other drivers to fare badly to have a hope of winning the title. Although in both races the leaders seemed keen on scuppering each others chances, Damien Coens coaxed the Ferrari far enough to gain him and co-driver Fred Bouvy the drivers championship. The day's two second places made Ron Marchal the highets placed Mosler driver in seventh place. Vincent Radermecker finished in ninth, Kumpen and Longin in joint twelfth, Kenis and De Keersmaeker in joint seventeenth.

In the team championship, Gravity took fourth and fifth - and perhaps cursing the difference that a successful 24 race could have made! G&A finsihed in ninth. So, despite winning five rounds out of eleven, Gravity didn't take any championship honours away this year. Here's hoping for reliability in the 24 hour race next year!

DUTCH SUPERCAR / MOSLER CHALLENGE: Zandvoort 05/10/08

2008-10-08T14:31:00.000+01:00

The penultimate race of the season saw the Dutch Supecars take to Zandvoort as part of the A1GP support package.

In the first 45 minute race, Martin Short had a barnstorming start from fifth with the factory Mosler working up the field. Elmar Grimm binned his Audi and Short pressed hard to take the ETEC Viper and the lead. Berry van Elk overcooked it and became acquainted with back end of a Porsche, losing his nose at the next corner.

Short's pitstop was elongated by those penalty seconds resulting from his last win, so he was out of the lead spot when released back into the pack. But then we saw the factory Mosler doing what it does best with the boss behind the wheel - grinding back through the pack, passing Flux in the KRM car on the way to the lead again.

With five minutes left on the clock, all was looking fine and dandy for another Mosler win. Then.... Snel's Porsche hit a wall and stopped in the middle of the track, depositing Porsche parts everywhere. The race was red flagged and the results rolled back two laps. That demoted Short to fourth and was the cue for much head-scratching in the paddock. Riley and Flux took fifth in the KRM Mosler, Mecke came home in 16th and van Elk only made it to lap eight in his over-ventilated car.

Race two saw such heavy rain that the start was made behind the safety car. van Elk and Mecke worked their way up through the field in conditioned loaded against a stiff-running Mosler. Whilst Mecke began to challenge for a podium place, van Elk tagged a Porsche again and beached his Mosler in the gravel.

Harry Mecke pushed up to third and held on to take his first top-three finish of the season. Riley brought KRM home in fourth and Short finished fifth, only to be knocked back to sixth with time penalties.

Short still keeps a slender championship lead over the ETEC Viper as the championship moves to Assen for the final races at the end of the month.

BRITCAR 24 HOUR 2008

2008-10-08T13:15:00.007+01:00

Just a few (very late) words to round this event reporting off. To be honest, I didn't want to write a great deal in the direct aftermath of the race as I was more concerned about how Andy Neate was after the huge pit straight crash on the Saturday. Although seriously injured (and of a severity that few of us were aware of at the time) he's pulling through and is now out of hospital to continue his long road to recovery at home.

From a Mosler perspective, it was a frustrating and unfulfilled race. Though the Eclipse car of the McInerneys and Michael Vergers qualified on pole they didn't make it onto the grid, lubrication problems forcing the team into an engine change. Although they were back out after only four laps down, they were soon spilling oil all over the circuit and were soon called back in. Endurance being the name of the game, they stuck with it though and, in no small part to a blistering night session by Vergers, managed to take ninth overall and the runner-up spot in Class 1.

The other Eclipse entry, as many readers will be aware, was involved in the pit straight collision and struggled throughout the event to finish 27th overall, fourth in Class 1, some 102 laps behind the winning Porsche.

Topcats had been running at the front with their Mosler but a wheel bearing problem lost them time in the early evening and gave them an irrecoverable gap to close for the lead. They kept the pressure on the field, though, and were back into the top ten when they were scuppered by an oil cooler failure and snapping throttle spindle with less than an hour to go. They finished tenth over all and third in class.

With the exception of the winning Paragon Porsche, the Class 1 cars seemed to struggle, the Moslers beset with some of the reliability issues that have cropped up through the regular Britcar season. Here's hoping for better things when we do all this again - perhaps as soon as next April? If so, I'll be there in the expected fog and muck to bring (hopefully) better Mosler news.

BELGIAN GT: Francorchampagne, Spa 20-21 September 2008

2008-10-06T13:55:00.006+01:00

Back to Spa for the Belgian GT, with the Moslers looking to repeat their double podium placing from their last outing here. The title may have been out of reach for Gravity but they were keen on racking up the wins to end the season strongly. Kenis and De Keersmaeker would also be pushing for the front, with Spa being the venue of their last GT victory in July.

In qualifying, the Gravity drivers were getting close to the banana Viper but Van Hooydonk proved too strong and took pole position, Radermecker and Longin settling for second and third.

Radermecker seemed to be the only one capable of matching the Viper's pace early in the race but a brake problem put a stop to his hopes on lap four.

G&A were well placed after an early pitstop and seemed poised to take the win. The thirsty Mosler needed a splash and dash to get it to the finish, though, and crossed the line back in fifth. The other Gravity pairing of Kumpen and Longin struggled home in 17th.

Another frustrating weekend for the Moslers on a track where they've tasted success before. Here's hoping reliability and a little luck hold out for the teams in the final race at Zolder in October.

Photos (c) www.belgiangt.com

DUTCH SUPERCAR / MOSLER CHALLENGE: Francorchampagne, Spa 21/09/08

2008-10-06T13:52:00.015+01:00

Race one saw a Mosler lockout up at the front of the grid, Martin Short on pole with another grizzled veteran, Kevin Riley, parked next to him (having rented an engine from Short after the KRM-rebuild blew up). On the next row back was the none-too-stealthy all-black factory Mosler, guest-piloted by Cor Euser. The BlueBerry started in ninth, with the Woodcocks down in nineteenth.
Martin Short blasted away from pole, with Pastorelli's Passat taking Riley at La Source hairpin. Cor Euser ran wide on that first lap but was soon challenging for third. Short kept pushing, with laptimes only fractionally slower than his blistering qualifying pace. He pushed away Pastorelli, who soon had Cor Euser hanging off his exhaust. The non-more-black Mosler soon took second spot, leaving the V8 to battle for third with Grimm's Audi and another Mosler in the shape of Kevin Riley.

The KRM car eventually withdrew after tangling with the V8 Star then suffering a puncture. Meanwhile, the BlueBerry Mosler was pushing through the field. Berry van Elk was even overtaking on the outside through Eau Rouge! Up towards the front, Cor Euser and the black Mosler seemed to be the perfect marriage. But like any blissful relationship, you can hit a rough patch when you least expect it. In Euser's case, it was a sudden stall caused by a detaching fuel hose. As soon as it had cooled, Cor popped it back in and was able to get underway again.

After the pitstops, Grimm's DTM Audi had gravitated to the front of the pack with Shorty falling back after having to bump start the car in the pitlane. Stealing into second, though, was Berry van Elk. Sensing the top step of the podium was within his lurch, van Elk gunned the Mosler after the Audi into the bus stop chicane but span out! Grimm was clear to take his third Supercar victory of the season, though Berry recovered in time to secure second as Shorty (who had stole through the field after the stops) came round to take third. Third place on the Mosler Challenge podium went to the Woodcocks, finishing sixth overall in one of their best ever DSC finishes.

The Moslers had run well and so seemed to really fancy their chances of a win in race two on the Sunday. KRM didn't show due to clutch problems. The marques chances improved greatly, though, when Elmar Grimm was forced to withdraw so handing pole position to Berry van Elk and promoting Short up to second. Sadly, Berry wasn't able to make the most of the top slot - taking La Source too gingerly saw him drop a hatful of places down the field. Short floored his Mosler and only Pastorelli's V8 Star able to tag along with him.

van Elk was determined to fight back, though, and was soon working his way back through the field. Even the Woodcocks got dropped before Les Combes as the BlueBerry Mosler forced itself up to third place. Euser was working the black Mosler hard, too; from the back of the grid he pushed up into the top ten after only five laps.

After the pitstops, the battle was well and truly joined. Short had fallen back to third (with those pesky penalty seconds again) with van Elk nudging into second. The leading V8 Star seemed to be shredding rubber, so the Moslers began to hunt it down.

Jinking past a dawdling Porsche on Eau Rouge, Short found a better line into Les Combes and took van Elk. For an encore, he pulled the same manoeuvre again to pass Meindert van Buuren in the V8 Star and take the lead.

As Short pulled away through the back markers, van Elk was sizing up the Star.
Catching up that lapper-traffic, van Buuren got stuck behind the back-pack cars and Berry took second. That didn't last too long, though, as in avoiding a spinning Supersporter he let the V8 Star steal second again. But the Passat was baking rather than blistering, a spin leading to a blown radiator. Berry gladly sailed past took second place. Taking the black-and-white was The Man Himself, Martin Short taking another win which cemented his place at the top of both the DSC Championship and the Mosler Challenge.

The Woodcocks took another sixth place overall and third place on the Mosler podium. Cor Euser brought the black factory car home in a respectable eighth place, having been running in fourth before losing fuel shortly before the end.

Martin Short was rightly elated with his first win at Spa since 2003's 1000km. With Berry's second place to celebrate as well, he said that "much merriment and alcohol consuming was had in the Mosler Europe camp"! “This race was amazing.. second place feels like a victory to me,” said Berry. "I started a bit too gentle, but I was able to push and keep up with the leaders".

Photos (c) www.supercarchallenge.nl

BRITCAR 24 HOURS: More video

2008-09-21T22:59:00.002+01:00

Here's some more shots of the Moslers at Abbey, Bridge, Brooklands and Luffield. All shot on Sunday towards the end of the race.

BRITCAR 24 HOURS: Quick update

2008-09-21T19:01:00.002+01:00

Never a dull moment, then. Just back from Silverstone from what proved to be a thrilling race. Sadly, not one that the Moslers could call their own. Both the Eclipse cars suffered multiple technical problems, the number three car finishing in 27th (albeit fourth in class). The McInerney's Mosler - in no small part due to a blistering late session by Michael Vergers - dragged itself up to ninth overall and second in class. The Topcat car took tenth place and third in class, despite expiring in a cloud of smoke around Brooklands with 45 minutes to go.

Pictures and more video to follow. And a full race report when I can get some feedback from the teams. Meanwhile, I'll be on the forums tonight to see who's feeding the flames of the rumour bonfire - today's highlights including:

- we're all off to Donington next year
- if not, James Tucker has cut a deal with the devil to guarantee good weather again
- next year's grid will have sixty cars / eighty cars / no Moslers / seven Moslers / Fifth Gear entry / a soon-to-retire Jason Plato
- Adam Sharpe is being interviewed by the plod / will have his racing licence revoked
- BMW are going to bankroll an independent team to ensure another race win

'Nuff respect to Paragon's Porsche outfit for the well-tipped win and well played to Beechdean and Haymarket for the Aston 2-3-4 . Did I mention how ruddy gorgeous Beechdean ice cream is, and how my freezer would look better with several tubs of it in there?

Only one problem with this weekend... having to wait a year to do it all over again.

BRITCAR 24 HOURS: Video

2008-09-21T08:22:00.003+01:00

Here's some footage of the Moslers in the first three hours of the race; through the fence during the first few minutes before I worked my way round to Stowe, Club and Luffield as the sun went down.

BRITCAR 24 HOURS: Update

2008-09-20T21:39:00.005+01:00

Just back from a sun-lashed Silverstone where the opening hours of Britcar 24hr have been drama-filled.

News of the pole-sitting McInerney's Mosler having undergone an engine change didn't reach me until just before my arrival at the circuit, so I didn't dare go and trouble the team. The car didn't make it to the grid and would have to start once the race had got underway. My wife and I pitched up at Luffield and watched the field pass by on the warm-up lap but weren't party to the drama unfolding round the corner. We arrived on the pit straight to find wreckage strewn across the track; Adam Sharpe lost the pole Eclipse into Woodcote, scraping the wall and spinning the Mosler. The TVR Sagaris behind was then all out of options, Andy Neate swerving then plunging into the pit wall before being speared by an unsighted Richard Dean in a Ginetta.

Medical crews were at the scene and it was some time before Dean and Neate were extracted from their cars, the latter being airlifted to hospital. The race continued under yellow flags, crawling past the accident scene. We made our way up to Copse and left the ghouls to rubberneck. After just under an hour behind the safety car, the green flags were out and the racing could shift up through the gears.

The Topcat Mosler was looking good and running up at the front. Eclipse, however, seemed to be on the fuzzy end of the lollipop again. The McInerneys in #2 joined the race, span at Stowe and was soon back in the pits as it haemorrhaged fluid. And then back out, then back in. The rumour mill had this down to rad problems. The ex-Tesco Eclipse had pitted for tyres early on and was the first in for driver change after about 90 minutes. And was back in again not too long after, not sure exactly why. All I know for sure is that I kept pointing the camera trackwards and the Topcats kept whipping past whilst the Eclipse cars were becoming a rare sight.

Videos to be posted tomorrow morning before I set off to watch the last few hours. With the first quarter of the race almost up, the Paragon Porsche is up front with the Strakka BMW in close contention. The Topcats Mosler is seven laps back in fourth place. Eclipse are running down in 35th and 38th.

BRITCAR: Preview - 24 Hours of Silverstone 2008

2008-09-20T10:24:00.004+01:00

It's Saturday morning, the sun is shining, Moslers are on the front row and all is right with the world.

On pole, the McInerney’s are joined by Michael Vergers in the #2 car, the latter hoping surely that there's no repeat of last year's escapades when the Top Gear car harpooned him off the track. A second Eclipse entry sees former Britcar drivers Adam Sharpe and George Haynes team up with Martin Rich and Graham Coomes.

Lurking on the second row is the Topcats Mosler, where owner Andrew Beaumont has Hyperion boss Richard Fores alongside as well as Caterham drivers Nick Payne and Pat Gormley.

With any luck, I'll be down at Silverstone this afternoon for the start of the Britcar 24 hour race, with the Eclipse Moslers set to lead the pack out at 4.30pm.

Picture (c) Peter May

BELGIAN GT: 24 Hours of Zolder 30-31 August 2008

2008-09-02T07:44:00.016+01:00

The end of August brought the long-haul to the Belgian GT. Zolder was again the venue for the championship's 24 hour endurance marathon.

Having taken a class win here in 2006, G&A Racing were looking to regain that form following their earlier retirement last year. Guino Kenis and Michael De Keersmaecker were joined by Patrick Smets and Chris Mattheus. De Keersmaecker was certainly confident. "We're definitely in with a chance", he said. "We'll be running our own race and won't be influenced by the battle confusion".

Gravity International fielded one car with their 'dream team' of Bert Longin, Anthony Kumpen and Vincent Radermecker. The team opted to run an older Mosler model, one with proven 24-hour credentials, in a bid to help deliver what would be a record-breaking fifth 24-hour career win for Kumpen. "This car handles far better than the newer generation", he said, commenting on the lack of understeer. "If it was up to me I would finish off the season with this".

Indeed, Gravity ripped round in free practice and qualifying to stick the Mosler on pole. The G&A car sat back in eight place. As the lights went out, Vincent Radermecker led the field away but was taken by surprise in the first corner by Jeffrey Van Hooydonk. Throughout these early stages, Radermecker seemed to be going backwards, falling as far back as seventh place. Gravity called him in twenty minutes before his scheduled stop and Radermecker had to be dragged out of the car in a state of near exhaustion.

Longin took the car out but after a few laps the Mosler was losing responsiveness.
"Lap after lap the brake pedal was getting longer and was losing pressure", he confided, before the pressure dropped totally. "I can count myself lucky that I was able to bring the car back to the pit lane. As I entered the refuelling zone the left rear disc started smoking".

The marshalls calmed the flames down and Gravity found that both sets of brake pads were shot through. Leaking fluid had caused the failure, possibly as a result of a stone getting jammed in the brakes. A problem that could be solved, but at a price; they had dropped to 15th by the time they made it back out. Meanwhile, G&A had run amongst the middle-to-low orders before an accident forced them out of the race with less than six hours gone.

Through the night, Gravity rose steadliy through the pack. By the twelve hour stage, they were back into the top five. With faster lap times and several retirements around them, things were looking good for at least a podium place. But then... with almost three quarters of the race gone, Longin saw smoke belching from the Mosler and was forced to park up. Brake problems had forced them out, the cooling system giving up the ghost.

A disappointing end, then, with the marque failing to take the chequered flag. Having taken podiums before, the Moslers seem to be struggling in 24-hour races. Here's hoping that they can regain their reliability soon.

BRITCAR: Snetterton 4hrs, 17th August 2008

2008-08-27T18:53:00.019+01:00

As the races keep getting longer, Britcar revisited Snetterton for a four-hour race. With Eclipse triumphant at their last Norfolk outing and Topcats purring along with back-to-back victories at Brands and Silverstone, the scene was set for more Mosler success.

Qualifying saw the Moslers lowering the lap times into the 1:09s. At one point towards the end, the Eclipse car their pace seemed processional, with a Beemer lodged between them. Topcats had no urge to claw their way past the other two and frustration got the better of Sean McInerney who put his foot down rather heavily and was rewarded with a blast across the grass. A quick pit trip was followed up by a flying lap that bagged the Eclipse pole position with a time of 1:06.762. Topcats nabbed the second spot to give the Moslers another Britcar front row lock-out.

So the Moslers led to field to the lights on raceday. Sean McInerney stuck the Eclipse car into a lead and eased away. Henry Taylor eventually had second spot snatched from him by an impressive-running Phil Bennet in the V8 Star Opal.

With an hour gone, both Bennett and Taylor pitted. It was the Topcats car that emerged first; in fact, the V8 Star didn;t emerge at all. A broken gear lever put paid to their race, despite some intensive garage work to get the Opal back on track. Sean McInerney brought the Eclipse car in ten minutes later and handed over to his father Michael, maintaining their lead.

As the race rolled on towards the halfway mark, a crash between Phil Dryburgh's Porsche and Leigh Smart's Ginetta G50 saw the race flagged yellow and then red; debris littered the track and the officials were concerned about Smart's condition. Fortunately, he was talking and walking and the race was restarted with just over two hours left on the clock. The Topcats Mosler had been promoted to second following Dryburgh's retirement and Eclipse, although starting from the pitlane having made a stop during the yellow flag period, held a lead over over two laps as the flags flew green again.

And so the Mosler procession started again. Eclipse lead the Topcats around again, their final splash and dash bringing both cars together onto the same lap as the race drew to a close. With thirty seconds between them on the last lap, the chequered flag was unfurled in anticipation of McInerney crossing the line. But it was the black-and-silver Mosler that crossed the line first. At the end of the pitlane, the Eclipse car was parked up. As Sean McInerney reported to be, a fuel relay had 'fried itself'. Pole position, fastest lap and leading the race for three hours and fifty-nine minutes all counted for nothing.

Cue the cliches about Topcats grinning like Cheshires who got the cream etc... three wins in a row, then, for Andrew Beaumont and Henry Taylor, with Sean and Michael McInerneys getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop like they did at Silverstone. The next Britcar event is a no-points scorer but it's a biggie - the 24hr endurance race at Silverstone. Sean McInerney told me that the team "are under some kind of curse at the moment" and have hopefully used up all their bad luck in time for that epic race.

I'll be at Silverstone to file some live reports, dodgy broadband dongle permitting, for what could be the closest Britcar 24 yet.

Photos (c) Gary Walton and P J Cherry

INTERNATIONAL GT: Valencia 26th - 27th July 2008

2008-08-20T06:28:00.007+01:00

A Mosler finally got a run-out in the International GT as the series moved to the new dockside street circuit at Valencia. MC Competicion hired out their car to Micromed, who gave the ride tothe Renualt World Series-driving Barba brothers, Alvaro and Marco.

Earlier testing at Cheste saw the Barbas trying to literally get to grips with the demands of the Mosler compared to a single seater setup. Both commented on how the car's weight distribution under acceleration and braking presented them with particular challenges.

Having qualified towards the rear of the grid for both races, they made the most of their steep learning curve and took the Mosler up to ninth place for a time during both outings. Oil pressure problems put them back down to eighteenth place in the first race; the brothers admitted that they 'weren't competitive enough' as they slipped down the field after the driver change in the second race to finish in fourteenth.

Photos (c) www.alvarobarba.com

DUTCH SUPERCAR/MOSLER CHALLENGE: Assen 2nd-3rd August 2008

2008-08-06T07:56:00.004+01:00

A decidedly damp Assen was the venue for the latest round of the championship. The TT circuit saw the welcome return of the Woodcock brothers, whose Mosler had been back to the Rollcentre factory for a sprinkling of pixie-dust.

Whatever it was, it seemed to do the trick as they qualified in ninth place, significantly better than on previous outings. Berry van Elk, meanwhile, seemed to be really getting the measure of his Mosler as he bagged fifth spot. Only a yellow-flagged lap denied Martin Short pole position, settling for second instead as he made the most of soft tyres on a rapidly drying track.

Race one saw Short set off in hot pursuit of the DTM Audi. He seemed to struggle for race pace, though, with the penalty ballast from Hockenheim weighing heavy. The Woodcocks were starting to look good in their ever-improving car and Berry van Elk was still keeping his nose in contention.

Eventually, Nicky Pastorelli pushed his Passat past Short. But as one Mosler fades, so another seems to shine; Berry van Elk was on a charge, stepping up through the field to challenge the ETEC Viper for second spot. Sadly, Berry overcooked it and ended up gravel-wards.

As others dropped out, the Moslers found themselves back up towards the head of the pack. Martin Short held out for fourth overall and the Mosler Challenge win, Gary and Michael Woodcock took a very credible seventh and Berry kept it together to bring the BlueBerry Mosler home in thirteenth.

Sunday brought rain, rain and more rain. With the 55-strong grid shod on wets as they assembled for the race the almost-inevitable happened - the rain stopped. Cue a mad rush to fit slicks. Then the rain starts again! Cue a mad rush to, er, do what? Many of the field plumped for grooves again, but a certain Mr Short seemed to know better. He took to the grid on intermediates, despite not too much in the way of clear sky seeming in the offing.

The choice (gamble?) paid instant dividends, though, with Martin pushing up to second from fourth by turn one. Gearbox rumblings, though, seemed to slow his progress. Both other Moslers took him early on as the weekend seemed to be finally taking its toll on the factory car. But Martin Short didn't get where he is today by sitting at the back and complaining... as the weather stayed drizzly, so his intermediates came into their own. The pretenders to his Challenge crown were hunted down and dispatched as Short surged back. He went on to take third place - yet another podium finish for the factory car - and therefore another first place in the Mosler Challenge. Berry van Elk struggled in the closing stages and failed to finish whilst the Woodcocks put in a magnificent drive to take fourth overall.

These results put Martin Short on the top of the Mosler Challenge and second in the overall championship. As the season moves on to Zandvoort in September, it's good to see the Woodcocks looking competitive, van Elk remaining eager and Martin Short doing what he does best - wringing out the results!

BRITCAR: Silverstone 3hr July 19th 2008

2008-07-23T07:15:00.025+01:00

A blustery Saturday in July saw my introduction to the wonderful world of Britcar. Having convinced my wife that we should drive out to the Northamptonshire countryside for a picnic, we pitched up in the local beauty spot of, er, Silverstone.

On arrival, it was good to see that the Moslers were packing out the front row.The KRM car of Kevin Riley and Ian Flux edged pole by a quarter of a second over the McInerneys. The Topcats Mosler was a further second behind.

The rolling start saw the Moslers lead out a thirty-five car pack which hammered past. Soon enough, the Moslers were pulling away from the rest of the field, the Prosport being the best of the rest.

All too soon, the Moslers were even pulling away from each other with Ian Flux setting a scorching fastest lap the seventh time around the International circuit. Retirements were hitting hard early on, though, with the British GT refugee Beechdeen Aston out on lap two and Tim Hood's TVR Sagaris on lap eight.

The bad luck was ramped up on lap thirteen. A spinning Porsche was collected by an advancing Jaguar and the ensuing safety car period bunched the field up. When the green flags unfurled, the Eclipse Mosler was climbing all over the KRM car and Sean McInerney took them for the lead on the following lap.

And it only got worse for KRM; only sixteen laps into a race expected to last 100+, Ian Flux parked the car up at Ireland as the power drained away. “I considered nursing it back to the pits," he said, " but decided it was safer to take the walk”.

So, the Eclipse Mosler took the lead and seemed to be running well, pulling out a near-four second lead over the Topcats car. Meanwhile, Millard’s Prosport was still best of the rest, nine seconds adrift in third.

As the pit window opened towards the end of the hour, Taylor brought the second placed Mosler in whilst the Eclipse car stayed out longer. The Chad Ferrari leap-frogged Topcats into second, with Andrew Beaumont now running in fourth. Sean McInerney later pitted from the lead and father Michael had the lead back after the front runners had all made their first stops.

By the half way point, Michael McInerney was looking good and took advantage during another safety car period to take a second stop. And he retained the lead, over a minute in front of the Topcats car. Beaumont brought that in later during another safety car period for its second stop but seemed likely to need a top-up to get them to the end.

Into the final hour, the Eclipse car came in for its last stop and Topcats lapped up the gap, bringing Michael McInerney's lead down to less than a second. But they was running somewhat faster than the Topcat car and soon began to bolster their advantage.

Beaumont brought the Topcat Mosler in with less than fifteen minutes to go for a splash and dash, still managing to keep hold of second place on their exit from the pits thanks to the lead they'd built up over the bundle of Ferrari's bumbling behind.

So, I saw three Moslers take the green light three hours previous and two of them take the chequered flag. First to do so was the Eclipse Mosler, comfortably in front of the Topcats car with the Bamford/Griffin Ferrari in third. Good to actually see a Mosler take a win, given that I haven't actually seen that since the Donington Belcar race in 2007 that started off this whole shebang of a blog.

Rictus grin attached, I beat the retreat for home. And then.... arriving home and pouring over the TSL timings website (like you do) I found that the McInerneys had been hit with a 180 second penalty for 'pit lane infringements'. That pushed them back into second and promoted the Topcats team into first.

Still glad to see a Mosler win, but it seemed a curious state of affairs. I got in touch with the Topcats team boss, Warren Gilbert, who told be that as they were short of pace and second place was the best they could have hoped for, they were happy to take the win.

Unsurprisingly, Sean McInerney was less happy. Confident with their better pace and race strategy, the win would have been theirs except for that penalty. "We were told that we were 1min and 4 seconds short on one of our mandatory three minute stops", Sean told me. "This was completely incorrect and we had video and timing proof to show this was the case".

Naturally, they appealed only to be told that they were seven minutes too late to do so. Sean was rightly frustrated; "Even though the penalty had been agreed by all, including the MSA stewards, as being wrongly applied, they would not alter the results".

So, still another Mosler 1-2 at Britcar, albeit not quite the order which was expected. Next stop Snetterton in August - I wonder if my wife fancies a picnic in Norfolk...?

Photos (c) Peter May

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BELGIAN GT: Spa Funcup 12th-13th July 2008

2008-07-16T10:35:00.030+01:00

The Belgian GT made its first visit of the season to the legendary GP circuit of Spa-Francorchamps for the fourth round of the championship. And there was major drama for the Moslers at an early stage. In the second qualifying session, Anthony Kumpen experienced a major throttle problem that saw his Mosler leave the circuit at over 200kph and smash into the barriers. Fortunately, Anthony walked away without serious injury although the Mosler was, unsurprisingly, heavily damaged.Gravity International boss Loris de Sordi payed tribute to the solidity of the Mosler's carbon hull which certainly seemed to soak up the impact. Martin Short, head of Mosler UK, told Mosler Lover that he'd never seen such a catastrophic throttle failure before. "I believe (Gravity) will advise us as to what happened so we can see if this can affect other Moslers or was an isolated incident. We are delighted though that the Mosler stood up so well to such a violent accident, and the driver is in good health".

The G&A Mosler of Guino Kenis and Michael De Keersmaecker qualified firmly mid-grid. As Kumpen had qualified on pole for race one, everyone was bumped up one place which still put a Mosler at the top of the tree, the #25 with Radermecker and Marchal at the helm.

Race one saw Moslers flirting with the lead throughout. Radermecker got a poor start from pole and lost several places before reeling the field back and regaining the lead with seven laps gone. A Ferrari/Viper tangle then saw the safety car deployed and the pack close up again. Ron Marchal inherited the lead after the mandatory pitstop but then slipped down the order.

Meanwhile, Guino Kenis had been stalking the leaders after his co-driver had pushed them up to sixth during his stint. Eventually the lead was his, so almost a year after G&A's last Belgian win, they looked set to repeat that honour. But there was a Viper who felt differently...

A+ Racing's Van Hooydonk was on a charge and took the G&A Mosler for the lead. It looked like another heartbreak day for the marque; qualified on pole only to see that car trashed, an inherited pole only to see the lead slip away, the 'outsider' car fly through the field only to lose out towards the end.

But it wouldn't be the Belgian GT without one last twist. Hooydonk began to pay for his rapidity, The Viper's tyres started to go off and slowed his progress. And what's that coming over the hill? Is it a monster? Is it a Mosler? Right on both counts; Kenis was clawing his way back towards the sliding Viper and retook the lead, taking the chequered flag by less than a second.

Kenis called it 'knife-edge racing' as the Mosler took maximum advantage of its superior straight line speed and yet still held off the Viper in the tighter corners. Meanwhile, Marchal hung on to the leaders but just missed out on a podium place, finishing fourth.

Saturday morning saw ominous clouds gathering with two Moslers slotted in the first two rows.

An uneventful race then turned hectic at Radillon which saw two cars contact, a third then span across the racing line and two more crashed into that spinner at high speed. Out came the safety car - for a long session that lasted into the pitstop window.

Kenis was running third at that stage but didn't pit whilst the safety car was out. That cost G&A dear; the time lost put them out of contention and then the gearbox let go towards the end of the race. Guido Kenis, however, seemed happy to take a win and a pole away from the weekend.

Meanwhile, there was a strangely familiar scenario developing up at the sharp end - a fat yellow Dodge was being harred by a Mosler. Vincent Radermecker pushed hard and took the lead as the race rolled into its latter stages. And that was the cue for the heavens to open. The weather could have freaked out less hardy drivers, but Radermecker nursed the Mosler through the tempestuous conditions to take the chequered flag. “This was probably the most trying last lap in my life”, Radermecker admitted, “ I just didn’t dare go any faster for fear of aquaplaning."
Mixed blessings for the Mosler, then; two poles, two wins, but probably the end of Gravity's championship chances. Next round is the full-on endurance spectacle of the series - the 24 hour race at Zolder at the end of August.

Photos: #24 damage, Mosler UK, all others (c) Jacques Letihon and http://www.belgiangt.com/

DUTCH SUPERCAR /MOSLER CHALLENGE Oschersleben 13th July 2008

2008-07-16T10:32:00.016+01:00

It was a reduced Mosler presence for the latest round of the Challenge at Oschesleben. With Riley and Flux running at Britcar next weekend, the Woodcocks not around and Harry Mecke's car up for sale it was down to a shoot-out between the old hand and the young buck. Martin Short was carrying a time penalty into the race following his Hockenheim triumph, so Berry van Elk was looking to steal Short's thunder around the baking hot north-east German circuit.

The cooling situation was so critical that van Elk's Blueberry team ran their car without the front bodywork late during free practice. Such was the resultant drop in engine temperature that they set about widening the louvres to improve airflow for qualifying. By that time, though, the heat had subsided and little advantage was gained. Berry managed eigth place whilst Martin pushed the factory car hard around the narrow circuit to nab second spot on the grid next to the DTM Audi.

Race one epitomised the maxim that to finish first, first you have to finish. Perennial pace-setters Ardi van der Hoek and Arjan van der Zwaan, along with Cor Euser, found themselves off the track and out of contention. Berry may have had immense straight-line speed in the Mosler, but when caught up in the Supersport pack he was unable to overtake his slower but sure-cornering rivals. And with Martin Short saddled with a success handicap of an extra thirty seconds in the pits, he had no real chance of catching the leaders in this 45 minute sprint. Martin eventually took 4th overall with Berry on his heels in a very creditable fifth.

So that left the Moslers lurking near the front of the grid for race two. The mad dash into the narrow turn one often ends in tears for someone at Oschersleben - this time it was almost Martin Short's turn. He had scythed into second when van Buuren's V8-Star Passat braked too late and hit the Mosler and the DTM Audi TTR. That left Short span round the wrong way but still on the circuit with van Elk unable to manoueve roound the other Mosler. Both cars were therefore stuck at the runt end of the field and had some keen driving to do if they were to make up places.

Here's where the pitstops came into play. With front runners also facing penalty seconds for first race success, Berry was able to claw his way up to second place after his stop, sandwiched between the ETEC Viper and the DTM Audi. But drizzle was his undoing; the Audi's sturdier handling in the wet let Grimm get past to deny van Elk a fairytale third place. Although he retook the Audi, a later spin saw Grimm and Short squeeze past. Fourth place was still an impressive finish, though, after what was probably Berry's best race to date. Meanwhile, Martin Short had been playing the game of 'softly, softly, catchee Viper' and took third place, only just over nine seconds adrift of the race winning ETEC car.

That podium place puts Martin into second place in the overall standings and at the top of the heap in the Mosler Challenge. No doubt he'll have enjoyed writing himself a winner's cheque after the race!

FIA GT: Oschersleben 6th July 2008

2008-07-08T10:44:00.002+01:00

The Go-To-One Moslers made a return to FIA GT at Oschersleben. As the only G2 entries, at least a class win was on the cards but the trophy stayed in the cabinet; neither Mosler finished the race.

Adam Lacko and Ales Jirasek were early retirees after thirteen laps with suspension problems. Stepan Vojtech and Kenneth Heyer almost saw the race through but pulled up two laps shy of the chequered flag following a fuel systems failure.

Team principle, Antonin Charouz, was understandably unimpressed: "I can only say that I am very unhappy with the way the team have been working. We will have to make radical steps".

The results compounded a frustrating weekend for the team, following on from Heyer and Vojtech's engine failure after only five practice laps which scuppered their qualifying sessions.

Having not run at Adria, the team had worked on the cars throughout and Adam Lacko felt there had been a tangible improvement; “Our new brakes are better and also a bigger restrictor helps as well. It is still not ideal but we are closer to the GT2 cars now".

Andreas Leberle, team technical director echoed those sentiments. “The changes made during the break definitely helped", said Leberle, "but we still want to negotiate with the championship boss Stephane Ratel about further tweaks of the rules to improve our competitiveness".

Photos (c) www.adam-lacko.cz

SPANISH GT: Albacete 28th-29th June 2008

2008-07-05T10:43:00.002+01:00

The Albacete circuit played host to the latest round of the Spanish GT championship. The sole Mosler entry this year, Motor Competicion, qualified eight and fourth for the two races.

I don't get much info on these Spanish races, which is a shame as Luis Villalba took the 'Vortrum' Mosler up to second place for their first podium of the season.

Even better, Franscesc Gutiérrez won what seems to have been a tightly-contested second race to give the team their best Spanish GT weekend.

If anyone has access to race reports for the Spanish GT I'd love to hear more.

Photos (c) www.gt-sport.es

DUTCH SUPERCAR / MOSLER CHALLENGE: Hockenheim, 29th June 2008

2008-06-30T09:45:00.002+01:00

Dutch Supercar and the Mosler Challenge hopped over the border for the first of their two meetings in Germany. Hockenheim played host to three Moslers all hoping for success as this GP circuit.

With the temperature climbing during Saturday qualifying, Martin Short turned up the heat and scorched into pole. Almost two seconds in his wake was Ian Flux.. but he was demoted down a row from second to fourth having deemed to have overtaken under yellow flags. Berry van Elk brought the BlueBerry Mosler round into eleventh place.

As Martin Short led the field into the Spitzkehre hairpin, Kevin Riley made a play to push up to the front. Unfortunately, Rene Snel's Porsche 996 was where Riley wanted to be; both cars ended up off the track and out of the race.

Nicky Pastorelli's Passat and Cor Euser's Marcos ran in second and third as Short increased his lead. Meanwhile, it wasn't just the track temperature that was rising - Berry's troublesome engine was burning up and forced the weekend's first retirement.

Cor Euser leapfrogged the Passat into second as Martin Short found himself ahead of the field by almost a minute as he coasted the works Mosler home for his first competitive win in the marque since the inaugral Britcar 24 hours in 2005. "My car was just fantastic, the best ever", said Martin - perhaps it's the way he builds 'em?

The grid for the second race told two very different tales - Martin Short on pole, Berry van Elk and the KRM car bringing up the rear. The BlueBerry team had replaced their engine overnight to get themselves back in the running, whilst KRM had to start from the pitlane following further mechanical problems.

Early laps saw Cor Euser's Marcos and Ardi van der Hoek's Audi battling over second place, allowing Martin Short to floor the Mosler and set up an unassailable lead. Even his winning-handicap-enhanced pitstop didn't jeapordise his chances and even got to ease down on the last lap to take a comfortable win.

Further down the field, Riley and Flux struggled their out-of-sorts Mosler home into eight place whilst Berry van Elk retired again as temperatures continued to flare in the Blueberry car.

Two wins, pole position and fastest lap for Martin Short made it a successful weekend for the works team. "There is no doubt that the car flattered me," he said after, paying tribute to his team for working with a new aero package on the six-year-old Mosler. "We threw the kitchen sink at the car; not entirely sure exactly what would work, but with high hopes". Those hopes were rewarded by a 171mph max drive that showed just what the Mosler is capable of at this level.

Martin hoped that these proven development benefits can be applied to the other Mosler customers. I hope so; as great as it is to see a double win, having a full Challenge field start and finish the race - and compete for the podium places- would stick one on those critics who judge the marque to be hit-and-miss at national GT level.

Oschersleben hosts the next round in a few weeks time. Whether Martin feels the need to pour six litres of water into his jump suit again to keep in cool, only time will tell...

Photos (c) Robbert Mass and Marc de Waart, http://www.supercarchallenge.nl/

BRITCAR: Brands Hatch Indy June 14th 2008

2008-06-23T11:15:00.033+01:00

Britcar was back at Brands Hatch for the second time this season with a three-hour race around the tight Indy circuit. Qualifying saw Sean and Michael McInerney in the Eclipse Mosler take pole position. Half a second behind was the KRM machine, locking out the front row for the Moslers again. Starting from the pitlane, having missed qualifying due to having a complete transmission system refit, was the Topcats Mosler.

As the lights went green, Flux took a slender advantage over Sean McInerney to build up a six second the lead through the opening laps. Meanwhile the Topcats Mosler was purring through the field, up to 11th by lap six and fifth by lap 12. Henry Taylor then took Topcats into fourth after overhauling the TVR Sagaris.

When three cars found out that Paddock Bend couldn't accommodate them all side-by-side, a swift trip into the gravel trap ensued. The resultant safety car period bunched the field up and brought mixed blessings for the Moslers; Sean McInerney grabbed back precious time lost when lapping earlier backmarkers but Henry Taylor lost out - although he was at the head of the pack, that put him almost a lap down on the leaders who were in the middle of the bunch. When the green flags flew again, Taylor set of to reduce the deficit whilst Flux and McInerney went hammer and tongs through the traffic.

With just over an hour down, Taylor came in for the Topcats first mandatory pitstop. KRM and Eclipse pitted later, taking advantage of another safety car period. And it was the McInerneys who emerged first, two seconds ahead of Kevin Riley in the KRM.

The bunched field led to close racing, with a flying Kevin Riley squeezing the lead from Michael McInerney down the inside of Paddock Hill. Lapping Beaumont, who'd taken over in the Topcats Mosler, KRM were well placed as the race roared on to its latter stages.

Beaumont was followed into the pits by Riley for their last scheduled stops with 120 laps down, leaving the Eclipse Mosler out in the lead. Sadly, that lead was short lived; an alleged coming-together with a Corvette left McInerney sidling sideways across the grass downhill from Druids, a shattered brake disc herelding the end of their race.

Then it seemed the late-race Curse of the Mosler was upon us again - having inherited the lead, the KRM Mosler soon returned to the pits with a broken driveshaft. Repairs were made, but the time lost had cost them any chance of the race win.

Into the final 45 minutes and it was the TVR leading the field. But the Topcats Mosler was closing, never saying never in a race that that wasn't going to be over til the black & white hanky dropped. The gap continued to close up, with the final splash-and-dash pitstop potentially decisive.

Which it proved to be, but in a way no-one would have predicted. With the TVR pitted, Topcats took the lead and were prepared to pit soon. With only eleven minutes left on the clock, the safety car had been stood down - only for a Marcos to break down on Paddock Hill bend. That gave the race officials no option but to red-flag the race and declare a result as at the end of lap 184, which handed victory to the Topcat Mosler!

Unsurprisngly, both Henry Taylor and team owner/driver Andrew Beaumont were delighted. It was certainly a superb effort by the Topcat team to replace the transmission, start from the pitlane, battle through the field and take the win. With each of the three Mosler teams now taking a Britcar win, the scene is set for a Silverstone showdown in July - and I'll be there to cheer them on!

Photos (c) P J Cherry and Gary Harman from the Britcar website, Marc W on Flickr

FIA GT: Adria June 21st 2008

2008-06-23T10:57:00.002+01:00

Well, it was a no-show for the GTO Moslers at Adria. The team felt that equalisation under Belgian GT3 regulations for G2 classification didn't allow the Mosler to be competitive enough and so withdrew. GTO are now seeking equlisation under another national classification.

As they're on the entry list for the Dutch Supercar Challenge meet at Hockenheim at the end of June, they may have this sorted by the next FIA GT round at Oschersleben in early July.

SPANISH GT: Jerez 7th-8th June 2008

2008-06-16T10:42:00.003+01:00

The second round of the Spanish GT championship saw a return to Jerez, the circuit where Motor Competicion took their only win last season.

A baking hot free practice session saw Villalba and Gutierrez start strongly before waning towards the end of the session. Still, qualifying in fifth saw the only Mosler well-placed for the races.

Having struggled to eleventh in race one, Motor Competicion made it to seventh in race two. Here's hoping that they're able to pick the pace up when the championship reaches Albacete later this month.

DUTCH SUPERCAR CHALLENGE: Pole Position Eindhoven 8th June 2008

2008-06-14T09:57:00.000+01:00

This looked like a fascinating event - a cornucopia of motor vehicles taking place in static displays and demo runs. The Dutch Supercar Challenge were there, of course, which gives me the chance to show some fine photos of Berry van Elk's Mosler.

.

This video has plenty of traffic passing with the Mosler rolling past at 0:17 and 1:40

And from further back round the corner, the Mosler comes into frame at 0:45

If this runs next year, I'd give serious consideration to going over to Eindhoven for the weekend

Photos - Robbert Mass, http://www.supercarchallenge.nl/

DUTCH SUPERCAR CHALLENGE / MOSLER CHALLENGE: Spa 30th May - 1st June 2008

2008-06-02T09:28:00.006+01:00

More Moslers muscle around Spa this weekend, courtesy of the Dutch Supercar Challenge. With Martin Short on Rollcentre duty over in Le Mans, there was a welcome return to GT for Shaun Balfe, winner of the inaugural Britcar 24 hour race in 2005 with a Mosler.

A strong qualifying session saw Eigner and KRM take second and third and the grid, with Ardi Van De Hoek's Audi TTR out clear on pole. Balfe snaffled eighth slot, Topcats were tenth, Van Elk was getting better with an eleventh spot this time out and the Woodcocks rounded out the Mosler qualifiers back in 23rd.

Race one on Saturday saw the Moslers well placed at the front of the grid, so anything could happen. Well.... what nobody expected, including Kevin Riley who was running third at the time, was a bizarre crash that caused the race to be abandoned. The safety car came out, failed to catch the leader (Cor Euser's Marcos), and so slowed down to let the field overtake. Surprised by the sight of the safety car going slow on the fastest part of the circuit, the IN2 Racing Lambo Gallardo braked... quicker than the BMW to the rear, which ploughed into the Lambo, collected the safety car and then set off on a roll. Several other cars added to the pileup to litter the Blanchimont section with expensive wrecks. With the race only six laps old, the red flags were out. No championship points were awarded.

Higher hopes for Sunday, then. And in a way it was - three Moslers in the top six, albeit none on the podium. The Topcats team didn't finish, the Woodcocks made it to 15th and Eigner in eighth. That left the Mosler challenge podium looking like this: 3rd (6th overall) was Berry Van Elk - a remarkable drive for a new hand at the Mosler. 2nd (5th overall) was stalwart Kevin Riley. And up top where he belongs (and in 4th overall, just missing out on a full podium place) was Shaun Balfe, proving that the Mosler magic never left him!

As the season moves on to Hockenheim later this month, here's hoping the Moslers can put together a sustained challenge against Cor Euler's Marcos, a winner here again at Spa.

Photos (c) http://www.supercarchallenge.nl/

BRITCAR: Euroraces, Spa 30th May 2008

2008-06-02T09:27:00.004+01:00

Britcar in Spa marked another wave of the Mosler European invasion this weekend as the endurance championship joined in with the Euroraces for a four-hour outing at this classic Belgian circuit.

With the wins stacking up in this series, there were high hopes for the Moslers to muscle up to the front of the grid. KRM didn't disappoint in that respect, taking pole, before the race officials identified an irregularity with Riley and Flux's data logger and annulled their time. That put them at the back of the pack, the last thing that a flu-filled Kevin Riley needed.

That wasn't the only change to pole position, though. The Lambo Gallardo that was promoted up was taken out of the running in a multiple pile-up during the earlier Dutch Supercar Challenge race, so the pack all shuffled up another slot. That put the Trackpower TVR Sagaris onto pole with the Topcats Mosler next door on the front row.

And it was the TVR that made all the early running, steadily increasing its lead whilst Riley churned along at the back of the field. He brought the KRM car in for the first planned pitstop having by then moved up to 12th place, although it was too soon to be taken as one of the two mandatory stops. A little while later, the Topcats team turned their Mosler around with a speedy stop that saw Andrew Beaumont keep the car in second place and then take it into the lead by the halfway point.

Meanwhile, Ian Flux was whipping the KRM car around in the fastest lap times, but could only make the Mosler climb to eighth place. Riley took the car on for the last stint but something was clearly not right with driver and/or car and they became an unfortunate retirement.

At least things were looking up for Topcats.... until a collision with a BMW, the subsequent spin and later problems with the paddle shift saw them drop down and finish sixth. That left the way for the Trackpower TVR Sagaris to claim victory.

Topcats looked hard done by here, but I feel a maiden win can't be too far away. And here's hoping Kevin Riley feels on top form again when Britcar returns to England and Brands Hatch in a few weeks time.

Photos (c) race-week-end.be

BELGIAN GT: Zolder June 1st 2008

2008-06-02T09:25:00.011+01:00

Circuit Zolder played host to the third round of the Belgian GT Championship.

After a disappointing Dijon outing, the Gravity Moslers were looking strong, with Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin fastest in both free practice sessions. But it was the pairing of Vincent Radermecker and Ron Marchal that qualified highest, second spot on the grid with Kumpen and Longin on the next row back in third. Guino Kenis and Chris Mattheus put the G&A car into seventh on the grid.

With the Racing Dodge Viper converting pole into an early lead, the Gravity Moslers were able to keep up with the pace and chase the Viper down. Kenis and Mattheus were running strongly, too, until brake problems forced an early retirement after 26 laps.

Then, heartbreak for the championship leaders, as Kumpen and Longin suffered a reoccurance of the fuel supply problem experienced during qualifying and their Mosler bowed out after 31 laps.

That left Vincent Radermecker as the sole Mosler runner and he brought the Gravity car home for its first podium place, finishing third behind the winning GPR Porsche and the
Francorchamps Motors Ferrari.

With Gravity now in third place in the team championship and Kumpen / Longin dropping to fourth in the drivers' championship, the scene is surely set for a nip 'n tuck battle at Spa in July.

Photos (c) motorsport.com and belgiangt.com

INTERNATIONAL GT: Valencia 16th-18th May 2008

2008-05-27T14:23:00.005+01:00

A welcome return for the Mosler in the International GT as Luis Villalba and Francesc Gutiérrez return for Motor Competición in the second round at Valencia.

Though it looked fast in free practice, the Mosler didn't have an easy time out on track. Villalba qualified in twentieth for the first race and retired after nine laps. Gutiérrez managed a little better for race two, qualifying in seventh but finishing down the field in thirteenth.

When the series visits Spa at the end of the month, let's hope the Mosler regains its form of old

Photo - Juanen JD @ flickr

FIA GT: Monza May 18th 2008

2008-05-27T13:31:00.008+01:00

After taking the opening round honours in G2 at Silverstone, expectation was high for a repeat performance by Go-To-One as the FIA GT rolled into Monza.

With time spent testing the Mosler in Germany and the drivers getting more track exposure, the team seemed happier with the stability of the car. The ever-improving ability and familiarity of the team with the Mosler saw GTO confident of a good race weekend and the reak possibility of mixing it up with the GT2 class.

Practice times in the dry with the new car setup were promising but mistakes in the rain during qualifying put both Kenneth Heyer and Adam Lacko behind the other G2 cars on the grid. Things then got worse on race day. As the rain poured down on the opening lap, Heyer's Mosler developed a fuel pressure problem and pitted after the first lap. Despite the best efforts of the mechanics, the car was retired. Lacko was then running third in G2 class and handed over to Jirasek. A near collision with a Ferrari led to a spinoff; the Mosler then refused to restart and Go-To-One were out.

Here's hoping for more reliability - and kinder weather - when they race at Adria in June.

Photos (c) Guido De Bortoli, http://www.allrace.net/

BELCAR: Dijon 10th-11th May 2008

2008-05-27T09:09:00.018+01:00

The Belgian GT crosses the border into France in support of the FFSA-GT at Dijon. Gravity International's race winners from Zolder, Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin, received a winner's handicap for the weekend's races with an extra 40 kgs of weight and an increased ride height.

That didn't hinder Longin much, though, as he went on to qualify on pole for the first race with Ron Marchal snatching third in the other Gravity Mosler. Michael De Keersmaecker took the G&A Mosler to 14th. Vincent Radermecker made it two Mosler poles by securing the top spot for race two with Kumpen giving Gravity a lockout at the front. Guino Kenis made 10th spot for G&A.

So, would Gravity get the drop on the competition? Longin held off Fred Bouvy's Ferrari for the first few laps before succumbing. Then the pressure dropped for Gravity - Kumpen humbled by a duff tyre to finally finish in sixth place and Radermecker suffering the same deflating feeling at the end of the race to beach his Mosler in a sand trap. G&A didn't start the race and wouldn't feature in race two either.

The second race saw Gravity struggle even before the off. Electronic problems relegated their Moslers from the front row to a pitlane start. Kumpen soon retired; Radermecker waxed and waned through the field to finish in tenth place.

A disappointing outing for Gravity, particularly on the back of good winds last time out and strong qualifying here. Let's hope that reliability issues don't make a mess of their championship hopes.

Photos: www.belgiangt.com

BRITCAR: Brands Hatch May 3rd-4th 2008

2008-05-08T11:31:00.012+01:00

Britcar's back at Brands, with two sprint-style races in support of the A1GP. The Moslers rose to the top during Saturdays qualifying session, with Ian Flux and Sean McInerney trading places before the latter took pole position. The KRM sat alongside for another Mosler lock-out at the front with the Topcat car on their arches on row two. Andrew Tate, meanwhile, had ditched his Mosler and returned to the Porsche 997.

The fifty-minute sprint format seemed set to benefit the fuel-hungry Moslers and expectations were high. Andrew Beaumont stalled the Topcats Mosler as the field set off on their parade lap, but he managed to thread back through the pack and keep his grid place. McInerney made the most of pole position and established an early lead whilst Riley and Beaumont traded places behind, with Richard Chamberlain's Porsche mixing it up with the Moslers.

Whoever writes the scripts for these races turned it from a pot-boiler to a blockbuster on lap 24. Flux seemingly slimmed the KRM car down to take Chamberlain down the inside at Paddock and kep the line through the next few turns in the battle for second. Although that tussle was actually for the lead - McInerney having span, stalled and a small fire had started as the starter motor burned out as he tried to restart.

So, KRM were bringing it home for the marque. But it wouldn't be Britcar without a little more excitement. As Flux headed for the line, he slowed for waved yellows and lapped a Mazda on the far side of the track. As he eased off further to let the Mazda regain position before crossing the line, the Duke Video BMW M3 slowed at the sight of two cars crawling towards the chequered flag. Two cars behind the Beemer shunted, taking the Duke into the Mazda and all hell breaking loose over the start/finish straight. The clerk of the course went into overdrive, gathering testimony and video evidence to ascertain just what had happened. The decision went the right way for KRM, no penalties being issued and the Mosler win allowed to stand.

Would the second race on Sunday provide as much drama? Well, the scene was set for fireworks as Saturday's non-finishers starting from the back of the 40-car grid, so McInerney's Mosler would have to chew its way through the field. And chew it did- almost half the field, crossing the line for the first time in 21st place. Up and the sharp end, Topcat and KRM were engaged in a battle royale, trading places with Stanton's TVR over the next half-dozen laps. Meanwhile, McInerney was back in the mix with the rest of Class 1 and driving like a man on a mission, reeling off the places until the Eclispe car was running third by the time the pit window opened.

When all the stops were done, it was Michael Vergers' Opal and McInerney up front, the Eclipse Mosler eventaully pulling clear down the inside at Paddock and onwards to establish a lead that Vergers and third placed Flux couldn't erase. The KRM car eventually got the better of the Opal at Surtees after some cracking side-by-side driving to take second but the day belonged to McInerney - from last to first in exquisite style.

So, another two Britcar victories for the Mosler as the series prepares for its continental weekend away over at Spa at the end of May.

Photos: Clipmotorsport

SPANISH GT: Jarama 3rd-4th May 2008

2008-05-05T14:30:00.001+01:00

The Spanish GT championship gets underway at Jarama with the Motor Competicion Mosler making a welcome return.

Luis Villalba & Francesc Gutiérrez qualified in second spot for race one although they fell back through the field to finish sixth. Race two also saw them take sixth place after qualifying in ninth.

As the Mosler notched one of the fastest race speeds of the weekend at 255.9 km/h, there's the clear potential for Motor Competicion to be race winners as some stage sooner rather than later.

Photo: 'Ibericoat' at www.forocoaches/com

DSC / Mosler Challenge Nurburgring 19-20th April 2008

2008-04-30T09:35:00.013+01:00

In a busy weekend for European GT racing, this was perhaps the premier event. The Nurburging played host to the first round of the Dutch Supercar Challenge, which this season incorporates the Mosler Challenge.

With too few entrants to justify a grid of their own just yet, the Moslers raced with the rest of the GT pack to win points towards their own Challenge championship as well as the DSC overall titles.

Free practice on the Friday saw three of the four fastest GT entries from the Mosler marque. Martin Short, owner of Rollcentre Racing and the man behind the production of the GT3 car, set the fastest Mosler lap time. Less than half a second seperated Short from two other Moslers, with Kevin Riley & Ian Flux just edging out the Eigner pairing of Harry Mecke & Roland Rehfeld. The two other Challenge entrants finished a little further down the page, debut driver Berry van Elk looking promising and the brothers Woodcock bringing up the rear.

Saturday qualifying saw thick fog greet the gathered guests, including the man behind the marque, Warren Mosler. Roland Rehfeld used his knoweldge of the 'Ring to his advantage and slotted the Eigner car into the top spot. KRM sat at Rehfeld's right hand, with Short and the Woodcocks futher back. And way, way back was Berry van Elk, courtesy of his left front wheel going for a runabout by itself. If only he has the chance to take the matter up with whoever builds these things....

For the first race, the fog was still sticking to the circuit as the safety car took the pack around, hoping the weather would lift and let the racing get underway. Sadly, it was not to be - three laps around and the race was cancelled, the fog deemed too hazardous for racing in. Disappointment all round, then, for whay was shaping up to be a barnstorming opener to the Challenge.

Sunday saw early fog blazed away by sunnier weather, so the Challenge was back on! Moslers were spread right across the grid, Harry Mecke up in second, the KRM car in the top ten and the others strung out through the field, Berry van Elk starting from the back after his wheel-nut-wrenching escapades the day before.

Mecke got the drop on the pole Porsche as the lights went green but his lightning start was tempered by the need for thunderous braking, several places then being lost as the pack ripped around.

A superb drive by Cor Euser saw the Marcos LM600 take the chequered flag less than a second in front of the Audi DTM of Ardi van der Hoek and Arjan van der Zwaan. And, third overall and winner of the first Mosler Challange, were.... Kevin Riley and Ian Flux!
Second place in the challenge and fifth overall were the Eigner pairing of Mecke and Rehfeld, with the last Mosler Challenge podium place taken by a certain M.Short....

Berry van Elk rounded out his adventurous debut with a 19th place finish. The Woodcocks managed an unlucky thirteen laps before having to retire.

So, five Moslers eventually got the Challenge underway. Joining them for the next round will be Go-To-One Racing (who were over in England winning the G2 class at the FIA GT in Silverstone). And with seven Moslers under construction at Rollcentre, we could be looking forward to ten cars on the grid towards the back end of the season.

Next stop, Spa: I'll be doing whatever I can to get over there for what is shaping up to be a great, great race.

Thanks to Jeroen van Wissen for all the photos (except the podium shot, thanks to Robert Maas)

BRITCAR: Snetterton 20th April 2008

2008-04-29T06:54:00.011+01:00

North Norfolk welcomed Britcar for their first visit of 2008, the first four-hour race of the season. With Kevin Riley off round the 'Ring in the Mosler Challenge, three teams stepped up for the marque at Snetterton.

Well, almost three: Andrew Tate's car suffered severe engine problems in the warmup to rule him out of the running, making it another Britcar no-show for the ABG team.

Eclipse nearly didn't make it either, with an alternator transplant from Tate's car needed to keep the McInerneys on the grid. At the right end of it, too, up in third with the Topcats Mosler next to them in fourth.

The two Moslers ran strongly from the start, keeping towards the upper reaches of the pack. Sadly, lap 13 was unlucky for Topcats - engine trouble seemingly contagious as Henry Taylor dragged the 'Cats car into the pits with a race-ending problem.

Meanwhile, Sean McInerney kept the pressure on up front and Eclipse finally overhauled the leading TVR on lap 43. Disappearing into the distance, Sean built up a comfortable lead.

And, I'm glad to say, father and son consolidated that lead and turned in their first overall win. Michael took the flag several laps ahead of the second-placed Cadena Aston.

Britcar is looking good for Mosler action this season - I'm hoping to get down to some races this year and, by the looks of things, report on more Mosler wins!

Here's a great piece of in-car footage from the McInnery's Mosler:

Photos (c) P J Cherry 2008

FIA GT: Silverstone 20th April 2008

2008-04-28T11:31:00.019+01:00

It's cold and foggy. So, it must be April and Silverstone.

An early, early start as my Dad was convinced that the traffic jams would be horrendous. But most of Northamptonshire was still asleep as we swanned our way to the circuit. On the dual carriageway approach we were overtaken by two safety cars - I thought for a minute they were going to get the flashing ambers going and escort us in.

Parking up close to the national circuit straight, we made our way through the gloom to the Classic Dreams hospitality suite. Unsurprisingly, we were the first of the guests to turn up, but at least the owner, Matt Twynham, had a pot of coffee ready. His new suite was looking good, plenty of seats inside with plasma screens showing a live action feed as well as the official timings.

Outside on the terrace, it was fairly foggy looking out over the pits straight. More people soon turned up and pretty soon it was bustling in anticipation of the FIA GT warmup session (OK, the clip below is from the GT3 race but you get the idea).

Of course, the term warmup is all relative on a day like today. The drivers may not have been giving it all cylinders yet but it was still great to watch - the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I heard the first cars roaring out of Woodcote.

Now then, Matt had warned us that these cars would be loud. But they weren't. They were LOUD. As in, I-left-my-eardrums-at-Silverstone LOUD. No wonder there were complimentary ear plugs in a basket by the terrace door.

With thirty minutes of aural assault over, a hot sausage cob was dispatched before a stroll around the paddock. Matt had given us tickets for the pit lane walk, which gave me the chance to get up close and personal with the Go-To-One Moslers.

Now, they're almost in a class of their own. G2 - for non-homologated cars - was represented here by the two MT900 Moslers, a Gillet Vertigo and a Saleen S7-R (still not sure why that's in G2 when others of the marque are GT1). So, it's high hopes for a Mosler class win, yet knowing they won't be troubling the top of the field overall.

Eventually shepherded down the pitlane by the marshalls, it was back to the suite ready for the race start. After a few tentative laps under the safety car, the field took the rolling start.

From then on in, it was a case of hanging over the balcony (particularly during the pit stop window) and following the action on the wide screen TV as the pack lapped around. The Moslers sounded tame in comparison to the GT1 field, but it was still a wonderful grunt!

The race up front was nip and tuck towards the end of the two hours. Of course, the Moslers were toward the back and there to be lapped. Still, they did take first and second in the G2 class, the Vertigo retiring part way through.

So, it's congratulations to Kenneth Heyer and Stepan Vojtech for their top spot and to Ales Jirasek and Adam Lacko as runners-up.

An excellent day, many thanks to Matt and his staff for taking care of us so well - we'll be back! See more of what they have to offer at
www.classicdreams.co.uk

Because I'm reluctant to let them go, I tracked the Moslers down in parc ferme for for a few more photos.

Photos - (c) me except for the action shot and podium portrait, (c) www.fiagt.com

BELCAR: Belgian Race Kick Off, Zolder, 13 April 2008

2008-04-16T18:25:00.014+01:00

It's April and it's raining. Must be time for the first Belcar race of 2008.

The 'Belgian Race Kick Off' sees two familiar teams taking their Moslers out again. G&A return with Guino Kenis and Michael de Keersmaecker in car 45. Gravity International Racing field two cars again but with a shift in personnel. Mosler 25 saw Vincent Radermecker staying to be partnered by Ron Marchal, who ran in the 007 Aston last season. The number 24 car is piloted by 2007's PK Carsport Corvette pairing of Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin.

And they were storming early on, qualifying on the front row of the grid for the second of the two one-hour races. Not to be outdone, Radermecker and Marchal took both pole positions, with the G&A outfit just a few rows back for both races.

With the rain plying down for the start of race one, Marchal started from pole then slipped back behind Max Soulet in the Porsche 997. But the Porsche's well-pumped tyres led them to give way to the Mosler onslaught, Marchal retaking the lead before Longin fought his way to the front.

Marchal's pistop swap to wet tyres seemed ill-judged; Kumpen left after his changeover only ten minutes later on slicks. True, Kumpen did spin later but that didn't stop him piloting the Mosler home to take the chequered flag. G&A just missed out on a podium place with a fourth place finish. Radermecker brought the other Gravity car home in 18th.

Race two saw more rain. The Moslers followed each other around Zolder before a quicker pitstop saw Longin dive out before Marchal into the lead.

And so the procession to the podium was set to continue, until a coming together between Marchal and a passing Viper saw a flat tyre deflate the chances of a Gravity 1-2, Marchal out of the race with two laps to go.

Bert Longin went on to take the victory to give him and Kumpen maximum points for the weekend, the lead in the driver's championship and their car at the top in the team championship . Kenis and de Keersmaecker had a solid set of results to put them in the higher reaches of both championships. The no-point scoring second race cost Radermecker and Marchal, leaving them too close to the bottom of both tables.

It's next stop Dijon for Belcar in May, supporting the French GT championship, with the Moslers well placed to make a sustained assault on this year's championship.

Pictures: second picture (C) http://www.belgiangt.com/
All others (C) Jacques Letihon

BRITCAR: Silverstone March 2008

2008-04-01T06:57:00.035+01:00

Well, it's taken some time due to 'internet connectivity issues' (i.e. my dozy ISP forgetting to authorise a direct debit and then cutting my service off) but here's the first Mosler Lover race report for 2008.

The season starts here! With four Mosler entries in the championship, it's the marque's biggest lineup outside of the dedicated Challenge.

Thought for this first round, there was one less Mosler - Andrew Tate having to withdraw the ABG car as his co-driver Aaron Scott was riding the team's Viper in British GT over at Oulton.

Qualifying saw variable weather and a sleety storm to round out proceedings, by which time Ian Flux had taken the number 7 KRM Mosler to top slot on the grid by a margin of over one and a half seconds.
With their new Mosler not yet race ready, the Topcats team of Andrew Beaumont and Henry Taylor drove the factory demonstrator car (number 20) into an impressive fourth place. (although also into a less-impressive gravel trap at some stage of the race).

The last Mosler on the grid, that of the McInerney’s Eclipse Motorsport entry, qualified in 12th.

With the weather blowing wet and dry (and everything between), tyre choice was perhaps a moot point. It seemed anything could happen in the next two hours.

But we didn't have to wait that long. the first lap saw Riley fending off Richard Chamberlain's Porsche 935 GT as the snow began to fall.
The Mosler led the field across the line for the first lap, but the enveloping blizzard got the better of Riley. Too speedy in the snow, the KRM car span off through the gravel and grazed a barrier, eventually limping into the pits for some ad hoc gaffer taping of some drooping rear panels.

With Ian Flux taking the helm, KRM ran into more unpredicatable weather, blue skies giving way to blizzards.The safety car put in another appearance as Flux positioned himself for an assault further up the field.

Following the pitstops, David Leslie led in the BMW, but Fluxie was caning the KRM car, jumping up to fifth. Avoiding a spinning Peugeot and diving past a Porsche at Becketts, the Mosler was set to drag back the minute's advantage held by Leslie in the lead.

But with only 15 minutes left, even Mosler power couldn't reel in the BMW, KRM settling for second.
The Topcats team had a quiet race and came home in 14th. Sadly, the Eclipse Mosler did not complete the race.

Thanks to Flickr contributors for the photos - from top to bottom:

Petemags Photos (first two pics)
Tony P1 (next two pics)
Petemags Photos (in the snow)
Marc W
Jake Yorath Photography

Last word - still stunned by the death of race winner, David Leslie. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

PREVIEW: Britcar 2008

2008-03-18T18:19:00.009Z

I didn't cover Britcar too often last year apart from the 24 hour race; this year it's all change as four Moslers will be in action for the season.

Michael and Sean McInerney, taken out of last year's 24 hour race by the Top Gear team, are billed as drivers for car #4, a Rollcentre Racing Mosler.

GT stalwarts Kevin Riley and Ian Flux forsake British GT this season to drive their Rollcentre car in Britcar as #7.

Renowned Marcos Mantis team Topcats take #20, though for the first race may be in the factory Mosler pictured here.

Which leaves Andrew Tate and Aaron Scott racing for Peter Hignett's ABG Motorsport.

And the Eclipse Mosler was out and about on test day as well... quite who ends up behind the wheel of that I'm not too sure.

With three trips to Silverstone, several jaunts round Snetterton and Brands Hatch, a trip over to Spa and a night race at Donington, it looks like an interesting season. I'll certainly be there for a few of them and will bring reports from the season opener at Silverstone on March 22nd.

Photos (c) David Lord and Peter May, www.dailysportscar.com

MOSLER CHALLENGE 2008: First impressions

2008-02-13T22:19:00.001Z

Because one or two Moslers are never enough, how about a gridful? Recently announced, the Mosler Challenge will bring a field full of the GT3s and a new 'Mosler-lite' into racing as support to the Dutch Supercar Challenge.

Warren Mosler and Martin Short have cooked up a way of raising awareness of the marque- and the number actively involved in GT racing. The Challenge will be open to existing and new GT3 entrants but the interesting angle is the introduction of a new model - the Challenge car.

That still has the 570 bhp GT3 engine of the current model but has some lower spec components (or has them removed altogether). This brings the cost of owning a racing Mosler down (to 150,000 euros) and entry into a championship that Martin Short stresses will be conducted with a "fair play philosophy" where a "welcome and congenial atmosphere" should prevail.

With pitstop-time-penalties to handicap the field, the Challenge drivers may be in with a chance of winning the prize money pot in place for each race as well as for the season overall.

Perhaps the telling detail is that the Challenge car - which won't be 24-hour racing capable like its older brother - is expected to be upgraded to GT specification within two years. So, it seeks to perk up the marques presence within national classes - possibly with the intention of aiming for FIA GT3 homologation in 2010?

I'll be very interested to see who gets involved - how cool would it be to see the current British, Belgian, Dutch and Spanish GT Moslers going head to head! And with 'easy' financing deals and a 'gentleman driver' approach to GT, the Challenge could yet bring in ambitious young pilots, distinguished racers and existing teams looking to experiment with the car before choosing it as a national championship runner.

Some people involved in GT, particularly those who feel they've been burned when the Mosler failed to attain FIA GT3 homologation, are sceptical about the value of an all-marque field at this level. But many see it as a great opportunity to make the marque's presence felt and show that, in both sprint ands endurance racing, the Mosler has the potential to be superlative.

We'll be interviewing Martin Short as part of our season preview and hope to get to a few Challenge meetings (Britcar, natch!) so keep 'em peeled for more Mosler Lover gen on this unique championship.

Official website
http://www.mosler.co.uk/mosler/race_challenge_intro.asp

Dutch Supercar Challenge report (in English)
http://www.supercarchallenge.nl/news/0/1374/the_dsc___mosler_challenge_for_2008.htm

INTERVIEW: Chris Pollard, Eclipse Motorsport

2008-02-13T20:44:00.009Z

In the first of an occasional series of interviews, I caught up with co-owner of Eclipse Motorsport, Chris Pollard, to see what he thought of his 2007 season.

"Diabolical!" was his wholly understandable reply. Let's face it, for a team used to endurance race wins, last season was the year when the wheels came off - literally. He ranks their Snetterton race as their most memorable; given that they lead for half of it before kissing goodbye to the right rear wheel at speed it was also fairly memorable for all who were there or saw the footage.

Chris thought that Silverstone suited the team best ansd was the team's season highlight - as their class podium place and 5th overall in the Britcar 24 hour race proved. The Mosler's suitability for endurance racing is something that attracted him to racing the Mosler initially, saying "it's an ideal car for distance racing.. it remains an extremely attractive, exciting racing car".

But it was an uneven season to say the least. Equalisation and ongoing homologation issues dogged the marque, and Eclipse certainly suffered. Chris was also clearly unhappy with the performances of the Cole brothers, "inexperienced drivers who were ill-matched for pace and who had wildly disparate driving styles".

Certainly a frustrating season all round for Chris, then. "It'd probably have been cheaper, more successful and far more enjoyable if John (Griffiths, co-owner) and I had simply driven the car ourselves", he commented.

I'm keen to ask drivers and owners what they'd change about the Mosler if they could. "Unsure,", said Chris. I get the feeling that he'd have liked to see the car developed as a full-on GT2 racer, properly homologated. Given that Eclipse had early success in endurance racing, I guess Chris could see the potential in the car and was keen on racing it on the international stage.

But that wasn't to be. The car sported a 'For Sale or Rent' placard when it was displayed at the recent Autosport International show and the Mosler story is over for Eclipse.

Photos top and middle (c) dailysportscar.com;
bottom (c) Simon H Johnson

Mosler for sale

2008-01-29T19:26:00.000Z

As this may be the year when I learn to drive, I've been casting an eye over the classified ads to suss out the likely price of an economical runabout. But I soon got bored and ended up lusting after this instead:

7-litre V8, approx. 585 bhp, one seemingly careful owner, 4000 miles (London to Monte Carlo and back) on the clock.... although the petrol consumption might be measured in feet per gallon and the insurance would probably cost more than my salary.

Interesting to see it billed as the "world's rarest supercar" and initially tagged as as Lambo Murk... I suppose Moslers must be fairly rare (just how many road going Moslers there are, I don't actually know); to see it tagged as a Lambo "only better" made me smirk.

Funnily enough, the February edition of Top Gear magazine featured the Mosler and gave it 4/5 on its 'madness' rating, making it crazier than an Ascari A10 but not as bonkers as a Bugatti Veyron.

You can hotfoot it over to Clinkard Cars and buy it now (assuming my wife hasn't bought it me as a disgustingly-early Christmas pressie).

You'll need the thick end of 120k, a garage the size of my bungalow and no speed bumps between you and the motorway. No excuses then; sell your house, buy a lock-up, sleep in the car. Job done!

EXHIBITION: Autosport International 2008

2008-01-12T21:35:00.000Z

So much to still catch up on - the 2007 review, the Mosler Challenge 2008 - but here's a quickie from todays Autosport International show. And what a great show it was - fantastic variety of stuff from Astons to socket sets, superb range of display cars (loved the F1 line-up, found the Colin McRae collection fascinating), a stunning live action show (ahh, Louise Goodman... ) and what really made my day wasn't the Lycra-clingy mingers scratching all the bonnets.

Today's top three;

3) The pork scratchings from The Crusty Pie Company. One day, all exhibitions will have quality food like this.

2) Jenson Button admitting during his Autosport interview that the lack of traction control in F1 this year may prove 'hard to handle'...

1) This Jaguar C type. It has that curvy curve. You know, the one that goes from the ribcage into the waist then over the hips. O.M.G.

Of course, duty called and your intrepid reporter had his Mosler radar turned on and fully functioning. The ex-Eclipse car was on the Britcar stand, advertising itself and a motorhome for sale or rent:

And Brecklan d Technology had this beauty parked up in the PistonHeads section:

With it being purple, my nearest and dearest loves it too. Based on the fact that she loved her purple Micra. It's a bit of a step-up, but I can try and convince her to buy one... but it'll never fit in the garage.

A great day - I can thoroughly recommend it, my Dad and I really enjoyed it. And we went by train, so we reduced the overall carbon footprint produced by the show..... though given what the drag cars burned off, I think we offset a only very, very small piece of flaky black toe cheese.

So, it's January. It's cold, wet... reminds me of BTCC at Donington. But it's soon new seasons all round - so BRING IT ON!!!

GOLD CUP: 6 Hours of Vallelunga 18th November 2007

2007-12-02T22:09:00.000Z

Gravity Racing had two Moslers running in the 6 Hours of Vallelunga Gold Cup race. After the 'limited edition' Gulf sponsorship, car 901 is now decked out in Coca Cola Zero colours.

The 'gentleman drivers' car 900 retains its dignified looks :-)

The Coca Cola Mosler qualified in tenth place, the gentlemen drivers in 24th.

Vincent Vosse had raced here before, and through practice and qualifying he was leaving even the GT2 cars in his wake. Hopes were high, therefore, for a promising end to Gravity's season.

Alas, it was not to be. Car 901 developed oil pressure problems and was forced to retire with engine problems in the last racing hour.

Meanwhile, age and experience (and perhaps a dollop of luck) saw Loris di Sordi, Gerard Lopez and Eric Lux finish ninth overall and end as class winners.

Coca Cola Mosler photo (c) Vincent Vosse

INTERNATIONAL GT: Barcelona 11th November 2007

2007-11-14T16:34:00.000Z

The Circuit de Catalunya was the setting for the final race of the 2007 International GT season. Unlike the other races in the season, this is from the classic GT endurance mould, two hours long with points awarded for posiitons at the halfway point as well as at the flag.

Sadly, the top performing Mosler didn't make it to the grid; Aicart and Guerrero were out with an electronics problem. A sad end to what had been a promising season.

There was. though, a new Mosler on the block; Drivex made their marque debut with Miguel A. de Castro and Angel Burgueño.

Rounding off the Mosler contingent was the Zener team entry driven by Palencia and Puig.

De Castro stole up to fourth early on, and had slipped back just a little at the halfway stage, taking his first Spanish GT points in sixth place. Motor Competicion were holding steady in tenth and Zener struggling down in 34th.

The Moslers failed to worry the top spots, though; Motor Competicion ending eighth, Drivex falling to 26th and Zener muddling back in 33rd.

Towards the top of the field, the Autorlando Porsche pairing of Richard Lietz and Joel Camathias took the fourth place they needed to claim the championship.

Aicart and Guerrero finished the season a disappointing tenth having led early on, those podium finishes mixed in with too many DNFs later in the year. With Gutiérrez making 31st and Villalba 66th, it was a season that promised much after 2006's close shaves but the necessary sustained pressure never materialised.

Congratulations, though, to Aicart and Guerrero for a full sweep of the podium in 2007. A few more trips up the stairs in 2008 would be ideal!

Photos (c) www.gtsport.es

BRITISH GT: Equalisation testing, Donington Park 2007

2007-10-30T14:02:00.000Z

SRO ran an equalisation session at Donington Park to test the relative performance of the GT3 cars on the softer Avon tyres to used in the British series next season.

With European tests run on Michelins, there were numerous grumblings in the paddock throughout the 07 season that things weren't quite as equal as they ought to have been.

Robert Bell drove the Rollcentre Mosler MT900 and recorded the second fastest time, just behind the Berlanga Ascari.

He told Autosport magazine that the Mosler was "well balanced and has good power, but the traction is average and the steering is heavy. It needs a bit of work but it's good overall".

Some teams were sceptical about the true value of the test results, with allegations of sandbagging and concerns that referencing to the April race times when the cars ran on the harder Avon compund has confused the issue.

DUTCH SUPERCAR CHALLENGE: Assen Final Race 28th October 2007

2007-10-30T14:01:00.003Z

Another short and sweet entry. Three Moslers on the entry list for this finale to the Dutch Supercar season, but no mention of Woodcock, Rollcentre or Mecke on the qualification or results pages.

Ardi van der Hoek and Arjen van der Zwaan took the GT championship in a Brinkmann DTM Audi.

I'd tell you where the Moslers finished but I can't find a results table for the championship as a whole. Suffice to say, it won't have been in the top three.

SPANISH GT: Jerez 27th-28th October 2007

2007-10-30T11:30:00.000Z

The 2007 Spanish GT champoinship drew to a dramtic climax at Jerez in the last week of October. With no clear favourite, the title was finally balanced.

Sadly, the Mosler teams were out of the running for overall honours, but the weekend also saw all four of them take to the field. Santiago García was joined by another new partner, the former Formula Nissan champion Santiago Porteiro.

Race one qualifying saw another strong perfomance from Motor Competicion, taking second place on the grid. Garcia, Breyner and Palencia struggled a little, qualifying in 11th, 12th and 27th respectively.

But it was another middling Mosler performance; new kid on the block Porteiro turning in the best times to take thirteenth, ahead of the Breyners (17th), Motor Competicion (21st) and Palencia (out on lap 13).

So, what could the marque make out of the last race of the season? Qualifying was certainly stronger; 5th for the Breyners, 7th for Garcia & Porteiro, 15th for the Motor Compecion car and 26th for Palenca and Puig.

Stakes were high; for some, the championship was there to be won or lost. Sundberg and Romero drove a cautious race in the RSV Ferrari as they aimed to finish above GPC Sport to take the title. Such caution was attacked firmly by Garcia, overhauling the field in the latter stages to take his first Spanish GT win and the second for a Mosler in 2007.

The Breyners came hoem in fifth and Palencia in 13th; the Motor Competicion Mosler faield to finish.

As Garcia celebrated the race win, so Sundberg and Romero celebrated third place, good enough to garner enough points to make them champions. And then... the RSV pairing were handed a time penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag, pushing them back into sixth place and behind GPC Sport's Giao and Couceiro in the overall standings. So, RSV finished the race as champions, GPS left the circuit as champions - who is crowned finally with the 2007 title now rests on a tribunal hearing.

Jerez turned out to be the lucky circuit for the Moslers with both of their wins here, Garcia this weekend and Motor Competicion back in May. That win helped Villalba and Gutierrez to seventh spot in the championship, the highest Mosler finishers. Santiago Garcia's win this weekend lifted him to 14th and Santiago Porteiro to 25th. Garcia's other co-drivers, Manuel Mello and Fernando Navarrete, finished in 32nd and 41st. Manuel and Pedro Mello Breyner took 34th, with Palencia and Puig the only Mosler drivers not to score championship points.

Photos (c) www.gtsport.es

INTERNATIONAL GT: Brands Hatch September 22nd-23rd 2007

2007-10-30T11:17:00.001Z

The International GT series swings into Britain for a rip around Brands Hatch.

In a fairly uneventful weekend for the sole Mosler, Aicart and Guerrero finished fifth in both the Pro-Am and GT Open races.

The first race saw Aicart make contact with Montermini's Ferrari 430 through Druids, both cars sustaining damage.

For the GT Open, Guerrero recorded a fast qualifier but was later penalised for doing so under a yellow flag. Like several others, he was handed a four-place drop on the grid.

But Guerrero's race was short-lived. The Mosler's attraction towards bright, shiny Playteam Ferraris continued, with Massironi and Guerrero making contact. With the Ferrari flying off into the gravel, the Mosler span in the middle of the track and was hit by the Aston of Lancieri. All three were out of the race.

BELCAR: Zolder 20th-21st October 2007

2007-10-22T10:59:00.000+01:00

So, Belcar 2007 draws to an end with the last meeting at Zolder.

A strong qualifying session saw Radermecker put the DHL Mosler onto pole, alongside teammate Kelders in the Gulf car. Just behind on the second row, the G&A Mosler qualifed in fourth.

Half an hour into the race, the Moslers held the top three places. Then, what seemed to be an electronics problem cut out the engine of the Gulf car and forced its retirement.

Meanwhile, the other two Moslers tuned up the heat. Radermecker and Lemeret kept pedal to the metal and took their third race win of the season. Almost a lap behind, Guino Kenis and Michael De Keersmaecker brought the G&A car home in second for another Mosler double podium.

Some impressive late season performances saw Gravity International confirm second place in the Division One table, with GPR taking the championship; Bart Couwberghs did just enough to pip Radermecker to the Driver Challenge title.

So, a competitive season for the Moslers in Belgium, with Gravity International perhaps disappointed that the points not won at the Zolder 24 hour race may have made all the difference in the championship standings.

Congratulations to Gravity; well played to G&A and here's to even more success in 2008!

Photos (c) belcar.com

DUTCH SUPERCAR CHALLENGE: Spa Francorchamps 13th-14th October 2007

2007-10-16T14:01:00.000+01:00

Spa-Francorchamps seems to be the place to be for GT this October. The Dutch series roared into this renowned venue for their penultimate meet of the 2007 season.

Putting in another guest appearance was the Rollcentre Mosler with usual suspects Riley and Flux at the wheel.

In the other marque entrant, Harry Mecke was joined by Roland Reinfeld.

Race one saw the Moslers fil the second row of the grid after a promising qualifying session. Unfortunately - and not for the first time this season - sucj high flying wa short-lived. Early contact with a DTM Audi saw the Rollcentre car struggle and eventually retire through the resultant damage. Reinfeld held third for a time before Eigner retired too, a damaged drive shaft taking its toll.

The second race saw a few more spills and not too many Mosler thrills. Mecke made contact with another car at La Source following a restart behind the safety car; the Mosler limped back to the pits and called it a day. Riley took a trip across the gravel and beached the Rollcentre car, leaving their weekend high and dry.

INTERNATIONAL GT: Monza 6th-7th October 2007

2007-10-10T11:22:00.000+01:00

Monza hosted the lastest round of the International GT.

Qualifying for the Pro-Am saw the Ferraris to the fore; the first seven grid places being stuffed full of them. The GTA Mosler was the highest qualifier of the other marques in eight spot.

Unfortunately, the Mosler didn't make it to the race; mechanical problems dogging the team yet again.

Things didn't seem to be getting better for the GT Open race either, the Mosler stopping in a shroud of smoke towards the end of the session.

Running down to the chicane for the first time, five cars went head-to-head. Guerrero held his nerve and took the lead.

Then, on lap 3 Guerrero runs wide through Ascari chicane and is passed back into third place.

Staying in the running after the driver change, GTA were well palced to challenge for a top spot until - you guessed it - the Mosler retired with mechanical problems.

The Autorlando Porsche 997 took the chequred flag to give them the championship lead into the season's decider in Barcelona next month.

Photo (c) www.gtsport.es

BELCAR: Francorchampagne 29th-30th September 2007

2007-10-05T08:52:00.000+01:00

Back to Spa for the penultimate round of the 2007 Belcar championship.

A strong Mosler field here. Gravity had two entries; Radermecker and Lemeret still chasing the title in the DHL car, Vincent Vosse standing in for the indisposed Chritian Kelders to partner Yves Lambert in the Gulf Mosler.

Guino Kenis and Michael De Keersmaecker ran in the G&A car, qualifying mid-grid but not making it out into the race itself. One unfortunate replacement was that of Chad Racing; their Mosler took damage in the Britcar 24 hour race last month and so they ran their Porsche instead.

Qualifying was a dream; Radermecker holding pole in the early sessions only for Vosse to put in a near-perfect lap to take the Gulf car to the top of the grid.

So, the front row stuffed full of Moslers, just like at Donington back in April. But could Gravity turn that advantage into podium places?

The team ran in formation at the head of the field for the first 45 minutes before the safety car put in an appearance. This allowed the less-thirsty Porsches to make their pitstops earlier, whilst the Moslers waited for their arranged slots. Vosse pitted first, with Radermecker next whilst experiencing some power steering problems and being very low on fuel. The Moslers then got back into the pack back in 5th and 6th place

Consistently quicker laptimes saw the Moslers march towards the front of the field. Only the GPR Porsche seemed to keep up; Gravity were putting in lap times up to two-and-a-half seconds faster than the rest.

Lemeret eventually overhauled the field and took the lead with 20 minutes to go. Lambert left it a little later - taking Henke Hanne's Porsche on the last lap.

So, a fantastic first 1-2 for Gravity. With Radermecker securing the fastest lap, Gravity did all they needed to do.

Now it's on to Zolder for the final race of the season. With Gravity third in the general rankings and Radermecker / Lemeret third and fifth in the driver challenge, it could be a dramatic finale in a few weeks time.

BRITISH GT: Rockingham 29th-30th September 2007

2007-10-04T11:49:00.000+01:00

Well, here we go. The GT journey started for me back in April at a sunny Donny and has since taken me into bleary sessions in front of live timing websites, early morning Channel 4 broadcasts and a superb visit to Silverstone.

But now, it's time for the championship decider. My first trip to 'The Rock'; the last race of the 2007 season.

With Rollcentre taking a well-earned rest after a hectic Silverstone session earlier in the month, it's down to Eclipse to put on a show at Rockingham. Never mind the Brit GT debut of the Apex Jaguar XKR or the down-to-the-wire driver championship! We want Mosler action!

So, go get some, courtesy of Tommi2000 on youtube:

With the Cole brothers still absent, the Eclipse Mosler is piloted by two familiar faces. Oliver Bryant gets to try out his third GT car of the season after previous stints with a Porsche and an Ascari. He was joined by ex-F3 driver Stuart Hall.

The Eclipse car was fastest in the second free practice session as the track started to dry out after earlier rain. Fourth on the grid was bagged, with the flying Lambo of Team Modena taking pole.

So, the scene was set again - fast running in free practice, qualifying close to the top of the grid.

Can you guess what happens next?

Running in fourth, a tap by Greenhalgh's Ascari as they entered Brook took the Mosler into a spin, through the tyres and into the gravel.

Restarting down the field after a trip out by the safety car, the Mosler was eventually handed over to Stuart Hall.... who, on the final lap, buried it into the wall on Turn One after a mechanical failure.

Here endeth the season :(

At least Team RPM had plenty to smile (and hug, and dance) about as Bradley Ellis and Alex Mortimer took the championship win after two sterling first places over the weekend. Congrats to them!

SPANISH GT: Valencia 29th-30th September 2007

2007-10-01T13:29:00.000+01:00

The twisting Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia played host to the penultimate round of the Spanish GT in the last weekend of September.

Qualifying for the first race saw Gutierrez up on the front row in second, with Navarrete and Breyner in fifth and tenth respectively.

The GTA Mosler took the lead on lap one but was beaten out the pits at the driver change and finished fifth. The other drivers doubled their grid positions, ending in tenth and twentieth.

Jordi Gene brought the Sun Red SR221 home for its maiden win in Spanish GT.

Race 2 qualifying wasn't too promising for the Moslers; Breyner in seventh, Garcia next door in eighth and Villalba down in 14th.

Garcia didn't finish the first lap after some sort of accident (but I have no detail as to exactly what happened). The Breyners only lasted until lap 3.

But they did it again; Villalba and Gutierrez fighting through the field to take second place and yet another Spanish GT podium finish.