Round 5 - Eurospeedway-Lausitz

Rosinski's Podium Run Overshadowed by Horror Crash

The story out of the TDR side of the paddock should be Carla Rosinski's 3rd place finish in Sprint #1 today at the Eurospeedway-Lausitz. However, after a very heavy crash in the final laps, all thoughts turn to Gabriel Macena Racing driver Ross Carter, who has possibly suffered severe injuries according to the CloudSport coverage of the race.

"Everything that happened last week and today in this race is now irrelevant. We're all thinking of Ross and hoping for the best" Team owner Tom Delgado said during the red flag on lap 37.

While racing for position, Carter got into it with Ian Morris and James Hewitt, taking all three cars into the grass, and back up onto the track, where Carter suffered a massive head-on impact. Morris & Hewitt were also taken to hospital, but both are expected to be okay according to CloudSport during the race coverage.

Amanda Torres got caught up in that mess, but was credited with a 20th place finish despite not actually finishing. Most importantly, however, is the fact that as soon as she got out of the car, she flagged down her boss and started crying in his arms. She wouldn't speak to any reporters, but Delgado explained her emotions at that time. "She was distraught. They don't wreck like that back in Texas, especially in go karts. Amanda's never seen anything like that, and that's simply a natural reaction."

Ross Carter critically injured in Eurospeedway accident

It is understood that Ross Carter has been critically injured after an accident with four laps to go at Eurospeedway. Carter, who was battling for second with James Hewitt, went off course when Hewitt got into the back of the lap car of Ian Morris. All three cars went through the grass before Hewitt hit the inside wall and clipped Carter, sending both back up into the turn 3 wall. Carter hit head on while Hewitt hit with the passenger side with an impact so vicious both cars came nearly to a complete stop. Carter's car rolled over before he was struck by Franco Giovanardi, and was send for another couple of rolls.

Carter was airlifted to a local hospital and is understood to have head and spinal injuries after the accident, and is currently in a coma. James Hewitt's injuries are unknown, but could lead to him missing the Netherlands GP, and perhaps more races. Ian Morris, who was also transported to hospital, is understood to have been uninjured for the most part.

Carter's injury comes as the first in the series with the new stock car body, however the new body has not come under criticism taking into account the severity of the accident. It is also understood that the safety mechanisms used in Carter's Gabriel Macena Racing car were of the highest standard, however the impact was so vicious that Carter's HANS device was damaged in the accident.

Can anyone stop Hannah Percy?
At the beginning of the season, anyone would have thought that this would have been a write off from the get-go for Hannah Percy, but after her resurgence in form over the last couple of race weekends, Percy has shot up from 18th in points, exiting Oulton Park, to 3rd in points, gaining over 150 points on the points lead, despite Dillinger's 100 point bonus for winning the UK Tour.

Percy swept the weekend, not only for wins in her races, but also for poles. The only thing that stopped her completing the perfect weekend at Eurospeedway was the fact she did not lead the most laps in the Feature race, leading 18 laps compared to Dieter Ziegler's 28.

This makes it 3 wins for Percy this season, all earned within the last two weekends. Percy has also been on the pole for the last five races she has started in the series. This surge in form is reminiscent to the end of the 2014 season, in which she won the championship.

"This is awesome. We're totally on it right now as a team and it really shows," said Percy in victory circle, "We've just nailed the qualifying and race setups every weekend so far. We'd probably be leading the points by some distance if I didn't throw it off from the lead trying too hard at Oulton!"

"I didn't know I'd won at first. I tried the inside line in three as a bit of a desperate move but I managed to get on the throttle earlier without it getting sideways and at that point I just hoped I could beat the #360 to the line. I didn't think it was that close, though!"

Percy will also go down in the record books as the winner in Dash Cup's closest ever finish, in which she edged ahead of Reuben Vogt at the end of the 80 lap race by only 0.001 seconds over Reuben Vogt; making it closer than the finish in the Rookies' Only Race, in which Emily Brannagan beat Tommy Ashby to the line by 0.002 seconds.

Percy's early form in the European Tour makes her an early favourite to take out the 100 point bonus and a slot in the season ending New York Grand Prix, but the question remains, who can stop her when she's in this dominant form?

Torres Steps Out at Halfway as Trouble Finds TDR Again

Coming off a chaotic set of sprint races at Eurospeedway Lausitz, it was common knowledge that Amanda Torres was not mentally fit to race in today's feature. However, she started anyway and was doing okay until coming out of the car at about halfway, with Tom Delgado taking over at that point.

However, in the second half of the event trouble found both Delgado and Carla Rosinski as both TDR entries limped to the line in 18th and 19th place respectively, with Delgado notably getting into more than a few incidents.

"Trouble really seemed to look specifically for us today, especially after I took over the 83 car. Not entirely surprising" Delgado said with a sarcastic grin. "Couldn't really get too used to the car due to the fact that incidents kept happening around us, but I did what I could to salvage some points" Delgado added.

Amanda Torres will be back in the 83 next round as Dash Cup heads to the Netherlands. Former Formula Overdrive championship runner-up Kyle Gaffigan will also begin his role as backup driver. Gaffigan's last major race experience was at the 2014 Round of Indianapolis for the remnants of Dragoon Racing (now Kyle Gaffigan Motorsports), where he finished 23rd, narrowly missing out on points.

Fochesato Scores Top 10 in First Appearance of the Season in a Feature
24 April 2016

After failing to advance to the Feature race in each of the first four race weekends of the 2016 Dash Cup Pirelli Super Stocks Series, Vincenzo Fochesato finally managed to earn a transfer position for the main race at Eurospeedway Laustiz with an 11th-place finish in Sprint 2.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the FIAM Engineering driver delivered in his first Feature since the Super Stocks instated the Sprints/Feature format first used by FARC in 2014. Despite being sent for a spin in a multi-car crash at the end of the 60th lap of the 80-lap race, car #75 was scored in 9th, giving Fochesato and his crew their first top 10 of the year.

"We've finally done it!" said a relieved Fochesato after exiting his car. "To finally score a finish that actually reflects the work that my team has been doing is amazing. We've had to be really patient for this result and persistent, too, but we knew that it was going to pay off and it's great to know that it finally has! As long as luck is on our side we're going to be contenders wherever we race. I'm really proud of everyone at FIAM Engineering. But as great as our day was, we all have to keep in mind the things that are more important to us, too, and we're all hoping that Ross and James and Ian are all going to recover and to come back soon."

Fochesato's teammate Mireille Allain also finished the Feature with a 17th-place rank, while Franco Giovanardi missed out on the main event after being eliminated from Sprint 1 in the horrible crash that injured drivers Ross Carter, James Hewitt, and Ian Morris.