After being firmly in the points in the last couple of rounds, Faster Than Speed had a difficult weekend at FSR's first-ever night event at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Patrick De Wit retired from the Singapore GP early after spinning his car over an anticut-strip while battling with Puumalainen.

AutoGP World Championship

With little track testing time in Qualifying conditions available, the team did not have high hopes for Qualifying. Patrick De Wit was 13th fastest in the session, and was looking forward to capitalizing on his starting position to score points in the long night race.

Despite making a good start, climbing to 11th after passing Saxen, unfortunately Patrick had a very short race. Inmediately putting pressure on Puumalainen, Patrick was looking for a way to overtake the Finn around the very tight circuit throughout the opening laps.

On lap 5, however, Patrick got very close to Puumalainen, who unintentionally blocked his vision, causing him to ride over the anticut-strip that caused many drivers to spin. The anticut spun Patrick's FTS-P10 around, and while he managed to avoid hitting the walls and kept his engine running, it unfortunately damaged the floor, which caused Patrick to lose control a few corners later, smashing the car against the barriers, wiping his front suspension out and having to retire from the race prematurely.

Patrick De Wit (DNF): "I feel sorry for the team. Wasn't able to test properly. In the end, it didn't matter since Singapore wasn't suited to my FTS car. A DNF on lap 5 due to the anticut. A shame because a point would have been possible today. See you in Suzuka."

World Trophy

Heinz Vanderhoydonck was 13th fastest in Pre-Qualifying. In the Qualifying session, meanwhile, he qualified 23rd on the grid. After a hectic start, Heinz managed to climb up to 13th. Unluckily, that wouldn't last for long, as Heinz was spun around by Vicentijevic who lost control of his own car. Heinz retired from the race on lap 17.

Faster Than Speed now heads towards the mighty Suzuka circuit, where FSR will have its Japanese GP. In 2008, Florian Pechon took the team's last victory at the legendary venue in the WS Advanced division. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Japan, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

After a troublesome race, Patrick De Wit took the final point in the FSR World Championship's Italian GP, snatching 10th place from Dennis Hirrle in the final lap's Parabolica and beating him to the checkered flag by only 0.033s. Team-mate Giuseppe Marconi finished in 12th place, after also taking World Series points at Monza on Saturday.

AutoGP World Championship

Patrick De Wit had a very unfortunate start to the weekend as he suffered from technical problems in Qualifying. Despite the strong testing times shown, which would have been enough for the second row of the grid, Patrick was only able to set one timed lap. However, the team decided to drop Patrick's time and start from the back of the grid to avoid the risk of post-race penalties due to the technical issues. Team-mate Giuseppe Marconi, meanwhile, had a better session, qualifying in 16th place.

Patrick made a great start off the line, winning 6 positions into the first chicane and climbing to the Top 10 soon after. The first laps saw Patrick involved in interesting fights, in a race that started with several untidy battles throughout the field. In one of those, Tali made contact with Patrick, damaging the rear of his FTS-P10, and causing a significant top speed loss, which inmediately caused Patrick to fall back and lose the position to Rouault. After several laps struggling with that issue, the team had no chance but to call Patrick into the pitlane, so that the damage could be repaired. Patrick was the first man to pit on lap 16.

With his car back in good conditions, Patrick was able to exit in clean air, but with his only planned pitstop already done, he had the task of driving the following 37 laps on the same set of tyres. Patrick spent over half the race distance in a spectacular battle with Poniatowski, in which they passed each other an uncountable number of times. Luckily, it was an incredibly fair fight this time, with Spa's contact between them left behind.

Towards the end, a great battle for 8th developed between Patrick, Poniatowski, Disley and Hirrle. While Patrick held 8th for most of the fight, his top speed didn't allow him to create a gap to the cars behind, as the slipstream effect was allowing Poniatowski to remain close behind. Hirrle took the gamble of pitting again for new tyres, and was surprizingly able to re-catch the battling group.

Victim of his top speed, Patrick eventually lost out and entered the final lap in 11th place. Being outside the point-scoring positions and with 37-laps old tyres, Patrick revved up the engine he saved earlier and challenged Hirrle after the Ascari corner. Patrick positioned himself on the inside going into Parabolica, the last corner of the track, overtaking Hirrle to snatch the last point, by just 0.033s! Phew!

Giuseppe, meanwhile, had a solid race, enjoying a few battles despite having to nurse a highly-worn engine for several laps. While he was unable to score points, Giuseppe took his best finish of the season as he saw the checkered flag in 12th place.

Patrick De Wit (10th): "Not the best start, my troubles started when getting on the server. I set a Qualifying lap but had to start from the back to avoid a disqualification or something.

I made a great start, in the entry to Turn 1 went from last to 11th. Then battles were very chaotic between cars, which others and I were victims of. Noone to blame, really, but got hit in the back by Tali, in a racing incident. I am sorry for Rouault as I touched him when we were going three-wide with Poniatowski. I had great battles with many guys again and I am really happy I overtook Hirrle on the last lap, into Parabolca snatching the last point of the race!"

Giuseppe Marconi (12th): "Finally, I finished a race. I'm very bored about this engine, as I had to drive the last 15 laps with boost 1 to save it, I think it's absurd. Nothing to say about the race, it was fun in the first half with some battles and boring in the second half when the gap to others was too big. It was more fun to listen Pat shouting on the team radio!"

World Series

Giuseppe Marconi set the 20th fastest time in the Qualifying session. In the race, he made good progress, despite a less-than-ideal strategy and a small incident with Werdmuller. With 3 laps to go, Giuseppe's engine said enough, which cost him some positions. However, having completed over 90% of the race distance, Giuseppe took a few points, eventually finishing in 19th place.

World Trophy

Heinz Vanderhoydonck was 14th quickest in the Pre-Qualifying session, later setting a similar time to secure 22nd on the grid in Qualifying. After a solid race, in which he was making steady progress, Heinz was looking set to score some good points. However, engine issues ended his day with 7 laps remaining.

Faster Than Speed now heads towards the Marina Bay Street Circuit for the Singapore GP, where FSR will race its first-ever night event. It will definitely be very exciting to watch! Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Singapore, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Faster Than Speed's unlucky streak in the FSR World Championship finally ended, as Patrick De Wit drove an spectacular race to 5th place in the Belgian GP. Showing strong pace, pulling off a couple of great overtaking moves and with a well-executed strategy, Patrick took at Spa-Francorchamps his best result since China.

AutoGP World Championship

Patrick De Wit returned to the top-10 in Qualifying as he secured 9th on the grid with a solid lap. Team-mate Giuseppe Marconi, meanwhile, qualified 17th on his second race of the weekend.

Patrick made a very good start off the grid, moving up to 7th and later winning a further place by making the best out of a small error from Puumalainen to find a gap on the inside of Rivage corner and overtake Kerkhof. With Patrick among the first ones to pit on lap 9, the focus was on lapping quickly on clear air. Patrick later started to attack Poniatowski. The pair made contact after the German impeded a passing move from Patrick into the La Source hairpin. Poniatowski didn't realise Patrick was alongside and unintentionally turned into him. Luckily, both drivers could continue without major issues.

Patrick's second pitstop was perfectly planned, leaving him with plenty of clear track ahead. Running in 6th place, Patrick caught up with Prevot, who he overtook with a brilliant move which started on the inside of Rivage, before completing the manoeuvre into the outside of the following left-hander.

Towards the end of the race, a great battle developed with Puumalainen for 4th, with the pair passing each other several times without contact, showing that clean fighting is definitely possible in FSR these days. Patrick showed his strength in the middle sector, again repeating the same spectacular move he did on Prevot laps earlier, but even tighter this time around. However, the Finn made the best of his much higher top speed to eventually win the duel, helped by the need to lower revs on Patrick's engine. The 5th place result left everyone very satisfied, with Patrick and the team returning to the points after several races.

Giuseppe, meanwhile, had a tough race. After some last-minute setup changes on his car left him with some unexpected understeer, Giuseppe struggled before losing control on the entry kerb to Eau Rouge, hitting the barriers and ending his race on lap 11.

Patrick De Wit (5th): "Thanks for the positive feedback. I had awesome racing with Puumalainen and Prevot, with two great moves on the outside after Rivage! I am really pleased with this 5th place! About the incidents, they weren't really incidents, just a couple of touches with Kerkhof and Poniatowski, but I let both of them through."

Giuseppe Marconi (DNF): "Thanks Christian for allowing me to race in WC again. I love this track even if I was off my pace with few testing laps behind. However, it was fun! Congratulations to Patrick on his good points for the team."

World Series

Giuseppe Marconi qualified in 20th place. The first laps of the race were difficult for him, however, after recieving a stop-and-go penalty following an off-track excursion. He didn't give up and kept pushing, recovering a few places before again suffering from engine drama and retiring from the race.

World Trophy

Heinz Vanderhoydonck was 13th quickest in the Pre-Qualifying session, with almost the same time leaving him 18th minutes later in Qualifying. After a good start, Heinz drove a solid race, recovering from an early spin. He looked set for a 9th place finish, until an engine failure, 5 laps from the end, denied him a well-deserved result.

Faster Than Speed now moves to the fast Monza circuit, home of the Italian GP. FTS won races at Monza in four out of the last five seasons. Florian Pechon took the honours in WS Advanced in 2008, Christian Smirnoff won consecutive WS Ace races in 2006 and 2007, while Swaraj Shergill was victorious in WS Amateur 2005. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Italy, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Faster Than Speed left the Hungaroring with disappointment after Patrick De Wit's solid drive in the FSR World Championship's Hungarian GP ended without points. Contact with a competitor while battling for 10th position caused Patrick to spin and hit the barriers with only a few laps remaining.

AutoGP World Championship

Patrick De Wit, Faster Than Speed's only World Championship racer this weekend at the Hungaroring, was 14th after struggling in Qualifying. The result left him unhappy after the very strong pace shown in testing sessions.

Patrick made a good start, passing Marques, but lost a couple of positions after having to back off to avoid first-lap incidents ahead of his car. While he struggled with understeer with the heavy car in the early stages of the race, Patrick delivered a solid performance, overtaking Bekker on the inside of Turn 2 before the first of his three planned pitstops on lap 12.

Patrick made good progress in the second and third stints, making good use of his strategy and climbing up to 8th before his last scheduled pitstop on lap 50. As a small pitlane error cost him a couple of seconds, Patrick went out behind Kerkhof, who he overtook with an spectacular move at the last corner. Towards the closing laps, Patrick had to defend his 10th place and the last point from Prevot, who made a late pitstop and was very quick on fresh tyres.

While Patrick defended very well, an overtaking attempt from Prevot ended up in disaster. With the last point in play, the Frenchman shut the door agressively after a clean move, with neither driver backing off. They made contact, with the result of Patrick's car spinning into the barriers. While he lost both the front and rear wings, Patrick carefully drove back to the pits, where the pitcrew did a great job to get him back in the race. He eventually finished a lap down, outside the points, in 14th place.

Patrick De Wit (14th): "I struggled a lot in Qualifying again, only managed 14th. Then trying to make the best out of the race, I was fighting with Prevot for 10th place, for a single point. It was a great fight, we went side-by-side into Turn 3, and there was no room for both cars and we touched, sending me into the wall. A possible 10th was the maximum today. I still finished the race so I must be pleased. No hard feelings for Prevot, it was a racing incident, nothing else to say. I didn't want to back off, these things happen. See you at Spa!"

World Trophy

With the World Series race rescheduled, the World Trophy was the only other event this weekend. Heinz Vanderhoydonck set the 16th fastest time in the Pre-Qualifying session, later repeating the same position in Qualifying. Unfortunately, the race was very short for Heinz. After making a good start, climbing a few places, an incident on lap 3 caused his early retirement from the Hungarian GP.

Faster Than Speed now moves to the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit, where the FSR Belgian GP will take part next weekend! Patrick De Wit took a WC podium at his favourite track as he finished 3rd for FTS in 2007. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Belgium, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Faster Than Speed appears to be cursed in the German GP, as the team again left Hockenheim with a double retirement and no FSR World Championship points in another very unlucky afternoon. Agustin Canapino, who drove a fantastic Qualifying lap to start from 4th, was a victim of a series of incidents which left him out of the race, while Patrick De Wit dropped out early.

AutoGP World Championship

Agustin Canapino had a great real-racing weekend as he leads Argentina's Top Race V6 championship after dominating the season opener at Interlagos, Brazil, where he took Pole Position, the Super Sprint race, the Final race and fastest lap, competing against drivers including López, Fontana, Mazzacane or Tuero, among others.

A week earlier, in FSR's Qualifying session, he also showed similar pace, as he drove a brilliant lap to qualify in 4th place, ahead of championship leader Bono Huis, missing Pole Position by just a tenth and a half. Team-mate Patrick De Wit, meanwhile, was unable to repeat testing laptimes, and qualified in 16th place, despite being just half a second off the poleman's time.

While both drivers made good starts off the line and remained unscathed through Turn 1, both would soon run into trouble in the opening lap. Agustin was attacked from far behind by Lee Morris into Turn 2. The overly-agressive move was never going to work, with the British driver hitting Agustin's sidepod, causing him to drop 3 positions. Patrick made a great start, moving up 5 places in the first few corners, until he found Tali's car spun across the track in the hairpin. Great reflexes from Patrick avoided a certain colission by millimetres, but he dropped to last position as he had to drive through the grass to do so.

Agustin was showing strong pace, keeping up with the pack and taking the fight to Rietveld. After the Dutch driver blocked agressively, Morand had the chance to close the gap and pass Agustin, who soon re-passed the French driver with a nice move at the exit of the hairpin. A lap later, however, Morand tried a move on the inside of the entry to the famous Stadium complex. With no room for both cars, the pair tangled, causing Morand to spin and Agustin to recieve damage and lose further positions.

Following Murphy's law, things continued to worsen for Agustin, as he was later tapped from behind by De Matos, causing him to spin off the track. Seconds after the first contact, there was a bigger colission between them in the runoff area, which left both cars heavily damaged. While Agustin tried to continue racing, the team decided to abandon the race to avoid endangering other competitors, as the suspension damage made driving almost impossible for him. Patrick's race didn't go any better. Pushing hard to recover ground from last position, Patrick lost control over the high Turn 1 kerb, ending his race early in the tyre wall.

Agustin Canapino (DNF): "Luckily a good Qualifying, P4 was very good for us, so really happy for that. In the race, we got complicated by a few moves and unfortunately, my race was over after I was hit, damaging my car."

Patrick De Wit (DNF): "Again, a bad weekend, not much to say."

World Series

Carrying a penalty after his technical issues in Silverstone, Giuseppe Marconi had to start the World Series race from the back of the grid. Despite this handicap, and a 1-stopper strategy, trying to make up ground from the back, which didn't work as expected, Giuseppe was driving a solid race, until another engine failure unfortunately put an early end to his German GP.

World Trophy

With 14 drivers having a guaranteed Grid 1 spot in Hockenheim, Heinz Vanderhoydonck just missed out on passing the Pre-Qualifying cut as he set the 15th fastest time, struggling with the car around a track that doesn't suit his driving style.

While Germany definitely doesn't seem to be a lucky venue for Faster Than Speed in recent years, the team will be looking forward to improve its record at the Hungaroring circuit, where the Hungarian GP will be raced after the break. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Hungary, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Faster Than Speed will be looking forward to a much better result in the following round, after failing to score in the FSR World Championship's race at Silverstone. Santiago Niza drove a good British GP but finished outside the points in 15th, while Patrick De Wit's race was plagued with technical issues. Heinz Vanderhoydonck, meanwhile, took some points home in the World Trophy event.

AutoGP World Championship

With little preparation in Qualifying conditions, the team expected to struggle in the Qualifying session. Santiago Niza, replacing Agustin Canapino this weekend, was right ahead of his team-mate Patrick De Wit as the pair secured 17th and 18th positions on the grid.

Both cars had clean starts, with Patrick doing an impressive one, winning four positions to climb to 14th. Santiago had a less successful one, paying the price of a lack of top speed and dropping to 20th. Despite a malfunctioning upshifting paddle which was Patrick's nightmare all weekend, with the team needing to switch his upshifting function to a button on his steering wheel, both drivers showed a much stronger pace than in Qualifying.

Despite struggling against the technical issue, Patrick still managed to take the fight to the drivers ahead. However, things went wrong when attacking Casalins, as the Spaniard braked very early in Silverstone's new section, catching Patrick by surprize. While he managed to avoid a strong colission, the minor contact caused Patrick to spin and damage his front wing. Patrick emerged just ahead of Disley, with the pair involved in a fantastic battle for many laps, in which they switched positions several times. After his pitstop, a stop-and-go penalty for pitlane speeding ended any hopes, while an early engine failure actually ended his race.

After dropping places at the start, Santiago showed competitive race pace. With a mountain of positions to climb, being stuck on traffic and with high tyre wear, however, a 3-stopper strategy was chosen. Unfortunately, the gamble did not pay off, with the strategy costing him a couple of positions at the finish line. While unable to score, Santiago still finished the race in the lead lap, classified in 15th position.

Santiago Niza (15th): "I arrived here short on testing because this race was not originally on my schedule. Despite this, I was happy with my race pace. I had a very bad start, losing 3 positions in the first half lap, then I noticed I made a big mistake with my setup. The setup offered me a good lap time, but a poor top speed. I was able to follow Pattel and Kerkhof, but due to my low top speed, it was impossible to overtake.

After being stuck on traffic for some laps, driving almost a second slower than the target time, I decided to switch to a 3-stops strategy, trying to do something different, because my low top speed made it almost impossible to think about overtaking. After some laps, I noticed that this strategy was a huge mistake, I was not going to improve a position, in fact I was going to lose a position to Disley due to this strategical mistake. On the last stint I was driving carefully, only being focused on bringing the car home in the same lap as the leaders.

I am sorry for the team, it is never nice to see your car finishing on last position. I hope to be more competitive in the next race, and of course, I am not going to repeat the same strategical mistake."

Patrick De Wit (DNF): "Not much to say. My steering wheel was doing weird things (technical issue on his upshifting paddle). I'll try to get my motivation back for Hockenheim."

World Trophy

Heinz Vanderhoydonck, Faster Than Speed's only runner in the World Trophy event, was 17th fastest in Pre-Qualifying, securing a Grid 1 spot, where he later set the 21st quickest time in the Qualifying session.

Heinz made a great start, climbing 10 places in the opening lap. However, he had difficulties defending his position due to a lack of top speed. Heinz lost a few positions as he needed to visit the pitlane twice due to the high tyre wear, but showed good pace, specially on fresh tyres. Towards the end, he had to defend his position from De Juan, with whom he battled for several laps. Heinz did a very good job to hold his position and take points home for his 13th place finish.

Faster Than Speed is now looking forward to boucing back in the next round at Hockenheim, when the circuit returns to being the host of the German GP, after FSR raced in the Nurburgring last year. The team's only WC podium at the venue dates back to 2003, when Gabriel Garivaldis finished in 3rd place. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Germany, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Faster Than Speed left Valencia disappointed as it did not take any points home from the FSR World Championship's European GP. Agustin Canapino defended his points-scoring position fantastically, but both he and Patrick De Wit retired with engine failures in the closing laps. In the World Trophy, Martin Gosbee scored his first podium finish of the season as he finished 2nd in a high-attrition race.

AutoGP World Championship

Agustin Canapino drove a good lap in Qualifying, which left him 10th on the grid. Patrick De Wit had a less convincing performance, but still managed to secure 15th place.

With both cars having relatively clean starts, despite minor contact, both Agustin and Patrick battled in the midfield group in the opening laps. While contact from Hirrle cost Agustin a few positions, he quickly got back in the race. With both drivers being among the first ones to enter the pitlane, Agustin exited just ahead of Hirrle, regaining the lost position as he made great use of the inside line going into Turn 2. Agustin later challenged Puumalainen, completing a nice and clean move to overtake him before his second pitstop.

Agustin's pitstop strategy paid off, as by the time everyone had stopped for the second time, he had also leapfrogged Morris and Greco, only missing out on Prevot by a couple of seconds. Towards the closing laps, Agustin was the protagonist of a fantastic four-way battle for 9th between him, Puumalainen, Greco and Hirrle. While Agustin defended brillitantly for many laps, he was ultimately overtaken by Puumlainen, with a minor incident with Greco leaving him behind all three of them. An engine failure with two laps remaining, while challenging the struggling one-stopper Poniatowski ended Agustin's day. The great defence was not enough for points.

Patrick's race took a turn for the worse as he made contact with Hahnel, after he locked his brakes while alongside the German driver. While Patrick's car took the worse part, suffering from heavy suspension damage, Hahnel had to retire after unexpectedly stalling his engine before returning to the track. With a damaged car and extra pitstops, Patrick was unfortunately never able to get back into the race, while another engine failure ended his race prematurely, with both Agustin and Patrick eventually classified 14th and 15th due to completing over 90% of the race distance.

Agustin Canapino (14th): "A good race, we made a step forwards with the race setup, although it wasn't enough, we need to continue improving. We risked a bit with early pitstops, and while the strategy worked and we moved up a few places, in the end it didn't pay off, but it was worth trying!"

Patrick De Wit (15th): "I had very little testing, so not really much to say. About Ronny's incident, I tried to overtake on the outside in Sector 1, but my rear end snapped under braking. I'm really sorry for Ronny (Hahnel). In the end, I finished 5 laps down on leader Huis with an engine failure, so I finished where I started, 15th."

World Series

Suffering from a technical issue, Giuseppe Marconi was only able to set the 17th fastest time in Pre-Qualifying, which unfortunately was not enough to qualify for a spot on the World Series race.

World Trophy

Martin Gosbee was the team's sole runner in Valencia, setting the 8th fastest time in the Qualifying session.

Martin drove a good race, driving in 4th place for most of the GP, again having a long battle against Ben Philips, just as in Canada, two weeks earlier. While looking set for a 4th place finish, Martin made good use of the rival's retirements, as he climbed up to 2nd after both Philips and Aalberts suffered technical issues in the closing laps, allowing Martin to take his first podium of the season.

Faster Than Speed is now looking forward to the following race at Silverstone. Florian Pechon took the British GP victory for FTS in the 2008 WS Advanced race, while Patrick De Wit scored World Championship podiums for the team in 2007 and 2009. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Great Britain, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Despite glimpses of good potential, the FSR World Championship's Canadian GP was a difficult one for Faster Than Speed, with Patrick De Wit and Agustin Canapino missing out on points as they finished in 11th and 13th respectively. In the World Trophy, an impressive Martin Gosbee took 4th, ahead of Heinz Vanderhoydonck who scored his first top-10 result of the season.

AutoGP World Championship

In Qualifying, Agustin Canapino drove a solid lap to secure 9th on the grid. Patrick De Wit, meanwhile, sacrificed several tenths with a heavily race-oriented setup, and despite lapping just two tenths of a second slower than his team-mate, was only 16th fastest.

While Agustin lost a position in the start after light contact with another car, Patrick started his race on the up as he soon passed Puumalainen into the hairpin. Both cars showed strong pace and attacked their competitors in the initial laps. As Agustin started to struggle with his tyres dropping off, an issue the team was aware of after the testing sessions, he inmediately came under attack from the train of cars behind him, including Patrick. After a close battle for a few corners, the team-mates swapped places after an overtaking move in the hairpin.

Despite showing a good top speed down the straight, Patrick was unable to find enough race pace in the car to fight for big points. His one-stop strategy with a long first stint did not go to plan either, costing him the chance of a top-8 finish. Towards the closing laps, Patrick was unable to fend off Morris' charge for 10th place, as the British driver enjoyed much fresher tyres on his late two-stopper, leaving Patrick just outside the points in 11th place at the checkered flag.

Agustin's race, meanwhile, went downhill after two incidents with Euler. In the first one, the German passed Agustin by tapping the rear of his car, slightly damaging the bodywork. A few laps later, as Agustin was side by side with Euler in the back straight, trying to recover the position, he locked up the rear under braking for the last chicane and made contact with the German. While the contact was very light and did not cause major damage for either car, the problem came moments later, as the incident caused Agustin to be just a passenger in his car as he approached the last chicane, taking off over the very high kerb. While he was able to continue, he did so with a massively damaged car. With the damage heavily compromising his pace, he was not able to challenge for points, finishing the race in 13th position.

Patrick De Wit (11th): "I knew Qualfying would not be so good, but 16th was not what I had in mind. The start was quite OK, Dominguez lost his front wing somehow, so I needed to be careful. I was gaining some spots, specially on the back straight due to our top speed. In the end, 11th was the maximum for me today, as I yet don't fully understand the cars this year. The difference was just too big, not only in Qualifying, in race the gap was even bigger. Today we couldn't even fight for a single point so I am very disappointed, we need to improve."

Agustin Canapino (13th): "I don't have much to say, bad race for me. I need to work hard on the race setup."

World Series

After setting the 12th and 18th fastest times in the Pre-Qualifying and Qualifying sessions respectively, Giuseppe Marconi had an extremely disappointing race. Having to pit for a new front wing and continuing with a damaged suspension after being hit by Sekowski in the opening lap, Giuseppe's race started in a difficult way. Giuseppe was recovering well, however, and with several retirements, taking some good points home was still a realistic chance, until Roberts hit him, ending Giuseppe's race on lap 29.

World Trophy

Martin Gosbee had a very strong Qualifying, posting the 6th fastest time, with his team-mates Ralf Gauss and Heinz Vanderhoydonck in 16th and 18th respectively.

Martin drove an excellent race, never dropping outside the top-5 during the race. While minor contact with a backmarker caused a longer than usual pitstop, which cost him the chances for a podium finish, he was the protagonist of a race-long battle with the Roaldo Racing drivers, specially Philips, with whom he battled from the first to the final lap. After winning the position, Martin defended brilliantly, making great use of his high top speed to keep the position and take a very solid 4th place, his best result of the season so far.

Heinz also took his best result of the season. While having to pit for a new front wing following a spin cost him a few positions, he recovered very well, overtaking Kunkel after a long battle to finish in 10th place. Ralf, unfortunately, had a very short race. After being hit and recieving damage in the first corner, Ralf was the victim of Vicentijevic, who lost his front wing and first, forced Ralf to go off track to avoid an incident, and later heavily crashed into Ralf's sidepod in the hairpin, ending his race prematurely.

Faster Than Speed will be now moving to the Valencia Street Circuit, home of the European GP, where Florian Pechon took victory for FTS in WS Advanced's first race at the venue in 2008. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Valencia, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

The FSR World Championship's Turkish GP ended with a disappointing result for Faster Than Speed as the team failed to score a Top-10 point-scoring result for the first time this season. However, Santiago Niza suprized many with his promising WC debut drive, while Patrick De Wit finished in 13th place. In the World Trophy, Martin Gosbee scored solid points for 8th place, while Giuseppe Marconi also took points in the World Series.

AutoGP World Championship

In the Qualifying session, Patrick De Wit set the 12th fastest time, 4 tenths of a second off Marques' pole time. With Agustin Canapino unable to participate at the Otodrom, Twister-Racing's Spaniard, Santiago Niza, made his WC debut onboard the FTS-P10. He delivered a good lap which placed him 18th on the grid.

While Santiago enjoyed a good start, Patrick lost ground stuck behind the Ash Racing cars, inverting the FTS team-mate order. After overtaking several cars in the Turns 12-14 complex at the end of the opening lap, Patrick took the fight to Santiago, with both FTS cars battling closely for a few corners, before Patrick made the move on the inside of Turn 3. Throughout the first stint, both drivers fought hard against their competitors.

However, after a long pitstop, Patrick lost several positions and, further compromised by pain from a back injury, he was never again able to return to the point-scoring positions. A late unplanned pitstop due to grip issues did not help matters either, with Patrick finishing outside the points in 13th place, despite a late fastest lap with fresher tyres.

Santiago, meanwhile, always stayed close to the points, showing very strong pace and consistency. Towards the end of the race, he defended P11 impressively from Hahnel, keeping his cool like a veteran despite being only in his first WC race. Unfortunately, a spin while battling, caused him to get stuck in the gravel trap off the racing line, ending his race with 4 laps remaining, but he was still classified in 16th place.

Patrick De Wit (13th): "A solid Qualifying attempt, 12th. I and the team need to keep working and improving on race pace though, since the cars that started from the pitlane got the jump on us today. I am not happy but it must also been said that I wasn't in perfect conditions today. See you in Montreal!"

Santiago Niza (16th): "First of all, I want to say thanks to Christian (Smirnoff) and Phil (Estrada), they both made my first race in WC possible. The targets for this first race with FTS was only to try finishing and have fun, a pity that one of these points was not possible. In Qualifying, I was in 18th place, with a very good lap, for me at least, being 0.7s slower than the poleman.

I was lucky in the first two laps of the race, thanks to other driver's incidents, I found myself in P11 by lap 2. I was on the middle of a slow car group, where we drove poor 1.32s for a few laps. Then I decided to go for a safe strategy, avoiding risks, letting two cars through, falling to P13 and staying just behind this group and betting for an early pit stop. The strategy worked very well and I improved some positions, driving some laps in P10. Later I was caught by Prevot and Hahnel, who were both about half a second faster than me, and I had some good fights with both, but finally a mistake on the last corner cost me the race, after I spun I was stuck in the gravel losing 35 seconds. I rejoined the track with a damaged car and already lapped, I drove one more lap, but the car was undrivable, finished race 4 laps early. A good race, with good feelings, but with a poor result."

World Series

Giuseppe Marconi set the 15th fastest time in the Pre-Qualifying session, later improving his own lap a few tenths to take 17th on the grid in Qualifying. Unfortunately, after a solid race, Giuseppe suffered an engine failure while running 14th. With only six laps remaining, however, Giuseppe just managed to complete 90% of the distance, taking points home for a 17th place finish.

World Trophy

Martin Gosbee and Ralf Gauss set the 10th and 17th quickest times respectively in the Qualifying session.

Martin drove a very solid race, climbing up to 8th before being slightly hit by Uysal. Luckily, despite some small rear damage and a couple of lost positions, Martin held the slide and was able to continue without major issues. After a hard battle with Kaloyanov, Martin was on his way to 7th. With two laps left, however, the team had to tune his engine down as it was right at its limit, which allowed Aalberts to pass. Martin still took some solid points for his 8th place finish.

Ralf, meanwhile, was also driving a good race until being hit from the side by Kammann, sending Ralf's FTS-P10 to the barriers. After pitting for a new front wing, Ralf rejoined the race and tried to start recovering the lost ground, until he lost control of his damaged car, unfortunately ending his race prematurely.

Faster Than Speed will be participating this weekend in the Canadian GP. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is host of good memories for the team, as Florian Pechon won the WS Advanced race in 2008, while the team achieved double 1-2 finishes in WS Ace and Amateur in 2005. At Montreal, Patrick De Wit also took the team's maiden WC Pole Position in 2007. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Canada, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Despite adding two further points to Faster Than Speed's tally in the World Championship, Patrick De Wit's Monaco GP was more bitter than sweet, after Mikkonen sent him to the barriers while on his way to 5th place. After pitting for repairs, Patrick salvaged 9th at Monte Carlo. In the World Trophy, meanwhile, Ralf Gauss brought the car home for points in another difficult race.

AutoGP World Championship

While not as evenly-matched as in previous races, Monaco Qualifying also proved to be exciting. Patrick De Wit wasn't satisfied with the lap that put him 8th on the grid, as his car didn't behave as expected and his laptime was far from the testing times as a consequence. Team-mate Agustin Canapino struggled during the week, but drove a good lap, which unfortunately only left him 16th.

Despite Patrick recieving some bodywork damage on the opening lap, the start was relatively clean for both drivers, with Patrick and Agustin moving up to 7th and 12th respectively. While Agustin had to defend from Casalins, Patrick attacked Mikkonen, pulling off an spectacular move on the inside of the Rascasse on lap 11 to overtake the Finn.

While Agustin went with a conventional 2-stopper, Patrick did only one scheduled pitstop. The strategy paid off, as Patrick moved up to 5th after the second round of stops. With much fresher tyres, Mikkonen started attacking him, but Patrick made no errors, and in such a tight circuit, was keeping Mikkonen at bay. Unfortunately, being held up by Patrick's FTS-P10, the Precision Motorsports' driver decided to go through at all costs.

On lap 60, Mikkonen tried an impossible move into Mirabeau, hitting Patrick's sidepod and causing him to make contact with the barriers. While Patrick's car was damaged, he was able to continue and repass Mikkonen, who did not return the unfairly won position. Six laps later, Mikkonen seemed to run out of patience as he crashed into the back of Patrick's car in Massenet. The impact again sent Patrick into the barriers, this time detaching his front wing and obliging him to pit for repairs, dropping him to 8th position. Unable to fend Tali off with a damaged suspension, Patrick lost a position before crossing the line in 9th place, scoring two points which are a small consolation after being robbed of his hopes for a P5 finish.

Agustin, meanwhile, had a difficult race, but was still in the hunt for points despite struggling for car balance and pace. On lap 55, however, his race ended after clipping Anthony Noghes' inner barrier. The contact spun his car around and caused him to hit the opposite barrier, causing terminal suspension damage.

Patrick De Wit (9th): "What can I say, again a bad Qualifying on my behalf, I was 8th again. The race start was pretty good, was able to overtake Nilsson into Turn 1, although later I got touched by a car into the Grand Hotel Hairpin (Lowe's Hairpin). I was having an awesome race, with a great overtaking move on Mikkonen and later also on Marques into Rascasse. I did not know Marques was pitting but I guess it looked cool!

Trying to fend off Precision (Motorsports) cars they hit me like six times, also Tali pushed me into the guardrails, not on purpose but still, it wasn't necessary. After my stop I was 5th and then 15 laps from the end or so, I know Mikkonen is a clean racer but what he did was not OK, ruining my race in which I was lying 5th and happy with it. Mikkonen just pushed me into the wall, losing my front wing and the so important 5th place. That's all I can say, only 9th, but I kept my car out of the wall on my own behalf, if not for what other drivers did."

Agustin Canapino (DNF): "Didn't have much practice time. Unfortunately I had a horrible race."

World Series

With no Grid 2 race scheduled, Giuseppe Marconi unfortunately had to watch the action from the sidelines after Pre-Qualifying in 18th place. The Italian will be looking forward to make progress during the 3-week break before the following race at Istanbul.

World Trophy

Martin Gosbee, a young British driver who has already shown some very solid performances, made his FTS debut in Monte Carlo, with a place in Grid 1 secured due to his top-ten position in the championship. Heinz Vanderhoydonck and Ralf Gauss, meanwhile, also secured Grid 1 spots after setting the 9th and 13th fastest times in the Pre-Qualifying session. In Qualifying, Martin, Heinz and Ralf secured 10th, 16th and 20th on the grid respectively.

Ralf had a very difficult start to the race, colliding with a spinning car and having to pit for very long repairs on lap 2. With a damaged car, the Monaco race proved a test of endurance for Ralf, who nursed the car home to score points for 14th place. Heinz also had a tough start, as he had to pit for repairs at the end of the opening lap. However, he was running strongly afterwards, until an error with engine cooling cost Heinz the chance to score, having to retire with an early engine failure.

Martin, meanwhile, had a very competitive first outing on the FTS-P10, running firmly in 7th before being nudged into the barriers. After pitting for a new front wing, Martin recovered and still had a top-ten finish in sight, before he suffered an unfortunate incident with a backmarker which caused his retirement.

Faster Than Speed will be now looking forward to the Turkish GP after the 3-week gap. The Istanbul Park is a circuit of fantastic memories for FTS, as Patrick De Wit took the team's maiden and only World Championship victory at the venue in 2007. A year earlier, Faisal Niazi won the WS Pro race while in the WS Ace division, Christian Smirnoff and Gabriel Garivaldis achieved a 1-2 finish at the Otodrom. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Turkey, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Patrick De Wit salvaged 6th place for Faster Than Speed with a great recovery drive in the World Championship's race at Catalunya, after a spin which left him at the rear of the field on lap 2. Ralf Gauss, meanwhile, brought the car home for World Trophy points despite enduring a difficult race.

AutoGP World Championship

In yet another incredibly close Qualifying session, where 17 cars lapped in less than half a second, Patrick De Wit was not satisfied with the lap that left him 8th on the grid, despite being less than 3 tenths off the pace of poleman Malezic. The team's third driver, Giuseppe Marconi, replaced Agustin Canapino, who won Top Race V6's 'historic race' at La Plata last Sunday. The Italian qualified 21st.

While Patrick lost a few positions in the first lap, both drivers had clean starts. It suddenly went all wrong for Patrick on lap 2, however, as he locked his brakes and spun while trying to overtake Nilsson, dropping him to 19th place. With plenty of work ahead, Patrick inmeadiately started trying to recover the lost ground, passing Giuseppe, Dominguez and Euler before being the first man to pit on lap 15.

Both his pitstops were perfectly timed, as he gained several places through his strategy. At the end of the first round of stops, though, Patrick had a big scare, as Nilsson didn't see him as he went out of the pits and pushed Patrick onto the grass. He pulled off a great save to stay in control of his FTS-P10. In his very long last stint, Patrick managed the tyres as much as possible and benefited from the retirement of Hahnel and Poniatowski to finish in 6th place. While a better result was expected and deserved, it was an impressive climb through the field considering he was down in 21st position after his first stop.

Team-mate Giuseppe, meanwhile, did a good job on his low-key race, which he finished in 18th place.

Patrick De Wit (6th): "What can I say, pace looked great before the race, but when Qualifying started I couldn't match my form and was only 8th. Anyway, was being very careful in the race start when I got hit from behind and had some damage. Then I tried to gain places, but lost my rear and touched Nilsson, I apologize. Anyway, he got his payback pushing me onto the grass later, hehe. After my spin on lap 2 I was almost dead last and scoring points wasn't in my mind at that point, but my pitstops were perfect and I leapfrogged many drivers, plus I was lucky that some people had failures, so 6th in the end after all that happened, I'm still happy!"

Giuseppe Marconi (18th): "Thanks Christian. It was fun, even if I was off my own and World Championship's pace."

World Series

Unable to allocate for the race on time due to technical issues, Giuseppe Marconi was not allowed to post a time in Pre-Qualifying, only leaving him with the chance of starting at the back of the Grid 2 race. The race start wasn't any better, as he had to pit for a new front wing and bodywork repairs after colliding with a car that spun ahead of him. Giuseppe tried to make progress. However, stuck behind another car for many laps, the engine couldn't handle the ammount of slipstream and decided to let go with 6 laps remaining.

World Trophy

Ralf Gauss and Heinz Vanderhoydonck set the 11th and 23rd fastest times in the Pre-Qualifying session, the former securing a Grid 1 spot. Heinz started the Grid 2 race from 10th place, while Ralf was 20th on the Grid 1 Qualifying session.

Ralf endured a difficult start, as he made contact with the barriers in a first lap mistake and had to pit for a new front wing. From 25th place, Ralf had a mountain to climb, but brought the car home to score points in a solid drive to 15th position.

Team-mate Heinz was having a very good race in Grid 2, where he climbed up to 4th, before a heavy colission with Johnston ended with any hopes of a strong result. As the team needed a pitstop of almost a minute and a half to get Heinz back in the race, the engine overheated and left him out of the race the following lap.

Faster Than Speed will be now looking forward to this evenings's Monaco GP, the always glamourous event around the tight streets of Monte Carlo. In the Principality, Patrick De Wit took his first FTS podium in 2007 while the team was the winner of all WS Advanced Monaco races, with Florian Pechon and Jorge Maenen victorious in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Monaco, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Patrick De Wit drove a great race to 4th place in the AutoGP FSR World Championship Chinese event at Shanghai, despite rueing a small spin which cost him a spot in the podium. It was Faster Than Speed's fourth point-scoring finish in as many races this season. Team-mate Agustin Canapino was also in line for a very strong result before drama in the closing laps dropped him outside the points.

AutoGP World Championship

In an incredibly close Qualifying session, Patrick De Wit drove a solid lap, which was just over a tenth and a half slower than the one set by poleman Malezic. With all drivers so evenly-matched, such a good laptime was only good enough for 7th on the grid. Team-mate Agustin Canapino, meanwhile, was 4 tenths down in 14th place.

Both FTS drivers had a good and clean start off the grid, moving up to 4th and 5th by the end of lap 5. On lap 6, Patrick inmediately capitalized on a small error by Greco to move up to 3rd, while Agustin also seized the opportunity and passed the Italian with a brave and spectacular move. Clearly showing no team orders are in play between the FTS drivers, both Patrick and Agustin battled hard for 3rd position, with Agustin passing his team-mate in the harpin only to be repassed after several attempts a few laps later. It was a hard but very fair battle which caught all the attention in the live broadcast while giving goosebumps to all FTS fans!

After Patrick pitted, he had to defend from Poniatowski's attack. As the German tried a move into the harpin, he left no room for Patrick, who didn't back off and ended up spinning his car over the high kerb. While he recovered very quickly, he lost three positions which eventually cost him the last podium position. However, he drove faultlessly until the end, recovering the lost position to Disley with a great overtaking move on the outside line. Patrick finished the race in a great 4th place, his best result of the season so far.

Agustin, meanwhile, surprized everyone with a one-stopper strategy, leading his first ever WC laps after the leaders stopped for fresh tyres. While his second set of tyres severely deteriorated towards the end of the race, causing him to be attacked by cars with fresher tyres, he showed an unbelievable fighting spirit to fairly defend his position. However, all went wrong in the closing laps, as Hahnel clipped the back of his car in an unfortunate incident in the last corner, damaging Agustin's rear suspension, compromising his car balance more than it already was. Further drama came from a desperate attack from Huis, which unfortunately didn't combine well with Agustin's defence, the battle ending in an accident which cost Agustin several positions and left Huis out of the race. And to completely end any hopes of a strong result, Agustin's front left tyre said enough in the final lap, the puncture dropping him outside the points in 11th place.

While slightly disappointed to miss out on what could have been an historic 3rd-4th result, without Patrick's spin and with Agustin on a better strategy, the team takes plenty of positives from Shanghai as it once again showed the pace to battle at the very top, and has scored very valuable points.

Patrick De Wit (4th): "I'm really pleased with the result. Qualifying was so close I just couldn't believe it! I did good sectors, specially sector 1, but I did not hook up a good lap together even if I still set an 1:33.8 which placed me 7th on the grid. I hoped to be a bit higher up the field, but being 0.177s from the pole position time and still only 7th shows how close this field is.

The start was OK, had to be a bit careful, then I started to settle into the race. Since I was lacking topspeed again, passing and defending was really difficult. Had some great battles again, specially with my team-mate Canapino. They were great fights which I think had Christian (Smirnoff, Team Manager) on its nerves! I also had fun battles with Poniatowski, Tali, Greco, Disley and Hähnel. Tali and Hähnel were simply too fast, I tried my best to fend off Hähnel, but could only do it for a couple of laps. The 3-way battle 5 laps from the end was fun, going into the last corner my team-mate ran wide, somehow Hähnel touched him and lost his front wing and I had to go sideways into the last turn, sliding past Hähnel, nearly losing the car. Now I know how my team boss must have felt when he watched all this!

I also had a great fight with Poniatowski, I could fend him off for a long time but when he got a run on me into the slow hairpin I defended and there was simply no more room. Touching the high kerbs spun the car, losing a potential podium. Anyway, I'm still very pleased with 4th! See you all in Spain, go FTS!"

Agustin Canapino (11th): "It was all coming very well, I was in P4 until we had a colission with Greco in T1. After Hahnel hit me in the last turn, my car was never again as before. Despite that, I stayed in P7 until lap 54 when my front left tyre broke, finishing my race.

About the incident with Bono, it happened when Huis tried to keep the outside line, leaving me all the space on the inside, nobody backed off and we touched. When that happened, I lost control of my car. Wheel banging spun his car, which was a shame, but a race incident. It's a shame because I could have finished in the top 5, but it's racing. Thanks to everyone at Faster Than Speed!"

World Series

With no Grid 2 race scheduled due to the low number of driver allocations, Giuseppe Marconi was unlucky to miss out in Pre-Qualifying, where he set the 15th fastest time, leaving him with no chance to take part in the GP.

World Trophy

Ralf Gauss was 6th quickest in the Pre-Qualifying session, securing a spot in the Grid 1 race. Team-mate Heinz Vanderhoydonck had his secured from his result in the previous race at Sepang. In Qualifying, Ralf and Heinz secured 16th and 18th on the grid respectively.

Heinz drove a very strong race, showing good pace and making steady progress. However, he suffered an engine overheating problem during his pitstop which unfortunately caused his retirement. Ralf, meanwhile, lost positions after first corner contact. Things became worse after he had to pit for a new front wing following a missunderstanding with a backmarker who blocked him. After his pitstop, Ralf was making progress through the field, when an engine failure ended his day. The team will be working on correcting the reliability issues for the following race in Barcelona.

Faster Than Speed will be now looking forward to next weekend's Spanish GP, at the Circuit de Catalunya, to kick off FSR's european season! Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Spain, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Faster Than Speed achieved its third AutoGP FSR World Championship point-scoring finish in as many races as Swedish driver Joakim Bengtsson, who replaced Agustin Canapino, scored the last point after starting from the back in Sepang. Giuseppe Marconi scored World Series points despite a late engine failure while Ralf Gauss and Heinz Vanderhoydonck both scored in the World Trophy division.

AutoGP World Championship

With Agustin Canapino unavailable due to real racing commitments, Twister-Racing's Joakim Bengtsson jumped into the FTS-P10 at Sepang. Due to the replacement being arranged on short notice, Joakim was unable to allocate on time, which meant he had to start from the back of the grid, in 18th position. Patrick De Wit, meanwhile, drove a solid lap, qualifying 10th despite driving just 4 tenths of a second slower than poleman Malezic.

Joakim drove a very strong race, overtaking several drivers and giving everyone a lesson on tyre management and smooth driving, as he was the only point-scorer to make his soft tyres work with a 1-stop strategy, which allowed him to climb up to 9th position. While unable to fend off a late attack from Poniatowski on much fresher tyres, Joakim took the last point in 10th position, making it 3 out of 3 races in the points over FTS cars, after taking the FTS-P6 to the points in the WC German and Brazilian GPs in 2006. We would like to thank Twister-Racing for allowing Joakim to take part in this race wearing FTS colours.

Patrick, meanwhile, had a disappointing race. Despite initially taking the battle and making a brave move on Puumalainen, Patrick lost pace and positions as his tyres degraded. Despite the grip issues, Patrick gave a spectacular show together with Werdmuller, as the pair passed each other over 10 times in 5 laps. A switch to hard tyres did not improve things, in a race Patrick finished outside the points in 15th position. He did however, set the fastest lap of the race after a late pitstop, but it was little consolation for the Dutch driver. The team will be looking into optimizing its tyre wear setup for the following race in Shanghai.

Joakim Bengtsson (10th): "Driving on loan to FTS this weekend. Due to the late notice I could only allocate after the allowed time and had to start from the back of the grid.
First lap was quite smooth, managed to overtake a few cars, the ones that had problems off the line and one who ran wide in T1. In the first laps I could follow people quite easily. Blair (Disley) was a problem because his top speed was very high but once he managed to pass a guy, I followed. The he pitted for a 2-stop way before I did for my one-stopper and that was the end of it.

Tyres held up very well, to be honest. I was just managing them and driving cleanly and within my limits. I pitted on lap 28 and got back out to drive a long final stint. I was overtaken by a few guys with much fresher tyres, nothing to do about that but in the end I think going for 1-stop was the right call from where I started the race. Last point for P10 and I maintained 100% scoring rate as a WC-substitute for Faster Than Speed!"

Patrick De Wit (15th): "This was really a hard race for me. Every year when we arrive at Sepang I know beforehand that I won't have a great pace here, and this year was no exception. Started 10th which was the maximum for me today. And in race, it only got worse, my car was sliding over its front tyres and my rear and was overtaking me when braking into the hairpins and slow chicanes. That was it for me today, P15. Had some great battles again, it was clean and hard racing! See you in China!"

World Series

With a Grid 1 spot secured after his Australian GP result, Giuseppe Marconi qualified in 22nd place. Team-mate Dani Falco was unable to set a time in Pre-Qualifying and later take part in the race due to technical issues.

In the race, Giuseppe was one of the victims of the chaotic start, and had to pit for a new front wing on the opening lap. While the incident obviously compromised his race, an engine failure ended it. However, he was lucky to have completed over 90% of the distance, which meant Giuseppe was classified and in the points in 17th place.

World Trophy

Ralf Gauss set the 10th fastest time in Pre-Qualifying, securing a spot on Grid 1. Team-mate Heinz Vanderhoydonck suffered technical problems which didn't allow him to set a laptime, which meant Grid 2 was his only chance of taking part in the GP. In Grid 1 Qualifying, Ralf secured 20th on the grid.

After avoiding the first lap incidents, Ralf drove a solid race. Towards the end, he battled hard for 12th with Pesari. While a backmarker cost Ralf the position after he had already overtaken, he made a last attempt in the final lap, but it wasn't possible to make it stick. Ralf finished in 13th place, scoring valuable points. Heinz, meanwhile, led the Grid 2 for many laps, before his throttle pedal started getting stuck, complicating his race. Despite needing an extra pitstop to replace his nose cone, Heinz took the car home in 2nd position, securing a Grid 1 spot for the next round in China.

Faster Than Speed will be now looking forward to next weekend's Chinese GP, at the Shanghai International Circuit, where FTS celebrated Florian Pechon's 2008 WS Advanced title. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from China, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Agustin Canapino surprized many as he finished the AutoGP FSR World Championship race at Melbourne in 6th place, after a fantastic Qualifying in which he was 4th fastest, less than a tenth from the poleman. Giuseppe Marconi took his first World Series points of the season, while the team suffered a very disappointing day in the World Trophy division.

AutoGP World Championship

In Qualifying, Faster Than Speed clearly showed that its ready to take the fight to the very top as the team qualified both cars in the top 8. Agustin Canapino drove a superb lap, which was just 0.096s slower than the one from poleman Bono Huis, to secure 4th on the grid. Team-mate Patrick De Wit meanwhile, was also very competitive on his way to 8th on the grid.

Agustin's great start to 2nd off the line caught everyone by surprize, including front row man and eventual winner Malezic, who did not see Agustin's FTS-P10 and made contact with him as he turned in. Luckily, both could continue without damage. However, Agustin started to struggle with a race setup that did not work as expected from testing, and was inmediately chased down by Malezic, Hahnel and Marques. While Agustin defended himself very well, he eventually lost position to the leaders, who made good use of their higher top speeds.

Despite the setup difficulties, Agustin drove a very solid and consistant race, to take his best WC result to date in 6th place, scoring his first points of the season. Patrick, unfortunately, had a very short race, as he was pushed wide into the runoff area on turn 4, and his car took off over the anticut strips, rolling over into retirement on the opening lap. It was a huge disappointment for Patrick, as the team's data reflect Patrick had the pace for a very strong result.

Agustin Canapino (6th): "I had an excellent Qualifying session, I finished 4th just 0.095s off the poleman. It's a great result for me and the expectations for the race were very good. I had an excellent start, getting 2nd position. I arrived to Turn 1 together with Malezic and braked perfectly but he took the curve as if he was alone and hit me. Luckily I did not lose control and the car was not broken.

The setup was not good for the race, and the wings were very high in comparisson with other drivers. My laptimes were not fast and I lost many positions. Luckily I didn't make any mistakes and finished the race in a good 6th position. Thanks to Christian and Patrick for their help and everyone at Faster Than Speed! See you in Shanghai, as in Sepang I won't be able to participate because I'm racing for real and it's impossible to do Sim-Racing from where I'm staying."

World Series

Giuseppe Marconi was unlucky to miss out on a Grid 1 spot in Pre-Qualifying, as he was unable to put a good lap together, and set the 15th fastest time. He started the Grid 2 race from 2nd position.

Giuseppe had a much better weekend than in Bahrain, although he struggled with his setup balance and tyre wear, he made it home in 3rd place, scoring his first points of 2010 and securing a Grid 1 spot for the following round at Sepang.

World Trophy

Juan Nicola, who made his return to FTS in Melbourne was 11th fastest in Pre-Qualifying, securing a spot in Grid 1, together with Heinz Vanderhoydonck, who had his guaranteed from his Bahrain result. Ralf Gauss and Tom Aalders were 18th and 24th fastest, leaving them in Grid 2 for this race. In Grid 1 Qualifying, Juan and Heinz secured 22nd and 24th on the grid respectively, while Ralf started his Grid 2 race from 6th. Tom had to withdraw from the race.

In the Grid 1 race, Juan drove solidly despite his limited testing and was looking set for a top-ten result until Quirantes crashed him from behind, ending his race there and then. Heinz didn't have better luck either, as he was hit, damaging his car. He pitted hoping it could be repaired, however, the suspension issues made the car handling impossible and Heinz spun off and had to retire. Ralf's Grid 2 race was even more frustrating, as he retired on the grid after colliding with a stranded car.

Faster Than Speed is now preparing for the third round of the season in Sepang, upbeat about the performance shown in Melbourne. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Malaysia, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Patrick De Wit scored Faster Than Speed's first AutoGP World Championship points of the year after finishing 8th in the season opener at Sakhir, Bahrain. Making his FTS debut, Ralf Gauss scored the first points of the team's 10th FSR season in the new World Trophy division, while Heinz Vanderhoydonck also added to the tally in the same division.

AutoGP World Championship

In Qualifying, both Agustin Canapino and Patrick De Wit were evenly matched, with the Argentinian ahead by only 0.032s. They qualified in 10th and 12th positions respectively.

Unfortunately, due to connection issues, the team took the decision to retire Agustin from the race on lap 3, leaving Patrick with the task of scoring points for the team. In the first part of the race, Patrick was one of the protagonists of a fantastic and very clean battle between him and both SB Motorsports cars, specially Mikko Puumalainen. After a very solid and controlled race, Patrick finished in 8th place, scoring 4 championship points, under the new point-scoring system. While satisfied with the result, FTS will be looking forward to close the gap to the leaders for the following race in Melbourne.

World Series

Giuseppe Marconi was the team's sole runner in the World Series division. Giuseppe started the Grid 1 race from 24th position after just making the top-26 cut in Pre-Qualifying, where he set the 26th fastest time.

The Italian unfortunately endured a really tough race, having to pit for a new front wing on the opening lap following first-turn contact. Things went from bad to worse for Giuseppe, when he had to enter the pits again for stop-and-go penalty for speeding in the pitlane. A last attempt to recover the lost ground with a long stint on hard tyres did not result well either, as the car didn't perform as expected with that tyre compound. An unlucky incident ended Giuseppe's race on lap 24.

World Trophy

FTS debutant Ralf Gauss was the fastest team driver in Pre-Qualifying, earning a place in the Grid 1 race with the 21st time. He later secured 16th on the grid in the Qualifying session. Tom Aalders and Heinz Vanderhoydonck, meanwhile, started from 2nd and 5th respectively in the Grid 2 race.

Ralf endured a difficult race, as he was the unfortunate victim of a collission between De Juan and Gosbee on lap 2. Ralf was unable to avoid Gosbee's car and damaged his front wing. The bodywork damage also caused Ralf's car to lose aproximately 10kph of top speed. While disappointed with the end result, as much more was possible, Ralf was successful in nursing the car home in 18th position, scoring some valuable points.

Both Heinz and Tom drove solid races in Grid 2. Heinz had to pit for a new front wing after leading for a short while, but recovered very well to finish 3rd and secure a spot in Grid 1 for Melbourne. Tom was also achieving the same target, in P4, until a technical problem left him out of the race and with no points.

Faster Than Speed will be now working hard to have a good showing in Melbourne, where the team reached the WC podium in both 2008 and 2009, with Sergio Casalins and Patrick De Wit respectively. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the lastest news from Australia, and stay tuned for the race's Live Broadcasts here!

Faster Than Speed is very proud to present its 2010 Formula SimRacing launch, celebrating the team's 10th FSR campaign! FTS wishes to unveil the new FTS-P10 challenger, while revealing the driver lineups for the season! On March 4th, 2001, FTS was one of the teams taking part in the inaugural FSR WC race, the only one still active today. Today, FTS is ready to start its 10th season, with the same spirit as the first day!

The Launch Video!

We are very happy to present our spectacular launch videoclip of the FTS-P10, prepared by Gabriel Montanes and Christian Smirnoff. The video also goes through Faster Than Speed's history from the early GP3 days to the present. Please don't miss it!
You can watch the video here:

The FTS-P10!

The FTS-P10, our latest panther beast, designed by Christian Smirnoff based on Ernesto De Angelis' amazing work, features the usual striking agressive FTS look, continuing the tradition of presenting one of the most spectacular designs of the Formula SimRacing field.

Exclusive shots of our FTS-P10 contender can be found here.

Driver Lineups

Faster Than Speed has the pleasure of announcing that Agustin Canapino will drive its #11 World Championship car. The young driver from Arrecifes, Argentina, made his WC debut with FTS last year. Agustin will be carrying the same number that he has on his real Turismo Carretera racing car, in the highest racing division in Argentina. In 2009, the Argentinian press chose him as 'revelation of the year' as he entered the championship-deciding Copa de Oro (Golden Cup) in his rookie season.

While Agustin is doing great in both Turismo Carretera and Top Race V6, he started his career in simracing, rather than karting. After convincing his dad, one of the most famous chassists in the country, of trying a real car against his wish, nobody could ever stop him again. Despite his success on the real tracks, he had the dream of being an FSR WC driver since his simracing days, and FTS is glad to give him that chance!

His team mate will be Patrick De Wit, who signs for his third season with the team. Despite a difficult 2009, Patrick is ready to close that chapter and look forward to a competitive season, showing what he can do and why not, return to the top step, adding to the team's maiden WC victory he achieved in the 2007 Turkish GP.

Agustin Canapino (#11): "I'm really confident about having a great season, where the objective will be trying to fight for a spot among the best drivers in FSR. There's a great team behind and an excellent team mate, from whom I'm sure I'll learn a lot. The desire and commitment are there, I'm going to do my best on track to be competitive like FTS deserves, while trying to improve and learn race after race."

Patrick De Wit (#12): "First of all, I want to thank Christian Smirnoff for this great opportunity. This will be my third season with the team, after driving for FTS in 2007 and 2009. I feel very relaxed in this team, it's the most friendly atmosphere I've ever been in. I am really proud to be a member of this team.
I hope I can give some good results back! I will never forget my and the team's first WC victory. It was really deserved after the team's hard work.

My expectations for 2010 are a little tempered after 2009, because I always struggled with the 2009 car, nothing I changed on it worked. But in pre-season testing this year, the feeling is much better. I'm sure the frontrunners will still be frontrunners, but I hope to have closed the gap a little. I will try to be a regular points scorer and hopefully return to the podium. Last year, in Melbourne I finished 2nd starting from 13th, so anything is possible."

Giuseppe Marconi, in his fourth season in FTS, will be the team's official third driver, ready to substitute Agustin or Patrick if necessary. He will be also racing in the World Series division. Giuseppe's experience and hard work will be as usual of the team's biggest assets. Next to him in WS will be Dani Falco, who makes his return to the team and FSR.

Giuseppe Marconi (#52): "2010 will be my 9th season in FSR. I'll be racing in WS, where I won my only title in the Ace division in 2003. I'm confident that I can do well in this category and I'll be ready for WC every time we need to substitute our regular drivers. I want to wish a good season to all my team mates, specially to Patrick and Agustin in his first WC season. Thanks to Christian for his effort."

In the new World Trophy division, FTS will feature Heinz Vanderhoydonck, Sven Hesse and Tom Aalders, plus Ralf Gauss, from Germany, who will be making FTS debut.

Christian Smirnoff (Team Manager): "The team launch is a big moment for the team, and this year, starting our 10th FSR campaign makes it even more special. I'm proud of the driver lineup we have. Agustin, not only is a great driver both in real and sim cars, but he also has more passion for simracing than many who will never sit on a real racing car in their lives. He worked really hard to have this chance and I'm sure he will make the best of it. And I fully trust that Patrick will be able to leave difficulties of the past behind and show what I know he is capable of. And we also have a strong lineup in WS and WT.
Everyone in the team is working together to have a great season, and I'm very happy with the team spirit and atmosphere. A big thanks to all FTS drivers for their efforts!"

The Historic Driver's Index

Another surprize to celebrate our 10 years of FSR racing! We now have a new section in our website, where you can find an alphabetical list of drivers that have raced for FTS since the team's beginnings with their statistics! You can check it out here.

Follow us!

Become a fan of Faster Than Speed on Facebook right now! And from today, you can also stay up to date with the team on Twitter! The 2010 season kicks off today in Bahrain, so... ready.... set... GO!