Can Dome beat the Ferraris at Brno?
The FIA Sportscar Championship kicks back into life in the Czech Republic this weekend with another entry of top quality sports prototypes set to do battle around the undulating 3.5-mile track

Many of the FIA teams excelled at Le Mans a fortnight ago, and will be keen to carry on that momentum in this race that marks the halfway point in the championship. So far this year Ferrari have swept the board with BMS Scuderia Italia taking two wins and the unique GLV Brums Ferrari-Judd taking that unforgettable victory at the Monza 1000kms.
But the question on everyone's lips at the moment is: can the Domes of Racing For Holland and Den Bla Avis Goh come to the fore at Brno? They proved to be among the fastest cars at Le Mans, bar the all-conquering Audis.
Jan Lammers' Racing For Holland outfit shook La Sarthe with fourth place on the grid and a sensational early stint that saw the experienced Dutchman briefly take the lead. Jan's young team mate Val Hillebrand certainly thinks that Brno could be the race that the Japanese car challenges for the win: "We're really looking forward to this race. I think from what we did at Le Mans we will fear nobody here, and both Jan and I are really pumped up."
Newbury-based Den Bla Avis Goh also made their mark at Le Mans with the red and white S101-Judd running as high as fifth at one stage. For team principal and driver John Nielsen, Brno will be a race where he will want to banish the memory of Spa, where he and team mate Hiroki Katoh led for so long only for a broken damper to cost them a certain win.
A new high downforce aerodynamic package will be used by the team this weekend and Nielsen is hopeful that the developments will bring his and the cars first win in the championship: "It should make a lot of difference to the car at Brno which is essentially a tight circuit. The package has been tested in the wind tunnel in Japan with positive results so we should be in good shape."
Team Ascari are long overdue their first victory with the sleek A410-Judd, and Brno marks a year since their debut when they actually led, albeit it for a single lap. Werner Lupberger and Ben Collins both emerged as real stars at Le Mans a fortnight ago after lapping faster than Audi luminaries like Johnny Herbert and Dindo Capello at times.
But the Prancing Horse will be out to maintain its 100 percent winning record so far this year, with both BMS Scuderia Italia and GLV Brums looking for another 20 points. Scuderia Italia lead the teams championship by 12 points from GLV Brums whilst in the drivers table Marco Zadra has a 10 point lead.
Two teams that have yet to fulfil their potential are R&M Riley & Scott and the Kremer Racing Lola. Each has impeccable driver line ups with R&M partnering 1994 Le Mans winner Mauro Baldi with ex-Arrows F1 star Alex Caffi. With 92 Grand Prix starts between them, the pair has already struck up a solid partnership in the Judd-powered car. The team will also benefit from having respected engineer Renato Moscati attend his first race with the team this weekend.
Kremer Racing's Sam Hancock and Gary Formato will be hoping for better fortunes in the Lola-Roush after problems have blighted their season. The Cologne-based outfit have won just about every sportscar race there is, but that will be of little consolation to Sam and Gary at the moment as they strive to get their first results of the season.
The supporting SR2 class has all the ingredients for another close and exciting scrap with at least five cars in with a realistic shot of taking the class win at Brno, so it's all to play for here.

Australian ALMS race finally canned
FIA Sportscars, Brno: Free practice 1

Latest news
Laser Tools Racing continues in BTCC with Hill
The Laser Tools Racing name that was carried to British Touring Car Championship titles in 2020 and 2021 will continue in the series after all with Jake Hill.
McLaren to share F1 reserve driver Schumacher with Mercedes
Mercedes Formula 1 reserve driver Mick Schumacher will be also made available as a stand-in to McLaren, the Woking team has announced.
NASCAR Next Gen car gets safety upgrades for 2023 season
NASCAR unveiled some changes to the Next Gen car for the 2023 season, with most enhancing its safety aspects.
O’Ward optimistic about Rossi and that McLaren IndyCar DNFs can be reduced
Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward says he’s confident that Alexander Rossi will be a strong addition to the line-up and that the team has gotten on top of its mechanical woes.
The F1 technology behind Mercedes’ Nordschleife record hypercar
It’s taken over half a decade of development but now the Mercedes-AMG One is here – boasting 1048bhp from a Formula 1-based hybrid powertrain and smashing the Nurburgring Nordschleife lap record for a production car with Maro Engel at the wheel last month. ROBERT HOLMES wonders if it can now claim to be the ultimate hypercar...
How to get the best out of amateur racers
Pro-Am GT racing is booming. But how should drivers approach working with an amateur? Autosport sought out a panel of experts to explain the pitfalls amateur drivers should avoid and how professionals can help them to achieve their goals
The remarkable career of a 'classy' champion who rejected politics
Over two decades as a factory driver with Audi and BMW, Martin Tomczyk earned the respect of team-mates and rivals as a hard but fair racer. After calling time on his racing career, the 2011 DTM champion sat down with Autosport to look back
The ex-IndyCar racer in "uncharted territory" of British GT team ownership
This weekend’s British GT finale will be a tense title showdown for some but, for those not in the championship fight, it’s a chance to end a challenging year on a high. In the latter camp is Paddock Motorsport's team owner Martin Plowman, whose 2021 season has been a rollercoaster ride of non-stop learning
The unpopular BMW stalwart built for the big occasion
It has won most of the big prizes in endurance racing across its six years in service, but the BMW M6 GT3's key weaknesses meant only a devoted few teams persisted with running it. As it prepares to bow out at season's end, the teams and drivers involved in its story share the secrets of an unpopular winner
The unwanted GT car that changed sportscar racing forever
Had FIA GT boss Stephane Ratel had his way, the Maserati MC12 would never have been allowed to set foot in his series. It duly proved the class of the field that most had expected, but the Balance of Performance that its superiority spawned would keep GT1 battles tight and bring long-term benefits that sportscar racing enjoys today
Why Britain's greatest sportscar was eclipsed on the world stage
The E-Type may be the most famous of all road-going Jaguars, but that didn't always translate into success on the track. After winning on its competition debut in 1961, motorsport success seemed an inevitability, but things didn’t turn out to be quite that straightforward
Why the Jaguar E-type remains special at 60
It’s 60 years since the Jaguar E-type arrived and caused a sensation. As our resident racer Ben Anderson discovered when he got behind the wheel of two special racing versions at Brands Hatch, the thrill of driving them hasn't diminished over time
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.