Sospiri injury prevents racing return
Double SportsRacing World Cup champion Vincenzo Sospiri has put his racing comeback on hold after failing a mid-week fitness test in the run-up to the Donington Park round this weekend
The ex-Formula 3000 champion tried out the Den Bla Avis squad's Panoz LMP Roadster S at Snetterton on Wednesday, but found that his injured shoulder was still not ready for the rigours of an endurance race.
"The shoulder is okay for a few laps," said the Italian, "but after that I had to take some painkillers. The doctors had told me it wouldn't be ready for another couple of months."
Sospiri expects to drive the Den Bla Avis car in the series finale at Kyalami at the end of November, but hopes that he could be ready for the previous round of the championship at Magny-Cours.
The driver injured his shoulder late in 1998 and underwent an operation one year later. His only event since undergoing treatment was last season's Kyalami round of the World Cup, during which he drove only a handful of laps.
Sospiri has been replaced alongside John Nielsen by Panoz test driver Klaus Graf. Another late change to the entry is Jean-Philippe Belloc's arrival at the Durango team. The ORECA Viper team regular takes the place of Soheil Ayari in the Italian squad's GMS-Mader.
Previous article
Nielsen confident of Donington SRWC glory
Next article
Pescatori grabs pole in wet qualifying
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
The rise of a GT squad responsible for a unique 24-hour racing feat
It's a significant achievement to win one 24-hour race in a year, let alone two, and with different manufacturers, but that's exactly what ROWE Racing did in 2020 at the Nurburgring and Spa. This weekend's German classic offers the DTM newcomer a chance of another unique double to add to its growing collection of accolades
The new threat facing motorsport's greatest success story
The manufacturers were unconvinced – and even hostile – when Stephane Ratel launched GT3 in 2006. Now, 15 years on from its debut, they’ve sold more than 2000 cars and counting, but its continued expansion puts the increasingly globalised category at risk of losing its roots
The Lamborghini teams plotting to stop a RAM raid on British GT
With the Silver pairings that dominated 2020 now banned, Mercedes pair Yelmer Buurman and Ian Loggie could be in the box seat after winning last year's Pro-Am crown. But a swarm of Lamborghinis, with the defending outright champion among them, will ensure they face tough opposition
How McLaren’s GT3 ‘single-seater’ defies expectations
Time in a thoroughbred racer leaves you searching for time in yourself, especially when the rewards for total commitment are so high, as our man discovered at Snetterton
How Ferrari's F1 protege became a Mercedes GT prodigy
Raffaele Marciello once appeared to be Ferrari’s next Italian F1 star, but is now under the pay of its German arch-rival in GTs – and he’s very happy with his life
Why GTE's future is a conundrum with no easy answers
The convergence between the World Endurance Championship and IMSA over LMDh regulations offers a bright future for sportscar racing, but the imminent demise of IMSA's GT Le Mans class creates wider issues to which no catch-all solution exists
How Tandy joined an exclusive club of endurance legends
Victory at last year's Spa 24 Hours meant Nick Tandy had completed the unofficial sextuple crown of the world's six biggest endurance races, becoming the first Briton to do so. Ahead of his fresh start with Corvette Racing, he explains how he did it
