www.helenaracing.com

Tristan Vautier
(added 09/12/11)
(Star Mazda)
See his page
French Version/Version Française

1. What do you think about your 2011 season ?
My 2011 season was very positive ! I learnt a lot about how to race an entire season not only to win races but to take the crown. I raced for a very experimented team, JDC Motorsport, who won many championships. They helped me a lot and we did all our best every weekend, snatching points when we couldn't be the fastest, and taking pole position and lap record when we could.
When I left Europe to race in Star Mazda last year, I had the goal to win this championship and get the money to go to the upper chanmpionship. It's a nice thing to have done this goal !
Ma saison 2011 a été très positive! Je pense avoir beaucoup appris au niveau de la gestion d’une saison et d’un championnat pour ne pas seulement gagner des courses, mais le titre. J’ai couru pour une équipe très expérimentée, JDC Motorpsorts, qui a gagné plusieurs championnats. Ils m’ont beaucoup apporté à ce niveau, et je pense que nous avons exploité notre potentiel maximum à chaque week-end, en marquant de gros points quand nous manquions de vitesse, et en gagnat avec la pôle et le meilleur tour en course quand nous en étions capables.
Quand j’ai décidé de partir courir aux Etats-Unis en Star Mazda l’an dernier, c’était dans le but de gagner ce championnat et la bourse qui me permettrait de passer à l’échelon supérieur… C’est donc une grande satisfaction d’avoir réalisé cet objectif !

2. What is your goal for your 2012 season in IndyLights ?

For 2012, I would like to win the championship but I know I have a lot of things to learn and it's a big challenge as a Rookie. I'm not focused on this for the moment, but what I have to do to the car for racing the best I can. I think if I'm fast to learn, I will be strong.
Pour 2012, je veux gagner le championnat bien sûr, mais je sais que j’ai beaucoup à apprendre et que c’est un gros challenge en tant que Rookie. Je ne me concentre pas trop là-dessus pour le moment, mais sur ce que j’ai à faire dans la voiture pour obtenir les résultats. Je pense que la vitesse à laquelle je vais apprendre va être déterminante.

3. What is your goal in motorsport ? F1, Indycar ?
My goal is to go as far as I can ! I want to race in IndyCar, the best of American racing, and win the Indy 500 and the championship. But for the moment, I need to focus the IndyLights championship to get a chanvce to race in IndyCar. I don't focus on final objectives for the moment but on the present time and what I have to do to be the best.
Mon but en Sport auto est d'aller aussi que je peux. Je veux courir en IndyCar, le sommet du Sport Auto Américain, et remporter les 500 Miles d'Indianapolis et le Championnat. Mais pour le moment je dois d'abord réaliser le prochain objectif, qui est de gagner l'Indy Lights dans le but d'avoir ma chance en IndyCar. Je ne me concentre jamais trop sur les objectifs finaux mais sur le moment présent et ce que je dois faire pour y arriver. C'est de cette manière que je performe le mieux en général.

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Bruno Junqueira
(added 18/11/11)
(Indycar, ALMS)
See his page

1. What about your 2011 season ?
I like my 2011 season. It was my first year racing sportscars and I enjoyed. ALMS is a great series and very competitive. I also qualify for the Indy 500 and did a few race in Brazil in the end of the year that was great.

2. What do you think about 2012 ?
I working to find a good ride for 2012, I hope to get it done by the end of the year.

3. What is your opinion about about what happened to Daniel Wheldon ?

I was very sad with Dan's accident. He was a great and happy person and feel sorry for his family. I hope Indycar will learn from the accident and don't allowed so many car and "one off drivers" to race on those fast and short ovals.

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Jeroen Bleekemolen
(added 18/11/11)
(Porsche SuperCup, ALMS, Le Mans)
See his page

1. What do you think about your busy 2011 season ?
I have had some great success in 2011. At Le Mans I finished P6 overall and best petrol car in a great race with Rebellion Racing. I have finished on 3rd position in 3 different championships, even if I missed a few races. In the German Porsche Carrera Cup, the ALMS drivers championship in GTC and in the Dutch GT4. We had another strong season in America with Black Swan Racing. The team took the championship and also my teammate Tim Pappas. In German Porsche Cup also we took the team championship with Tolimit. Only in Supercup I didn't have the season I hoped for. But with 19 pole positions, 14 wins and 24 podiums in 42 races I can't complain. Also I had some great runs in the 24 hours of Dubai, Nurburgring and Daytona.

2. What about 2012 ?
I hope it will be another great season. I would like to get involved in the new WEC. Otherwise I can imagine returning to ALMS, Supercup, Carrera Cup, Dutch GT4 and of course all the big 24 hour races. I'm sure I will find a nice combination again of a few championships.

3. What was your favorite race of the year ?
24 hours of Le Mans. we had a great race, where I drove about 10 hours. A lot of fun and a good result.

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Markus Palttala
(added 09/11/11)
(Blancpain, FIA GT, Belcar)
See his page

1. Some words about your 2011 season ?

2011 was quite an interesting season for me. During the winter, my plan was to continue in the GT1 World Championship, but there were some changes in the team and in the end I did only 2 races in the 2nd Ford GT team and concentrated on their Blancpain Endurance Series program. Those two races went pretty well when I finished 8th in Silverstone which was the best result of the season for the team until the last round in Argentina when we were 6th. Obviously, we go out there to win but running 2nd hand cars with a team that was put together just weeks before the season, scoring points was a great achievement. I had a deal with Young Driver AMR to replace one of the works drivers when he was going to miss out 3 races due to the Aston LMP1 program. In the end, that didn't happen because they cancelled that prototype program and I missed out an opportunity to try a GT1 Aston Martin. Blancpain Endurance Series was an excellent success story right on its first season and I won two races there, scored another podium and finished 2nd in the final standings. I also did the FIA GT3 European Championship but that was a less positive story. My planned teammate cancelled right before the season started and we were left to look for drivers race by race. I had a different teammate in each race, so it was quite difficult to make progress and we also had a lot of bad luck during the season. The only good things were 2nd position in one qualifying and scoring points in the last two rounds in Zandvoort with two top 10 results. In September I was called to join my old team Prospeed Competition for the 24 Hours of Zolder. We won our class and finished 2nd overall despite losing a lot of time with a technical problem. I also did a few Belcar races and the last two GT Open rounds, so it's been pretty busy, but that's how I like it! I'm planning to finish the season in the 6 hours of Vallelunga end of November.

2. What about next year ?
Next year is looking quite good but it's too early to say exactly what I will do. Some things need still confirmation, but I'm planning to continue in the Blancpain Endurance Series. I'm also in talks with a team for the World Endurance Championship and I would like to add one of the European GT3 series, such as FIA GT3 or GT Masters to my program, but first I need to wait and see their calendars.

3. You have another activity apart racing : coaching. What do you do exactly ? Is it difficult to do racing and coaching in the same time ?

I do two kind of coaching. First, I'm coaching some race drivers who are either young talents or gentleman drivers and ask for a bit of help. Second, I'm working in Finland in a driving center where we have different kind of events from basic car handling courses to more sportive driving. It's all done with normal road cars and anyone can participate. Racing is my priority and I do the coaching whenever I have time.

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Giorgio Roda
(added 02/11/11)
(F. Abarth, F.Renault 2.0 Euro)
See his page

1. Some words about your 2011 season ?
My first season in a formula car wasn't so easy. I've chosen a difficult championship as F. Abarth Euro is but if it wouldn't be like that i wouldn't learn what i've learn. I had some up&down races so my objective for next year is to be more constant and to have some better result. I've to thank to my parent and my Team Manager,Marcello Rosei and the whole team.

2. What about 2012 season ?

Well, for next year I really don't know what to do. I wanna wait to choose a championship because I have to think about which one could be better for my growth.

3. What do you think about leaving europe to go racing in the USA ? Did you ever think about it ?
I think that US with Indy and Indy Light are really good championships but they're made for driver with experience, I mean, none can go there with just one year of Formula. I think that the better propedeutic championships are in Europe. I though about that, but it's early to think to go there!

Thanks to all of them !