Mika Salo

The former Formula One driver Mika Salo, is set to test a Sprint Cup car next month, amid rumours that he has his eye set on a move to the NASCAR series.

The 42-year-old, began his career in F1 at the penultimate round of the 1994 season for the ailing Lotus team, but after only two races the team folded and he moved to the Tyrrell team for 1995.  The Finn remained with the team for the next three years where he scored several points.

Salo looked set to have a promising future with the Arrows team in 1998 but failed to land a full-time seat for the following season.  However, during the 1999 season, he was called upon to replace the injured Ricardo Zonta at the BAR team for three races.

The Finn was also given his dream drive in 1999, when he was asked to fill the seat of Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari after the British Grand Prix crash left the German driver with a broken leg.  Selected to partner Eddie Irvine, he almost scored a win at the German Grand Prix, in only his second race, but was forced to follow team orders to let his team-mate pass as Irvine was fighting for the championship with Mika Häkkinen.

In 2002, Salo was back in the championship having signed for the Red Bull Sauber team, but after finishing in eleventh place at the end of the season, he made the move to the brand new Toyota team.  After scoring a sixth place for the team on it’s debut year in F1, Salo was surprisingly sacked from the team at the end of the season.

Salo has continued his racing career and in 2007 won the American Le Mans series in the GT2 class.  It had now been revealed that he will be testing for the Michael Waltrip Racing crew in one of their Toyota Camry Cup cars sometime next month.

Racing drivers are among the fittest athletes of all, enjoying the extreme sports like skiing holidays during the close season to keep the adrenalin pumping.

Nigel Mansell

The former Formula One Champion Nigel Mansell, is competing in the Silverstone’s Le Mans Series finale on 11-13 September, teaming up with his son Greg and Lawrence Tomlinson.

The 56-year-old, 1992 F1 champion, will be in the cockpit of the Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S which he is believed to have tested as far back as December 2008 and again at the Silverstone festival.

Retiring from Formula One racing in 1995, Mansell went onto race in the British Touring Car Championship in 1998 but was unsuccessful, finishing 18th out of 21 drivers.  In 2005, he had success in the Grand Prix Masters series by winning the inaugural race of the season, continuing by winning the season opening race the following year.

In 2007, Mansell made his debut appearance in the second round of the FIA GT at Silverstone, in a Ferrari 430 GT2 for the Scuderia Ecosse team alongside Chris Niarchos, finishing in 7th in their class and 21st overall.

Mansell is delighted to be back at the Silverstone circuit where he had some of his most memorable wins and is looking forward to racing alongside his sons.

Greg Mansell, 21,  is currently racing in the World Series by Renault while his older brother Leo Mansell, will be competing against the pair as he will be driving for the Ferrari GT2 team in the Le Mans Series.

Here’s a little clip of some of Nigel Mansell’s greatest moments;

GP2 Series

The renowned feeder series for Formula 1 returns to British Eurosport after a two year absence, with the digital sports channel’s previous coverage showing the emerging talent of reigning F1 champion Lewis Hamilton and AT&T Williams driver Nico Rosberg, among others.

Eurosport takes on the 2009 championships with six rounds remaining, including races at Spa in Belgium, Monza in Italy and the season finale at Portimao in Portugal on September 20th. GP2 races are run during Formula 1 weekends as part of the race card at each circuit.

Dave Kerr, Director of British Eurosport said: “We are delighted to have this prestigious and exciting series back on British Eurosport and to be able to ensure that fans can see the rest of this season’s races!  It’s great to add GP2 to our already superb line-up of motorsport, which includes the World Touring Car Championship, World Rally Championship, Formula 2, Dakar Rally, the Renault World Series and the IRC.”

GP2 has two races per weekend, 26 identical cars, compulsory pit-stops ands reverse grids which are designed to generate entertainment, excitement and test the skills of the emerging young drivers.

The next race takes place in Germany over July 11th/12th at the Nurburgring circuit. British Eurosport will broadcast race 1 in prime-time at 7.15pm on Saturday July 11th and race 2 the following day, July 12th live at 10.30am.

British Eurosport is available on Sky channel 410 and Virgin Media channel 521.