Alpha Motorsports, also known as Alpha, is an Australian GPGSL racing team. It was founded by team owner Ed Greenhalgh. The team entered the GPGSL in Season 1, replacing Team RAC after just one race of the season. It stayed in the series until Season 4 when Greenhalgh decided to focus his efforts on being a race driver only and sold the team to Alpha Racing Team. With Greenhalgh's decision to retire after winning three championships, the team returned in Season 11 replacing Greidanus Grand Prix.
Racing History[]
Season 1-4[]
The team joined the league in the second race of Season 1 after the sudden demise of Team RAC. The team then competed in every race up until the end of Season 4. In this period, the team scored one win, two poles, two fastest laps and two podiums. The team's sole victory came in Season 3, with Stefan van Renselaar winning the English Grand Prix at Donington Park. In this season the team also achieved its best Constructors' Championship finish in the period with 5th place.
Throughout Seasons 1 to 4, Alpha Motorsports used Ford engines and Bridgestone tyres. The team had a variety of major sponsors including MasterCard, LG, Emirates and Castrol. In Season 1, due to the team's late entry to the series, they ran an interim white livery.
Season 5-7[]
- Main article: Alpha Racing TeamAfter Season 4, regulations were introduced stating that no race driver could also own a team. With Greenhalgh deciding to focus on his driving, the team was taken over by former team driver Stefan van Renselaar and renamed to Alpha Racing Team. This team also folded after Season 7 having also achieved one race win.
Season 11-onwards[]
Early in Season 10, Greenhalgh announced he would retire from race driving at the conclusion of that season. At this stage Alpha Motorsports remained several places down the waiting list for new teams, however later developments in that season resulted in the opportunity for Alpha Motorsports to reform in the lead-up to Season 11. It was later announced that the team's drivers for Season 11 will be Tobias Kederer and Vimal Ana, both of whom moved from the now-defunct Team Shadow. However, before the season begun, Ana was replaced by Alessandro Sanvitale. Team boss Greenhalgh took up a position as test driver and signed a factory deal with Mazda - running a tribute livery to the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hour winning Mazda 787B.
The reformed team had near-instant success with Kederer winning the team's second race - the Malaysian Grand Prix. Kederer, who had already won four races prior to joining the team, went on to win two more races in the season and finished second in the championship behind Joseph Gilson. Meanwhile, midway through the season Sanvitale dropped out of the championship (one race after finishing on the podium) and was replaced by Sean O'Neill, who began a long and successful partnership with Kederer. O'Neill himself secured his first podium in only his fourth race which pushed the team to a third-place finish in the Constructors' Championship.
Kederer won rounds 3 and 4 of Season 12 to again setup a championship challenge, however three consecutive DNFs to follow dented his hopes. He would once again finish 2nd, this time behind Marcus de Bruyker. O'Neill scored two podiums and the team finished fourth in the points. In Season 13, Kederer only took one race win, but through a series of consistent top 6 results, went into the final race in the championship lead by six points over Michael Pedersen. O'Neill won the season finale, his second win of the season, and Kederer won the title despite his worst finish of the season of 9th. O'Neill's win also pushed the team to win its first Constructors' Championship.
Before Season 14, Mazda left the team on the high of the championship success. Renault joined the team as the new engine provider and major sponsor and the team failed to reach the same heights, with each driver only taking two podiums and the team dropping to fifth in the championship. However, the team bounced back with a first-round win in Season 15 for Kederer.
The team has seen little success in the Testers' Championship. While it has helped to provide opportunities to drivers including Dominik Karda and Aidan Keranen, team boss Ed Greenhalgh has struggled to find his form from his full-time career. Greenhalgh's best test season was in Season 14 in which he missed the championship by one point.
Complete GrandPrixGames Super League results[]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap; underlined races indicate most places gained)
Season | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SMD-300 | Ford | B | AUT | BRA | MON | CAN | GBR | GER | BEL | ITA | JPN | AUS | 46 | 9th | ||||||||
Bobby Neil | Ret | 16 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 13 | Ret | ||||||||||||||
Randy Winston | Ret | 9 | 9 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 7 | Ret | 14 | ||||||||||||||
2 | SMD-300 | Ford | B | AUS | MON | BEL | ESP | BRA | JPN | AUT | USA | NED | CAN | ITA | GER | SAM | CZE | TUR | GBR | 52 | 11th | ||
Randy Winston | 15 | 16 | 15 | 20 | 18 | Ret | 18 | ||||||||||||||||
Ben Brown | 7 | 4 | 19 | 9 | Ret | 19 | 11 | 21 | 19 | ||||||||||||||
Bobby Neil | 13 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 13 | Ret | 10 | 8 | 13 | 12 | Ret | 13 | 15 | |||||||
3 | SMD-ZG01 | Ford | B | AUS | GER | USA | CAN | EUR | SAM | NED | BEL | MAL | ENG | HUN | ITA | JPN | SMR | BRA | MON | GBR | 94 | 5th | |
Ben Brown | 9 | 10 | 16 | 19 | 11 | Ret | 7 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 10 | Ret | 21 | Ret | 13 | 17 | 6 | ||||||
Stefan van Renselaar | 12 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 11 | 11 | Ret | 10 | 1 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 18 | 12 | 5 | 14 | ||||||
4 | SMD-ZG01 | Ford | B | AUS | ITA | BEL | JPN | EUR | MON | PAC | RSA | HUN | GER | BRA | UAE | MAL | USA | CAN | NED | GBR | 72 | 8th | |
Stefan van Renselaar | 10 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 8 | 19 | ||||||
Ben Brown | 9 | Ret | 17 | 14 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||
Alexandre Koemmerer | 17 | 10 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 12 | 16 | Ret | 14 | 16 | |||||||||||
5 - 10: Alpha did not compete as a constructor. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | SMD ZG02LN | Mazda | D | AUS | MAL | JPN | ITA | ESP | RSA | BRA | USA | CAN | GER | AUT | BEL | GBR | NED | 146 | 3rd | ||||
Tobias Kederer | Ret | 1 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 3 | |||||||||
Alessandro Sanvitale | 9 | Ret | 18 | 5 | 18 | 17 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
Sean O'Neill | Ret | 19 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 15 | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
12 | SMD ZG02LN | Mazda | D | AUS | JPN | USA | CAN | SAM | BRA | RSA | AUT | GER | BEL | TUR | ITA | GBR | NED | 132 | 4th | ||||
Tobias Kederer | 12 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 7 | |||||||||
Sean O'Neill | 7 | 13 | Ret | 10 | 13 | 13 | 11 | Ret | 14 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 6 | |||||||||
13 | SMD ZG02LN | Mazda | D | AUS | MAL | ITA | BEL | AUT | CAN | USA | BRA | NED | AZE | GER | EUR | POR | GBR | 184 | 1st | ||||
Tobias Kederer | 2 | Ret | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 2 | Ret | 7 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 9 | |||||||||
Sean O'Neill | 6 | 15 | 8 | Ret | 15 | 11 | Ret | 8 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 8 | Ret | 1 | |||||||||
14 | SMD ZG02LN | Renault | D | AUS | JPN | MAL | PAC | ITA | NED | UAE | RSA | BRA | CAN | USA | GER | BEL | GBR | 145 | 5th | ||||
Tobias Kederer | 6 | 3 | 8 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 4 | |||||||||
Sean O'Neill | 5 | 7 | 16 | 1 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 13 | 2 | 5 | Ret | |||||||||
15 | SMD ZG02LN | Renault | D | AUS | JPN | RSA | AUS | EUR | POR | BRA | CAN | TUR | NED | GER | BEL | ITA | GBR | 147 | 3rd | ||||
Tobias Kederer | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 13 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 12 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||
Sean O'Neill | 4 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 21 | 12 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 16 | Ret |