Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Esteban Ocon recovered from starting fourteenth in the Belgian Grand Prix last Sunday to finish eighth, with the Frenchman pleased with his comeback drive through the field and his first top ten finish since the Canadian Grand Prix.

The BWT Alpine F1 Team driver made a two-stop strategy work in his favour, the Frenchman starting and finishing the race on the soft compound, with a nineteen-lap stint on the medium compound in between.

Ocon made some good overtakes across the race, with moves on Yuki Tsunoda and Alexander Albon in particular pleasing to the Frenchman, while a late pass on Lance Stroll ensured he scored four valuable points towards the championship.

“It feels good to be back in the points here in Spa after a few tough weeks where we’ve finished outside the points due to circumstances out of our control,” reflected Ocon.  “Overall, it was a good recovery drive and a well-executed race from the team today.

“Eighth place is a very good result after starting from fourteenth on the grid. There were some fun overtakes along the way too, especially on Yuki [Tsunoda] and Alex [Albon].

Andrea Stella felt the McLaren F1 Team were good to score six points during Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix on the back of a tough race for the Woking-based outfit.

Lando Norris finished seventh after struggling early on with the medium and hard tyres, the Briton falling through the field as he also was compromised by the high downforce set-up on his MCL60.  His switch to the soft tyre compound for the final twenty-seven laps brought him back into top ten contention, the Briton ultimately ending seventh, just behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s George Russell.

Oscar Piastri, who had finished second in Saturday’s Sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps, was unfortunately a first lap retirement on Sunday, with the Australian suffering damage to his steering system after making contact with both Carlos Sainz Jr. and the inside wall at turn one.

Stella, the Team Principal at McLaren, says to score as many points as they did across the weekend in Belgium was positive for the team, although they could have done better if they had found a much better set-up for the drivers for Sunday’s main event.

“After a positive Sprint event on Saturday, today in the race we have had some more difficulties,” said Stella.  “With Oscar, unfortunately there was an incident in corner one, Oscar ran out of space, and he touched the wall, breaking the steering system and he needed to retire the car.

Lando Norris felt seventh place in the Belgian Grand Prix was a ‘good result’ for the McLaren F1 Team, particularly after a tough start to the race where he fell down the order to run towards the back of the field.

McLaren opted for a higher downforce set-up on their MCL60 and were not fast down the straights at Spa-Francorchamps, but a long stint on the soft tyre brought Norris back into contention for points, and he ended up in seventh place to bring home an important six points for the team.

Norris believes the strategy call was key to the result, and to run with the soft tyre for twenty-seven laps ensure they were able to score good points amid difficult circumstances.

“A good result,” reflected Norris.  “I think we can be pleased with that after the start of the race being frustrating for us.

“We were just very poor on pace and struggled too much to overtake and defend in the straights. So, we were going backwards and backwards in the opening laps. We tried many things with the strategy and the only thing to work in the end was to put a Soft tyre on and the whole race transformed after that.

Mike Krack feels scoring twelve points during the Belgian Grand Prix will give an important ‘confidence boost’ to the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team at a track where they were not expecting to be that competitive.

Fernando Alonso delivered a strong performance to secure fifth place at Spa-Francorchamps, the Spaniard ending ahead of both George Russell and Lando Norris, with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team and McLaren F1 Team both having been stronger on track in recent races.

Lance Stroll also scored points for ninth place, making a one-stop strategy work after starting outside of the top ten, with his tyre management, particularly on the soft compound noticeably impressive.  He did lose a place to Esteban Ocon late in the day but was still able to bring home two points.

Krack, the Team Principal of the Silverstone-based team, believes both drivers showed good pace throughout the race at Spa-Francorchamps, and to go into the summer break still sitting third in the Constructors’ Championship despite a relatively poor run of form will give everyone a boost.

“We delivered a more competitive performance today, with both drivers racing well and managing different strategies,” said Krack.  

Fernando Alonso admitted he was concerned about the potential performance of the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team during the Belgian Grand Prix, but he was happy to be able to head into the summer break with a fifth-place finish.

The Spaniard admitted he was lucky to make up a couple of places at the start at Spa-Francorchamps and be able to keep both George Russell and Lando Norris behind him, drivers that he feels have more competitive cars at this stage of the season.

Alonso praised the team for making changes to the car, so they were able to show more competitiveness in Belgium, and the result is good news for the team heading into the mid-season break.

“I was lucky at the start: I made up a few places into Eau Rouge, but then I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to hold onto those positions through the first stint,” said Alonso.  “We were fast – we kept one Mercedes and one McLaren behind us – so we were in the mix. That’s good news for the whole team as we head into the summer break.

“The car felt great today – and really gave me confidence. This is a high-efficiency circuit – and, after the British Grand Prix, we were a little concerned about our performance coming here. The team changed a few characteristics on the car and it really paid off.”

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team has announced that current FIA Formula 2 championship contender Frederik Vesti will make his free practice debut with the team in this years’ Mexico City Grand Prix.

The Danish driver already has experience behind the wheel of a Mercedes having participated in the post-season young driver test in Abu Dhabi last year, but driving at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez will be his first taste of an official weekend session.

The twenty-one-year-old has been a part of the Mercedes Young Driver programme since 2021, and he is currently sitting second in the championship standings in Formula 2 with three rounds remaining.

Vesti is the first name announced by any team to run a free practice session this season, with each team mandated to run at least two sessions with a driver who has not competed in more than two Grand Prix in his career.

And he is excited for the opportunity in Mexico City, and he says it is another step towards his ultimate dream of racing in Formula 1 in the future.

Matt Brabham is in for a busy weekend in Nashville as he will run both Stadium Super Trucks races and the Indy NXT round at the Music City Grand Prix.

Brabham impressed in his NXT return in July, going from eleventh to fourth at Iowa in replacement duty for Juncos Hollinger Racing. JHR signed Victor Franzoni for the rest of the 2023 season, though Brabham quickly found another NXT ride at Cape Motorsports, with whom he won the USF2000 National Championship in 2012, replacing Enaam Ahmed.

“I’ve been with the Capes on and off since I drove for them in 2012,” said Brabham. “It’s been great working with them, whether it’s driving or coaching or testing. I actually drove a test day with Jagger (Jones) before his USF2000 season, so we’re quite close.”

He ran the full Indy NXT—then known as Indy Lights—calendar in 2022 for Andretti Autosport after a six-year absence, finishing third in points with two wins. His return to the series came after a wildly successful run in SST that saw him become the first three-time champion.

While running multiple disciplines in the same weekend is difficult due to scheduling, a concern that he brought up with The Checkered Flag in March 2022 to explain why he wouldn’t race both Indy NXT and SST if they were on the same support card, it became possible at the 2022 Music City Grand Prix after poor weather cancelled NXT’s qualifying session that otherwise ran too close to SST Race #1. The second SST race was held far enough from the NXT race that erased any potential clash.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team missed out on a podium finish in the Belgian Grand Prix, and Team Principal Toto Wolff admitted that they experienced struggles with their car throughout the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

Lewis Hamilton started third on the grid but was unable to keep Max Verstappen behind him, the Briton also struggling to match the pace of Sergio Pérez or Charles Leclerc ahead of him as he was forced to settle for fourth.  However, he did gain an additional point for fastest lap after making a late pit stop when certain not to fall behind fifth placed Fernando Alonso.

George Russell ended sixth after losing ground on the opening lap after being caught behind the slowing Oscar Piastri, who had taken damage after first corner contact with Carlos Sainz Jr. Russell spent the rest of his day making positions up but was unable to catch Alonso in the final stint.

Wolff felt the W14 suffered more at Spa-Francorchamps than it had in recent races, with the car experiencing bouncing down the straights, and they will need to put effort into solving the problems they faced in Belgium before the season resumes after the summer break in the Netherlands.

“We struggled with the car at points today and experienced some bouncing,” reflected Wolff.  “That was the main limiting factor this weekend, so we’ve got some work to do to understand that more.

Lewis Hamilton admitted his Belgian Grand Prix as not that eventful for him, with the pace of those ahead of him too much for him to fight for a podium finish at Spa-Francorchamps.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver started third on the grid but was unable to keep Max Verstappen behind him, the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver fighting through from sixth on the grid to take an eighth consecutive victory.

He was also unable to match the pace of Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull nor Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Hamilton forced to settle for fourth. However, he did take the fact he was clear of fifth placed Fernando Alonso to make a late pit stop and take home an additional point for fastest lap.

“It was a non-eventful race for me today with not a huge amount going on,” said Hamilton.  “I was unable to keep up with the cars ahead of me and was struggling in the beginning.

“We know the rear end is our biggest issue and then we had some bouncing this weekend. At the end, I was keeping the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc within a few seconds, but I couldn’t get any closer.

It was an inevitability the moment they were on the ballot, but became a certainty on Wednesday as fifty-seven voters named Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus to the NASCAR Hall of Fame‘s Class of 2024. Donnie Allison was also voted in on the Pioneer ballot while Janet Guthrie was named recipient of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.

Knaus served as Johnson’s crew chief for nearly his entire Cup Series career, winning a record-tying seven championships and eighty-one races together from 2002 to 2018. The two split after 2018 amid a changing era for the #48 Hendrick Motorsports team, though the two continued to be connected in more ways than one as both retired from their respective positions after the 2020 season. When he ended his crew chief career, he was serving atop the pit box for Hendrick’s William Byron.

“From a very young age, racing was in our life. Our parents raced, our families raced. We just wanted to be racers,” said Johnson. “Sure, I know I tried to dream big, but I couldn’t have dreamt this big. To have everything play out as it has—even looking back on those moments in time, with five in a row and seven championships in total, the super moments along the way—I still can’t believe it’s happened. When you’re a kid, dream big, and who knows, it might end up happening.”

While Johnson went into IndyCar and eventually team ownership at Legacy Motor Club, Knaus serves as Hendrick’s Vice President of Competition. The two reunited in sports cars when Johnson began competing in IMSA, and Knaus also led NASCAR’s successful 24 Hours of Le Mans effort with Johnson as one of its drivers.

Despite their accolades, neither received a unanimous vote: Johnson garnered 93 percent of the Modern Era ballot while Knaus notched 81 percent. Other vote getters included Harry Gant, Ricky Rudd, and Carl Edwards, while Neil Bonnett, Tim Brewer, Jeff Burton, Harry Hyde, and Larry Phillips were also on the ballot.

Igor Kalinovskaya, who took part in rally raids in his home country of Ukraine and was named a Master of Sport before taking up arms against Russian invasion, died Tuesday at the age of 62. His daughter Maria confirmed his passing on social media, while the Automobile Federation of Ukraine (FAU) disclosed it was due to a serious illness.

Maria wrote, “You didn’t ‘was’, you ‘are’! And you always will be! For me, the most important superhero! Dad… I can’t write many words right now, and all the words in the world won’t convey my feelings to you. I didn’t know if there was a limit to pain.. I guess now I know it.”

Kalinovskaya joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2014 shortly after the Russo-Ukrainian War began with Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. The conflict escalated in February 2022 with Russia launching a full-scale invasion that has drawn widespread condemnation, and ramifications have extended into the motorsport realm. Based in Dnipro, Kalinovskaya last served with the 93rd Mechanized Brigade.

Before the war, he had raced in the Ukraine Cup and won various domestic rallies. He was later named a Master of Sport, a title given to athletes for their contribution to sport in Ukraine; Viacheslav Ponomarenko, a fellow rally raider and Master of Sport, received the Hero of Ukraine for his service in the battle for Hostomel in March 2022.

“Almost from the first days of this war, which started back in 2014, Igor Vadimovich stood up for the defense of our country. Friends and relatives remember him as a courageous person and a good friend,” reads a statement from the FAU. “The Automobile Federation of Ukraine expresses its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Igor Vadimovich.”

Shane van Gisbergen won in his NASCAR Cup Series début on the streets of Chicago, but on 11 August will see if his prowess can translate to ovals when he enters his maiden NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. He will drive the #41 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Niece Motorsports.

Van Gisbergen will already be in the area for the Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway two days later. He hopes lightning can strike twice after becoming the first Cup newcomer to win on début since 1963 when he triumphed at Chicago in July; the New Zealander is also the sixth foreign-born Cup race winner.

“The weekend will certainly be a challenge,” said van Gisbergen. “I’ve seen the Trucks race on television and know it’s very competitive and that I’ll have a lot to learn on a short track at IRP. I’m used to doing doubleheaders in Supercars, but this will be a little bit different. I’m honoured to join Niece Motorsports and thrilled at getting a chance to climb in a truck.”

Between Chicago and Indianapolis, he returned to the Supercars Championship for the next two rounds in Townsville and Sydney. The three-time champion sits third in points and two spots behind Brodie Kostecki, who is set to run his first NASCAR race at Indianapolis.

The oval start is another log added to the growing fire that van Gisbergen would move to NASCAR full-time in 2024. Jamie Whincup, team boss for van Gisbergen’s Triple Eight Engineering, has been open about letting him leave his contract—which runs through 2024 and has an option for 2025—early to head to America if he wants, though van Gisbergen has yet to make a final decision.

The Unlimited Off-Road Racing Series will run a three-race calendar in 2024 beginning with the Parker 400 on 10–14 January, followed by the Mint 400 on 6–10 March and California 300 on 2–6 October. The rounds were originally announced with the creation of the series in March, though the specific dates were revealed last Friday.

The series builds upon the Unlimited Off-Road Racing Triple Crown Championship introduced for 2023. The Triple Crown began with King of the Hammers in February, though it has been replaced by the Parker 400 after series organiser Martelli Brothers acquired the rights to the race in March.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be launching this new league and championship points series,” Matt Martelli stated. “This is the culmination of two decades of work in the off-road industry, on both the marketing and production side, and more than a decade of work promoting off-road events. We want to thank our racers, teams, sponsors, partners, volunteers, fans and our staff for their support and help over the years. We have so many exciting plans in store for next year and we’re proud to be hosting and promoting three of the most iconic and challenging races on the planet.”

The Arizona-based Parker 400 has been held since 1971 and was under the Best In The Desert sanction from 2003 to 2022. It was cancelled for 2023 after BITD was unable to secure permits from the Bureau of Land Management.

The Mint 400 was also a BITD date before becoming part of the Martelli portfolio, while the brothers founded the California 300 in 2022. Held in Nevada, the 400 is the largest desert race in the United States.

Mettet, Belgium makes a welcome return to the 2023 FIA World Rallycross Championship, but with a very different entry list to the one originally anticipated. With the cancellation of the RX1e class, four top-flight rallycross legends are transferring to the feeder series for a battle royale against the next generation of rallycross superstars.

Following the dramatic fire at Lydden Hill, which sadly put Special ONE Racing out of the 2023 championship, the decision was taken by the organisers of the World RX of Benelux not to run the RX1e category at the event (5/6 August). The investigation is still ongoing into the precise cause of the fire, and, as a result, it was deemed unsafe to run the top-flight cars.

However, the show must go on, and a mouth-watering treat is lined up for rallycross fans. Kevin and Timmy Hansen, themselves huge advocates for electric rallycross, will be jumping into the fray, as will Ole Christian Veiby and his teammate, 5-time world rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson. Both Hansen World RX Team and Kristoffersson Motorsport have junior teams entered in RX2e and so have the opportunity to continue racing.

RX2e Explained

RX2e was the first FIA electric rallycross championship. Devised as a feeder series for world rallycross, it features identical cars designed to put the driver first. The battery sits next to the driver for perfect 50/50 weight distribution, and produces the equivalent of 362bhp. As was proved at Lydden Hill, the cars are more than fast enough to ignite some truly exciting racing. For sceptics concerned about the noise, the RX2e cars have got you covered. The drivetrain howls at more than 12,000rpm and the cars sound like spaceships as they scream around the track.

Entrants

Lydden Hill winner Tommi Hallman will not be taking part at this weekend’s event, as he is only a temporary entrant. More surprising is the news that joint championship leader and Belgian home favourite Viktor Vranckx will not be taking part. On his official social media, the team said “VMV Racing is very sad to announce Viktor Vranckx’s withdrawal from the RX2e championship following WRX promoter’s decision of reinforcing our 2 main competitor teams. VMV Racing joined the RX2e championship based on the equity values embodied by the RX2e class, offering the same chances to all the teams and drivers involved in the championship.”

Andy McMillin is back in a Trophy Truck. Despite stepping back from full-time racing after the 2022 SCORE International season, he will return to the driver’s seat in September for the Baja 400, once again donning his familiar #31 in a Mason Ford Raptor Trophy Truck owned by his friend and fellow Red Bull athlete Bryce Menzies.

McMillin sold his old Mason truck to Team Australia‘s Paul Weel and Toby Price and his team’s shop to Polaris Factory Racing after 2022, explaining that he wanted to focus on family and business that were otherwise difficult to manage while racing on a regular basis. Still, he stressed it was not a retirement as he kept his pre-running vehicles in the event that he wanted to run larger events such as the premier Baja 1000. He won the SCORE Trophy Truck championship in 2019.

Some of McMillin’s former employees joined the Polaris factory team, a new programme for 2023 that races in the Pro UTV Open category. Meanwhile, his old Trophy Truck has endured a rather difficult 2023 campaign as Team Australia retired from both the San Felipe 250 and Baja 500 with mechanical issues but has otherwise been fast, as evidenced by topping qualifying for San Felipe.

A five-time Baja 1000 champion, McMillin is expected to share a truck with Menzies for the 2023 edition as he has for the past few years; the two hope to rebound after retiring from the 2021 and 2022 races with truck problems. Since the finishing order of the Baja 400 is used to set the starting lineup for the 1000, the truck that the duo will use at the latter will be determined by whoever finishes ahead of the other in the 400.

Menzies won the 2022 Baja 400 in his #7 truck, meaning that was the vehicle he and McMillin raced together in the 1000. The former also arrives with momentum as the Baja 500 winner, while McMillin’s cousin Luke won in San Felipe and is the twice reigning Baja 1000 victor.