Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah elected to skip Extreme E‘s Island X Prix to focus on the Italian Baja, but that did not mean there were no Toyota Hilux rally raiders in Sardinia. Benediktas Vanagas joined the XE paddock for much of the early weekend which culminated in getting to drive the Spark ODYSSEY 21.

The opportunity materialised in June when Vanagas spoke with Extreme E officials attending the FIA European Cup for Cross-Country Bajas’ Rally Greece Offroad. After arriving in Sardinia via the series’ St. Helena mothership (the exit and return trips being marred by choppy waters), he participated in track reconnaissance in a UTV alongside series test driver Patrick O’Donovan before eventually getting into the car himself.

After the test, Vanagas described the experience as “really, really fun” and has “plenty of potential.”

He added in a video, “I was quite skeptical because the Extreme E car looked clumsy when watching the video, but when I started driving—my experience with this car is seven kilometres less than seven kilometres on two wheels, but the acceleration that the electric motor does is 300 kilowatts, like 400; above 300, you get 100 kW by pressing the button for more. I did not have the opportunity to do it, but the Odyssey feels lighter than the Hilux by some 400 or more kilograms.

“The suspension travel is not much, but it’s a little bit and a lot of ‘a little bit’ adds up to a really tasty thing. I might be a bit of a cranberry in motor racing, but they still need a lot of work to do to get a lot of miles. It’s a long way to go from here, but it’s quite a first experience anyway.

Toto Wolff was happy to see the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team score valuable points during Sundays British Grand Prix to pull themselves away from the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team in the Constructors’ Championship.

Lewis Hamilton took third place at Silverstone and George Russell fifth, the team scoring twenty-five points compared to the six points scored by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. The gap between the two teams is now twenty-two points heading to the Hungarian Grand Prix later in the month.

Wolff, the Team Principal at Mercedes, says it was a solid result at Silverstone but nothing more, although there were positives to take from the weekend, particularly the recovery from where the team were performance-wise on Saturday and Sunday compared to Friday.

“We’ve performed well today compared to in Qualifying,” said Wolff.  “We’ve gained some points on our closest competitors in the Constructors’ Championship, so we can say it’s a solid day.

“P3 and P5 is OK, but no more than solid. I see the positives from this weekend though. Whilst podiums are good, it’s more important to see that the car has potential, and our eyes are on closing the gap to the very front.”

Lewis Hamilton admitted he lucked in with the timing of the safety car during Sunday’s British Grand Prix, but the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver was delighted to finish on the podium in front of his home fans.

Hamilton was able to make up four places from his grid position to take third place at Silverstone, although he was unable to find a way ahead of McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris after the safety car restart despite being on the more favourable tyre.

It was another good race in what has been a very up and down 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, with the seven-time World Champion hoping the team can be more consistently challenging at the front of the field if they can solve the unstable rear end of the W14.

“The Safety Car came at a beneficial moment for us but ultimately, that was the plan starting on the Medium tyre,” said Hamilton. “We wanted to go long, and we did; it came at the right time, and we made some gains.

“For us to get on the podium is huge. It’s been an up-and-down season and we’ve still got a lot of work to do with our car. We’ve got strengths with it, particularly our long run.

The McLaren F1 is a legendary supercar that was produced by McLaren Automotive between 1992 and 1998. Here are some key details about the McLaren F1:

1. Design and Engineering: The McLaren F1 was designed by a team led by Gordon Murray, who aimed to create the ultimate road car. It featured a lightweight carbon fiber monocoque chassis, aerodynamic bodywork, and innovative design elements to maximize performance and handling.

2. Central Driving Position: One of the distinctive features of the McLaren F1 is its central driving position. The driver's seat is positioned in the middle of the car, flanked by two passenger seats slightly set back on either side. This layout provides excellent visibility and a unique driving experience.

3. Powertrain: The McLaren F1 was powered by a naturally aspirated 6.1-liter V12 engine developed by BMW Motorsport. It produced around 627 horsepower and delivered exceptional acceleration and top speed performance. The engine was mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

4. Performance: The McLaren F1 achieved remarkable performance figures for its time. It had a top speed of 240.1 miles per hour (386.4 kilometers per hour), making it the fastest production car of its era. It also boasted impressive acceleration, reaching 0 to 60 miles per hour (0 to 97 kilometers per hour) in around 3.2 seconds.

The FIA Cross-Country Commission, the lead authority for the World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and World Rally-Raid Championship, launched an investigation Sunday following the World Cup’s Italian Baja into Clerk of the Course Marco Fiorillo after stewards noticed he changed the start order between the second and third stages without notice or good reason.

According to the stewards’ report, Fiorillo justified the action as being “for safety reasons,” but “couldn’t explain how it could have positively influenced ‘safety reasons’.” Stages #2 and #3 took place on Saturday, the second of three days for the rally, and publication of the former’s starting order was delayed multiple times.

Fiorillo had warned competitors about rising water levels in certain parts of the two sections, leading to the roadbook being modified.

Nonetheless, the stewards were unsatisfied with his defence and reprimanded race organiser Fuoristrada Club 4×4 Pordenone and forwarded the news to the Cross-Country Commission. The matter was deemed as a violation of the International Sporting Code’s Article 1.3, which states organisers must “be acquainted with the statutes and regulations of the FIA and the national regulations” and “submit themselves without reserve” to such policies.

“[I]n this case a fair sports fight was not ensured, since arbitrarily (without complying with the requirements of the rules) the starting order was changed,” reads the report. “This causes damage to motorsports.”

Martín Franco, an ace biker in the Argentinian rally raid scene, will be among a growing list of home-grown riders competing in the revived Desafío Ruta 40 when the World Rally-Raid Championship arrives in August.

“Very happy to be able to confirm that we will be present at the Desafío Ruta 40, third date of the World Rally that once again returns to Argentina after several years,” wrote Franco on social media. “A nice and hard challenge that we have been preparing for several months together with my Team MED Racing Team and Lucero Mechanic. Have to once again thank those who give me their trust by accompanying me day by day in search of a new goal.”

After winning his class in the previous year’s season finale, Franco finished runner-up in the M2 category for the 2022 Campeonato Argentino de Rally y Navegación (CaNav) championship. In February, he built upon his momentum by finishing fifth in the top-flight M1 class and thirteenth overall at the South American Rally Race. He is currently fifth in the M1 standings.

Prior to his 2022 CaNav campaign, he scored another fifth in M2 at the SARR. Franco’s efforts have been backed by the government of Mendoza, Argentina.

Iván Martín, who beat him for the 2022 title, is also racing the DR 40 as is fellow M1 rider Joaquín Debeljuh.

Lando Norris got his best result of 2023 at the Silverstone Circuit, claiming his first podium of the season at his home Grand Prix, much to the delight of the British fans.

As the lights went out for the race start, Norris overtook Max Verstappen and secured the leading position, thanks to an incredible qualifying result that saw him secure his first front-row start of the season on Saturday. The McLaren F1 Team driver battled valiantly, however, after a few laps, he slipped back to second place.

When the Safety Car was deployed, most drivers opted for the soft compound tires, while Norris had chosen the hard compound, along with his teammate. This decision set the stage for an exhilarating duel between Norris and Hamilton for the second spot. Ultimately, the young British driver emerged victorious, resulting in a remarkable outcome.

“First of all, I just want to say a big thanks to the whole team: they’ve done an amazing job and none of this would be possible without the hard work that they’ve been putting in. It was an amazing fight with Lewis, to hold him off, and I brought the fight to Max for as long as possible. It’s a long, lonely race when you’re just in the middle but it’s amazing to be on the podium at my home race.”

Norris thanked the British fans for all their support over the weekend, and also credited his teammate, who he believes should have joined him on the podium.

Christian Horner admitted the British Grand Prix was not without its challenges for the Oracle Red Bull Racing team, but it still saw another victory for Max Verstappen, his eighth of the season, and the eleventh win in a row for the team.

Red Bull equalled the record of consecutive wins by a single team at Silverstone, the eleventh win matching the record set by the all-conquering McLaren F1 Team in 1988, but unlike in recent races, Verstappen was put under more pressure than expected.

Lando Norris took the lead away from the Dutchman at the start, and although he was able to reclaim the position after just a few laps, the McLaren F1 Team driver never let him get away at the front.  A switch in strategy also played its part as the soft tyre was used instead of the hard compound for the final stint, against their initial plans going into the race.

Horner, the Team Principal at Red Bull, says the switch to the soft tyre was made after seeing what George Russell was able to achieve with it in the first stint, but it made the second half of the race more challenging.

“The first British GP win for the Team since 2012, Max’s second win at Silverstone and our eleventh win in a row makes this a very special victory; but not without its challenges,” said Horner.

William Byron seems to have a penchant for winning after coming out of nowhere. While his first three victories of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season came after surviving overtime despite not being the top driver in any of them, he was in the right place at the right time at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Despite a spin through the infield on lap 85 after wrecking with Corey LaJoie, pit strategy placed Byron at the front by Stage #3. He took the lead from A.J. Allmendinger on lap 167 and led for twenty laps before rain arrived. With the race having crossed the halfway point by completing 185 of a scheduled 260 laps, NASCAR elected to declare it over after a short red flag.

“We went through so much throughout the night, spinning through the infield, destroyed the bottom of the car dragging it around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap. At that point you just don’t have the grip, so I was real edgy back in traffic,” said Byron. “Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) made a good call to pit there and then stay out, and once we got towards the front it was okay. We could honestly make the right decisions, block okay, and got the lead from A.J. and just was able to manage the run.”

Fords dominated the race before concerns about weather led to alternative pit calls as Stage #2 drew to an end. Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing colleague Chris Buecher finished the segment first and third with Team Penske allies Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric in second and fourth, and Blaney had also won Stage #1. With the rain approaching, drivers like Michael McDowell and Byron elected to stay out instead of pit between stages, placing them towards the front with the hope of being the leader by the time the race is delayed.

However, this strategy also backfired in the faces of those like 23XI Racing, where Bubba Wallace pitted for two tyres and was the first off pit road only to be collected in a crash with Ryan Preece and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Buescher fell out of the top ten, as did pole winner and fellow Ford Aric Almirola.

Max Verstappen overcame the early shock of losing the lead at the start of the British Grand Prix to claim his eighth victory of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season on Sunday.

The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver started from pole position but found himself overtaken heading into turn one by the resurgent Lando Norris, although it only took him a handful of laps to make use of his DRS and reclaim the advantage at the front.

Verstappen had to contend with a safety car intervention midway through the race at Silverstone, and although he was not able to pull a significant gap on those behind, he secured another win, his sixth in a row, to further increase his advantage at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

“I’m very happy that we’ve won here again, 11 wins in a row for the Team is pretty incredible, the whole Team can be proud of that,” said Verstappen.  “It definitely wasn’t straightforward today though, we had a bad start which made it more exciting for the fans, but we definitely need to look into that improve on it.

“Lando and Oscar [Piastri] were super quick at the start so it took a few laps to pass them and to start to pull a gap. The competitors behind us were pushing hard and closing the gap so we need to try and find a little bit more.

Kaulig Racing began overtime of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a track dependent on drafting, with all three cars in the top four. None of them won.

Justin Haley restarted on the outside alongside Joe Gibbs Racing‘s John Hunter Nemechek while his Kaulig team-mates Chandler Smith and Daniel Hemric were behind them. When Smith ran out of fuel coming to the green flag, Haley committed to the inside to work with Hemric. Although the two closed in on Nemechek, Haley elected to try his own move to begin the final lap, leaving Hemric without a drafting partner before Cole Custer supplied a push that ultimately came too late.

After exiting his car as the runner-up, Hemric slammed his helmet against the roof in what he called a “super amount of frustration” before discussing the matter with Haley. He also finished second in the first Atlanta race in March.

“Hemric was pretty mad here that I didn’t push, but he started stumbling out of (turn) four so I got down to try to give him the best chance,” commented Haley. “Just short on fuel there.”

Hemric explained he “backed up to [Haley] there and thought I was going to have the run down the front to at least give myself an opportunity to get the #20 (Nemechek) back and he pulled out of line. I guess his car ran out of fuel too.”

Will Rodgers, a road course ace in NASCAR‘s regional series, was not a happy man following Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, taking to Twitter to write, “When you race around idiots, you get raced like an idiot… this series and 2/3 of the drivers in it are a joke. I made plenty of mistakes myself, but I never took anyone out, intentionally or unintentionally. Just ridiculous.”

Rodgers’ grievances stemmed from a late wreck with Austin Wayne Self, one of ten cautions that flew during the day. Much of the field, on the younger and inexperienced side as the Truck Series is the entry into NASCAR’s national divisions, struggled in rainy conditions as early as the pace laps as various trucks spun. This lasted into simply taking the green flag as evidenced by Jake Garcia going off course as he tried to catch up with the grid taking off, and a yellow flag was quickly flown to re-organise as Garcia and Jack Wood went around.

The chaos in the weather prompted NASCAR to switch to single-file restarts, a strategy also employed at the Chicago Street Race by the Cup Series a week prior.

As those around him went off course or were facing the wrong way, Corey Heim remained calm as he led 30 of 67 laps to win from the pole. The victory is his second of 2023 after Martinsville in April.

“If I ride around when it was wet and not overstep and lose the track position we had from the start, I knew we would be in a good position when we ended the race in the dry. That was the case,” said Heim. “Thankfully, I made minimal mistakes; I made a couple that cost me a few spots but nothing that was chastrophic for our finish. We were able to keep that top-five track position and sure enough, when it dried out, we were the fastest track and we were able to drive to the front.”

Rosberg X Racing is a big fan of Sardinia. Since Extreme E began running the Island X Prix there in 2021, RXR has won all but one final, and built upon this by sweeping the 2023 weekend.

RXR driver Johan Kristoffersson described Sardinia as “a proper RXR Island” as he and Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky steamrolled Sunday’s events by winning both heats and the Grand Final. Kristoffersson opened the Grand Final on a conservative gameplan to avoid contact with the pack of cars as they left the starting point, dropping him to fourth. However, the scramble provided an opening for him to slip through and take the lead, which Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky held onto after the driver swap.

Prior to the perfect run in 2023, the team won the inaugural Island X Prix in 2021 and Race #2 in 2022; RXR had also claimed the first race of 2022 but lost the victory due to penalties. With the sweep, RXR is now four points behind ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team for the championship lead.

“The level of competition in Extreme E is world class, and so to win two races this weekend is absolutely epic,” said RXR owner Nico Rosberg. “During yesterday’s Final, we were last after the start and managed an incredible comeback, and today we were second to last but the others had a tangle and we managed to slip through.”

ACCIONA | Sainz finished second in both races to maintain the top spot in the standings with 109 points to RXR’s 105. Chip Ganassi Racing, who lost the Race #1 win to a penalty, was knocked off the podium on Sunday by Andretti XE on a late pass. JBXE finished fifth in their first Grand Final of the season.

Max Verstappen took victory at the British Grand Prix ahead of the home duo of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

It becomes the first Oracle Red Bull Racing win at the Silverstone Circuit since Mark Webber won in 2012, while Norris took his best finish since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix ahead of Hamilton, who finished on the podium at Silverstone for the fourteenth time.

Norris took his first podium of the season and his first at his home Grand Prix, leaving the British fans delighted. Norris was joined by Hamilton, meaning that two Britons were on the podium together for the first time since 1999.

What Happened in the Race?

Verstappen got slowly off the start, which allowed Norris to come through going into turn one, much to the delight of the British fans. Oscar Piastri also got a good start, and battled away with Verstappen for the first lap, with the Dutchman struggling to settle into the race.

The two Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team drivers had varied starts. Hamilton made an error at Village, running wide and falling back to ninth place behind Fernando Alonso. Meanwhile, George Russell skillfully utilized a different strategy starting on the soft tyre to overtake Carlos Sainz Jr.

McLaren F1 Team driver Lando Norris expressed his delight after emerging as Max Verstappen’s nearest challenger during an exciting wet-dry qualifying session for the British Grand Prix on Saturday.

With even more updates on his MCL60, Norris navigated the tricky conditions to secure second on the grid for Sunday’s race, marking considerable progress for the English team given their varied opening to the season. Norris did well at the Austrian Grand Prix too, finishing fourth around the Red Bull Ring, leaving many thinking that McLaren have a chance of at least being on the podium tomorrow.

Norris was really pleased following the session, as he paid tribute to the home crowd at Silverstone. The Briton now looks forward to the Grand Prix, where he hopes he can put on a show for the home fans.

“That was close! Two-tenths to P1 in Q3, is pretty insane. My last lap was a good lap. I could hear Zak on the radio on the in-lap, which is the best thing ever. I’m grateful. For us to achieve second and third is pretty amazing for the whole team, with all the hard work that we’ve been putting in, especially to do it here in Silverstone.

“To do that with the chrome livery at our home race, for the team, for myself, is amazing. Big thanks to the whole crowd here, they’re amazing. It’s been a very special day for us. I look forward to tomorrow.”