Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Guenther Steiner admitted the Miami Grand Prix was an extremely busy one for the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, with the Miami International Autodrome weekend the first of three home races for the youngest team on the grid during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.

Steiner, the Team Principal at Haas, was able to see Kevin Magnussen secure a top four starting position in Miami before the Dane secured a point for tenth place in the race, while team-mate Nico Hülkenberg was also able to show flashes of good pace.

Haas brought an update to Miami that appeared to improve the performance of the car, and with another small update coming for this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, hopes are high that the team are moving up the pecking order in the tight midfield battle this season.

“It was the busiest race ever for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team,” said Steiner.  “All our partners, sponsors, on-track action and all that was happening seemed to be the most eventful race weekend since Haas started.

“All in all, it was a very good weekend. Everybody seemed to be happy, the Miami Grand Prix put on a good show for the fans, for the teams, and we got a point.

Kevin Magnussen was able to score a top ten finish in the Miami Grand Prix for the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, a result that he felt could have been better after starting fourth on the grid.

Despite losing six positions from where he started, Magnussen was still happy to be able to bring home a point for Haas in one of the team’s three home races during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, with the upgrade they brought to the VF-23 for the Miami International Autodrome appearing to be working well.

“The Miami Grand Prix was a very good weekend for us,” said Magnussen.  “Of course, we only got one point but surely one point is better than none and what we always strive to do is get into the top 10 and score points at every weekend, and we managed to do that.

“On a more general note, the car was strong all the way through the weekend and the upgrade that we brought for this race seemed to be working pretty well so it looks like we’ve made a step forward, which is very positive. Furthermore, it was great to have a good result in front of our home crowd and our partners. All in all, it was a fun event.”

This weekend sees the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, and Magnussen is happy to be back at the circuit with his aim to break into the points for a third time this season.

In January, Thomas Kongshøj became the first Dane to run the Dakar Rally on a bike in over a decade. Having signed a five-year contract with Joyride Race Service, he intends to return to the race in 2024 onwards. In an interview with Claus Vesterager Martinus of Danish menswear site Kaufmann, he recounted his career leading up to his Dakar début and plans for the future, whch includes potentially racing on four wheels.

“I have been tinkering a bit with the idea of ​​driving the Dakar Rally in a car,” said Kongshøj. “I’ve gradually started to test the possibilities in practice.”

Kongshøj hails from a decorated motocross and enduro background, having won nine domestic enduro championships and even the Swedish national title. In 2021, he began dabbling in the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship (predecessor to the current World Rally-Raid Championship) and finished fourth in class in his maiden start at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

The outing was enough to earn him a spot in the 2022 Dakar Rally via the Road to Dakar programme, which rewards outstanding racers with no prior Dakar experience, and he deferred it to 2023. According to Kongshøj, it cost him 200,000 Danish krone (€26,858) to afford the seat with Joyride.

Upon starting the 2023 Dakar Rally, he became the first Danish rider to race the event since Jes Munk in 2011. Things got off to a slow start when he crashed and broke four ribs on just the second day of the race. Continuing with painkillers, he finished twenty-second overall in Rally2 with a best daily performance of twenty-first in Stage #13.

Jonathan Savel hopes to take on the Dakar Rally for the first time in 2024, particularly by throwing himself in the deep end and competing in the Malle Moto class.

Known as Original by Motul at Dakar for sponsorship reasons, Malle Moto is regarded as the most difficult category of the Rally as riders compete on their own without assistance from teams and are limited to certain supplies.

Savel mainly races in Belgian Endurance-Cross, the domestic enduro bike championship of his native Belgium, with a decade of experience. He finished twenty-fourth in the 2022 standings alongside brother Sébastien Savel.

So far into 2023, he has placed much of his training on the Hellas Rally Raid that begins this weekend. Held in Greece from 21–28 May, the Hellas Rally Raid is an amateur event that riders can use to gain further experience ahead of more serious endeavours. Savel will compete on the #9 KTM 450 RR in the FIM 3 category; he is one of sixty-three entrants in Malle Moto.

Following Greece, his main focus will be the Rallye du Maroc on 12–18 October. As the final round of the World Rally-Raid Championship, the Moroccan event will basically serve as a final test for Savel, whose entry will be in the Road to Dakar classification.

Tyler Reddick is the latest NASCAR Cup Series driver to be docked points for vehicle infractions. On Tuesday, NASCAR announced Reddick has received a ten-point deduction after his #45 23XI Racing Toyota Camry was found to have an unsecured ballast during inspection prior to qualifying for the Darlington Raceway round.

The infraction broke Section 14.11.2.1.A of the rulebook stipulating that “[a]ny and all ballast added to the vehicle must be secured inside a ballast container(s) […] Additional ballast containers will not be permitted to be added to the chassis.”

Crew chief Billy Scott was kicked out for the rest of the weekend and the #45 team was not allowed to select their pit stall. Team performance director Dave Rogers served as Reddick’s interim crew chief as he finished twenty-second.

Reddick had also failed pre-qualifying inspection the week before at Kansas, doing so twice and losing his car chief Michael Hobson.

Due to its denseness, ballast can pose a safety hazard if it falls out of a car during a race. Ryan Blaney received the same penalty as Reddick at the 2020 Southern 500, incidentally also at Darlington, while larger punishments can be applied if the ballast issue occurs mid-session.

The 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will see the first test of a new Qualifying format, with each of the three dry weather compounds supplied by Pirelli Motorsport to be used across the three segments.

The first part of Qualifying will see all twenty drivers mandated to use the hardest compound available, which for this weekend will be the C3 compound, while Q2 will see the fifteen drivers who advance switch to the medium C4 compound.

Those who advance to the top ten shootout will then be allowed to use the soft compound, this weekend the softest available to the teams, the C5.  The change to the format also means a reduction of available sets across the weekend for each driver from thirteen to eleven.

“The first round of the 2023 season in Europe will feature two important innovations in terms of tyres, both aimed at improving the environmental sustainability of our sport,” said Mario Isola, the Motorsport Director at Pirelli. 

“The first centres around qualifying: at Imola we will be testing a new regulation that requires teams to use a different type of compound for each of the three sessions, with the hards fitted for Q1, the mediums for Q2, and the softs for Q3.

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is a Formula 1 race that takes place at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. Here are some key details about the event:

1. Circuit: The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, commonly known as Imola Circuit or Imola Racing Circuit, is located in the town of Imola in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. It has a length of 4.909 kilometers (3.050 miles) and features a total of 19 turns.

2. Race History: The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix made its debut on the Formula 1 calendar in 2020 as a result of the revised schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race returned to Imola after a 14-year absence, previously known as the San Marino Grand Prix.

3. Track Characteristics: The Imola Circuit is known for its challenging and technical layout, with a mix of high-speed straights and tight, twisty sections. It offers limited overtaking opportunities, putting a premium on qualifying and strategic race decisions.

4. Weather Conditions: The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix takes place in the spring, typically in late April or early May. Weather conditions in the region can vary, ranging from cool and wet to mild and dry. It adds an element of unpredictability to the race.

The McLaren F1 Team head to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this weekend looking to rebound from their worst performance of the season last time out in Miami where Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could only finish seventeenth and nineteenth respectively.

The Azerbaijan-Miami Grand Prix double header saw two very different results for McLaren, with both drivers scoring good results at the Baku City Circuit before being nowhere near them in the United States.

The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari has been good to McLaren in recent years, with Norris scoring top three finishes in the past two seasons, but Andrea Stella, the Team Principal of the Woking-based squad, knows a repeat in 2023 will be extremely difficult to achieve.

Stella says that after the horror result in Miami, it is important for the team to rebound and contend once more for points, particularly if they want to fulfil their ambition to return to the very front of the field.

“After a positive race in Baku, we had a difficult event in Miami in which we scored no points,” Stella said.  “The team have reset and are ready to go again in Imola to kickstart the triple header ahead of us.

After the disappointment of the Miami Grand Prix where neither Lando Norris nor Oscar Piastri were close to scoring points, the McLaren F1 Team head to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix looking to turn around their fortunes.

Norris has many good memories of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari having secured back to back podium finishes at the track, but he knows the team has a lot of work to do if they are to make it a hat trick, particularly on the back of their toughest weekend of the year so far in the United States.

Nevertheless, Norris is excited to get back to racing at Imola in the first of three races on consecutive weekends, the first triple header of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.

“I’m looking forward to racing in Imola and getting the triple header underway,” said Norris.  “It’s a fast technical track which can make it difficult to read. However, it’s got some iconic features, which make it a fun one to drive.

“The result in Miami wasn’t what we had hoped for, but we’ve done well at this track historically with back-to-back podiums in the last two years. Whilst we’re not in that fight this year just yet, the circuit holds some good memories.

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb are the two biggest stars of rally raid today, but both might be headed for greener pastures in 2024.

Speaking with MARCA, Al-Attiyah revealed his contract with Toyota expires on 1 September, the final day of the World Rally-Raid Championship‘s next race Desafío Ruta 40. While Toyota will certainly want to keep him in their ranks and he intends to launch negotiations for such a possibility, he also noted he expects to be in talks with two other brands.

Already a two-time winner of the Dakar Rally and FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies champion he signed with Toyota in 2016, Al-Attiyah quickly turned the Toyota Hilux into one of the most successful rally raid vehicles of all time. Save for a retirement in his first try in 2017, he has never finished worse than second at Dakar with victories in 2019, 2022, and 2023, while also claiming the final World Cup title followed by the inaugural World Rally-Raid Championship in 2022. He currently leads the W2RC standings after winning the Sonora Rally.

“My contract ends after Argentina, and it will be there when we will talk with Toyota and with two other manufacturers,” Al-Attiyah told MARCA. “We finish the contract in August and it will be then when we will look at it.”

Loeb sits second behind Al-Attiyah. He has raced for Prodrive and their rally raid factory team Bahrain Raid Xtreme since 2021, stringing back-to-back runner-up finishes at Dakar which included winning seven stages with six in a row at the 2023 edition.

Having led the 2022/23 FIA Formula E World Championship for over three months, Pascal Wehrlein faces the seven biggest races of his Formula E career, with the German being at serious risk of seeing his title charge fall agonisingly short.

Back at the end of January when the Diriyah double-header took place, Wehrlein was quickly labelled as the title favourite, with it being incredibly easy to see why. After finishing second at the season-opener in Mexico City, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team driver claimed a famous double victory in Diriyah, launching him to the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

Wehrlein was rapid in qualifying at the start of the season, with him having progressed to the duels in two of the opening three races. As a result, he was in a prime position to capitalise on Porsche’s remarkable energy efficiency, which at the season was far superior over the other manufacturers. He made winning look embarrassingly easy, to the point where Porsche looked unbeatable.

He was capable of breezing his way into the lead whilst still preserving energy, something which saw him and Jake Dennis clear-off into the distance in Mexico City and Diriyah. Following Diriyah, the German boasted a six-point lead in the standings, thanks to having scored sixty-eight points from just the opening three races. In the following six races, he’s scored just thirty-three, highlighting just how much his progress has halted since the opening few rounds.

With the exception of Cape Town and the second race in Berlin, Wehrlein’s qualifying performances have been woeful since his two wins in Saudi Arabia, with Porsche seemingly being unable to extract one lap performance from the 99X Electric Gen3. His qualifying struggles initially weren’t too big a concern, with Porsche’s energy efficiency advantage still resulting in the twenty-eight year-old breezing through the field.

Nitro Rallycross was originally born to be the next American rallycross series, but evolved to the point where the racing seems to more resemble more a cross between its original discipline and short course off-road racing. This growing deviation has become so apparent that the series has rebranded to Nitrocross for its third season, which begins in June.

“I love rallycross, with its action-packed sprint racing and door-to-door action. That core hasn’t changed. But we can’t be relegated to the rules historically in place for rallycross,” explained series head Travis Pastrana. “The Nitro Circus full-send mentality is also a big part of our DNA. We wanted to make sure that attitude came through loud and clear.”

Even from the inaugural season in 2021, Nitro RX had been attached to tracks that might be considered unconventional for rallycross. Glen Helen Raceway in California, for example, is an all-dirt track mainly known as a site for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series and Great American Shortcourse. Although the series’ brief stay in Europe to kick off the 2022/23 calendar took place at rallycross sites like Lydden Hill and Strängnäs, it quickly reverted to short course-based tracks upon returning to North America; even the paved Circuit Trois-Rivières in Canada ended up a single-surface track covered in a snow, as was the Calgary Stampede.

Nitrocross’ home base at MidAmerica Outdoors is one of the more obvious examples. Located in Jay, Oklahoma, MAO’s portfolio almost exclusively consists of short course properties like GAS, the Ultra4 USA rockcrawling series, and the MAO Racing SXS and Truck Championship Series. MAO is also the site of Pastrana’s “dream track”, and will host the 2023/24 season opener on 10/11 June as part of the facility’s Visions Off-Road weekend.

Much of this shift can be attributed to action sports-savvy parent company Thrill One Sports & Entertainment, who also owns Street League Skateboarding. In July 2022, Thrill One was acquired by equity firms overseen by UFC president Dana White and skateboarder Rob Dyrdek.

Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, also known as Pomona Raceway, is a renowned drag racing venue located in Pomona, California, USA. It is considered one of the most iconic and historic tracks in the world of drag racing. Here's some information about Auto Club Raceway at Pomona:

1. History: Auto Club Raceway at Pomona has a rich history that dates back to 1950 when it first opened. It has been a staple in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) circuit and has hosted countless drag racing events over the years.

2. Track Layout: The drag strip at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona is a quarter-mile (1,320 feet) long, which is the standard length for NHRA-sanctioned events. The track is made of concrete and offers excellent traction for high-speed racing.

3. NHRA Winternationals and NHRA Finals: Auto Club Raceway at Pomona is the home of two prestigious NHRA events—the NHRA Winternationals and the NHRA Finals. The NHRA Winternationals kick off the NHRA season in February, while the NHRA Finals mark the culmination of the season in November.

4. Iconic Moments: Pomona Raceway has witnessed many historic and memorable moments in drag racing. It has seen legendary drivers, such as John Force, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, and Shirley Muldowney, achieve significant victories and set records on its hallowed ground.

Josh Williams is best known as a NASCAR Xfinity Series regular, after being a championship contender in the ARCA Menards Series and even dabbling in the Cup Series. However, his Craftsman Truck Series experience is relatively scant with just one career start.

That will change on Saturday as he enters the Truck race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, driving the #22 Ford F-150 for AM Racing.

Williams’ lone Truck start came at Martinsville in 2014, where he raced for his own team and placed thirty-fourth after his brakes failed 82 laps in. The one-off came while he was racing in ARCA, coming off a fifth-place points finish the previous year. Successful 2015 and 2016 campaigns led to him graduating directly to the Xfinity Series, where he has been a mainstay since.

He is currently racing the full Xfinity season for DGM Racing, where he sits twenty-second in points with a best finish of tenth at Talladega. Williams had been suspended for COTA after parking his car in the middle of the Atlanta race in March, drawing him national attention and even new sponsors.

In 2022, Williams completed the NASCAR national series trifecta by running three Cup races for Live Fast Motorsports.

On 12 May, The Checkered Flag sat down with Sara Price to discuss her Sonora Rally National Car/UTV win, which clinched free entry into the 2024 Dakar Rally, and her very eventful two weeks of racing in Mexico that included Sonora, the Mexican 1000, and Dos Mares 500.

The full transcript of the interview is available below. Some text has been altered from the actual dialogue to improve readability and remove verbal pauses.

An article covering the interview can be read here.

Transcript

TCF: It’s been about two weeks since Sonora and a lot has happened since then, but has it fully sunk in yet that you’re going to be racing at Dakar soon?

SP: Oh yeah, it’s fully sunken in and as you guys know, making the commitment is a huge one itself, but now it’s putting the pieces of the puzzle together in order for us to make it happen. Either which way, I’ll break the bank account to make it happen, so we’re going.