Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Jean-Éric Vergne and reigning World Champion Stoffel Vandoorne recovered some solid points for DS Penske on Saturday at the Monaco E-Prix, after both drivers were disqualified from qualifying.

Qualifying was an hour to forget for the Versailles-based team, after Vergne and Vandoorne were disqualified for their tyre pressures being too low. With Vergne being in the title fight, it was a massive error by the team, given that the mistake saw both of their cars demoted to the final row on the grid. The team recognised their mistake and owned up to it, with the biggest frustration of them all having been that both Vergne and Vandoorne had shown strong pace at the Circuit de Monaco.

With both drivers knowing that their pace was good enough for the points, they set about their business during the ninth round of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, by putting on an exceptional overtaking display. Vergne and Vandoorne both miraculously recovered a points finish, with Vergne having finished seventh with Vandoorne in ninth.

Whilst it was a great recovery given the circumstances, the side took a huge hit in the Constructors’ Championship, with them having not only slipped to fifth in the standings but also to sixty-seven points behind new leader’s Envision Racing. Any points is better than no points, though, with Team Principal Jay Penske having noted that both of his drivers “delivered” a great performance.

“I can sum up today with the old adage: “it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.” And JEV and Stoffel delivered putting in great drives to get both cars in the points. Regardless, we need to get back on form and do better in qualifying as we know we can put our cars up front. I’m looking forward to Jakarta where the aim is to be back on the podium.”

Two-time Formula E Champion Jean-Éric Vergne has admitted that DS Penske can’t afford to make mistakes like they did on Saturday at the Monaco E-Prix, after both of the team’s drivers were disqualified from qualifying.

It was a very mixed day for Vergne at the famous Circuit de Monaco, with the Frenchman having looked quick throughout Free Practice. There were strong hopes for a big result in qualifying for Vergne; however, it was announced after the first qualifying group that Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne had been disqualified from the session. It turned out that both drivers tyre pressures were too low, resulting in them starting from the back of the grid.

Vergne was certainly out of position in twenty-second on the grid; however, the veteran put on an emphatic overtaking display to make up fifteen places, resulting in him crossing the line in seventh. Given his sensational fight through the pack, there is no doubt that he had the pace for a rostrum, had he started the race from higher up. With Nick Cassidy having won the race, Vergne did lose substantial points in the Drivers’ Championship, with him now sitting thirty-four points behind the new leader.

Whilst he was delighted to have recovered so well, the Frenchman noted that the team “can’t afford to make this kind of mistake”, if they want to “fight for the championship this year”.

“We saved the day with that race! Obviously with starting last – especially in Monaco – it was always going to be difficult to score points, but I think we’ve managed a very good recovery and a very good race. It’s just a shame about the qualifying and the issue that we had. If we want to fight for the championship this year we can’t afford to make this kind of mistake. But, we learn, we move forward, and the car was good today so we keep pushing.”

NEOM McLaren Formula E Team enjoyed a solid weekend at the Monaco E-Prix, with the Woking-based team having successfully returned to the points places after enduring a point-less double-header in Berlin.

With upgrades at their disposal, McLaren looked much more competitive on Saturday at the iconic Circuit de Monaco, with rookie Jake Hughes having done brilliantly to claim his and the team’s second pole position of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Hughes actually lost the Final to Sacha Fenestraz; however, the Frenchman had his time deleted for an overuse of power.

Whilst Hughes claimed pole, team-mate René Rast could only secure fourteenth on the grid, following a disappointing qualifying for the German. The race didn’t go that much better for Rast, with him having been involved in a collision which resulted in him needing a new front wing. Rast ultimately had to settle for seventeenth, whilst Hughes held on to fifth.

The Briton just didn’t have the pace to be amongst the race leaders, who are all title contenders. It nevertheless marked his third fifth-place finish of the season, with him having secured some excellent points for him and the British team. The result kept McLaren in a lonely sixth in the Constructors’ Championship, with them still not quite being on terms with the leading teams.

Despite this, Team Principal Ian James was pleased to see the car working so well; however, he noted that “there is still performance to be found”.

Following a challenging double-header in Berlin, Jake Hughes bounced back with a bang at the Monaco E-Prix last weekend, with the rookie having claimed his second pole position of the season.

Hughes’ qualifying pace has been one of his key strengths so far this year in the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with his one lap pace performance having been on display yet again at the Circuit de Monaco. The Briton progressed to the Final stage of the duels fairly comfortably; however, he made a huge error on his lap for pole.

The NEOM McLaren Formula E Team driver saw his time invalidated after locking-up and cutting across the Nouvelle Chicane, handing pole to Sacha Fenestraz. However, Hughes was later awarded pole position and the three points that come with it after it was discovered that his fellow rookie had used too much power on his pole lap, resulting in his time also being deleted. It was a confusing situation which took awhile to sort; however, Hughes was granted pole.

He made a strong start to the race and led the opening laps; however, he ultimately didn’t have the pace to fend off the title favourites, who quickly worked their way to the front. Hughes was also overtaken by Fenestraz late on, leaving the Briton to finish fifth for the third time this year.

With it being Monaco, Hughes was “disappointed” to have not even claimed a podium, although, he did recognise that the Woking-based team made a good step forward.

Andreas Bakkerud only spent one round as Extreme E’s Championship Driver before finding himself competing for a championship. On Monday, JBXE announced he will replace Heikki Kovalainen in the #22 for the remainder of the 2023 season starting at this weekend’s Hydro X Prix.

Bakkerud is a rallycross star who competed in the World, European, and Nitro Rallycross Championships, winning the 2021 ERX Supercar title. He finished runner-up in the 2019 World RX points battle, while his most recent campaign in Nitro RX ended with a second-place Group E finish and two wins.

He was named a Championship Driver at Extreme E for the 2023 season opener in Saudi Arabia, whose duties consisted of being the test and reserve driver if necessary. He began his involvement with the series shortly after its unveiling in 2019 as a member of the “Drivers’ Programme” for prospective drivers, and was therefore among the first to test the Spark ODYSSEY 21.

“From testing the car in France in the beginning to stepping in as the Championship Driver in Saudi Arabia learning all about the car and the Championship, it’s fantastic to continue being a part of this journey,” said Bakkerud. “I love what Extreme E is all about, especially their environmental initiatives, how it champions their actions against climate change, and in general, the whole race for the planet ethos, which is also something we in Norway are huge advocates of.”

His arrival adds to an already very heavy rallycross presence in Extreme E that includes former World RX rivals Timmy Hansen and Johan Kristoffersson, while Bakkerud’s Championship Driver predecessor Timo Scheider raced against him in Nitro RX at the 2022/23 season finale in Glen Helen. JBXE owner Jenson Button also did a Nitro RX event at ERX last October.

As Denny Hamlin celebrated his first win of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season after last-lap contact with Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain‘s right fist was making contact with Noah Gragson‘s left cheek.

Hamlin battled Larson for much of the closing laps in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, and an opportunity opened up after Larson got loose on the backstretch after taking the white flag. Larson attempted to recover but was clipped by Hamlin, causing him to hit the wall again.

“It really started with about three laps to go or so,” began Hamlin’s breakdown of the duel. “I was able to get beside him a few times, but there was one where we caught a couple lapped cars and I got to the inside of him and the lap car chose my lane on the bottom, and that really hurt us. I thought that was our best opportunity to pass him.

“So we were two to go, I knew the only way I was going to have an attempt to get near him was to get a huge run off of turn four, so I ran way up high in turn three, really kind of a Kyle Larson line, way up by the fence, and I just pulled it down and got a huge run, and that run down the front straightaway allowed me to pack air on him getting into the corner and get him up the race track so I could get beside him.

“We were both pedalling the throttle on the exit. I was sideways and he was sideways – I knew it was going to be close whether he was going to clear me, and I’m just trying to grind on his left side, trying to keep the side draft as tight as I could, and it’s just a super sensitive part of the car if you get to the left rear, and obviously it hooked him to the right, and we won. The end.”

On 5 May, The Checkered Flag got to speak with Dylan Parsons as he prepares to move up from 1600 Single Buggy to Pro SPEC for the 2023 Championship Off-Road season.

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 summarising the interview can be read here.

Transcript

TCF: Can you break down the move up from buggy to Pro SPEC for this year? You already were one of the top drivers in 1600 last year, but when and how did the plan to switch start coming together?

DP: So it came together last year in June. We had built a new side-by-side and I was racing Pro Stock, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I could do both,’ and it just was too much. And then this chassis came up for sale and one of my buddies was like, ‘Hey, you should go buy that,’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ Then I told Matt Gerald and then he’s like, ‘Go talk to Mikey, Mike Vanden Heuvel.’ And so I went, I stopped over at the shop that night and he’s like, ‘Go buy it.’

Anatoly Kuzmin, who helped Viktor Moskovskikh and KAMAZ-master win the 1996 Dakar Rally in the truck category, died Sunday.

Kuzmin served as the co-driver on Moskovskikh’s KAMAZ-49252 at the 1996 Dakar Rally with Nail Bagavetdinov as their technician. The trio battled with Karel Loprais’ Tatra, who was seeking a three-peat, before beating him on the final stage. It was the first victory for a Russian competitor since they began taking part in 1991, and perhaps a sign of things to come for the truck class as KAMAZ won eighteen more times since. The 1996 Rally was also the début for Vladimir Chagin in a second KAMAZ, and the current team manager has won the race a record seven times.

The team released the following statement: “The KAMAZ-master team expresses condolences to the families and friends of Anatoly Andreevich Kuzmin, a veteran of the team and a member of the famous first Russian crew that won the Dakar Rally in 1996. Memory Eternal.”

The news comes less than two weeks after the death of longtime KAMAZ-master technician Nikolai Strakhov. Like Kuzmin, Strakhov was a pioneer for Russian rally raiders at Dakar as his KAMAZ finished runner-up in the team’s maiden start. Multiple passings of Dakar alumni in the past six months have also occurred such as Georges Groine, one of the earlier truck category champions in 1982 and 1990s truck competitor Alexandre Boutevillain. Matthew Stevenson and Tihomir Filipović, both also Dakar competitors in the 1990s, respectively died in February and April.

Nissan Formula E Team enjoyed their best weekend of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at the Monaco E-Prix, with rookie Sacha Fenestraz having secured the Japanese manufacturer’s best result of the season.

After a few woeful rounds, the manufacturer’s upgrades for the Circuit de Monaco clearly worked a treat, with three Nissan powertrains having made the Semi-Final stage of the duels. Both Nissan factory drivers made the Semi-Finals as did Jake Hughes, who drives for Nissan’s customer outfit the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team. Fenestraz and Norman Nato actually battled against one another in the Semi-Final, with the rookie having come out on top.

Fenestraz’s time in the Semi-Final was actually a new Formula E lap record in Monaco, going nicely with the lap record he set in Cape Town. Fenestraz ultimately met Hughes in the Final, where the Frenchman saw his time good enough for pole deleted, following an overuse of power. Regardless, Nissan locked-out the top three spots on the grid, something which no other powertrain supplier has achieved this season.

Fenestraz and Nato remained in second and third behind Hughes for the opening few laps of the race; however, all three lost a few places as the title contenders worked their way to the front. Fenestraz did manage to get himself past Hughes during the race for fourth, where he ended up finishing. Nato on the other hand, had to settle for eighteenth, after sustaining damage in the closing laps of the race whilst running in the points.

Despite Nato’s misfortune, Fenestraz’s result was still the team’s highest of the season and their first points finish since Cape Town, something which saw them go from tenth to seventh in the Constructors’ Championship.

Sacha Fenestraz delivered a really strong weekend at the Monaco E-Prix, with the rookie having secured a front row start for the ninth round of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, before finishing fourth at the Circuit de Monaco.

The Frenchman boasted strong pace throughout the day at The Principality, with the Nissan Formula E Team driver having set a new Formula E lap record at Monaco, during his Semi-Final duel. Fenestraz had actually claimed pole position only to have his Final time deleted, due to an overuse of power. Nevertheless, he still started the famous race from second.

He remained in second for the opening laps before slipping behind some of the title favourites, who quickly worked their way through the field. The rookie ultimately didn’t quite have the race pace to claim a maiden Formula E podium, with him having been forced to settle for fourth. Given that his most recent points finish prior to Monaco was Diriyah Race Two, the return to the top ten was most welcomed by the Japanese manufacturer.

Fenestraz was pleased to be “back fighting at the front” but did admit that his race strategy “could have been a little better”; however, he was overall delighted to be back amongst the leaders.

“A really positive weekend overall, with a fantastic qualifying session. It might not officially be our pole but I see it as ours, as we set the fastest lap and only lost it due to an overuse of power.

Ricky Collard looked likely for a maiden British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) win at Brands Hatch to end the days’ proceedings, but instead saw it snatched away with two laps to go after a time penalty was added for infringing track limits.

This gifted the win to Ash Sutton who went back-to-back for NAPA Racing UK and third in the championships after two wins and a second place, with the three-time champion erasing bad memories of Donington Park.

Collard seemingly didn’t know that he had a penalty added on as he fought to the finish to take it on the chequered flag and even attempted to go into Parc Ferme for the post-race celebrations, as Toyota Gazoo Racing UK ponder what might have been.

This after he took the top spot on the opening lap passing pole sitter, Bobby Thompson who ended up with a best-ever second place.

While Sutton charged from 11th place showing scary pace within no time at all getting behind Collard and the latter defended valiantly as he fended off the Ford Focus even when initially losing the place late on.

After enduring a challenging few rounds filled with bad luck and misfortune, Jake Dennis has confirmed that he’s absolutely “back in the title hunt”, after claiming a magical podium at the Monaco E-Prix.

Dennis’ season was quickly unravelling into one of ‘what could’ve been’ following the first race in Berlin; however, the British driver has certainly regained control of his season and most importantly, his title chances. His well-deserved third-place finish at the Circuit de Monaco on Saturday saw him claim his second podium in a row after he finished second in Berlin’s second race.

The entire day in Monaco was a solid one for the Avalanche Andretti Formula E driver, who gave himself a great chance of a big result by qualifying eleventh. Whilst he missed the duels, Dennis knew that being close to the top ten would give him a chance of a podium, something which proved to be true. He made strong progress in the opening stages of the race and quickly got himself into the top three, behind Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy.

Dennis tried to get Evans for second a few times but wasn’t able to find a way past the Kiwi, who defended superbly. Unfortunately, the Briton was unable to use his energy advantage on the final lap due to it having been neutralised behind a Safety Car, something which did leave him a little frustrated. Nevertheless, third was still a brilliant result, especially as he hit the wall on his first lap.

The podium resulted in Dennis moving into third in the Drivers’ Championship, where he finds himself twenty-five points behind Cassidy, who took the lead of the standings.

Feryn Dakar Sport was not a happy team in late 2022 when their Toyota Land Cruisers entering the 2023 Dakar Rally were turned away by the FIA after failing scrutineering. So much so, in fact, that they have no intention of trying the race again in 2024 as they will instead run the Africa Eco Race to start the year.

Koen Wauters and Tom de Leeuw were supposed to race the #257 and #268 Land Cruisers in the 2023 Dakar Rally’s T2 category, where they would have been the only other team besides Toyota Auto Body, but the FIA ruled their vehicles’ rollcages did not meet regulation. Feryn protested the verdict as Dakar organiser Amaury Sport Organisation had approved the cars in pre-inspection a month prior, and claimed they were given just forty-eight hours to rectify any issues only to be rejected again. The team eventually withdrew the #706 Land Cruiser of Nicola Feryn that was going to run the Dakar Classic out of solidarity with its barred allies.

“The good weather is approaching, but we at Feryn already have our heads in winter again,” begins a team statement. “We have decided not to go to the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia because we have no business there anymore. We have entered the Africa Eco Race in January 2024. Two cars – a Toyota Land Cruiser 100 and 200 – and our (Mercedes 2635) truck that won last year’s Dakar Classic will soon be driving through the beautiful deserts of North and West Africa again. On 31 December 2023, we will be at the start in Monaco. We will once again be able to fully celebrate the New Year in the rally atmosphere. And we finish in Dakar, the city where the desert rally belongs!”

The Africa Eco Race usually takes place in March, but the 2023 edition was pushed to January due to severe flooding at the finish line in Dakar, Senegal. While the 2024 Dakar Rally’s specific dates have not been confirmed, it is traditionally held in the first half of January and therefore comes into conflict with the AER. The ASO is considering a stretch of 6–19 January, while the AER is set to begin on 30 December and run through 14 January. Feryn had planned to race the 2023 AER prior to the postponement.

The AER models itself as taking up the mantle previously established by the Dakar Rally when the latter raced from Europe to Dakar. Said route was dropped in 2008 for safety reasons and the Rally, despite no longer actually going through Dakar, is now held in Saudi Arabia.

Western Mexico was bustling with desert racing in the past fortnight as the state of Sonora hosted the World Rally-Raid Championship’s inaugural trip to the Americas with the Sonora Rally, immediately followed by the NORRA Mexican 1000 in neighbouring Baja California. Sonora alone was already a difficult race to complete, much less doing so followed by the Mexican 1000 the following week, but a quartet of racers were more than up for the task.

Matt Sutherland and Matthew Glade had a particularly busy two weeks as they ran both races as part of the Ultimate Ironman Challenge, organised by NORRA and Sonora Rally for those attempting double duty on their own. Sutherland won the Sonora Rally’s Malle Moto class (finishing second in the Road to Dakar) before backing it up with his second consecutive Mexican 1000 bike overall victory. Racing in Pro Rally, he set a total time of 21:54:05 (21:53:20 excluding penalties) to hold off Modern Open rider Cade Smith by thirty-five minutes while also beating his 2022 time by fifteen minutes. Glade finished fourth in Pro Rally and fourteenth overall, seven hours back of Sutherland.

With the Sonora Rally ending on 28 April while the Mexican 1000’s first day of racing was on the 30th, Ultimate Ironman Challenge participants took a shuttle van from the Sonora finish in San Luis Río Colorado to the 1000’s start in Ensenada on the 29th. Sutherland and Glade’s bikes reached their destination and received an expedited pre-race inspection process before heading out the next day.

Mike Johnson placed an impressive third overall and second in Pro Rally. While Johnson is no stranger to the Mexican 1000 and his Rally Comp company provides roadbook devices for riders there and at Sonora, the 1000 was just his second race with Chinese manufacturer Kove Moto after finishing third in Sonora’s National Enduro.

In the four-wheel realm, Sara Price‘s fourteenth overall secured the Evolution Stock Turbo UTV victory. A twenty-minute penalty narrowed the gap to second-placed Benjamin Crawford to twenty-one minutes, though that was still more than enough of a cushion for the victory. While Sutherland came one spot short of securing free admission to the 2024 Dakar Rally, Price claimed the Road to Dakar at Sonora for four-wheel vehicles after winning the National Car/UTV division. Price’s Sonora co-driver Jeremy Gray split time in the navigator’s seat at the 1000 with his daughter Saydiie Gray.

Jaguar TCS Racing Team Principal James Barclay was “very pleased” with Mitch Evans‘ podium at the Monaco E-Prix on Saturday, with the New Zealander having finished second at the Circuit de Monaco for the second season in a row.

It was another exceptional day for Evans, who showed strong pace from the very start of the meeting. The Kiwi was the only driver in the top eight of the Drivers’ Championship to make the duels ahead of the race, with him having secured sixth on the grid. This put him in a prime position to get amongst the leaders early on, something he did with ease.

Evans actually found himself in the lead of the race briefly, before being overtaken by fellow Kiwi Nick Cassidy mid-race, following a surprise move at the first corner. The Jaguar driver gave it his absolute all to find a way past Cassidy; however, there was simply no way to overtake the Envision Racing driver. Evans’ pursuit of a famous Monaco win weren’t helped by team-mate Sam Bird, who hit Nico Müller on the penultimate lap at Sainte Devote, resulting in a Safety Car finish.

Bird had a miserable afternoon and ended up finishing sixteenth, after being awarded a five-second time penalty for being deemed at fault for the collision with Müller. His race wasn’t helped by him missing the Attack Mode detection point during the race, meaning he lost substantial ground.

At least Evans was on hand to score the Coventry-based team some crucial points, keeping them third in the Constructors’ Championship. Barclay was delighted with the team’s fifth podium from the last four races; however, even he noted that they came “so close” to the most famous win in motorsport.