Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Valtteri Bottas is gearing up for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, and while it promises to be an exciting and challenging race, Bottas has demanded that the team need to make rapid improvements to maximise their performance this weekend. This will be the second year that the Miami Grand Prix is held, and Bottas will be looking to make his mark after a poor showing in Azerbaijan.

Bottas admitted that Baku was a disappointing weekend for himself and Alfa Romeo F1 Team STAKE, but with the race weekends now coming thick and fast, the Finnish driver is hoping that Miami gives them a perfect opportunity to bounce back.

“Baku was definitely not our weekend, but we have taken some lessons from it and we have moved on to a new race week. I am glad to be back in Miami, I have good memories from last year’s inaugural race and the welcome we received here in Florida.”

Bottas has demanded that the team make improvements but ensured that they remain motivated and confident in their abilities to turn around their poor start to the 2023 season.

“We need to make a rapid improvement in terms of performance, maximising the different track we’ll have this week. We are as motivated as ever: it may seem tough right now, but there are still many races ahead, and we are all keen on doing the very best.

Despite having endured a frustrating home weekend in Berlin, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team remain at the top of the Constructors’ Championship ahead of the iconic Monaco E-Prix this weekend, whilst Pascal Wehrlein continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship.

Leading both championships ahead of the second half of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship “is a very special motivation” for the entire team, according to Team Principal Florian Modlinger. Porsche have ultimately been the strongest team so far this season; however, Berlin was a necessary reminder for the side just how quickly things can change in Formula E.

The German manufacturer saw their lead in the standings slashed from forty-one points to just fifteen, with Envision Racing very much being on a charge. Wehrlein also saw his advantage collapse, with the German driver now leading the standings by just four points. Qualifying was Porsche’s Achilles heel again in Berlin, with the side continuing to struggle for one lap performance.

Race pace is certainly not an issue; however, starting towards the back of the field is starting to badly cost them. These are all things that the team have learnt this season, though, with Modlinger recognising that “we’re all constantly learning”.

“We’re all still on a learning curve with the Gen3 cars. Each team will continue to make progress over the coming weeks and months. We can’t let up. We need to create the conditions for us to remain competitive and be at the front. We’re all constantly learning. The balance of power can shift from race to race.

Pascal Wehrlein enters this weekend’s legendary Monaco E-Prix knowing that he needs a huge performance at the Circuit de Monaco, after seeing his title lead almost destroyed in Berlin.

The championship leader saw his advantage reduced from twenty-four points to just four following his home double-header, with Nick Cassidy being hot on his tail. Wehrlein endured a mixed weekend in Berlin, with the German having made a mess of qualifying ahead of the first of two races in the capital city. As expected, though, he fought through the field to claim sixth in the opening race, before finishing the second race of the weekend in seventh.

Whilst he still scored some solid points, it marked a dramatic turning point in the championship, with the momentum very much being in Cassidy’s favour. Where better to turn things around than Monaco, though, with the iconic street track hosting the ninth round of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship this weekend.

It’s the one circuit on the calendar that Wehrlein admits “everyone wants to win” at, with the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team driver being part of the group.

“For me, this is one of the coolest tracks in motorsport. It’s perfect for Formula E and the races we contest. It’s great for overtaking and the speed is good, too. On our street circuits, we don’t usually have much room and we have to be careful not to make a mistake – and not only in the first corner after the start.

Nani Roma‘s return to the Dakar Rally will be with a newcomer to the race as he joins up with M-Sport and Neil Woolridge Motorsport‘s new Ford Ranger T1+ effort. MARCA reported Wednesday that he has signed a two-year deal with an option to add a third, while the team is also negotiating with Laia Sanz to pilot a second truck.

Roma had already tested the Ranger T1+, which was initially due to race in 2023 before delaying its début to 2024. A two-time Dakar Rally champion, he served in a similar capacity at his last stop with Bahrain Raid Xtreme, helping to develop the Prodrive Hunter before being one of its inaugural drivers at the 2021 Rally. He finished fifth overall.

After the 2022 edition, where he was classified fifty-second, Roma put his career on hold to undergo bladder cancer treatment. While he had hoped to recover in time for the 2023 race, the timetable was too narrow for him to do so, ending his 26-year streak at Dakar. He still has another year on his contract with BRX, but has opted to forgo it to head to M-Sport.

Sanz, a fellow Spaniard, was the top female rider in Dakar’s bike category throughout the 2010s before transitioning to cars in 2022. After finishing twenty-third in her cars début with Mini, she drove a Century CR6 for Astara Team in 2023 and placed sixty-fifth overall after flipping in Stage #5.

Since Dakar, she has been focusing on Extreme E with ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team run by three-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz. Sanz and Mattias Ekström, Sainz’s rally raid team-mate at Audi, won the season opener in Saudi Arabia, incidentally the current host country for Dakar.

Nikolai Strakhov, an early pioneer of Russian competitors at the Dakar Rally, passed away last Tuesday. He was 63 years old.

Strakhov had worked at KAMAZ-master since its formation in 1988. The Dakar Rally saw its first Russian entrants three years later in 1991, and Strakhov served as mechanic of a KAMAZ driven by Vladimir Goltsov with Firdaus Kabirov also onboard. The trio finished runner-up to Jacques Houssat’s Perlini, while their KAMAZ team-mate Joel Tammeka joined them on the podium.

He continued to work at KAMAZ in a pit capacity, servicing the team’s competition entries from assistance vehicles. While such positions do not attain the same glory as those racing, he continued to experience his own adventures that infamously included his KamAZ-5350 support truck being cut off from the team at the 2001 Dakar Rally when the Mauritania/Morocco border was closed following a landmine injuring a driver.

With Strakhov’s help, KAMAZ has won a record nineteen Dakar Rallies in the truck/T5 category.

“Nikolai Strakhov is gone. The motorsport veteran, who has worked in the team since its inception and achieved all the major historical milestones with it, died on April 25, at the age of 63,” reads a team statement. “Back in 1991, together with Vladimir Goltsov and Firdaus Kabirov, he became the first Russian winner of the Dakar Rally when their crew took second place in the race. After that, there were thousands of kilometres of roads, cities and countries, sleepless nights and selfless work for the overall team result.

Stéphane Peterhansel spent the past week doing something he had not attempted in decades: racing a rally raid on a bike. The fourteen-time Dakar Rally champion returned to his roots at the Morocco Desert Challenge when he took part on a Yamaha Ténéré 700 as part of the Ténéré Spirit Experience.

“It has been a very long time since I had ridden a big motorcycle in the desert,” said Peterhansel during the rally. “It goes back to the Dakar in 1998.

“I was a little lost at first but it’s coming back. You feel free with the air around you, it’s very different from the car. You can smell the dust and the heat, I had forgotten all that.”

The opportunity arose during a lull in his schedule as Peterhansel is not running the full World Rally-Raid Championship, whose Sonora Rally took place on the same week as the MDC. His wife Andréa Peterhansel and Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team manager Marc Bourgeois serve as general managers for the TSE.

The TSE is a non-competitive category intended for Ténéré owners to experience rallies without racing against others, making it a viable option for Peterhansel to re-adjust to life on two wheels. As such, the TSE followed a different route from the main event as part of the Raid category.

The Italian Grand Prix is a Formula One race held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit in Monza, Italy. It is one of the oldest races on the Formula One calendar, with the first Italian Grand Prix being held in 1921.

The Monza circuit is known for its long straights and high-speed corners, making it one of the fastest circuits on the calendar. The track's iconic features include the Parabolica, Curva Grande, and Variante Ascari corners.

The Italian Grand Prix has been won by many legendary drivers, including Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, and Lewis Hamilton. Michael Schumacher holds the record for the most wins at the Italian Grand Prix with 5 victories, while Ferrari is the most successful team at the event with 20 wins.

The Italian Grand Prix is usually held in early September and is the final European race of the season. It is one of the most popular races on the calendar, with thousands of passionate tifosi (Ferrari fans) attending the event each year.

Maserati MSG Racing Team Principal James Rossiter has stressed the importance on the Monte-Carlo-based team keeping their “heads down” this weekend, as the side enter their home E-Prix at “the best-known racing circuit in the world”.

The ninth round of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is, of course, the iconic Monaco E-Prix, the one race on the calendar that every single driver dreams of being victorious at. Glitz and glamour is to be expected; however, Rossiter has urged his team to “remain focused” and to “maintain our energy”, given that they enter their home race on the back of their best result this season.

After suffering from considerable bad luck in the first half of the season, Maserati finally came to the party in Berlin, with Maximilian Günther having claimed the team’s first podium of the season. With their home race being Saturday, the momentum that the side gained from the German’s rostrum has come at a perfect time, with Rossiter being acutely aware that “motorsport is very momentum-driven”.

With Maserati finally having shown what they are capable of, could a dream home win be on the cards for the team this weekend? Whether they are victorious at the Circuit de Monaco or not, Rossiter’s immediate aim is for the team to have “another strong performance”.

“Monaco needs no introduction – it’s the best-known racing circuit in the world, and although it’s also our home race, our goals remain the same. We need to trust in our processes, keep our heads down, remain focused on the task at hand and treat it like every other race on the calendar. We’re heading home off the back of our most successful weekend of the season, which saw Max finish on the podium and the team achieve its first double points of the season.

Maximilian Günther is hoping to make further strides in the right direction this weekend at the Monaco E-Prix, Maserati MSG Racing‘s home race. As well as being the team’s all-important home E-Prix, it’s somewhat of a second home event for the German driver too, given that he lives in the area.

At his home weekend just over a week ago in Berlin, Günther finally showed the speed that he is known to have, with the German having disappointed this year ahead of the recent double-header. He certainly turned a much needed corner in the German capital, with him having claimed his and Maserati’s first podium of the season. He backed his podium up with a sixth-place finish in the second of the two races in Berlin, to give him some crucial confidence.

Günther has timed his recent improvement to absolute perfection, given that this weekend is such a mammoth one for him and the team. The twenty-five year-old can’t wait to get going this weekend at the Circuit de Monaco, with him recognising that himself and the Monte-Carlo-based team are in a great position to “build on the good momentum from the past races”.

“Because I live in Monaco, this weekend feels like another home race for me and I’m looking forward to racing on the streets I call home. It felt fantastic to finish on the podium in Berlin, and whilst I’m proud of that achievement my focus now is very much on the task at hand – making sure that we get the most out of the coming race weekend.

“I love racing around this track, it has so much racing history, it holds a very special place in the heart of any racing driver. The team is in good shape, we are well prepared and we will try to build on the good momentum from the past races.”

The NEOM McLaren Formula E Team head into this weekend’s “iconic” Monaco E-Prix eager to bounce back from their miserable performance in Berlin, where they failed to score a single-point across the double-header at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit.

After showing so much promise since having joined the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship this season, Berlin was a weekend to forget for McLaren, with the Woking-based team having struggled for outright pace. The British outfit have been consistent points scorers so far this year; however, things just didn’t fall into place in the German capital.

Whilst their challenging couple of races didn’t impact their position in the Constructors’ Championship, they did lose touch with the top five, meaning a big result is needed at the Circuit de Monaco to get the leading sides back in reach.

McLaren are pulling out all the stops to have a stronger E-Prix in Monaco, with Team Principal Ian James having revealed that the side are “bringing a number of improvements” to The Principality; however, the team boss is aware that “silver bullets” shouldn’t be expected.

“It’s great to be back in Monaco. It is such an iconic location for motorsport and we’ve seen some fantastic FE races here in the past. Berlin was a tough weekend for the team. However, the team has been using the frustration of the poor results as motivation to turn things around.

After having a week to forget his miserable Berlin E-Prix double-header, rookie Jake Hughes “can’t wait” to hit the Circuit de Monaco, as the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship moves onto the iconic Monaco E-Prix.

It is without a doubt the most famous race on the Formula E calendar, with the event this season coming on the back of Hughes’ most difficult E-Prix of his Formula E career so far. Berlin was miserable for the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team driver, after he failed to score a single-point at the double-header. Hughes struggled throughout the E-Prix and never looked like a points scorer, something he’s hoping to change this weekend.

Despite having struggled in the German capital, Hughes heads into the weekend feeling optimistic, with Monaco being a venue which “on paper” should allow McLaren to show-off their strengths.

“I’m really looking forward to returning to Monaco. The first time I raced there was in Formula 2. It was amazing then, so I can’t wait to experience the streets of Monaco in my NEOM McLaren Formula E car. It’ll hopefully be a stronger weekend for us compared to our previous outing in Berlin.

“Berlin wasn’t the weekend we were hoping for, but on paper, Monaco should suit us more. The whole team are doing an amazing job, working really hard, and we just have to keep our heads down. Hopefully we can score some really strong points in Monaco, which will be our goal.”

Nikita Mazepin appeared to have found a new home in Russian rally raid after being booted from Formula One, but he doesn’t plan to defend his Silk Way Rally victory in 2023. In an interview with Match TV, Mazepin explained he will likely be too busy in the summer to pursue any rally raid events like the Silk Way, with his priority being on running the “We Compete As One” foundation.

“My plan for the summer is to work in the direction of the fund, to develop it,” he explained. “We have very good results for the year, I am proud of them. Unfortunately, I think that this year, I won’t be able to perform at the Silk Way; I won’t be able to spend two weeks. But I am always open to cooperation, maybe Sergei Kariakin will get in touch and we will decide something, but I do not plan to go to the Silk Way yet.”

The foundation was created by Mazepin in March 2022 as a means to support Russian athletes barred from competing in international events in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Such services include counseling and legal advice, while also maintaining a scholarship programme and assisting in finding jobs. The foundation’s name is a shot at Formula One’s “We Race As One” initiative, which promotes social inclusion and diversity in the sport.

Mazepin had been scheduled to run his second season in F1 in 2022 before the invasion led to his release from Haas F1 Team. He and his father Dmitry, who runs Haas’ title sponsor Uralkali during his stint there, were subsequently sanctioned by the European Union due to the family’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The FIA implemented a policy mandating Russian and Belarusian competitors needed to condemn the invasion and agree to not use their countries’ emblems. While Mazepin did not explicitly reject the rule like various colleagues, instead opting for a “neutral” stance of taking no action, his racing was consequently restricted to within Russia.

While he has attempted to get back into F1, which included going as far as to take legal action against Haas, he spent the rest of 2022 trying his hand at rally raid. A longtime fan of the discipline, he joined SNAG Racing run by Kariakin, quad winner at the 2017 Dakar Rally, and won the SSV class at the Silk Way Rally. Mazepin has expressed interest at racing Dakar himself someday, though his plans for 2023 and the uncertainty surrounding his nationality suggest that might not happen anytime soon.

In 2022, Mason Maggio made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series début with Reaume Brothers Racing. A year later, he has rejoined the team for Saturday’s race at Kansas Speedway. He will drive the #33 Ford F-150 with sponsorship from Professional AG Services, an agricultural consulting business based in Kansas City.

“This race has been marked on my calendar after gaining experience there last year,” said Maggio. “Kansas is a really fun track and one that I feel suits my driving style. I’m really excited to be back at Reaume Brothers Racing with Josh (Reaume) and everyone else that puts a hand on these trucks.

“I’m super excited to welcome back Professional AG Services, Show Me Real Estate, and Ranch 4-D back on board with us. We’ve built a great relationship since we started working together and to have the opportunity to represent Kansas City based businesses at their home track is awesome.”

An 18-year-old late model racer, Maggio ran four Truck races for RBR in 2022 starting with a twenty-seventh at Gateway. He also raced at Kansas and finished thirty-second.

He began 2023 by entering his first Xifinity Series race at Las Vegas for MBM Motorsports but missed the show. A second qualifying attempt succeeded at Richmond where he placed thirty-first.

Austin Dillon will remain sixty points less than usual. On Tuesday, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel announced Richard Childress Racing‘s appeal of Dillon’s L1-level penalty from Martinsville in April has been upheld.

“While we are disappointed in today’s ruling, we look forward to having this issue in the rear-view mirror so we can focus on the rest of the 2023 NASCAR season,” reads a team statement.

Dillon had been busted for modifying the underwing assembly mounting, which must remain rigid in all directions during a race under Section 14.6.1 of the rulebook. The assembly in the underwing holds up parts at the front of the car like the splitter and is generally tightened once a height is set via ball joints and turnbuckles. If it is not in place, the splitter could be manipulated mid-race to impact aerodynamics.

“As submitted the nuts are not a thread locking device – they are connected and part of the turn buckle,” the panel explained. “The nuts do not lock the assembly. Therefore, the assembly has been modified.”

Dillon remains thirty-first in the standings. Had the penalty not occurred, he would be twenty-fourth with 193 points. He has two top tens through the first eleven races with a best finish of third at Bristol Dirt.