Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Mitch Evans is the man of the moment, with the New Zealander having claimed a famous victory at the Berlin E-Prix, making it back-to-back wins for him. To add to the celebrations, Jaguar TCS Racing claimed the first 1-2 in their history, since they joined the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Sam Bird claimed second with Maximilian Günther in third, whilst championship leader finished Pascal Wehrlein finished sixth.

Attack Mode Mayhem Dominates Opening Laps

As the first race of the weekend at the packed-out Tempelhof Street Circuit approached its start, it was Sébastian Buemi on pole with Bird alongside him, whilst championship leader Wehrlein was down in fifteenth and with significant work to do.

As the lights went out, it was Dan Ticktum who made an unbelievable start and went from fourth to first at the opening corner, whilst Stoffel Vandoorne backed out of an opening corner overtake on Buemi, with the drivers knowing that leading the race was not the correct strategy. Ticktum seemingly couldn’t care, though, with the Briton have made NIO 333 Racing fans smile across the globe.

The order at the front suddenly shuffled on Lap Three, though, as Ticktum and Buemi both activated their first Attack Mode, elevating Bird into the lead. Ticktum and Buemi returned to first and second on Lap Four, though, as Bird activated his first Attack Mode. It became clear that the drivers all wanted to get rid of their Attack Modes as quickly as possible, due to how challenging energy efficiency was set to be.

Ticktum and Buemi both activated their second and final Attack Mode on Lap Five, elevating Bird back into the lead. Behind Bird was Jake Dennis, who was yet to activate either of his Attack Modes. To no surprise, Bird activated his second Attack Mode on Lap Six, whilst Dennis activated his first. It meant that after the bizarre opening Attack Mode surge, Ticktum and Buemi remained in first and second, with Bird in third.

Sébastian Buemi will start round seven of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship from pole position, after beating Sam Bird in the Final of the duels at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit. With championship leader Pascal Wehrlein starting from fifteenth, it gives Envision Racing a great opportunity for to close the gap at the Berlin E-Prix.

Group A

Getting qualifying underway in Group A were all the drivers occupying an odd position in the Drivers’ Championship, which meant current standings leader Wehrlein was joined by the in-form Nick Cassidy, António Félix da Costa, Buemi, São Paulo winner Mitch Evans, reigning World Champion and Free Practice 1 pacesetter Stoffel Vandoorne, André Lotterer, Sérgio Sette Câmara, Oliver Rowland, Edoardo Mortara and Nico Müller.

With so many drivers in the opening group having looked quick this weekend, it was incredibly difficult to predict just who would claim a spot in the top four, and the all-important pathway to the duels. After the opening laps it was Vandoorne who sat at the top by a tenth of a second, with Buemi, Cassidy and Evans having occupied the remaining top four spots. It meant both TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team drivers had work to do in the final five minutes of Group A.

As the twelve drivers started their final push lap it was clear that the top four was going to change. Vandoorne remained at the top on a 1:05.978, with the Envision Racing drivers occupying second and third. However, fourth went to Sette Câmara, who knocked Evans out of the top four. The biggest shock, though, was that Wehrlein could only manage eighth, meaning the championship leader and home driver will start today’s race from fifteenth on the grid, opening up a huge opportunity to his title rivals.

Into the duels: Vandoorne, Buemi, Cassidy and Sette Câmara.

Maximilian Günther made a strong start to the first race day of the weekend at the Berlin E-Prix, with the Maserati MSG Racing driver having topped Free Practice Two after setting the quickest time of the weekend so far, ahead of qualifying for the seventh round of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

As the sun rose to get the first race day of the weekend at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit underway, it was René Rast who led the field out at his home E-Prix, with the drivers having just thirty minutes of running until qualifying. It was the worst possible start to FP2 for Oliver Rowland, with the Mahindra Racing driver having locked-up at the opening corner, before hitting the barrier on the outside of the corner.

It adds to what’s been a challenging season for Rowland, with his Turn One incident potentially being caused by a technical fault rather than a driver error. In order to recover Rowland’s car, the red flag was flown just six minutes into the session. Dan Ticktum topped the session early on prior to the red flag being flown, with the Briton having set a 1:06.829, which was still a second slower than Stoffel Vandoorne‘s pacesetting time from Friday evening.

Following a six-minute red flag period, the session finally restarted with just over seventeen minutes remaining. Times immediately started to tumble, with Sébastian Buemi having hit the front after setting a low 1:06s lap. It was then announced that the time lost during the red flag would be reapplied to the session, meaning the drivers lost no time at all.

As the session moved into the final twenty minutes once the lost time had been reapplied, Buemi set the quickest lap of the weekend so far, after posting a 1:05.686. A couple minutes later, Buemi’s time was beaten by Jean-Éric Vergne, who posted a strong 1:05.600 to go 0.086s faster than the Envision Racing driver. Vergne’s time at the tip was short-lived, as Günther hit the front at his home race, after dipping into the low 1:05s.

Century Racing will be the seventh manufacturer to enter the T1+ subcategory of rally raid with their in-progress CR7. A prototype chassis has been built and the team hopes to begin testing the car in July.

The CR7 is a departure from Century’s models as a four-wheel-drive machine, which was previously experimented in 2008 with the CR1 and 2012’s X6. All of the team’s other vehicles including their current car CR6 are 2WD.

The CR6 and its successor share various similarities such as the double wishbone rear suspension and the same dimensions save for the roof, the latter of which is higher for the CR7.

Otherwise, the CR7 will obviously be a more complex and different beast. Any remaining traits that the two share draw more from the upgraded CR6-T, which raced the 2023 Dakar Rally with factory drivers Brian Baragwanath and Mathieu Serradori. Most notably, the CR6-T and CR7 use a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 DECA engine that generates 434 horsepower and comes from the Audi RS4, while the standard CR6 sports a 370-hp Chevrolet Corvette LS7.

“Cooling and engine response are key with turbo engines, and this year our focus is on the anti-lag system as we were short on time prior to Dakar to fully develop it,” head of engine management Donovan Fick stated. “The aim is to have the engine fully sorted in the next few weeks, to be able to hit the ground running with the CR7.

Otmar Szafnauer believes his BWT Alpine F1 Team can take the fight to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season despite a below-par opening to the year.

Esteban Ocon has scored points in only one of the first three races thanks to an eighth place in Saudi Arabia, while Pierre Gasly scored ninth place results in both of the opening two events.  The team were on for a good score in Australia only for their race to unravel spectacularly as the two drivers collided at the exit of turn two as part of the chaotic lap fifty-seven restart at Albert Park.

Mercedes on the other hand secured their first podium finish of 2023 in Australia with Lewis Hamilton coming home second, and between the seven-time World Champion and team-mate George Russell, they have fifty-six points to their name compared to just eight at Alpine.

However, Szafnauer, the Team Principal at the Enstone-based squad, has high hopes for the 2023 season, and with major updates coming to the car for both the Azerbaijan and Miami Grand Prix weekends, the team are looking at beating the likes of Mercedes this season.

“We think we can fight with them,” Szafnauer is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “We too have a decent-size upgrade coming for Baku and then a little bit more only a week later in Miami, so we continue to push the upgrades out.

Mike Krack believes the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team can continue to develop its AMR23 this season, although he acknowledges it will be difficult to make the same kind of jump in performance as they made with their 2022 challenger last year.

Aston Martin started the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season with one of the worst cars on the grid, with Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll both struggling to get out of Q1.  However, improvements throughout the year brought them closer to the front of the field, and they only missed out on sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship on countback to Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN.

This year has seen Aston Martin start extremely strongly, with Fernando Alonso, who joined the team in place of the retiring Vettel, having scored three third place finishes in the opening three races, with the team second in the Constructors’ Championship heading towards the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Krack, the Team Principal at Aston Martin, say the Silverstone-based outfit will need to continue its development push this season otherwise they will start to fall backwards through the field, and he is confident they can continue their strong performances across the whole 2023 campaign.

“We have managed last year to develop the car substantially,” Krack is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.  “We started from a higher baseline this year, so it will not be as easy as it was last year.

Reigning World Champion Stoffel Vandoorne made the perfect start to the Berlin E-Prix double-header by topping Free Practice One, with the Belgian having finished the session as the fastest driver, with Jake Dennis less than a tenth behind.

As the sun shone at the famous Tempelhof Street Circuit, it was Edoardo Mortara who led the field out to kickstart the second double-header of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with Free Practice One representing Round Seven of the campaign. With it being a venue that all the teams and the vast majority of the drivers know extremely well, it was no surprise to see several drivers get up to speed quickly, despite the Gen3 cars and the hard Hankook rubber.

There were, though, several complaints early on of no grip, as the drivers attempted to gain an understanding of how the Gen3 cars feel on the odd airport surface. To no surprise, the times tumbled in the opening minutes of the first session of the weekend, as São Paulo winner Mitch Evans and double Formula E Champion Jean-Éric Vergne became the first to enter the high 1:06s.

They were quickly joined by several other drivers, with Dan Ticktum having been fastest after the opening ten minutes, with the Briton having set a 1:06.730. Not too long after Ticktum set his time, a brief yellow flag was flown after Mortara suffered from what appeared to be a technical problem at Turn Four, with the Swiss driver having gone straight into a barrier, despite having been trying to brake. The Maserati MSG Racing driver broke his front wing in the process; however, he was able to return to the pits.

As the first session of the Berlin weekend moved into its second half, it was Sébastian Buemi who sat at the top of the leaderboard, on a solid 1:06.135. His time initially put him three-tenths ahead of both Avalanche Andretti Formula E drivers, with Dennis having been narrowly ahead of André Lotterer at the German’s home event. Dennis soon moved to the front as the session entered its final ten minutes, with the championship contender having become the first to enter the 1:05s, after setting a 1:05.888.

Three additional drivers have been confirmed for the 2023 ROKiT F4 British Championship, taking the total number of entries to a record-breaking 21. Aiden Neate, Noah Lisle, and Sonny Smith are all set to join the grid, adding continued depth to an already strong junior field.

Neate will join Fortec Motorsports after securing a pair of wins in his sophomore F4 season and will be eyeing up the title after a convincing performance in pre-season testing where he finished nearly 4 tenths up on his nearest rival, Louis Sharp. The young Brit was expected to move up to Formula Regional following a podium in Formula Regional Middle East, however he has instead decided to join the revered Daventry-based team who return for a full campaign in British F4 after sitting out most of 2022. Fortec has a storied history in British single seater racing, securing the British F4 drivers’ title with Luke Browning in 2020 and the teams’ championship in 2021.

Noah Lisle has joined the Rodin Carlin team in his second season of British F4, after securing a podium and a pole position during his rookie campaign. The 16-year-old Australian also recently competed in the F4 UAE Championship for local Xcel Motorsport, where he secured an additional career podium en route to a 19th place in the competitive European off-season series. Lisle will be joining a formidable line-up consisting of Sharp, Dion Gowda, and Josh Irfan as they look to defend their 2022 teams’ title.

Finally, Sonny Smith will be making his single-seater debut for Phynsis by Argenti after an impressive year in his first full season of the Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship. The British-Thai driver scored a victory on his debut, alongside six additional podiums enroute to 9th overall and 3rd among the rookies, behind Hitech Pulse-Eight drivers Kanato Le and William MacIntyre. His karting resume is littered with some impressive names, having raced for industry titans such as Ricky Flynn, Giorgio Pantano, and Oliver Rowland. He will be hoping to bolster the Argenti team’s chances after the Michael Meadows-led squad narrowly missed out on 3rd in the teams’ standings to JHR Developments last year.

Following a successful outing at the ROKiT F4 British Championship pre-season test at Thruxton Circuit, Gabriel Stilp has finalised his deal to compete with Hitech Pulse-Eight. The British karting star marked himself out as one of the favourites for the Rookie Cup, having lapped consistently within a second of two-time British F4 race winner Aiden Neate. Across the five sessions, he set the 10th fastest time overall amid awkward track conditions to lead the rookie classification.

His transition to cars follows a successful junior career in IAME X30 karts with MadCroc Promotions, during which he secured consecutive titles in the Junior X30 IAME World Finals in 2021 and 2022. He also clinched the hotly contested British Junior X30 Championship in 2022, among other prestigious karting accolades in the Mini X30 category.

“I’m really pleased to be joining the British F4 Championship this year. To be joining last year’s champions Hitech is just amazing,” ‘Stilpy’ said. “It was a late decision to race this year, so I haven’t had as many test days and the weather hasn’t been kind to me. I’m hoping with the team and my teammates’ experience I can get up to speed and be fighting for podiums by mid-year. I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

Hitech F4 team manager, Dominic Stott, is enthusiastic to have Stilp bolster an already strong line-up as they look to claim the team’s title that they missed out on in 2022.

“We are very happy to welcome Gabriel to the team which completes our British F4 lineup for 2023. Gabriel’s results in karting speak for themselves and we are excited to see his progression with us during the season. Having already tested with us, he is already working hard with the rest of the team to be ready for Round One at Donington.

Dakar Rally veteran Alexandre Boutevillain died Wednesday afternoon. His service will take place next Thursday, 27 April, at the Crématorium d’Arpajon in Avrainville, France.

“It is with sadness that I announce the death of Alexandre BOUTEVILLAIN DE GRANPRE,” said Pascal Bonnaire, who most recently ran the 2022 Rally in a truck. “He left us this Wednesday afternoon. There will be a civil ceremony on Thursday April 27 at 4 p.m. at the ARPAJON crematorium.”

Boutevillain made his début in 1984 as the co-driver of the #305 Toyota FJ45 driven by Yann Pawoé, who finished thirty-eighth. The Frenchman later joined Mitsubishi’s rally raid factory programme, riding alongside Jean-Paul Bosonnet in a Mercedes-Benz support truck (such vehicles were also eligible for ranking even if not “racing”, which remains the case today) starting at the 1988 edition where they retired.

He continued his involvement with Mitsubishi in his Mercedes-driving support role before working for Citroën’s own factory-backed stable. In 1996, Boutevillain finished ninth overall in the Truck category and one spot behind Bosonnet.

Outside of Dakar, he sought to revive the Rallye Infernal, an early cross-country rally in France that predates the former event.

I’ve worked hard from the age of eight to get to this point, always working with a budget disadvantage, always achieving something against the odds. In the words of the late Craig Breen R.I.P “Don’t let anyone ever put you down because only you know your true potential”. To be signed by a big racing team is a dream come true. And despite being still on a tight budget, I have a development opportunity to become a professional racing driver.

This year I will be focused on BTCC racing development. We’ve entered the British Endurance Championship but in a unique way, racing an Audi S3 BTCC car. It is going to be a challenge for the team, to develop a sprint car for endurance racing, but my job is to develop with the team, understand the car, and develop my driving skills in readiness for any future commercial opportunity to enter the BTCC! Team HARD. Racing is a big team that has achieved success across multiple racing series in the UK, their halo presence being in the British Touring Car Championship, the premier racing series in the UK. Despite being a huge team, it’s like being a part of a family-run business. I’m really happy there and have been welcomed by everyone.

Working on a tight budget, testing will be limited, and much of my development will be in the races themselves. But in two and three-hour endurance race distances shared with my teammate Daryl Deleon, we will work hard to learn from the opportunity. The first round was at Silverstone on the full GP circuit, a big challenge for my first experience of the car, my first time racing on slick tyres and with over 3 times the power of last season and around a circuit with very fast corners. My aim was to progressively take the car faster and faster but to look after it and maximise our time in free practice, rather than going over the limits and throwing it off. After only getting wet experience in the Friday practice, I voted for Daryl to do the first qualifying, given that he has more experience at these speeds and on slicks, having won the Radical World Series this year.

We qualified fifth and were running well in the race. The car doesn’t have an equal, but we will race everything in front of us. It will be tough racing against Ferrari’s, Porsche’s, and McLaren’s, but we were competitive. After taking over from Daryl for the second stint in the race and shuffling down the order after our pit stop, I progressively took the car faster and faster, improving my lap times and overtaking other cars. It felt good to be competitive.

Unfortunately, the car started to have a problem and so I headed back to the pits where I had to stop the car in the pit lane. We recovered the car to the garage but it wasn’t possible to get the car back into the race. Bringing a BTCC car which is designed for short sprint races to an endurance race will have its challenges and the team will develop the car to go the distance. But the project attracted a lot of attention in the paddock.

The overlap between the Olympic Games and motorsport is surprisingly vast, and John Steffensen will be another addition to the pool as he commits to the full 2023 Haltech SuperUtes Series season, driving the #99 Toyota Hilux for Western Sydney Motorsport.

Steffensen won the men’s 4x400m Relay silver medal for Australia in the 2004 Summer Olympics, which he backed up with a pair of golds at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in 400 m sprint and 4x400m Relay.

He began racing in 2017 in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, finishing eighth in points before going on to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup and Aussie Racing Cars. Like the SuperUtes, the latter is a feeder series into the main Supercars Championship.

“It’s an insane race car to drive,” Steffensen said of the SuperUtes. “I really was blown away with the SuperUte setup when I had my first test a few weeks ago.

“It handles really well, it’s light in the rear which adds a bit of excitement and the calibre of racing drivers in the category means we’ll definitely be putting on a proper show.”

The ABT CUPRA Formula E Team will be going all out this weekend at the Berlin E-Prix double-header to score their first points of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with the Germans being the only team on the grid to still be point-less this season.

Nothing would feel more special for ABT CUPRA than to score their first points of the season this weekend at their home race, especially with the Tempelhof Airport Circuit having been such a strong venue for them in the past. When partnered with Audi, ABT claimed multiple victories in Berlin, with the hope being that they can use those “emotional moments” as inspiration this weekend.

ABT CUPRA were looking strong at the previous round in São Paulo, where Robin Frijns made his much-anticipated return from injury. The Dutchman finished fifteenth whilst Nico Mueller retired despite having shown solid pace, after he hit Edoardo Mortara. There were still plenty of positives to take away from Brazil, though, which they’ll be hoping to build on this weekend.

Team Principal Thomas Biermaier knows that “Berlin has a very special place in the hearts of us all” not only because it’s the team’s home race, but because it’s become a classic of Formula E. The team are “looking forward” to their home event and the incredible support they’ll receive, as they once again go looking for their first points of the season.

“Berlin has a very special place in the hearts of all of us – this is where we have celebrated some of our greatest motorsport successes and experienced many emotional moments,” Biermaier said. “With two races, the rookie test on Monday, full grandstands and lots of activities from our partners, it’s going to be a hot weekend. We’re looking forward to it, because that’s exactly how motorsport should be.”

Nico Mueller heads into this weekend’s Berlin E-Prix double-header knowing that “hundredths of a second will be decisive”, due to all the teams and almost all of the drivers having an incredible understanding of the classic Tempelhof Airport Circuit.

Racing at Tempelhof Airport is an “institution” on the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship calendar according to Mueller, who is hoping for a great weekend in the German capital. Not only is it ABT CUPRA Formula E Team‘s home E-Prix, but the city is also home to Mueller’s wife, making it “a bit” of a home race for the Swiss driver.

Mueller enters the weekend still searching for his first points since returning to the all-electric championship, with him having retired in São Paulo whilst looking strong. Mueller took out Edoardo Mortara during the race in Brazil, ending both of their afternoons, he’ll be hoping to avoid the same at ABT’s home event.

With everyone knowing this weekend’s venue so well, Mueller is expecting the field to be separated by next to nothing, something which should make for an exciting watch for fans!

“Berlin is the home race for ABT, but also a bit for me personally, because my wife is from the area. The race is an institution on the Formula E calendar. Like almost everyone in the paddock, I know the track well as I drove six races there in nine days in 2020. I expect the gaps to be even narrower on this familiar circuit and, especially in qualifying, a few tenths or maybe even hundredths of a second will be decisive.

Team Principal of the Nissan Formula E Team Tommaso Volpe has revealed that the Japanese manufacturer are wanting to “fight for the podium” this weekend at the Berlin E-Prix double-header, after both of their drivers retired in the most recent round.

After making strong progress throughout the first half of the season so far, São Paulo was a disaster for Nissan, with Norman Nato and Sacha Fenestraz having both retired from the race. The disappointment left the team ninth in the Constructors’ Championship, with a big gap starting to develop between them and the top six. Nissan have shown great pace in qualifying especially this year; however, their current issue is remaining amongst the frontrunners during the race.

With the Tempelhof Airport Circuit being one that every team knows incredibly well, Nissan can perhaps enter this weekend with some confidence, especially as they won in Berlin back in Season Six. With it being a double-header, a strong weekend could drastically change Nissan’s championship position, something they’ll definitely be hoping for.

Volpe is hopeful that his side can “avoid” the challenges that the Tempelhof Airport presents, like the incredibly high-grip surface, with a good result hopefully set to be their reward for doing so.

“Despite this weekend being a double-header, we have to approach it the same way as any other and work on fine-tuning the set-up so that we can compete towards the sharp end across both races. This year, that job is made slightly easier because both races are being run in the same direction, unlike in 2022. The track surface in Berlin presents a massive challenge as it’s high-grip, which can overheat the tyres, so we have to try to avoid that in the race.