Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

The #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing trio of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López are aiming to end their year on a high with victory in this weekend’s Eight Hours of Bahrain, even if their bid to claim the FIA World Endurance Championship title for a third consecutive year is all but over.

The team took victory in the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps earlier this year but have too often played second fiddle to the sister #8 car, and they go into the finale at the Bahrain International Circuit twenty-six points behind in the championship standings.

Conway admits to enjoying racing in Bahrain and has many happy memories of the track, and even though he knows the title appears out of reach, he says they will be going all-out to end the season with a strong result.

“I enjoy racing in Bahrain and I have had some nice moments there over the years; I actually won my first WEC race with TOYOTA there in 2014 and of course Kamui, José and I won the title there the last two years,” said Conway.

“Realistically, the World Championship is over for our car this year so we will concentrate on finishing the season on a high.

The#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing trio of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa go into the season finale of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship with the Hypercar title on the line, and all three drivers are looking to end the season on a massive high.

Two wins in the past three races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has moved the #8 to the top of the championship standings heading into this weekend’s Eight Hours of Bahrain, although they go into the event level on points with the #36 Alpine Elf Team trio of Nicholas Lapierre, André Negrão and Matthieu Vaxivière.

Buemi, a former FIA Formula 1 World Championship driver and current ABB FIA Formula E World Championship racer, says all eyes are on the prize this weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit as he bids to claim his third World Endurance Championship title with Toyota.

“Clearly our focus in Bahrain will be to win both World Championships,” said Buemi.  “For car #8 this means we need to finish ahead of the Alpine so the most important thing is to stay calm and manage the race without risks or mistakes.

“It is not straightforward because the competition in Hypercar is pretty close. But we have the experience of winning World Championships and I am confident our GR010 HYBRID will be competitive in Bahrain.

FIA Formula 2 racer Olli Caldwell completed his second test in FIA Formula 1 World Championship machinery with the BWT Alpine F1 Team last week at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The Alpine Academy driver completed over five-hundred kilometres of running on board Alpine’s A521 on Friday, running a full programme as he ran for a second time with the team, having done so earlier in the year at Silverstone.

Caldwell, who will complete his rookie FIA Formula 2 campaign with Campos Racing later this month in Abu Dhabi, was thankful to Alpine for giving him the opportunity to run again with them in Formula 1 machinery.

And the twenty-year-old felt more at home behind the wheel of the A521 than he did in his initial run at Silverstone, and he said he was able to get more out of the car and complete a lot of different programmes across the day.

“I have to give a massive thanks to BWT Alpine F1 Team, everyone here for their effort and support, and for their trust in allowing me to drive and take part in such a special day,” said Caldwell.

Trident have announced that Barbados-born Zane Maloney will make the step up to the FIA Formula 2 championship for the season finale in Abu Dhabi, replacing Australian racer Calan Williams.

Williams announced his departure from the Italian outfit last month, and Trident made the decision to promote Maloney from their FIA Formula 3 squad, the nineteen-year-old having finished second in the championship in 2022 thanks to three race victories, four podiums and two pole positions.

The 2019 British Formula 4 champion only missed out on taking the Formula 3 championship by five points, losing out to Frenchman Victor Martins after having a nightmare start to the campaign that saw him score top ten finishes in only two of the opening six races of the season. 

However, he ended the year superbly with three consecutive feature race victories at Spa-Francorchamps, Circuit Zandvoort and the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the last win moving him up to second place in the standings.

Maloney will race alongside Dutchman Richard Verschoor for the final round of the 2022 campaign as he eyes to impress with a possible move up to the category full-time in 2023 a distinct possibility.

2022 will be a year to remember for Roger Penske and his Team Penske operation. Two months after Will Power won the NTT IndyCar Series championship for the second time, Joey Logano became a twice NASCAR Cup Series champion.

Logano won the pole before he and team-mate Ryan Blaney dominated Sunday’s Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway; the duo led a combined 296 of 312 laps and split the first two stages. Although fellow Ford Chase Briscoe took the lead late, a caution for Michael McDowell spinning Alex Bowman prompted a final restart with thirty laps remaining that Logano won out.

The victory caps off a four-win campaign that began with Logano claiming the inaugural Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Coliseum. It is Penske’s third Cup driver’s championship after Brad Keselowski in 2012 and Logano in 2018.

“We had a good car, and I told the guys, after we put it on the pit the other day: ‘We got them down; now we put our foot on them.’ That’s the attitude you’ve got to have,” Logano commented in his post-race press conference. “It’s just what it is when it comes to this level. Your feelings are checked at the door, and it’s all about winning and nothing less than that.

“When you get this far, I said it all week, we weren’t satisfied with being in the Championship Four. There was nothing to celebrate for us. We’ve been here before. We know what it feels like to lose. It’s the worst feeling in the world, if I’m being honest, and winning is the best feeling in the world. It’s great to be able to accomplish it. I said that this was revenge for 2020. It certainly was. Something that’s going to stick with me for a while. […]

Coy Gibbs, co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing and son of the eponymous owner, passed away in his sleep Saturday night at the age of 49. A cause of death was not revealed.

“It is with great sorrow that Joe Gibbs Racing confirms that Coy Gibbs (co-owner) went to be with the Lord in his sleep last night,” a JGR release said. “The family appreciates all the thoughts and prayers and asks for privacy at this time.”

The tragedy occurred just hours after Gibbs and the team were celebrating his son Ty Gibbs winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway. Consquently, Ty excuse himself from Sunday’s Cup Series race and Daniel Hemric, who won the previous year’s Xfinity title for JGR, drove the #23 23XI Racing Toyota in his place.

A parent having to bury their child is a heartbreaking situation, and one that Joe Gibbs has had to face twice. Coy’s older brother and JGR chairman J.D. Gibbs died in 2019 of a degenerative brain disease. J.D.’s son Jackson is the tyre changer for Christopher Bell‘s #20 JGR Cup car, who was competing in the Championship Round; in Coy’s memory, Jackson taped “UNCLE COY” onto the back of his helmet.

“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Coy Gibbs,” said NASCAR CEO Jim France. “On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I extend my deepest condolences to Joe, Pat, Heather, the Gibbs family and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on the loss of Coy, a true friend and racer.”

After a decade of working with JD Motorsports, Gary Keller will move to fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series team Mike Harmon Racing for the 2023 season. Now known as “Mike Harmon Racing with Gary Keller”, the team announced the new partnership on Saturday.

Keller joined up with JDM in 2012, branding the outfit “JD Motorsports with Gary Keller”. He formerly ran a team in ARCA along with the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series in the early 2000s. Among those to have raced for his team include Charlie Bradberry, Willie Green, Kenny Hendrick, Andy Hillenburg, and Tim Sauter.

Gary Keller Racing even attempted a few Cup Series races in 2004 with Mike Wallace, though they failed to qualify in four tries. Wallace reconnected with Keller at JD Motorsports when he was a full-time driver for them in the Xfinity Series; they rekindled their association for a road course slate in 2020, five years after Wallace’s last races.

Outside of NASCAR, Keller is the owner of Disaster Services of Environmental Specialist, LLC, in his native Ohio. His company provides water structure disaster support such as flood recovery and mold cleanup.

“Gary coming on board is a blessing to MHR which will be known now as Mike Harmon Racing with Gary Keller,” said team owner Mike Harmon. “I’m very happy that Gary believes in us he sees the passion and the hard work that we put into our racing. It’s the shot in the arm we need here at MHR with Gary Keller.”

It’s not often that a driver gets a sea of boos after winning a championship, but Ty Gibbs was the recipient of one on Saturday.

After being the centre of intense scrutiny all week for wrecking team-mate Brandon Jones at Martinsville, Gibbs continued to maintain an apologetic stance even moments after securing the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series title.

“What I did last week was unacceptable, and I apologise once again, but it was unacceptable because we could have had two shots to win this deal, and it was stupid from an organisation standpoint,” said Gibbs. “All my fault. I can sit here and tell you I’m sorry as much as I can, but it’s not going to fix it. I’ve got to fix my actions.”

While he is arguably the most unpopular NASCAR champion in recent memory, he still has a title nonetheless. The 20-year-old set the Xfinity Series on fire since his début in 2021, and a full season in 2022 bore more fruit with seven wins including the finale at Phoenix Raceway to claim the title. Gibbs is the first driver born after 2000 to win a national series title, while Joe Gibbs Racing enjoys their fourth Xfinity driver’s title and second in a row.

Due to taking out Jones, Gibbs was the lone non-JR Motorsports car in the Championship Four as he faced Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, and Noah Gragson. Gibbs won the pole and the first two stages, but Allgaier and Gragson lurked behind. Berry eventually fell out after a poor restart with 30 laps remaining caused him to hit the wall.

What do Alon Day and Jeff Gordon have in common? They both drive the #24 and have four championships in their respective NASCAR divisions. Day breaks a tie with Ander Vilariño for the most titles in the history of the Whelen Euro Series‘ EuroNASCAR PRO tier.

A victory in Race #1 of the final round at Autodrom Grobnik gave Day the edge over rival Gianmarco Ercoli, while a podium in Race #2 versus Ercoli’s finish outside the top ten sealed the deal. Even with a penalty for contact with Ercoli at Brands Hatch, Day finished the season with 425 points while Alexander Graff leapfrogged Ercoli for second at 405 points to 393.

Day has now won a championship every year he has been with PK Carsport, beginning with taking the crown in 2020. A one-year stint with CAAL Racing—with whom he won the 2017 and 2018 titles—did not see as much success, prompting a return to PK. Once again in PK’s #24 Chevrolet, he won five times at Valencia, Brands Hatch, Vallelunga, Most, and Grobnik.

He ran the Zolder round with SpeedHouse since PK manager and two-time champion Anthony Kumpen was making his return to racing after a four-year suspension. Even if it was a one-off, it made Day the first champion to race for multiple teams in a championship campaign.

“I couldn’t do it without PK Carsport,” said Day. “I think this is the moment to really say thanks to everybody in the team: Anthony for giving me the opportunity to drive here and every person in this team that worked from day to night. They deserved this championship more than I do.”

Dennis Hauger will remain in FIA Formula 2 in 2023 but will make the switch from Prema Racing to MP Motorsport for his sophomore campaign.

The Red Bull-backed Norwegian has twice taken victory in 2022, winning the sprint race in Monaco and the feature race in Azerbaijan, but other results mean he sits only eleventh in the championship standings heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi later this month.

The 2021 FIA Formula 3 champion will get his first taste of the MP Motorsport car in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, and he is looking forward to the chance to replace outgoing series champion Felipe Drugovich at the Dutch outfit.

“I am really excited about joining MP Motorsport for another assault on the FIA Formula 2 Championship,” said Hauger. “MP have been the revelation of this season, consistently producing a great car for every round of the season.

“We have recognised that, and it’s wonderful news that we have been able to make the deal work.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Strategy Director James Vowles gave his insight on the engine cut-out issues the team faced at the Mexican Grand Prix, which was ultimately caused by the high elevation of Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. 

At over two-thousand metres above sea level, the circuit’s high altitude has a considerable impact on the performance of the cars– and the power unit in particular. Vowles said that engines are typically “mapped” for common sea level conditions and therefore not as well suited to the thinner air of Mexico City. 

“We were suffering a little bit with engine cuts and here is the reason why– you generally map the engine for the conditions it is most used in which is sea level, that’s where most of the racing takes place, when you suddenly go to these levels of altitude you are in a very different condition.”

“Instead of having an engine that is really highly tuned you are back into a condition where you have to do lots of work with the Power Unit in a very short space of time to try and map out these irregularities. I am confident all teams will suffer this it won’t be unique to ourselves.”

This issue was heightened under the stress of qualifying, where George Russell took second place and Lewis Hamilton came in third, both within reach of pole position at a venue where Mercedes were quite strong. 

Otmar Szafnauer admitted to being impressed by the way Jack Doohan performed during his truncated free practice session ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, but no decision has been made to whether the Australian will become their reserve driver in 2023.

Doohan was restricted to only thirteen laps of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the opening free practice session in Mexico before an engine issue ended his session, but the FIA Formula 2 race winner did enough to impress Szafnauer, the Team Principal at the BWT Alpine F1 Team.

“He’s a decent young man and very fast,” Szafnauer said to Motorsport.com. “He had 13 laps in our car and in these 13 laps he quickly picked up speed.

“But we told him beforehand ‘stay within your limit, don’t drive at full speed’. He did exactly what we asked him to do after he had prepared himself in an exemplary manner. He wanted to know everything. He’s a good boy.”

No driver has yet to be confirmed as the reserve driver at Alpine for next season, with this years’ reserve driver, Oscar Piastri moving on to race for the McLaren F1 Team. 

Alexander Albon says he expects to have a fast team-mate during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season if Logan Sargeant earns the points needed to get a Superlicence during the season-ending FIA Formula 2 round in Abu Dhabi later this month.

Sargeant will race for Williams Racing in 2023 in place of Nicholas Latifi if he earns the Superlicence, and he will partner Albon, who will continue with the team for a second consecutive year.

Albon has already been impressed by Sargeant since he joined Williams as a Development Driver, and he got to see first-hand how the young American performed in the car when he participated in free practice sessions ahead of the United States Grand Prix and the Mexico City Grand Prix.

And the Thai driver hopes the American, who will become the first from his country to race in Formula 1 since Alexander Rossi in 2015, will help move the team forward and bring them into regular points contenders.

“He basically sits in on every meeting now and can listen to how we communicate,” Albon is quoted as saying by the German edition of Motorsport.com.  “The most important thing for us is: we have to take the team forward now.

Zane Smith came heartbreakingly close to winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title in 2020 and 2021 as he finished runner-up both years. After a dominant display and a frantic overtime in Friday night’s finale at Phoenix Raceway, he can finally call himself a Truck Series champion.

Smith had been stout throughout the 2022 season, winning thrice and having led the points standings every week since Nashville in June. His momentum carried into Phoenix when he won the pole and the first two stages, but fellow Championship Four contenders Chandler Smith, Ty Majeski, and defending champion Ben Rhodes plus Stewart Friesen tried their best to spoil the party.

A series of cautions in the final twenty laps led to Friesen and Rhodes being the top runners. Ironically, it was a wreck involving Zane Smith that helped him out in the end when he and Majeski made contact with five laps to go, causing the latter to spin and eliminate him from contention. In the ensuing overtime, the two Smiths briefly jockeyed for position before Zane cleared Chandler down the backstretch. Rhodes got by Chandler but was unable to find an opening in the final corner.

“I wasn’t gonna let it go down like that,” said Smith. “I knew when I came out eleventh, I’ve been in way uglier times before and I was either wrecked or I was coming home with the championship trophy and we got the big one.

“(I was thinking), ‘I’m gonna win this.’ There was no other option. I was either backing it in the fence wrecking, or I was leaving tonight with a championship trophy. There were no other options and when I saw the #18 (Chandler Smith) get underneath me I was worried that I got him too loose underneath me. Fortunately, he stayed off of me. I have a lot of respect for all three of them. It’s pretty impressive for some of the racing we’ve seen lately for us three to go at it that hard and that clean.”

Ever wonder what would happen if you stuck a Honda engine built for NTT IndyCar Series racing into an off-road truck? Us neither, but the hooligans at Hoonigan Racing Division and Honda Performance Development were more than eager to see for themselves.

Honda’s IndyCar teams race using a 2.2-litre twin-turbo V6 engine—officially called the HI12TT/R—that can produce as much as 700 horsepower. By comparison, a stock 2017 Honda Ridgeline sports a 3.5-litre, 28-hp V6 that is part of Honda’s J engine series and has also been used in vehicles like the Acura MDX.

As a mid-sized pickup, the Ridgeline’s racing background is obviously concentrated in the off-road scene. Most notably, Honda Factory Off-Road Racing Team fields the #709 Ridgeline for Jeff Proctor in SCORE International‘s Class 7, which won its category at the 2021 Baja 1000. Appropriately, one of Proctor’s team-mates for that race was IndyCar veteran Alexander Rossi, who became the first Indianapolis 500 winner to win the 1000; for the 2022 race, Proctor will be joined by Richard Glasczak and Chip Prescott.

Of course, the Baja Ridgeline uses the same engine as its production counterpart. Although the 3.5-litre motor has also seen action on pavement like the Acura ARX-05 that won the 2021 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (also with Rossi), it obviously pales in comparison to the version used for open-wheel racing.

Hoonigan’s “IndyTruck“, on the other hand, is built for circuit racing and hillclimbs. Revealed at SEMA this past week, HPD provided the equipment including the truck while Hoonigan did much of the dirty work. While it might seem surprising for HPD to happily give away a modern IndyCar engine for such a project, the series is set to switch to a 2.4-l hybrid V6 in 2024 which Honda and rival Chevrolet are focused on developing over the next two years. The Ridgeline was previously utilising by HPD to test new parts before they went into the market.