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Américo Aliaga, who had been involved in rally raid for nearly two decades including doing the Dakar Rally as a co-driver, died Friday morning at the age of 45 from illness. He was hospitalised after undergoing surgery three months prior.

Aliaga raced the Dakar Rally four times between 2009 and 2019, when the race ran through the Chilean’s home continent. His début came behind a Toyota Land Cruiser as the navigator for Jorge Latrach. He returned in 2013 in a Chevrolet Trophy Truck, which are typically used for SCORE International desert races but rarely in FIA-sanctioned events like the Dakar, alongside Victor Mastromatteo. When two-time Dakar Quad winner Ignacio Casale made the switch to a side-by-side, Aligaga served as his partner for his maiden Dakar in the class in 2019.

Although the Dakar left South America after 2019, he made his return to the race in Saudi Arabia in 2022. Aliaga was the co-driver of a Can-Am Maverick piloted by Lucas Del Rio, a newcomer to the race, and they finished thirty-sixth overall in the T4 (now SSV) category.

Back home, Aliaga was a multi-time domestic champion who notched four titles across his first decade of racing. Ahead of the 2024 season, he was named general manager for the Chilean Cross-Country Rally Championship. The series’ ongoing race in Copiapó paid tribute to Aliaga with a ceremonial procession to end the stage.

It was another tough day for Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez as he could only qualify eighth on the grid for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.

While his teammate, Max Verstappen, was lighting up the timing boards to set pole position, Pérez was struggling to even make it through into the final part of qualifying and when he did make it there, he could only manage eighth due to only having a used set of soft compound tyres available to use.

Pérez hasn’t had an easy weekend so far – only being able to finish eighth in the Sprint to score a singular point. The Mexican driver came into qualifying needing a good result to enable him to have the chance of fighting for a podium and alongside his teammate, but once again he was a big margin away from Verstappen, who is on pole position once again.

Since resigning with Red Bull in Montreal, Pérez has secured just five points from two race weekends and Saturday’s Sprint, leaving lot’s to be desired on his side of the garage. The 34-year-old had trouble early in the session, and had to use extra sets of tyres to progress in qualifying, leaving him with just used sets in the top ten shootout, which eventually led to a maximum finish of eighth. 

While the race on Sunday may give him a chance to progress, his race pace in the Sprint on Saturday morning was lack in comparison to the Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.

Valtteri Bottas admitted that Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber simply don’t have the performance to be competitive at the Red Bull Ring after qualifying down in eighteenth for the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.

Sauber are yet to score a point, with Bottas having his worst start to a Formula 1 campaign. Despite that, the former Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team has been driving well, being held back by a car that’s glued to the back of the grid. 

After another disappointing performance in qualifying, Bottas told F1TV that the performance just isn’t there, and there still in a similar position to what they were after Sprint qualifying on Friday afternoon.

“It was difficult. I think we made the car a bit better in terms of the true lap balance so that’s going to help us tomorrow but still the pure performance is not there at this track. We are in the same position as we were after the Sprint quali, which is not nice to see but that’s how it is and we still have tomorrow and won’t give up.

“In the sprint, the big thing for us was tyre overheating – that was the biggest issue. We made some changes that should help us but we’ll figure that out tomorrow.”

Daniel Ricciardo is frustrated he couldn’t get into the top ten shootout in qualifying for the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix but is pleased with the progress Visa Cash App RB have made throughout the weekend.

It was a difficult Sprint qualifying and race for Ricciardo, who has come into the weekend hoping for another good result after beating his teammate at the last two races. It’s also important for Ricciardo to perform this weekend because of comments made by Dr. Helmut Marko about his future with RB, with the Oracle Red Bull Racing team advisor keen to give Liam Lawson a chance in a full-time race seat.

After a poor Spanish Grand Prix for the team as a whole, with an upgrade package not working as intended, another disappointing weekend of performance was likely, especially if you consider the evidence from the Sprint, but major changes in setup has helped both drivers find more performance, particularly Ricciardo. The 34-year-old was just +0.015s away from reaching Q3 and qualified ahead of his teammate too.

Speaking to F1TV, Ricciardo said he frustrated but also thinks there are positives to take considering their Sprint performance.

He said: “It’s frustration of course, but I would say there’s two types of frustration and this ones more of a positive because for us to be disappointed with just missing out on Q3 by virtually nothing, I think we made a lot of progress since yesterday.

The two-time and reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä who is driving for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT has extanded his rally lead in the 80th ORLEN Rally Poland by winning the final stage of Saturday¨s afternoon loop.

Rovanperä secured his fourth consecutive stage win, he won the last stage of the morning loop but also managed to take the fastest times on the second run through all of the three stages and this time with a significant lead of 2.8 seconds ahead of teammate Elfyn Evans on the final stage.

He is currently leading the rally with 9.4 seconds over Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT driver Andreas Mikkelsen, the Norwegian gained a position in the afternoon after he fell down to third before the midday service. Mikkelsen is currently 6.7 seconds ahead of Evans who sits in third.

Adrien Fourmaux is the leading M-Sport Ford WRT driver and he has held onto fourth place throughout the day, the Frenchman is now 20.9 seconds behind Evans meanwhile the uprising Latvian talent Mārtiņš Sesks managed to hold on to his fifth place by just 0.1 of a second from the fast charging Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville.

Neuville is still in the middle of an M-Sport sandwich as Grégoire Munster is still holding on to seventh place. Last Rally1 car in the top 10 is Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta who is starting to close in bit for bit to Munster, the Japanese driver is at the moment 17.6 back on Munster with four stages remaining.

The 2025 race calendars for Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS, World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS, World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS, and World Challenge America Powered by AWS have now been officially revealed at the press conference ahead of this weekend’s Centenary Spa 24 Hours endurance race in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium by the SRO Motorsport Group.

World Challenge Europe will be featuring a 10 round calendar including two prologues and of course the legendary CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa which is also held this weekend.

The season will start with a staple on the calendar since 2012 with a prologue at Circuit Paul Ricard in France on 10/11 March and follows up with round one exactly a month after on 11-13 April. Brands Hatch in United Kingdom will play host for round two on 3/4 May and helding the Sprint Cup opener, the 24 Hours of Spa Prologue will be held shortly after on 13/14 May, May seems to be a hectic month for the teams as just the week after they will head across the border to Zandvoort in The Netherlands for round three, a track which returns to the calendar and has been raced on eight times.

Monza in Italy will play host for round four on 30 May – 1 June before the main event of the year in Spa-Francorchamps kicks off on 26-29 June. Then it’s back to Italy again to Misano for the second Sprint Cup race on 18-20 July and will be followed up with a five week summer break. The racing will return on 29-31 August at the legendary Nürburgring in Germany which celebrates its 10th anniversary in the series.

Circuit Ricardo Tormo Valencia in Spain will host the third Sprint Cup race on 19-21 September. The series will remain in Spain for the penultimate event and another Sprint Cup race in Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The season-finale of 2025 is To Be Confirmed but it’s hinted that Saudi Arabia will play host for the final on Jeddah Street Circuit.

Max Verstappen was completely dominant in 2024 Austrian Grand Prix qualifying, securing pole position ahead of Lando Norris.

Oscar Piastri’s final lap in Q3 had put him third, but a track limits violation saw the Australian drop all the way down to seventh, handing George Russell a top three start for the race on Sunday around the Red Bull Ring.

It was another bad day for Aston Martin Armaco F1 Team, while Visa Cash App RB’s major changes to both cars massively improved their pace.

Q1 – Lance Stroll misses out, both Sauber’s off the pace again

Q1 started quickly with everyone getting out on track, being led out by Verstappen, who was looking for his second pole position of the weekend. While missing out on a place in Q2 isn’t an issue for the three-time world champion, it has been for Sergio Pérez.

Max Verstappen took victory in the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix Sprint, with Oscar Piastri beating his teammate to finish second for McLaren F1 Team on Saturday.

Verstappen kept the lead initially, after securing pole position in Sprint Qualifying, but a daring move from Lando Norris at Turn Three saw him snatch the lead of the race. However, the world champion retook the lead with a similar move at the end of the second DRS straight. The tussle between Norris and Verstappen allowed Piastri to capitalise and slip past his McLaren teammate into second place.

George Russell, who started fourth on the grid, lost a position to Carlos Sainz Jr. on the first lap but the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team driver managed to repass the Spaniard after a thrilling battle between the pair that lasted a number of laps. Despite being overtaken by one Mercedes driver, Sainz managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton to remain fifth, while Charles Leclerc’s disastrous SQ3 session meant he could only get a seventh place finish.

It was another disappointing day for Sergio Pérez. While his teammate won his tenth Sprint race, Pérez was down in eighth, unable to catch the train involved the Mercedes and Scuderia Ferrari’s ahead. Since securing a new contract in Montreal, he has scored just five points.

Kevin Magnussen drove an excellent race for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team and was the best of the rest driver in ninth, and missed out on points by just one position. He finished ahead of Aston Martin Armaco F1 Team’s Lance Stroll, as their disappointing form continues.

Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT driver Ott Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja will not compete in the Saturday afternoon stages of the 80th ORLEN Rally Poland after making a strategic decision.

Tänak was forced to retire from the rally early on yesterday, already on Friday’s second stage where the crew had a head-on collision with a deer which caused damage to the car, the team has repaired the car for Saturday morning stages and Tänak has been right up there with the top times.

However, Hyundai announced during the midday service on Saturday that Tänak would not be participating in the afternoon special stages in a statement that reads: “We decided to retire car #8 for the day in order for Ott and Martin, and the team to focus on their push for points in Super Sunday tomorrow,”

Tänak had no chance to compete for the conditional points awarded on Saturday evening but tomorrow the Estonian will be going all-in, as there are separate daily points up for grabs for the top seven fastest drivers, along with additional points for the top five in the Power Stage which is the last stage of the rally. The maximum points available for the day is a substantial 12 points which can help Tänak in the title hunt. As Tänak rejoins the rally tomorrow, he will be the first car out on the road in the morning loop, loose gravel may complicate his driving, especially in the morning when the stages are run for the first time.

Over to the others, the reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä who is driving for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT has snatched the lead from Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen as they head for the midday service. The Finn is only leading by 0.4 of a second to his teammate Elfyn Evans while Mikkelsen dropped down to third so the afternoon will see a thrilling fight between these three drivers as only 2.7 seconds is separating.

BMW M Motorsport has now officially revealed the 2025 BMW M4 GT4 EVO at Spa-Francorchamps this week ahead of the start of the 2024 edition of the legendary 24-hour endurance race, which celebrated its 100th anniversary.

The new GT4 model from the German brand was already seen in the Nürburgring 24 Hours last month but got the official launch at the Centenary Spa 24 Hours. The car features some updates mostly focusing on reliability and drivability as it looks to build up on the success of the current M4 GT4 car.

The updates have been worked on in close conjuction with the current customer teams and will see a new front splitter to improve long-term durability and the entire attachment concept has been overhauled. Reinforced wheel bearings on the rear axle and new front flicks are also some updates that will be going on to the new car.

Also new for this car that many drivers have asked for is a button to temporarily deactivate the traction control. The price for the BMW M4 GT4 EVO complete package is 219,000 euros while the EVO upgrades to the older car will go around 16,000 euros. The car and the upgrade package will be able to be purchased at the end of 2024 with first cars set to take on to track in 2025.

“The BMW M4 GT4 wrote an extraordinary success story in its first season, in developing the BMW M4 GT4 EVO, we focused on what makes BMW M Motorsport stand out. We took the feedback from the field seriously and focused on the issues that were important to our customers – to make the ‘perfect’ customer racing car even better.” Björn Lellmann, head of customer racing, said.

Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT driver Andreas Mikkelsen and co-driver Torstein Eriksen are currently leading the 80th ORLEN Rally Poland after the first full day which was packed with thrilling fight for the top between several drivers and drama with spectators.

Mikkelsen’s form was a pleasant surprise. He had competed in two tarmac rallies earlier in the season for the team, where the results were not the greatest. However, on the Polish gravel roads, the Norwegian’s speed in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car has been on a different level. Mikkelsen holds currently quite a narrow 1.8-second lead over Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Kalle Rovanperä. Rovanperä, who received a last-minute call to join the rally after Sébastien Ogier had to retire due to a pre-event accident on recce, had to concede some time on the morning loop but increased his pace in the afternoon loop. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans is also close to the lead, just 0.2 seconds behind Rovanperä in third.

The rally’s biggest favourite, Hyundai’s Ott Tänak who showed great pace in the shakedown, was forced to retire on the morning’s first special stage as he hit a deer, resulting in damage to the front of the car, including a broken radiator but the Estonian will be restarting the rally on Saturday morning as the car is repairable.

The biggest surprise of the day was the M-Sport Ford WRT newcomer Mārtiņš Sesks, competing for the first time in a Rally1 car with the first-ever non-hybrid Ford Puma Rally1 car the Latvian is impressively in fifth overall with teammate Adrien Fourmaux just ahead of him in fourth place. Their teammate Grégoire Munster is in seventh place.

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville was the first car out on the road during the whole day but the Belgian couldn’t match the speed to the cars behind him and he is currently half a minute back on teammate Mikkelsen. The last Rally1 car in the top 10 is Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta in eight. Rounding up the remaining two spots in the top 10 are the WRC2 leader Sami Pajari and the local star Kajetan Kajetanowicz.

Juraj Varga has joined the Quad exodus as he has acquired a Polaris RZR Pro R, which he plans to race in the SSV category.

He is among many Quad riders who have departed for other categories after the announcement in April that their class has been axed from the 2025 Dakar Rally. The news came during the World Rally-Raid Championship‘s BP Ultimate Rally-Raid, and Varga expressed his disappointment by withdrawing from the rally shortly after; he was already in a hole after an electrical failure in the first stage, but had little incentive to continue since such races were used as training for Dakar.

In January, Varga placed third overall in the final Dakar for Quads with top-three stage finishes in nine of twelve legs, improving a spot after narrowly missing the podium on début in 2023. The BP Ultimate Rally-Raid was his only other W2RC start in 2024 so far.

He finished third in the 2023 W2RC Quad standings with a runner-up at the season-ending Rally du Maroc.

His Polaris was prepared by Slovakian dealer Quadmoto centrum.

The second stage SS3 Wieliczki 1 of the Friday morning stages of the 80th ORLEN Rally Poland has now been canceled due to spectators flocking nearby the stage in unsecured areas.

Only four Rally1 cars managed to finish the day’s second special stage before the rally organisers interrupted the stage. Shortly after, an announcement was made that the special stage was cancelled entirely due to spectators were in the wrong places watching the special stage, leaving the organisers with no choice but to cancel the entire stage.

Before the stage got canceled only Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux, and the two Toyota drivers Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta managed to get through the stage to the finish line. The remaining Rally1 cars did not start the stage and will be given so-called notional times later during the day.

Rally Poland returned to the FIA World Rally Championship calendar this season after seven years away. The last time the WRC event was held in Poland was in 2017, after which the rally lost its WRC status and one of the main reasons behind losing its status was because spectators in Poland caused far too many dangerous situations. As for now, it seems that the situation has not changed and even Thursday’s morning shakedown was also close to be canceled for the exact same reason with spectator control.

Top 10 after SS3

Yesterday’s pacesetter in the 80th ORLEN Rally Poland Shakedown has been forced to retire from the rally early on Friday as Ott Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja had to stop on the SS2 Stańczyki 1 stage in the morning.

Tänak and his co-driver set off as the second car on the nearly 30-kilometre special stage, but their journey ended prematurely with a retirement before the finish line and later Tänak confirmed in an interview that the crew had a collision with a deer.

The collision with the deer was severe enough to damage the front of the Hyundai completely which includes the radiator was damaged. However, the Estonian is likely to be able to continue the rally on Saturday as the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 machine can be repaired.

Before the retirement, Tänak was performing well and was considered a favourite to win the fast gravel rally, a rally he also was close to win in 2016 before a puncture halted his victory on the last stage, Poland visits the FIA World Rally Championship calendar for the first time in seven years. While he is no longer in contention for the victory, the new points system still allows Tänak to secure decent points during the remainder of the rally.

With Extreme E set to transition to Extreme H in 2025, the latter’s vehicle was revealed Thursday. Dubbed the Pioneer 25, it is built by Spark Racing Technology much like the XE predecessor Spark ODYSSEY 21.

The car measures in at six metres long, 1.9 metres wide, and 2.4 metres high and weighs 2,200 kilograms. By comparison, the ODYSSEY 21’s dimensions are 4.4×2.3×1.8 metres and is lighter by 550 kg. The 50-litre hydrogen fuel cell was made by Symbio and is capable of 75 kW of output. The accompanying battery pack from Fortescue ZERO, which the hydrogen fuel cell relays into, holds 325 kW of power. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds, approximately the same as the ODYSSEY 21.

Spark designed the chassis, a tubular space frame with composite impact structures. It also features a double wishbone suspension and shock absorbers from FOX.

Unlike its predecessor, the Pioneer 25’s driver seat is situated in the centre of the car. The bodywork and lights have also been modified to better resemble production vehicles.

“We’ve learnt a lot from the ODYSSEY 21, which we have carried forwards, but it’s an all-new chassis and a purpose-built racing car for the hydrogen fuel cell,” commented series technical director Mark Grain. “We wanted the racing to be more intense and we wanted the race cars to be faster.