Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team once again had to settle for being the third fastest team, after failing to come close to the top-two steps of the podium at the Italian Grand Prix.

George Russell had a quiet race, after sitting in second-place in the races opening laps before being easily overtaken by race winner Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton had a much more eventful Grand Prix, having started from nineteenth place. The seven-time World Champion managed to work his way up to an impressive fifth-place, ahead of Oracle Red Bull Racing‘s Sergio Pérez.

Hamilton pulled off some great moves along the way, especially in a car that struggles with top speed. After the triple-header Mercedes find themselves thirty-five points behind Scuderia Ferrari, with six races remaining.

Team Principal Toto Wolff discussed his team’s performance, as well as the performance of Mercedes Reserve driver Nyck de Vries, who stepped in for Alex Albon on Saturday morning and managed to score points on his Formula 1 debut sensationally.

“We were clearly the third fastest team today, so third and fifth positions was probably the maximum we could expect. Although the gaps were not as big as in Spa, this was clearly a track that didn’t suit us, so it was a question of maximising our result and doing damage limitation with Lewis. It was enjoyable to watch him fight through the pack – he looked a little bit stuck at the beginning, then once the tyres came together, he was very quick. As for George, he did everything we asked of him, and it was another faultless drive.

George Russell endured a somewhat quiet Italian Grand Prix, with the British driver securing his second podium finish of the triple-header, which came to a close at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

The Brit made a good start from second-place, but was unable to battle with polesitter Charles Leclerc. It wasn’t long until Russell was down to third, as eventual race winner Max Verstappen rapidly made his way past the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver, before starting his pursuit of Leclerc.

From that moment onwards the race was very uneventful for the British driver, who claimed a solid third-place finish. The result moves him to within seven points of Sergio Pérez in the Drivers’ Championship, with the Mexican currently occupying third.

Russell was disappointed with the W13’s pace in Monza, but is “satisfied” to have left a difficult weekend with another podium.

“Unfortunately, this weekend we were not where we wanted to be as a team – but like I said on the radio, it doesn’t matter if we are fast or slow, we keep getting these podium finishes. Over this triple header, two of the three weekends have been very difficult, and I’ve still come away with two podiums and a P4, so we’ve got to be satisfied with that.

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner was pleased with Max Verstappen’s strong win at the Italian Grand Prix, though he was disappointed to see a competitive race end under safety car conditions. 

“We would have liked to have seen the race play out today, we certainly didn’t want to win under a safety car. We believe there was enough time to get the race going but the safety car picked up George Russell which delayed proceedings. Despite that, we believe we had enough pace in hand on the one stop strategy.”

Horner said that Perez’s recovery to sixth place from his starting position of thirteenth after a grid penalty was “great”, though he faced troubles related to his brakes in his first stint. He added that Verstappen was essentially unstoppable against home favorites Scuderia Ferrari.

“Checo had to pit early because there was a flat spot, a lot of vibration, then a bit of debris got into the ducts which caused a small fire, but his recovery from there was great. Fastest lap for Checo too, so important points for him and the team.

“Max was yet again so impressive, even if they had the fastest car, I’m not sure if anyone could stop Max today.”

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took victory at the Italian Grand Prix, quickly overcoming his five-place grid penalty to take his fifth consecutive win. 

Verstappen said that avoiding a first lap incident was at the front of his mind after his seventh place start. He was, however, able to gain up to five positions in the opening lap, putting himself in a stellar position to battle pole-sitter Charles Leclerc for the win. 

“The first lap I had to be careful but we had a good start and were clean through the first chicane and for me that was the most important thing, to stay out of trouble. Then we were very quickly back up to P3 and even into P2, then I could set my sights on Charles and I could see we had better tyre degradation.”

Ultimately, Red Bull’s strategy won out against Ferrari’s in Monza, as Verstappen was leading when a late-race safety car was brought out to recover Daniel Ricciardo’s car after an engine failure. The race ended under safety car conditions, denying Leclerc the chance to fight for a grandstand finish and solidifying Verstappen’s victory. 

Verstappen said that the team was “comfortably the quickest” on Sunday and is proving to be one of the most consistent on the grid. With yet another victory under his belt, the championship is already Verstappen’s for the taking with several races still to go in the 2022 season. 

Max Verstappen has won the sixteenth round of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy. This win has extended the reigning champion’s lead to the point where it is mathematically possible for him to win the Drivers’ Championship trophy at Singapore in three weeks’ time.

It didn’t take long for the Dutchman to work his way to the front – as has been the trend in the recent races. Verstappen made his way up to fourth by the end of the first lap and extended his stint, while Charles Leclerc pitted several laps earlier than his rival. The number one driver spent the majority of the race in the lead, and was able to capitalise on a late-race safety car in order to get a free pitstop. Scuderia Ferrari also pitted, hoping for the race to be restarted, but were unable to challenge as the Safety Car would not pit until the end of the final lap.

Sergio Pérez had an eventful race, with his first pitstop resulting in a small fire on his front-right brake disk. The fire would eventually extinguish naturally, but the luck would get worse for the Mexican, who pitted in the latter stages of the race as he was being chased by Lewis Hamilton. However, the deployment of the Safety Car meant he would not get a chance to overtake Hamilton and re-claim his position, resulting in a sixth place finish. Pérez did, however, score the extra point for fastest lap.

The rest of the podium

Whatever Ferrari threw at them, Oracle Red Bull Racing had an answer, as is expected with the incredible combination of Verstappen and the RB18 this season. Leclerc was unable to close the gap to leader, Verstappen, after his switch to the Soft tyre in the second stint, and would cross the line in second place. Team-mate, Carlos Sainz, made a good recovery to finish fourth after taking an engine penalty and starting eighteenth.

Les Siviour, a legendary name in the Australian off-road racing world, died Thursday night after a short battle with cancer. He had been diagnosed in late August.

A rice farmer, Siviour’s racing career began in 1982 when he attended an off-road race in Kempsey and was invited for a hot lap of the track alongside fellow fans. Driving his wife Jan‘s “shopping car” Nissan Patrol, he set such strong times that he was invited to race competitively. He made his début at the Riverland Enduro with the Patrol, which had its rear seats removed and a rollbar attached, and won his class.

The Patrol would become the vehicle of choice, with factory support from Nissan, throughout Siviour’s career in the Australian Off Road Championship (AORC). He won seventeen AORC Production 4WD championships with the Patrol, including fifteen straight years from 1983 to 1998. He also claimed the overall AORC title in 1987.

“We’ve raced Patrols for twenty years and we’ve won seventeen Australian Championships in them,” Siviour said in early 2022. “You can put these things up against any other 4WD, and they won’t match it. They’re built like a bloody tank. If I can’t break them, nobody will.”

He retired from racing in 2003, though he returned for one-offs at the 2005 and 2010 editions of the MTQ Engine Systems Griffith 700. The latter start came as co-driver to his daughter Katie, whose husband Shannon Rentsch is a nine-time AORC overall champion.

Winning a race because you were the leader when it started raining is anticlimactic, but Noah Gragson will gladly accept any victory.

Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway did not even reach the halfway point when rain struck the track. As the first two stages had already been completed, NASCAR elected to end the event after 93 of 200 laps and awarded the win to Gragson, who was leading at the time as the Stage #2 winner. It is Gragson’s fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the year, which ties him with Ty Gibbs for the most among all drivers in 2022, and second in a row.

Gragson took the lead shortly after the restart on lap 76, which was set up by Jeremy Clements‘ spin. He remained the leader when rain hit on lap 83 and resulted in a caution, but NASCAR elected to resume shortly after as there were only five laps left until the stage’s conclusion.

Gibbs clashed with Gragson’s JR Motorsports team-mate Justin Allgaier in the battle for second, which the latter won.

“I feel like we were just got into a weird restart line, but when the three guys stayed out, I just picked the wrong one,” Gibbs said. The “three guys” referred to Austin Hill, Brett Moffitt, and Ryan Sieg who decided against pitting prior to the late restart. “I thought it was the right one and it wasn’t.

Ian Loggie is going into this weekend’s race as a firm favourite for the Drivers’ Championship title; however, James Cottingham and Lewis Williamson made their intentions known, taking pole position in qualifying for what is the penultimate round of the 2022 season. Steller Motorsport’s Audi of Richard Williams and Sennan Fielding secured the top position in GT4.  

2 Seas Motorsport’s Cottingham and Williamson set the first and second fastest times in their individual sessions, combining to take pole position by 0.396s ahead of the Enduro Motorsport McLaren of Morgan Tillbrook and Marcus Clutton. The Redline Racing Lamborghini rounded out the top three and took pole in Silver Am.

In GT4, Steller Motorsport line up on the front row alongside the R Racing Aston Martin of Jamie Day and Josh Miller whilst the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK GR Supra of Tom Edgar and Jordan Collard starts third. Matt Topham and Darren Turner secured the Pro Am pole position for Newbridge Motorsport, however, their combined time was only good enough for seventh.

GT3

It was an incredibly strong performance from 2 Seas Motorsport, Cottingham and Williamson securing pole position from Enduro Motorsport. Championship leader Ian Loggie combined with Callum Macleod to secure fifth overall. Cottingham set the early pace and remained unbeaten until the end of the first qualifying session. Clutton lowered the gap to 0.091s by the end of the session. Adam Balon and Ian Loggie exchanged positions early in the first session before Andrey Borodin crashed the #24 Greystone GT McLaren on the Cooper Straight, bringing the session to a premature close.

2 Seas held the early advantage moving into Qualifying 2, but were unable to top the session, James Dorlin set the quickest time of 1:22.969, going 0.013s faster than Williamson and within less than a tenth of the GT3 lap record. Dorlin’s performance was enough to move the Redline Lamborghini ahead of Barwell Motorsport and Ram Racing on combined times. Marcus Clutton finished fourth after having his final run impeded but was still quick enough to secure second on combined times.

Scuderia Ferrari Racing Director Laurent Mekies said that watching Charles Leclerc take pole position at the Italian Grand Prix was a “special feeling”, with crowds of tifosi on site to support the team in red. 

“Taking pole position in Monza, in front of a full crowd for the first time in two years, is a really special feeling. We dedicate this achievement to all our tifosi who never waver in their support for us.” 

Mekies said that it was not only a quick lap from Leclerc that earned the team pole, but a solid job from Carlos Sainz, who was able to help give his team-mate a tow. 

“Charles did a very good job, because once again he put together the perfect lap. Carlos also went very well, putting in similar times to his team-mate and playing the slipstream game. We had already done the same in France and Belgium and getting it right requires great understanding between the drivers.”

Overall, Mekies said that the result is representative of the work done by the entire team to re-secure their spot at the front of the grid since returning to racing after the summer break. 

Felipe Drugovich was in jubilant mood after clinching the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Drivers’ Title on Saturday, even if his Sprint race at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza was over before the end of the first lap.

With his one remaining rival, ART Grand Prix’s Théo Pourchaire, failing to secure the top six finish needed for him to take the battle into Sunday’s Feature race, Drugovich had done enough to add his name to the Formula 2 champions roll call.

The MP Motorsport driver made contact with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Amaury Cordeel at the second chicane on the opening lap on Saturday and returned to the pits with a broken suspension, and he watched on hoping Pourchaire would not recover from his lowly grid slot to take the battle onwards.

He would not, and Drugovich became the 2022 champion, and he said he was on top of the world following after a season that has seen him take five race victories, four of them in Feature races.

“It’s amazing, I really have no words for this,” said Drugovich. “When you start as a young driver you only dream about F1, but when you see how difficult it is to win an F2 title, this becomes a dream – and today it became the truth.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took pole position at the Italian Grand Prix, securing the top slot for the team in Monza. Leclerc was pleased to see improved performance since the similarly high-speed venue of Spa that kicked off the triple-header, which allowed him to beat out rivals at the team’s home venue. 

“I’m very happy. Monza is always a special one and to secure pole position here in front of our tifosi, is an incredible feeling. Even more so after we struggled in Spa, another high-speed track with similar demands. We worked hard to make improvements and it looks like we have become more competitive again.”

With nine drivers taking grid penalties this weekend, Leclerc starts ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris, while Ferrari’s nearest rivals of Red Bull Racing each start further back. With penalties playing into his advantage, the Monegasque driver is optimistic about his chances of taking the win on Sunday, having been pleased with the car’s pace all weekend. 

“I felt confident in the car from the first practice session on and our race pace was strong, so hopefully we can convert this pole into a victory tomorrow. I will give it everything.”

“We can be happy with the performance we have shown today” – Carlos Sainz

Team-mate Carlos Sainz qualified third place in Monza after a strong showing throughout the session, but will start at the back after taking a grid penalty for the replacement of several parts on his F1-75. 

Jüri Vips took victory in the Sprint race at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Saturday, while Felipe Drugovich became the 2022 FIA Formula 2 champion despite retiring on the opening lap.

With Théo Pourchaire failing to score a top six finish, MP Motorsport’s Drugovich was declared the champion, even though a broken suspension following a first lap, second chicane tangle with Amaury Cordeel ended his afternoon.

Frederik Vesti led the way at the start for ART Grand Prix but contact between Charouz Racing System’s Tatiana Calderón and Campos Racing’s Olli Caldwell brought out the safety car, while Drugovich managed to get his damaged car back to the pit lane.

On the restart, Hitech Grand Prix’s Vips managed to get the jump on Vesti and took over the lead heading into turn one, while DAMS’ Ayuma Iwasa ran third, although the Japanese racer’s afternoon was about to start unravelling.

MP Motorsport’s afternoon ended with retirement for their second driver, Clément Novalak on lap nine, the Frenchman retiring in the pits with a broken front wing, caused after contact at the same place Drugovich suffered, at the second chicane.

The Short-course Off-Road Drivers Association announced Saturday that Kelly Kuether has become the new Vice President. The move comes two weeks after his predecessor Kyle Koehler died in a motorcycle crash.

“I am a proud husband and father that loves doing things with my family. I feel like SODA is a place to make that happen,” said Kuether. “SODA is a place that youth can come out, learn the sport, and actually join in. I hope that I can help SODA continue to grow and introduce more families and kids to the sport. With my experience over many types of racing, it’s to my goal to work with racers, fans, and other SODA officials to make this a series that everyone wants to come out, watch, and participate in.”

Kuether joined the SODA team after connecting with his acquaintance Jimmy Ridderbush, who serves as the technical director. His other responsibilities include being the head of security and coordinator for volunteers.

His interest in off-road racing began when he was in high schooler during the original SODA series’ existence, working as a crewman for Terry Friday in 1994. He eventually shifted to pit crew work in oval stock car racing and competing as a drag racer, but later retired to focus on family after his daughter’s birth. Since 1997, he has run Kuether Services in New London, Wisconsin, a home remodelling and repair business. Kuether also served with the Fox Cities Composite Squadron Civil Air Patrol as a public affairs and supply officer from 2012 to 2015.

The 2022 season ends with the first annual SODA Super Nationals at Gravity Park USA on 23/24 September. Besides the fanfare of the finale, Kuether joins at a time where SODA hopes to expand beyond the Midwestern United States; President Willie Freshour recently expressed hope of sanctioning multiple SODA regional series in 2023 across the country. Freshour told The Checkered Flag in May that he hopes to see SODA become the short course off-road equivalent of the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) by cultivating a grassroots version across the country as a complement to larger series like Championship Off-Road.

The 2022 Africa Eco Race has endured a tumultuous organisation process that has only grown messier. With a month until it is scheduled to take part, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic issued an advisory Thursday to organisers requesting for them to avoid running the race through Western Sahara due to political strife in the region.

Since a ceasefire ended a fifteen-year war in 1991, Western Sahara has been disputed between the SADR and Morocco, with the latter occupying 75% of the territory while the SADR holds the rest. Forty-one United Nations members recognise the SADR, a contrast to just the United States doing so in Morocco’s favour to improve Moroccan-Israel relations in 2020. The UN itself consider Western Sahara a “non-self-governing territory” that does not fall under either state’s laws.

The twelve-stage Eco Race begins in Monaco before heading across the Mediterranean to Morocco. Although the first three stages go through Moroccan cities, the fourth sees competitors start in southern Morocco and cross into Western Sahara where they finish in Remz el Quebir. Stage #5 takes place exclusively in Western Sahara, with the former going to Dakhla where a rest day will be held on 23 October. Under Moroccan occupation, Dakhla is the capital of Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab. The sixth stage leaves the territory for Mauritania via Guerguerat where the majority of the race’s second half occurs and will end in Dakar, Senegal.

While the ceasefire ended formal military actions for nearly three decades, the SADR’s ruling party Polisario Front declared war on Morocco in November 2020 in response to clashes in Guerguerat. The town was the site of two interference attempts by the Polisario Front on the Eco Race before the UN convinced them to stop: 2018 saw armed militias deployed there to intercept incoming racers heading to Lac Rose, while the 2020 edition began with the border crossing being blocked by protesters but eventually proceeded.

With open conflict restarting, the SADR launched lobbying for the race to be re-routed away from the “war zone”. The government first advised outside parties to “refrain from any activity of any kind” in the territory on 18 November 2020 shortly after the declaration of war.

Charles Leclerc took pole position for Scuderia Ferrari for the Italian Grand Prix in front of the Tifosi on Saturday, the Monegasque racer edging out Max Verstappen at the end of Q3.

However, the grid will be jumbled up as nine drivers went into the Qualifying hour with grid penalties hanging over them, including four drivers that made it into the top ten shootout, including current championship leader Verstappen.

Q1 – Haas, Aston Martin Fall, de Vries gets through

Verstappen was quickest in the first session for Oracle Red Bull Racing, the Dutchman outpacing the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr.

At the other end of the grid, a mistake at the Rettifilo chicane cost Nicholas Latifi a chance to advance into Q2, but his Williams Racing team-mate for this weekend, Nyck de Vries, did advance as he took the place of Alexander Albon on Saturday morning after the Thai driver pulled out with appendicitis.

Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team saw their struggles this weekend continued as both Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were eliminated, while the Haas F1 Team also struggled, Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher ending slowest of all in nineteenth and twentieth.