Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Christof Danner‘s Puch/Mercedes G320 has enjoyed success in Europe and Africa, but will head to Saudi Arabia for its toughest challenge yet when he enters the 2025 Dakar Classic.

Danner has been racing since 1997, originally in a Land Rover 109 Series before acquiring a Puch 230GE. He began in various races in Central and Eastern Europe before branching out to Africa for the first time in 2002, when he finished sixth in the Sahara–Rallye de Tunisie. Two years later, he won the Tuareg Rallye for the first of seven times along with with the Sahara–Rally. Back in Europe, he competed in the FIA Central European Zone (CEZ) Cross-Country Rally Championship along with regional series in Hungary, Germany, and Italy.

His starts at the Hungarian Baja, Italian Baja, and Riverside Baja also counted as experience in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies (predecessor to the World Rally-Raid Championship) and FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas (now World Baja Cup). Whenever he entered such events, his Puch was the only Austrian manufacturer in the premier T1 class (now Ultimate), specifically in the T1.1 subcategory for 4×4 petrol cars. To meet T1 homologation while staying competitive, the car underwent significant upgrades like switching out the Mercedes-Benz M112 E32 engine for an M113 E55 and the use of eight Öhlins shock absorbers.

The Puch G, also marketed as the Mercedes-Benz G-Class or G-Wagen, is one of the eligible marques that can compete at the Dakar Classic, a navigation-based counterpart to the concurrent Dakar Rally for cars built between 1979 and 2005. A Puch 280GE raced at the 2024 Dakar Classic in January with Maximilian and Laurence Loder, who finished forty-seventh overall and fourth in the H2.A subclass.

The 2025 Dakar Classic runs on 3–17 January.

The 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans continues to deliver high drama as Kévin Estre delivered a sensational 3:24.634 to put the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport car on Hypercar pole for Saturday’s race. Cadillac Racing continued their superb form with Alex Lynn and Sébastian Bourdais took their #2 and #3 cars to 2nd and 3rd on the grid respectively.

In LMP2, Louis Delétraz secured a very crowd-pleasing pole position for “Spike,” the LMP2 car run by AO by TF Sport. Brendan Iribe set the pace in LMGT3, securing pole in the #70 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo a whopping 0.8 seconds ahead of championship leading Manthey PureRxing.

Hypercar

It certainly didn’t look like a Porsche party for the bulk of the session. The #12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche did not start the session due to a heavy accident at the end of free practice 2 on Wednesday night. Initially, the pace looked to be with the Cadillacs, specifically the #3 with Le Mans native Bourdais at the wheel, the Frenchman lapping 0.8 seconds faster than Antonio Fuoco in the #50 Ferrari AF Corse, the nearest challenger at the time.

With 22 minutes of the 30 minute session gone, disaster struck for BMW M Team WRT. Dries Vanthoor, the man who stunned the paddock by setting the fastest time in qualifying, crashed his BMW at Indianapolis, bringing out a red flag and guaranteeing a short final blast to the line to secure the best time. Vanthoor’s times were all deleted, meaning the German car will start in 8th place at the back of the Hyperpole field.

In that brief 7 minute window, everything changed. Estre and Lynn secured pole position and 2nd respectively on the final lap, leapfrogging Bourdais in his Cadillac. The #6 Porsche leads the championship by a comfortable margin and now looks in a prime position to challenge for victory at Le Mans. Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari managed to go one better than his teammate Fuoco, qualifying 4th ahead of the #50 Ferrari in 5th. Paul Loup Chatin qualified 6th after a fine Hyperpole performance for Alpine Endurance Team‘s debut home race at Le Mans.

Kristoffersson Motorsport have revealed that they are taking a new approach to the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship. The team, rebranded as KMS – HORSE Powertrain, have unveiled their sustainably-fuelled car, driven by an internal combustion engine (ICE) for the inaugural “Battle of Technologies” season in world rallycross.

The two VW Polo KMS 601 RX cars will be driven by the now familiar pairing of Ole Christian Veiby and six-time world champion Johan Kristoffersson. Despite winning both drivers’ and teams’ championships in both 2022 and 2023 in all-electric machinery, the team have elected to switch to a new challenge facilitated by a new partnership with Swedish company Aurobay and HORSE Powertrain.

According to the official press release, “Aurobay develops, engineers and manufactures world-class, next-generation powertrain solutions, while HORSE Powertrain Limited is a global leader in hybrid and combustion powertrain components and systems, with a 19,000-strong workforce across three continents.“

Developed by KMS over the winter, the cars have been described by Tommy Kristoffersson, team principal, as the best his team have ever created. “This is a win-win situation – we will benefit tremendously from each other” Kristoffersson explained. “We both have a large staff of extremely talented engineers, meaning we will be able to exchange experiences and also personnel.“

The team will of course have to work to be competitive against the established all-electric machinery. Hansen World RX Team have already confirmed their all-electric line up, as have CE Dealer Team. When speaking with The Checkered Flag, 2019 world champion Timmy Hansen mused on the relative merits of electric versus ICE. “On a lap, the electric cars don’t have shifting, we don’t have turbo lags, so we should gain there” the Swedish driver explained. “Also, we have more power so that should be our advantage. The disadvantage will come on braking. That’s where the combustion cars are very strong, because they’ve got one motor driving four wheels.”

2019 FIA World Rallycross Champion Timmy Hansen is one of the sport’s most successful drivers. As part of the family-run Hansen World RX Team, he is a regular contender for podiums and race wins, a run of form that continued into the sport’s new all-electric era in 2022. After a tumultuous year for the championship in 2023, when the season was turned on its head at a fateful weekend in Lydden Hill, the championship is back with a brand new “Battle of Technologies” concept which will see electric powered cars facing up to their internal combustion engine rivals on rallycross tracks for the very first time.

With the team fully committing to an all-electric line up, Timmy joined The Checkered Flag from his home in Sweden to discuss the end of the 2023 season, the upcoming year in rallycross, and why he is so excited by the upcoming “Battle of Technologies.”

“Finally this whole thing is behind us and we can go full focus on the RX1e cars and putting them on the start line.”

Last time we spoke was at Lydden Hill in July 2023. We didn’t know then, but there would be no more racing RX1e machines for the rest of the year. How did you find the rest of the season and the switch to the RX2e machinery?

“Last year was a big challenge. From that moment, we as a sport needed to come together. Cancelling everything was very much an option but we didn’t want to do that. We needed to put on the show for the fans, the sponsors, and for everyone involved. We managed to get that good solution and we did get back on the start line.

With the Dakar Rally no longer hosting his category in 2025, Laisvydas Kancius is the latest Quad refugee to find a new home on the FIA side. On Thursday, Petrus Racing Team announced he will be the co-driver of their MD Optimus piloted by fellow Lithuanian and team leader Gintas Petrus.

Kancius won the World Rally-Raid Championship for Quads in 2023, capping off a campaign that saw him win once at the Sonora Rally and record three podiums. He finished fourth at the latest Dakar in January, which turned out to be the final edition for the Quad category as the Amaury Sport Organisation announced in April that it would not return for 2025.

Rodolfo Guillioli, whom Kancius beat for the 2023 title, is now a navigator as well in the SSV class. Pablo Copetti, who finished third among Quads at the 2023 Dakar, will drive a side-by-side in 2025. This year’s Dakar winner and newly crowned Quad World Champion Manuel Andújar has expressed interest in migrating to a car, but plans to take a sabbatical before making the switch.

Petrus finished twenty-eighth overall among Ultimate entries at the 2024 Dakar Rally. Débuting in 2002, he has entered the race annually since 2020 while his first run with the MD Optimus T1.2 buggy was in 2021. Kancius replaces Jose Marques in the co-driver’s seat.

Until the team finds sponsorship, Petrus intends to put the Ukrainian flag on the car. Lithuania has strongly supported Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion; Lithuanian rally raiders Antanas Juknevičius, Benediktas Vanagas, and Vaidotas Žala led a drive to donate first aid kits in 2023, while Kancius and Vanagas have sent vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

BMW M Team WRT have secured a stunning early result at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. In a surprising result, the #15 German car, with Dries Vanthoor at the wheel, set the best time of session of 3:24.465, closely followed by the #3 Cadillac Racing car, with last year’s pole sitter, the #50 Ferrari AF Corse team, finishing third fastest.

There was also a surprise in LMGT3 as Ben Barker topped the tables in the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3. Another visiting team for the Le Mans weekend, Inception Racing, came second in their McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo, with perennial qualifying frontrunners, TF Sport, kept the American power at the top, finishing third fastest in their Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R. In LMP2, the class reintroduced to the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship for the iconic race in Le Mans, Malthe Jakobsen took the #37 COOL Racing Oreca 07 – Gibson car to the top of the timesheets. Louis Delétraz was second fastest in the crowd-pleasing “Spike” car from AO By TF.

The results of qualifying practice don’t determine the full grid for Saturday’s legendary race. In each category, the positions from 9th to the back of the grid are now set. The 8 fastest in each class will battle it out on Thursday 13 June in the Hyperpole session to determine the top starting positions for the race.

Hypercar

The dramatic qualifying session ended perfectly for BMW, with Vanthoor setting his spectacular time within the last ten minutes of the session. The Cadillacs had been looking rapid all day, with the #3 car, driven by home town hero Sebastian Bourdais, delighting the fans with the second fastest time. Ferrari will be pleased with their result, with both of their factory cars in the Hyperpole session, the #50 in 3rd and the #51 in 6th.

The 4th fastest time went to Toyota Gazoo Racing, the #7 car being driven by Kamui Kobayashi. However, in the final few minutes, the Japanese driver caught an inside curb at the Porsche Curves and spun out into the gravel. As this triggered a red flag to end the session, their fastest lap time was disqualified and they will start at the back of the Hypercar grid. For the first time in years, Toyota are not represented in Hyperpole, with the #8 car starting 11th on the grid.

It is fitting that the Kyle LeDuc Memorial Cup is won by a driver who shares his name and sponsorship.

Organised by Championship Off-Road in honour of the late short course legend, the inaugural Cup took place at Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway as a Pro 2 versus Pro 4 race. LeDuc, who passed away last November, led the track’s redesign ahead of the 2023 season. With the help of the joker lap, the Pro 2 of Kyle Greaves beat his cousin and Pro 4 driver C.J. Greaves for the victory.

Unlike Pro 2 vs. Pro 4 races at Crandon, where the track is large enough for a staggered start in which the former goes first then their four-wheeled counterparts do so half a minute later, Antigo had both classes start closer together though with Pro 2 still comprising the lead trucks. To further bridge the performance divide, Pro 2 took a joker lane in the second half of the race that shortened the course.

After chasing C.J. and Jimmy Henderson for the first four laps, Kyle took the joker immediately when it opened at the halfway point and quickly erased the gap to take the lead. He built his own advantage at a rapid pace, pulling away to an advantage of over eight seconds en route to the win. C.J. settled for second.

Henderson, racing a new truck, fell back whereas Keegan Kincaid passed Travis Milhausen Jr. on the final lap to join the Greaves on the podium. Pro Lite driver Brody Eggleston was the last truck on the lead lap in his maiden Pro 2 race.

Daniel Ricciardo has been a hot topic of conversation around the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix weekend, with Jacques Villeneuve taking aim at the Australian for his current performances.

Despite a sub-par 2024 season so far, Ricciardo had his best weekend of the year so far in Montreal, qualifying in fifth and securing his first points in a full Grand Prix by finishing eighth, while bouncing back from a 5 second penalty for a jump start that had the potential to ruin his weekend.

Ricciardo Vs Tsunoda

One weekend out of nine has seen Ricciardo bring home points for Visa Cash App RB in a full Grand Prix format, alongside his outstanding performance in the Miami Grand Prix Sprint. His much younger teammate Yuki Tsunoda has had an outstanding season, getting points in six out of the nine rounds so far. 

In Formula 1, the first person you are judged against is your teammate so Ricciardo’s criticism has come almost directly from the performances Tsunoda has been showing. As with anything in F1, the statistics always have context to them. The main example with Ricciardo is the broken chassis he had for the first three rounds of the season, and since then he has much closer to Tsunoda. 

If we’re starting from Japan, Ricciardo qualified just one place behind Tsunoda at his home circuit be we never got to see what would’ve happened during the race with the Australian retiring after a lap one incident. In China, Ricciardo had the upper hand, while Miami was a real mixed bag with an excellent performance in the Sprint, then a really poor qualifying that gave him little chance on race day.

A new chapter in the rivalry between Ford and Chevrolet was added this past weekend in the Northern Territory when they squared off at the legendary Finke Desert Race. Both manufacturers provided factory support for Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Brad Lovell and Supercars Championship great Craig Lowndes, whose vehicles suffered greatly in the Australian desert. By the end, the Blue Oval came out on top in the Production 4WD class for the second straight year.

Lovell and his son Byam Lovell returned to Finke with their Ford Ranger Raptor, which set the Finke-to-Alice Springs course record in 2023 en route to the class victory. The truck, which also won its class at the 2022 and 2023 Baja 1000, arrived in Australia with some upgrades to the damper calibration but otherwise retains much of the same anatomy as its street counterpart. Meanwhile, Lowndes made his Finke début in the Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 Off-Road Racer after running just the Prologue in 2021; the seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner and thrice Supercars champion last ran an off-road event of any kind in 2011. Dakar Rally navigator Dale Moscatt called the shots for Lowndes.

General Motors and Ford Performance basically threw the kitchen sink into their programmes for the race, each depending on support from companies in Australia and the United States. Walkinshaw Performance, the performance division of Supercars team Walkinshaw Andretti United, and Huseman Engineering (once led by the late short course star Rick Huseman) were responsible for preparing the Ranger. Opposite them, General Motors Specialty Vehicles, Chevrolet Racing, and Hall Racing (owned by Chad Hall, a Chevrolet partner and the son of Baja legend Rod Hall) oversaw the Silverado ZR2 Off-Road Racer’s development from concept car to reality.

Lowndes held the early advantage when he beat Lovell by eight seconds in the Prologue, and the margin continued to grow during the first leg when he recorded the fastest run from Finke to Alice Springs with a time of 2:56.692. Lovell’s Day 1, on the other hand, was marred by a myriad of mechanical issues such as the damper overheating, the drive mode malfunctioning, and the brakes coming apart. Although he reached Finke with a broken left-rear suspension, Lovell only trailed Lowndes by four minutes and twenty-four seconds.

Vehicle gremlins claimed Lowndes as well on the second and final day when the upper control arm ball joint broke just thirty-nine kilometres in. Unlike his rival, the damage to the Chevrolet’s front suspension was terminal and forced him to retire. With Lowndes out of the picture, Lovell cruised to the class victory as its only finisher; Norman Parker was entered in a Toyota Land Cruiser 76 series but exited in the first leg.

The most prestigious and highly anticipated event of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) has arrived. The 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place on 15/16 June, with an astonishing line up of 62 cars and 186 drivers spread between three classes ready to tackle the ultimate test in endurance racing.

The Circuit de la Sarthe needs no introduction. The 13.6 kilometre circuit is driven with fully open throttle for 70% of the lap and features no fewer than 38 corners, including some of the most iconic in all of motorsport. Over 300,000 spectators are expected to attend the race itself, soaking up the incredible festival atmosphere that only the 24 Hours of Le Mans can provide.

The race is no less of a highlight of the race calendar for the teams. Not only is it the longest, most challenging race (last year’s winner covered a race distance of over 4,600km), but it’s also an opportunity for the 19 permanent entries in the Hypercar class and the 18 LMGT3 entries to score double points. There are 50 awarded to the victor of the 24 hour race in each class, a mighty haul that could prove vital in this year’s extremely close championship.

Hypercar

As the winners of the 2023 centenary running of the race, Ferrari AF Corse are one of the main contenders heading into the 2024 race. The Italian team have had a torrid start to the 2024 WEC season, with a combination of strategic errors at the 6 Hours of Imola and a red flag period at the 6 Hours of Spa scuppering their chances for victory so far. However, with the team’s experience of winning Le Mans last year, this race could be the chance to turn everything round and mount a charge against their rivals.

At the top of the Hypercar tree, Porsche have been sensational all season. The factory Porsche Penske Motorsport team claimed pole position and victory at the 1812km Qatar, with the privateer Hertz Team JOTA Porsche securing a fantastic maiden win at Spa. The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport car has not finished lower than 2nd all season, and the sister #5 car has been lighting fast as well. A total of 6 Porsche 963 cars will contest in Hypercar, with the addition of a third Porsche Penske Motorsport car being added to the mix.

The World Rally-Raid Championship will be taking a page out of the World and European Rally Championships in 2025 with the introduction of a Power Selective Section. The FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the addition, among other changes, at their second meeting of 2024 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Although specific details have not been ironed out, the Power Selective Section takes inspiration from the WRC and ERC’s Power Stage, which is typically the final leg in a given rally. A Power Stage awards bonus points to the five fastest cars regardless of their ranking and is timed to a thousandth of a second rather than a tenth. The W2RC already hands out five bonus points to each stage winner in an FIA class, with one fewer for each position after, meaning a direct copy of the WRC format is redundant unless the points allocation is changed.

Power Selective Sections will be optional for 2025 before being mandated in 2026.

The WMSC will also borrow from the WRC and Formula One by allowing competitors to pick their own permanent numbers. Currently, numbers are assigned by points standings and change at each race. For example, Nasser Al-Attiyah had #200 to begin the 2024 season as the reigning champion, then Carlos Sainz became the points leader after winning the Dakar Rally, giving him rights to the number while Al-Attiyah was second and therefore started using #201; once Al-Attiyah passed Sainz to reclaim the top spot two rounds later, he was once again #200 for the Desafío Ruta 40.

The only numbers blocked from selection are #200, #300, and #400 as those are for the defending World Rally-Raid, Challenger, and SSV class champions, like how #1 is reserved for the titleholder in WRC and F1. The number must still be within the range of the category that the driver is racing in (200s for Ultimate, 300s for Challenger, 400s for SSV, 500s for Stock, 600s for Truck).

Like in 2023, the 2024 Rallye du Maroc will conclude the World Rally-Raid Championship come October. On Monday, organiser ODC Event revealed the route which will stretch 2,492 kilometres with 1,517 km being Selective Sections.

After scrutineering and final technical checks on 5 October, the race begins with the Prologue on 6 October, a loop starting and ending in Marrakesh. The fourth largest city in Morocco, it has hosted legs of the Rallye du Maroc including the final stage in 2014 when it was called the Rallye OiLybia du Maroc. Marrakesh also has a racing scene, hosting Formula E from 2016 to 2022.

Stage #1 takes the rally from Marrakesh to Zagora, a town in the Draa River valley and where the main bivouac was located in 2023. Much like last year, Zagora will host a loop for Stage #2.

Mengoub, a town in eastern Morocco straddling the Algerian border, will be the other bivouac from Stage #3—the longest stage in terms of SS—onwards. It will have two loops on the last pair of days.

The 1,517 kilometres in timed sections make the race slightly longer than in 2023, which had 1,470 km. Including road sections, 2024 also exceeds 2023 by 252 km.

Round 4 of the World Rally-Raid Championship took place in Argentina with the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA.

Didn’t follow The Checkered Flag‘s daily coverage? Here’s an archive of our stories just for you.

Pre-race stories

Mid-race stories

Stage winners

Overall winners

As was the case in 2023, the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship will come down to the final round between Nasser Al-Attiyah and Yazeed Al-Rajhi. This time, the battle is closer as they left Argentina separated by twenty-five points and Al-Rajhi with momentum after narrowly defeating Al-Attiyah for the Desafío Ruta 40 win.

The defending DR 40 victor, Al-Attiyah’s quest for a third consecutive win seemed to start on a high note when he won the Prologue. However, he quickly faced stiff resistance thereafter as Al-Rajhi led an onslaught of Toyota Hiluxes alongside Toyota Gazoo Racing‘s Lucas Moraes and Seth Quintero. Al-Rajhi claimed the overall lead with his Stage #1 win and never relinquished it despite Al-Attiyah’s best efforts. By the end, Al-Rajhi had just barely beaten him by a mere forty seconds.

A one-minute penalty for Al-Attiyah in Stage #3 may have been the difference maker. His co-driver Édouard Boulanger had undone his seatbelts and HANS device to address the smell of smoke in the cockpit; upon returning to his seat, he signalled to Al-Attiyah to drive again despite not having properly fastened said safety devices. Their Prodrive had driven roughly twenty-seven seconds as Boulanger was tightening everything. The penalty dropped Al-Attiyah from second to third for the stage and left him trailing Al-Rajhi by thirteen seconds entering Stage #5, which he was unable to make up as Al-Rajhi won.

“We finished in second place and that keeps us in a strong position to fight for the championship,” said Al-Attiyah. “We will be racing in the final round in Morocco in October with our new car and the aim is to finish this season as world champions.”

The victory is Al-Rajhi’s first of 2024 and allows him to leapfrog the absent Carlos Sainz for second in the championship. After trailing Al-Attiyah by thirty-three points entering Argentina, the gap is now twenty-five with one round to go.

Monster Energy Honda Rally Team might have strength in numbers, but their riders know how to flex their muscles. All five members placed in the RallyGP top six at the Desafío Ruta 40, won every stage, swept the podium in all five legs, and sealed a 1–2–3–4 finish spearheaded by Ricky Brabec.

Brabec, making his first World Rally-Raid Championship start since winning the Dakar Rally in January, battled with defending race winner Tosha Schareina and Adrien Van Beveren throughout. Schareina won the first stage before Van Beveren did so followed by Brabec in Stage #3, the latter taking the outright lead and never relinquishing it despite the narrow gap. Entering the last day, Schareina only trailed by a minute and twenty-second seconds; although he won the stage, he was unable to close the gap enough to overtake Brabec.

By the end, Brabec only beat Schareina by fifteen seconds in the closest W2RC RallyGP overall margin of victory. He is the first American to win the DR 40 since the late Kurt Caselli in 2013.

“It’s been a big final week. It’s been stressful but it’s good to be back,” Brabec stated. “The team rode really well, the mechanics did a good job, and so I think we’re in great shape heading to Morocco. It was a great day, although it was stressful as I didn’t want to lose all the time I’d made up and Tosha put some time on me today as he’s good at this road-style rallying and I’m not the best at it. I tried my best to not lose too much time and in the end, everything came out pretty well. This has been a really good confidence booster moving forward and so I’ll be happy to get home and do some more testing with the bike and make it another level better.”

Fellow American Honda rider Skyler Howes was too far back to catch Van Beveren for third, but kept W2RC points leader Ross Branch of rival Hero MotoSports at bay for fourth with the help of back-to-back runner-up stage finishes. Howes beat Branch by 1:59.