Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

The ARCA Menards Series‘ race at the Milwaukee Mile on 28 August and the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series‘ EuroNASCAR 2 round at Autodrom Most on 3/4 September are shaping up to have historic grids for female drivers. The former has six women entered, which would be tied for the most in series history, while the latter’s provisional entry list currently has five such drivers named.

The six female ARCA drivers are led by rookies and full-time competitors Toni Breidinger and Amber Balcaen, who are respectively fifth and sixth in points. Also entered are Mandy Chick, Steph Moyer, Amber Slagle, and Rita Thomason.It ties the record set at Daytona in 2010 with Jennifer Jo Cobb, Jill George, Milka Duno, Leilani Munter, Alli Owens, and Danica Patrick (Amber Cope would have been the seventh if she qualified but withdrew). Being a companion race with the ARCA Menards Series East, that division also enjoys the new record and surpasses ARCA West’s best of five at Las Vegas in 2021 with Balcarn, Slagle, Bridget Burgess, Mariah Boudrieau, and Jolynn Wilkinson.

Breidinger races for Venturini Motorsports while Balcaen represents Rette Jones Racing. Both have three top tens each, with Balcaen holding the best finish of seventh at Charlotte.

Chick finished eighteenth in her ARCA debut at IRP after being caught in a crash that also collected Balcaen. The 20-year-old, whose father Steve owned a NASCAR Truck Series team in the early 2000s, competed predominantly in late models before her family team purchased cars to enter ARCA.

Moyer is running full-time in the ARCA Menards Series East for Fast Track Racing, where she sits fourth in the standings with a best finish of ninth. The Milwaukee race is a combination event with the national ARCA series, which opened the door for her entry; the Iowa event in June was also the same and therefore the site of Moyer’s 2022 ARCA national début, though she retired with a brake failure. She also ran the ARCA race at Pocono and finished nineteenth.

Having reflected on the first half of the season during summer break, BWT Alpine F1 Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer said that the team is prepared to take on the rest of the season as they continue to work towards solidifying their position of fourth in the constructors’ standings against contending McLaren F1 Team.

“We are all feeling re-energised after the enforced Formula 1 summer shutdown. It’s always a good time to take stock on the season so far, reflect on the positives and assess some of the areas for improvement. 

“Now, we are all feeling ready and motivated for the second part of the season where there is so much to play for in terms of the championship.”

Szafnauer said that the highly-publicized situation at the beginning of the break involving Fernando Alonso’s shock move to Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team and the subsequent question of who will fill his seat will not play a role on-track, where they look to garner the points necessary to maintain their position. At this time, it remains unclear who will fill the seat, as Alpine junior Oscar Piastri denied that he will be driving for the team next year. 

“Clearly the team has been quite prominent in the world media in the days after Hungary and just before the summer break, however, it is absolutely no distraction for us once we hit the race track again.”

BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso took full advantage of the time off during the summer break, and said that recovery is of utmost importance in what is such a long and fast-paced season of racing– a lesson he learned in his many years of competition. 

“We all miss racing in August but the time off to recharge the batteries is needed. After 20 years of racing at the pinnacle of motorsports, I have learnt that taking some time to recover is very important, especially during such a hectic year.”

“Now that we have more than 20 races in a season, it’s even more important to make sure you maximise your recovery time. But it’s important to keep some exercise routine, as once we get back to racing it’s relentless until December.”

With the Belgian Grand Prix marking the return to racing after the break, Alonso said that he enjoys driving at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and that the venue allows for great overtaking and battles which has often resulted in “interesting” races in the past.

“I do enjoy racing at Spa. It’s one of the most historic races on the calendar. We usually have interesting races there as the circuit lends itself to lots of overtaking opportunities.”

Vaidotas Žala‘s eighth Dakar Rally will be in perhaps the best equipment of his career to date as he announced Thursday that he will pilot a Prodrive Hunter T1 in the 2023 Rally. He will race under the Teltonika Racing banner like in his previous entries, except Bahrain Raid Xtreme has also come aboard to provide support.

“It’s a massive opportunity for me to drive the Prodrive Hunter in Dakar 2023 as it will be my first ever chance to start the rally with factory-level machinery,” Žala stated. “I am especially looking forward to driving alongside Sébastien Loeb who is an icon for any upcoming rally driver. After my first test in Dubai, I was astonished by the capabilities of the Prodrive Hunter and it put a big smile on my face so I’m sure Dakar 2023 will be the most interesting rally in my career.”

The two-time Lithuanian Rally Champion has competed at Dakar every year since 2016. After driving a SEAT rally car in the first two years, he contested the 2018 and 2019 rallies in a Toyota Hilux. From 2020 to 2022, he piloted a Mini John Cooper Works Rally, winning the opening stage in 2020 to become the first Lithuanian Dakar stage victor.

His 2022 Rally saw him finish eleventh in the Cars category with a best stage position of fifth on the final leg.

BRX has fielded the Prodrive Hunter since 2021. The car was designed by Ian Callum, and a street-legal version was revealed in March.

The excruciatingly long summer break is finally at an end and we can look forward to round eleven of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 championship which returns to the iconic Belgian woodlands of Circuit de Spa–Francorchamps.

With this race weekend being the first of a triple header which will see the grid head to Zandvoort and Monza, respectively, the drivers will need to be laser focused for the next six races they will have to compete over in the next sixteen days.

The Story So Far

Heading into the final four rounds of the season, Felipe Drugovich still sits at the top of the drivers’ standings ahead of long time championship rival Théo Pourchaire.

The two talented youngsters have been battling out since the very start of the season and with the Frenchman winning the Budapest Feature Race last time out, he closes the gap to the Brazilian to just twenty-one points.

It was Ayumu Iwasa who put it on pole at the Hungaroring in round ten, with it being his maiden pole after a string of impressive qualifying performances in the rounds prior.

As the FIA Formula 1 World Championship makes its return from a month-long summer break at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly has spoken on his excitement to once again be stepping back into his AT03 car

The Scuderia AlphaTauri team struggled to gain any real momentum in the first half of the season, with the team sitting eight in the constructors amassing just twenty-seven points so far.

Gasly himself sits thirteenth in the driver’s championship and will be hoping for a stronger second half of the season kicking off this weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit. Speaking ahead of this weekend’s action, the Frenchman revealed how he used his summer break to recharge ahead of the final nine races of the season.

“I enjoyed the break, visiting Greece for the very first time for a week with friends and after that, it was more of a family time in France with my parents, all my brothers, nephews and nieces and then a couple of days in Spain. Nothing incredible, but it helped to unwind and be with my family, while also doing some training.

“Above all, I got plenty of rest prior to the final part of the season. After that it was back to work, starting with a trip to the simulator. Everyone has been hard at work since Monday and my phone is definitely much busier than it had been over the past three weeks!”

Kurt Busch is officially out of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. On Thursday, Busch announced he will withdraw the waiver that guaranteed him a spot in the postseason as his concussion is preventing him from running the first playoff race.

“As much as I wanted and hoped to be able to get back in the #45 car to make a playoff run with our team, it’s still not the right time for me,” said Busch. “In addition to not being cleared to return to racing, I know that I am not ready to be back in the car. I respect the sport of NASCAR, my fellow drivers and the fans too much to take up a playoff spot if I know I can’t compete for a championship this season. The decision was not an easy one, but I know it is the right thing to do. I will continue to take time to heal and strengthen as I prepare to be back in the car and will do all I can to help 23XI (Racing) continue the success we have had this season.”

Busch has not driven a Cup race since his Pocono qualifying crash in July. Ty Gibbs has taken over the #45 Toyota for the remaining six regular season races and will continue to do so for the playoffs. Gibbs has finished sixteenth (Pocono), seventeenth (Indianapolis), tenth (Michigan), thirty-sixth (Richmond), and twenty-sixth (Watkins Glen) in substitute duty.

“My prayers continue to be with Kurt,” Gibbs commented. “It’s tough that he’s going to miss the start of the playoffs, but I’ll do the best job I can filling in for him as long as I’m asked to. I know Kurt will be our biggest supporter. I appreciate Michael (Jordan) and Denny (Hamlin) giving me this opportunity to fill in and hopefully we can continue to do well as we compete for the Cup owner’s championship for 23XI Racing. My thoughts are with Kurt as he recovers, and I know he will continue to do everything in his power to get better.”

A playoff spot had been acquired with Busch’s Kansas victory, though his withdrawal means he will not be in the playoff grid for the first time since the bracket system’s introduction in 2014. It will also be just the third year that he is not in the postseason since its début in 2004.

FIA Formula 3 arrives at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, and the championship leaders are tied at the top, with the French duo of Isack Hadjar and Victor Martins both entering the weekend with 104 points. After both drivers failed to score podiums at the last outing in Budapest, they will be eager to get back to winning ways and gain an outright lead at the top of the standings.

Hadjar is the only driver within the Hitech GP Formula 3 team to score a podium this season, and the 17 year old also has the most wins on the F3 grid in 2022 with three. However, his title rival Martins has the most F3 feature race wins in 2022, standing on the top step of the podium at the Sakhir and Barcelona feature races.

However, another driver looking to grasp the lead of the Championship, is Prema driver Arthur Leclerc. Currently sitting on 95 points, only 9 off the championship leaders, the Monagasque is looking to replicate his Silverstone feature race win this weekend, to firmly assert himself as a title contender.

Leclerc’s Prema teammates Oliver Bearman and Jak Crawford are also not far behind, as they both sit on 80 points heading into the seventh F3 race weekend of the season. Crawford, who races under the American flag, has taken one win this season, crossing the line first in a chaotic sprint race at the Red Bull ring. However the winless Brit Bearman has taken four podiums compared to Crawfords three, including three feature race podiums, which have bagged him extremely key championship points, keeping him on the tails of his teammates and still within reach of the F3 title.

Another man battling for a place on the podium in Belgium is MP Motorsport’s Alexander Smolyar. The 21 year old is looking to carry his momentum from round 6 in Budapest where he qualified on pole and took his first win of the 2022 F3 season in the feature race. Smolyar has faced a frustrating season, currently sitting seventh in the championship standings, after taking only 11 points from the first 2 race weekends, alongside being barred from competing at Silverstone due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Despite all this, his points tally of 63 heading into the weekend, leaves plenty still for Smolyar to fight for.

Charles Leclerc says coming back to Spa-Francorchamps brings him mixed emotions, with the venue the site of his maiden FIA Formula 1 World Championship race victory there in 2019, the same weekend where his friend Anthoine Hubert was killed in a crash in the supporting FIA Formula 2 race.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver was in dominant form that day, claiming his first win ahead of Lewis Hamilton on a weekend tinged with tragedy, and Leclerc dedicated his victory to Hubert that day.

Now three years later, Leclerc still has memories of that weekend – both good and bad – but he is eager to turn around his fortunes this weekend in a bid to regain some kind of momentum as he battles Max Verstappen for the Drivers’ Championship in 2022.

And the twenty-four-year-old believes Ferrari have the pace and potential to do well at every venue, so is not yet giving up the battle for the title.

“I’ve got great memories from here, because you never forget the place where you got your first win,” said Leclerc, who sits eighty points behind Verstappen heading to Spa-Francorchamps.  “But there’s also a very strange feeling, shaken by the tragedy of what happened to Anthoine (Hubert).

Andreas Seidl says the McLaren F1 Team will do everything they can to take the fight to the BWT Alpine F1 Team across the remainder of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season as the two outfits battle for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Just four points separate the teams heading into this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, with Alpine holding the small advantage, but everyone at McLaren has been looking at ways to maximise the potential of its MCL36 to ensure they do everything they can to beat their rivals.

Seidl, the Team Principal at McLaren, says they will put the news of Daniel Ricciardo’s impending departure from the team at the end of the season behind them and put their full focus into battling it out for the big points with both the Australian and his team-mate Lando Norris across the final nine races.

“The team are feeling rested and ready to tackle the second half of the season head on,” said Seidl.  “Spa is an exciting challenge as there are a multitude of ways to play it from a strategy and engineering perspective. It also holds some nice overtaking opportunities for the drivers to take advantage of and the track isn’t like many others on the calendar.   

“I know the team are excited to get back out there and kick start the triple header. Whilst the intense three weeks in a row has its challenges, it also provides a good opportunity to quickly gain momentum and take the fight to the Alpines, hopefully scoring some points with both cars.

Daniel Ricciardo is looking to put the news of his impending departure from the McLaren F1 Team behind him and focus on the racing as the FIA Formula 1 World Championship returns after its summer break this weekend in Belgium.

The Australian will leave McLaren at the end of the 2022 season despite having a contract for 2023, with his countryman Oscar Piastri expected to replace him once his contract dispute with the BWT Alpine F1 Team is sorted out.

Ricciardo, a former winner of the Belgian Grand Prix back when he was racing for Red Bull Racing, is excited to return to Spa-Francorchamps, a circuit that he finds thrilling, and he is looking to push across the remaining nine races of the year to leave McLaren on a high.

“I’m looking forward to heading back to Belgium,” said Ricciardo.  “The track at Spa is an exciting one and you always get a thrill going through the fast corners, particularly through Eau Rouge into Raidillon.

“Mixed with the long straights and iconic features, we can really push the cars. There’s also always a good atmosphere so it’s a nice track to return to after a few weeks off.  

Frédéric Vasseur says that despite a tough month of July for Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, the spirits and motivation remain high within the Hinwil-based team, and they are all eager to regain the kind of form they had prior to the British Grand Prix.

Alfa Romeo failed to score points in any of the four races since both Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu finished seventh and eighth in the Canadian Grand Prix, with pointless weekends coming in the British, Austrian, French and Hungarian Grand Prix just prior to the summer break.

Heading into the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, Vasseur, the Team Principal at Alfa Romeo, says they have every intention of returning to the top ten sooner rather than later, somewhere the Frenchman believes they deserve to be after a strong start to the year saw them score points in seven of the opening nine races.

“The summer break was a much-needed pause after a busy first part of the season, and now we’re back on track in Belgium refreshed and motivated, ready to take on the triple-header and the remainder of the season,” said Vasseur.

“Nine races in thirteen weeks will be a challenge for everyone in the team, but we are keen to finish the job we started.

Valtteri Bottas hopes to return to the points this weekend for the first time since June as the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season resumes after its summer break with the Belgian Grand Prix.

Not since the Finn finished seventh in the Canadian Grand Prix has he scored points, and since then Bottas has also failed to finish both the British and Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN driver sits ninth in the Drivers’ Championship standings despite his pointless run, and he still has belief that he can score points on a regular basis across the final nine events of the season, starting this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

“I got to spend some quality time off, catching up with friends and family during the summer break and doing lots of sports, but now it’s time to go back to racing: I am looking forward to it, and I feel ready and motivated for the second half of the season,” said Bottas.

“I quite enjoy racing in Spa: it’s a legendary track that produced impressive races in the past, and I have also been on the podium three times there.

Dave Robson says that despite teams and drivers knowing the Spa-Francorchamps circuit very well, it will be interesting to see how the new cars can handle the circuit this weekend.

The Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams Racing says visiting and racing at Spa-Francorchamps is one of the highlights of the whole FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, and it is a track that offers many challenges to everyone, including his drivers Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi.

“Racing at Spa is one of the highlights of the season and we are very happy to be back,” said Robson. “The lap is long and offers almost every possible challenge for an F1 car and driver.

“The significant elevation changes and the variable weather add to the mix. Everyone knows the circuit well, but it will be interesting to see how this new generation of Formula 1 car deals with the high-speed corners at Eau Rouge, Pouhon and Blanchimont.” 

Pirelli are bringing the same three compounds to Spa-Francorchamps this weekend as they did to the Hungaroring just prior to the summer break, but Robson says they are likely to behave completely different to how they did in Hungary, and it is important for Williams to get the best out of them.

Alexander Albon is excited to return to the legendary Spa-Francorchamps this weekend after the summer break, with the Thai driver eager to continue the development of the upgraded FW44.

Having missed the event last year after being relegated to test driver by the Red Bull Racing team, Albon returns to one of his favourite venues on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship calendar this weekend aiming for a return to the points for the first time since the Miami Grand Prix.

The Williams Racing driver says Spa-Francorchamps can often throw some surprises with the weather, such as in 2021, and everyone needs to stay on their toes to react should the weather change.

“It’s great to be back racing after a needed break,” said Albon.  “Spa is one of my personal favourite tracks of the year, it’s great for racing and fun over one lap.

“It can also always throw surprises with the weather, as we saw last year!”