Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

The Stadium Super Trucks will be entering some unfamiliar territory on 3/4 September when they hit the high banking of Bristol Motor Speedway, so it makes sense for the series to develop some familiarity with the environment beforehand. On Tuesday, race organiser Cleetus McFarland held a test session for his Bristol 1000 weekend that will include the trucks, and part of his itinerary was to drive one around and test various layouts that the series can use.

The Bristol 1000, a 100-lap race between McFarland and fellow YouTube and motoring personalities in Crown Victorias, will be held on Bristol’s legendary half-mile oval and 28° banking. On the other hand, while SST will utilise part of the oval as well, Tuesday’s testing was to see what other elements are usable such as the infield and either pit road.

Truck testing is depicted in McFarland’s latest video posted Wednesday via a series of clips interspersed with Bristol 1000 runs. The first shows him going along the inside line of turns one and two and onto the backstretch before making a U-turn onto the straight’s pit road, where a pair of jumps greets him, and he circles the backstretch and pits. Another lap takes him through the infield and onto the frontstretch, prompting him to propose a ramp each on the infield and start/finish line. Eventually, a Dodge Viper is placed on the backstretch pit road for him to catch air over.

In an onboard lap, the run begins on the frontstretch, and McFarland then rides the first two corners’ banking onto the backstretch before taking a sharp left onto the straightaway’s pit lane entrance. After clearing its jump, he turns right to enter the infield and cuts diagonally before rejoining the oval at the mouth of the frontstretch’s pit entrance. A ramp before the start/finish line then completes his lap.

Speaking with series officials after his lap, McFarland suggests converting the frontstretch ramp into a double set and adding another ramp in the middle of the straight, but notes they would deal with the matter as the weekend arrives. Other conversations include pointing out the truck’s surprising stability on the high banking.

The Grand Prix de Trois-Riviéres venue which have hosted FIA World Rallycross Championship and Americas Rallycross events previously is now confirmed to host the Nitro Rallycross round 7 in Quebec, Canada on 21/22 January 2023.

The Hippodrome haven’t seen any rallycross events being hosted since 2019 when ARX last time visited the venue, the track also played hosts for the World RX of Canada between 2014 and 2018, and the now defuncted Titans RX series also planned to have a round there in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic caused mayhem in the world.

The round will also be the first-time we will see the new all-electric FC1-X cars being raced on snowy surface as GP3R will be the first stop of the two Canadian rounds to host a race during the winter season, the other is a yet To Be Announced still but is located in Alberta.

The European stint of the series is completed and the upcoming round will be at the ERX Moto Park in Minnesota, USA on 1/2 October followed up with a round in Los Angeles before heading to Saudi Arabia to round-up the year. Quebec will be featured as round 7 out of 9 in the 2022-23 season, after the Canada visit the series finale will end the second season and it will be hosted in March at a TBA round in USA.

The Japanese Kazuki Nakajimahe who is a multiple 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and a former Formula 1 driver for Williams Racing back in 2007 to 2009, will be doing his rally debut this weekend drving in a Toyota Yaris N5 at the Varaosaexpert Ralli in Lahti, a support rally event which will be run alongside the Lahti Historic Rally, part of the 2022 FIA Historic Rally Championship.

Nakajimahe didn´t get a breakthrough in F1 and his career was shortlived there but after that the racing career fortune got turned around when he signed up for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012, during his time in the WEC, the Japanese scored a total of three back-to-back wins in 24 Hours of Le Mans between 2018-2020 and a further 13 wins, including the driver´s title in the 2018-19 season in WEC.

He announced his retirement from endurance racing at the end of last season and he has since then became the vice president of the Toyota Gazoo Racing´s European division. Now he will be doing his first-ever rally with Aaron Johnston as his co-driver, the Britoin is also co-driving for the fellow Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta in the FIA World Rally Championship and the car is a national spec N5, similar to the current Rally2 regulations but with cost effiency in mind,

Varaosaexpert rally will also feature the young Japanese drivers of Nao Otake, Yuki Yamamoto and Hikaru Kogure from the TGR´s Next Generation driver development team but those three are entered in a trio of Renault Clio Rally4 cars.

The Team RX Racing owner and legendary Irish rallycross driver Ollie O´Donovan has announced yesterday (Wednesday) that he has withdrawed from the third round of the 2022 FIA European Rallycross Championship in Hell, Norway this weekend.

Reasoning behind this is because of the new Proton Iriz RX Supercar (RX1) that he is using for the 2022 campaign is not fixed due to some technical issues that his son Patrick O´Donovan faced throughout the Nitro Rallycross weekend in Strängnäs, Sweden two weekends back.

Ollie says he wants the car to be fully prepared and functionally for the season remainder in a statement posted by the team on social medias, it is not likely the issues will be adressed for the following Euro RX round in Riga, Latvia neither, but Ollie hopes to be back for the two remaining rounds in Montelegre, Portugal and in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.

The statement reads; “We have taken the decision as a team to withdraw from the third round of the European Rallycross Championship at Hell in Norway this weekend. I’m really disappointed as it’s a circuit I love and it’s been a few years since I last raced there. While we are getting on top of the issues Patrick faced when he drove the Iriz RX in Sweden recently, we want to make sure we are totally prepared next time we race in Euro RX. I think it’s unlikely that we will be in Riga either, but we are working hard for return for the final two rounds of the season in Portugal and Belgium, I loved racing at those venues last season in World RX, and of course have the British Championship events to focus on too.”

The Iriz Supercar is a new build for this season, Ollie has used a Ford Fiesta for the past season but he has handed the keys over to his son Patrick to use it in the 5 Nations British Rallycross Championship for this season and the team also owns an older spec Ford Focus, so it is most likely that Ollie will be using that car while the Iriz´s problems gets sorted.

Just a few days after the Rally Finland the teams have switched focus to carry out some pre-event testing on tarmac roads in Belgium to come fully prepared for the upcoming Ypres Rally on 18-22 August.

Hyundai heads to next week’s tarmac rally with high expectations after the win in Finland last weekend and the team also celebrated a one-two finish in Belgium last season when Thierry Neuville won the home rally with Craig Breen finishing in second place.

Ott Tänak, who celebrated the first victory for Hyundai Motorsport in Rally Finland, returned to the wheel of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car already on Tuesday, just over a day after he stood on the podium and Oliver Solberg was next up to test the Hyundai on Wednesday.

The M-Sport outfit has also moved to Belgium for testing, they were carrying out some tests on Tuesday with Adrien Fourmaux behind the wheel of the Ford Puma Rally1 and continued with Breen on Wednesday, however, the Toyota Gazoo Racing is not presented at the moment but it is known the team have carried out some tests already back two weeks ago.

It is expected the other M-Sport drivers will have a go at testing throughout the rest of the week but it is unsure still in what order they will be running while Neuville is expected to do his testing today (Thursday).

The South African off road icon Lance Woolridge was announced on Wednesday afternoon to be making rallycross debut in the all-electric FIA RX2e Championship support series at the FIA World Rallycross Championship round in Norway this weekend.

Woolridge who has never done any proper side-by-side racing before, beside being an active driver in the current Extreme E series, driving for Veloce Racing alongside a familiar RX2e name Christine GZ, where he has faced a little bit of door banging.

The South African do have a lot of off roading experience from earlier, before he signed up with Veloce to replace Stéphane Sarrazin for this season in Extreme E, he became a two-time a Class T champion in the South African Cross Country Series.

“I’m very excited to enter a completely new discipline for me, that will help me to add a set of skills to my driving and enhance my motorsport career. I will be happy to progress my learning and speed throughout the weekend.” Woolridge said.

Woolridge will be up against some of the upcoming fast young talents including the Höljes winner Viktor Vranckx, Patrick O’Donovan, Isak Sjökvist, Nils Andersson as well as Extreme E rival Laia Sanz.

Scuderia AlphaTauri have confirmed that Red Bull Junior Liam Lawson will make his Free Practice 1 debut at the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix. Lawson’s involvement in the session at Spa-Francorchamps will fulfil the first of two young driver-mandated practice sessions for the Scuderia AlphaTauri team.

Lawson is currently competing in his second Formula 2 season and sits eighth in the drivers championship with two victories to his name. The most recent of the two coming at the Sprint Race around Le Castellet.

Lawson’s strong form in 2022 has seen the young New Zealander promoted to the role of Reserve Driver for both Red Bull-owned teams after Jüri Vips’ time in the Red Bull Junior team came to an end in June.

Meanwhile, Scuderia Ferrari have announced that last season’s Formula Two runner-up Robert Shwartzman will take the reins of the F1-75 for both mandated young driver sessions this season.

Both Lawson and Shwartzman ran in the 2021 post-season test around the Yas Marina Circuit. Lawson drove for the Scuderia AlphaTauri team in Abu Dhabi while Shwartzman ran for the Haas F1 Team. Now both drivers will have the chance to impress in an official Formula 1 Weekend.

‘Silly season’ is always a key part of the Formula One season, it gives both fans and teams a chance to fantasise about potential line-ups and future results. The chaos usually begins with a big bang, with 2022 proving to be no different so far.

With five seats left to be filled, and plenty of interested drivers, it’s certain to be a hectic summer break; however, so much has already happened that it doesn’t even appear that the majority of the teams are going to enjoy the luxury of a month off.

In the last two weeks alone, ‘silly season’ has already seen a retirement, a shock switch, a contracted driver told he’s not needed and the threat of legal action.

So, just what has gone down so far in the 2022 ‘silly season’?

Sebastian Vettel announces retirement

Whilst it wasn’t the start of ‘silly season’, Sebastian Vettel‘s retirement announcement prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix has proved to be the big bang that has caused ‘silly season’ carnage. To the surprise of most, Vettel announced in Hungary that he’d be retiring from Formula 1 at the end of 2022, therefore leaving a seat to be filled at the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team.

Team Australia has revealed the Geiser Brothers trophy truck they will use for their three-race campaign beginning with this week’s Vegas to Reno. The truck, painted black and blue, will be piloted Toby Price and Paul Weel at the V2R followed by the Baja 400 and Baja 1000.

The effort was revealed in May, allowing two friends and Australian desert racing rivals to join forces. When Weel returned to racing in 2020 after over a decade away from the sport, he purchased a trophy truck from Price. Since then, the two have competed against each other in series like the Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship and Stadium Super Trucks, the latter of which saw them finish 1–2 on two occasions.

To prepare for their American adventure, Price and Weel competed in Australian events such as the prestigious Tatts Finke Desert Race. Price won the overall for the eighth time in his career (second in the Cars) while Weel retired with an engine failure.

“We’re super proud to be the major partners of Team Australia,” sponsor Quad Lock posted on social media. “Our Aussie legends Paul Weel and @tobyprice87 will take the wheel of the Quad Lock branded Geiser Bros Trophy Truck this weekend at Vegas to Reno, before embarking on Baja 400 and the Baja 1000 in November!”

Price is no stranger to V2R organiser Best In The Desert, racing in the 2020 Parker 425 and finishing fifth in the Trick Truck category. SCORE International, sanctioning body for the two Baja events, has welcomed Price on occasion since 2012, highlighted by a 2019 Baja 1000 run with now-four-time Dakar Rally champion Nasser Al-Attiyah where they finished second overall. Weel will be making his SCORE début.

If poorly handled, concussions can end careers and lives regardless of sport. Four weeks since his Pocono wreck, Kurt Busch hoped his recovery would allow him to be physically able to pilot a NASCAR Cup Series car again, but difficulties in simulator testing proved otherwise. As a result, he will miss his fourth straight race as he sits out Sunday’s Richmond Raceway event. Ty Gibbs will continue his substitute role in the #45 23XI Racing Toyota.

“Brain injury recovery doesn’t always take a linear path. I’ve been feeling well in my recovery, but this week I pushed to get my heart rate and body in a race simulation type environment, and it’s clear I’m not ready to be back in the race car,” Busch wrote on Wednesday.

“This was by far the hardest week emotionally because I do feel the progression of recovery, but racing requires an extreme physical and mental effort, and my body is not 100% able to sustain the intense race conditions.

“I am making progress and pushing hard each day. I am encouraged by my team of doctors, and we will continue to do everything it takes to get me to 100% to return to competition.

“Thanks to everyone for the continued support and best of luck to the 45 team and Ty this weekend in Richmond.”

Perhaps to little surprise, Noah Gragson will graduate to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2023. On Wednesday, Petty GMS Motorsports announced Gragson will drive the #42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and compete for Rookie of the Year honours.

Gragson is in his fourth season of Xfinity Series competition with JR Motorsports, with whom he has become one of the series’ perennial frontrunners. He has eight career wins to his name and is currently fourth in points with three victories, eleven top fives, fifteen top tens, and two poles.

“To be able to finally announce my plans for next season and officially say I will be competing full time in the NASCAR Cup Series is a dream come true,” said Gragson. “This is what we all dream of when we start racing at a young age, to be able to compete at the top level with the best in the world. I’m excited to join Petty GMS and drive a car that has so much history in our sport, the #42.”

He replaces Ty Dillon, who will depart Petty GMS after just one year. Dillon’s exit was announced in July, and he is currently in the midst of a difficult year as he sits thirtieth in points. While Gragson’s 2023 sponsors have not been revealed, one can assume at least some returning names as he and Dillon are both sponsored by Black Rifle Coffee Company.

With Erik Jones signing a multi-year contract extension to continue driving the #43 in late July, the driver lineup for Petty GMS is set for 2023 and beyond.

The GRX Management Team owner and former world rally champion Marcus Grönholm wants to see his driver Jari Huttunen back in a Rally1 car after a good performance on the debut in Rally Finland last weekend, scoring a points finish in ninth place overall.

Grönholm who is the mentor for Huttunen has told in an interview with WRC.com he wants to see the 28-year-old Finn get established in the Rally1 class and Grönholm do believe the time is right to do it now. Grönholm has a strong connection with the M-Sport squad, which Huttunen was driving for on his debut and now after the frustrated results Grönholm is in talks with Malcolm Wilson to give Huttunen more opportunities as the Ford Puma Rally1 had issues with fuel pressure and a power steering failure.

“I’m not looking at a five-year plan, we need to come somewhere in the next one or two years. It is time to move forward. OK, there are not Rally1 cars easily available and places free, but I hope he can do some good times when he becomes familiar with the car. He won the WRC3 title two years ago but never had the chance to go further. Now we are with M-Sport and Ford and now he had his first chance, finally, to have his first test with a Rally1. It is not easy to come here following his one-day test and to show his speed against others who have been in the car many times is not easy. So far, he is doing OK.”” Grönholm told WRC.com.

Huttunen who is the 2020 WRC3 champion, has already a WRC2 program with M-Sport for this season but the Finn is eager to get more rallies in the Puma soon and through Grönholm´s connections with the official WRC partner Wolf Lubricants, Huttunen could get the backing needed to drive in Finland; “I want to drive this car again, of course, but I don’t know when, I have to thank my sponsors for making it happen for me in Finland. I was going step-by-step and making good progress. The car feels amazing, when we had the problems, all I could do was drive and make no mistakes. I did that.” Huttunen told WRC.com.

For the upcoming Ypres Rally in Belgium next weekend, Huttunen will be back in the M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 in the WRC2 class.

Josh Williams joined B.J. McLeod Motorsports for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series with the hope of running the full season while also débuting in the Cup Series. However, nineteen races later, the two parties will no longer work together.

“Josh Williams and B.J. McLeod Motorsports have mutually agreed to part ways for the remainder of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season,” reads a statement from Williams on Wednesday. “I would like to thank B.J. and Jessica McLeod for the opportunity, and wish them nothing but the best going forward.”

After five seasons with DGM Racing, Williams signed with BJMM ahead of 2022 on a multi-year agreement that would give him the opportunity to race in the Cup Series for McLeod’s Live Fast Motorsports. Said goal was attained when he ran the Bristol Dirt Race in LFM’s #78, finishing twenty-fifth; the same result came in his second Cup start at Indianapolis four months later.

However, his full-time Xfinity campaign proved to be difficult. After recording seventeen top-twenty finishes in his final year as a DGM driver in 2021, he only mustered three across the first nineteen rounds of 2022; in fact, he failed to qualify for more races (four) than he had top twenties. He finished thirty-sixth on Saturday at Michigan with an electrical issue.

“We would like to thank Josh for all he has done this year and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavours,” the team shared.

Every sponsorship starts from somewhere, and Sargento‘s support of NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Josh Bilicki has rather unusual roots. The cheese producer is set to sponsor Bilicki’s #45 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet at Watkins Glen International on 20 August, a partnership that spawned from an accident with memetic value.

Sargento is a close partner of Road America in Elkhart Lake, which includes placing its signage around the track and sponsoring the Xfinity race there in 2021. During the Xfinity event in early July, Bilicki was involved in a massive crash on lap 14 that collected thirteen drivers and his attempted avoidance of the carnage took him off the racing surface and into a Sargento signboard. The sign remained affixed to the front of Bilicki’s car as he rejoined the track before being removed without damage to the vehicle. Bilicki would finish thirteenth.

The moment caught Sargento’s attention and, certainly amused, they updated their Facebook page’s banner to a shot of it. Over a month later, the two parties have finally come together for a formal alliance.

“Sargento has been a long-time partner of Road America and we are proud to have this iconic landmark in our own backyard,” commented Sargento CEO Louie Gentine. “When we saw our sign on the front of Josh’s car, we had the same reaction as many others. We like to have fun, so we’re excited to partner with the Wisconsin native for this upcoming race.”

Both Sargento and Bilicki are Wisconsin natives, with the former’s headquarters in Plymouth being approximately fifty miles away from Bilicki’s hometown Menomonee Falls.

The official entry list for the upcoming FIA World Rally Championship round in Greece is now officially announced, the list is featuring a bumper-entry of 13 cars in the all-new hybrid Rally1 cars and a total of 70 crews that will be taking on the legendary EKO Acropolis Rally Greece on 8-11 September.

The biggest team entry will be again by the British M-Sport Ford outfit with a total of six Ford Puma Rally1 cars. The Rallye Monte-Carlo winner and nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb will be returning to do his last round of the season for the team. He will be joined by his two fellow countrymen of Adrien Fourmaux and Pierre-Louis Loubet as well as Craig Breen and Gus Greensmith meanwhile the local hero Jourdan Serderidis is entered as a privateer with support from M-Sport.

Toyota Gazoo Racing is not changing their line-up for this round and we will not see a Loeb vs. Sébastien Ogier battle anymore this season. The line-up consists of the current WRC points leader Kalle Rovanperä, Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans, and Takamoto Katsuta is entered outside the factory team under the TGR NG banner, all in Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.

Hyundai Motorsport will have their usual line-up of Ott Tänak, who won last time out in Finland and Thierry Neuville but replaces Oliver Solberg with the Spaniard Dani Sordo in the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1.

The WRC2 class also sees a huge field of 39 cars where some of the strong names in the class are seen being entered. The current championship leader Andreas Mikkelsen and his teammate Marco Bulacia are entered for Toksport WRT in a pair of Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo machines. Toksport WRT 2 team is also presented at the rally with the Rally Finland winner Emil Lindholm and Nikolay Gryazin.