Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

When people think of rally raid motorcycle brands, those that likely come to mind include KTM and Honda. Triumph and Harley-Davidson, on the other hand, are both renowned for their roadgoing bikes while any motorsport efforts by the companies tend to be on pavement such as FIM Moto2 and MotoAmerica, respectively.

This past weekend marked a step in a slightly different direction as they fielded entries in the Baja España Aragón, a two-day rally raid in Spain. Competing in the new Trail (600–950cc) and Maxi-Trail (over 950cc) categories for production bikes, both finished the course without any major problems, which should provide their off-road programmes with a massive confidence boost in future endeavours.

Triumph fielded the Tiger 900 for Iván Cervantes, a four-time FIM World Enduro Champion for KTM. Despite retiring from competition after the 2018 Dakar Rally, he joined Triumph in 2021 as a brand ambassador for British make’s new off-road line alongside motocross legend Ricky Carmichael. While Carmichael helped Triumph build their first motocross bike since the 1974 TR5MX Avenger, Cervantes assisted the enduro side. Although Triumph bikes have been used in rally raid and desert events like the NORRA Mexican 1000, the company never provided a factory-backed effort in the discipline until Cervantes’ arrival.

Cervantes completed the course with a total time of 6:13:32 to win the Trail class. Runner-up Angel Bellmunt, who was on a Yamaha Tenere T7, was over an hour back at 7:19:57.

“We came to the Baja Aragón with a clear goal, which was to win the new Trail category on the Tiger 900 Rally Pro. However, our greater ambition was to finish as high as possible in the overall rankings, where people have been amazed at the pace we have taken with the Trail,” said Cervantes. “We are proud to have done a great job, and I believe we have given everyone a lot to talk about. This once again proves that Triumph is here in off-road racing, and is here to stay. We chose this race because in the future we plan to come here with the Enduro project, and of course we plan to succeed.

The Proton Iriz RX‘s first year of racing has taken it to Strängnäs Motorstadion in Sweden, where it will be piloted by Patrick O’Donovan in this weekend’s Nitro Rallycross round.

Modelled after the Proton R5 rally car, which in turn is based on the Malaysian Proton Iriz street car, the Iriz RX is fielded by Team RX Racing for competition in the FIA European Rallycross Championship RX1 and 5 Nations British Rallycross Championship Supercar classes. The car was the product of a partnership between Tony Bardy Motorsport and Mellors Elliot Motorsport, with the latter overseeing the building process in Derbyshire.

Oliver O’Donovan, Patrick’s father and the 2007 BRX champion, drove the car in the BRX rounds at Lydden Hill and Pembrey along with ERX’s Nyírad and Höljes weekends. Racing against his son, O’Donovan and the Iriz finished fifth and fourth in the two Lydden Hill races followed by fifth and fourth at Pembrey. With ERX, the Iriz made the semi-finals in both its starts and finished fifteenth and twelfth in class.

The younger O’Donovan ran the Nitro RX season opener at Lydden Hill in June in a Ford Fiesta, where he finished third in the Supercar Final. The eighteen-year-old currently leads the BRX standings, assisted by a weekend sweep in Pembrey, and is also contesting the full FIA World Rallycross Championship RX2e season. Patrick and Oliver finished 1–2 in the BRX Mondello Park round, where the latter piloted a Ford like his son.

“I’m stoked to be racing in round two of Nitro Rallycross in Sweden after having a good weekend in round one at Lydden Hill,” said O’Donovan. “It will be something new for me to be out in the Proton as the team continues the development of the car in only it’s fourth race weekend. I have never even really sat it properly before, and I’ve not even driven it in the paddock, so the first practice sessions at Strangnas will be interesting. It will be a totally new track for me as well, so the plan is to have a blast, keep it lit and see what happens.”

Kurt Busch will miss his second straight race as he remains uncleared to run Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway following a qualifying crash last Saturday at Pocono. Ty Gibbs will once again fill in by driving the #45 Toyota Camry for 23XI Racing.

“Following medical evaluations after his wreck at Pocono Raceway last Saturday, Kurt Busch has not been cleared by the NASCAR medical team to return to competition this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Ty Gibbs will once again fill in for Kurt in the #45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD,” began the team. “Kurt’s health is of the utmost importance to the team, and we wish him all the best as he prepares for his return. Kurt has been granted a medical waiver from NASCAR and remains eligible for the playoffs. The team will not be making any further comments about the matter at this time.”

The specifics of Busch’s ailment have not been disclosed beyond him suffering a concussion when he hit the wall during his Pocono qualifying lap. Making his Cup début in Busch’s place, Gibbs finished sixteenth.

Busch will miss consecutive races for the first time since he was suspended for the first three races in 2015 while undergoing a domestic violence investigation for which he has since been exonerated. He also did not run the last two rounds of the 2005 season after his team Roush Racing (now RFK Racing) suspended him for a drunk driving arrest.

“After undergoing further medical evaluation this week, I have not been cleared to race Indy at this time,” said Busch. “I remain dedicated to focusing on my recovery and getting back on the track and will continue to work closely with NASCAR’s medical team and my own team of doctors. I’m thankful to 23XI and my sponsors for supporting me and also putting my health first, and to Ty for stepping in to race the #45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD. I am proud of his début and know he will represent the #45 well again this weekend.”

Sebastian Vettel is wanting to go into the summer break on the back of a “positive weekend”, meaning that the four-time World Champion is targeting points at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

With the summer break following Hungary, Vettel is wanted a “strong result” to take into the summer, where he’ll decide on whether to retire or not at the end of the season. The German came agonisingly close to a point at the French Grand Prix, after being beaten to tenth-place by team-mate Lance Stroll. However, Vettel was left furious with Stroll who cut across the front of Vettel’s AMR22 in questionable fashion.

He’ll be hoping for a less stressful weekend at the Hungaroring, a circuit he calls “tricky”.

“Hungary has become the traditional end-of-summer race before the break, which makes it important to get a strong result before the shutdown. It is a tricky little circuit – everyone thinks of it as a low-speed track, but it has some fast corners round the back that require plenty of attention. We had a good race there last year, and I think the venue should play to the strengths of our car so I am looking forward to a positive weekend.”

“We want to carry greater momentum into the summer” – Lance Stroll

Following on from his tenth-place finish in France, Stroll is aiming to carry “greater momentum” into the summer break with back-to-back points finishes. To do that, though, he’ll need to finish in the top-half this weekend in Hungary.

Pierre Gasly is aiming to bounce-back from a disappointing French Grand Prix last weekend, where the French driver could only manage twelfth-place at his home Grand Prix.

It was a difficult weekend for Gasly at the Circuit Paul Ricard, after the Scuderia AlphaTauri driver struggled to get the most out of the team’s new upgrades. Gasly looked back on his home weekend, ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

“Looking at the positives from the Ricard weekend, I enjoyed the interaction with all my fans and the support from the French crowd. As for our on-track action, on Friday the new upgrades delivered a good performance, but we could not extract the maximum out of them on Saturday or Sunday, and we left France with no points in the end. 

“We need a bit more time evaluating the new package but there’s obviously a limit to how much we can do in just a few days. However, I know our engineers will be looking at all the data, so that we can try some more things in Friday practice at the Hungaroring, which will be another hot weekend.”

Gasly will be full of optimism ahead of the weekend at the Hungaroring, where he has performed exceptionally well in recent years. The Frenchman is a big fan of the venue, with it being of his “favourite” tracks on the calendar.

Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen expects a tough, physical weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with the Hungaroring’s twisty layout providing a unique challenge and the expectation of swelteringly hot conditions. 

“It’s going to be unbelievably hot by the looks of it and Hungary is a tough track, there’s not much time to relax with the short straights. It’s physically a tough race and with the heat that we’re having in Europe, it’s going to be extra tough. I think the car is going to be fine – I expect so anyway – and it’s been good on a big variety of different tracks.”

Magnussen said that qualifying well will be of utmost importance in Hungary, considering the track’s limited overtaking opportunities.

“I like the track, and it does have a go-kart track feel because it’s always turning, it’s never long straights. It’s a fun track, it’s difficult to overtake on, so you’ll want to qualify well if you can. That’s definitely the most important element of the weekend.”

In reflecting upon the first half of the season, Magnussen said that he has enjoyed his return to Formula 1 racing, and though he has had some misfortune with a handful of retirements, he feels as though luck has been on the team’s side as of recent. 

Mario Isola says the Hungaroring will be a good test of the new aerodynamic regulations due to being a track traditionally difficult to overtake on, although he believes there could be more overtakes than usual this season.

Cars have been able to follow others more closely so far during the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, and it should be the same story this weekend at the Hungaroring, which hosts the final race before the mid-season break.

Isola, the Motorsport Director at Pirelli Motorsport, hopes it will be the case that cars can follow others closely, particularly through the final sector leading into the main straight, the end of which is the traditional overtaking spot on the circuit.

“In the past, the Hungaroring has been known as a place where it’s difficult to overtake, but the new package of cars and tyres this year helps drivers get much closer to each other, which is why we have seen some great races with plenty of overtaking so far this season,” said Isola.

“Hopefully that’s going to be the case at the Hungaroring as well; a tight and twisty track where the cars are often grouped together.”

Toto Wolff says that whilst it was encouraging that the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team scored a double podium in last weekend’s French Grand Prix, the team are not yet where they want to be when it comes to competing against Oracle Red Bull Racing or Scuderia Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished second and third at the Circuit Paul Ricard for the best result of the season for Mercedes, but they were helped with the capitulation of Ferrari and the under-par performance of Sergio Pérez to get there.

Wolff, the Team Principal at Mercedes, says the gap to the two teams ahead of them remains too much, particularly over a single lap, and they are working extra hard to close that gap still further across the remainder of the season.

“It was encouraging to score such a big haul of points in France and maximise the situation on Sunday but we know there is much work still to do,” said Wolff.  “The gap to the leaders on a single lap persists and we struggle more at the start of stints.

“We need to keep unlocking more performance, and by maintaining the culture, mindset and spirit that has spurred on all the hard work at the factories, I’m confident we will. Our reliability was good once again, and both Lewis and George were on strong form, to deliver a double podium.”

Max Verstappen does not know if Oracle Red Bull Racing will be as strong as they have been this season at the Hungaroring this weekend, although the Dutchman hopes to be in a position to fight for the win on Sunday afternoon.

Verstappen arrives in Hungary on the back of winning last weekends French Grand Prix to further extend his advantage at the top of the Drivers’ Championship to sixty-three points over Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who crashed out of the event.

Traditionally, the Hungaroring has not been the strongest of venues for Red Bull, and with the weather forecast for the weekend looking unsettled, Verstappen is hoping to maximise his result on Sunday come rain or shine.

“Hungary is a special track; I really enjoy driving here as it’s a bit like driving on a go kart track, it has a very technical second sector which I like,” said Verstappen.  “It will be interesting to see how the weather impacts us across the weekend.

“It’s difficult to say how I think we will perform this weekend, it’s not our strongest track but of course, I want a good result and we will try everything we can to win it as a Team.

After three years away, the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will return to Germany, and in a new location. On Wednesday, the series announced a multi-year agreement to resume the NASCAR GP Germany at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in 2023. The event will take place at the 3.69-km Börde circuit for at least three years.

“We are really proud to be a part of the EuroNASCAR championship in 2023,” said track general manager Ralph Bohnhorst. “With the mix of racing and event it will be a chance to create a big happening for the middle of Germany.”

The announcement comes just two days after Motorsport Arena Oschersleben celebrated the twenty-five-year anniversary of its opening. The track is mainly known for its slate of touring car series such as the ADAC GT Masters, which has visited it since 2007, while the FIA World Touring Car Championship competed there from 2005 to 2011. Other touring car series to race at Oschersleben include DTM between 2000 and 2015, the FIA GT Championship, and TCR Europe. The World Superbike Championship also held rounds from 2000 to 2004.

“There is a great motorsport fan base in Germany and we are very happy to bring NASCAR Pure Racing back to them,” commented EuroNASCAR CEO Jérôme Galpin. “Thanks to Ralph Bohnhorst and his crew, Motorsport Arena Oschersleben is the perfect place to do so, with central location in Germany and track layout allowing fans to enjoy most of the action.”

The NASCAR GP Germany débuted in 2010 at the Nürburgring, which then hosted it again in 2014. The Hockenheimring welcomed the event in 2017 and continued to do so before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in its absence from the NWES calendar since 2020.

The upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will see a Dutch alliance as APP Racing Engines provides engines for the #26 Toyota Camry of Team Hezeberg, driven by NASCAR newcomer and ex-Formula One driver Daniil Kvyat.

“After months of testing and development we are proud to announce that a Dutch engine build will participate in the highest level of racing in the United States of America,” reads an APP social media post on Wednesday. “The nr. 26 Toyota Camry will make its debut this weekend with Daniil Kvyat at Indianapolis.

“The Toyota engine is developed with an engineering group of several experienced persons and companies.”

Headquartered in Weesp, APP is primarily a Chevrolet LS engine builder whose products have seen success in GT racing with three FIA GT3 European and ADAC GT Masters championships each. The Chevrolet engines are typically utilised by Corvettes fielded by Callaway Competition, with the most recent title being the 2017 ADAC GT Masters delivered by Jules Gounon. APP’s Chevrolet division also supports off-road efforts like Tim and Tom Coronel‘s Dakar Rally team where the LS motors are used in Century Racing‘s vehicles.

Other disciplines that APP has a presence include autocross, historic motorsport, and even powerboat racing. APP also maintains BMW, Ford, and Porsche arms, with Porsche being their first focus upon their founding in 1993. After enjoying sucess in the Ferrari Porsche Challenge with David Hart, who won eight races in APP’s maiden campaign in 1998, the company began expanding to include other manufacturers.

The GB3 Championship visited Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps at the weekend (23/24 July), and left with an even clearer two-way title battle.

Browning’s ideal weekend

Luke Browning jumped title rival Joel Granfors to lead the standings after Snetterton, and his Spa weekend got off to the perfect start as he took pole position for the first two races in Qualifying on Friday.

Spa and Oulton Park could scarcely be more different, but it didn’t seem to matter to the Hitech GP driver as he repeated his feat of converting both poles into wins.

Race 1 didn’t start as he’d hoped, as Granfors used the slipstream down the Kemmel Straight to take the lead on Lap 1.

The safety car then came out for an incident which saw Nico Christodoulou and James Hedley retire, and Matthew Rees disqualified.

As the scramble to make the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs intensifies, Michael McDowell‘s path just became significantly more difficult. On Tuesday, NASCAR announced McDowell’s #34 Front Row Motorsports team has been fined 100 points and ten playoff points for illegally modifying a vendor-supplied part. Crew chief Blake Harris has also been fined $100,000 and suspended for the next four races.

Many aspects of the Next Gen car are built using parts sourced from a single maker, such as Dallara constructing radiator ducts, McLaren with the digital dashboard, Five Star Race Car Bodies with much of the outer coverings, and BBS for wheels. Such components may not be modified with, and NASCAR is willing to go as far as to disqualify teams from making the playoffs for especially egregious violations (an L3 penalty; McDowell received an L2 penalty). The #6 RFK Racing of Brad Keselowski, a Ford like McDowell’s #34, suffered the same fate following the Atlanta race in March and fell from sixteenth to thirty-fifth in the standings, and his grueling efforts to climb back up since have only gained him seven spots.

The offending part was not revealed by NASCAR, though the penalty report notes the #34 violated Sections 14.1.C, D, and Q of the rulebook (“Overall Assembled Vehicle”) as well as Sections 14.5.A and B (“Modification of a single source supplied part”).

McDowell had been enjoying the best statistical season of his career, setting highs in top tens (eight), average finish (16.5), and laps led (thirty-eight) to firmly implant himself into the playoff hunt. With five races remaining in the regular season, he had been twentieth in points after notching a sixth-place finish at Pocono on Sunday. His car was taken to NASCAR’s Research & Development center following the event, as were the disqualified cars of winner Denny Hamlin and second-placed Kyle Busch who lost their finishes.

With the penalty, however, he sinks to twenty-seventh. While making the playoffs simply on points would have been an extremely tall order had he remained twentieth, the points deduction puts him in a must-win situation to qualify. Perhaps fortunately for McDowell, the next race is on Indianapolis Motor Speedway‘s road course, a track type that he excels on with a pair of top tens in the two most recent RC events at Sonoma and Road America.

Alex Albon came within a close distance of a much-needed points finish at the French Grand Prix, after crossing the line thirteenth at the Circuit Paul Ricard. The Thai/British driver was once again top Williams Racing driver in the Grand Prix.

Albon drove well during the race, and was able to compete with others much easier than of late. However, running at a pace close to the top ten came at a cost, as Albon struggled from tyre degradation during the race.

Albon is expecting the team to look over the data ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he’ll be hoping to capitalise slightly better on Qualifying in the top fifteen.

“It was tricky out there today but more enjoyable. We were in contention for most of the race and were looking close to the points – we were a bit down on pace and were using a lot of the tyres to try to stay close, and it just fell away from us towards the end. We’ll look at the data and hopefully we can improve week on week as we were quite quick in qualifying. We’ll look at it and see what we can do better for Hungary.”

“The season is getting back on track” – Nicholas Latifi

On the other side of the Williams garage, Nicholas Latifi was forced to retire from the Grand Prix. The Canadian driver had no choice but to retire from the race, after collecting a puncture which caused substantial damage to his FW44.

Euroformula Open race-winner Christian Mansell will step in at Charouz Racing System to replace Zdenek Chovanec for the next two FIA Formula 3 Championship rounds.

The Australian came third in the 2021 GB3 Championship standings with Carlin, winning at Brands Hatch and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, graduating to Euroformula for 2022 with Cryptotower Racing Team.

Since the start of the season he has won three races, sitting second in the standings, and will return to Spa as a race-winner at the Ardennes circuit.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for me to pit myself against an incredibly talented grid of drivers and get my name out there racing on the Formula 1 weekends,” said Mansell.

“It will be my first time in the car so there will be a lot to learn from the start, but I like both circuits so will be able to hit the ground running with those. I’m mega excited and can’t wait to get started this weekend in Hungary.”