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Esteban Ocon was delighted to come through a tough Qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring with a top six starting position, with the BWT Alpine F1 Team driver only finding competitiveness from Q2 onwards on Friday.

Ocon admitted that his free practice pace and the speed he had in Q1 in Qualifying was not as strong as he would have liked, but the car appeared to come alive when it mattered in Q2, and he translated that strong pace into sixth place on the grid in Q3.

The Frenchman is optimistic that he can fight for points in both the Sprint race on Saturday and the main race on Sunday, although he knows everyone within Alpine, including himself, will need to remain focused to do so.

“I’m very pleased with our Qualifying result today finishing in sixth place,” said Ocon.  “It felt like the car really came alive during Q2 and Q3 after a fairly challenging Free Practice and Q1.

“We’re in a good position for the Sprint Qualifying tomorrow and hopefully we can firstly solidify our grid position for the main race and secondly take some valuable points.

It was an uncharacteristic end to Qualifying for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team at the Red Bull Ring on Friday as both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton crashed out of Q3.

Russell felt Qualifying up until the point of his accident at the final turn with just over two minutes of the session remaining was the strongest of the year to date, and the Briton believes he had a chance of putting his car onto the second row of the grid.

“I think that was our best qualifying session of the year in terms of pure pace – and the worst in terms of the outcome,” said Russell, who will start fifth.  “Racing can be like that sometimes.

“I could have been P4 this afternoon and I was one tenth up on my lap, and absolutely went for it because I thought there was a chance of P3.”

Russell says he feels fine after the crash but has concerns surrounding the damage to the car, but he hopes the pace he had on Friday can translate into a better day and a strong Sprint race on Saturday.

Max Verstappen clinched pole position at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. The Dutchman will start in pole position in the Sprint race on Saturday afternoon.

Charles Leclerc was in second position, just 0.029 seconds slower than Verstappen. Carlos Sainz was in third position with less than one-hundredths of a second separating the top three drivers.

Sergio Pérez and George Russell rounded off the top five positions in the qualification session.

Both Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Russell, crashed and brought the red flags out in the final qualification session.

The qualifying session started under clear skies with air temperatures at 18 degrees C and track temperatures at 32 degrees C in very windy conditions.

ART Grand Prix’s Frederik Vesti continues his fine form in the 2022 FIA Formula 2 championship by taking his maiden pole position at the Red Bull Ring in Friday afternoon’s Qualifying session.

The Mercedes junior pipped Jüri Vips to the top spot of Sunday’s grid by just three hundredths of a second after the young Estonian set a last minute lap which looked like it would be enough for the pole.

Last weekend’s Feature Race winner, Logan Sargeant, completed the top three qualifiers while Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa set a late lap to find himself in fourth place.

The top six qualifiers were separated by less than two tenths with the current championship leader Felipe Drugovich putting himself onto the third row of the grid in fifth place.

The Brazilian will start alongside last weekend’s Sprint Race winner Jack Doohan who missed out on beating Drugovich to fifth place by just three thousandths of a second.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches its fifth month, it goes without saying that Ukrainians at home and abroad have been impacted. Although Yevgen Sokolovskiy currently lives in Germany, he has helped support refugee efforts and will now intend to show support for his country via his NASCAR Whelen Euro Series car.

Hailing from Odessa, Sokolovskiy is the only active Ukrainian driver in the Euro Series, competing in the EuroNASCAR PRO division (Igor Romanov, a television director by trade, also occasionally dabbles in the series). In solidarity with his nation, his #48 Marko Stipp Motorsport Chevrolet will feature a slight colour adjustment to blue and yellow to match Ukraine’s flag. The new livery, dubbed by the team as the “Ukraine Tribute Scheme”, is virtually identical to his original Gulf Oil-sponsored car, save for the change from Gulf orange to yellow. It intends to be used for the rest of the 2022 season.

According to a team release, the new look is intended to “mark a clear sign against the ongoing war in the home country of Sokolovskiy and express its solidarity and support to all Ukrainians in these dark times.”

While Odessa has not been the site of major combat beyond bombings, Sokolovskiy’s mother and sister departed the city for Bulgaria after the invasion began. Sokolovskiy, who resides in Düsseldorf, noted that although his family is safe, “It is not easy knowing friends with families being panicked about the war and if they should stay in Ukraine or not.”

He told NBC Sports in April, “Last two years I have questions from people, ‘Why do you drive with the Ukraine flag? You’ve lived in Germany for twenty years.’ I am a citizen of Ukraine. I have a Ukraine passport. […] I am proud of my country.”

Max Verstappen was fastest in the opening practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend on Friday as the twenty drivers prepared for Qualifying later this afternoon.

The Red Bull Ring is hosting the second of the three sprint races set to be held during the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, and Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Verstappen had the advantage in the only practice session prior to Qualifying.

The session was affected by two red flags, the first for McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris stopping on track with a suspected engine issue, while the second was needed due to a rubber strip from the track lifting up and laying on the surface.

Verstappen did not let the delays affect him as he set the pace with a time of 1:06.302, 0.255 seconds clear of Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while George Russell made it three different teams inside the top three, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver ending 0.400 seconds back of the fastest time.

Sergio Pérez was a late improver as the second Red Bull driver ended fourth fastest, with the Mexican edging out Lewis Hamilton in fifth, while Kevin Magnussen was an impressive sixth for the Haas F1 Team.

After a difficult inaugural season and a frustrating qualifying day on Wednesday, Chip Ganassi Racing is finally an Extreme E race winner, even if due to circumstance. CGR spent Thursday’s Island X Prix Final chasing down the dominant car of Rosberg X Racing and settled for second and its maiden podium, but RXR received a thirty-second time penalty for Johan Kristoffersson wrecking Carlos Sainz at the start and briefly hospitalising him. As CGR was ten seconds behind RXR, the latter was demoted to third while CGR and XITE Energy Racing respectively moved up to first and second.

RXR, the championship leader after winning the opener in NEOM, was the clear favourite for Sardinia after winning the overall in qualifying and its Semi-Final. However, once the Final began and the field navigated the multiple lanes presented, Sainz opted for a different route than in past sessions. As Kristoffersson and Sainz merged onto the single lane, the former clipped the latter and sent him into a roll before his ACCIONA | Sainz XE car landed on its roof. A red flag—the third to occur in a Final in series history—was called to extract Sainz, who was conscious and taken to the Misericordia Hospital in Cagliari for further evaluations.

When the race resumed (following repairs to the body), Kristoffersson switched out with Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and CGR’s Kyle LeDuc with Sara Price. Åhlin-Kottulinsky seemingly sealed RXR’s perfect weekend by taking the checkered flag with a ten-second advantage over Price and twenty-two over XITE’s Tamara Molinaro. However, an officials’ investigation later in the afternoon confirmed Kristoffersson’s culpability for the Sainz contact and gave RXR a thirty-second penalty that dropped the team to third.

“Both drivers took different paths after the start when merging to Way Point 1, Car N6 (Kristoffersson) and car N55 (Sainz) were nearly side by side when car N6 lost the rear and strongly collided in the rear of car N55 who crashed,” reads the stewards’ statement.

Sainz was eventually cleared and discharged with no injuries save for soreness, though he and his team publicly voiced their disbelief with what they felt was too light of a punishment. Team-mate Laia Sanz commented the wreck “really bothers me because we had no fault in the crash,” while team principal Joan Orús added he was “surprised to say the least” about the verdict.

A thrilling weekend at the legendary Silverstone Circuit is succeeded by round 8 of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 which comes from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.

It marks a return for F2 at the Austrian circuit after a year out in 2021 with FIA Formula 3 appearing at the circuit instead. With the race to the 2022 championship crown well underway now, it will be an important weekend for the front runners to cement their places at the top.

The Story So Far

The upcoming weekend marks the start of the second half of the season and as things stand, Felipe Drugovich leads the drivers standings by forty-two points to second place Théo Pourchaire.

After his Feature Race win from pole position last time out, Logan Sargeant completes the top three in the standings with the American driver also being the rookie driver with the most points.

As well as leading the drivers’ standings, MP Motorsport also lead the teams’ standings with 170 points to ART Grand Prix‘s 160 points. The reigning teams’ championship winners PREMA Racing currently find themselves in fourth place behind Carlin who sit in third with 147 points.

For the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series‘ first time racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, Reaume Brothers Racing will field a pair of first timers. While Stephen Mallozzi is in the #43, Kenkō Miura has been tasked with piloting the #33 Chevrolet Silverado RST.

Miura (三浦 健光) is the first Japanese drive to compete in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, racing in the Elite 1 (now EuroNASCAR PRO) and Elite 2 (EuroNASCAR 2) divisions from 2017 to 2019. After sporadic starts in his first year, he elevated to a full Elite 1 schedule for Alex Caffi Motorsport in 2018, during which he placed fifteenth in points and received the Challenger Trophy given to bronze/silver drivers in the tier. He also ran the bulk of the Elite 2 season and scored his only podium to date when he finished third at Circuit Zolder. A nineteenth-place championship finish followed in 2019.

Although he had hoped to race for the EuroNASCAR 2 title with DF1 Racing in 2020, Japanese COVID-19 travel restrictions forced him to the sideline until the season-ending doubleheader in Valencia, where he claimed the Legends Trophy for over-forty drivers thrice in four races. Further pandemic limitations prevented him from running the 2021 calendar.

Miura will be the seventh Japanese driver to compete in NASCAR’s national series alongside Akinori Ogata, Hideo Fukuyama, Shigeaki Hattori, Kenji Momota, and Toshio Suzuki. Ogata has also raced for Reaume in 2022.

“I am very pleased to be able to participate in this NASCAR Camping World Track Series,” said Miura. “We would like to thank EuroNASCAR, sponsors, media management teams and all who have been involved in making this happen. I raced and will continue to race in EuroNASCAR.

A month after the grid was racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the FIA World Endurance Championship is at Monza for the fourth round of the championship. After their win at Le Mans, the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing crew go in as championship favourites, but all eyes will be on Peugeot Sport who are making their racing debut with their Hypercar this weekend.

The driver line-ups for the two Peugeot entries have been revealed, with Paul di Resta, Mikkel Jensen and Jean-Eric Vergne sharing the #93 whilst Loïc Duval, Gustavo Menezes and James Rossiter will be on board the #94. The addition of the two French cars brings the Hypercar class up to six entries, with the two Toyotas and the sole Glickenhaus Racing and Alpine Team cars.

The LMP2 entry list is the only other that sees a chance ahead of this weekend’s race. It was predicted that the #5 Team Penske entry would race until Le Mans and then withdraw from the championship which is what it looks like has happened. Dropping the class down to 14 cars, this is the first race that the Team Penske car will not be featured on the grid.

After the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the GTE Pro class returns to its five championship entries with two drivers each. The swing of the championship has gone towards the #91 Porsche GT Team after their Le Mans class win, so team orders could be a more common feature between the German manufactured cars if Corvette Racing remains to be a threat in the final three races.

AF Corse will be hoping that the Balance of Performance falls in their direction after their lack of pace at Le Mans, looking for their home race to be the turning point in their season.

The long awaited entry of the Peugeot Sport Hypercar to the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship grid has arrived, with two Peugeot 9X8s on the official entry list for the 6 Hours of Monza.

The car delayed its entry into the championship a few times whilst homologation and track tests were undergone, initially having discussed breaking the cover on the 9X8 for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. It quickly became apparent that the car was aiming for a Monza where it would bring both cars to the track.

The six drivers: Paul Di Resta, Loïc Duval, Mikkel Jensen, Gustavo Menezes, James Rossiter and Jean-Éric Vergne, were all confirmed last month, but the trios of drivers that will fill the two cars still remains to be announced. Only Di Resta has been confirmed in the #93, with Duval taking one of the spots in the #94.

“The challenge we have faced in recent months has been two-fold and has involved forming a team to then produce a car and prepare it for its competitive debut.” said Olivier Jansonnie, Technical Director of Peugeot Sport. “However, there is no substitute for actual racing and we can’t wait to discover the potential of our hybrid-electric Hypercar which was developed in-house to demonstrate our skills in the realm of hybridisation and other areas.”

Haas F1 Team Principal Günther Steiner was pleased with the team’s double points finish at the British Grand Prix, saying it was well earned after a run of races without points and several retirements. 

“It was a good surprise to finish with two cars in the top-ten, but we know that the car is able to do it, and the team is able to do it, it’s just that the last five races were very difficult. When the opportunity arose this time with the red flag, and we were shifted up a few positions forward, we were not given anything for free. 

“The car was strong, the drivers were strong, so we just capitalized on it and pushed forward. I think it was deserved after quite a few races which were frustrating.” 

Steiner said an even greater result was within reach for Mick Schumacher at Silverstone Circuit, as he came close to gaining from eighth to seventh in his battle with Max Verstappen, a fight that was a highlight near the race’s closing. 

“I’m pretty happy with a solid P8 and I’m not upset that we didn’t achieve seventh. Mick fought for it, but he fought one of the best, if not the best for that position. In the end he brought home P8 and his first points, which is very good.”

Having found success at his first ever sprint weekend in Imola, Kevin Magnussen looks forward to another opportunity to earn points at the Austrian Grand Prix. 

“Imola was my first Sprint and we had a good weekend, we scored points in both the Sprint and the main race, so it’s always nice to have a good first experience so hopefully we can do the same in Austria.”

He added that, based on seeing the sprints last year and experiencing one this season, the current set-up of having your Grand Prix starting position based on your sprint finishing position deters drivers from going all-out– something that could be solved with slight changes to the rules. 

“I watched them last year and the big question is whether or not you want to take a risk in the Sprint. If you didn’t qualify for your position in the main race during the Sprint and instead the qualifying on Friday was your starting position for both the Sprint and the main race, then you would be able to go for it in the Sprint without having to take risks for your starting position. Maybe that could be a solution to make people go for it a bit more in the Sprint.” 

Magnussen welcomes the possibility of rain at the Red Bull Ring this weekend, as the VF-22 has proven to perform well in wet conditions, with Haas F1 Team locking out the third row after a wet Canadian Grand Prix qualifying. 

Dylan Lupton has a rather curious trend of making NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts during the second half of the season; of his fourteen career races in the series, the earliest was the 2019 Chicagoland event in late June. After not racing at all across the first four months of the 2022 season, the streak continues as he enters the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course race on Saturday, 9 July, driving the #7 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports.

“I am very thankful for this opportunity to drive for Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course,” said Lupton. “Every time they have hit the track at a Truck Series race in 2022, Spire Motorsports has been a front-runner. I’d like to continue that pace this weekend.

“I have experience at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and with my road course background, plus with the leadership of Bono (Manion, crew chief), I think we can surprise a lot of people on Saturday afternoon.”

Much of Lupton’s national series career has been as a part-time journeyman making numerous one-off starts. In 2016 and since 2019, he has raced for six Truck teams besides Spire: Young’s Motorsports, Athenian Motorsports, now-David Gilliland Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports, and Reaume Brothers Racing. He ran the Darlington race last year for KBM followed by starts at Las Vegas and Talladega with RBR. He has four career top tens in the Trucks and a best finish of fifth at Kentucky.

The bulk of Lupton’s starts are in the Xfinity Series, where he has thirty-nine starts including the first half of the 2018 slate before a lack of funding doomed his JGL Racing ride. His lone top ten in the series came at Mid-Ohio in 2015, when he finished ninth with Athenian.

Seventeen-year-old Trey Burke will be among the road course specialists tasked with navigating Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. It will be his first time racing in the series as he pilots the #20 Chevrolet Silverado for Young’s Motorsports.

“I am very excited to announce that I will be making my NASCAR Camping World Trucks debut at Mid-Ohio this coming weekend,” he wrote on social media. “A massive thanks to Tyler Young and Young’s Motorsports for this opportunity. We do have sponsorship available, please DM me for more info.”

Burke mainly competes in open-wheel racing, having raced in the Road to Indy‘s U.S. F2000 National Championship since 2020 for Joe Dooling Autosports. He finished twenty-third in points as a rookie, during which he received the USF2000 Hard Charger Award for racking up the most positions gained in the season. He was poised to continue another full slate in 2022 before JDA’s equipment was sold off ahead of last weekend’s Mid-Ohio round. In ten 2022 races, his best finish was seventh at St. Petersburg.

Prior to entering single seaters in 2020, he was a dirt track racer in sprint cars and midgets. In his first year in the discipline, he won twice at the Lucas Oil Racing School and once in the Formula Race Promotions 1600 Series. His driver coach Sage Karam is a part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver and NTT IndyCar Series veteran.

He is not the only NASCAR newcomer entered at Mid-Ohio as he joins Stephen Mallozzi and Kenkō Miura. Connor Mosack is also scheduled to make his Truck début though he already recorded an Xfinity start in June. With thirty-six trucks on the entry list and barring no last-minute additions, Burke and the aforementioned are all guaranteed to race.