Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Timmy Hansen has been awarded a medal from Prince Carl Philip of Sweden. The Swedish driver said he was “super honoured” to have been given the medal for winning the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship. The ceremony, which included a medal for compatriot and fellow World Championship winner Johan Kristoffersson, had been delayed due to Covid 19.

Speaking to The Checkered Flag, Hansen said “it was of course an honour to visit the castle here in Sweden, to meet the Prince and to get such a medal…it was a great experience and I feel super honoured to receive it.”

When considering what his achievement meant for the sport as a whole, Hansen added the medal is a “big statement about rallycross as a sport. It’s a big sport and is being considered one of the top motorsports in the world. I’m happy to be part of that and I’m happy to represent rallycross in a room like that in the castle!”

It is not the first time the Hansen family has won such a medal. Timmy’s Father, rallycross legend and 14 time European Rallycross Champion Kenneth Hansen, won the award back in 2007, and this new medal will take pride of place “in the workshop next to Dad’s.”

Hansen won the title on countback after finishing the ten-round season tied on 211 with Norway’s Andreas Bakkerud. The title came down to the final race at Killarney Motor Racing Complex in Cape Town, South Africa.

CE Dealer Team have confirmed that their driver line-up will be a groundbreaking gender equal pairing. In the first year of the new all-electric era in World RX, Klara Andersson will make history as the first permanent female competitor since the championship began in 2014. She will be joined by World RX regular and last year’s third place finisher and six time event winner Niclas Grönholm.

Andersson comes to World RX having won the Swedish Rallycross Championship’s 2150 class in 2021, and an impressive fourth place finish in her first appearance in the RX2e Championship at Spa-Francorchamps.

She says that, while she has rallycross experience, the road ahead could be challenging: “World RX and the awesome 500kW (680bhp) electric beasts that we will race are new to me and none of us are expecting to get anything for free – we have plenty of hard work ahead of us to establish ourselves at the top.”

Grönholm – son of the two-time FIA World Rally champion Marcus Grönholm – agrees that the fight for success in the new electric era of World RX will be tough, but is optimistic about their chances, saying “we have a lot of combined experience and I think we can spring some surprises this year.” Grönholm will certainly be one of the favourites to fight for the title this year, having finished 2019 just 25 points off the top spot, despite missing two rounds due to appendicitis.

CE Dealer Team will be competing against the likes of ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport, Volkswagen Dealerteam Bauhaus, and rallycross titans Hansen Motorsport.

The entry lists for the upcoming FIA European Rallycross Championship season opener in Nyriád have been published, featuring a wealth of returning favourites, home heroes, and drivers eager to prove themselves.

Two-time European Rallycross Champion Anton Marklund has teamed up with nine-time champions SET Promotion for this year’s campaign. This formidable pairing will have to face down challenges from the likes of former World RX podium finisher and last year’s third place man Jānis Baumanis, who has rejoined the Hansen Motorsport group as part of #YellowSquad.

Hansen Motorsport know their way round a European championship, having scored 20 title wins between 1989 and 2016, and Baumanis will be keen to add to that tally. Enzo Ide will also bring all his experience from partnering four-time world champion Johan Kristoffersson in last year’s World RX as he takes on this year’s Euro RX Campaign in his EKS Audi S1.

Double runner-up Jean-Baptiste Dubourg has recovered from the crash which broke his arm at Lohéac last year and will want to take his Peugeot 208 straight back to the top of the standings. Tamás Kárai will be favourite of the Hungarian drivers, having competed in three finals and scoring a podium in France last year. The winner of that event, René Münnich, will also be one to watch as he returns with Mandie August in their ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport SEAT Ibizas.

There are multiple drivers stepping up to Euro RX1 who will be keen to make a name for themselves. 2021’s ‘Rookie Of The Year’ Sivert Svardal will have momentum behind him as he enters his second full Euro RX season. Yury Belevskiy will also be keen to carry on the form which saw him scoring 147 out of a possible 150 points as he soared to victory in last year’s Euro RX3 championship.

The organisers of the iconic Rallye Deutschland are now rumoured to have set up a new plan to bring back the tarmac rally to the FIA World Rally Championship calendar in 2023 according to German sources.

The German round was held last time during the 2019 season before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in the world which caused the planned 2020 round including several other rallies to be cancelled due to that and Rallye Deutschland did not get included in the 2021 schedule either.

The same goes for this years calendar and it did not change the situation which caused raised doubts by the public that the German motorsports governing body ADAC was no longer interested in hosting a round in WRC.

But now, according to the German publication Motorsport Aktuell, the governing body is currently putting up two plans on bringing back the rally for 2023 with one of them being that the rally would be held at the Bavaria region nearby Czech Republic and Austria.

The other plan is to have the rally to continue in the usual location of Moselle, where Nürburgring is also a possible option to be added alongside a return of the military training ground at Baumholder.

Anton Marklund has joined forces with European rallycross titans SET Promotion to challenge for the 2022 Euro RX1 title. The two-time FIA European Rallycross Champion is aiming to achieve a third career championship win, this time in a SET Promotion Hyundai i20 RX1.

The team are no strangers to winning, having achieved nine championship titles and over 50 individual event wins since entering the sport in 2003. Team Principal Jussi Pinomäki believes Marklund can deliver their tenth title, saying “when you combine the experience of the team together with Anton’s clear ability and experience as a driver at the highest level in rallycross, I think we can expect to enjoy a lot of close racing.”

The number 92 driver is looking forward to the season opener at Nyirád in Hungary (21/22 May), but, despite positive signs in testing that the car will be competitive, Marklund is wary of overconfidence.

“There will be a lot of cars and drivers at a very high level in the European Championship so it will be far from easy, but the target is to challenge for the title,” the Swedish driver said.

With an entry list of 22 drivers, including winner of 2021’s Euro RX of Latvia and championship third place finisher Janis Baumanis, the competition will be fierce from the start of the season.

As many drivers suffered tyre failures, Toyota thrived in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. All six Toyota cars finished in the top ten, with Kurt Busch leading the way as he held off Kyle Larson to win his first race as a member of 23XI Racing.

Entering Kansas, 23XI Racing had been slugging through a challenging season as Busch and team-mate Bubba Wallace were outside the top twenty in points. Both broke through on Sunday as Busch led 116 of 267 laps, more than any other driver, while Wallace consistently ran in the top five-to-ten range and ultimately finished tenth, despite suffering an uncontrolled tyre penalty on a late pit stop.

“[W]e have to clean up our messes on pit lane and at least keep the 23 where it runs when they pit,” team president Steve Lauletta tweeted about Wallace’s woes on pit road. “Working hard at this frustrating issue”.

Wallace’s tyre trouble coming on pit road is rather benign compared to those who had theirs go down while on track. Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Justin Haley, Kevin Harvick, B.J. McLeod, Martin Truex Jr., and Daniel Suárez were among those who wrecked or had to pit after blowing left-rear tyres, with Bell and Byron doing so while leading; multiple drivers suffered the same fate during practice on Saturday. The issue can be traced to the load placed on the left rear by the Next Gen car’s independent rear suspension, which prompted Goodyear to advise but not mandate a higher air pressure.

At the front, Bell’s downed tyre led to Kyle Busch winning the first stage. Older brother Kurt took the second.

Colin Turkington started the weekend on pole alongside Jake Hill but it took until Race Three for this to gleam a one-two for Team BMW with the four-time champion adding his first win of the season to conclude the weekend of BTCC action at Brands Hatch Indy.

It was Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 Trade Price Cars.com driver Tom Chilton who took reverse grid pole but his luck went from bad to worse as he survived an early safety car period after Jason Plato went off at Druids but tumbled down the order eventually pitting with a problem and ending the day in the gravel.

Turkington began this slide by firing past Chilton on Lap Eight and Hill soon followed his teammate. Bobby Thompson who in many ways was the story of the race fired his Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero CUPRA into third place and took his maiden BTCC podium.

While another safety car for Chilton aimed to derail Turkington’s momentum, all it did was decrease the gap slightly with Hill unable to mount a charge potentially thinking of banking points after his spin earlier in the day.

Tom Ingram leaves Brands Hatch still in the lead in the championship finishing fourth, while Rory Butcher and Ash Sutton came home in fifth and sixth ahead of rookie, George Gamble who despite losing out to the experienced duo earlier in the race continues his brilliant start to BTCC life.

Rich Energy BTC Racing‘s Josh Cook secured a double win around Brands Hatch Indy on Sunday afternoon in a defensive masterclass as he sealed Round Five of the 2022 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC)

This weekend, the coverage has shifted for the final two races over to ITV1 and for viewers who may not be familiar with the all action motorsport series, they were treated to a fine example of the close racing on offer as Cook withstood massive pressure to take the lights to flag win.

After sealing the opener, Cook made a strong getaway from ROKiT MB Motorsport driver Jake Hill who looked to be a man on a mission but there was multiple contact down the field as Laser Tools Racing duo Aiden Moffat and Dexter Patterson as well as Power Maxed Racing‘s Ash Hand and Michael Crees and Dan Rowbottom who were all running mid pack in Race One were all caught up.

But after that melee, Dan Cammish battled with Rory Butcher only to escape and join the leading pack of Cook and Hill only for the latter to spurn any chances towards the end as he clipped the kerb at Druids which spun his BMW 330e M Sport and sent him down towards seventh where he finished the race.

This left only the NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST of Cammish to attack Cook and it was a drag to the line as Cook concluded his masterclass round the Kent circuit.

Josh Cook broke down the initial dominance on the grid of the BMW’s spearheaded by Colin Turkington to seal the opening race of the day at Brands Hatch Indy and Round Four of the 2022 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC)

The Rich Energy BTC Racing Honda produced a stellar drive as he bided his time as the BMW resolve started to die down with greasy conditions due to the wet weather at the Kent circuit proving a challenge for some.

Turkington and teammate Jake Hill squabbled to begin the race but Cook took the scalp of Stephen Jelley who faded the most going down to 20th by the end of the race.

From there, he went off track which allowed Jelley the position back but on Lap Seven, he returned into third ahead of the Leicester driver and by the half way point, Hill’s struggles were evident as he ran wide at Clearways allowing Cook back into second and a simple pass five laps later allowed him through into the lead.

He potentially had to battle Jake Hill again but despite disposing of Turkington, the ROKiT MB Motorsport driver went through the gravel on Paddock Hill Bend to deny any late chance as he slipped down into fourth.

Zane Smith is the only driver with multiple wins in the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. A dominating performance in Friday’s Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway means he now has a two-win advantage over everyone else with a victory. He led 108 of 134 laps in the race, with Corey Heim having the second most with just eighteen.

Heim won the opening stage after taking the lead from Smith, who in turn claimed the spot from pole winner John Hunter Nemechek, on lap 22. However, Heim’s hopes of winning came to an end when his engine started to randomly shut off, causing him to hit the wall and forcing a late pit stop.

Smith won Stage #2. While the first two segments ran caution-free, Niece Motorsports trucks were responsible for cautions in Stage #3 when Kris Wright spun on lap 92 while Dean Thompson did so on lap 123.

The Wright caution allowed Heim to spend some time in front before Smith re-assumed the lead for the ensuing restart. Ty Majeski, who along with ThorSport Racing team-mate Ben Rhodes were the only other drivers to lead laps, was no match for Smith.

The victory is Smith’s sixth in the Truck Series, first at Kansas, and first on a 1.5-mile oval. This leaves dirt tracks—of which there are two on the Truck calendar with Bristol in March and Knoxville in June—as the lone circuit type he has yet to win on. Smith’s other victories have come on a two-mile oval (Michigan 2020), one-mile oval (Dover 2020), short track (Martinsville 2021), superspeedway (Daytona 2022), and road course (COTA 2022)

Race results

Colton Herta mastered the changing conditions that turned the GMR Grand Prix into a wet and wild mess of never-ending cautions and tyre strategy to take his first win of the 2022 season, with Simon Pagenaud and Will Power rounding out the podium.

After making an error on tyre choice at the last pit stops going onto the red tyres, Herta was the first to come in for wets. While Scott McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward, and Romain Grosjean all stayed out on slick reds, spinning under multiple cautions through the last 20 minutes of the race, Herta blitzed away to victory, winning under caution after a crash by Juan Pablo Montoya.

This race was the first full-wet race since the first race of the 2019 Detroit Grand Prix, and after a delayed start IndyCar decided that the race would end after 85 laps or 120 minutes, whichever came first. Very quickly after Power led the field to green, Herta made the gamble to pit on lap three for red tyres. With the race starting full-wet there were no mandatory black-wall tyres, the choice was easy to go onto the reds.

That move launched Herta from his fourteenth starting place into the lead, but was overcut by O’Ward who pit the next lap and took the lead back. With the advantage of warmer tyres, Herta made one of the most insane saves in history in turn eight before capitalizing on an O’Ward mistake to take the lead. From there, Herta navigated the carnage and take home the win.

“That was just awesome,” Herta said in Victory Lane. “That was the hardest race I think I’ve ever done.”

Team BMW‘s Colin Turkington will look to kick start his title charge tomorrow (Sunday 15th) at Brands Hatch Indy after sealing a 25th career pole position earlier on Saturday during qualifying.

It is a front row dominated by BMW with Turkington’s teammates, Jake Hill and Stephen Jelley finishing just behind with Adam Morgan for Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport also getting in on the act as he continues to impress alongside rookie George Gamble who finished 7th in another strong qualifying effort

The leading front wheel drive effort came from the Honda of Josh Cook in fifth with Tom Ingram who performed admirably with no hybrid with the perils of being top of the Drivers’ Championship evident still finishing sixth. While behind Gamble was the NAPA Racing UK effort of Dan Cammish with his team-mate and reigning champion, Ash Sutton continuing his issues and he sits 18th place.

Similarly, Jason Plato struggled for pace down in 22nd place and so both will be drivers to watch out for on the Indy circuit on Sunday afternoon with a potential eye on the reverse grid. Rory Butcher and Dan Rowbottom rounded out the top ten, with the latter likely not pleased with his efforts but he won the bragging rights over his teammate Gordon Shedden who sits in 11th.

As usual, the closeness of the field was evident over the 25 minute session with Turkington all the way down to Jade Edwards in 25th were all within a second with only Nic Hamilton, Jack Butel, Rick Parfitt and Will Powell not within that range.

Stoffel Vandoorne admitted finishing on the podium in the opening race of the Berlin E-Prix on Saturday was a bit of a surprise, particularly after falling down the field in the opening laps.

Having started eighth on the grid, the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team driver did not have the best of starts at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit, and he fell well outside the top ten before be began his fightback.

Vandoorne said it was important to stay cool during his recovery, and he utilised a good strategy to ensure he maintained his lead in the Drivers’ Championship.  He finished less than two seconds behind race winner Edoardo Mortara, and only missed out on second to Jean-Éric Vergne after losing out to the Frenchman after he used his Fanboost advantage.

“Considering the way the E-Prix started, I’m honestly a bit surprised that I still made it onto the podium,” said Vandoorne.  “From eighth on the grid, I didn’t exactly have the best of first laps, and I lost a lot of places over the course of it.

“After that, I think I was actually way down in P15 at one point in the race. But I kept my cool and started to feel that there was good pace in the car. I was able to take advantage of that today and pull off some neat overtaking moves.

Jean-Éric Vergne continued his strong start to the 2021-22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season with a second-place finish in the first of the two races at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit on Saturday, but that first win of the year still eludes the two-time champion.

The DS Techeetah driver lost a place off the line to Tag Heuer Porsche FE Team’s André Lotterer, but he had the pace to fight at the front of the field and was challenging race leader Edoardo Mortara towards the end of the race.

Unfortunately for Vergne, a move on the ROKiT Venturi Racing driver with six laps to go failed to pay off, and rather than challenging for the win he was left to defend his second place against Stoffel Vandoorne until the chequered flag.

But despite this, he was pleased to finish second, and he knew he had to at least make an attempt on taking the lead against Mortara rather than settle for an easier finish.

“It was an eventful race, a lot of things happened,” said Vergne.  “We had a strong pace today and I’m happy with second. Obviously, I tried to overtake Eduardo (Mortara) but he saw me coming so I could not overtake.

Edoardo Mortara was ecstatic after taking his second victory of the 2021-22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season on Saturday, with the Swiss driver appearing to have the first race of the Berlin E-Prix under control from start to finish.

The ROKiT Venturi Racing driver had started the day in the right way by taking his first Formula E pole position at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit, and he converted that into the victory despite the pack being close behind for much of the race.

Mortara used his two attack modes to good use, utilising them later than his rivals to ensure he was able to fight back to the front, and he was never outside the top three, ultimately closing out the win by 1.782 seconds from DS Techeetah’s Jean-Éric Vergne.

“I think we can be very happy about how we executed the race today,” said Mortara. “It was amazing to take my first pole position in qualifying, especially after coming close to it quite a few times this season.

“Because energy consumption is quite high in Berlin, it is always difficult to lead because it allows the guys behind to under consume with the slipstream. For that reason, it was mega that we were able to keep the lead for the entire time and be able to build a gap so we could take both Attack Modes without losing too much track position.