Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Adaptions to the layout at Pembrey Circuit in Wales have been made to enhance the action in the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy this year. Last season, the Pembrey Circuit benefitted from a widening of the opening two corners in an attempt to lessen the amount of contact early in each race which was a constant issue.
 
The 5 Nations BRX will be visiting the South Wales venue twice in the 2022 season, on May 14-15 and August 27-29 and work is ongoing to open up the gravel section of the circuit, with the chicane being removed and a long, sweeping right-hand corner leading onto the Speedway Straight, and a return to Asphalt.
 
Pembrey will continue to be run in both anti-clockwise and clockwise directions. For the anti-clockwise route, the Joker Lap will be around the outside of Carter’s Hairpin, on the section of the circuit that has formed the standard lap in recent years. For the clockwise layout, the joker will remain in its existing location, around the outside of Hansen’s corner. Other investments made to improve the venue at Pembrey include the expansion of the main paddock area, new signage and new fire-assistance vehicles.
Further plans for the Welsh rounds of 5 Nations BRX will be announced in due course.

“We changed the rallycross layout a few years ago and having run on that a few times, we could see areas for improvement,” said Phil Davies, Pembrey Circuit Manager. “We found on the second half of the gravel section there was a lot of course-cutting and contact, so we’ve made the changes to make it flow a lot better. We’re making a much more open corner on the gravel, back onto the tarmac – hopefully, the cars will be drifting sideways all the way around there now. That will open up overtaking, which will be good for the drivers and the crowd. The changes lend themselves to moving the joker for the anti-clockwise layout. The existing joker works well for the clockwise direction as it is, so it’s a good change in the variety of the circuit layouts for the drivers too. We’re really excited to have 5 Nations BRX back again this season.”

Hannah Rynston, Championship Co-ordinator stated, “We have worked closely with Phil and his team at Pembrey, along with Motorsport UK, to make positive changes to the layout at Pembrey and we’re looking forward to action getting underway on the new section of track when we visit South Wales for the first time this season in May. The other changes at Pembrey are very good too, and we are also working on plans to put together entertainment outside of the racing, which we will reveal as soon as that is confirmed.”
 
The British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy will get underway at Lydden Hill for a double-header weekend on April 16-18.

Isack Hadjar topped the times for Hitech GP on the final day of FIA Formula 3 Championship pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The Red Bull Racing-backed driver was fastest for the second day in a row as a sandstorm cancelled the final Formula 2 Championship session of the three-day test.

Prema Racing and ART Grand Prix are expected to have among the strongest line-ups on the 2022 grid, with Jak Crawford and Gregoire Saucy following Hadjar home as the quickest times were set before the midday break.

Roman Stanek topped the times in the afternoon as winds blew sand onto the Sakhir circuit, ahead of Reece Ushijima (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Zane Maloney.

Hadjar, backed by the FFSA Academy led by 0.381s after the morning session, ahead of Crawford, Saucy, Caio Collet and Alex Smolyar (MP Motorsport).

With the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix just a few weeks away, final preparations are being made as the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is set to undergo modification and the race’s start time will be adjusted. 

The venue, which made its début last December, will have Turns 2, 3, 14 and 21 altered by bringing the barriers back between one to two metres. These changes are expected to improve visibility for drivers, as blind corners proved to be a flaw of the circuit in 2021. The track limits of these turns will remain as they were. 

The track limits of turn 27 will be widened, with the right-side barrier being pushed back by 1.5 metres. On Turns 4, 16, 22 and 24 steel plates will be installed to give drivers a smoother barrier to skim past, a change made as a result of driver feedback. 

Aside from physical changes to the track, the race’s start time has been shifted from last year’s local time of 8:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.. The purpose of this switch is to further increase the worldwide viewership potential of the Grand Prix– aiming to top the almost 80 million viewers the event received in 2021.  

EXCELR8 Motorsport pulled the covers off on their 2022 BTCC livery earlier this week for the Hyundai i30N Fastback with Bristol Street Motors stepping up to partner with the team as their title sponsor.

Title challenger Tom Ingram will herald a new dawn after being supported by Ginsters for the past three years but instead his car, helmet and race suit will adorn the logos of their new title sponsor as he is joined by Tom Chilton in the team.

Chilton will look to emulate Ingram’s trio of race victories which saw him claim fourth in his debut campaign in the Hyundai as the Reigate ace looks for a return to form and for Ingram, he is excited about what a new dawn can bring.

“It’s really exciting to have Bristol Street Motors on board again for the 2022 season,” said Ingram. “It’s great that an established automotive brand wants to be involved with the excitement of the BTCC and can see the value of all the hard work that we are putting in.

“I think the car looks great in the new Bristol Street Motors livery, and with everything we learned last year, I’m looking forward to a strong season at the wheel.”

Rory Butcher was announced to return to Toyota Gazoo Racing UK for a second full season in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) bringing the fore runner consistency as he aims for a Drivers’ title tilt.

Butcher has the added support of Toyota Insurance Services who have come on board to boost the Speedworks Motorsport team’s chances this season.

Last time out, he sealed a trio of victories including a commanding foray at Silverstone and was the third-highest scorer over the final three weekends of the season which he will hope to take into Donington Park (23/24 April). He will be joined by two further drivers in due course.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be returning to the BTCC for my fifth full season in the championship. To be coming back with the same team and car is a ‘first’ for me, and that continuity can only be a positive – especially as we head into the new hybrid era, with all the changes that will entail,” said Butcher on resigning.

“Not needing to gel with different people or a different car will be one less thing to have to worry about, and it means we can put everything we’ve learned together so far to good use.”
 
“I made no secret of the fact that it took me a little while to completely get to grips with the Corolla last year; there was a lot to adapt to, but once we ‘clicked’, we were quick pretty much everywhere, which fills me with a lot of confidence going forward.

Set for his second full season in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), Rick Parfitt Jr will join Team HARD. Racing and will switch to the title winning Infiniti Q50 after the popular driver teased fans all post season about his possible destination.

Some expected Parfitt to return to British GT where he had most of his prior success but after posting a picture of his race licence for the season, the Tony Gilham ran squad announced the move on Friday afternoon.

Racing under the Upton Steel with Team HARD. Racing banner, the 47-year-old will return to rear-wheel drive after his success in British GT and after testing the car during pre-season which eagle eyed fans spotted on his Instagram, he has put pen to paper.

“I couldn’t be happier to have signed with Upton Steel with Team HARD Racing,” he said. “The team clearly shares my passion for putting on a show, but at the same time is hugely focused on delivering consistent results.

“The return to rear-wheel drive will be a quick re-learning process for me, but I was lucky enough to drive the car a few weeks ago and I felt comfortable immediately.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has absolutely dominated global affairs and, as a result, motorsport has been heavily affected. In response to everything that’s going on, the World Motorsport Council (WMSC) held an extraordinary meeting on 1 March 2022. The result of this is that “emergency measures” have been enacted by the FIA in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The FIA has decided that no “international/zone competition” will be allowed to take place in Russia and Belarus until further notice. No flags or symbols representing either country will be allowed to be used in international competitions either and the national anthems of both countries will not be allowed to be played as well. This includes the display of Russian or Belarusian national symbols on any uniforms, team equipment or cars at any FIA-sanctioned races.

When it comes to drivers, competitors and officials, the FIA has stated that no Russian or Belarusian teams will be allowed to compete in international competitions until further notice. Russian and Belarusian drivers, individual competitors and officials will only be allowed to take part in internationally-sanctioned events as Authorised Neutral Drivers (ANDs), Authorised Neutral Competitors (ANCs) or Authorised Neutral Officials (ANOs) until further notice, subject to “specific commitment and adherence to the FIA’s principles of peace and political neutrality“. This will apply to any driver who is of Russian and/or Belarusian nationality and to drivers of any nationality who are “competing under the Russian or Belarusian ASN.” Any Russian and/or Belarusian driver who doesn’t sign a declaration that they’ll adhere by the FIA’s directives, they will “not be allowed to participate in any international/zone competitions.“

These new measures came into force immediately on 1 March 2022 and, according to the FIA, “will remain in force until further notice.” The FIA has also stated that it “continues to carefully monitor the events in Ukraine and reserves the right to take any further actions or implement further measures in the future, including any necessary actions required to comply with its obligations under any applicable sanctions regime and/or any contracts to which the FIA is a party.” This means that the FIA will fully comply with individual nations’ stances on Russian and Belarusian drivers, such as the decision made in the UK to ban them from competing entirely until further notice.

What will these new measures affect? Well, it will affect not only several drivers currently involved in motorsport, but also several teams. The team that’s been most in the public eye over this is the Uralkali Haas F1 Team, which reportedly will be dropping Nikita Mazepin and its title sponsor Uralkali (where Mazepin’s father Dimitry sits as a member of the board) over these new rules and the ever-growing economic sanctions against Russia. Uralkali has already handed back its shares in Hitech GP to team boss Oliver Oakes as a result of the economic sanctions on Russian businesses. W Series driver Ira Sidorkova‘s future is also uncertain (she was unable to properly take part in the W Series tests in Spain), as is former F2 driver Robert Shwartzman‘s. The sports car racing team G-Drive’s future is also uncertain, as it’s owned by the Russian company Gazprom and features a Russian driver (former Red Bull and Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kyvat) in its driver lineup for this year.

The final day of FIA Formula 2‘s 2022 testing week was cut in half after a sandstorm hit the Bahrain International Circuit, causing poor visibility which meant the afternoon session was cancelled before it got underway.

MP Motorsport‘s Felipe Drugovich set the fastest time of the sole session, ahead of team-mate Clément Novalak and Jüri Vips in the Hitech Grand Prix runner.

Even with the lack of the final session, seventeen of the twenty-two drivers still managed to complete over forty laps of the circuit with Novalak and Drugovich climbing to the top with just twenty-two and twenty-four laps, respectively.

The Carlin duo of Liam Lawson and Logan Sargeant rounded out the top five, capping off a very solid few days of testing for both drivers. Roy Nissany set the sixth fastest time with last year’s FIA Formula 3 champion Dennis Hauger taking the seventh fastest time for PREMA Racing.

French youngster Théo Pourchaire completed the most laps of the morning with a marathon fifty-six laps and clocked the eighth fastest time, ahead of Jack Doohan and Ayumu Iwasa who complete the top ten.

Liam Lawson proved to be the fastest driver on track on day 2 of FIA Formula 2 pre-season testing after becoming the first driver to set a time below the 1:42.000 threshold for his new team, Carlin. Lawson’s best effort came in the afternoon session where teams opted to run some qualifying simulations thanks to the warmer conditions out on track.

The quickest time in the morning came from the Estonian driver Jüri Vips with a 1:46.705 as opposed to the Kiwi’s 1:41.623 in the afternoon. Ralph Boschung and Theo Pourchaire finished the day on identical lap times of 1:42.096, with them setting twenty and twenty-five laps, respectively.

Logan Sargeant was half a second off his Carlin team-mate after twenty-six laps, showing good signs of control of the F2 chassis following his graduation from FIA Formula 3. Fellow F3 graduate and last years runner-up Jack Doohan set the fifth fastest time, three hundredths faster than his Virtuosi Racing team-mate Marino Sato who set a 1:42.174.

Frederik Vesti set an identical time to Sato down to the thousandth in seventh place with Felipe Drugovich, Jehan Daruvala and Richard Verschoor rounding out the top ten. The whole grid were separated by two seconds in the afternoon session, with the only outlier being Marcus Armstrong who set just two laps before clipping the barriers at turn eight and turning in a 1:57.854.

Cem Bölükbasi spent the most time out on track with thirty-four laps of the Bahrain International Circuit, setting the fifteenth fastest time of the grid. He enjoyed his run-out after yesterday’s afternoon session was cut short due to technical issues.

The #86 GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR that was due to be driver by Team Owner/Driver Mike Wainwright, Ben Barker and Riccardo Pera has been withdrawn from the entry list of the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener, the 1000 Miles of Sebring, after the decision was taken by Wainwright to focus on the safety of his employees and contractors based in Ukraine and Russia.

Talking to DailySportsCar.com, Wainwright said: “I decided that it would not be correct for me to travel to the USA for the first race whilst people working within the company are in dangerous and unpredictable situations,”

“I feel it is my duty to ensure that we provide as much support and assistance as we can from here in Europe rather than add in the additional barriers of time zones and delay.

“I’m really sorry for all involved, we’ll be back at Spa.”

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Aston Martin support cars will be returning for 12 Formula 1 races this year, beginning with the Australian Grand Prix. Specialized versions of Aston Martin’s Vantage and DBX will fill the role of the safety and medical cars, respectively. 

Both cars will be running in the brand’s 2022 Aston Martin Racing Green, corresponding with Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One’s 2022 car, AMR22. Influenced by Vantages in GT racing, Aston Martin’s safety car is uniquely adapted for use alongside F1 cars and will continue to be driven by Bernd Mayländer.  FIA Medical Rescue Coordinator Ian Roberts’ DBX will be equipped with all the necessary features to respond to accidents quickly and effectively, reaching a top speed of 181 mph and 0 to 62 mph in 4.5 seconds.

CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda Tobias Moers said, “It is a continuing source of pride for myself and the whole company to see our cars playing a crucial role in Formula 1. Vantage and DBX will feature at 12 Grand Prix this year and, as much as I hope they won’t be called upon too often in the races, I think we all know they will be busy again as F1 enters this new era. We’re excited to be part of the show!”

Elite Motorsport have completed their line-up for the 2022 GB3 Championship, announcing that James Hedley will re-join the team after spending two seasons in the F4 British Championship with Fortec Motorsport.

Hedley joins Tom Lebbon and John Bennett for the team’s second season in the championship, having contested the Ginetta Junior Championship and Ginetta Junior Winter Series in 2018 and 2019.

He won the championship in his second full season, after a 2018 campaign which brought two podiums and ten top-six finishes.

Two seasons with Fortec in British F4 brought four wins in both 2020 and 2021, with eight total podiums in 2021, before he competed in the final round of the GB3 Championship at Donington Park with Elite, finishing tenth and twelfth twice.

“My goal is to be the 2022 GB3 champion!” Hedley said.

With the formation of the new Sauber Technologies branch of the Sauber Group, Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN has gained a new sponsor! A deal’s been done with Accelleron, a high-performance engineering brand. Accelleron is the brand name of ABB Turbocharging, which is “a global leader in heavy duty turbocharging for diesel and gas engines, providing sustainable and reliable power to the marine, energy and rail sectors.“

The partnership between Accelleron and the Sauber Group will be a technical one, creating a collaboration between ABB Turbocharging and Sauber Technologies, as well as Accelleron being an official sponsor of the team and having its logos appear on the cars of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou.

This technical partnership will focus on “five joint projects in areas including computational fluid dynamics where aerodynamic expertise developed by Sauber can be used to optimize turbine blade design to improve airflow and separation,” as well as potentially expanding into “additive manufacturing techniques” and “advanced material technology used in Formula One which may be adapted for use in turbocharging applications.” With Formula 1’s heavy focus on turbocharging technology since the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, this could be very beneficial to the Sauber Group in its F1 efforts!

“Sauber Technologies embodies the knowledge and expertise of 50 years of motorsport competition, and we look forward to putting this to good use in our partnership with Accelleron,” said Sauber Group’s CEO Fred Vasseur.

“Together we share a drive for sustainability, innovation and teamwork – as well as an agile and efficient engineering approach geared towards high-quality products. I’m excited about the opportunities this collaboration will bring to life.“

Hitech Grand Prix‘s Red Bull junior driver Isack Hadjar went quickest on Day 2 of FIA Formula 3 Championship testing in Bahrain, with the fastest times coming in the morning session.

The best conditions were reversed compared to Wednesday’s sessions, with times not breaking into the 1:47s in the afternoon.

Victor Martins followed Hadjar home in the morning for ART Grand Prix, ahead of Jonny Edgar (Trident) in third.

Hadjar went ahead of his compatriot Martins in the latter stages in the morning, setting a 1:47.516 to top the times at the break.

Martins enjoyed marginally the best day of the 30-strong grid, finishing second and first across the two sessions, while Hadjar topped the first session with a 1:48.250 and finished third in the afternoon.

The NTT IndyCar Series have delayed the debut of the 2.4 liter, twin-turbocharged V6 hybrid engines from 2023 to 2024, citing global supply chain issues.

The new engines will produce a base 800 horsepower, with the hybrid system boosting the horsepower to 900. Until then, teams will continue to use the 2.2 liter V6 engines that have been used in the series since 2012.

This isn’t the first time the new powertrains have been delayed. 2021 was originally scheduled to be the maiden season, before a delay to 2022 in hopes to attract more engine suppliers and then to 2023 due to COVID-19.

IndyCar President Jay Frye stated in a press release that the development of the engine is still going at a good pace even with this most recent delay.

“We are very encouraged by the progress our team and our partners have made, but an immediate decision needed to be made to ensure we are prepared for the 2023 season utilizing our current 2.2-liter engine package,” he said.