Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

It only took the very first race weekend of the 2022 Extreme E season for a rules change to occur in qualifying. Single-car qualifying comprised the first round, during which Rosberg X Racing began its title defence by setting the fastest total time around the Desert X Prix circuit.

The single-car format for Round #1 of qualifying was supposed to be abandoned ahead of the season kickoff in favour of five-car heat races, which is already used for the second round. However, the original system was brought back for the Desert X Prix and thus each car ran two laps with a driver switch in between. An explanation was never given by series officials, though one can assume concerns with the Saudi desert, which occasionally resulted in a cloud of dust obscuring driver vision, might have played a factor.

As rain began to fall, RXR’s Johan Kristoffersson set the fastest lap time of the twenty drivers at 3:30.222 before trading off to Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, who went 3:37.156. In total, including the driver swap, the team recorded a time of 9:03.603, which was enough to beat out Team X44. While RXR would have topped the qualifying chart anyway, a five-second time penalty was given to X44 as its #44 car was not fully within its switching station when Cristina Gutiérrez turned it over to Sébastien Loeb.

Three other cars also received time penalties for infractions in the switching bay. Placing third was Andretti United XE, who was penalised for the same reason as X44, with Chip Ganassi Racing right behind. CGR’s Kyle LeDuc hit a safety barrier while entering the bay and was slapped with a five-second penalty. Further back, the ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team suffered a speeding violation in the bay.

Veloce Racing did not complete the session when the car, driven by Christine GZ on lap two, flipped onto its roof which necessitated a red flag. GZ was taken to a local hospital for further treatment of what was reported to be an ankle injury. Should she be unable to participate in the rest of the weekend’s activities, Hedda Hosås is available as a guest reserve driver (the main reserve for female drivers, Tamara Molinaro, is already subbing for Klara Andersson at XITE Energy Racing).

The seat that Dennis Hauger is jumping into for the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Season is one which may hold a bit of prestige in the minds of the young talents making their way up the single-seater ladder towards their goal of racing in the Formula 1 World Championship.

Consecutive double championship’s for PREMA Racing in 2020 and 2021 with Mick Schumacher and Oscar Piastri has seen the German move up to F1 with Haas F1 Team and the latter being extremely unlucky to not have a drive in for the 2022 season.

After putting on a brilliant drive throughout the 2021 FIA Formula 3 season which saw him win the championship by 26 points in the last round of the season at the Sochi Autodrom, the young Norwegian is one of the favourites to win the 2022 F2 championship just like his predecessor Piastri.

“It has always been to take one year at a time and concentrate on the next corner, the next lap etc.” Hauger told The Checkered Flag, giving us an insight to his mindset. “If I do well in all the corners and all the laps the final result should be good. I don’t think about pressure or F1, just try to do the best possible job that is in front of me now.”

The PREMA driver took victories in Barcelona, Spielberg, Budapest and Zandvoort on his way to the F3 crown, with all four circuits being part of the upcoming F2 calendar after they were dropped last season as part of cost cutting measures for the F1 support races.

Zane Smith‘s new life at Front Row Motorsports is off to a good start, even if it resulted in a repeat of familiar events within a short span. In his first race for the team, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series‘ season-opening NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway, he was the leader coming to the white flag when a massive wreck forced overtime. On the final lap, another crash resulted in the race ending under caution while he was in front, securing his fourth career win.

Ty Majeski, getting another shot at a full-time Truck season for ThorSport Racing, won the pole while Smith started twentieth. Majeski would dominate the opening stage before being passed by reigning regular season champion John Hunter Nemechek, who took the stage win ahead of Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim, Grant Enfinger, Smith, Majeski, Tanner Gray, Bret Holmes, and Tyler Ankrum. The top four were Toyota drivers.

Like Stage #1, Nemechek was relatively quiet in a caution-free segment as Majeski and Derek Kraus led the majority of Stage #2’s laps before winning anyway. However, Kraus got loose on lap 38 and Nemechek cleared him for the lead and stage victory. Defending champion Ben Rhodes followed, with Smith, Christian Eckes, Matt Crafton, Austin Wayne Self, Ankrum, Kraus, Austin Hill, and Majeski in tow.

Despite the cleanliness of the first two segments, Stage #3 was a far more chaotic affair with five cautions. The first came on lap 65 when Jack Wood slid into the backstretch inside wall, which was followed by Heim’s contact with Dean Thompson on lap 81. The ensuing restart was short-lived as Tate Fogleman‘s tyre went down in turn four, triggering a wreck that collected Jason White and Kris Wright.

At the front, Nemechek traded the lead with a multitude of drivers like Ankrum and Colby Howard. Eckes took the top spot on lap 96 and was side-by-side with Smith as they prepared to begin the final lap when carnage broke loose: Eckes was clipped by Nemechek and sent into the middle of the pack, resulting in a crash that involved fifteen other drivers. Although Smith had barely edged out Eckes to cross the start/finish line, NASCAR was able to squeeze the caution flag in before the leader could begin the final lap.

Following the launch of the AT03 in the “Style Of A New Era” for AlphaTauri, the team will be hoping to push on from there impressive season last year where they finished with their highest points in Formula 1 to date with 142 points. One driver who will be looking to improve on his Rookie season is Yuki Tsunoda who gave his thoughts on the new car at the launch.

“It really does look great.” Yuki Tsunoda confirmed, “Of course we’ve not seen the real car on track yet, but the new shape and design are really cool, and I think the livery suits it really well and I hope everyone enjoys the launch video.”

Tsunoda will be able to test the AT03 for the first time in Barcelona next week, where he will be able to get a feel for the new car, especially with the new regulation changes that have been introduced making the 2022 season more challenging and competitive than ever before for all the drivers.

When asked about how physically and mentally prepared Tsunoda is for this year, he replied “I’m really looking forward to racing again. I feel I have a much better understanding of what I have to do than I did a year ago, I know how to prepare in order to perform well.

“I know what my weak points are, I have all of my experience from last year to build on and I have been working hard to be ready. Last year, if anything unexpected or unusual happened, I could not adapt quickly enough to deal with the situation, which is why I struggled in a lot of races.

2020 Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Harry King has joined front running Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup squad BWT Lechner Racing for the upcoming season in the one-make sports car series that supports the FIA Formula 1 World Championship throughout Europe.

The 21-year old made his Supercup debut last season and picked up three top-ten finishes throughout the season, including a sixth place in the second race at Monza.

“I take a lot of pride in being chosen for this opportunity by Robert and Walter Lechner. Lechner Racing has an amazing international track record and both Robert and Walter have had very successful careers as racing drivers themselves, so we understand each other’s desire to succeed,” explained King.

“A team like Lechner with 8 drivers and 11 team titles in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup speaks volumes and to be able to be part of a team of this calibre is very motivating to say the least.” he added.

King has worked his way up from Karting and into sports car racing, taking part in the Ginetta Junior series before graduating in the to the Ginetta GT4 Supercup, taking third place in the championship in 2018.

The 2022 Great American Shortcourse season will have to wait a little longer before beginning in a very familiar location. After initially being scheduled to start on 19/20 March at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, scheduling conflicts have forced the opener to be postponed to 9/10 April at the San Bernardino Fairgrounds.

Located in Chandler, Arizona, Wild Horse Pass would have been the first track that GAS visits outside of California. The track, which holds a multitude of motorsport including drag racing and boating, was previously the site of a Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series date and also held Nitro Rallycross during its inaugural season in 2021.

The news means GAS is dubiously zero-for-two on getting a non-California race. Its maiden campaign in 2021 originally had a date at Wild West Motorsports Park in Nevada before it was closed six months before the GAS weekend. The series also had an exhibition at the King of the Hammers in Johnson Valley, California, in early February cancelled; the event was to be held in collaboration with the Stadium Super Trucks, but the latter was busy with SPEED UTV testing.

Still, GAS is not giving up on potentially heading there. In an Instagram comment, the series explained Wild Horse Pass could not “accommodate the event we had scheduled in March due to some internal changes. Working on hopefully getting back there in the fall.” A request for further comment from Wild Horse Pass has gone unanswered as of this article’s publishing.

Also known as the SBC Fairgrounds for short, the San Bernardino Fairgrounds in Victorville hosted the first GAS round in April 2021. Both 2021 and 2022 seasons have exclusively seen races at the SBC Fairgrounds and Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, alternating between the two for four weekends. Assuming a make-up date in Chandler or elsewhere could not be found, the 2022 schedule will repeat the pattern for five weekends beginning at SBC on 9/10 April, followed by Glen Helen on 14/15. A return to SBC is on 9/10 July, then back at Glen Helen on 1/2 October before ending in SBC on 12/13 November.

Revised 2022 schedule

Alejandro Agag is the mastermind behind Formula E and Extreme E, a pair of FIA-sanctioned electric racing series. Now, he wants to do the same for another growing alternative fuel: hydrogen.

On Friday, ahead of Extreme E’s season-opening Desert X Prix, Agag announced the formation of a hydrogen-powered companion series to Extreme E aptly called Extreme H. The championship will launch in 2024 and be generally the same as its electric counterpart save for the obvious difference in power source.

“Extreme E was designed to be a testbed for innovation and solutions for mobility,” Agag said Friday. “It has become increasingly clear to us that creating a hydrogen racing series is a natural evolution of our mission to showcase the possibilities of new technologies in the race to fight climate issues.T ogether with the current Extreme E teams, we will decide in the coming months the best way to integrate the hydrogen-powered cars into the racing weekend. Two separate categories, full transition to Hydrogen or joint racing are all options on the table.”

Hydrogen has been growing in popularity as one of various alternative fuel sources for both racing and production vehicles, especially as a fuel cell over an internal combustion engine though both exist. In a fuel cell, hydrogen only produces water when consumed and requires little energy compared to an ICE. In the 2021 Fuji 24 Hours, Rookie Racing fielded a Toyota Corolla Sport that used a turbocharged hydrogen engine, completing half as many laps as the overall winner; Toyota has also produced the Toyota Mirai HCEV (Hydrogen Cell Electric Vehicle) for street purposes since 2014. In 2019, H24Racing was formed in a partnership between the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and GreenGT with the goal of fielding an electric/hydrogen car in the 24 Hours of Le Mans by 2024. HWA AG, an ex-Formula E team with close ties to Mercedes AMG, intends to launch the HYRAZE League hydrogen sports car series in 2023.

In the off-road realm, January’s Dakar Rally saw GCK Motorsport reveal a prototype of its e-Blast H2, an SUV with a full hydrogen fuel cell that will enter the 2024 race, the first with an alternative fuel category. GCK previously ran the e-Blast 1 whose fuel cell is a hybrid of electric and hydrogen energy. Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus is also developing the Glickenhaus 010 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Boot Zero-Emission, a buggy with a giant hydrogen tank attached to the rear that SCG hopes to run in November’s Baja 1000.

Former Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans will be returning to the Porsche stable as a ‘Porsche Driver’ that will see him race internationally for the brand in 2022 and beyond.

The New Zealand-born driver has worked his way up the Porsche Pyramid, starting in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia (now the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge), taking second place in the championship in 2016. From there he moved up in to the Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia, taking the title in 2018.

“I worked my way up from the bottom in Australia, starting out in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge (formerly GT3 Cup Challenge) before going on to win the Carrera Cup Australia Championship in 2018. From there, I had the opportunity to access a motorsport career in Europe by winning the Porsche Motorsport Junior Shootout and being selected as one of two Porsche Juniors,” said Evans

The end of the 2018 saw Evans win the Porsche Motorsport Junior Shoot-out, leading to his debut in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in 2019 and a move to Germany to take part in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland series, claiming the Rookie title in the national series.

“That led me to the Porsche Junior Program, where I had the opportunity to work with some of the best GT drivers in the world, attend physical training camps, and receive media training and onsite driver coaching.

With new technical regulations in place for 2022 that has resulted in a “clean-sheet design”, Scuderia AlphaTauri Technical Director Jody Egginton shares his perspective on the development of AT03 and the technical experimentation that will define the coming season. 

“We’ve been developing the process of how we work for the last two to three years and we’ve applied that to this car as well. Statistically and from the results we’ve had in the last period, we’ve been reasonably successful, so I would say we’re on the right trajectory in terms of how we are operating.

“However, it’s not as simple as that as it’s a clean sheet of paper for 2022 which provides potential rewards but also carries risk. The rate at which the car is being developed is a key metric but an important question is, how far are we down the ‘development’ road relative to the competition? You don’t really get to know that until the first race of the season when the gloves come off.”

The cost cap plays a role in the development of these brand new cars, with smaller teams such as AlphaTauri expected to benefit from a more level field. Egginton said that the impact of the cost cap, however, may not be immediate. 

“I think we can expect a certain amount of levelling up, to use the phrase of the moment! I think the cost cap will take a little bit of time to be fully absorbed into what teams are doing, so there are for sure some benefits in there for teams who, pre-cost cap, did not have access to the budgets of the bigger teams. You’ve still got to spend your money in a smart way.”

Italian Lorenzo Bertelli will miss the second round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship next weekend in Sweden due to taking part in a family business event.

There will be fewer Rally1 cars on Rally Sweden than originally planned, after the Italian reported that he has been forced to withdraw from the event, he was set to drive a fourth Ford Puma Rally1 beside the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team entrants.

Work during the Milan Fashion Week puts an end to his Rally1 debut, it is the commitment to the family company Prada that stops him from taking part.

Bertelli is now evaluating another possible start during the season, he would in Sweden become the first privateer driver with a Rally1 car.

Nathan Harrison is heading up Team Redline Racing’s Pro-Am assault on the Porsche Carrera Cup GB championship this season following the team finishing in the runner-up spot in 2021.

The 25-year-old had an impressive first year in the series, taking three class wins in a row and a further six podium finishes to take fourth in the Pro-Am Championship.

Oxford based Harrison worked his way up in the MINI Challenge prior to racing in the Carrera Cup GB, in 2015 he won the Cooper class before moving up in to the JCW class, finishing runner-up three times before taking the title in 2020.

Simon Leonard, Team Redline Racing Managing Director is looking forward to the 2022 season with Harrison, “We’re very pleased to get the opportunity to race with Nathan this season. He was one of the most exciting new drivers in the championship last year and picked up some great results.

“We’re excited to see what he can achieve in the new car this season and we’re confident we can provide the package he needs to challenge for the Pro Am title.”

Thursday was a night to remember for RFK Racing. The team, born out of a new partnership between Roush Fenway Racing and Brad Keselowski, enjoyed tremendous success in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel as Keselowski and Chris Buescher won the two races to guarantee second-row starting positions in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

The first Duel began with pole winner Kyle Larson on the pole and was a relatively uneventful affair with no cautions. Larson led the first half of the sixty-lap race before pit stops cycled Ryan Blaney into the lead. Keselowski passed his former Penske team-mate on lap 57 and, joined by a contingent of Fords in Blaney, Austin Cindric, and Chase Briscoe, drove off to his first career Duel win. The trio were alumni of Keselowski’s previous ownership venture, Brad Keselowski Racing in the Camping World Truck Series.

“I felt pretty good about our car in practice on Tuesday,” said Keselowski. “I’ve got to give credit to the other Fords. We worked really well together—Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe. We had great strategy, Austin Cindric, and we stuck together and drove away and got ourselves in position where we could control the finish of this race, and I’m happy to see all those Fords up front. Good job to all those guys.”

Duel #2’s pole sitter was Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Alex Bowman while Buescher was further back in fourteenth. Unlike the first race, the second saw a little more spice as Bowman and Joey Logano repeatedly traded the lead before Buescher seemed to settle into the spot on lap 19. Buescher led before pit stops cycled Logano back into first, though his race ended on the final lap when an aggressive block on the backstretch caused him to spin into the wall. As the caution came out, Buescher snuck by to claim the win and ensure a Duel sweep for RFK.

“It’s not the big show, but we’ve got a really good hot rod here,” Buescher commented.

Scuderia AlphaTauri announced there new car for the upcoming 2022 season. The AT03 is seen as the “Style Of A New Era” by AlphaTauri signifying there technology and impressive design on the new model. The AT03 will make its first official F1 appearance at next week’s Barcelona test where the world will get to see the new car in action on track for the first time alongside drivers Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda.

Pierre Gasly had a huge impact on AlphaTauri’s highest points scoring season to date. The team picked up 142 points in 2021, with Gasly scoring 110 of those points, finishing ninth in the drivers championship. He was asked after his great season last year, how he feels coming into the new season especially with the regulation changes for 2022.

He said “I think we will have to tackle it with an open mind, being ready for any eventuality. Its a fresh start for all the teams, starting pretty much from zero as we are really looking at a clean sheet or paper scenario. It will be a big challenge for the teams to work out how to build the best car possible to comply with the new regulations. I hope that it works really well for us.”

With AlphaTauri being very pleased with there work on the new car after spending months designing there 2022 challenger, Gasly will feel confident going into the new season with the full support of the team behind him to improve on his impressive performances from last season.

Gasly was also asked about whether the 2022 season will be a key season in terms of his F1 future, he said “My approach will be the same as the one I adopted last year. I will be trying to build on the run I had of very good results and to continue to be on top of my game with the car I have. I really hope that this is a year when I can fight at the very front, to finish regularly in the top five and even higher if the car is good enough for that.”

With 2022 on the horizon and a car design that rather radically breaks away from the generic showcar that was revealed at last year’s British Grand Prix, it seems like there is a lot of hype and positive speculation surrounding Williams Racing. It’s positivity that’s desperately needed in the Williams camp after 3 years of back of the grid performances. There started to be glimmers of hope in 2021, though. George Russell pulled off a spectacular qualifying lap at Spa and both drivers managed bring home some championship points when all was said and done at the end of the year.

One of the people at Williams who is definitely very excited to get the new season underway is Nicholas Latifi. He has every reason to feel that way, too. Whilst George Russell has left the team to go up the grid to Mercedes, Latifi will be working alongside his former F2 teammate Alex Albon, a very talented driver who he’s always had a great relationship with. The new car also looks great and the team is in the best shape it’s been for several years thanks to new owners, new management and a new injection of cash.

“I’m a fan of the new livery,” he said, echoing comments that plenty of fans have said since the FW44’s launch. “Keeping the blue was important as it’s synonymous with Williams Racing, but it’s a pattern we’ve not seen before and the fluorescent red will pop on track which I really like. It’s a fresh new look to start off the new era of F1.”

Whilst the car looking good is a great thing, it’s the performance on track that matters more. This is something that Latifi also feels good about, both in terms of being excited to experience the new car properly for the first time and also to experience how the new technical regulations will change up the racing across the grid. “I’m super excited for testing in Barcelona, to get back behind the wheel, push and see what the car can do. Pre-season always feels like quite a long time, but it’s been really busy and there’s been a nice build-up at the factory with lots of hard work from everyone. The new regulations should allow for much better racing so I’m excited for the challenge and we will aim to gather some good data from testing, to take us into the first few races.”

Scuderia AlphaTauri presented their AT03 to the world last Monday, as they prepare for a new era of Formula 1, as well as the longest season in the sports history. The Italian team enjoyed a very successful 2021 campaign, which saw them score their best ever points total.

Team principal Franz Tost spoke deeply at the launch at how pleased he was with 2021 but that despite 2022 being the longest season in the sports history, the team may not get as much luck as they did last year.

“I am pleased with how the 2021 season went as a whole, ending with our best ever points score. We have a strong team working in both Faenza and Bicester, as well as a number of very good partners, that collaborate with us, and we hope to continue our strong performance in 2022.

“Last year, we were lucky because the races were very interesting, there were always gifts, but we can’t expect that this will always be the case. So, for me 23 races is the absolute limit, not from the workload point of view, but because I am concerned that with such a high number of races, in the end it could cause people to lose interest in Formula 1.

“For me, the best number would be between 18 and 20 races because Formula 1 should be a premium product and we really should think about maybe reducing the number of races to keep it special. Personally, I am fine with 23 races or more, but this is not the question. The question is what’s best for the future of Formula 1.”