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The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team rising star Gus Greensmith will be arriving to Rally Sweden, fresh from his first stage win of his career in FIA World Rally Championship at Rallye Monte-Carlo, and now he will be hunting for more stage wins as the second round will be taking place at a new location of Umeå in northern Sweden this weekend.

Prepared for his first full-snow rally in the all-new Ford Puma Rally1, the young Englishman entered a local Norwegian Rally Championship round in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 and used that to help acclimatise to the specialist conditions and driving style.

With the stage win in Monte-Carlo, Greensmith is now aiming for more wins and a possibly first stage win on loose-surface and he is excited to get out on new stages; We’re looking forward to Rally Sweden, especially now it’s based up in Umea. From what we’ve seen the stages look really, really fast, some of the fastest I’ve ever seen, so that’s going to be really exciting.”

Greensmith is also comfortable that the Puma Rally1 is well balanced on loose surfaces, the team have also ran some pre-event tests last week and he is happy with what they found.

“Generally, the conditions sound great so we’re looking forward to having big snowbanks to lean on. From my previous experience of testing the Puma last year on loose surfaces, the balance of the car and everything feels great, so we’re excited for this one.”

After a big crash on the first full-day of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship in Rallye Monte-Carlo, the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, along with a helping hand from Adrien Fourmaux, have prepared an all-new Ford Puma Rally1 for the young Frenchman as the team set sights for Rally Sweden this weekend.

Over the past couple of weeks, Fourmaux has spent time at the team’s Dovenby headquarters in Cumbria, helping his technicians build the new car, everything from getting the powertrain from the wrecked chassis over to all the finest small details.

Along with that Fourmaux has a better understanding of how the new hybrid powertrain, suspension and parts work together, and will use that benefit with setting the car up for upcoming events.

Building on his limited experience on snow with only two outtings to date in a four-wheel-drive car the Frenchman is aiming for a solid performance in Sweden and he is hoping to get his 2022 campaign back on track after his misfortune earlier: “I’m really happy to come back to Sweden after two years, and it looks like we’ll have nice road conditions for this famous rally. The atmosphere is so special with this being the only event with 100 per cent snow, so its always something I look forward to as I enjoy driving on snow.”

“For sure, I want a good result but first of all I want to enjoy it and get some experience on this surface. It’ll be the first time for me on snow in a WRC car, so it will be quite a big step, but I’m really looking forward to it.”

After losing out on a place in the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship schedule, Rally Mexico organisers will instead be hosting a Nations Rally Mexico in hopes to secure a bid in the next years calendar.

The event will be using the same format previously run with in 2009 when the event lost out a place in the WRC calendar. The Rally of Nations type of event will be taking place at Guanajuato on 1-3 April using stages from the WRC itinerary and will invite countries from around the world to race against eachothers.

“It’s an Olympic year right now and everybody understands what it means to compete beneath your national flag. That’s the format we used in 2009 and it’s the format we’re using this time around.” Gilles Spitalier, Nation’s Rally Guanajuato manager, said.

“We have some incredible names coming for this event, but they all know they will be part of a team fighting for national pride. In 2009, Xevi Pons and Dani Sola combined to win the event for Spain. National teams will be coming from around the world to try to defeat the reigning champions.”

For the first time since 1995 no South American country is in the WRC calendar as both Argentina and Chile are also out and Mexico was forced to drop out last season due to the on-going pandemic but now Mexico are demostrating a commitment to make a return in 2023.

For Pat Fry, the new aerodynamic regulations that came into effect for the 2022 Formula 1 season were amongst the most complex of his extensive career in the sport, and he says it will be interesting to see how the ten teams on the grid interpret them heading into pre-season testing.

Speaking at the launch of the A522, Fry, the Chief Technical Officer of the BWT Alpine F1 Team, says the Formula 1 rule book has grown significantly since he debuted in the sport in 1987, but he understands why the changes were made ahead of the 2022 season in order to make following other cars easier and the racing closer.

“Quite simply, it’s a massive overhaul of the technical regulations for this year, which Formula 1 have been working on for five years or more now,” said Fry.  “I’ve seen a number of big rule changes in my Formula 1 career and this one is certainly up there in terms of its complexity and how restrictive the regulations are.

“When I first started in Formula 1 the rule book was relatively short and now it’s very extensive! The main concept of the change is to make overtaking easier and allow cars to run closer together, though, the complexity of the rules does heavily restrict what we can do aerodynamically.

“It’s going to be interesting to see the ten different versions of the cars as each team brings their own interpretation to the track. Of course, there is always an opportunity to get these things right, or wrong, so it will be intriguing to see what our rivals have come up with.”

When people think of the X Games, they probably do not picture NASCAR. After all, an oval-based pavement stock car series is not exactly the epitome of extreme sports.

That does not mean there is no overlap between the two. During the ten years that the X Games welcomed rallycross and the Stadium Super Trucks (2006 to 2015), which are known for their frenetic action on mixed-surface tracks that reflect the “extreme” mantra of the Games, various competitors have either arrived with NASCAR backgrounds or went on to compete there.

Among the handful who competed in both the X Games and NASCAR, only two have won a medal in the former and a Cup Series race in the latter: Robby Gordon and now Austin Cindric.

On Sunday, Cindric began his Cup Series rookie year in the best possible way when he won the Daytona 500 for Team Penske. Besides becoming the first full-time rookie to take victory in the legendary race, it completed his rapid ascension through the world of stock car racing after spending his early career in a variety of disciplines like sports cars and rallycross.

As a 15-year-old in 2014, Cindric dabbled in the Global Rallycross Championship‘s Lites division with support from his father and Penske team president Tim Cindric. His début came in the Summer X Games at Circuit of the Americas, where he piloted the #77 GO PUCK/Nightrain entry to victory in his heat race and a third in the semi-final, the latter of which saw him collide with Átila Abreu as they worked to avoid NASCAR alumnus Nelson Piquet Jr.‘s spinning car, to advance to the final. Mitchell DeJong and Kevin Eriksson were the class of the field in the final while Cindric battled with Geoffrey Sykes for the final spot on the podium, an effort that swung in CIndric’s favour as he claimed the bronze medal.

Laurent Rossi says the 2022 Formula 1 season will be an ‘exciting year’ for the BWT Alpine F1 Team as they look to build on the promise they showed in 2021 and move up the pecking order in the Constructors’ Championship.

Alpine finished fifth in the standings last year, with Esteban Ocon claiming his maiden victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix and Fernando Alonso taking his first podium since 2014 Hungarian race in the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix.

And Rossi, the Chief Executive Officer of Alpine, says they’ve created a team that he hopes will be able to push the outfit closer to the front of the field amid the many regulation changes that are coming into place in 2022.

“2022 is a very exciting year for Alpine,” said Rossi at the launch of the A522 on Monday.  “We came into the sport in 2021 with one mission: to set the foundations for this year, with its massive change of regulations and huge potential for mid-size teams such as ours.

“We learned a lot; what worked for us, what didn’t, what we needed to improve, and what we needed to consolidate. On the technical side, we have reinforced our already strong management team with Matt Harman stepping up to become Technical Director and Pat Fry becoming Chief Technical Officer. This will give us a simpler approach that will make us more agile as
developments come thick and fast in the first part of the year.

It was only yesterday when the BWT Alpine F1 Team unveiled its 2022 challenger the A522 and already it’s one of the hottest topics in the world of Formula 1. Whilst the livery has been somewhat polarising, what we do know for sure is that Alpine as a team is incredibly excited to get going with the 2022 season. One of those who is among the most excited to get going is Esteban Ocon, who made a long-term commitment to the team last year by signing on until the end of the 2023 season. This came off the back of Ocon’s most successful F1 season to date, in which he became the winner of the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

“I’m very excited, of course, to not only see the A522 for the first time but to drive it for the first time this week,” Ocon said at the launch of the A522. “It’s always a privilege to drive a new Formula 1 car for the first time as you know all the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes at both factories in Enstone and Viry from all of the many talented people working in the different departments there. That feeling and responsibility is truly unique and very special.“

“I feel prepared, I feel ready physically, so let’s hit the track and see what we’ve got in our hands this year!“

Ocon will once again partner former world champion Fernando Alonso, who returned to Formula 1 last year after a 2-year break. He’ll also be working with Alpine’s new reserve driver Oscar Piastri, who will take part in some testing and free practice sessions during the season.

MP Motorsport have completed their line-up for the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Kush Maini joining Caio Collet and Alex Smolyar.

Maini contested the 2021 F3 Asian Championship with 2022 champions Mumbai Falcons, taking a podium, a pole position and three fastest laps.

He finished second to Kaylen Frederick in the 2020 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, winning at Snetterton, Donington Park and Brands Hatch with Hitech GP in the Silverstone-based team’s first year in the series.

Maini had an impressive karting career, winning the 2011 Indian Rotax Micromax title in his first year, taking second in the 2013 WSK Euro Series (60 Mini) and fourth in the 2014 CIK-FIA World KF Junior Championship and the 2015 KF Junior WSK Champions Cup.

His maiden single-seater season brought a podium in the 2016 Italian F4 Championship, competing in the Italian and ADAC F4 series’ in 2017.

The week of pre-season testing began with a bang for the BWT Alpine F1 Team, as they launched their 2022 challenger the A522 Monday afternoon at Renault Group’s home in Paris.

One of the big talking points ahead of pre-season testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, is Alpine’s new Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, who made the switch to the French team over the winter after leaving the same role at Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team. The Romanian-born American was present at the launch as he explained how excited he is to have joined Alpine.

“I’m exceptionally proud to be joining BWT Alpine F1 Team as Team Principal. I’m very grateful to Laurent for the trust to lead this team in my role and I’m looking forward to beginning this new journey. I know a lot about the team as they were fierce competitors from my previous roles. I know just how good this team is, and, indeed, how good it can become. The personnel on board, and both drivers, are so strong and I’m excited to get down to business.”

Szafnauer has a rich history in Formula 1, most notably for joining Force India in 2009, overseeing the team’s rise from 2009-2015: before proudly finishing fourth in 2016 and 2017 in the Constructors Championship. Most recently, the 57-year-old led the team through its rebrands to Racing Point in 2019 and 2020 and Aston Martin in 2021, before signing for Alpine prior to the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Szafnauer joins Alpine having worked with one of the drivers at the team before, in the form of Frenchman Esteban Ocon.

“I know Esteban very well from his two seasons at Force India. Back then, he was young, raw, hugely talented and very quick on-track. In fact, not much has changed since. His talent is clear to see, and I was very happy and proud to see him claim his first Grand Prix win last season.

When the NASCAR Cup Series heads westward, Garrett Smithley will represent Rick Ware Racing. On Tuesday, the team announced Smithley will drive the #15 Ford Mustang in the three races in the Western United States, nicknamed the “West Coast Swing”, at Auto Club Speedway (27 February), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (6 March), and Phoenix Raceway (13 March).

Smithley has raced part-time in the Cup Series since 2018, and he first joined RWR in 2019. In seventy career Cup starts, his best finish is twenty-fourth at Indianapolis in 2020 and the 2021 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas.

In two Cup starts at Auto Club, he finished thirty-sixth and thirty-fourth, the latter for RWR. Four tries at Las Vegas yielded a trio of thirty-fifths and a thirty-first in 2021. Phoenix saw five runs with a best finish of thirty-first in 2019 and 2016’s second rounds. While not ideal performance numbers, it is also important to keep in mind that RWR is a weaker team than much of the Cup grid, though the team has taken steps towards improving in 2022 through a partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford Performance.

“We’re excited to have Garrett back in the fold at RWR,” commented Rick Ware. “He has been an integral part of our organization the last few years. Our alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford and Roush Yates Engines will allow us to continue to build our program and be able to add another quality driver to our 2022 NASCAR Cup Series lineup.”

Much of his career has been spent in the Xfinity Series, which included full-time seasons between 2016 and 2019 for JD Motorsports. His best points finish is eighteenth in 2016 and he has five top tens in the series.

The BWT Alpine F1 Team launched their stunning A522 Monday afternoon, ahead of pre-season testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the launch took place at the home of the Renault group in Paris.

One of the team members in attendance was reigning Formula 2 World Champion Oscar Piastri. The Australian will of course be BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Reserve Driver for the upcoming season. Piastri is up there as one of the brightest stars of the future in the paddock, and arguably should be occupying a full-time seat this season. Unfortunately that’s not to be for the young Australian, who is nevertheless excited to be working alongside two impeccable drivers.

“I’m very excited to work alongside both Esteban and Fernando. Obviously, it’s a very unique opportunity to work with two Formula 1 drivers, especially given that Esteban is now a race winner and Fernando a double world champion. They represent a lot of experience to learn from, and I’m very much looking forward to the year ahead.”

Piastri has won three consecutive championships across Formula Renault Eurocup, FIA Formula 3 and last year, FIA Formula 2, demonstrating the skill and speed which he possesses an abundance of. Speaking at the team’s launch, Piastri explained that he is well aware of what his job will be for the upcoming season.

“There are three main areas that I will be focusing on this year. First and foremost, my main responsibility is being the Reserve Driver for the team. I’ll likely be at every race in case I’m required to step in. The second avenue is on the simulator. I’ll be spending a lot of time on the sim, developing the car and helping the team as much as I can in that respect. Thirdly, the team and I are also putting together an extensive testing programme. I will be doing a lot of testing, which I’m very excited for as I always love driving and learning more about the Formula 1 car.”

Irishman Craig Breen, who secured his first full-time seat in the FIA World Rally Championship, will be coming to Rally Sweden in a comfortable position after he managed to take home a third place finish on the season-opener in Rallye Monte-Carlo.

Driving for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, Breen is currently sitting fourth in the Drivers’ Championship after the first round, albeit second if you count-out the two Frenchmen of Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier who are only driving part-time in the championship.

Together with co-driver Paul Nagle, the duo have a strong track record on snow and Breen will be keen to bring home another great result and hopefully a second consecutive podium finish.

As the rally moves north of Sweden for this year’s edition and onwards to secure more snow, Breen is excited to try out the new-for-all rally stages; “I’m really excited to discover a new rally in Umea. I’ve done the rally many times before in Torsby, but it’ll be completely new this time, and I’m looking forward to having some great conditions. This is the first rally on loose surfaces with the new cars and the Puma hybrid, so hopefully it’ll be good.“

On Friday when the rally starts, the Irishman will be the second car out on the stages after Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Kalle Rovanperä and Breen will then be facing challenging conditions.

This weekend the second round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship will be taking place in northern Sweden, as the Rally Sweden moves it’s location from Torsby to Umeå. The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team crews have been busy preparing for the first snow event with the all-new Rally1 cars.

Arriving in Sweden after a dream start of the 2022 season when Sébastien Loeb won the season-opener in Rallye Monte-Carlo for the team, they have now spent the last couple of weeks getting the cars converted to snow specifications as well as building an all-new chassis for Adrien Fourmaux after his massive off in Monte-Carlo.

The team have run pre-event tests last week and are ready for the rally, they will be fielding three Ford Puma Rally1 cars in the top category for Craig Breen, Gus Greensmith and Fourmaux.

Along with the efforts in Rally1, the team will also be starting their 2022 WRC2 campaign with two Ford Fiesta Rally2 cars and support the start of the 2022 FIA Junior World Rally Championship together with the M-Sport’s Poland division.

Ahead of the Rally Sweden, the Team Principal Richard Millner said; “After the success in Monte with a 1-3-5 finish, our focus heading into Sweden is on maintaining those level of results. Craig goes into this event in a very strong position, and with M-Sport Ford currently leading the manufacturers’ championship, we’re fully focused on more solid results this week.”

Porsche Carrera Cup GB Am-class runner-up Josh Stanton has announced that he will be returning to the series with Bedfordshire-based Joe Tandy Racing.

Stanton made his Carrera Cup debut last year after racing in the MINI Challenge. Throughout the year he pushed eventual champion Justin Sherwood to the title, finishing just 14-points short of the championship.

An impressive debut saw him take on a highly competitive field in the one-make series, taking four victories, four second-place finishes and a further six sixth-place results.

“I’m really excited to be joining JTR this year, Nick and the team are very impressive in what they do and I can’t wait to get started! ” said Stanton.

“Their expertise and knowledge of the Porsche brand will be invaluable to us all learning the new car. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and building on what was a great debut season last year! I am hugely grateful to Nick and the team for the opportunity and to Evolution Security and Grayson Pace for their ongoing support! I can’t wait to get started!”

David Schumacher will make the switch from FIA Formula 3 to join the german-texan team Mercedes-AMG team Winward for the upcoming DTM season, joining reigning DTM champion Maximilian Götz and seven-time DTM race winner Lucas Auer.

Schumacher tested a GT car for the first time in November of last year, and commented that “The two car categories are worlds apart,” following his time in single-seater racing. The German will get behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo again tomorrow (Wednesday) at Portimão, Portugal.

“Only because of the considerably higher weight, the GT3 requires a much smoother driving style than the single-seater. Initially, the ABS was a real shock for me, I didn’t know that from a race car at all. Still, I quickly felt at ease in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. It really is a joy to drive,” the 20-year-old said.

With the switch marking his competitive debut in sports cars, Schumacher isn’t setting the bar too high for his maiden DTM season, “I am aware that I have to learn a lot to hold my own in this unbelievably high-class race series. My goal for the first year is to get used to the race car and to take in the many details that are important in DTM. With Lucas and Maximilian, I have two vastly experienced teammates towards whom I can orientate myself.”

David follows in the footsteps of his father Ralf, who raced in the Mercedes factory teams between 2008-12, while his uncle Michael Schumacher also made DTM appearances from 1990-1991 as part of the Mercedes Junior team.