Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Fortec Motorsport will run a three-car line-up for the final round of the GB3 Championship at Donington Park this weekend (16/17 October), with F4 British Championship podium-finisher Eduardo Coseteng stepping in.

With Roberto Faria and Mikkel Grundtvig, the team has taken four wins and a further 14 podiums from the 21 races held so far this season, including a win for Grundtvig in the Championship’s first visit to Donington in July.

Coseteng has taken two Rookie class wins this season with Phinsys by Argenti Motorsport, stepping onto the overall podium for the first time in Race 3 at Donington last time out.

Fortec look likely to finish third in the Teams’ Championship, but still have everything to play for, with a 57-point gap to Hitech GP ahead, and a 46-point advantage over series debutants Arden Motorsport in fourth place.

“I want to start by saying a massive thank you to Fortec Motorsport, as well as my sponsors Petron and Autoplus for this amazing opportunity,” the Filipino driver said.

Elite Motorsport have announced that 2019 Ginetta Junior champion, and F4 British Championship race-winner James Hedley will make his GB3 Championship debut at Donington Park this weekend (16/17 October).

The BRDC Rising Star will join BRDC SuperStar, and Championship leader, Zak O’Sullivan on the grid when pre-event testing gets underway on Thursday 14 October.

Like O’Sullivan, Hedley has won races in British F4 with Carlin, the team which took the GB3 Champion-elect to second place in the 2020 standings.

The pair raced each other in the category last season, with Hedley taking four wins to O’Sullivan’s nine, the 18-year-old on course for a second consecutive fifth-place finish in the standings with one meeting at Brands Hatch remaining.

Hedley ran out of the JHR Developments stable in 2020, but moved to Carlin for this season.

The most comprehensive test of the NASCAR Cup Series‘ Next Gen car to date began on Monday as part of a two-day session at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. Held a day after the Cup race, twenty-two drivers in twenty-one cars from seventeen teams took to the track in their seventh-generation cars set to debut in 2022.

Prior tests have usually featured just one or two cars, with the largest prior run being an eight-driver test at Daytona in September. The Roval also hosted the first multi-driver test in November with Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.; while the latter returned for the two-day session, Busch’s Chip Gansssi Racing team-mate Ross Chastain took over the CGR slot. Such a decision is reasonable as CGR is being sold to Trackhouse Racing Team in 2022 (who was present with Daniel Suárez), whom Chastain will join, while Busch heads to 23XI Racing who had Bubba Wallace turning laps. Also accounting for 2022 driver changes was Wood Brothers Racing as Austin Cindric was in the #21; while Cindric will drive Team Penske‘s #2 next year, he was initially scheduled to be in the #21 as a replacement for impending free agent Matt DiBenedetto. Brad Keselowski, the current Penske #2 driver who is set to depart the organisation after 2021, did not take part while fellow allies Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney did.

Chase Briscoe set the fastest lap time of 1:20.219 at 104.115 mph. By comparison, William Byron won the pole at the 2019 Roval race (the most recent edition to feature qualifying) at 1:20.932 and 103.198 mph (both would have been the second-fastest among the Next Gen testers). Byron, who tested the Next Gen at Daytona and in a single-car session at Fontana in March 2020, did not take part as Hendrick Motorsports placed Sunday winner Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, the latter being the Roval winner for the two years prior, in one car.

Joey Hand, a Ford factory driver and sports car veteran who made his NASCAR début on Sunday, piloted the Rick Ware Racing #51. The Next Gen car has drawn comparisons to sports and touring cars, especially for its improved road course performance compared to its predecessors and similar elements to such vehicles. It is thus unsurprising that A.J. Allmendinger found himself adjusting nicely to the car as the three-time and newly crowned Xfinity Series Roval winner set the fourth-best time.

Two new teams for the 2022 season also made their track “débuts” as Team Hezeberg fielded the #27 for Whelen Euro Series star Loris Hezemans and GMS Racing for Ty Dillon. Hezemans is savvy with road courses as the Euro Series currently races exclusively on them, while Dillon won a stage at the Roval in 2020. Former F1 champion-turned-Euro Series regular Jacques Villeneuve will take over the Hezeberg #27 for the second day of testing.

Mattia Binotto says the performance levels shown by Scuderia Ferrari during Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix confirmed the team have made progress with their power unit.

Charles Leclerc finished fourth after a gamble to stay out on his original intermediate tyres did not pay off, while Carlos Sainz Jr. climbed from nineteenth on the grid to finish eighth, which could have been even better but for a slow pit stop.

Binotto, the Team Principal at Ferrari, admits that fourth and eighth does represent a good afternoon for the Maranello-based team, but the pace that both Leclerc and Sainz showed they had during the afternoon in Turkey means they cannot be completely satisfied with the result.

“This was a very intense race and it confirmed the good signs that had already emerged in very different dry track conditions on Friday,” said Binotto.  “Istanbul is a very demanding track and we showed we were competitive, at least on this track and that’s why we can’t be entirely satisfied with the 16 points we picked up today.

“Charles had a great weekend, both in qualifying and the race. Together we tried to bring home an even better result and it’s a shame that in the end he didn’t make it to the podium, as that would have been well deserved.

Charles Leclerc made a valiant attempt at claiming a second podium finish of the season in Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, but the Scuderia Ferrari driver came up just short in fourth position.

Starting from third position but with a low downforce set-up that would have benefitted him had it been dry, Leclerc stayed out on track for a long time on his original set of intermediate tyres and took over the lead of the race.

However, those who had pitted ahead of him – Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez – all showed that fresh intermediates were the best option and were able to catch the Monegasque racer, and he ended up having to pit to avoid falling further down the order.

Leclerc admitted it was a shame to miss out on the top three at Intercity Istanbul Park, but he was pleased with the performance of his SF21 throughout the weekend.

“Overall, it was a positive race,” said Leclerc.  “We were very competitive, especially in the first stint and the car felt good. We went long on the first set of Inters and once the rest of the field had stopped for the new set, we found ourselves to be quite a bit faster on the used ones.

Red Bull Racing achieved a brillant double podium at the wet Turkish Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen regaining the championship lead in second and Sergio Pérez in third at the Intercity Istanbul Park Circuit.

It was an excellent Sunday for Red Bull at a track where the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team had been strongest all weekend. Verstappen excellently converted his second place start into a second place finish, and regain the Drivers’ Championship lead by a slim six points from Lewis Hamilton. The Dutchman had an uneventful race unlike his team-mate.

Pérez made a strong start from sixth and was fourth by the second corner, from then on he spent a good number of laps unchallenged from behind. This all changed when the recovering Hamilton caught up with the Mexican after starting eleventh, the pair had a great fight from Turn 12 to Turn 2, with the Mexican doing well to come out on top.

In the second stint Pérez got the better of Charles Leclerc and moved up to his finishing position of third, Pérez pitted before Leclerc and was able to get his Intermediate tyres into a better window before the Scuderia Ferrari driver.

Team Principal Christian Horner is very happy with the double podium and is especially pleased that Pérez took the fight to Hamilton.

Max Verstappen is back in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, after a well-driven second place finish at the slippery Turkish Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing team-mate Sergio Pérez completed the podium at the Intercity Istanbul Park Circuit.

On a day where mistakes were easy to make, Verstappen drove brilliantly all race to convert his front row start into a second place finish behind Valtteri Bottas. Whilst remaining focused was crucial in the tricky conditions, the race itself was fairly uneventful for the Dutchman, who now leads the championship by six points. Verstappen was in control of second the entire race but was at the same time no real threat to the race leader.

Verstappen is pleased with the podium and is glad to be back leading the championship, however the Red Bull driver is wishing he had more pace from the car.

“As a Team, to finish second and third here was a great result. It was a pretty straight forward race today and I think in general we had a decent day. The race was all about managing tyres, to make sure they lasted to the end which means it wasn’t the most fun race to drive as you always want to push hard.

“Nevertheless, I think we maximised the result today and it’s good to be leading the Drivers’ Championship again. I do wish I had a bit more pace in the car but we are still in the fight, we’ll keep pushing and we’ll see in the coming races how competitive we will be.”

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced today that 28-year-old British driver Jack Harvey will join the team on a multi-year deal to drive the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda starting in 2022.

Harvey is entering his third full season of competition having spent almost his entire five year career with Meyer Shank Racing. He announced in July that he was leaving MSR at the end of the season, having been offered a contract from a then unknown team we know now to be RLLR.

The 45 car itself was introduced last season with the help of Hy-Vee, a supermarket chain in the midwestern United States, on a part-time basis. It ran nine races in 2021 with the time split between Santino Ferrucci and Oliver Askew. Now, it has a permanent driver for a full season with Hy-Vee as the primary sponsor.

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing,” Harvey said.

“I’ve been working towards this moment for my entire career and I’m so honored and thankful for the trust Bobby (Rahal), Mike (Lanigan), David (Letterman) and Piers (Phillips, president) have placed in me.”

Selected by the promoter and organiser of the FIA World Endurance Championship for their exemplary performance and racing skills, Charles Milesi and Laurents Hörr will each get a minimum of 30 laps in the 2021 World Championship winning cars from both Hypercar and LMGTE Pro as part of the official FIA WEC test session.

Competing this season with Belgian LMP2 squad Team WRT, Milesi has had a strong debut season in the WEC including winning the LMP2 category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Driving alongside strong teammates, Robin Frijns and Ferdinand Habsburg, 20-year-old Milesi has shown incredible pace at the wheel of the Oreca 07 Gibson, culminating in the team being just one point behind JOTA who are currently leading going into the WEC’s final two races.

The Frenchman will get his first taste of Hypercar machinery as he is expected to drive the Toyota GR010 Hybrid, which has become the standout machine with a 51 point advantage in the Hypercar category.

Germany’s Laurents Hörr has been confirmed to test the winning car from this year’s LMGTE Pro category (either the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo or the Porsche 911 RSR – 19). The 24-year-old won the Le Mans Michelin Cup (LMP3) in both 2019 and 2020 and this year Hörr has been racing with DKR Engineering in European Le Mans Series, as well as competing in select sportscar races in the USA.

The two “rookie” drivers will be given a minimum of 30 laps during the test day, with the five hours of track time also available to other WEC teams should they wish to use it to test other potential drivers ahead of the 2022 season.

Toto Wolff was full of praise for Valtteri Bottas’ performance during the Turkish Grand Prix, with the Finn securing the tenth victory of his Formula 1 career in difficult conditions at Intercity Istanbul Park.

Starting from pole position, Bottas held onto the lead at the start, and despite one moment at turn one had the race under control almost all afternoon long.  The only time he lost the lead was after his pit stop, and it was not long before he was able to close down and pass Charles Leclerc to retake the position at the front of the field.

Wolff, the Team Principal at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, felt it was a dominant display from Bottas in extremely tough conditions.

“Absolute dominance from Valtteri today, a 10/10 drive from the get-go from him,” said Wolff.  “He had the race under complete control, not only with his pace but his management of the tyres was fantastic.

“Well done Valtteri, a very strong weekend.”

Valtteri Bottas took his tenth and probably most impressive victory of his Formula 1 career in Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, with the Finn in dominant form around a wet Intercity Istanbul Park.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver started from pole position, and aside for a few laps during the pit stop cycle, he led until the chequered flag, with a bonus point coming his way for setting the fastest lap.

Bottas reckoned the race was completely under control despite the difficult conditions – aside from one slide midway through at turn one – and he was pleased to take points away from both Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen.

“Today was probably one of the best races I’ve had ever – apart from that one little slide, everything was under control,” said Bottas.  “The car has been fantastic in every possible condition this weekend and I had great confidence with it.

“It’s not easy to choose the strategy here with these conditions – when to stop, which tyre to choose – but I’m glad everything went smoothly for me. When there’s only one drying line it doesn’t take much for you to go off, you need maximum focus all through the race and so today feels like a well-earned victory.

Kyle Larson can’t seem to celebrate a NASCAR Cup Series playoff win in an elimination race without some sort of drama involving team-mate Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick in the background. As he scored his seventh win of the season in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, everyone’s focus was on the grudge between Elliott and Harvick as the two tangled once again as they did at Bristol three weeks ago.

Denny Hamlin started on the pole ahead of Brad Keselowski.

Stages #1 and 2

Hamlin led until the competition caution on lap 10, during which he and other leaders pitted; Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Christopher Bell suffered a speeding penalty on his stop. Team Penske‘s Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney would assume the top spots for the restart, while third Penske driver Brad Keselowski spun further back on the backstretch shortly after.

On lap 19, Keselowski avoided another brush with disaster when he barely missed a spinning Ryan Newman. Blaney led the field to the restart but lost two positions to Elliott and Saturday Xfinity winner A.J. Allmendinger. Elliott, one of the top road racers in the Cup Series, and Allmendinger, whose six road course wins are the most in Xfinity Series history, sparred until the end of the stage. Elliott cleared Allmendinger on the final lap to take the win.

Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Logano, Kurt and Kyle Busch, William Byron, Michael McDowell, and Harvick rounded out the top ten. Kurt Busch and McDowell were eliminated in the Round of 16 while Allmendinger, being an Xfinity full-timer, is ineligible to receive stage points.

Hillspeed have announced their second driver ahead of the final round of the 2021 GB3 Championship, in the form of 2012 and 2013 Asian Karting Champion Flynn Jackes.

Jackes was born in the Philippines, but races under the Australian flag. It was perhaps upon moving to Queensland via the SKC Singapore Championship in 2015 that his progression towards car racing began in earnest.

He ran KF3 machinery in the Australian Karting Championship that year, while also running towards the sharp end in the Queensland Kart Championship.

A 2017 F4 test in Australia beckoned, with Jackes also finishing 11th in the 2019 Australian Karting Championship.

The 18-year-old will join Formula Ford Festival winner, and Silverstone GB3 podium-finisher Jonathan Browne, for the final round at Donington Park (16/17 October).

Prior to the 2021 NASCAR season, A.J. Allmendinger had one Cup Series and five Xfinity Series race victories. By the end of Saturday, he had doubled his total in both.

Allmendinger scored his fifth win of the 2021 Xfinity season when he took the lead in Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval and never looked back in overtime. It is his third straight victory at the Roval and sixth on a road course. Combine with his Cup win at the Indianapolis Road Course in August and there is little doubt that Allmendinger is one of the premier road racers in any NASCAR series.

Austin Cindric started on the pole while Allmendinger was mired back in fourteenth, his second-worst starting spot after beginning the Homestead race in February in twenty-fourth, due to the formula accounting for his early crash at Talladega the previous week. Sage Karam spun after two laps and Jade Buford and Brett Moffitt crashed together for the first of six race-related cautions. Gray Gaulding‘s rear gear failed and caused his #74 to stop on track for another yellow.

At the front, Cindric led the first seven laps before overshooting a backstretch chicane and having to serve a stop-and-go penalty that allowed Daniel Hemric to take the top spot. Hemric would take the stage win ahead of Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Justin Haley, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, and Jeremy Clements.

In Stage #2, a caution came on lap 30 for debris after Josh Bilicki locked up his brakes coming to the backstretch chicane and attempted to swerve instead of crash into those in front of him, but he ran over rumble strips that launched his car into the air; NASCAR eventually removed the strips for the Cup race on Sunday. Meanwhile, Cindric dominated the stage before pitting on lap 36 and relinquishing the lead and stage win to Hemric. Haley, Myatt Snider, Gragson, Clements, Jones, Harrison Burton, Gibbs, Jeb Burton, and Sam Mayer rounded out the top ten.

Rick Ware Racing will team up with the Blue Oval in 2022. On Sunday, RWR announced they have forged an alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Performance, and Roush Yates Engines beginning with the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.

RWR currently fields four full-time cars in the Cup Series. With no genuine manufacturer support, three of the four—all driven by multiple drivers—has bounced between Chevrolet and Ford cars throughout the season. The lone exception, the #52 mainly driven by Josh Bilicki, has exclusively been a Ford. The #52 will be piloted by Joey Hand in Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Roval, and his Ford factory driver status has enabled SHR to prepare the car for him.

The Roval race with Hand and the 2022 season will not be the first time that SHR and RWR worked together. In 2018, RWR fielded the #51 on a three-race schedule for current SHR driver Cole Custer; also driving an SHR-prepared car, he never finished higher than twenty-fifth but caught eyes in his final start when he qualified tenth. Custer “returned” to the team for the Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas in May when SHR allied with RWR, who in turn was running a car with SS-Green Light Racing. The RWR/SSGLR #17 car has mainly been a Chevrolet but has also utilised Ford and Toyota power.

“Rick and his team have been great to work with over the years and we are looking forward to growing the existing relationship,” said SHR president and Cole’s father Joe Custer.

The two teams also already work together on pit road as RWR uses SHR’s junior pit crew members seeking to gain live experience.