Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

After a few weeks away Formula 1 is back this weekend with the incredibly historic and popular Belgian Grand Prix, at the notorious Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps where the weather is always a prime factor.

Spa is one of the most demanding tracks on the calendar for Pirelli’s tyres, with the vast amount of elevation change putting an incredible amount of force through the tyres. Pirelli have chosen the second hardest range for this weekend as they did in 2020, with the C2, C3 and C4 compound tyre being in operation.

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps see’s the tyres put under immense pressure through the Eau Rouge-Raidillon complex, before having plenty of time to cool down the Kemmel straight, making it a challenge for drivers not too lock up as they brake for Les Combes.

Last year’s race was won by Lewis Hamilton who completed a successful medium to hard compound tyre one stop, after taking advantage of a safety car early on in the race after George Russell and Antonio Giovinazzi collided heavily.

Head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli Mario Isola, is expecting an exciting grand prix this weekend where there could be a mix of strategies.

For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, Ryan Blaney has won multiple races in a season. Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway saw a restart with eight laps to go, and those were the only laps led by Blaney en route to his second win of the year.

Kyle Larson started on the pole, while Josh Berry and Joey Gase were sent to the rear for driver changes as they respectively replaced Corey LaJoie and James Davison. Larson and Matt DiBenedetto battled for the lead early on before the former held the spot through the competition caution on lap 20. Gase produced the first race-related yellow of the day on lap 32 when his right-front tyre went down and sent him into the turn two wall, and later accidents would also lead to especailly violent impacts. Chase Elliott assumed the lead after the competition yellow and held it to the stage finish ahead of Larson, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Joey Logano, DiBenedetto, Kurt and Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski.

The second stage ran green in its entirety as Larson and Elliott traded the position. Green-flag stops allowed Kyle Busch to take the top spot with seven laps remaining in the stage and pull away for the win ahead of Christopher Bell, Larson, Elliott, Hamlin, Dillon, Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Byron, and DiBenedetto. However, Dillon’s race ended immediately as the stage did as he was clipped by Keselowski upon crossing the finish, causing him to briefly go airbourne upon slamming into the wall. Keselowski apologised to Dillon afterwards.

“Watching this makes me sick to my stomach for Austin and his team,” tweeted Keselowski after the race. “He was crazy fast today and deserved better. Definitely not what either of us wanted to see…

“With a lap to go we both wanted the stage point and I should have given him more room to avoid this. Glad he is ok.”

Belgian sports car squad, Team WRT, are well known for their escapades in 24 Hour races, having won the 24 Hours of Spa multiple times and multiple titles in the GT World Challenge Europe series. For the 2021 season the pushed forward and moved in to the FIA WEC, taking on the LMP2 category with an Oreca 07 Gibson.

Making their 24 Hours of Le Mans debut this weekend the team entered two cars with Robin Frins, Ferdinand Habsburg, and Charles Milesi in the #31 car and Yifei Ye, Louis Delétraz and Robert Kubica in the #41 car.

It was a strong start to the weekend for the team as the #41 car made it through to Hyperpole, taking second in class, while the #31 secured eleventh place in class, an impressive feat for the team in the biggest class on the grid of twenty-five entries.

After starting the race under the safety car due to the torrential rain prior to the race, the two cars avoided the on-track incidents in the opening stages of the race, securing solid positions in the top-six.

During the seventh hour there was drama for three of the main opponents getting caught up in separate incidents, the resulting safety car period benefitted the team, moving #31 car in to the lead, followed closely by the #41.

Sunday is a big day for Erik Jones. As the NASCAR Cup Series heads to his home track Michigan International Speedway, Richard Petty Motorsports confirmed he will return to the #43 Chevrolet Camaro for a second season in 2022.

Jones moved to RPM for 2021 after spending virtually his entire NASCAR career with Toyota. After twenty-four races, he sits twenty-fifth in points with three top-ten finishes and a best run of seventh last Sunday at the Indianapolis Road Course. He has two wins at NASCAR’s top level (plus an exhibition victory in the 2020 Busch Clash and an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series win at Darlington in May, the latter of which was technically the racing début of the Next Gen car before it is rolled out in 2022). While his contract with RPM was reported as a multi-year deal, it actually contains an option that the team can pick up should both parties be satisfied with his performance.

The news continues a busy week for Jones, who on Saturday announced the founding of the Erik Jones Foundation. The charity supports children’s literacy and efforts in early cancer detection and animal welfare. Prior to Sunday’s race, he spent the morning reading books with fans at the track. During the season pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Jones launched #READwithErik, a social media video campaign in which he read children’s books like The Little Engine That Could and Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go!.

The 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, Jones’ 2021 schedule also included making his first Xfinity Series start since 2019 at Watkins Glen two weeks ago for Jordan Anderson Racing. He finished thirty-sixth after a crash.

RPM and the famed #43 have not visited Victory Lane since Aric Almirola in the rain-shortened 2014 Daytona summer event, with the number’s last full-distance win coming in 1999 at Martinsville with the late John Andretti. Although the team has gone through uncertain waters over the years, Jones’ return provides some stability even if he does not bring major sponsorship dollars with him.

Starting from pole position, the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing defied a suspect refueling issue to claim Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez‘s first overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. AF Corse‘s James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Côme Ledogar also held onto their dominant lead from hour one to bring home GTE glory for Ferrari.

Of all the six hour stints of racing, this one was the quietest with the only race to the line for victory coming from the LMP2 cars. Toyota successfully had enough of an advantage over the rest of the field to combat suspected refueling issues for both cars and take their fifth one-two overall finish at the Circuit de la Sarthe. From the start of the race the #7 Toyota had the advantage on the field, something that was not lost when the chequered flag flew.

The threat of the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus on the Alpine Elf Matmut for third in class and overall faded away, leaving Alpine with a clean run to the final step of the podium. The #708 was close enough that if the Alpine had made a mistake it would pick up the third place finish, but not quick enough to put pressure on the French team for the position on track.

Impressively, however, all five Hypercars completed the 24 Hours of Le Mans with minimal incident and all were classified ahead of the LMP2s in the final overall result. Considering that this was Glickenhaus’ third race as a team, second race running two cars, this was an extremely successful result for the privateer team, a team many predicted would not see the chequered flag.

LMP2 saw heartbreak befall in a similar scenario to Toyota in 2016 when, on the final lap of the race at the Dunlop Curves, the class leading #41 Team WRT came to a halt on track. Since around hour 12, the pair of Team WRT cars – on Le Mans debut – had been dominating the class, holding strong formation at the front of the field. The #31 that lead most of the race suffered some damage and issues with the failure of its rear air jacks, which handed the net lead to the sister car, but both were still running in tandem, looking to bring the team home a spectacular one-two.

During the running of the 89th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the FIA and ACO have extended the Accords Le Mans agreement which will continue the future of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

With the introduction of the Hypercar category, the governing body of world motorsport, the FIA are happy with the organiser of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the ACO, who in turn promote the FIA World Endurance Championship via their Le Mans Endurance Management subsidiary, and have extended the agreement to provide a stable platform for the growth of the championship.

The signing of the agreement follows the announcement of the provisional six-event 2022 calendar.

Jean Todt, FIA President said during the announcement, “The partnership between the FIA and the ACO provides the much-needed stability on the promotional side, which is key to support the positive developments in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

“On that front, there’s plenty to look forward to, including the Hypercar category and the influx of manufacturers. Therefore, formalising the continuation of the cooperation was an obvious decision. Endurance racing has solid foundations for the future.”

Pierre Fillon, Automobile Club de l’Ouest President added, “At the dawn of a new golden age of endurance racing, we are delighted to extend our agreement with the FIA. The growing interest in our discipline and the return of the greatest automotive brands to the top class is proof that our collaboration is fruitful.

“The next few years offer prospects the likes of which endurance racing has never seen. The FIA World Endurance Championship has never been so popular, and we are delighted to be pursuing our partnership with international motorsport’s governing body.”

The FIA World Endurance Championship will visit Europe, Asia, Middle East, and North America for 2022, with the season getting underway at Sebring in Florida, USA with the WEC Prologue on 12/13 March, a week before the the 1000 Miles of Sebring returning to the schedule for the first time in two years. The Sebring event will once again be a double-header sharing the billing with IMSA’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The WEC paddock will head back to Europe for the next three races, starting with the 6 Hours of Spa on 7 May as teams prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which returns to its traditional mid-June slot after 2 years of disruption caused by Coronavirus on 11/12 June.

Monza will once again host the series on 10 July for the 6 Hours of Monza after making its successful debut last month, before it heads to Japan for the 6 Hours of Fuji on 11 September. Rounding out the season is the 8 Hours of Bahrain on 12 November.

Richard Mille, FIA Endurance Commission President commented, “Six-rounds is the perfect solution for the FIA World Endurance Championship. Next year’s calendar is well-balanced, with events evenly spread across the year. It’s cost-effective for the competitors, at the same accommodating iconic circuits and variety of race durations and formats.

“The return to North America and Far East is also a major step. With further manufacturers coming with Hypercars next year, I’m confident each of the six rounds will deliver a thrilling spectacle.“

From team owners like Michael Jordan and Pitbull to investors and personnel like Alvin Kamara, the NASCAR world has seen a rise in industry newcomers with decorated backgrounds in their respective as the 2020s were ushered in. For the 2022 Xfinity Series season, Emmitt Smith will be the newest such figure to dip his feet into the stock car racing world. On Saturday, Jesse Iwuji announced the formation of Jesse Iwuji Motorsports with Smith, and the namesake will be owner/driver for the full season in 2022.

Details about the operation such as a number and manufacturer were not immediately revealed. NBC Sports reported the team will be run by four owners; besides Iwuji and Smith, the former’s agent Matt Castro is also in the group.

In October 2020, Iwuji’s Xfinity car at Texas was sponsored by Notable.Live, a company founded by Smith that helps fans connect with celebrities. Smith, who holds the National Football League‘s all-time rushing yards record, and Iwuji are intertwined via their ties to Texas as Smith spent much of his Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys while Iwuji is a native of nearby Carrollton. Iwuji also played football growing up, including at the United States Naval Academy, though on the opposite side of the ball as a safety.

Smith is not the first Cowboys great to try his hand at NASCAR ownership. In 2006, quarterbacks Roger Staubach (a Naval Academy alumnus) and Troy Aikman (who won three Super Bowls alongside Smith) formed Hall of Fame Racing which raced in the Cup Series until 2009, though the two sold off their stakes after two years. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones expressed interest in running a Cup team in the early 2000s and even wanted to hire Jeff Gordon as driver prior to him signing a lifetime contract with Hendrick Motorsports.

Iwuji has five career Xfinity starts dating back to 2020, with his lone run in 2021 so far being a thirty-first at Pocono in June for Mike Harmon Racing. His best finish in the series is twenty-third at the aforementioned Texas race. He has also made fourteen runs in the Camping World Truck Series with a highest finish of seventeen at Texas in 2019. During his stint in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East and West between 2015 and 2018, his car owner was former NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman.

In one of the quietest six hour stints of the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans, disasters started to befall the front running cars, putting pressure on overall and GTE class leaders. Although the first placed cars avoided too much drama, the threat of issues for them is starting to show through their sister cars, meaning with six hours to go there is no certainty of victory just yet.

Toyota Gazoo Racing still hold a commanding one-two lead on the chasing field, with a four lap buffer keeping their positions safe, but both #7 and #8 were hit with issues during the last six hours. Kamui Kobayashi was first, halfway into hour 13, when he went straight on and Indianapolis very narrowly avoiding going nose first into the tyre barrier. The cost was the half a minute lead he had on the sister #8 car, which dropped to five seconds and eventually saw Brendon Hartley take the lead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A few pit stop cycles later saw Kobayashi back in front and pulling away.

It is possible that the ease of which the #7 pulled away from the #8 came due to an issue the #8 was suffering, which over the last six hours began pitting more frequently on shorter stints. Suspect gearbox issues or refueling issues were rumoured, but Toyota have confirmed neither. Although the #8 still sits second with the four lap buffer to third in class, it’s clear the team are still suffering something as Sebastien Buemi had to slow on track to do a power recycle about half an hour before the end of hour 18. The #7 now has a lead of over a lap on the sister car and is currently in a very strong position.

The fight for third in class has heated up as, through pit stop strategy, the #708 Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus and #36 Alpine Elf Matmut are right on top of each other after their stops each hour. There have been some great battles and fantastic passes completed by the Glickenhaus crew, and even though at the end of hour 18 the Alpine remains ahead this battle is certainly far from over.

The sister Glickenhaus had made its way through the LMP2 class, but pit stops dropped them back down to seventh overall, behind the podium runners in the other class. The team are working hard to get the #709 back up ahead of the LMP2s by the end of the race, but at the moment it is most impressive that the privateer still has two cars running at the end of hour 18 considering this is only the second race the team has run two cars and their third race ever.

Saturday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway provided plenty of drama on the track and in the championship battle. As Josef Newgarden dominated to win for a series-high third time at Gateway, points leader Alex Palou‘s retirement coupled with Patricio O’Ward‘s runner-up has enabled the latter to leapfrog Palou for the top spot with just three races remaining.

Will Power, fresh off his first win of the year, was the fastest qualifier. Although Graham Rahal enjoyed a top-ten qualifying effort, it was for naught as he and Ed Jones tangled after three laps and knocked the two out of the race. Rahal, who was chasing down Marcus Ericsson for fifth in the standings entering the race, consequently dropped to eighth by the end of the day.

Further muddying the championship picture was a lap 64 wreck in which Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate Scott Dixon, who was third in points at the time, were taken out after contact with Rinus VeeKay. O’Ward capitalised on his title rivals’ misfortunes as he ran in the top five throughout the night.

Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean looked like a seasoned veteran in his oval début as he made numerous aggressive passes for position, enabling him to climb into the top ten. However, he would miss a wave-around on the final caution and finish a lap down in fourteenth.

Newgarden stayed away from much of the carnage to lead much of the first half before being passed by Colton Herta. Unfortunately for Herta, bad luck befell him on lap 185 when a driveshaft broke as he exited pit road. Andretti Autosport team-mate Alexander Rossi‘s night was also cut short when he hit the wall exiting turn two on lap 200, bringing out a caution.

A.J. Allmendinger is having the time of his life in the last week. Just six days after winning his first NASCAR Cup Series race since 2014 at the series’ inaugural Indianapolis Road Course event, he held off Brandon Jones to win the Xfinity Series‘ New Holland 250 at Michigan International Speedway. It is his third win of the season as it further embeds him into the Xfinity championship battle.

Although main title rival Austin Cindric started on the pole and dominated the opening stage (Ty Gibbs, Allmendinger, Myatt Snider, Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry, and Justin Haley rounded out the top ten), he would not survive into Stage #2 as the beginning of the segment was marked by a large wreck that collected him, Haley, Hemric, Snider, Brandon Brown, Joe Graf Jr., and Bubba Wallace. With Cindric out of the picture, Jeb Burton dominated the stage but Allmendinger would take the win.

Burton was responsible for a caution of his own when his car stopped on the track on lap 117. Chevrolets led every lap in the final stage as Allmendinger sparred with Berry, who was racing on a substitute basis in Michael Annett‘s place and thus started at the rear as a driver change. However, Allmendinger took the spot on lap 122.

Mason Massey and Colby Howard‘s accident forced an overtime session, while Gibbs spun while in the top ten to result in another GWC. After the race, Gibbs remarked on Twitter, “Looks like I ran straight outa talent”. Gibbs had won the previous day’s ARCA Menards Series race.

Despite facing resistance from Jones who closed the gap to .163 seconds, he could not get by Allmendinger as he took his third win of the year. It is Allmendinger’s second oval victory of 2021 (third career). With Allmendinger’s win and Cindric finishing thirty-seventh, the former narrowed the gap to the championship leader from 82 to 35 points.

With half of the race now complete, the number of retirees has only risen by two at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Toyota Gazoo Racing continue to lead an unchallenged one-two at the front of the field, but they are not the only team dominating their class.

Stations have remained the same in the Hypercar class, with the #7 Toyota leading the #8 at the front of the grid. During the last six hours, the #7 did take an additional pit stop breaking out of sync with the sister car pitting only seven laps into its stint rather than the usual 12. Toyota has stated that this decision was made to take advantage of the slow zone that was going on, meaning that they lost less time to their competitors than usual during that pit stop. Still holding half a minute lead on the sister car at the end of hour 12, this seems to be a tactic that has currently paid off.

Hour seven brought incident for the then third-placed #36 Alpine Elf Matmut, which ended up beached in the gravel at the Mulsanne Chicane. The spin was easily recovered, but the time lost waiting for the recovery crane meant that the unchallenged third place it had held onto – overall and in class – was lost, returning to the track fourth in class and seventh overall. It took the team until the 11th hour to get back to third in class and overall, really stifling the French team’s chance of taking the overall win on pace alone. However, there is still half a race to go, and anything can happen.

The #708 Scuderia cameron Glickenhaus is carrying the flame for the team, back ahead of the LMP2 field making it fourth in class and overall. Sadly the second #709 continues to struggle, tenth overall fighting with the #28 JOTA for position.

After a hectic hour six, the LMP2 cars seemed to settle down having a fairly incident-free six hours of racing. It was the end of hour eight that saw the fifth retiree from the 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans when Rui Andrade had a big off between the Dunlop Curves and Tetre Rouge, spinning the car into the barriers and destroying the front and rear of the #25 G-Drive Racing. As much as he tried to get the car moving again, the damage was too much to fix without outside help, so the car was forced to retire.

The past five hours of racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans have been fairly uneventful, but hour six brought the return of the rain that caught out most of the LMP2 field.

In the Hypercar class, racing has been fairly quiet, with the two Toyota Gazoo Racing cars leading the way, #7 still ahead of #8. Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi have been doing their best to put a lap advantage on the sister car, whilst Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley have been trying to recover the time lost in the lap three incident. The third drivers from each car – Jose Maria Lopez and Kazuki Nakajima respectively – have not yet climbed aboard the GR010 Hybrids.

The #36 Alpine Elf Matmut still holds a steady third place overall and in class whilst the two Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus cars have fallen down the overall order into the fight with the LMP2s.

Probably the most action-packed class has been LMP2, which saw most incidents happen during the sixth hour of the race as rain began to fall again.

Prior to the sixth hour, the #38 JOTA that had been dominating the class from the start of the race, befell some back luck. Towards the end of the third hour, Anthony Davidson was caught out by a puddle at the Dunlop Bridge that was obscured from him by the Absolute Racing #18 Am Porsche, and went spinning into the gravel. Both cars were caught out by the wet patch, but where the Porsche managed to keep moving and get out of the gravel trap, Davidson went in too deep to be able to get out under his own power. The recovery time cost the team their dominant lead and, at the time, third overall, putting them a lap down on the LMP2 class leaders.

Mattia Binotto says Carlos Sainz Jr. needs to put together mistake-free race weekends during the second half of the Formula 1 season.

Sainz joined Scuderia Ferrari in place of Sebastian Vettel after two years with the McLaren F1 Team, and he has taken two podium finishes in his first eleven races.  He finished second in the Monaco Grand Prix and inherited third place in the Hungarian Grand Prix when Vettel was disqualified.

Binotto, the Team Principal at Ferrari, says the Spaniard has started life at Maranello-based team well, but Sainz knows he needs to have more mistake-free weekends if he is to improve on his sixth place in the Drivers’ Championship.

“What I’m expecting from him in the second half, I think he already said himself,” Binotto is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “He has not been capable of putting together one entire weekend, so there is always a mistake here or there.

“Whether it is quali, start, or in the race. So I’m expecting that he will continue learning the team, continue learning the car. And soon, hopefully, he will put together an entire weekend, which I think is important for him.”

Rain that saw the first 12 minutes of the 24 Hours of Le Mans raced behind Grand Marshal Derek Bell in two extra formation laps led to chaos as the green flag was waved, with one of the overall victory favourites being spun out at the Dunlop Bridge. Although the start of green flag racing was action-packed, all 61 entries are still lapping around the Circuit de la Sarthe.

It was a flawless start to the race from pole sitter Mike Conway, who by the end of the hour had over 20 seconds lead on the rest of the field. For the sister Toyota Gazoo Racing entry, however, the start was fueled by nothing but anger. Sebastien Buemi, who had been second behind Conway going over the start line for the third time, was hit from behind by the #708 Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus as the pack raced under the Dunlop Bridge.

The collision saw the front right light fixture on the Glickenhaus destroyed, but more importantly saw Buemi fall down the order, only able to rejoin the grid after the GTE Pros had filtered through. Buemi put in some of the best sectors all week, dragging the #8 back up to second in class – third overall – by the end of hour one.For causing the collision, the #708 was handed a ten second stop/go penalty to be served at their next (and first) pit stop, which was also slower than planned due to having to replace the front nose of the car.

A struggle to find grip has been the story of the race so far for the other two Hypercar entries (#36 Alpine Elf Matmut and #709 Glickenhaus) with the two spinning off the track fairly often through the last 60 minutes. The #36 has managed to recover well in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre, retaining third on the grid at the end of the hour, but even with the bad luck from three of the five cars in class the #709 still sits fifth, 14th overall and in the mix with the LMP2 cars.

Antonio Felix da Costa has been commanding the LMP2 field since the start of the race, now first in class and second overall ahead of the recovering Buemi. He has felt no threat from behind, even though the charging field has been swapping places left, right and centre. As the hour comes to an end, Formula E World Champion Nyck de Vries in the #26 G-Drive Racing is chasing down the Portuguese driver after an impressively timed overtake on Robert Kubica in the #41 Team WRT. Giedo van der Garde rounds off the top three in class with the #29 Racing Team Nederland ahead of Kubica and Will Stevens in the third-place starting #65 Panis Racing now fifth.