Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Cale Yarborough, one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, died Sunday at the age of 84. His health had been in decline due to a rare genetic disorder in the SPG7 gene, which led to him being checked into McLeod Hospice House in Florence, South Carolina.

Yarborough’s 83 wins are tied with Jimmie Johnson for the sixth most in NASCAR Cup Series history, which includes four Daytona 500 victories and five Southern 500s. He won the Cup championship three years in a row from 1976 to 1978, the only driver besides Johnson to at least three-peat a Cup title.

His successes throughout the 1970s and 1980s turned vehicles like the #11 of Junior Johnson and the #28 of Ranier-Lundy into icons of the era, while also contributing to the legendary Wood Brothers Racing‘s #21 during the late 1960s. At the tail end of his career, he started his own team Cale Yarborough Motorsports, running the 1987 and 1988 seasons before retiring to focus on overseeing the operation. Cale Yarborough Motorsports ran until 1999, scoring their only win with John Andretti at Daytona in 1997.

Prior to committing to NASCAR full-time in the early 1970s, Yarborough competed sporadically in open-wheel racing which included four Indianapolis 500 starts. He ran the full USAC Championship Car season in 1971, finishing sixteenth in points, and scored his best Indy 500 finish the following year of tenth. He also won five races and the 1984 International Race of Champions.

In 1981, Cup team owner Billy Hagan brought a Chevrolet Camaro NASCAR-based stock car to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for himself, Yarborough, and Bill Cooper. Although the car retired with a brake failure and Hagan only took part more time a year later, the effort along with a similar campaign by Bill France in 1976 helped pave the way when NASCAR returned to Le Mans and completed the race in 2023.

Gil de Ferran, 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time CART series champion died on Friday at 56. The French-born driver, who raced under the Brazilian flag throughout a career that spanned over two decades, reportedly suffered a heart attack while racing with his son at the Concours Club near Miami.

“It is heartbreaking to learn of the loss of Gil de Ferran. His accomplishments on the racetrack were significant, but I, along with so many in our paddock, were fortunate to know how wonderful he was as a person. Gil was a true INDYCAR ambassador whose charm and wit were second to none. Our condolences are with the de Ferran family during this difficult time.” said Mark Miles, President and CEO of Penske Entertainment.

In addition to his triumph in ’03, de Ferran was a mainstay in American open-wheel racing throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, competing in both CART and the IRL, capturing 12 wins across the series. The Brazilian most notably found success with Team Penske (then known as Penske Racing), even staying with Penske and teammate Helio Castroneves when the team switched from CART to IRL before the 2002 season.

de Ferran got his start in the lower single-seater ranks in Europe, with moderate success. He won the 1992 British Formula Three championship and competed in Formula 3000 throughout 1993 and 1994, eventually testing with the Footwork Arrows Formula One in ’93. de Ferran’s first shot in America came with Hall/DVS Racing, which led to one win and Rookie of the Year honors for the Brazilian.

Another win ensued in 1996 for de Ferran, before two consecutive winless seasons in 1997 and 1998. The turn of the century brought a change of pace, as de Ferran partnered with the late Greg Moore, and later a then-unknown Castroneves at Penske. In 2000, the French-born Brazilian set the record for the fastest speed ever on a closed course during qualifying at California Speedway. At 241.428 mph, it is a record that still stands to this day.

Neil Woolridge Motorsport and M-Sport are eager to unleash their new Ford Ranger T1+ in the 2024 Dakar Rally, and Past-Racing is eager to let others have a shot at doing so themselves. The Spanish team has a fleet of the vehicle and will put them up for rental to those who hope to run the World Rally-Raid Championship or the FIA World Baja Cup in 2024, followed by the Dakar Rally starting 2025.

The Ford Ranger T1+ began development in 2022 with plans of débuting at the 2023 Dakar Rally before it was pushed back a year by supply chain concerns. It ran its first race at the Baja España Aragón in July, where Nani Roma and Gareth Woolridge respectively finished sixth and eleventh overall. Roma then entered the W2RC’s Rallye du Maroc in October and impressed with a third-place run.

Roma and Woolridge will continue to race the Rangers at the 2024 Dakar Rally, which begins 5 January. The former is a two-time Dakar Rally champion while Woolridge is entering his maiden Dakar on the heels of clinching the 2023 South African Rally-Raid Championship.

NWM, owned by Woolridge’s father Neil, has produced forty-five Ford Rangers for both T1 and T1+ competition since 2013. T1+ cars are more powerful than their T1 counterparts, boasting advantages like larger wheels and more suspension travel that make them the top subcategory in the now-Ultimate class.

Past-Racing joined NWM at the SARRC season-ending Waterberg 400 in November, where Daniel Alonso and Alejandro Lopez retired.

The last time Ty Dillon was a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series full-timer, he was a 21-year-old prospect looking to climb the NASCAR ladder. Eleven years later, now in his early thirties, he has returned to the series as the driver of the #25 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Rackley WAR.

Dillon raced for the Truck Series championship in 2012 and 2013 for his grandfather’s Richard Childress Racing, winning three races. He won 2012 Rookie of the Year after finishing fourth in points, then was the 2013 runner-up to Matt Crafton before graduating to the now-Xfinity Series in 2014. In the decade since, he only made sporadic returns to the Trucks with eleven starts from 2014 to 2021 including five top-ten finishes and a second at Atlanta in 2015. His most recent race was a twenty-fifth at the 2021 season finale in Phoenix for Bret Holmes Racing.

“I’m excited to go back to the Truck Series and compete in the series that got it all started for me,” Dillon said. “I have a lot of good memories from earlier in my career with winning races and poles, and our goal is to create more this season. Rackley WAR has built a solid foundation and it’s an honour to be a part of taking them to the winning level they want to be at. I’m very appreciative of this opportunity and ready to get started in Daytona.”

He spent three seasons in the Xfinity Series, placing top five in points each time, before graduating to the Cup Series in 2017. He was a mainstay with Germain Racing before their shutdown after the 2020 season, then bounced between three different teams in as many years. His most recent campaign was a thirty-second in the 2023 standings for Spire Motorsports before being replaced by Carson Hocevar.

Dillon is Rackley WAR’s third full-time driver since their formation in 2021. He replaces Matt DiBenedetto, who won his and the team’s first race at Talladega in 2022 and made the 2023 playoffs but was released with just three races remaining. Chandler Smith, Trevor Bayne, and Stefan Parsons each made a start following DiBenedetto’s departure. Others to race the #25 include the team’s previous full-timer Timothy Peters, Josh Berry, Brett Moffitt, and team co-owner Willie Allen.

It took a little longer than he hoped, but Fabio Lottero will finally race the Dakar Rally for the first time in 2024 when he pilots the #123 KTM 450 Rally Replica for Club Aventura Touareg in the Rally2 category.

Lottero was originally accepted for the 2023 edition, but had to abandon his plans due to logistical issues with his team. In the year since, he took part in amateur rallies like the Intercontinental Rally, the Touareg Rally in Morocco, and the Morocco Desert Challenge. He also ran select rounds in the 2023 FIM Bajas World Cup, finishing eleventh at the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura followed by twenty-second at the Baja Aragón.

His experience also includes World Rally-Raid Championship rounds like the Rallye du Maroc, where he finished twenty-ninth in Rally2 in 2022.

With his Dakar début now set, he will finally fulfill a childhood dream. He was an enduro rider as a teenager before going on a fourteen-year off-road racing hiatus to focus on personal obligations and his own careers. Now living on the Spanish island of Ibiza after moving from Bordighera, Italy, he resumed racing by entering rallies in Spain like Extremadura and Aragón.

“I’ve always had a passion for motorcycling; I used to watch the Dakar when I was a kid,” said Lottero. “I started enduro when I was 15, but then I stopped for 14 years, and then I stopped off-roading because I’m from Italy. I live in Ibiza, in Spain now. I got back into it five years ago, with the Baja Aragón, and the passion came back. When I tried the roadbook, I loved it.

As teams put the finishing touches on their preparations for the 2024 Dakar Rally and Dakar Classic, some are already having to make changes from what they initially planned such as replacing their co-drivers. Most notably, Marc Solà Terradellas will be the new navigator for Ricardo Ramilo in the #435 SSV.

Solà replaces Arnau Lledó, who explained he was yanked by decision of Scuderia Ramilo Rodamoto. The former was originally hoping to race the 2024 Dakar with Fidel Castillo as part of the student-run Ahúja Racing, though he found another driver only for those plans to fall through in November. Solà was Carlos Checa’s navigator for the 2023 edition, and they finished twenty-third in class overall.

“Unfortunately, by the team’s decision, I must inform you that I won’t be able to participate in Dakar 2024,” Lledó posted. “It’s tough news to digest after so much effort and sacrifice over the past few months. I came close to my big dream, but I am determined to keep fighting until I achieve it.”

The Dakar Classic sees two last-minute navigator swaps as Twan Vollenbregt makes his Dakar début in the #738 Mitsubishi Pajero of Jaap Bolk. Marcel van Wort was originally scheduled to navigate but suffered an injury that forced Bolk to look for a replacement.

“First of all, I wish my navigator Marcel van Wort the best of luck with his recovery. And now a young talent who will strengthen our team,” wrote Bolk. “Twan Vollenbregt will be the lucky one, he is young and has already done a number of rallies. We are both looking forward to it, so we are going to embark on the adventure, together with our mechanics René van Velthoven and Luc Grootscholten we will make something beautiful out of it and certainly enjoy the adventure.”

The Africa Eco Race is intended to be an independent alternative to the Dakar Rally following the latter’s move to South America in 2009, taking place on the legendary route that starts in Western Europe and ends in Dakar, Senegal. As an “alternative”, however, it is not sanctioned by the FIA like the Dakar, which prompted FIA member clubs to hastily scramble to warn their drivers about the dangers of entering an event without the sanctioning body’s oversight.

Fortunately, a Christmas miracle took place as the Fédération Sénégalaise de Sport Automobile et Motocycliste, the FIA national sporting authority (ASN) for Senegal, registered the race with the FIA a week before it began with support from Morocco’s Fédération Royale Marocaine des Sports automobiles and Mauritania’s Fédération Mauritanienne des Sports Mécaniques. Morocco and Mauritania are also hosting legs of the route. This does not mean the FIA has taken over sanction, but it allows the ASNs of other countries to provide resources and support to drivers from their respective countries who are entering.

Had FIA recognition not been given, the race would fall under Article 2.1.5 of the Internatonal Sporting Code which states, “Any Competition or proposed Competition not organised in conformity with the Code or with the rules of the appropriate ASN shall be considered as not being recognised. If such a Competition is included in an Event for which an Organising Permit has been granted, the Organising Permit shall be null and void. Such a Competition may in no way serve to qualify Competitors to take part in a Championship, cup, trophy, challenge or series validly registered on the calendar of an ASN or on the International Sporting Calendar.”

On an individual level, drivers entering unrecognised races anyway risk being deemed violators of the ISC’s Article 9.10.1 stipulating “any licence‐holder participating in an unrecognised Competition may be subject to the sanctions provided for in the Code.” ASNs like Motorsport UK warned they will enforce all penalties while the Federación Chilena de Automovilismo Deportivo stated they would not issue permits, though the latter did not necessarily threaten discipline and instead urged racers to be aware of the risks that it brings.

While the AER is not under the FIA’s hard jurisdiction, drivers regardless of nationality are still expected to comply with the FSAM’s regulations.

Although now in his seventies, Kenjiro Shinozuka has remained involved in racing by entering events like the Africa Eco Race, which begins in Europe and finishes in Dakar, Senegal, like the legendary Paris–Dakar Rally of yore. Unfortunately, this will not be the case in 2024 as the sudden loss of one of his primary sponsors has forced him to abandon a return.

Shinozuka was the first non-European competitor to win the Dakar Rally when he topped the Cars overall in 1997. Racing a Pajero as a factory driver for Mitsubishi, he held off future two-time champion Jean-Louis Schlesser until the halfway point when Schlesser retired, enabling Shinozuka to lead a Mitsubishi top four sweep with eventual 1998 winner Jean-Pierre Fontenay, 1993 victor Bruno Saby, and future twice winner and fellow Japanese driver Hiroshi Masuoka in tow.

The victory came in Shinozuka’s twelfth Dakar after scoring four podium finishes since 1986. He continued to race for Mitsubishi through 2002 before joining Nissan. His Nissan début in 2003 ended with a life-threatening crash, though he was able to recover and return in time for 2004. His final Dakar was in 2006.

Besides the Dakar, he built much of his name in rallying with Mitsubishi. He won the World Rally Championship’s Rallye Côte d’Ivoire in 1991 and 1992, the latter the final year that it was under the WRC banner. While the rally continues today, he remains its only winner from Asia.

Although he retired from the Dakar after 2006, he made his return to the route by entering the Africa Eco Race in 2019; the AER was created a decade to fulfill the Europe to Africa course after the Dakar was moved to South America. Strugo won the race while Shinozuka finished thirty-fourth overall in an Isuzu VehiCROSS.

The World Rally-Raid Championship will return to the Iberian Peninsula and Europe as a whole with the BP Ultimate Rally Raid on 2–7 April. All but one of the stages will take place in Portugal, owing to the event mainly being organised by the Automóvel Club de Portugal, though a leg will be held in neighbouring Spain.

“It is an honour to host the BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal,” said ACP president Carlos Barbosa. “We have unique conditions for practicing cross-country rally and guarantee the excellent organisation of ACP on a world organisation. Welcome to Portugal!”

While a specific route and schedule will be revealed closer to April, it is expected to begin along the Atlantic coast in Alentejo. The rally then heads north to Ribatejo, the centralmost province of Portugal. For the penultimate day, the rally crosses into Spain into Extremadura before going back to Portugal on the final leg. Each region offers differing types of racing such as Alentejo’s beaches, forests of Ribatejo, and Extremadura’s rocky paths.

Grândola, located just south of the Protuguese capital of Lisbon in Setúbal District, will serve as the race bivouac.

Revealed in June, the BP Ultimate Rally Raid marks just the W2RC’s second time racing in Europe after the Andalucía Rally in southern Spain concluded the inaugural season in 2022. Both countries have rich cross-country rally histories with among the top domestic championships for the discipline. Extremadura currently hosts the FIA European Baja Cup’s season-opening Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura, while both countries are represented on both the European and World Baja Cup calendars; the latter’s Baja Portalegre 500 has raced through Alentejo and Ribatejo.

Sonia Ledesma Gómez got to fulfill a longtime dream in 2023 when she competed in the Dakar Rally‘s adjacent Dakar Classic event as the navigator for Daniel Albero Puig. However, she will not try for a repeat in 2024 citing budget concerns as well as a sense that there are some in the industry undermining her due to her gender.

In an interview with radio network La Cadena SER, Ledesma explained that a lack of sponsorship as well as other obligations like an unspecified project that concluded in September got in the way. However, one of the bigger factors came in September when when she was presented with terms that she considered “unfair”.

“I wasn’t willing to go through certain hardships to run the race,” she explained. “It’s true that I love the Dakar, I love racing, but I believe that a person’s dignity comes first, ahead of racing. I decided that, out of my own conscience, I couldn’t agree to those conditions.”

While she did not delve into specifics of the deal, she also commented on the gender divide in motorsport including rally raid. She stressed that while this gap is closed once a woman is actually in a race, the issue primarily stems from women not being able to receive the same opportunity as men.

“It’s true that when racing, I have never noticed a difference in how they treat me differently or think of me as less capable or anything. The problem is that I have seen many problems when it comes to having opportunities to race,” said Ledesma. “Many times, they think you are worth less than a man. It sounds very bad to say this, but it has happened to me. They believe I am worth less than a man, so I don’t deserve the same opportunity or don’t deserve the same remuneration as a man simply for being a woman.

Due to an injury just over a week before the 2024 Dakar Rally, Martin Šoltys will have to follow the race from the sidelines. Pascal de Baar has been entrusted with his #605 Tatra Buggyra Evo3, competing in the Truck category for Tatra Buggyra ZM Racing.

De Baar was originally scheduled to drive the #614 MAN assistance truck for Team Boucou Assistance. He won a stage at the 2023 Dakar Rally with Riwald Dakar Team, but a late mechanical issue dropped him to sixteenth overall in class. He departed the since-renamed Jongbloed Dakar Team for 2024 as owner Gert Huzink wanted to focus on his own truck.

“I appreciate the fact that Buggyra boss Martin Koloc approached me,” said de Baar. “Tatra has had a great name in Dakar for decades, and it is an honour to drive such an exceptional vehicle as the new Tatra Buggyra Evo3. Even though I will only get to know it just before the start of the event, I believe I will be an asset to the team.”

Gijsbert Verschoor will follow de Baar to Buggyra as his navigator, though Šoltys’ partner Tomáš Šikola remains onboard as the mechanic. Engbert Wingens replaces de Baar in the #614, hoping to rebound after retiring from both Dakar and the Rallye du Maroc in 2023.

Šoltys’ injury means he will not be able to build upon his fifth-place finish in 2023. He and fellow Buggyra driver Jaroslav Valtr were the highest-placing non-IVECO trucks at Dakar, the latter finishing a spot ahead in fourth.

Polaris Factory Racing could not have asked for a better maiden season in 2023 when they swept the Pro UTV Open class across all four SCORE International World Desert Championship races, including the legendary Baja 1000. In January, their Polaris RZR Pro R Factory will be put to the test in the deserts of Saudi Arabia when Sébastien Loeb Racing‘s Xavier de Soultrait and Florent Vayssade race the 2024 Dakar Rally. Both entries are in the SSV class (formerly T4) for production UTVs.

As the name suggests, the RZR Pro R Factory was developed by Polaris in house strictly for fielding a desert racing works programme, built from the ground up rather than simply being based on its Pro R predecessor. The engine is a two-litre, four-cylinder Polaris ProStar Fury 2.0 model that produces 225 horsepower, sitting inside a tubular chassis lighter but stronger than the Pro R which complies with both SCORE and FIA regulations. It also uses FOX 3.0 Live Valve X2 internal bypass shocks, whose compression and rebound damping can be independently adjusted.

While already touted as one of the top UTVs for desert motorsport, various modifications have been made to meet the demands of rally raid. The Dakar models have heated glass windshields, unlike their American counterparts which don’t use them at all, as well as wipers and a blower kit. Additional storage space has also been added for tools and spare parts.

“Our success with the Polaris Factory Racing team during its first season in the SCORE Baja racing series, capped off with a coveted Baja 1000 victory, was unprecedented and prodigious, but Dakar is an entirely different beast,” said Polaris Factory Racing technical director Alex Scheuerell. “That said, Sébastien Loeb Racing is a finely tuned programme with an enormous level of experience at Dakar and together, we couldn’t be more excited to put the RZR Pro R Factory to an entirely new test.

“Our incredible design and engineering teams have continued to refine and develop the RZR Pro R Factory platform specifically for international rally racing and the unique demands it places on both drivers and vehicles. We are excited to take on this incredible challenge with the combined power of Polaris engineering and our incredible partners at SLR.”

CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team will not race the 2024 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge due to concerns stemming from the ongoing attacks by the Houthis on international shipping in the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

The Quad team had planned to run four of five dates on the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship starting with the Dakar Rally; Abu Dhabi, scheduled for 25 February to 2 March, is the second round of the schedule. Team manager Antanas Kanopkinas will race the CFMOTO CFORCE 1000 in the Quad class at Dakar, their maiden start in the event. Formed in 2019, they began entering W2RC races in 2023 that included a third-place finish by Adomas Gančierius on début at the ADDC.

In November, as the war between Israel and Hamas escalated, the Houthis began launching raids and drone strikes on civilian cargo ships, one of which was successfully hijacked, in the Red Sea. The Houthis are a Yemeni rebel movement aligned with Hamas and also fighting the current Yemeni government backed by Dakar Rally and ADDC host countries Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The attacks prompted an eight-nation coalition led by the United States to commence Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect shipping.

In the meantime, commerce in the region has been greatly disrupted as many shipping companies have suspended operations there. Over 100 ships elected to bypass the Suez Canal, which directly connects the Red and Mediterranean Seas via Egypt, in favour of going around the African continent through the Cape of Good Hope. While a safer route, it adds over six thousand nautical miles and creates significant delays.

The Suez route is used by most teams heading to the UAE for the ADDC. Although the race is not until February, Kanopkinas explained a decision on whether CFMOTO committed had to come early due to tight scheduling.

In November, Nicola Dutto conquered Baja California when he completed the legendary Baja 1000. In January, he will try to complete another run along the fabled Paris to Dakar route when he takes part in the 2024 Africa Eco Race.

Dutto is paralysed below the waist, a result of a crash at the 2010 Italian Baja that broke his spinal cord. Prior to the injury, he won the FIM European Bajas championship twice in 2008 and 2009 along with a pair of national cross-country rally titles in his native Italy. Despite his ailment, he eventually resumed his career by competing in the 2011 Baja 1000 in a UTV before tackling two-wheel racing once again, using a custom bike with a modified seat and roll cage to keep him upright. He also has a team of “ghost riders”, with one riding ahead to provide a safe path while two others follow him to ensure his safety.

His recovery then took him to the legendary Dakar Rally in 2019, though he was disqualified early on. The following year, he tackled the Africa Eco Race and successfully reached the finish to become the event’s first paraplegic bike finisher.

At the Baja 1000, Dutto finished sixth in the Pro Moto 30 class. His effort was widely followed by the desert racing community as he and his team navigated the second longest course in race history. By the end, he and Dutch ironman Wouter-jan Van Dijk were perhaps the two biggest stories of the race; Dutto described himself at the finish as now having the “Heart of Baja California.”

“There is no better feeling than finishing a race, but this was not just any race; it was the longest in the entire SCORE International series, the Baja 1000,” wrote Dutto while reflecting on the race two months later. “But better than the challenge is the experience that only Baja races can offer; they are like no other race in the world. They require everything you can give to be able to finish them. It’s worth all the effort, many sleepless nights, many doubts, but above all, it’s worth experiencing it with the dearest people.”

The Dakar Rally is regarded by many as the ultimate off-road racing adventure, and those who grew up following the race have it on their bucket list. One of those hoping to turn their childhood dreams into reality is Willem Avenant, who hopes to make his début in 2025.

The journey to make the Dakar is long and can often be confusing. A meticulous person at heart, Avenant hopes to forge a coherent path for himself and others with the same goal by documenting his efforts to qualify for the race throughout 2024. He dubs this series Decoding Dakar, where he will try to provide a “realistic and accessible roadmap” for all who are interested in entering the rally to use for reference.

He revealed his plans in an episode of the Chasing Waypoints podcast.

“The process for Dakar, if you’re serious about it, starts pretty much eighteen months to twenty-four months before the time,” said Avenant. “One of the things we discussed is finding a team and finding a bike ahead of time because you can’t decide you want to go race and then just say, ‘Okay, I’m coming in June’; you have to have all of those things lined up. I’ve spent many years looking at the Dakar, like living the Dakar, dreaming about it, intensely following it, doing interviews around Dakar time every year, writing articles about Dakar. I kind of put together a plan that I believe gives me the highest possible chances of success while still needing a lot of good luck and support.

“The idea would be to say, ‘Okay, if we follow this roadmap, can we get to Dakar? Can we do it?’ I’m very excited to share that whole journey with you guys. I think very often we focus on dunes of the race and not of the eighteen months before the race. It’s been one of the things that I’ve struggled the most is finding the relevant information in a palatable format that I could easily understand.”