Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Jack Doohan has revealed he has turned down opportunities in other categories in a bid to help his chances of reaching the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 2025.

The Australian finished third in the FIA Formula 2 championship standings behind Theo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti in 2023 but is unlikely to return to the category in 2024, with the Australian having revealed he has turned down a number of options that would have seen him racing in some capacity next year.

He rejected the chance of joining the Alpine team in the FIA World Endurance Championship as the French marque returns to the premier class of the championship next season, while he could also have found himself racing in either the NTT IndyCar Series or the Japanese-based Super Formula championship.

Doohan, a multiple race winner in Formula 2 and member of the BWT Alpine F1 Team’s junior programme, says his focus remains in reaching Formula 1 in 2025, and staying close to the F1 team – with who he made two free practice appearances in 2023 in Mexico City and Abu Dhabi – is important for that to potentially happen.

“At the moment, I don’t have anything set to race,” Doohan is quoted as saying by Speedcafe.  “[I] had quite a lot of options and in all sub formulas and inside formulas other than Formula 1.

Daniel Ricciardo feels Scuderia AlphaTauri can no longer be regarded as a junior team to Oracle Red Bull Racing, particularly now they have an experienced driver line-up.

Ricciardo joined the team midway through the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season after AlphaTauri opted to drop Nyck de Vries, and although he missed a handful of races after breaking his wrist in a practice crash in the Netherlands, he was able to return for the final stretch of races and score their best finish of the year in Mexico City.

The Australian says the team listened to him when he offered them feedback about the feeling in the car, and most of the time they were able to react to his suggestions, and it cannot be coincidence that results improved for the team once he jumped on board.

“I feel like we’re going in the right direction,” Ricciardo is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “And honestly, everything I fed back to the team, I feel like they’ve actioned or done their best to make it happen or make it work.

“So honestly I can’t ask for too much more at the moment. It’s obviously now just how quickly can we get new parts on the car, and this and that.

After a one-year stint with B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Anthony Alfredo is back at Our Motorsports for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series.

“I am thrilled about the opportunity to return to Our Motorsports and drive the #5 Chevrolet Camaro,” Alfredo said. “Chris (Our), Mary (Our), Vic (Reynolds), and their families have been working hard to build a competitive programme. We all have the will to win, and I believe in the team of people we are putting together.”

Alfredo raced the #23 for Our in 2022, finishing fifteenth in points with three top tens and a best run of fifth at Fontana. The season came on the heels of his lone full campaign in the Cup Series with Front Row Motorsports after part-time slates in the Xfinity and Truck Series.

He moved to BJMM for 2023, notching a pair of eighth-place finishes at Daytona and Martinsville en route to a twentieth in the championship. He also made two starts for McLeod’s Live Fast Motorsports Cup team, a thirty-third at Richmond and thirty-fifth at Martinsville.

“We are very excited to welcome Anthony back to Our Motorsports,” commented Our. “We have the same goals and with the experience he has, we know we can excel in 2024.”

A.J. Allmendinger was long expected to return to full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition in 2023 after an impressive stint in the Xfinity Series. Although he won at the Charlotte Roval, his third triumph in NASCAR’s top level, he will head back to Xfinity for 2024 in the #16 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing.

Allmendinger finished twenty-first in his first full Cup season since 2018 with seven top tens and the aforementioned Roval victory. He also ran five Xfinity races in their multi-driver #10, winning twice at COTA and Nashville. However, the team otherwise struggled with just two other Xfinity wins outside of Allmendinger courtesy of Chandler Smith, who has since left the outfit, and Cup driver Kyle Larson.

As a result, the team has overhauled their lineup for 2024 in both divisions. Daniel Hemric, who raced the #11 and #10, has moved up to the Cup Series in the #31 whose 2023 driver Justin Haley is now at Rick Ware Racing. Josh Williams will race the #11.

“My plans for 2024 have always been whatever Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice think is best for the team,” said Allmendinger. “We’ve got work to do on both our Xfinity and Cup side as we continue to grow but I think we are putting ourselves in the best position to keep improving. With Josh Williams coming on board, it’ll be fun to learn each other’s driving styles and work together as teammates on Saturdays. I’m excited to be a part everything we’re working on at Kaulig Racing and see what we can get done next season.”

While certainly a demotion and Allmendinger has stated his interest in remaining in Cup, he is deeply loyal to the team, having exclusively raced for them since 2019. He will still get some action at the top level with a part-time schedule with their Cup division.

For the first time in their history, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing will field as many as four Chevrolet Silverados in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2024. Besides the #19 of Christian Eckes and the new #43 of newcomer Daniel Dye, the team has renumbered their #35 to #18 for the incoming Tyler Ankrum. They will also have the #91 for Jack Wood in fourteen races.

Ankrum returns to Chevrolet after spending the last two years in a Toyota with Hattori Racing Enterprises. He finished seventeenth in points in 2023 with six top tens and a best run of fourth at COTA, but placed outside the top twenty in the final four races while his final championship standing was five spots worse than in 2022. As such, he hopes the change of scenery will help him bounce back.

He was a Chevrolet driver in 2020 and 2021 at the now-defunct GMS Racing. He made the 2020 playoffs where he was eliminated after the second round and settled for ninth.

“Joining MHR for 2024 is an exciting next step for me and a great opportunity,” said Ankrum. “Both teams showed a ton of speed and versatility in 2023, and the results were there to show for it. I’m looking forward to working with Mark (Hillman, crew chief) and his team and looking forward to being teammates with Christian, Jack, and Daniel. I want to get back to the playoffs and I know the potential is there at MHR to accomplish that next year.”

Hillman and the #35 team remain as part of the transition. The #35 was driven by rookie Jake Garcia in 2023, who finished thirteenth in points before departing for ThorSport Racing.

Timmy Hill will once again race the entire NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule in 2024, driving the #56 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for his family-owned Hill Motorsports.

Hill and his younger brother Tyler founded the team in 2019. The two, along with various drivers, split the #56 before expanding to two trucks in 2022 with the part-time #5. Timmy raced the #56 in every race that year, but the team took a step back performance-wise as neither truck was able to score a top ten after notching seven as a multi-driver operation. He placed twentieth in the standings.

The #5 was shuttered for 2023 while the #56 was solely shared by the brothers. Timmy scored an eighth-place finish at Atlanta for its lone top ten of the year as it finished twenty-fifth in owner points.

“This past year had a little bit of everything, we showed some great flashes of what we’re capable of,” said Hill. “Returning to one truck allowed us to focus on improving the programme which has us in a great spot for 2024. I’m looking forward to going out there every week and competing at a high level to showcase our great partners.”

He was a journeyman across NASCAR’s three national divisions before starting his own team, racing the entire Cup Series slate in 2020 alongside running the Truck operation.

Trackhouse Racing Team is one of the hottest outfits in the NASCAR Cup Series, and owner Justin Marks has now set his sights on two-wheel racing as the team will open a MotoGP division starting 2024.

Marks acquired the remnants of RNF Racing, a Malaysian team that raced the last two MotoGP seasons before being kicked off the grid by series organiser Dorna Sports and the FIM for multiple contractual breaches. RNF’s assets, including riders Raúl Fernández and Miguel Oliveira along with their partnership with Aprilia, have been inherited by Trackhouse.

As such, the team’s maiden season will see a pair of Aprilia RS-GP bikes, the #25 of Fernández and #88 for Oliveira. Fernández is set for his third MotoGP season after finishing twenty-second in the 2023 standings while Oliveira is a five-time race winner in the top division.

“Joining the MotoGP World Championship is a very exciting moment for our young company,” said Marks. “Trackhouse has worked from day one to recognize unique and compelling motorsport opportunities and being able to expand to a global series like MotoGP is a massive step in scaling the company. We believe deeply in the mission of Dorna and are committed to bringing something new and exciting to the championship while working hard to help grow and amplify this amazing sport to millions of new fans in North America and beyond.”

While his career has exclusively been in four-wheeled motorsport, Marks is no stranger to motorcycle having, having grown up watching MotoGP at Laguna Seca. Among his idols were the late American rider Nicky Hayden, whose bike the team paid tribute to with their livery reveal on Tuesday.

Javi Vega came close to winning the 2023 Dakar Rally on his own when he finished runner-up in the Original by Motul (colloquially known as Malle Moto) category for riders without assistance from teams. While he will continue to race in the same manner for 2024, he will not be permitted to actually contend for the win.

Under the Dakar regulations outlined by the Amaury Sport Organisation and FIM, Malle Moto entries are amateur riders who must have never competed in the top-level RallyGP, won Malle Moto, or finished top thirty among all bikes. As fate would have it, Vega’s final 2023 time of 52:45:43 ranked him exactly thirtieth overall. Consequently, although he is still an amateur by the dictionary definition as he does not race for a living nor does he have factory support, he is no longer eligible to race in Malle Moto.

Officially, he has been moved to Rally2, also filled with amateur riders albeit with teams. Vega intends to race without a crew anyway as a Malle Moto rider, which is permitted though he will not be classified in the category. Even if he is not eligible to win, his main goal for 2024 is to still beat the other Malle Moto competitors.

“I received an email saying my riding skills had improved and that being among the top thirty, in addition to making it to the podium, puts me above the amateur status,” Vega told Motorsport Spain. “I don’t entirely agree with it because I see myself as just another amateur, but those are the rules, and they must be followed.

“To be honest, it was a a letdown, I was somewhat disappointed. But here we are, embarking on a new adventure, and we have to face it as if it were the last one. Survive, avoid getting hurt, and finish another Dakar.”

Ahead of its début season in 2025, Extreme H has partnered with the FIA and Formula One to create the Hydrogen Working Group. The joint project intends to oversee the development of hydrogen batteries and fuel cells that will be used in Extreme H cars, as well as other hydrogen-based applications in the paddock.

Personnel from all three parties will be involved with leadership by Mark Grain, Pat Symonds, and Nikolas Tombazis. Grain was named Extreme E’s technical director in June, coming over after nearly three decades at McLaren including overseeing their XE programme. Symonds was previously the chief technical officer for Williams Racing and currently serves the same post in F1. Tombazis has a long history as an aerodynamicist for F1 teams like Ferrari and McLaren before becoming the FIA’s single-seater director in 2023.

“It’s a privilege to be working alongside Formula 1 and the FIA as we continue to develop our world-first hydrogen racing proposition,” said Grain. “Our transition to Extreme H makes us the pioneers and first-ever testbed of hydrogen technology in motorsport, not only in our racing cars, but also transportation, infrastructure, refuelling processes and safety regulations. It’s a ground-breaking initiative and we look forward to collaborating with Formula One and Pat both technically and operationally, as we continue to champion new technologies and break boundaries on behalf of motorsport, with hydrogen at the forefront.”

Extreme H is designed as the sister series to Extreme E, the latter an electric off-road racing series that began racing in 2021 and recently concluded its third season. Both series were created by Alejandro Agag, the boss of fellow electric championship Formula E.

Unveiled before the 2022 XE season, the series was originally slated for its inaugural year in 2024 before being pushed back a year. The FIA plans to award it with World Championship status in 2026 should the 2025 season goes as planned, a designation shared by F1 and FE. XE, on the other hand, is still an FIA International Series but hopes to qualify for promotion to World Championship in 2024.

Romain Dumas is no stranger to driving up mountains as a four-time Pikes Peak International Hill Climb champion and its record holder for the fastest time ever. He can now say he also did it on a volcano.

On 2 December, Dumas piloted a modified Porsche 911 along the west ridge of the Nevado Ojos del Salado, a dormant volcano in the Andes in Chile. Ascending to 6,734 metres above sea level, he set the world record for the highest altitude that a four-wheeled car has driven up.

“I’ll never forget this experience,” said Dumas. “It was an extraordinary feeling to drive where no car has gone before. The 911 managed to go higher than any other earthbound vehicle in history. We reached a point where we were met by the true summit of the west ridge – we could go no higher. So this really was the maximum altitude that can be achieved. A proud moment for the whole team, and we’re grateful for the support and belief of all of our partners, each of whom made this possible.”

Two 911s, nicknamed Doris and Edith, were produced by RD Limited for the effort. Each car was powered by e-fuels created by Porsche’s partner HIF Global. Mobil 1, BFGoodrich, TAG Heuer, and Schaeffler Group were also involved. Dumas drove Edith, which is lighter.

Modelled after the Porsche 911 carrera 4S, the car features a 443-horsepower, three-litre, six-cylinder boxer engine. The motor and transmission are stock, while changes ncluded the addition of carbon fibre seating, portal axles to increase ground clearance to 350 mm and reduce the gear ratios, and the introduction of underbody shielding to protect from rocks. Schaeffler Group also installed a steer-by-wire system that allows it to steer without needing a steering column.

In September, Crandon International Raceway broke away from Championship Off-Road to help lead a new short course series alongside American Outdoor Events. Three months later, the track is back on the COR schedule for 2024.

On Thursday, International Series of Champions revealed a revised 2024 COR calendar that re-adds Crandon’s legendary Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run and Polaris World Championships on 22/23 June and 30/31 August, respectively. The former serves as the third race of the season while the latter, previously the season finale from 2020 to 2022, is the penultimate round and held in conjunction with the non-championship Red Bull World Cup.

Crandon’s leadership had split from COR to create the tentatively named AOE Pro Series, a a new championship run that adds to AOE’s growing off-road racing portfolio. AOE’s MidAmerica Outdoors, who hosted the 2023 season finale, was also part of the breakaway series while ERX Motor Park and Bark River International Raceway decided to welcome both championships. Despite fears of the rift’s ramifications on a long unstable discipline, AOE eventually announced in November that the Pro Series would not race in 2024.

COR had already created a six-race schedule without Crandon and MAO prior to AOE pulling the plug, replacing the latter with a new event in Deadwood, South Dakota. Dirt City Motorplex also gained a second race as its Sportsman-only Mayhem at the Motorplex became an all-class season opener. Deadwood will remain the last race even with Crandon’s return.

“It has been a rough couple of months, but hopefully all for a better future,” said ISOC president Carl Schubitzke. “There is no doubt that we are stronger with Crandon as a partner, and all of our events and partners benefit from the series racing at the Big House. We felt great about our schedule before, including adding Mayhem at the Motorplex and South Dakota. Now, adding those two Crandon dates gives us better balance and strength moving forward.”

Matthias Walkner‘s 2024 Dakar Rally is over a month before it even began. While training in America alongside Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team-mate and defending winner Kevin Benavides, he fell off his bike and suffered multiple fractures to his left tibia, fibula, and foot, along with a comminuted fracture of the upper left ankle.

The duo had started their practice run at a moderate pace, but Walkner was unable to see a five-metre cliff edge due to dust and he dropped into it, hitting a slope at the bottom. He described the impact as “pretty severe” but added he was “glad I didn’t have a major back injury.”

He was airlifted to a hospital in Palm Springs and successfully underwent surgery, though additional procedures are required that he plans to undergo in his native Austria.

Benavides had also hurt his left leg in a crash on Sunday. Although it forced him to limit his practice runs for Dakar, he expects to recover in time for the race in January.

“It’s been a very difficult few days for the team here in the United States,” said team manager Andreas Hölzl. “Training for the Dakar had been going extremely well, with all riders working very hard. Kevin damaged his leg last Sunday, but thankfully, it wasn’t too bad. We hope he will be back to near full fitness by Dakar.

Esteban Ocon believes his season was full of too many inconsistencies, which meant he was unable to finish inside the top ten in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship standings in 2023.

The BWT Alpine F1 Team driver finished on the podium in the Monaco Grand Prix and had some other good results, but a number of retirements and incidents meant he ended the season outside of the top ten, the Frenchman ending down in twelfth with fifty-eight points.

Ocon was beaten in the standings by his new team-mate Pierre Gasly, while a late season surge from Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team’s Lance Stroll meant both Alpine drivers finished outside of the top ten.

“I think there’s been some very good things, some very good opportunities that we took,” Ocon is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “But the consistency overall hasn’t been there.

“And we had too many DNFs. That has cost us, I think it’s nine DNFs in total, probably the most of any drivers.

NASCAR‘s successful 24 Hours of Le Mans entry has netted the sanctioning body the Dino Toso Racecar Aerodynamicist of the Year Award at the Race Tech World Motorsport Symposium in London. Dr. Eric Jacuzzi, NASCAR’s Vice President of Vehicle Performance, and Brandon Thomas, Vice President of Vehicle Design Brandon Thomas accepted the award.

The project was a Garage 56 entry intended to showcase new innovations at Le Mans, as a celebration of NASCAR’s seventy-fifth anniversary. NASCAR fielded a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Next Gen car modelled after the one used in the Cup Series, with top Chevrolet team Hendrick Motorsports, tyre supplier Goodyear, and even IMSA coming together to oversee its development.

Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, 2009 Formula One World Champion-turned-NASCAR road course ringer Jenson Button, and DTM star Mike Rockenfeller split the #24 car. Despite its massive size, it easily kept pace with the LMGTE field even in rainy conditions and ran as high as thirtieth before a driveline problem with four hours remaining sent them to the garage.

They reached the finish nonetheless, finishing thirty-ninth overall. It was the third Garage 56 entry to complete the race.

After Le Mans, Button and Rockenfeller brought the backup car to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.

KH-7 Epsilon Team has tweaked their fuel source on their 2024 Dakar Rally Mission 1000 challenger, switching from an even split of hydrogen and diesel to a hybrid powered by hydrogen and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).

The team’s hydrogen project began in 2022 with a MAN TGA 26.480 6×6 that used a blend of HVO and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). For 2023, the truck switched to hydrogen and diesel from EVARM. Hydrogen has become an increasingly popular alternative to standard fuel and even electric power, with every car entered in the Mission 1000—the Japanese HySE-X1 and Rainbow Truck Team‘s Volkswagen Amarok—also running on hydrogen.

“Two years ago, we set ourselves a challenge: the use of alternative fuels,” said driver Jordi Juvanteny. “In 2022, we used LPG as the truck’s fuel. Last year, we took a new step by using hydrogen. Hydrogen has a significant advantage over other fuels: emissions are reduced to water vapour. Although in the automotive field, fuel cell technology (a ‘cold’ combustion of hydrogen that produces electricity) is more commonly used, it also serves to directly power traditional thermal engines. We have opted for this latter technology, which various manufacturers are already testing.”

EVARM, a Spanish energy company, will provide the hydrogen/HVO hybrid fuel system. As its name suggests, HVO is created using recycled vegetable oil and other organic waste like animal fats via a process called hydrocracking. Company industrial engineer director Xavi Ribas will serve as the co-driver on the truck.

The fuel is then funneled into the 800-horsepower, six-cylinder turbodiesel engine. Two high-pressure hydrogen tanks are located in the rear along with the HVO tank.