Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

ABT CUPRA XE has closed the curtains on their Extreme E division at the conclusion of the 2023 season to focus on Formula E, the team announced Wednesday. However, the team is open to returning to off-road racing once the hydrogen-based Extreme H launches in 2025.

“We continue to firmly believe in the Extreme E concept of combining exciting motorsport with responsibility for the environment,” said ABT CEO Thomas Biermaier. “In addition to trophies for victories and podium finishes, we will take home many unforgettable memories and impressions, from the glaciers in Greenland to the deserts of Saudi Arabia and the Atacama Desert in Chile.

“Together with our current and potential partners, we are keeping a close eye on the transition from Extreme E to Extreme H. Who knows what the future will bring with the hydrogen era?”

The team, a partnership between ABT Sportsline and Cupra Racing, was one of the nine original outfits that contested the inaugural Extreme E season in 2021. Much of their driver roster has featured rally raid stars such as Mattias Ekström, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Sébastien Loeb, and Jutta Kleinschmidt, though touring car veterans Claudia Hürtgen and Adrien Tambay and rallycross competitor Klara Andersson have also raced for them.

Ekström and Kleinschmidt finished fifth in the 2021 championship with a runner-up at the Island X Prix; Kleinschmidt replaced Hürtgen, who ran the season opener before falling ill. Al-Attiyah took over Ekström’s seat for 2022, while Andersson filled in for the injured Kleinschmidt for the final two rounds; Al-Attiyah and Andersson scored the team’s maiden win at the season-ending Energy X Prix as they placed sixth in the team’s championship.

In 2020, an 18-year-old Dawson Cram worked as a mechanic at JD Motorsports as he tried to find his place in NASCAR. Four years later, he has returned to the team albeit in the driver’s seat as he will pilot the #4 Chevrolet Camaro on a full-time basis starting with the 2024 Xfinity Series season.

“Dawson brings us a bright new perspective and a fire for racing,” said team owner Johnny Davis. “He and his family have been involved in the sport since he was five years old, and we want to help him take his career to the next level. He’ll be a great addition to our team.”

Alongside his work as a JDM mechanic, Cram had also been racing part-time in the Truck Series since 2017. He made his Xfinity driving début in 2021 for Mike Harmon Racing followed by sporadic starts for MHR, Emerling-Gase Motorsports, and MBM Motorsports in 2022. This past season, he rejoined Harmon, then renamed to CHK Racing, for thirteen races though the team struggled to qualify; he also dabbled for SS-Green Light Racing and Alpha Prime Racing. His best finish was a nineteenth in the finale at Phoenix with SSGLR.

2023 also saw a one-off in the Trucks for G2G Racing, finishing thirty-fifth at Darlington. He ran much of the 2021 calendar for his family-owned team.

“I’m very excited to move along in NASCAR with Johnny’s team,” commented Cram. “I’ve seen how they work and how they race every week, and I know they build good cars and fast cars. I know this will be a plus for me and the team.”

Marco Aurelio Fontana is no stranger to cross-country racing on a bicycle, but in recent times has tried his hand at cross-country racing on a motorcycle. His passion will culminate in his first foray into the Africa Eco Race on 30 December, where he will race the #144 Honda CRF450 from RS Moto.

Representing Italy, Fontana won the bronze medal at the 2012 London Summer Olympics in cross-country mountain biking; he made his Olympic début four years prior in Beijing where he finished fifth in the event. His last Olympic appearance was in 2016, placing twentieth in Cross-Country MTB. He also has three UCI World Championships in the team relay, along with domestic national championships solo. Besides mountain biking, he is a seven-time Italian National Cyclo-cross Champion.

After retiring from competitively cycling (though he has continued to ride e-bikes), he traded in his bicycle for a dirt bike by entering amateur rallies. He is a regular at the Swank Rally di Serdegna, a rally organised on the Italian island of Sardinia; in October, he finished second overall behind Dakar Rally veteran Cesare Zacchetti.

Fontana has long dreamed of competing in the Dakar Rally; while it no longer runs its original route, the Africa Eco Race has since taken up that role by starting in Monaco and finishing in Dakar, Senegal. Many AER competitors have also gone on to enter the Dakar and vice versa, though the 2024 editions of both conflict. Should he succeed, Fontana would join company like reigning Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah, who also medalled at the 2012 Games, co-drivers Sergio Lafuente and Miklós Ungvári, and 2006 winner Luc Alphand.

Fontana dubbed himself the “Posh Privateer”, a reference to not having factory backing but also carrying a sense of elegance. The moniker is also the name of his YouTube series.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) has approved significant changes for the FIA World Rallycross Championship in their final meeting of the year in Baku.

Battle of Technologies

The biggest change approved at the meeting is a move away from the grid being all-electric. According to the FIA’s website, after a tumultuous season for world rallycross in 2023, the WMSC have decided to approve “a “Battle of Technologies” concept…whereby electric-powered (EV) cars will compete with internal combustion (ICE) cars in the FIA World Rallycross Championship on equal terms“.

So far, this is the only confirmation available that the decision has been taken. However, it could allow the reintroduction of more “wildcard” entries on the grid, as ICE rallycross cars are far more common than their EV rivals. For the majority of the all-electric seasons, there have been eight entries per event, with some events having up to ten. With the reintroduction of ICE cars, there could be more competition injected.

This move has the potential to let electric rallycross cars shine. Speaking to The Checkered Flag in July 2023, 2019 world champion Timmy Hansen argued that “maybe the mistake has been not putting these cars side by side. If people would have seen how fast these cars are, you can cheer for anybody out on track but the electric cars would win nine out of ten races, mainly because we would be miles out ahead right from the start. People haven’t seen how fast the car is in a side by side comparison, and I think, if they had seen it, the attitude would have been very different“.

This news comes hot on the heels of the announcement from ESmotorsport that they will run an all-electric Škoda Fabia RX1e in the 2024 season. Team owner Ernestas Staponkus said of his team’s achievement: “it has been a big project, but the Fabia RX1e is finished and ready to race. It has been built according to the highest standards and will be competitive in the next season of World RX. Now we are looking for a driver who can fight for the highest places and achieve excellent results with us in the world championship“.

Russian and Belarusian riders will remain unable to take part in FIM-sanctioned events through at least the start of the 2024 racing seasons. The sanctioning body confirmed the decision after the Board of Directors met on 29/30 November followed by the FIM General Assembly last Friday, both in Liverpool ahead of the 2023 FIM Awards.

“The Board of Directors reiterated its sympathy and solidarity with all those suffering, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” reads a statement from the Board, identical to those released after three prior 2023 meetings in February, May, and September. “After having carefully considered the latest statements of the IOC and the fact that no favourable evolution of the situation had been noted in Ukraine, the Board once again confirmed the decisions taken at its extraordinary meeting on 5 March 2022. The FIM will continue to monitor the evolution of the situation, taking into account the specificity of motorcycle sport.”

The policy was introduced just nine days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Created with inspiration from the International Olympic Committee’s own doctrine at the time, the rule suspended the Motorcycle Federation of Russia and the Belarusian Federation of Motorcycle Sport‘s abilities to issue FIM licences as well as those already provided, barred officials of either federations from working in FIM positions, and ended any FIM races or activities that are taking place in the two countries. As a result, riders holding licences from Russia or Belarus are not allowed to compete in races under their watch even if they oppose the war.

It is a significantly stronger restriction than the measures from the FIA. While the FIA has also ended all of its races in Russia and Belarus, drivers are allowed to enter events under FIA oversight so long as they sign a document condemning the war and agreeing to not use their country’s flags; instead, they can compete using a licence from another country or under a neutral banner. The FIA plans to maintain its rules for 2024, and both bodies revently created the FIM/FIA Joint Committee to coordinate decisions on common issues.

“The FIM maintained its position and recommendations to FMNs (National Federations) and CONUs (Continental Unions) as regards the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” the General Assembly said. “The FIM continues to carefully assess the situation, considering the specificity of motorcycling sport, and stands in sympathy and solidarity with all those suffering.”

Alexandre Lemeray will race a MAN L90 powered by hydrogen and diesel at the 2024 Dakar Classic. As part of a new partnership with Team HoleShot Compétition, the Canadian-based dynaCERT will supply a HydraGEN HG1 unit that supplies hydrogen and oxygen into the truck’s engine.

HydraGEN is an aftermarket product that is already seeing use in heavy duty road trucks, and is compatible with OEM parts. Via electrolysis, it converts distilled water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. The company states that “even a small amount” of either element being injected into the air intake can decrease brake specific fuel consumption regardless of load while also improving diesel combustion.

“We are proud to partner with an international company such as dynaCERT that is focused on reducing carbon emissions,” said Lemeray. “For us, the purpose of being supported by dynaCERT is to show that motorsport can be less polluting, which is the starting point of our discussion with the company asking them to join us in our Dakar Classic Rally journey. HydraGEN is already used by road transport trucks, so I’m delighted to be able to show that it’s possible to ‘hybridise diesel engines with hydrogen energy’ with this technology in truck racing, all the more so in an event like the Dakar Classic Rally which takes place in the middle of nature.

“ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation), the organiser of the Dakar Classic Rally, has been making major efforts for years to reduce the carbon footprint of its events. We’re delighted to be able to make our own contribution to their efforts.”

Lemeray will be joined by Fabien Lecaplain and Jean-Baptiste Lecot as co-driver and mechanic, respectively. The trio are close friends who last raced the Dakar Classic in 2022, where their truck ran on hydrogen and water to reduce carbon dioxide. The effort was supported by students from the Lycée Curie-Corot Saint-Lô school, who sold hydroalcoholic gel to raise funds for the team to combat COVID-19.

After five years of development, CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team will finally make their Dakar Rally début in 2024 as part of a programme that will take them across nearly the entire World Rally-Raid Championship. Team manager Antanas Kanopkinas will race at Dakar on his CFMOTO CFORCE 1000 in the Quad category.

Created in 2019 as CFMOTO Factory Racing Team and assuming their current name three years later, CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team competed in various amateur rallies during their early years such as RBI Sport’s Fenix Rally, Rallye Breslau, and Balkan Offroad Rallye. They hoped to enter the 2023 Dakar Rally but had to put off the plans after being denied spots by the Amaury Sport Organisation. CFMOTO subsequently entered their first W2RC race at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge; Kanopkinas and Adomas Gančierius mainly contested the rally together, the latter going on to score a podium in his maiden World Championship start as he finished third.

They tackled the RBI Sport slate again as well as the Dinaric Rally in Croatia. In October, Kanopkinas received approval to race the 2024 Dakar Rally. He did not run the W2RC-ending Rallye du Maroc due to a crash injury at the Dinaric Rally while Gančierius became a co-driver in an SSV, though Gaëtan Martinez and Mindaugas Skudutis picked up where they left off by respectively finishing fifth and ninth.

“The goal that failed last year will finally happen this year,” said Kanopkinas. “For the first time in the history of motorsport, we will see a CFMOTO quad at the start line of the Dakar Rally. I hope to see it crossing finish line as well. We will do our best for that. The experience gained in various competitions over the past four years has increased the competences of the entire team and now we feel more prepared than ever.”

After Dakar, the team intends to run three of the remaining four events on the W2RC schedule. The lone date not circled on their calendar is the Desafío Ruta 40, the lone event in the Americas, in June.

For winning the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship in the RallyGP category, Luciano Benavides was among fifty-eight FIM champions honoured at the FIM Awards held at Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool on Saturday.

After finishing fourth in the 2022 championship, Benavides broke out in 2023 starting with three stage wins at the Dakar Rally, which his older brother Kevin won whereas he finished sixth. While Kevin’s title campaign was cut short by injuries, Luciano became the paragon of consistency as he never finished lower than second among W2RC-eligible across the remaining four rounds.

He placed runner-up to Adrien Van Beveren at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, followed by another second to Daniel Sanders at the Sonora Rally. Benavides technically lost to Tosha Schareina at his home rally in the Desafío Ruta 40, but Schareina not racing for the championship gave Benavides maximum points in the standings and the points lead over Toby Price. Although Price, who was plagued by mechanical issues in Argentina, rebounded by winning the season-ending Rallye du Maroc, Benavides finished behidn him to clinch the title by four points.

“It has been a great season,” said Benavides at the FIM Awards. “I’ve been getting stronger and stronger in every race, getting a podium in every round except the Dakar. I’m very happy to receive this award. It’s something very special because I’m the only Argentinian this year, and the first one to be here for rally raid, so it’s really nice. It’s an honour and I must said thanks to ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation), the FIM and everyone involved in the championship. I’m now looking forward to 2024, my motivation is super high because I want to carry this moment to the Dakar and try to get that podium. That would be my second dream.”

Benavides was among seven riders honoured as “Ultimate Champions” as the titlists in the top series overseen by the FIM. Others in this category included Francesco Bagnaia (MotoGP), Alvaro Bautista (Superbike), Toni Bou (TrialGP), Steve Holcombe (EnduroGP), Jorge Prado (Motocross), and Bartosz Zmarzlik (Speedway Grand Prix).

Rosberg X Racing entered the last Grand Final of the 2023 Extreme E season squaring off with ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team. The latter, despite a valiant effort, saw their title hopes literally turned upside down when Laia Sanz rolled during on the final lap.

This did not mean RXR simply cruised to their second championship, however, as they were also victims in a chaotic Grand Final. Johan Kristoffersson ran wide and nearly rolled on the opening lap before suffering a tyre puncture that dropped RXR to last in the order. The team’s woes continued after the driver swap as Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky experienced more mechanical issues.

However, a wreck between McLaren and reigning champion X44 enabled Kristoffersson and Åhlin-Kottulinsky to make up some lost ground and forced the Sainz outfit, who had led from the start, to win the race if they wanted any shot of the title. This was itself a difficult challenge as Veloce Racing‘s Molly Taylor, whose team was eliminated from the championship picture by a wreck on Saturday, sought to spoil the party. Sanz spun after colliding with Taylor before the rollover. RXR stumbled across the finish line in second to claim title number two after winning the inaugural season in 2021.

“Winning the 2023 Extreme E Championship is a dream come true,” said Åhlin-Kottulinsky, who notches her maiden crown while Kristoffersson is a two-time champion. “It was neck to neck all season with ASXE, but I’m just so happy and speechless right now. We fought so hard last year and narrowly missed the win, so it was stressful when I saw that we had a puncture. But as always, we never give up. Despite the challenges, our team’s spirit never waned. This championship is a powerful reminder that with passion and perseverance, anything is achievable.”

RXR won the Grand Final on Saturday after holding off AXSE, enabling them to take the points lead by just six points. After Sunday’s events, they beat Sainz’s Sanz and Mattias Ekström by eleven.

Like many international sporting events, the Dakar Rally is a cornucopia of nationalities as competitors from all over the world come together to take part. However, a new policy from the Amaury Sport Organisation will forbid them from displaying their national flags next to their names on their vehicles for the 2024 edition. The new rule is enshrined by both the FIA and FIM in their 2024 Dakar regulations concerning competitor identification.

The FIA’s updated Article 6.3 now states, “No flag is allowed besides the competitor’s name”. This clause is based on Article 21.1 of the 2024 FIA Cross-Country Rally Sporting Regulations: “The first initial(s) and surname of the driver and the co-driver, followed by the national flags of the country according to Art. 9.4 of the (International Sporting) Code, must appear on both sides of the front wings or front doors of the vehicle. The letters must have a height of 30 to 50 mm.” This also applies to the Dakar Classic, a side event to the main rally that still follows the FIA’s policies.

Article 6.1.1.3 of the FIM’s Dakar rulebook simply states, “No flag is allowed besides the Rider’s name.”

While none of the sanctioning bodies have explained why they introduced the change, it is a blanket ban in the wake of various global conflicts. Benediktas Vanagas, who races in the top-level Ultimate category, surmised it is a response to the war in Gaza, which forced the Jordan Baja’s cancellation while the Dakar Rally is held in fellow Middle Eastern country Saudi Arabia.

A similar prohibition was already in place for Russians and Belarusians following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Drivers of those nationalities are barred from running FIA-sanctioned events unless they agreed to condemn the war and to race under either a neutral banner or another country’s flag, while the FIM instituted a hard ban regardless of a rider’s individual thoughts on the invasion.

Oscar Polli will return to the Dakar Rally on two wheels in 2024, albeit with a catch as he and Silvayn Espinasse will pilot the Tacita Discanto electric bikes in the Mission 1000 category.

“Racing in the desert with an electric motorbike is not only an innovative challenge, but an opportunity to professionally approach new technologies and an increasingly eco-sustainable future,” Polli told Moto Excape. “An electric off-road motorcycle, with gears, is a very important test bench, an absolute novelty that will allow me to try and understand how to ride in the most extreme conditions.

“The Dakar is always a challenge, regardless of the vehicle and the kilometres travelled: every single metre, stone or dune hides many dangers. Furthermore, this experience will help me grow as a coach on a vehicle that will be increasingly appreciated and used by younger kids, the real future in which to invest.”

Polli raced the Dakar Rally from 1998 to 2007, after enjoying success in the Italian Motorally Championship and races like the Rallye des Pharaons. He won the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship (predecessor to the current World Rally-Raid Championship) in the Open Sport category in 2008. Four years later, he claimed the Africa Eco Race in the bike category for which he received the Medal for Athletic Valour from the Italian Olympic Committee.

In 2022, Polli returned to Dakar as the co-driver of a 1997 Nissan Terrano piloted by Giacomo Clerici in the Dakar Classic. They finished 111th in the navigation-based event.

Zdeněk Tůma was hoping to run his sixth Dakar Rally in 2024, but will have to put it off another year for what his BARTH Racing cited as “time and workload of the leading team members.”

Save for skipping the 2021 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tůma had raced at Dakar in the Quad category every year since 2017. He impressed in 2022 when he finished fourth, enabling him to set high expectations for the 2023 edition of finally breaking onto the podium.

His race came to an end after crashing in Stage #4. While not seriously injured, his Yamaha suffered terminal damage that knocked him out. He had been running twelfth in the Quad category prior to the accident.

After Dakar, he focused on various rally events in his native Czech Republic such as the OffROAD Maraton series. He finished fifth in the MISTR Quad SP category standings.

Tůma’s absence further makes the Quad category barren at Dakar. Only ten entrants are taking part, which Pablo Copetti—who finished third in 2023 but will not race in 2024—attributed to new policies that tightened the eligibility criteria for the class; Quad riders must have either run three World Rally-Raid Championship rounds or a Dakar in the past five years. Outside investment in the class has also decreased in recent years, and sponsorship concerns threatened to take out reigning world champion Laisvydas Kancius while five-time Dakar Quad winners Alejandro and Marcos Patronelli had to abandon their 2024 plans as a result. Copetti was also a victim of a lack of funding, which made him consider a switch to racing an SSV before dropping the idea altogether, whereas W2RC Quad runner-up Rodolfo Guillioli has since switched to co-driving in a car.

Stéphan Bosteels, who raced the Dakar Rally from the inaugural edition in 1979 into the mid-1980s alongside his family, passed away last Sunday. He was 91 years old.

Bosteels and his sons Stéphane and Bernard entered the first Paris–Dakar Rally in 1979, an opportunity that arose via Stéphane’s brother-in-law Michel Van Gorp, who ran a caravan seller and invited them to join him. The family had a long history of interest in automobiles, with the older Bosteels having owned multiple Citroëns.

Stéphan acquired a used Citroën DS, which he received from a showroom agent Georges Vanelslande who advised him against driving it due to the risks that the African desert presented on its parts. He eventually selected a new Citroën GS X3 upon which he installed safety modifications for racing. Hector Bossaert, a mechanic for Citroën’s rally programme, made further upgrades such as a new engine that produced more horsepower. Vanelslande and Stéphan’s brother-in-law Gérard Maïr, a former professional football goalkeeper in Austria and Belgium, tagged along in a Ford Transit support vehicle.

Stéphan and Stéphane led the team in the GS, with the father as driver and son by his side as navigator. Bernard was supposed to miss the start of the race due to military service until it turned out Maïr could not attend either for reasons that Bernard wrote he could not recall. While the Citroën completed the Prologue stage fine, the Ford struggled through the mud such that even race organiser Thierry Sabine stopped by to help out. The rally took its toll on the Transit, and it was eventually sold to a surgeon in the Ivory Coast afterwards.

On the other hand, Bernard recalled the GS “worked rather well in crossing the Sahara,” though it was not a clean endeavour. The Bosteels quickly realised that while it went through sand without problem, the car’s hydraulic suspension was not going to survive on rockier terrain that heated up the oil and rusted the structure. The car’s rear end came apart during the fourth stage in Niger, forcing them to “wait a long time” for the Transit to arrive with help. Stuck for too long, they were forced to retire from the rally but managed to arrive at the finish in Dakar, Senegal, by train.

Arctic Leopard will bring a triumvirate of E-XE 880 electric bikes to the 2024 Dakar Rally, where they will compete in the Mission 1000 challenge with Willy Jobard, Su Wenmin, and Jack Cai.

2,170 mm long by 825 mm wide, the E-XE 880 is specialised for enduro competition, capable of 125 km/h top speed. It can either use a 105V57Ah or 90V75Ah battery. The bike was revealed at EICMA in October.

Arctic Leopard is the first electric off-road motorcycle manufacturer in China. Besides the E-XE, the company also produces the E-AT electric trial bike. Arctic Leopard, who hopes to produce two or three new models annually, is mainly selling its products in Europe and North America but has also fielded interest from militaries in Southeast Asia. China has increased its presence in the rally world in recent times, most notably with Kove Moto successfully completing the 2023 Dakar Rally in their rally raid debut before expanding into the World Rally-Raid Championship’s premier RallyGP class for the 2024 edition.

Jobard has sporadically raced the Dakar Rally on a bike since 2001, including a stint with Chinese manufacturer Zongshen as their manager. In 2021, he ran the Dakar on a hybrid bike. Before joining Arctic Leopard in April, he spent six years with Bosuer Motorcycle as their brand manager. Su was the first Chinese rider to race the Dakar in 2010.

The Mission 1000 class goes along the main Dakar Rally but competes on a separate 100-kilometre course. Each of its ten entrants use alternate fuel sources such as electric, hydroggen, and hybrids. Besides Arctic Leopard, Green Power Race and Tacita are respectively entering one and two electric bikes in Mission 1000, while KH-7 Epsilon Team‘s MAN truck, Rainbow Truck Team‘s Volkswagen Amarok, and the Japanese HySE-X1 are all hydrogen cars.

Like in 2022, Luke McMillin and Bryce Menzies battled for the SCORE International World Desert Championship throughout the four-race 2023 campaign. This time, Menzies came out on top.

McMillin, the reigning champion, drew first blood by beating Menzies for the San Felipe 250 before Menzies rattled off three consecutive wins at the Baja 500, Baja 400, and Baja 1000. The two entered the 1000 with just nine points separating them, and Menzies—with help from McMillin’s cousin Andy and Tavo Vildósola—beat him again by just forty-six seconds for his maiden victory at the legendary race.

“Whenever Luke’s racing, you always know he’s going to be up there so we could battle it out all year long from San Felipe to the 500 to the 400 to the 1000. If it’s not him, it’s me,” said Menzies. “It’s pretty cool to have that rivalry going on and we’re also really good friends.”

Although Menzies enjoyed his first SCORE world title, he did not win the outright championship for all Four-Wheelers. Instead, Trophy Truck Spec driver Jason McNeil claimed that crown as he recorded 551 total points, more than anyone else among such categories, to Menzies’ 538. Despite struggling through rain and electrical issues at the 1000 which relegated him to an eighteenth in class, McNeil never finished worse than second across the first three rounds.

A year after winning the Championship Off-Road Pro Stock SxS title, short course star Brock Heger adds his first SCORE championship in Pro UTV Open; he won twice at the Baja 500 and 400 in the début season for Polaris Factory Racing. On the other hand, Jason Murray of rival Can-Am was the top UTV as a whole en route to the Pro UTV FI title.