Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

After thirty-three years of racing, Jan Brabec will call it a career following the 2025 Dakar Rally. The 41-year-old plans to stay involved with the sport afterwards by turning his Strojrent Racing into a rider development and support programme.

“For me, this is pretty big news, and those who know me know that I don’t usually record videos,” began Brabec in a video posted to his social media on Sunday. “But now, I wanted to put this out there a little bit.

“With this eighth Dakar, I plan to end my racing career, which has lasted 33 years. Let’s move on and leave racing to the younger guys.

“But as for me, I don’t want to completely step away from the world of racing—I just won’t be physically holding the handlebars anymore. Instead, I want to run my own rally support team.

“Strojrent Racing will be a team supporting riders who want to make it to the Dakar Rally, whether they’re qualified or not. I’ll be taking care of their training, both on the bike and in navigation, that’s how it will be.

Porsche Penske Motorsport have securing their second victory of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with a masterful drive at the 6 Hours Of Fuji. The Porsche led home a 1-2 for German manufacturers, with the #15 BMW M Team WRT car finishing in a spectacular second in only their first year of WEC racing. In the final 7 minutes of the race, the #36 Alpine Endurance Team snatched a podium position, meaning that both BMW and Alpine secure their first Hypercar podium of the year.

The #6 Porsche now has a firm grasp on the championship following a disastrous race for their rivals. The #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing team did not finish the race following heavy contact with the #5 Porsche in the penultimate hour. The other title contender, the #50 Ferrari AF Corse, did manage to finish but fell back down the order to 9th during the final stint of the race.

In LMGT3, however, the title has been secured in fine form by Manthey PureRxcing. The #92 car qualified down in 14th but did everything right during the race to secure a podium result, finishing second. The race was won by the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari with a hard-earned victory, the first LMGT3 win of the season for Ferrari. The #92 Porsche came second, with the #46 Team WRT BMW coming home third, not least thanks to superb stints by the Doctor himself, Valentino Rossi.

Driver Reaction

Porsche driver Laurens Vanthoor, who was watching his brother Dries Vanthoor in his BMW chase down the Porsche, joked “I was a bit stressed because I know my brother well. I texted my Dad and said I hope he stays calm! It’s great for us to win and great for me to have my brother next to me on the podium. It’s a pretty special weekend which I’ll remember for a long time.”

Andre Lotterer, who lived and raced in Japan for many years, was naturally delighted. “It was an amazing team effort” he enthused. “It’s been a fantastic weekend here to race in front of this crowd. There’s so much support and so much energy coming from the fans. For me, it’s one race that was missing. I wanted to win this one because it’s a sort of home race for me, so I’m very, very happy.”

Eurol Rally Sport will race slightly different IVECO trucks from what they’re used to at the 2025 Dakar Rally. On Saturday, Martin van den Brink and his son Mitchel van den Brink announced they have formed an alliance with MM Technology, switching away from Team de Rooy after three years together. Both will be in identically prepared IVECO PowerStars.

MM Technology is led by Martin Macík Jr., who won the latest Dakar in the Truck category. Since then, Macík has been busy expanding his team’s operations by selling the Dakar-winning IVECO to Firemen Dakarteam (a Dutch outfit like Eurol) and now building two trucks for the van den Brinks. Eurol Rally Sport will prepare the vehicles in-house once delivered from MM’s shop in the Czech Republic.

Although MM and de Rooy both field the PowerStar, Martin noted they are “otherwise incomparable. MM Technology’s concepts are completely different from De Rooy’s.” For example, according to Mitchel, the Macík truck is “1000 kilograms lighter but also highly reliable.

“MM proved last year that they have a winning truck. Martin Macík won the rally, and due to his much better truck, he was clearly a class above us. It was clear that we needed to adjust our strategy in order to compete for victory.”

Mitchel joined Macík on the class podium when he finished third at the 2024 Dakar in his PowerStar, during which he won Stage #8. It was his fourth Dakar as a driver after making his début in 2021, though he had been involved with the family team since 2019 when he was sixteen. He scored his maiden stage win at the 2023 race en route to a fourth. In May, he won the Morocco Desert Challenge in a Can-Am Maverick X3 for the second year in a row.

The Baja Morocco will not only be Gonçalo Guerreiro‘s first time racing in the desert, but his first in a Challenger-class vehicle. On Friday, he announced he will race a Taurus T3 Max in the event for BBR Motorsport with Enio Bozzano as his navigator.

“I’m super excited to announce this new challenge alongside with BBR structure, driving the Taurus by BBR,” said Guerreiro. “It marks a completely new chapter for me, with a different car than what I’m used to drive but I’m looking forward to adapt my driving to desert and improve day by day.”

Guerreiro is one of the top drivers in the Portuguese Cross-Country Championship (Campeonato Portugal de Todo-o-terreno), winning the T4 (SSV) title in 2022. He is currently second in the standings with 56 points, trailing João Monteiro by thirty with back-to-back wins at the Baja TT de Lagos and Baja TT Norte de Portugal. However, he will skip the upcoming Baja TT Sharish Gin on 19–22 September to focus on Morocco, even at the cost of a second championship.

In April, he made his first World Rally-Raid Championship début when the series came to his home country for the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid. He won the Prologue but was forced to retire after three stages with a mechanical failure.

He crossed over into neighbouring Spain in late July for the Baja España Aragón, part of the FIA World Baja Cup, and won the SSV category. Two weeks prior, he announced his entry for Baja Morocco.

As Morocco is hit by historic levels of rain and flooding, the latter of which has killed at least eleven people, the Baja Morocco is still scheduled to proceed on 23–27 September. Of course, race officials plan to tweak the roadbook to account for the environmental developments.

The race’s main bivouac is located in Merzouga, located by Erg Chebbi in eastern Morocco and a common host site for the World Rally-Raid Championship’s Rallye du Maroc. The village and erg were heavily impacted by flooding from the torrential downpours that began on 6 September, resulting in a very unusual landscape for the region with massive lakes and rivers.

The flooding has been described as some of the worst the country had faced. South of Merzouga, the dry lake at Iriqui National Park was filled with water, a very uncommon occurrence since the Draa River was dammed in the 1970s. At least eleven have been killed by the floods while nine more are missing, and additional deaths have been reported in neighbouring Algeria as well. Much of the flash flooding can be attributed to infrastructure that is not able to withstand the heavy rainfall, mainly because of how rare it is in the desert.

Given the circumstances, Baja Morocco’s leadership has been busy at work to get everything ready in time.

“It has been a very tough, very difficult two days,” said race director Sébastien Delaunay. “I got stuck for almost forty-eight hours, but I’m now back and what I can tell you is that we are already working to reopen everything and the situation is going on the right direction now. Most of the river bed is becoming dry and the government is working to reduce the roads so we are not worried at all for the event. Baja Morocco will be there. I’m in contact also with local authorities, local people to help them.

Jimmie Johnson‘s Goodwood Revival started on the worst possible note when he spun in the rain into the tyre barriers during practice, damaging the rear of his Aston Martin DB4 GT. He proceeded to bounce back in dominant fashion on Saturday when he went from fourth to first on the opening lap and led flag to flag to win the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy.

Johnson, a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion who is down to race basically anything since his retirement from full-time Cup competition, teamed up with IndyCar Series great Dario Franchitti to share the DB4. While Johnson’s luck have been anything but in recent years, he proved he certainly still has gas in the tank. He had been leading even before the practice spin in the wet before sealing it with the win.

“This is very special. I get a cigar too. What an honour,” said Johnson. “This has just been an event that I don’t want to miss. I’ve always dreamed of coming here and competing. My time in the States was quite busy and I was finally able to come in ’22 and it is such an incredible race. Big thanks and credit to this team.

“Kind of scratched the back of it yesterday in the rain and they’ve been able to fix the car and get it back on track. Dario has been such a long time close friend and to be able to share a car with him and to share a win together.”

Franchitti’s nephew Luca and daughter Sofia also got to spend some time behind the wheel when they ran the Settrington Cup, a youth class for Austin J40 pedal cars. Luca won the first race but finished twenty-second in the second, while Sofia was seventeenth and third. Dario’s younger brother Marino Franchitti was also on hand to run the Sussex Trophy in his Lister Flat Iron against the likes of Alex Brundle, André Lotterer, and Tiff Needell.

The 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) returns to a sportscar racing staple for the penultimate round in what has been an utterly thrilling championship. Set at the spectacular Fuji Speedway, the 6 Hours of Fuji will see Toyota Gazoo Racing fight on home soil to take control of the championship, battling for the title against Porsche Penske Motorsport and Ferrari AF Corse.

2024 has been a vintage year for FIA WEC. The six previous rounds have each been won by a different car, with victory honours being shared between pairs of Porsches, Toyotas, and Ferraris. Following an intense battle at the Lone Star Le Mans where the winning margin after 6 gruelling hours of racing was an astonishing 1.7 seconds, FIA WEC returns to Fuji for the 11th time. Set at the foot of Mount Fuji, the Fuji Speedway always draws a large crowd of passionate fans, the stunning scenery being surpassed only by spectacular on track action.

The circuit may well be the second shortest on the calendar (after Interlagos) but it features a wide range of challenges for the drivers. Most famously, the straight is 1.475km long, meaning the cars need low drag to achieve their top speed. In 2023, the #50 Ferrari 499P clocked the fastest speed of 333kph, almost 207mph. However, sector 2 in particular features some corners that require almost maximum downforce to get the most out of the car. The teams that can find that difficult balance will be the ones to beat come race day on Sunday 15 September.

Hypercar

Coming into the Japanese round, home team Toyota Gazoo Racing seem to have the advantage. The #7 Toyota came within a whisker of winning the Lone Star Le Mans, and, at the previous round in Brazil, the #8 sister car was utterly dominant. As the most experienced team in WEC, they know how to get the most out of their cars as well as play the long game in endurance races. They also quite literally own the track. The hybrid powertrain of the Toyota GR010 Hybrid is designed, developed, and built at the Higashi-Fuji technical centre. The Japanese team has also won 9 out of the 10 previous WEC races in Fuji, including an impressive 1-2 finish in 2023.

“Everyone in the team is looking forward to our home race” explained #7 driver and team principal Kamui Kobayashi. “It is very important; after Le Mans, Fuji is the second most significant race of the season for us. As a Japanese driver and as a Japanese manufacturer, competing in Fuji is very important, plus it’s great to meet our Japanese fans. We have always been strong there and we have a fantastic record, with nine wins. Of course, we want to keep that successful run going in front of our fans, partners and colleagues.”

Trey Gibbs is eager to be the next short course star to excel at desert racing, and he already seems to be comfortable in his new environment as he was the fastest Trophy Truck Spec during qualifying for the Baja 400 on Wednesday.

Driving the #232 TT Spec, he set a time that was over five seconds faster than Elijah Kiger. The entry is recorded under Chelsea Magness‘ name since Gibbs is using her regular number, but the truck is fully prepared by Gibbs’ team without her involvement. Mavrick Gaunt, who added an unusually large rear fin-like wing to his truck to improve aerodynamics, was third; he does not plan to use the wing in the race itself.

While pre-running the truck days was the extent of Gibbs’ on-track SCORE International experience prior to qualifying, he looked like a natural.

“I knew I had to go down and throw down and went out and put it on the number one spot,” said Gibbs. “Pumped to be able to start in up front, but I got a lot of heavy hitters behind me starting for the race. All I got to do is go out there and run my pace and see where we wind up. Pumped on today, we had a good qualifying, made a couple bobbles here and there, but still able to put on a number one spot so looking forward to race day now.”

His SCORE début comes on the heels of winning Championship Off-Road’s Pro Lite title. Besides desert racing, his short course focus in 2025 will be on the higher Pro 2 category, which he entered for the first time at the Crandon World Cup earlier in September.

Wednesday marked the 23-year anniversary of the 11 September attacks on the United States that killed 2,977 people. In their immediate aftermath, the entertainment world scrambled to postpone events or make thematic changes to their content to align with the sudden paradigm shift in American culture.

Most sporting leagues opted to postpone their upcoming games in the following days such as the National Football League and Major League Baseball, and the ramifications also extended globally such as the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup. Motorsport was more of a mixed bag domestically and overseas: the NASCAR Cup Series’ event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was pushed back from that Sunday to the end of the 2001 season, while the CART race at Lausitzring and 2001 Italian Grand Prix went as usual save for memorial tributes.

SCORE International ended up being one of the few American racing championships that opted to proceed with their schedule that weekend. Scheduled for four days after the attacks on 15 September, the Primm 300 in Nevada was the fourth and penultimate race of the 2001 season, when the series bounced between Baja California (where it currently races exclusively) and the U.S.

It was not an easy decision to make. On one hand, racing so soon after such a tragedy did not feel appropriate. On the other hand, doing so could also be seen as a show of strength. One could also point out that Primm was unlikely to be targeted by terrorist activity. The only precedent seemed to be the 1991 Parker 400, where some mulled whether to proceed as it was shortly after the start of Operation Desert Storm, though that was still outside of America’s borders.

After a day of debate, SCORE President Sal Fish opted to proceed.

During the early 2010s, Mitchell deJong was one of the rising stars in rallycross with race wins and titles in a plethora of Lites series ranging from Global Rallycross to the FIA World Rallycross Championship. However, his career ended up on hold by 2018, though he stayed virtually fresh as a sim racer.

Seven years after his last real-life racing action, deJong found himself behind the wheel of a NEXT EVO during last weekend’s Nitrocross season opener at Richmond Raceway. Despite the long absence, he did not have to shake off any rust as he held off reigning Nitrocross NEXT champion Tommi Hallman to win the first race. While Hallman returned the favour the next day, deJong still wrapped up the slate by finishing second.

deJong was called into action by Bak40 Motorsports on relatively short notice. Even then, he was the fastest driver in NEXT qualifying before winning his heat race and semi-final on Saturday. He set the pace early in the final and kept Hallman at bay for the win.

“A lot of unknowns coming into this weekend but everything just seemed to fall into place,” he said following the Saturday win. “I’m getting more and more comfortable with the car and all the races leading up to the semi-final and final went pretty much perfect and on-point.”

The successful weekend adds to an impressive portfolio for the 26-year-old, who won the 2014 GRC Lites title and an X Games gold medal that year. He has also triumphed in the FIA World and European Rallycross Championship’s Lites divisions as well as RallyX on Ice, winning the latter’s 2017 crown before committing to sim racing full time. On the esports side, deJong has competed in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing and Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup.

After spending the last eight years with Czech manufacturers, Aleš Loprais has switched to IVECO for the Rallye du Maroc and 2025 Dakar Rally. He will drive an IVECO PowerStar prepared by Team de Rooy under the InstaTrade Loprais Team De Rooy FPT banner.

Loprais had long been associated with Tatra thanks to his late uncle Karel, with whom he made his Dakar début in 2006, before racing with Praga from 2020 to 2024 with a best finish of second in the Truck category at the latest edition. Even then, he is no stranger to IVECO or the de Rooys as he entered the 2016 Dakar with them, only to retire after the first stage.

While his Praga, nicknamed “Lady”, has been reliable and fast, Loprais is reluctant about modifying the truck to comply with new FIA rules for 2025. Such a process can take years to perfect, which was unappealing for someone in the prime of his career. Loprais led the 2023 Dakar before withdrawing due to a fatal accident, then broke through with the runner-up in 2024.

He hopes to continue racing Lady at other events like the Morocco Desert Challenge and Africa Eco Race.

“We would need to make extensive modifications to the truck according to new regulations, including reducing its weight,” Loprais explained. “More important, in order to be at the top, we would have to completely overhaul the fuel injection system from a pump-jet to common rail, which most of our rivals use. That would take at least three to four years of expensive development, ideally with factory support. While that would be interesting, at this point in my career, I don’t want to spend my best racing years experimenting at Dakar instead of using my experience to achieve the results I’ve dreamed of.

Months after winning his first ever race in a side-by-side, Manuel Andújar nearly repeated the feat in his début as the driver of one when he finished second in class at the Rally Raid San Rafael to his team-mate Jeremías Gonzalez Ferioli. It might not have been a victory, but the run is still a good start as he prepares for life in a new discipline.

Andújar raced a Can-Am Maverick R prepared by Ferioli Racing Team but emblazoned with his 7240 Team branding, while Sergio Lafuente served as navigator. He set the fastest time in the Prologue, beating Nazareno López by forty seconds, before Ferioli took the lead the next day after he lost fifteen minutes due to the navigation tablet malfunctioning.

Ferioli continued to hold the advantage when he beat Andújar by 2:49 in the first Selective Section of the third and final day, then delivered the killing blow of 1:18 in SS2. By the end, Andújar settled for second and 16:45 behind Ferioli in a 1–2 finish for the team.

“I’m very happy with the results of our debut—P2 with a stage win included,” he wrote. “Despite some issues with the tablet on day 2, we were able to maintain a good race pace and keep it until the end. But honestly, being self-critical, there are several seconds per kilometre that can be improved, and we’re going to work on that.”

Even if not a win, a second is certainly nothing to scoff at, especially as Ferioli is one of the top SSV drivers in Argentina. He and Andújar both won their classes at the World Rally-Raid Championship’s Desafío Ruta 40 in June, the latter clinching the championship in the Quad category in the process.

The sound of race cars will once again permeate Ukraine’s circuits. New Automobile Federation of Ukraine rules came into effect on Friday that will allow organisers to hold motorsport events in the country, provided they receive a referral from their discipline’s FAU committee and approval from the regional military administration in which the race is held.

The FAU was able to refine its policies after kart races and hillclimbs were successfully held in the spring and summer despite being under martial law. The national Ukrainian Karting Championship re-launched, with one round in June being held in Poltava at the Ltava sports facility where the kart track is named after Volodymyr Chernysh, a local driver who raced in the series before being killed in action last September near Bakhmut. The Ukraine Forest Challenge Kyiv, Ukrainian Hillclimb Cup, and various local automobile clubs have also hosted races to raise money and buy equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Martial law had sidelined Ukrainian motorsport series since its imposition immediately following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. On 5 June 2023, the Ministry of Youth and Sports outlined “additional measures” that would permit sporting events to take place under the circumstances, which the FAU stated race promoters “must ensure compliance with”.

The ministry requires the event organiser to meet with officials such as the venue operator and deputies of the State Emergency Service and National Police, with whom they are to give estimates on the number of people taking part. While matches and races are held behind closed doors, the police will scout out the venue before the start for any potential threats.

Given the obvious threat of a Russian attack, the track or stadium must have a suitable shelter within a 500-metre radius for everyone to take cover, as well as an action plan with proper evacuation procedure. Diagrams of evacuation routes must be placed around the venue. All competitors must undergo briefings beforehand on what to do should an attack occur.

After about two weeks of work, SNAG Racing‘s off-road buggy is set to be deployed to Ukraine to be used by Russian troops. The team insists the buggy will not be used in a military capacity and is rather being employed for “humanitarian aid.”

SNAG began the vehicle restoration process in late August with plans of selling it to the regional government of Sverdlovsk Oblast, who will transfer it to the Russian military in Ukraine. Team owner Sergei Kariakin, the 2017 Dakar Rally Quad winner and 2023 Silk Way Rally T3 victor, is a staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a deputy in the Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly.

The buggy had to be virtually rebuilt from the ground up. Kariakin publicly explained the brakes and clutch were fully replaced, while the steering system and gearbox underwent heavy repairs and upgrades. A platform was also installed at the rear for transport. New panelling has also been added along the body.

“We are pleased to announce that we have completed preparing a buggy to humanitarian aid to the special military operation,” begins a team statement. “This buggy was purchased by the Government of the Sverdlovsk region, and we developed and adapted it according to all the necessary criteria and the specified requirements.

“Our efforts are focused on supporting those in difficult situations, and we are doing everything possible to ensure that this aid will provide the fullest help to our soldiers and civilians.”

The three-race Jordan 4×4 Championship came to a close Friday along the Panorama Dead Sea Complex. As was the case in the first two rounds, Palestinian drivers showed up in what they feel is a major morale boon amidst the ongoing war in their home country.

The Jeep Wrangler of Wisam Khalilieh and co-driver Serri Handal was the fastest car overall to win the Pro class, while Amjad Hananeh and Emad Hananeh finished runner-up in their Kia Sorento to complete a Palestinian 1–2 finish. Khalilieh had finished third at the season opener in February but missed the second round in July as he was working on upgrading the vehicle.

“This is something to be proud of,” he told Palestine TV Youth & Sports. “When you work hard on something and end up in first place, it feels great.”

Jordan’s Feras Al-Mousa and Husam Al-Ajouri joined them on the podium in their Toyota 4Runner. Al-Mousa commented, “Those guys came from Palestine, and their cars are impressively modified, really strong vehicles.”

The Palestinian Motor Sport & Motorcycle Federation remarked that “despite the ongoing war on our beloved homeland, the determination of our off-road racing heroes to win remains.” The federation, as the country’s FIA and FIM representative, released similar statements following the other two races. Days before the finale, the PMSMF began taking direct humanitarian action by sending 4×4 vehicles into Tulkarm with food and supplies for civilians.