Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

A little over a week ago, Haydon Paddon took the WRC2 class victory in his home rally of Repco Rally New Zealand in the FIA World Rally Championship and after that rally, Paddon traveled to Italy, where he participated in the international Tour European Rally, or TER rally series, on the island of Sardinia.

The New Zealander took his third consecutive win of the season after beating Switzerland’s Ivan Ballinar by a minute and 24 seconds in the Rally Terra Sarda tarmac rally held over the weekend. At the same time, Paddon overtook Ballinar in the TER series championship table and was crowned the champion.

TER series events were held during the season in Italy, France, Switzerland, and Great Britain. The former WRC driver Paddon was entered in the last three rallies of the season, in each of which he claimed first place, he used an older spec Hyundai i20 R5 rented from Hyundai Motorsport Italia and had the co-driver Jared Hudson with him.

“A very enjoyable weekend here in Sardegna and a big thanks to everyone who helped to make it possible and for everyone here who has made us feel so welcome. Big thanks to HMI team for an amazing car and Jared continues to grow from rally to rally while doing an amazing job.” Paddon said.

After Paul Nagle announced his retirement last week, the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team driver Craig Breen had no co-driver after Spain but now the Irishman has revealed the new co-driver, fellow countryman James Fulton who joins Breen from Rally Japan onwards.

Nagle´s last event will be next week’s RallyRACC – Rally de España where the Irish co-driver will be making his 102nd WRC start and his final one before retiring from the co-driver duty at the age of 44-year-old.

Fulton has been a familiar face in the paddock, he has read the notes for the Irish WRC2 driver Josh McErlean the past two seasons but now the 30-year-old will climb up the ladder to the top-level and admitted the seat alongside Breen was an opportunity not to be missed. 

“I am delighted to get the opportunity, it’s something that I have been aiming towards for a while now, naturally, like any co-driver to get to the top level. I have been working with Craig for quite a while now and I have done a couple of tests in the Puma, so I am really looking forward to developing the relationship with him and the car as well as with the team. I am looking forward to getting stuck into it and doing the best possible job.” Fulton said.

Breen and Fulton have already done some pre-event testings together, and Breen admitted he felt confident the relationship will go well: “I have every confidence in James, he’s been on the most recent tests with us and Japan will give him good experience ahead of next season. Paul [Nagle] will also be joining us in Japan, just to settle everything in and give James plenty of reassurance.”

Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team’s Sebastian Vettel finished the eventful Japanese Grand Prix in sixth place, equalling his best result of the season at one of his most memorable venues, Suzuka International Racing Course.

Vettel empathized with the Suzuka fans, who had to weather the rainy conditions during the lengthy red flag period after the opening lap incidents.

“Obviously, it was a shame that we only got half a race – but at least the people in the grandstands got to see some racing. We were waiting in the dry for the restart, but I imagine it must have been rather unpleasant to sit outside in the wet for a couple of hours.”

The race started out quite shaky for Vettel, who suffered a spin on the first lap and dropped from the top ten all the way to the back, losing out on the progress he made off the start. The treacherous conditions played a role in the incident, as he said that aquaplaning or driver error were possible causes. 

“I got a very good start – but then I collided with another car at the first corner. I really could not see anything – I am not sure, maybe I aquaplaned or I made a mistake – but I lost all the positions I had gained and ended up last.” 

Esteban Ocon was left delighted with what he called a ‘fantastic result’ at the Japanese Grand Prix, which helped his BWT Alpine F1 Team reclaim fourth-place from the McLaren F1 Team in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship Constructors Standings.

The French driver undertook a herculean effort to hold off seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in a red flag affected race around the Suzuka International Racing Course to come home for a season-best fourth-placed finish.

After his impressive qualifying outing on Saturday, the Alpine driver would move up a place on the grid come the eventual restart from the red flag due to Carlos Sainz Jr.’s retirement on the opening lap of the race.

After holding his position on the restart of the race, Ocon would move onto the intermediate tyres on the seventh-lap of the race and would then become embroiled in a tight battle with Hamilton for the remainder of the shortened race around Suzuka.

Hamilton would come close on multiple occasions with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver coming close to an overtake at 130R on multiple occasions but the straight line speed of the A522 would prove too much for the W13.

Charles Leclerc finished third in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship’s Japanese Grand Prix after a five-second penalty was handed to him after he left the track and gained an advantage to keep second place on track.

The race saw Max Verstappen finally clinch his second Drivers’ World Championship. This also meant that it was the end of Leclerc’s personal Championship hopes, and he will look back on it as a missed opportunity with plenty of points lost throughout the season due to mechanical issues, driver errors, strategical mistakes and an inability to turn pole position into a race win.

The final mistake saw him slide across the run-off at the chicane on the final lap, with the stewards feeling he gained an advantage by doing so, with the five-second penalty promoting Sergio Pérez into second place and giving Verstappen the points advantage he needed to clinch the title.

Leclerc was out to delay the Red Bull celebrations but a lack of pace compared to Verstappen saw him fall back from the Dutchman very quickly in the twenty-eight laps of racing that were completed, with tyre graining the biggest problem he faced.

“I gave it my all, but it was a difficult race for us today. We were strong in warming up the tyres in the first few laps, but then it all faded away. Especially at the end, I struggled with front tyre degradation and it was really difficult to keep Checo (Perez) behind me.

The FIA Junior World Rally Championship regular William Creighton will be making his Rally2 debut in the WRC2 class as he is set to enter RallyRACC – Rally de España next month in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2.

The 24-year-old from Ireland will swap his M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3 for a Rally2-specification rally machine at the penultimate round of the 2022 season, which takes place on fast asphalt roads in the Costa Daurada hills in Spain. Creighton’s debut is part of a prize drive given by Hyundai Motorsport for claiming the title in the 2021 British Rally Championship.

The car will be fielded by the Irish outfit PCRS Rallysport, who is also fielding a similar car for his fellow countryman Josh McErlean, who is same as Creighton part of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy.

“I don’t think this has quite sunk in yet, it’s a fantastic opportunity to drive a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 with the PCRS Rallysport team who will be fielding other Irish drivers, so I think we will feel right at home. Whilst I’ve only done a few small rallies in R5 machinery, I think that my experience in the Junior WRC at Rally3 level should mean the transition isn’t too much of a leap. I’ve always felt comfortable on asphalt and Spain is such an amazing rally to contest.” Creighton said.

“Supporting young talented drivers and crews to progress their motorsport careers is an important part of our role as a team, William’s entry into RallyRACC – Rally de España is another part of this as we continue our partnership with the British Rally Championship to reward the best young talent in the series. In his performances in the BRC and Junior WRC, William has shown he has great ability as a driver. Though the step-up to the i20 N Rally2 will be new to him, I believe we can look forward to a strong event.” Hyundai Motorsport deputy team director Julien Moncet, added.

After Max Verstappen secured his second FIA Formula 1 World Championship title at the Japanese Grand Prix, Oracle Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner has described the two-time World Champion’s performance around the Suzuka International Racing Course as a ‘truly dominant’ drive.

Starting from pole-position, Verstappen was able to fend off the challenge from Charles Leclerc on the opening lap to ensure that he would then start the resumption of the race some two hours later, still at the front of the pack.

Come the restart and Verstappen would enter a league of his own and after having to overtake Mick Schumacher along the start/finish straight, shortly after he had pitted for the intermediate tyres, the Dutchman would then open up a sizeable gap between him and the rest of the field in just thirty minutes of racing.

Verstappen would create a near twenty-seven gap to the nearest car on track to take the checkered flag for his twelfth race victory of the season. While at first it appeared that the Dutchmen would have to wait till Austin to claim his second world championship, the confusion was soon cleared up, with the result confirming Verstappen had indeed claimed his second championship as Charles Leclerc was handed a late five-second time penalty.

With his second world championship secured with four races remaining in the season, Horner was full of praise for his star man after the race.

Andrew Shovlin reflected on a ‘pretty tough’ weekend for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team at the Suzuka International Racing Course, which ended with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ending fifth and eighth respectively in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.

After the resumption of the race following an initial red flag in Japan, shown because of the heavy rain that was falling around the track, Hamilton found himself stuck behind Esteban Ocon all the way to the chequered flag, with the Briton struggling to find a way past the Frenchman due to a lack of straight-line speed from his W13.

Russell, on the other hand, was forced to make some decisive overtakes himself as he made up places lost early on when Mercedes opted to double stack their drivers in the pits when making the switch from full wet tyres to the intermediates.  Some of Russell’s passes were fantastic, particularly going around the outside in the Esses.

Shovlin, the Track Engineering Director at Mercedes, says there was no chance for Hamilton to make the pass on Ocon without the use of DRS, which was not activated due to the weather conditions in Japan.

“Well done to Max [Verstappen] on the championship, he’s driven brilliantly this year,” said Shovlin.  “Our weekend has been pretty tough but today was frustrating: the car had good pace, but we were just stuck behind cars and had no chance of getting through without DRS.

After his BWT Alpine F1 Team took home an eighteen-point haul from the Japanese Grand Prix, Otmar Szafnauer has spoken on how he feels his team have taken exactly what they deserved from the Suzuka International Racing Course as the Enstone-based team climbed ahead of the McLaren F1 Team in the tightly contested battle for fourth in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship Constructor Standings.

Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were both able to escape the first lap chaos unscathed and after the lengthy red flag delay, both drivers would line up a place ahead of where they both originally started the Grand Prix.

Ocon would pit for a new set of intermediate tyres on lap seven and after a brief period in which he led the race, Alonso would come into the pits on the following lap to change over to the same compound.

Lewis Hamilton would soon be on the back of Ocon as the British driver attempted to take fourth-place off the hands of the Frenchmen but despite Hamilton’s best efforts, the straight-line speed of the A522 would prove to be too much as Ocon came home for a season-best fourth-place finish.

While for Alonso, the Spaniard became intertwined in a battle with Sebastian Vettel for sixth-place. The Alpine driver was able to push Vettel close but with the impending threat of George Russell behind, Alpine would elect to pit Alonso for a second time with ten minutes remaining in the race to put the Spaniard in a position to fight with the likes of Russell and Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton admitted the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team just did not have the straight-line speed needed during the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, and it left him unable to pass Esteban Ocon in their battle for fourth place.

Again and again, Hamilton got close to the BWT Alpine F1 Team driver, but when he pulled out to attempt an overtake, the pace of Ocon saw him draw far enough away from the seven-time World Champion to prevent him from passing.

Despite being forced to settle for fifth on Sunday afternoon, Hamilton admitted he enjoyed racing in the wet conditions around the Suzuka International Racing Course, and he was saddened that they were unable to race for the full race distance after rain restricted it to just a forty-minute sprint to the chequered flag.

“Once we got racing today, I had a blast out there – it was so tough in the conditions, hard to see and that’s exactly how motor racing should be; a real challenge for us all,” said Hamilton.

“I wish we had been able to go longer and do more laps for the fans who waited so patiently, but we ran to time and were beginning to lose the light.

Max Verstappen claimed his second world title in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship as he won a shortened down Japanese Grand Prix due to rain and wet conditions on track to secure the 2022 crown with four races remaining.

Verstappen began the day at the Suzuka International Racing Course on pole position and looking confident that he could walk away with his second title in the sport by the end of the race. However, as the race got underway, the Dutchman had to cover off Charles Leclerc who got away better than his rival at the start. The Monegasque driver just about lead the race down into turn one, but Verstappen showed why he is a two time world champion, making an impressive move around the outside of the Scuderia Ferrari driver into turn one.

Shortly after this, the red flag was brought out after Carlos Sainz Jr. crashed out and Alexander Albon retired. For the next hour and twenty minutes, everyone at Suzuka as well as the Formula 1 fans around the world were waiting to see if the race would get underway again as conditions started to worsen. Finally, with fourty minutes left on the race clock, the drivers were back out on track and racing again on the wet tyres. As conditions started to improve, it was quite apparent that it was time to switch to the intermediates, and Verstappen judged the switch to perfection. From then on, he was to lead the way and cruised to his twelfth win of the season.

After the twenty-eight lap race, there was some confusion around whether Verstappen had won the title or not. Leclerc had finished second with the Dutchman’s team-mate Sergio Pérez finishing in third. However, on the last lap of the race, Leclerc went of the track and was deemed to have come back onto it in an unsafe fashion and gaining an advantage and in doing so, gave the Ferrari man a five second time penalty which dropped him down to third place behind the Mexican and giving Verstappen this years world title.

After the race, Verstappen reflected on an action packed race which saw him leave Japan as a back-to- back world champion.

Oracle Red Bull Racing have denied any wrongdoing after the FIA’s cost cap investigations concluded with a ‘Minor Financial Overspend’ during the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship campaign.

Red Bull were also deemed to have committed a ‘Procedural Breach’ to the regulations, as did the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team, and both teams are awaiting news over their potential punishments, which could be either financial or a possible deduction in championship points.

A ‘Minor’ Breach means they exceeded the budget cap by less than five per cent, meaning the more harsher penalties, such as exclusion from the championship, will not be enforced.

Red Bull have released a statement admitting ‘surprise’ at the result, and they are currently looking into their options as they believe their submissions were below the level of the cost cap, which for the 2021 season was $145 million.

“We note the findings by the FIA of ‘Minor Overspend Breaches of the Financial Regulations’ with surprise and disappointment,” read the statement from Red Bull.

After weeks of speculation and intrigue, the results of the FIA’s investigations into the FIA Formula 1 World Championship budget cap for the 2021 season have been released, and Oracle Red Bull Racing have been found guilty of exceeding the maximum spending allowed.

Red Bull have been found to have overspent by less than five per cent of the allowed $145 million budget, meaning it has committed a minor breach, while they have also found guilty of a Procedural Breach, as have the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team.

The rumours of major overspending have been dismissed, but the punishments for the two teams have yet to be determined, and it could result in some kind of financial penalty or even points deductions, which theoretically could see Max Verstappen concede last years’ Drivers’ title to Lewis Hamilton, although this is thought to be unrealistic.

“The review of the Reporting Documentation submitted has been an intensive and thorough process, and all Competitors gave their full support in providing the required information to assess their financial situation during this first year of the Financial Regulations,” read the statement from the FIA.  “The FIA Cost Cap Administration notes that all Competitors acted at all times in a spirit of good faith and cooperation throughout the process.

“The FIA would also note that with respect to this first year of the application of the Financial Regulations the intervention of the FIA Cost Cap Administration has been limited to reviewing the submissions made by the Competitors and that no full formal investigations were launched.

The inaugural World Rally-Raid Championship does not end until the Andalucía Rally on 18–23 October, but with the T5 category not on the card, Kees Koolen is the first driver to win a W2RC class championship.

Koolen, driving an IVECO Powerstar for Project 2030, ends the 2022 season with 186 points. Martin Macík Jr. was second with 160. His co-driver Wouter de Graaff won his respective title alongside Paolo Ceci.

While the trucks of T5 generall usually see decent turnouts, only three drivers raced for W2RC points with Tomas Vratny being the third. Macík finished ahead of Koolen at the season-opening Dakar Rally with a seventh in class versus Koolen’s thirteenth. Dmitry Sotnikov of KAMAZ-master won the Trucks at Dakar but was not competing for the W2RC; even if KAMAZ had declared their intention to do so, they would not have been able to continue due to international penalties stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Howveer, Macík failed to finish the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge due to a gearbox failure whereas Koolen was thirteenth among all FIA entries. Macík rebounded at the Rallye du Maroc last week by winning three of six legs and the overall, edging out non-championship driver Gert Huzink for the latter by nearly two minutes. Koolen was third ahead of Vratny with victories in Stages #3 and #4.

Macík’s Abu Dhabi retirement proved to be the difference maker as he finished the season with 160 points. Had Andalucía been on the T5 calendar, he would have another chance to overtake Koolen as the winner receives thirty points. Vratny only recorded points in Morocco and ends with 37 total.

Daniel Hemric‘s hopes of defending his NASCAR Xfinity Series championship may have fallen short, but Kaulig Racing is eager to retain him for 2023. On Sunday, the team announced he has signed a contract extension to stay in the #11 Chevrolet Camaro next year.

“We are so excited to have Daniel back next year in the car that started all of this, our No. 11 Chevrolet,” team owner Matt Kaulig stated. “Over the past year, Daniel has embraced what it is like to be a part of the Kaulig Racing family and has been instrumental in growing our team. We can’t wait for another great season together next year.”

After winning the 2021 Xfinity championship (and his first NASCAR race) with Joe Gibbs Racing, Hemric moved to Kaulig for 2022 and his tenure began on a strong note when he won the pole in the season opener at Daytona. He made the playoffs as the tenth seed after notching seven top tens, but was eliminated after Saturday’s Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Roval.

“Daniel Hemric has played such a vital role in growing our Xfinity Series team,” said team president Chris Rice. “He and his team-mates, A.J. (Allmendinger) and Landon (Cassill), work together so well and lean on each other in a way that no other team does. We are really excited to continuing that success with Daniel as part of this family.”

Besides driving for Kaulig’s Xfinity programme, he is splitting the team’s #16 Cup Series car with Allmendinger and Chevrolet ally Noah Gragson. Despite finishing twelfth in the Daytona 500 and scoring a ninth at Las Vegas, he hailed to finish four of his last five starts due to mechanical issues or being caught in superspeedway crashes.