Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

For the first time ever, Rosberg X Racing failed to reach an Extreme E Final, though of no fault of the drivers as a technical issue ended their day despite topping qualifying and winning Semi-Final #1. With the points leader out of the picture, X44 Vida Carbon Racing found new life in the championship battle as Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez scored their first win of the season.

“We were surprised to see that Rosberg X Racing weren’t competing in the Final, but we didn’t have a lot of time to think about it as we were racing straight away,” said Loeb.

X44, winner of Semi-Final #2, faced significant pressure from McLaren XE until the latter’s Emma Gilmour received two time penalties totalling fifteen seconds for knocking down waypoint flags. Although Chip Ganassi Racing was moved up to second in McLaren’s stead, they suffered the same fate for Sara Price missing a checkpoint, with the resulting five-second infraction knocking them off the podium and promoting ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team and ABT CUPRA XE up a spot.

The win is X44’s second after claiming the 2021 season-ending Jurassic X Prix. It also concludes a strong first round under the X44 Vida Carbon Racing name after the company became the team’s title sponsor weeks before the Copper X Prix.

“Today was amazing, we are so happy to have won the Copper X Prix and to still be in the fight for the championship,” commented Gutiérrez. “Rosberg X Racing are a really strong team so for them to not be able to drive in the Final was not good for them, but hopefully it is more interesting to have more than one team fighting for the championship in Uruguay.”

Tom Ingram cruised to victory in Race Three at Silverstone to set up a mouth-watering conclusion to this year’s British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season in two weeks at Brands Hatch.

The top three drivers are only separated by just seven points with Ash Sutton as reigning champion leaving the Northamptonshire circuit with a slender lead after outscoring Jake Hill in second compared to fourth but the RoKIT MB Motorsport driver is next followed by Ingram, whilst a poor weekend for Colin Turkington leaves him 27 points behind.

To begin the race, Josh Cook was on pole but made contact off the line with Dan Cammish with Adam Morgan also caught up with the frenetic opener which left the door ajar for Ingram, Sutton and Rory Butcher to ease through. Hill nearly saw his race up in smoke after contact with Shedden at Brooklands but recovered to carve his way through to fourth, while Cammish and Cook recovered to round out the top six.

Another top display from Tom Chilton saw the EXCELR8 driver sit seventh ahead of Shedden, Ollie Jackson and Aron Taylor-Smith with Turkington as mentioned down in 12th and needing a miracle seemingly to seal the title once more.

2022 British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Silverstone

Jake Hill is within only two points of Ash Sutton atop the Drivers Championship heading into the final race of the day at Silverstone after the RoKIT MB Motorsport driver ignited the title fight with victory in Round 26.

With only four races to go, there is only a blanket of 14 points between the top four making it one of the closest battles in years but a move from Hill could stand out if he wins the Drivers’ Championship at Brands Hatch.

Losing out to Gordon Shedden in the opening laps, he reversed the positions around the quarter distance mark making an undercut through Luffield and Woodcote completing the move before Copse and he sealed the win from there albeit through a safety car period after Ricky Collard’s Toyota set on fire.

His teammate, Rory Butcher had better luck as he held off the charge of brother-in-law, Gordon Shedden to finish second with new championship leader, Ash Sutton fending off Tom Ingram in fourth and fifth.

Josh Cook who finished sixth behind Adam Morgan and Dan Cammish will head onto reverse grid pole as all eyes will be on the title fight, one that the Rich Energy BTC Racing driver was involved in for most of the season. Colin Turkington himself just missed out on the top 12 finishing 13th as he aims to bank vital points going into the final meeting.

Rory Butcher‘s love affair with Silverstone continued on Sunday afternoon as the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK driver followed up his pole position by sealing the opening BTCC race of the day around the Northamptonshire circuit.

Butcher sealed his first win of the season after claiming two victories last season at Silverstone and could do the same today. Starting the race, he stormed clear before being hounded down by the two BMW’s in tandem in Jake Hill and Adam Morgan for RoKIT MB Motorsport and Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport with a safety car putting his lead into doubt.

But he safely navigated the latter portion of the race surviving intense pressure to eventually cross the line for his tenth BTCC career victory and take a confidence booster into Race Two.

While the leading pack were battling out front which also included title contenders Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton who finished fifth and sixth, it was Colin Turkington who took the headlines as the championship leader was bumped down to the rear of the field.

Ingram initially lost out in an opening melee but finished fifth, for Turkington though he was the victim of further contact and his hopes of scoring championship points were quashed in a rebuild job likely towards Race Three now at a vital point of the season.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series winner at Darlington? Noah Gragson.

The Xfinity winner a week later at Kansas? Noah Gragson.

The Xfinity winner the week after that at Bristol? Noah Gragson.

The Xfinity winner in the following race at Texas Motor Speedway? Noah Gragson.

After taking the lead with twelve laps remaining in Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 300, Gragson drove off to win for the fourth straight race. He is the second driver in Xfinity Series history to achieve such a feat after Sam Ard won at South Boston, Martinsville, Rougemont, and Charlotte in four straight races in 1983 (although Kyle Busch won all five of his Xfinity starts in 2021, they were not consecutive races).

Rosberg X Racing entered the Copper X Prix needing thirty-one points to secure their second straight Extreme E championship. While this was not possible to attain from qualifying alone, a strong Saturday gives them momentum entering race day after being the fastest team in single-car qualifying for the fourth straight round.

Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Johan Kristoffersson continued their Round #1 domination by beating X44 Vida Carbon Racing by over five seconds.

“We started off really well this morning. The car felt great and we had a good run,” said Kristoffersson. “In the second session I reacted too slow and had a bit of contact on turn one, which limited my visibility. The session was difficult, but I am happy that we got out in P1.”

Despite leading qualifying for ten points towards the intermediate classification, RXR’s Heat #1 win streak was snapped as Andretti United XE scored their second heat win of 2022. RXR still settled for second to record eighteen total points and still top Saturday’s activities.

Conversely, XITE Energy Racing and Veloce Racing crashed out of their heats, with the latter’s Lance Woolridge describing it as a “pretty frustrating end to our qualifying after we had a consistent and high improvement of pace through our sessions.

While certainly not how she would have wanted to do it, Klara Andersson will finally make her Extreme E début this weekend at the Copper X Prix. A Free Practice #2 crash on Friday resulted in Jutta Kleinschmidt being hospitalised for evaluation, throwing Andersson into the ABT CUPRA XE car in her stead as Nasser Al-Attiyah‘s team-mate.

While Kleinschmidt was not seriously injured in her FP2 incident, which entailed an especially rough landing that tore off her car’s nose, she was not cleared to take part in qualifying or any races over the weekend.

“After her accident in Free Practice 2 Jutta stayed in hospital overnight for further observation,” said the team. “The entire ABT CUPRA XE team is in close contact with Jutta and wishes her the very best.”

Andersson serves as Extreme E’s female Championship Driver, placing her in an advisory role to the series and first in line for a substitute position if any of the regular drivers are injured or otherwise unable to race. She initially began the 2022 season as a member of XITE Energy Racing, but a positive COVID-19 test ahead of the season opener in February sidelined her as the team elected to permanently roster reserve Tamara Molinaro.

In the meantime, she has focused on rallycross by competing in the FIA World Rallycross Championship‘s RX1e division for CE Dealer Team. She became the first woman to stand on a World RX podium when she finished third in Race #2 at Portugal, and is currently sixth in points.

Daniel Ricciardo is currently without a Formula 1 seat for 2023, after his deal with the McLaren F1 Team was ended early due to his poor performances and lack of pace compared to Lando Norris.

The Australian driver has been linked with the recently vacant BWT Alpine F1 Team seat, which was left open by Fernando Alonso‘s departure to the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team. Despite a difficult time at McLaren, Ricciardo has shown his quality over his F1 career, picking up eight wins and a number of impressive podiums.

His time at Oracle Red Bull Racing was particularly successful, he won seven races in his time with the Austrian outfit, an impressive number considering he raced against the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team in the peak of their dominance. He moved onto Renault in search of a Championship winning car, he performed well but ultimately the car fell short of the Australian’s expectations.

He moved onto McLaren in 2021 and struggled to adapt to the car, but won the team’s first race since 2012 at the Italian Grand Prix last year. Despite a win in his time at McLaren, it has failed to meet everyone’s expectations and McLaren announced that Oscar Piastri would drive for the team from 2023 onwards.

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, still remains a big fan of the Australian after the pair worked with each other for many years at Red Bull. He thinks that there is still a quality driver in the Aussie and he deserves a seat. He spoke to the ‘Beyond The Grid‘ podcast recently and explained his thoughts on the Ricciardo saga.

For the first time in his NASCAR career, Parker Retzlaff will drive a Chevrolet as he joins Our Motorsports for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. He will pilot the #02 Chevrolet Camaro with sponsorship from FunkAway.

Retzlaff entered 2022 with plans of débuting in the Xfinity Series on a ten-race deal with RSS Racing. While he enjoyed solid pace with a tenth-place finish at Richmond and top twenties in his next three starts, he departed RSS in mid-September after attempting just five races.

“We took notice to the success that Parker was having this season,” said team owner Chris Our. “We’re excited to see what he can do in one of our Chevrolets.”

The 19-year-old Wisconsinite finished fourth in the 2020 ARCA Menards Series East standings for Cook-Finley Racing. All of his NASCAR regional series starts came with Toyota, which included three runs in the national ARCA Menards Series.

Retzlaff also competes in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series for RFK Racing. He is thirty-first in points.

When the World Rally-Raid Championship resumes with the Rallye du Maroc on 1–10 October, Isidre Esteve will race in the highest level of the T1 class for the first time. On Thursday, Repsol Rally Team announced Esteve will drive a Toyota Hilux T1+, which enjoyed tremendous success at the 2022 Dakar Rally with Nasser Al-Attiyah.

“We are joining the T1+ category, the most competitive of the Dakar, with one of the fifth cars of the highest level that the event will have,” said Esteve.

“The cars in this division represent an important leap forward at a technical level. If we wanted to continue growing and being competitive, we had to get one of these units, and we have achieved it. The first test kilometres with the Toyota Hilux T1+ confirm that the leap forward is impressive. Now we can run much more taking half the risks than last year.”

Esteve and co-driver Txema Villalobos are no strangers to the Hilux, though they ran the Toyota Hilux Overdrive model prepared by Overdrive Racing for the T1.1 level. While the Overdrive has also been a viable vehicle, the T1+ presents upgrades such as larger wheels (43.18 cm instead of 15.24 cm) and more suspension travel (350 mm versus 275). Other differences include a more centralised engine and a wider base at 24 cm.

With the Hilux Overdrive, Esteve finished twenty-seventh overall at the 2022 Dakar Rally. Esteve has competed at Dakar since 2001, though originally on a bike before switching to four wheels in 2009. He and Villalobos first joined forces for the 2017 race, which marked Esteve’s first start since 2009, while 2021 saw his maiden race in the Hilux.

The ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team enjoyed a solid Friday as Carlos Sainz and Laia Sanz led the two Free Practice sessions ahead of the Copper X Prix.

The team beat points leader Rosberg X Racing by just two-tenths of a second in FP1, though the margin was actually much greater had Sanz not received a ten-second penalty for hitting a waypoint marker. The same infraction was also handed to Chip Ganassi Racing‘s Kyle LeDuc.

“The race in Chile will be important for ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team as an individual event but also in the bigger picture for the final stages of the championship because there are only two events to go in the calendar,” commented Sainz.

“We are traveling to a different continent and we visit South America for the very first time. I have fond memories of my time there with the World Rally Championship and the Rally Dakar and I am sure that Extreme E will also receive a warm welcome. It will be an excellent race. I am already looking forward to discovering the terrain where we will be racing and I want to see what challenges the track entails.”

ACCIONA | Sainz’s run comes just days after the team resumed rebuilding their Spark ODYSSEY 21, which suffered severe damage in a wreck at the first Island X Prix and forced them to run the second in the Extreme E test car. The team was also permitted to shake down the reconstructed car ahead of the weekend.

As the morning session kicked off on the final day of FIA Formula 3 post-season testing in Jerez, Sebastian Montoya held top position within the first half hour, recording a 1:30.759.

The first red flag of the day was then waved as Hadrien David found himself in the wall at the now infamous Jerez turn ten.

Yesterday’s quickest man Gabriel Bortoleto, then took top spot after the session resumed, before a second red flag was then waved after Max Esterson went off at turn fourteen.

Gabriele Mini then went fastest after the restart, until Franco Colapinto then outdid him, setting a 1:29.617 to put him top.

A third red flag was then promoted as Roberto Faria found his car stuck in the gravel at turn five.

Following relentless hard work towards making the team more sustainable and environmentally friendly, Sauber Motorsport have been recognised very highly by the FIA and have been awarded with the highest level of recognition.

The Swiss-based company have been awarded with the Three-Star level (highest achievable), on Motorsports governing body’s Environmental Accreditation Framework, something the team’s Managing Director hails as a “remarkable achievement”.

Sauber have been awarded with the fully-deserved achievement following extensive work into making sure the side employs best practice into areas, such as, environmental management.

It’s somewhat astonishing to believe that Sauber have been carbon neutral since 2011, at a time when there is so much pressure and demand on cleaning up the air around us in order to support not only the the environment and climate, but also our lives.

It comes as no surprise that Sauber are as carbon efficient as they are, given the fact that their Hinwil headquarters uses renewable energy which is generated on site. Sauber are one of the very few companies in motorsport that have fully offset their CO2 emissions produced, including, Sauber employees flights across the globe!

Oscar Piastri was confirmed a few weeks ago at the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix by the McLaren F1 Team, as their replacement for Daniel Ricciardo for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Season.

Piastri was part of the BWT Alpine F1 Team’s academy set-up and was officially announced by the team for 2023, but without the Australian’s permission. McLaren had been monitoring the situation and decided that they would take a chance on Formula 1‘s next golden star, following the likes of George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Alex Albon.

This season has seen eight-time grand prix winner, Ricciardo lose his Formula 1 seat, with no destination confirmed for the Australian next season. The main reason for Ricciardo’s dismissal is down to his lack of pace compared to McLaren’s young star Norris. In the Championship this season, Norris has an extremely comfortable sixty-nine point lead over his team-mate, leading many to worry for Piastri next year at McLaren.

Former F1 World Champion, Nico Rosberg, has spoke upon his personal feeling about the move and has fired a harsh warning to the Australian ahead of the move.

Rosberg told Sky Sports F1: “It’s a brave move by Oscar (Piastri), it really is. It is either he beats Lando (Norris) or he’s out basically of the sport, so it’s really, really tough, but he believes in himself. And if you think you’re that good, you’ve got to go for it.”

Williams F1 Team has confirmed that Nicholas Latifi will be departing the team at the end of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, after three years in the sport. The British team released a statement on Friday morning explaining the news, with CEO and Team Principal, Jost Capito, describing the Canadian as “a great team player”:

“On behalf of the whole team, I would like to say an enormous thank you to Nicholas for his three years of hard work with Williams. He is a great team player who has a great attitude towards his colleagues and work and is well liked and respected throughout the business,” said the German.

“Our time together is now coming to an end, but I know he will put full effort in to maximise what we can do together for the remainder of this season. We wish him all the very best of luck for his future, both in and out of the cockpit.”

“It’s still been a fantastic journey” Says Latifi

Latifi, who made his debut at the start of the 2020 season, was the team-mate of George Russell for two years at the Williams team, before partnering Alexander Albon for the 2022 season. The number six driver has scored seven points to date in his career, but is the only full-time driver to not score points so far in 2022.