Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

The ramifications of Johan Kristoffersson‘s crash with Carlos Sainz in the first Island X Prix in July have dropped him and Rosberg X Racing off the podium entirely. On Friday, a month after the race, Extreme E‘s sanctioning body Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) announced that after appeal from Sainz’s ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team, the results for the race have been revised to penalise RXR by relegating them to fifth and last in the Final.

RXR dominated the Island X Prix doubleheader by winning both races, but the first race’s Final began with contact between Kristoffersson and Sainz as they merged from the multi-lane sector that greeted drivers as they began their lap. Sainz rolled over multiple times, and was taken to hospital before being cleared in time for the second race. Officials subsequently demoted RXR from first to third by imposing a thirty-second time penalty which boosted Chip Ganassi Racing to the top step of the podium.

However, ACCIONA | Sainz still found the ruling too light and Sainz described it as “one of the most serious actions that I have ever seen without an exemplary penalty”, prompting the outfit to petition for a right to review under Article 14 of the International Sporting Code.

The appeal was approved and a hearing was launched on 3 August. Nine days later, the series ruled Kristoffersson fully accountable for the wreck, citing precedent, under Article 2.d, Chapter IV, Appendix L of the ISC regarding driver overtaking: “Causing a collision, repetition of serious mistakes or the appearance of a lack of control over the car (such as leaving the track) will be reported to the Stewards and may entail the imposition of penalties up to and including the exclusion of any driver concerned.”

Under the new decision, RXR further fell to fifth in the final classification for the round. This bumped ACCIONA | Sainz up to fourth despite failing to finish, while the original fourth-place team JBXE improves to third. This also reallocates points with RXR now earning ten points for the race instead of fifteen, ACCIONA | Sainz getting twelve over ten, and JBXE with fifteen. RXR remains atop the standings courtesy of their two wins and still garnering points for reaching the Final, while ACCIONA | Sainz leapfrogs X44 for third and JBXE moves past McLaren XE for seventh.

Whilst pleased with the improved performance during the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, Frédéric Vasseur feels his Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN outfit have left points on the table, mainly down to reliability issues with its C42-Ferrari.

Alfa Romeo are fielding an all-new line-up in 2022 with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu having replaced Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, and they currently sit sixth in the Constructors’ Championship heading into the final nine races of the season with fifty-one points, a significant improvement on what they were able to achieve across the past two campaigns.

However, only twice throughout the season have they scored points with both cars in the same race, and it has now been four races since either Bottas or Zhou broke into the top ten on race day.

Bottas has retired three times due to mechanical issues so far this season in Saudi Arabia, Great Britain and Hungary, while Zhou has failed to see the chequered flag on five occasions, the most recent being the French Grand Prix.

Vasseur, the Team Principal at Alfa Romeo, says it is a shame that the team have not scored more points than they have as they feel they should be involved in the battle for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship with the McLaren F1 Team and BWT Alpine F1 Team.

The season failed to end how DS Techeetah would’ve hoped, after they missed out on the Constructors’ Championship and finished third in the standings. Jean-Éric Vergne‘s sixth-place finish and António Félix Da Costa‘s tenth-place finish weren’t enough to move the team any higher, but at least secured them the bottom step of the championship rostrum.

Da Costa claimed the final pole of the Gen2 era of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, but failed to finished near the front after being forced almost into the barrier by Jake Dennis. In Dennis’ defence, he was given no room by the Portuguese driver, who is joining the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team next season.

Vergne could only manage sixth in the season finale in Seoul, after struggling for race pace throughout the E-Prix. It sums up a frustrating end to the season for the Frenchman, who ended up finishing fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.

Thomas Chevaucher, DS Performance Director and DS TECHEETAH Team Principal was grateful for the “huge work” done by the entire team, as they set their focus to Season Nine.

“As promised, we gave it all until the last race but this season in Formula E was once again really tight. Thanks to the huge work of all the team and to our performing DS E-TENSE FE21 we end after all on the Teams’ Championship podium. After 7 podiums this season, we are keeping DS Automobiles among the leader of the championship and I’m proud of it. Now it’s already time to focus on season 9 with new goals of wins and victory.”

Season Eight of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship couldn’t have arguably ended any worse for Jean-Éric Vergne, who saw his title hopes disintegrate after horrific luck.

The Frenchman ended the season fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, after an okay sixth-place finish at the Seoul E-Prix season finale. Vergne’s title hopes were effectively over after the London E-Prix, where he had failed to score a single point. Vergne did well to finish sixth at Seoul, after dropping some places early on. Race pace was clearly an issue for DS Techeetah, after team-mate António Félix Da Costa also struggled for performance during the final race of the season.

Vergne is hoping to come back stronger when Gen3 kicks-off in 2023, after missing a “couple of opportunities”.

“Today’s race was quite bad at the start because there was a crash between Di Grassi and Gunther and I lost some positions so I had to make them back. I started 8th, finished 6th.  I did not have the pace to come back much more than this. Obviously, we wanted more this year, I missed a couple of opportunities with 4 bad races but it’s motorsport, it’s unpredictable. Now we have a lot of work to do for the next generation of cars to be the best next year and come back stronger to win the championship.”

“Our story is that we were champions” – António Félix Da Costa

Da Costa ended his journey with DS Techeetah with a tenth-place finish in South Korea, but did manage to claim pole position for the E-Prix. Da Costa. who is joining TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team next season, battled hard early on to keep hold of the lead. The Portuguese dropped to third before suddenly falling all the way to the foot of the points.

Sacha Fenestraz stayed out of trouble and performed strongly during Sunday’s 2021-22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season finale despite only being called up to drive by the Dragon/Penske Autosport team at 6:30am on the morning of the race.

With Antonio Giovinazzi ruled out of the race after the Italian injured his thumb during Saturday’s opening race in Seoul, Dragon needed a replacement driver to race alongside Sérgio Sette Câmara, and they called upon Jaguar TCS Racing’s Fenestraz.

Fenestraz became the second reserve driver from Jaguar’s pool of drivers to take to the track in South Korea after Norman Nato was drafted in to replace the injured Sam Bird, and the French-Argentine driver put up a good showing despite very limited track time in a Formula E car and with no previous knowledge of the Seoul track.

“Honestly, they called me at 6:30am and were like, ‘come quickly’ and I was still like opening my eyes!” Fenestraz is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “It was a tricky one, I was racing in Japan last weekend so I didn’t manage to do any simulator work before the race.

“Everything was just in a rush. But about today, it was good. We couldn’t expect much as everyone raced yesterday, and I didn’t drive a Formula E car in a very, very long time apart from the Gen3 shakedown – but shakedowns are generally very few laps and you’re not pushing.

Jerome D’Ambrosio says Edoardo Mortara winning race two of the Seoul E-Prix weekend was a fantastic way to end the 2021-22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season, but there is a bittersweet feeling within the team that could have seen them achieve so much more.

Mortara took his fourth victory of the season in commanding fashion on Sunday after an early pass on António Félix da Costa gave him the lead, the result confirming his postition of third place in the Drivers’ Championship.

However, D’Ambrosio reckons the team gave away too many points across the season both with Mortara and team-mate Lucas di Grassi, meaning they were unable to take home either the Drivers or the Teams’ championships. Mortara, in particularly, scored only three points across the five races between his win in Marrakesh at the beginning of July and his season-closing win in South Korea.

Venturi ended the year second in the Teams’ championship, twenty-four points shy of the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, and despite failing to win the titles, Team Principal D’Ambrosio says he is proud of what the team have achieved across the past couple of seasons before they transition into the Maserati Racing FE Team in season nine.

“A victory for Edo today is a fantastic way to end the season,” said D’Ambrosio.  “I think this result reflects the performance we have shown throughout the year but at the same time, there is a bittersweet feeling because it feels like we could have had more in the World Teams’ Championship.

Edoardo Mortara ended the 2021-22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season with victory in race two of the Seoul E-Prix, but the Swiss driver admits it was bittersweet after missing out on the Drivers’ title.

The ROKiT Venturi Racing driver took the lead early in Seoul and was in control thereafter until the chequered flag, going on to claim his fourth victory of the season.

However, failing to score points in either race of the London E-Prix nor the opening race in South Korea meant he lost the chance to fight for the title, ending the year third in the final standings behind Stoffel Vandoorne and Mitch Evans.

Mortara was pleased to end Formula E’s one hundredth race and the final Gen2 event with victory, but he knows they will have to step up and find more consistency next season if he is to finally take the Drivers’ title that has eluded him.

“I have mixed emotions but overall, it was a very positive day for me,” said Mortara. “The car felt strong from practice and after qualifying second, I knew that I would be in a very strong position for the race if I could take the lead.

James Barclay says the Jaguar TCS Racing team did everything they could to take Mitch Evans to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Drivers’ title during the Seoul E-Prix weekend, but it was just not enough.

The New Zealander took victory in the opening race of the weekend in South Korea but was only seventh in the second race, and with Stoffel Vandoorne finishing second on Sunday, it was the consistent Belgian who took the title.

Evans ultimately finished second in the final standings, thirty-three points adrift of Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team’s Vandoorne, while the team ended the year fourth in the Teams’ Championship.

Barclay, the Team Principal at Jaguar, says the team can still hold their heads up high after a good season that saw Evans take four race victories, including both races of the Rome E-Prix, and three further podiums amid the team’s highest points haul in Formula E.

“Today we gave everything to try and win the drivers’ title with Mitch but it was out of reach,” Barclay said on Sunday.  “We raced all the way into the points and put Stoffel Vandoorne and Mercedes under pressure which is what we set out to do in Seoul. Congratulations to them on their successes after a hard fought season.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Elfyn Evans tops the timing board after the four first stages of the 2022 Ypres Rally in Belgium and he is holding off the Hyundai Shell Mobis´ Ott Tänak with a lead of 2.3 seconds as they are heading to the midday service.

The Welshman took over the rally lead early on as the Finnish teammate Kalle Rovanperä crashed out on SS2 this morning, Rovanperä was leading the rally after the opening stage but because of his heavy roll, he will not restart the rally anymore this weekend.

Both Evans and Tänak have been complaining about they haven´t felt comfortable in the cars throughout the morning twisty and narrow Flanders farm stages. Tänak who is now the one that goes out first on the road had cleaner stages than when Evans went and could close down the gap to just six-tenths of a second by the penultimate test. However, Evans responded fast on the final stage of Langemark at the morning loop and took back 2.3 seconds on Tänak.

Last year´s rally winner and home crowd favourite Thierry Neuville is in third with 6.5 seconds back after a shaky start on his home rally, on the opening stage he overcooked a junction and there he lost around 10 seconds but throughout the morning he has fought back. Esapekka Lappi is trailing Neuville with 12.4 seconds behind in fourth and was the last driver to complete the stage in dry conditions.

Craig Breen is the leading M-Sport driver as teammate Adrien Fourmaux who has been fighting for the fourth position lost over a minute when the rain fell down the order to eight overall. Gus Greensmith is in sixth and squeezed in between the Fords in seventh is Oliver Solberg.

The entry lists for the 2022 FIA World Rallycross Championship round 2/3 and the 2022 FIA European Rallycross Championship round 4 at Riga in Latvia on 3/4 September are now officially published featuring 8 all-electric RX1e cars and 18 RX1 cars

Following the new all-electric debut in Hell in Norway last weekend, the 2022 season continues now with a doubleheader at the old Soviet-era racetrack of Biķernieku trase in the outskirts of the Latvian capital. The same eight contenders racing in Norway will be back again in Latvia with the four-time World RX champion Johan Kristoffersson, who wrote history in Norway by becoming the first winner in the new era, headlining the small but capable entry list.

Joining Kristoffersson in the three Volkswagen Polo RX1e fielded by Kristoffersson Motorsport are the former WRC driver Ole-Christian Veiby and rallycross newcomer Gustav Bergström.

Hansen Motorsport 2022 season start didn´t go as they were hoping for, the two Hansen brothers of Timmy Hansen and Kevin Hansen in a pair of Peugeot 208 RX1e cars are looking to take redemption in Riga, a track that has suited them well before during the old Supercar era.

The new 2022 team Construction Equipment Dealer Team was the only team in Norway that had both of the PWR 001 RX1e cars in the final with the 2022 RallyX Nordic champion Niclas Grönholm coming out better than his female teammate Klara Andersson.

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s team principal Jari-Matti Latvala spoke with the media after the current FIA World Rally Championship points leader Kalle Rovanperä crashed out early this morning at the start of the 2022 Ypres Rally.

Rovanperä has until today had a trouble-free season and not crashed since his home round of Rally Finland last season, Latvala who has spoken with the American publication DirtFish.com, says the crash was inevitable.

Rovanperä rolled his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 on a left-hander at the SS2 of Westouter-Boeschepe 1 because he understeered and couldn´t save it in time, the car is retired from the rally and Latvala has also confirmed that Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen are ok.

“That’s the main thing, it was quite an impact to the front and then rolling, but always when it’s rolling it’s not so bad because the worse situation is like if you hit the tree or a stone, it’s actually a sudden stop,” Latvala told DirtFish.com.

“So always when it’s rolling it’s softer for the drivers. It looks like it starts to understeer and then starts to go wide. But it’s unlucky that there’s a hole, he hits the hole, because otherwise there was no ditch later on in the field and immediately basically you have to pay the penalty. But this is typical here. There are normally very, very steep and sharp ditches which really when you hit them it’s the end of the game.”

The current FIA World Rally Championship points leader Kalle Rovanperä has unfortunately crashed out early of the Ypres Rally as ee ran wide into a ditch on the outside of a left-hander which pitched the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 into a roll at the midway point of SS2 Westouter – Boeschepe 1.

The car has a lot of damage and it is most likely that Rovanperä will be retiring from the rally and the hopes for probably claiming the championship title this weeked was shattered. However, both Rovanperä and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen walked away unharmed and they have signed thumbs up to the marshals as shown through the LIVE TV feed from the helicopter.

Before the start of SS2, Rovanperä was quickest on the opening stage and took an early rally lead of 2.5 seconds ahead of his teammate Elfyn Evans. The SS1 wasn´t also drama free as Rovanperä was told to listen to the pacenotes given by the co-driver as he had some moments out on the stage. The last year´s winner Thierry Neuville also had trouble on the first stage as he overcooked at a junction and lost quite some time.

Jos Verstappen who is the father of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship Max Verstappen, has now swtiched focus over to rallying over the past months and now the former F1 driver will be taking on the FIA World Rally Championship as he makes a debut in the WRC2 support category in Ypres Rally, driving a Citroen C3 Rally2 car prepared by the Belgian DG Sport outfit.

Verstappen, like his son, has spent eight season in the F1 between the 90´s and 2000´s before retiring in 2003, since then he has contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans on two occasions in 2008 and 2009 before starting to compete in rally at the beginning of this season. The rally career has went well so far for the 50-year-old Dutchman, he claimed a class victory on his first attempt at the Belgian Rally Championship round of Rally van Haspengouw and took his maiden overall podium with a second place finish in Station Le Seau Monteberg Rally and now he will attempt to take on a world-level rally.

“I have always enjoyed watching rallying, when you see it on television or on the WRC app, it’s always very spectacular. I first drove a rally car maybe one and a half years ago and of course, from that point you just want more and more. So we started to do some events with the Rally2 car and DG Sport and then Ypres came up  – and that’s why we are here.” Jos Verstappen said.

“It’s a big step, but we really enjoy the rallying and we are here to learn. I am 50 but I am still learning a lot and I need the experience,” Jos added and continues to talk about his co-driver Harm van Koppen and the challenging pace notes: “I really had to learn that somebody was talking to me, when I was in single-seaters, I didn’t like when the engineer was speaking to me during the race – and now they are speaking all the time to me! I’ve had to get used to it, but it was a really hard time at the start to understand what everything means and what to do. On a rally, you’re busy all the time and you need to drive fast.

“When somebody is talking in your ear all the time, it can distract you a bit at the beginning, but you need to keep concentrated on what to do and things like that. It’s going a little better now and I think the more you do it the more you are learning.”

Kurt Busch‘s string of missed races will reach at least six. On Thursday, he announced his concussion from his Pocono qualifying wreck in July will keep him out of the #45 23XI Racing Toyota Camry for the final two races of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season at Watkins Glen International and Daytona International Speedway.

Considering Busch’s injury, skipping the wreck-heavy Daytona is perhaps the easiest choice of track to skip. Despite missing six races, he is still ensured a playoff spot via his Kansas win and has enough points to remain in the standings’ top thirty.

“As much I want to be back in the car, the time is still not right. Over the last few weeks, I have focused all my efforts on getting better. And in order to fully focus my recovery on trying to be back for the playoffs, I will not be competing in the next two races at Watkins Glen and Daytona,” Busch posted on social media.

“This decision was not an easy one, but the right one. I need to be racing at 100%. I owe that to everyone at 23XI, all of our partners, my fellow competitors, and the fans.

“It’s my goal to be back in the #45 Toyota Camry TRD to start the playoffs. I know Ty will continue to do a great job in my absence, and I appreciate the competitiveness he’s brought to the track.

Last yeat´s Ypres Rally winner and the local fans home hero Thierry Neuville went fastest through the Nieuwkerke Shakedown stage held as the rally warm-up on Thursday afternoon, he edged the current championship points leader Kalle Rovanperä by just 0.6 of a second.

The Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team seems to be strong ahead of the rally, the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 has been proven to be a great car on tarmac stages and it showed well during the shakedown as Oliver Solberg, who hopes to get his luck turned around in Ypres, went third fastest 0.7 second behind Rovanperä. However, Toyota Gazoo Racing´s Elfyn Evans also posted a similar time on his last pass and that means both Solberg and Evans are sharing the third place.

Craig Breen was the fastest out of the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team drivers, with 0.3 second behind Solberg and Evans, and Toyota´s Esapekka Lappi 0.1 second behind in sixth. Adrien Fourmaux also in a M-Sport built Ford Puma Rally1 went seventh fastest with 0.5 second behind. Rally Finland winner Ott Tänak had to settle for a eight fastest time just 0.2 second slower than Fourmaux and rounding-up of the Rally1 drivers in top 10 were Toyota´s NG driver Takamoto Katsuta in ninth and M-Sport´s Gus Greensmith in tenth.

In the WRC2 support category it is also another home hero who tops as the local wildcard Sébastien Bedoret edged the returning Stéphane Lefebvre.

Ypres Rally Shakedown top 15: