Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

17-year-old DTM Trophy driver, Theo Oeverhaus, will become the youngest ever DTM driver in the next round of the main series at the Nürburgring, with a guest drive as part of the Walkenhorst Motorsport team.

Oeverhaus has been a DTM Trophy driver since 2021, picking up a maiden win in his first season at Hockenheim. The German has enjoyed more success this season, currently sitting third in the drivers’ standings, notching up 76 points with a victory at the Norisring and second place at the Lausitzring.

He will partner Esteban Muth and Marco Wittmann at the Walkenhorst team, driving a BMW M4. And in doing so, taking the record for the youngest ever driver in the category from Pascal Wehrlein, who made his debut at the age of 18 in 2013.

On this opportunity Oeverhaus said: “I am really happy about this chance and the confidence from DTM to be racing as the youngest driver in history. It will be a tough weekend for me as I will be racing in DTM Trophy as well. Nevertheless, I am very much looking forward to showing how well one can progress through the ranks of the junior series BMW M2 Cup and DTM Trophy into the high-quality DTM. Huge thanks to Walkenhorst Motorsport who are supporting me both in DTM Trophy and in DTM”.

Niclas Königbauer, team manager at Walkenhorst added: “For us as a team, being able to accompany Theo from karting to DTM in such a successful way makes us proud and brings great joy. I am really curious to find out how he will do in his first GT3 sprint race. And, of course, I hope to see further young talents on the unique DTM platform and that we are allowed to be a part of the success story”.

Championship leader Anton Marklund‘s unbeaten run in this year’s FIA European Rallycross Championship has come to an end after Andreas Bakkerud secured a very popular home win at Lånkebanen in Hell.

A highly entertaining weekend was brought to a close with a scintillating final. Marklund lined up on pole alongside defending champion Bakkerud. Jamaican star Fraser McConnell, who has been delighting fans all weekend with his aggressive, no holds barred racing, started in the middle of the line, with the man currently in second place in the championship, Jānis Baumanis alongside, and finally another Norwegian, Sondre Evjen, who has had a distinctly mixed weekend, completing the grid. The crowd were expecting fireworks, and the drivers certainly delivered.

McConnell sadly got left on the line and had to retire straightaway with technical issues. Baumanis squeezed Bakkerud and Marklund on the run down to turn one, forcing Marklund off the track and over a curb, puncturing his front right tyre and causing a steering issue which dropped him out of contention. Baumanis put in a valiant effort, throwing his #YellowSquad Peugeot 208 around the track in the hunt for second place. But out front, it was all about the home favourites. Andreas Bakkerud, winner of the first ever World Rallycross Championship Grand Slam at hell back in 2016, led his compatriot Evjen home for a Norway 1-2, throwing their cars into a series of doughnuts to the delight of their fans.

For Marklund, there will be a sense of “what might have been.” The Swedish driver looked like the man to beat all weekend, setting the pace in all three Heats, and winning his Progression Race and cruising to an easy win in his Semi-Final, despite that race ending in chaos. The flag didn’t drop after five laps had been completed, so, as Marklund slowed down, Evjen stormed past and rocketed away, leaving Marklund to give chase. Once the mistake was found, however, the race win was rightly handed back to the championship leader.

If it hadn’t been for that opening lap contact, Marklund would surely have taken the fight to Bakkerud right to the line. However, as always with rallycross, it isn’t over until the checkered flag drops, meaning the Swede finishes off the podium for the first time in 2022. A strong performance as well from Baumanis will give the #YellowSquad team a boost. However, due to points now only being awarded based on finishing position in the final, the Latvian has only clawed back one point from his rival, meaning the gap to the leader is still a formidable 17 points.

Ash Sutton has a second race win of the 2022 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season to keep himself well in the fight to defend his Drivers’ Championship following Snetterton.

In a weekend which saw Colin Turkington surge ahead in the Drivers’ Championship after a double win, Sutton kept it interesting sitting behind Turkington and Tom Ingram post Snetterton and it shows the continued improvements in the NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST.

But it could have been a different story with Dan Rowbottom making a stellar getaway and surged ahead of pole sitter Sutton into Riches but a minor mistake from the Halfords Racing with Cataclean driver allowed Sutton and Jason Plato through. The former’s issues were confounded with a lack of hybrid meaning he fell away from the chasing pack concluding the race in tenth.

With their storied history and at times no love lost, many would have been salivating at the prospect of Sutton and Plato renewing their rivalry with the latter having his best showing of the season but barring a few laps where Plato looked to be catching Sutton, he backed off which by his own admission post race was due to tyre wear and also all his hybrid being used up.

This allowed Sutton to surge away with the main battles like in the previous races happening further down. Ricky Collard was jubilant as he sealed his first podium as part of the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK squad in a frenetic final few laps which saw a superb battle with Tom Ingram.

Johan Kristoffersson has made history by becoming the first ever event winner in the new all-electric era of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The four-time world champion looked to be in imperious form all weekend as he leaves Hell in Norway with 20 points.

The final offered some textbook Kristoffersson control, poise, and power. After an uncharacteristically poor start, the Swedish driver was sat in fourth place at the first corner. Kristoffersson’s teammate, Ole Christian Veiby, ran a touch wide, going three-abreast with Niklas Grönholm in his PWR RX1e, and a very aggressive Timmy Hansen, who attempted a daring move around the outside of all of them. Spotting this would cause a little chaos, Kristoffersson, demonstrating why he is the most successful World RX driver of them all, backed out of it, slid his car down the inside of the lot of them, and emerged out of turn 1 in first position. From there, as is so often the way, Kristoffersson proved impossible to catch, and he soared to the line to take his 28th victory in World RX.

Hansen shouldn’t be too despondent, bringing his Hansen World RX Team Peugeot 208 RX1e home in second, just ahead of the second Kristoffersson Motorsport Volkswagen Polo RX1e of Norway’s Veiby, with Klara Andersson just edging out her Construction Equipment Dealer Team teammate Grönholm in 4th.

Kristoffersson only lost two of the races he entered this whole weekend. He came a very close second to Hansen in Heat 2, and completely missed the start in his semi-final. As the other three cars screamed off the line, Kristoffersson remained stationary before eventually getting his Polo going. By the time the checkered flag dropped, however, he was back up into second position and was climbing all over the back of Veiby. If there hadn’t been a yellow flag caused by the unfortunate retirement of Rene Münnich in his Seat Ibiza RX1e, there would likely have been a daring and aggressive move up the inside of the final corner.

Ultimately, though, there was no stopping the defending champion. Speaking with characteristic confidence immediately after the race, he reasserted his dominance, saying “the first overtake of the weekend was in the final…so that was nice to be able to do that move.” Commenting on the debut for electric, he was more philosophical, saying “we still have a lot of work to do, but at the same time we are also learning [along] the way because everything is so new and faults happen. It’s just that we do those things now during the racing…but all in all it’s been good.”

It has been an eventful month for Chandler Smith. Just two weeks after son Chandler Jr. was born, the new father got to punch his ticket to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series‘  Round of 8 by dominating Saturday’s Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond Raceway. It marked his third win of the year.

He and his Toyota allies dominated the race as if to hoping to live up to its previous name ToyotaCare 250, with all 250 laps being led by Tundras. After Smith led the opening lap, pole sitter Ty Majeski cleared him for the lead and held it for the remainder of Stage #1. Smith’s Kyle Busch Motorsports team-mate and defending winner John Hunter Nemechek led a lap between stages before Smith reclaimed it. Nemechek’s 2021 victory also saw a Toyota sweep of the laps led counter.

Smith would not lose the lead at any point for the rest of the race. The 176 total laps led are the most in Smith’s Truck career by a wide margin (his previous best was 71 at Knoxville in 2021) and the third highest in a Richmond Truck race behind Ted Musgrave‘s 199 in 2005 and Jack Sprague‘s 196 in 2001.

“God is so good,” said Smith. “I’m a Daddy now. My wife had such an amazing labour and delivery. We have an amazing and beautiful baby boy at home. Honey, this is for you and Jr., this is for you as well. I can’t wait to get home to you two tonight. The blessings just keep stacking up. I have an incredible group behind me at KBM and an incredible group of partners with ChargeMe, Safelite and everybody. I’m taking this in. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve it, but I’ve going to keep taking it in and giving all glory to the Lord.

“Just like I said at Media Day, if the Good Lord wants it to be our championship, then it will and if it’s not, it’s not. I like how everything is going right now for sure.”

Colin Turkington made it two from two at Snetterton as he heads into his 500th race start in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) shortly with a showcase of true race craft as another commanding victory headed the way of the four-time champion.

Turkington again finished ahead of his teammate Jake Hill with the ROKiT MB Motorsport driver having an important weekend for his title credentials but barring running side by side with him in the opening lap, the experienced driver pulled away after the initial battle.

Unlike the opening race, he only had one safety car period to contend with but remained ahead despite not getting a demon restart he usually gets. Tom Ingram again concluded the podium with the same top five keeping order with Adam Morgan and Stephen Jelley concluding proceedings.

Ricky Collard produced his best display yet on his return to the championship going up five places to sixth places and will start fourth on the reverse grid with Ash Sutton, the defending champion getting a brilliant chance of a second win of the season and to stop the BMW dominance.

He will have Dan Rowbottom and Jason Plato alongside him on the front row who finished 8th and 7th respectively and were reversed alongside him with a 650th race start coming for the latter who will look to bookend a poor final season with a race win at the expense of one of his recent rivals in Sutton.

Team BMW’s Colin Turkington converted his pole position to a lights-to-flag victory to begin Sunday’s proceedings at Snetterton as the four time BTCC champion kept his stablemate, Jake Hill at bay throughout.

Turkington’s only threat came from the race start and subsequent safety cars with Michael Crees and Aiden Moffat in strife at the start and end of the 15 lap race respectively. Hill seemingly wanted to bank points so sat behind his teammate and championship rival until towards the end when he tried for one last push to no avail.

Content with second, he held off Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com driver, Tom Ingram to complete the leading trio. The only top five change came in the form of Adam Morgan who found his way past Stephen Jelley who benefited from Jason Plato having to withstand pressure from a battle pack include Dan Cammish, Ash Sutton, Dan Rowbottom and Gordon Shedden.

With Shedden joining at the end after a brilliant undercut on Toyota GAZOO UK Racing’s Ricky Collard late on. Further down, Rory Butcher made progress into the points alongside George Gamble with both making charges from the back, the latter in the most recent race winner having issues on the formation lap which sent him to the back but he finished one place off his starting position in 16th.

2022 British Touring Car Championship – Race 1 – Snetterton

Stoffel Vandoorne is the ABB FIA Formula E World Drivers’ Champion of Season Eight, after finishing in second-place at the Seoul E-Prix season finale. Edoardo Mortara won the final race of the season after a dominant display, with Jake Dennis rounding-off the final podium of the season. Mitch Evans claimed second in the championship, after finishing seventh.

Mortara makes the perfect start

After ten cities and sixteen races it all came down to the final race of the season, Vandoorne against Evans for the Season Eight Drivers’ Championship. Vandoorne qualified fourth, with Evans in thirteenth, leaving the New Zealander with it all to do.

With António Félix Da Costa on pole, the Portuguese driver made an excellent start to the one-hundredth Formula E race; however, contact-madness pursued behind. Virtually all the drivers came to a halt due to an onslaught of contact, somehow they all made it out okay with little damage. Sérgio Sette Câmara was one of the only drivers to suffer quite a lot of damage from the incident. André Lotterer, Dan Ticktum and Oliver Rowland all retired from the race in the opening few minutes.

The race lead quickly changed, as Mortara pulled off a superb move on Da Costa to take the race lead, with Dennis following the Swiss driver through to take second. It quickly became clear that Da Costa didn’t have the pace to win, as the DS Techeetah driver dropped well behind Mortara and Dennis. In the championship fight, Vandoorne remained in fourth, whereas after twelve minutes Evans had made his way to ninth but needed to make his way to first to claim the title.

Pascal Wehrlein and Nyck de Vries became the fourth and fifth retirements of the final race of the season, after the pair collided with one another. With the conditions being completely dry, the complete opposite of Race One, gaps in the field started to rapidly appear. Mortara and Dennis created a healthy gap to those behind, with the opening lap midfield carnage having dropped the majority of the field a good distance behind the top five.

Drivers can spend years competing in a given level to never win a race. John Holtger was able to do it in just one.

Saturday’s Championship Off-Road round at Bark River International Raceway saw the 17-year-old make his début in the Pro 2 class with a bang by leading flag to flag. Keegan Kincaid and Kyle Kleiman joined him on the podium.

A Pro Lite regular, Holtger entered Pro 2 at Bark River driving a Yokohama truck prepared by 2010 TORC Limited 2WD champion Mike Vanden Heuvel. He qualified tenth of thirteen but started on the pole courtesy of a field invert, from which he greatly benefitted by leading all nine laps.

While wins are always difficult to come by, Holtger received some help in the form of carnage involving his adversaries. Ricky Gutierrez, who started third, collided with second-placed Kleiman in the opening corner and suffered nose damage, preceding a series of truck issues for him. Kleiman stalked Holtger for the first lap before being swamped by a massive pack of trucks, which allowed Holtger to build some margin while Doug Mittag moved up to second. Points leader Jerett Brooks challenged Holtger on a restart before a flat tyre in the front of the field caused Brooks and those behind him to bunch up together.

Brooks’ trouble promoted Gutierrez and Mittag to second and third, respectively, before Mittag went off course and lost his spot to Kincaid. Gutierrez’s truck, sans nose and rear quarter panel, was overtaken by Kincaid and Mittag. An attempt to salvage a podium by Gutierrez resulted in contact with Mittag and Ryan Beat, and Kleiman snuck by for third.

Kris Wright‘s full-time 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series campaign was abruptly halted after seventeen races, but he will still have ride to finish the year as he joins Brandonbilt Motorsports to run nine of the last twelve Xfinity Series races in the #68 Chevrolet Camaro.

After a part-time Truck schedule in 2021, Wright was due to run the entire 2022 slate with Niece Motorsports. However, he departed the team prior to Saturday’s race at Richmond to end what had been a difficult season in which he wrecked out thrice, failed to score a finish higher than fifteenth, and was twenty-sixth in points.

Wright served as Sam Hunt Racing’s road course ringer in 2021, which gave him his first taste of Xfinity competition.

“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage, and surrounded by a great team, Brandonbilt Motorsports,” said Wright. “The team has been super helpful in trying to acclimate me into the #68 Chevrolet Camaro for the majority of the remainder of the 2022 season.

“Looking forward to seeing the fans at Watkins Glen.”

Anton Marklund currently looks set to make it three wins from the first three rounds of the FIA European Rallycross Championship. The championship leader looked in commanding form as he set the pace in today’s two heats, taking his SET Promotion Hyundai i20 to victory in both cases.

He was challenged on the very opening corner of the first race of the day. Sivert Svardal tried to challenge by taking his Volkswagen Polo R right around the outside, but didn’t quite have enough to send it into first place. Marklund then disappeared off into the distance, taking an easy win.

Race 3 of Heat 1 saw some spectacular battles between the Audis of Tamás Kárai and home favourite Sondre Evjen. After both drivers got their elbows out in the first couple of corners, it was the Hungarian Kárai who just managed to squeeze into second position behind Belgian Enzo Ide. Kárai and Evjen then battled bumper to bumper, neither giving an inch, until Kárai bailed and dived for his Joker Lap on lap 4. Evjen absolutely sent it on his standard lap, meaning he came out well ahead of his rival. Neither of them, however, could match Enzo Ide, who took advantage of the squabbles behind him to finish up only half a second behind Marklund.

Then came the noise. Local superstar and 2019 Euro RX1 champion Andreas Bakkerud emerged for his heat race in his EKS Audi S1, and the crowd went wild. He put on a show for them, going three abreast into turn one with Jānis Baumanis and Euro RX1 debutant Fraser McConnell. McConnell, who had promised to “send it in Hell” was as good as his word, barging into the side of Bakkerud as he emerged from his joker lap, but Bakkerud held his line and second place. Baumanis, though, was absolutely flying, finishing his race just 0.013 seconds behind Marklund.

Heat 2 Race 1 demonstrated a remarkable feat of survival from Marcin Gagacki. After lap 1 contact to his Ford Fiesta, his rear left tyre rubbed on the bodywork to the point where the tyre completed gave way, before practically the entire rear left of the car disintegrated, littering the track with parts that unfortunately Mandie August collected en route, causing an unfortunate end to her race. Somehow, Gagacki managed to nurse three quarters of his car home, much to the delight of the crowd.

The new all-electric era of the FIA World Rallycross Championship finally got underway today at Lånkebanen in Hell, Norway today, with some familiar favourites proving that they have adapted well to the new regulations.

On a day crammed full of firsts, the new “superpole” system was used for the first time in the RX1e class. After free practice, each driver takes it in turn to set one hot lap that determines their grid position. The field is very tightly bunched, as the top five drivers were separated by just over half a second, with Johan Kristoffersson, Timmy Hansen, and Kevin Hansen all setting identical sector two times. Ultimately, it was the four-time world champion Kristoffersson who snatched pole by 0.15 seconds to the visible disappointed of main rival Timmy Hansen.

Then began the racing proper. Despite having had virtually no testing, the speed of the launches of these cars is undeniable. With drivers now unable to use the Joker Lap on lap 1 of any track where the Joker is at the first corner, all the cars were forced to do battle on their opening laps. In their race, Kristoffersson, Kevin Hansen, and Kristoffersson’s Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS teammate Ole Christian Veiby did battle into turn one of their opening heat race, with Kristoffersson’s Volkswagen Polo RX1e just squeezing ahead of Hansen’s Peugeot 208 RX1e. The four-time world champion defended his position before settling into a comfortable lead and the heat win, beating Hansen by over 2 seconds.

In the second race in heat 1, it was clear that the drivers have not forgotten the old maxim “rubbing is racing.” On the run down to turn 2, the four cars concertinaed up, with debutant Gustav Bergström in the third Polo ultimately paying the price when his front bumper ripped on the back of Niklas Grönholm’s PWR RX1e. The chaos helped Timmy Hansen on his way, finishing just 0.291 seconds behind his compatriot Kristoffersson.

In heat two, the tables were turned. Kevin Hansen led the way in the first of the heat races, with Grönholm finishing one and a half seconds behind. Having struggled a little in practice this morning, Hansen now seems to be settling into the car a little more. As the drivers become more familiar with their machinery, we can expect the pace to increase. Then came the first time the two world champions faced each other in the new era of the sport. This time, it was Timmy Hansen who managed to come out on top, finishing 0.412 seconds ahead.

The FIA European Rallycross Championship is heating up in Hell, as Anton Marklund will try and secure three wins from three events this weekend (13/14 August). However, he will have to fend off attacks from an 18-strong field, including the return of local hero and WorldRX superstar Andreas Bakkerud as the sport returns to the Lånkebanen circuit for the Ramudden World RX of Norway 2022.

The Norwegian crowd will be cheering for the six Norwegian drivers in the field, reserving their loudest roars for Bakkerud. The 30 year old rallycross veteran made WorldRX history at this venue in 2016, securing the sport’s first ever grand slam when we won all four heats, his semi-final, and the final. The racer knows how to win here and is in the best possible position to take the fight to Marklund

However, Marklund’s SET Promotion Hyundai i20 is looking hard to beat at the moment. For all that he benefitted from a post-event disqualification for Oliver Solberg, the Swede’s pace was remarkable all weekend, finishing third in heat three and moving to the top of the leaderboard. Bad luck struck in the semi-final when he picked up a puncture, leading to a less than ideal start for the final. Nevertheless, Marklund has secured the full 40 points available so far, and is 18 ahead of his nearest rival, Latvia’s Jānis Baumanis.

The #YellowSquad driver will be hoping to turn the tables on his current run of bad luck. Baumanis has been consistently quick this year, but has been scuppered by punctures and the weather turning against him at precisely the wrong moment. The Latvian driver is approaching the weekend with confidence, saying “We have done some testing since Höljes to be prepared for the race and I’m feeling more confident in the car…I’m looking forward to Hell, I think this will be our best race of the season so far.”

Baumanis is not the only one hungry to make amends. After a stunning podium at the season opener in Hungary, Enzo Ide could only manage a bitterly disappointing 13th in his EKS Audi S1 in Sweden. Denmark’s Ulrik Linnemann finds himself in a similar position, having been hounded by bad luck meaning he finished 20th in round 2, despite taking the third position on the podium in Hungary. Expect them both to want to prove their successes were no fluke.

After years of waiting, the revolutionary new era of the FIA World Rallycross Championship gets underway this weekend in Hell with the return of a classic track, a hugely competitive field of rallycross superstars, and the first glimpse of the 500kW (680bhp) beasts in action. After the launch event on 11 August, where the excitement levels for these astonishingly fast cars began to rise, the racing proper begins on Saturday 13 August at the Ramudden World RX of Norway 2022.

The new age for the cutting edge of the sport nevertheless has a sense of familiarity about it, as the sport returns to the ever popular Lånkebanen circuit in Hell, Norway, after a three-year absence. The undulating track always delivers spectacular racing, and it is fitting that the new electric machines make their debut at such a classic track, in a country which is one of the world’s leading lights for automotive sustainability.

The opening round of the new RX1e class may only have 8 competitors (unfortunately the much anticipated GCK Motorsport Lancia Delta Evo-e is not ready to compete yet but will appear later in the season), but they are 8 of the finest and most exciting drivers in the world. Spearheading the field into the future is defending and four-time world champion Johan Kristoffersson. The Swedish superstar leads a three car Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS outfit, which also features teenager Gustav Bergström, who is an exciting, promising young talent, and Norway’s Ole Christian Veiby. Having spent the last 6 years honing his skills in rallying, Veiby is itching to get back into rallycross and is confident his Volkswagen Polo RX1e will be competitive from the off, saying “we have produced a good package that should put us in strong shape for the season ahead and enable us to fight at the front.”

They will have their work cut out to stay at the top of the sport, as an old rivalry is set to be reignited. Timmy Hansen tied with Kristoffersson at the end last season, losing out to his compatriot on countback, and so will be more determined than ever to add a second world title to his collection. The fraternal Hansen World RX Team lineup remains unchanged, as Timmy’s brother Kevin Hansen goes into battle once more. Having scored a remarkable 7 podiums out of 9 events in 2021, Kevin is more than ready to step out of his brother’s shadow and take centre stage.

Expect great things from the Construction Equipment Dealer Team outfit as well. Finland’s Niklas Grönholm is on top form, having matched Kristoffersson’s 3 event wins in 2021. In a season already crammed with firsts, Klara Andersson makes the step up from the supporting RX2e category. Having impressed last season, finishing fourth at her debut event at Spa-Francorchamps, Andersson’s ascent to WorldRX makes her the first permanent female competitor in the sport’s history.

Robert Shwartzman says he is excited by the prospect of running two free practice session with Scuderia Ferrari later this season, although where he runs is yet to be determined.

Despite Russian athletes being banned from competition following the countries invasion of Ukraine, Shwartzman will get the opportunities as he applied for an Israeli licence, thanks to being born in Tel Aviv and living in Israel for the first three years of his life.

And Shwartzman admits he was quick to make the application as he did not want to risk losing out on driving opportunities within the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

“I obviously always had an Israeli passport, and for this reason, when the situation between Russia and Ukraine worsened, I decided to apply for a license in Israel,” said Shwartzman to Motorsport.com.

“After all, I want to be a driver, reaching Formula 1 is my only goal and, waiting for the motorsport authorities to make the decisions that they then made, the need immediately arose in me to make sure I was available again if Ferrari needed to put me in the car.