Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Charles Clark will be returning to the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB for the 2022 season with Team Parker Racing as he looks to build on his seven podiums last season.

Clark followed in his fathers footsteps, Porsche Carrera Cup GB race winner Stephen Clark, beginning his racing career in the Porsche Club Championship in 2020, claiming a victory and finishing the year as runner up in the championship. Following the promising debut he took part in the final two rounds of the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB at Silverstone, driving a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport in the Am category.

For 2021 Clark returned to the Sprint Challenge for a full campaign, racing with In2Racing, finishing on the podium in his first Pro class race at Thruxton, eventually finishing fourth in the overall championship standings.

“Everyone at Team Parker Racing has been very welcoming and it’s been great to go through data with the team and look at all the other driver’s data, which I didn’t have last year. I think that’s going to make a big difference in really pushing me forward and getting the best out of me.

The 21-year-old is targeting the championship title this season, hoping to build on what he has achieved so far, continuing his way up the Porsche Pyramid and progressing his racing career.

The former New Zealand Rally champion Ben Hunt has unveiled his all-new Skoda Fabia R5 rally car which he will be using at the FIA World Rally Championship round of Rally New Zealand on 29 September – 2 October.

Together with Skoda of New Zealand, they have formed a brand-new team named Skoda New Zealand Rally Team and will be using an older spec Fabia R5 chassis.

Hunt will continue his long-term partnership with co-driver Tony Rawstorn and they have previously won the two-wheel-drive title in the New Zealand Rally Championship in 2011 and 2012 using a Ford Fiesta MK5 ST before switching over to four-wheel-drive and won the main title in 2015.

After having a contract with Subaru since 2016 and used the WRX STi he was gifted from the Japanese manufacturer, the New Zealander will now be using the Czech make to contest six rounds of the New Zealand Rally Championship this season and make an one-off appearance at his home rally when WRC returns after a ten years hiatus.

In what has been a historically good race for the team, this year’s Twelve Hours of Sebring threw up numerous hurdles for the team at every turn. All looked well for the team in the opening hours of the race, Geroge Kurtz and Jon Bennett both had strong opening stints in the brutal Florida humidity. Both Kurtz and Bennett kept the team in the top five before handing it over to Colin Bruan who charged for and nearly took the lead prior to a full course caution that ended his charge. Kurtz would keep the car in podium contention during his second stint with Bennett continuing the momentum when it was his turn behind the wheel.

It was during Bennett’s second stint that trouble arose for the team. During his stint, he suddenly slowed and came to a stop in turn one. After some brief trouble, he got the car running again just for the issue to occur once more. After this, the team decided to return the car back to its paddock to find the culprit. A faulty switch panel was activating the engine kill switch without any input. The team replaced the panel and rejoined the race in seventh, 12 laps off of the leader. With just four hours left it looked bleak, but there were no signs of quitting at CORE Autosport.

“We did have a good start to the day, and I think in many ways we were actually doing better than last year when we won, in terms of pace and fortune. Racing is racing and we began to have a little bit of an engine miss and then a complete electric failure twice,” Bennett said. “The CORE team did an incredible job diagnosing it and fixing it, but 12 laps was a bit too much for us to overcome. Colin and George’s pace were excellent, but sometimes racing just goes like that. Now we look forward to Mid-Ohio.”

Following the fix, Braun once again got behind the wheel and received minor damage to the nose following contact with another car. When Bruan pitted to hand the car over to Kurtz, the team were able to repair the damage and correct the car’s handling. During his final stint, Kurtz experienced steering rack failure and was forced to limp back to the pit lane for repairs. With 90 minutes left, the team returned the car to the track with Braun driving home to a fifth-place finish. The team was disappointed by the bad luck, but happy for the points haul nonetheless.

GP Elite will be returning to both the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland grids with a stellar line up, lead by two time (in both series) Supercup and Carrera Cup champion Larry ten Voorde.

The Dutch super team have dominated both series for the last two seasons, with ten Voorde taking all four titles he competed in – 2020 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland (4 Wins, 11 Podiums, 3 Pole Positions, 1 Fastest Laps), 2020 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (3 wins, 6 podiums, 3 Pole Positions, 2 Fastest Laps), 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland (8 Wins, 13 Podiums, 8 Pole Positions, 4 Fastest Laps), 2021 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (4 wins, 6 podiums, 4 Pole Positions, 2 Fastest Laps).

In addition to his success in Carrera Cup and Supercup, ten Voorde has seen success in the FIA World Endurance Championship and also eSports.

ten Voorde will face stiff competition this season in the two series as three-time Supercup champion Michael Ammermüller returns with Huber racing to reassert his authority.

Joining ten Voorde, will be 2019 Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux champion Max van Splunteren, Daan van Kuik, Jesse van Kuijk and Lucas Groeneveld, who will all be competing in both series this season.

Three-time Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup champion Michael Ammermüller will make his return to the series this year with Huber Racing alongside Morris Schuring, Rudy van Buren and Laurin Heinrich.

Ammermüller last raced in the series in 2019, when he claimed his third title with Lechner Racing, taking four wins and three further podiums from the ten race calendar. The following year he made the move to the ADAC GT Masters series driving the SSR Performance Porsche 911 GT3 R, taking three wins on the way to the title.

2021 saw another campaign in the ADAC GT Masters series, this time finishing second in the championship, despite taking four wins, he also took part in the DTM race at Nürburgring, marking Porsche’s ever race in the series, and a one-off appearance on the Nordschleife in the Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (formerly VLN).

Alongside his Supercup campaign, the Porsche specialist will be heading back to the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland as he makes a bid for the title that has so far eluded him, finishing as runner up in the series three times.

Joining Ammermüller under the SSR Huber Racing banner is the eSports turned racing star Laurin Heinrich, who will be looking to improve on his 2021 Supercup campaign that saw him finish fourth in the championship with one victory. Like his teammate, Heinrich will also be joining him in the national series, as he looks to add to his two victories from last season and improve on his fourth place in the championship.

Pierre Gasly’s first points of the 2022 Formula 1 season were somewhat overshadowed, as team-mate Yuki Tsunoda failed to start the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after yet more reliability problems to his AT03.

It was a strong comeback drive by Gasly, who was one of a few drivers that were massively caught out when the Safety Car appeared for Nicholas Latifi’s crash. Despite the setback, the Frenchman recovered well to eventually cross the line in eighth place, despite having intestine pain throughout the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Tsunoda failed to even make it to the grid, after experiencing reliability issues on the way round to take his spot. Tsunoda’s weekend was ridiculed by reliability issues, the Japanese driver didn’t even take part in Qualifying after issues arose with his AT03.

Tsunoda certainly won’t be remembering this Grand Prix, which was ultimately won by Max Verstappen. Scuderia AlphaTauri Team Principal, Franz Tost, is looking forward to returning to Saudi Arabia.

“Congratulations to Oracle Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen for this fantastic victory today, it was a great battle between Max and Charles and a really enjoyable race to watch. I also would like to congratulate the organisers of this Grand Prix, there was a good atmosphere, I think the fans enjoyed the race and I’m very much looking forward to coming back here.
 
“It was a difficult race for us, it’s always disappointing when a car isn’t able to make it to the starting grid. We had a problem on Yuki’s car with the oil pressure, therefore we had to stop.  We now have to go away and investigate what the reason for this was. As for Pierre, we started from ninth position, we struggled in the first stint and couldn’t quite get up to pace, so the Mclarens were able to overtake us.

48-year-old Frenchman Sébastien Loeb who won the opening-round of the FIA World Rally Championship at Rallye Monte-Carlo in January at the beginning of the year, is now rumoured to add a new program to his 2022 schedule beside WRC, Rally-raid and Extreme E by entering the DTM series.

According to an article published by Motorsport.com, Loeb has tested one of the AF Corse’s Ferrari 488 GT3 cars at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Tuesday this week. It was known that the AF Corse were testing three cars in total adorned in the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri liveries, and a plain-white which Loeb was testing.

Loeb has never competed in the DTM series before but he has got a lot of experience in circuit racing alongside his domination in the rally scenewith 9 worlds titles. In 2006 he came second at the 24 Hours or Le Mans and scored multiple race wins in the 2014 and 2015 FIA World Touring Car Championship.

The full-time confirmed drivers of Felipe Fraga and Nick Cassidy were also there and they were testing the two other full-livered cars.

Red Bull has for a long time sponsored Loeb, so a DTM opportunity is certainly very likely after this test and the background for it is also influenced by Cassidy’s other racing programs this season, as he also drives in the Formula E and FIA World Endurance Championship in addition to the DTM.

Pierre Gasly scored his first points of the season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, whilst team-mate Yuki Tsunoda failed to even make the start at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

It was a strong Grand Prix for the French Scuderia AlphaTauri driver, who after starting ninth, battled hard throughout to clinch an eighth place finish and his first points of the season. It could’ve possibly been an even better result for Gasly, had he not been caught out by the Safety Car to clear up Nicholas Latifi’s last corner crash, nevertheless eighth place is a super result.

Gasly was very pleased to leave Saudi Arabia with points, which was a miracle considering that from very early-on in the race the Frenchman suffered from intestine pain.

“I’m really happy with how today went and glad I’m coming away with points. We got really unlucky with the safety car, as we boxed around 30 seconds before it came out and so dropped down the field, which wasn’t ideal. We managed to make our way back up though to P8, so really pleased with that.

“From my side the last 15 laps were really difficult, I had some pain in my intestine and it was really difficult to race. I’m feeling good in the car though, I’m able to push the way I want to, but I think we need to just find some more downforce. We know the areas we need to improve so we just need to go away and find the solutions now.”

Haas F1 Team principal, Guenther Steiner, has said that team morale is high at the moment, following a second consecutive points finish for the American racing team. With Kevin Magnussen finishing in ninth place at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Steiner says that Haas “cannot wait” for the first grand prix at Melbourne in three years, where they are hoping to get both cars into the points.

“It was a good day again and we got some points. Obviously, we planned to have more but we’re happy with what we got and as long as we keep scoring, we’re happy,” the boss explained.

“We started on a different strategy – on the hard tire – to most of the other teams and unfortunately the safety car came out at the wrong moment. Nevertheless, Kevin and the team fought back to get into the points which was fantastic to see again.”

“Spirits are high here and we cannot wait to get to Melbourne to hopefully score some more points with both cars.”

Haas have certainly taken the world by surprise with their competitiveness in the 2022 season – especially after the miserable 2021 season the team experienced. The black, white and red-themed racing team are in a very strong position, and look to be fighting for the ‘best of the rest’ position at the end of the season.

Kevin Magnussen has scored points for the second weekend in a row at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, a positive end to the weekend after a difficult Saturday afternoon for Haas F1 Team, caused by Mick Schumacher‘s terrifying accident at turn thirteen.

Despite finishing in the points, Magnussen believes that there was potential for more points, should the safety car have not come out at exactly the wrong time – “The worst thing that could happen to us did happen as we started on the opposite strategy, on the hard tire. Almost everyone else was on mediums and the worst thing that could happen was a safety car on lap 16 or 17, and it happened on lap 16.”

“To still get two points is very good and the car was phenomenal again, it’s such a joy to drive. We did get a little bit of luck back at the end with the Virtual Safety Car but had that been a safety car rather than a VSC, everyone would’ve been condensed and with new tires we would’ve scored big points again.”

“The team has done a fantastic job and we bounced back from a difficult situation on Friday, so I’m happy,” concluded Magnussen, after a ninth place finish for Haas.

Mick Schumacher – “I’m feeling good,” following high-speed qualifying crash

As a result of his scary accident in Qualifying 2 on Saturday, Schumacher was unable to compete in Sunday’s Grand Prix, but commented on his condition before the race:

Elias Adestam has recently joined the GB4 championship with Fortec Motorsport for the 2022 campaign.  

At just 15-years-old, the youngster has had an impressive racing career. Adestam started racing at just five years old in a handmade kart made by his father, Rickard, on a custom-made track in his grandfather’s potato field. 

In 2014, Adestam made his karting debut at the age of 8 and was a regular front runner back in his hometown. It wasn’t long before the Swedish driver made his single-seater debut in 2020, at the Ring Knutstorp in the Formula Nordic category. 

Looking ahead to the 2022 season, The Checkered Flag caught up with Adestam ahead of his campaign. 

“I am stoked to finally be driving in a professional team outside of the borders of Sweden. Fortec is happy with my job so far and I am very happy to be working with them. Together I think that good results will come.”

30-year-old 2020 FIA Junior World Rally Champion Tom Kristensson has revealed his 2022 rally program which contains mixed rallies on domestic and international level.

After having a rough 2021 season together with M-Sport in his WRC2 bet, the Swede will now only be focusing on doing some selected rallies in Sweden and across Europe in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 fielded by the Polish team Kowax 2Brally.

Kristensson will not focus on a single series this season. His program includes rallies in the Swedish Rally Championship and in the FIA European Rally Championship, as well as a go at the Rally Finland round of the FIA World Rally Championship in early August.

Kristensson will start his season this weekend when he enters a sprint rally in Sweden, followed by another event next weekend, where he will enter the Valasska Rally, which is part of the Czech Rally Championship and will be the only he attends outside of Scandinavia which isn’t on an international level like WRC and ERC.

BWT Alpine F1 Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer felt that the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix allowed the team to demonstrate their pace and potential to compete near the sharp end of the grid, with both Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso running in the points in Jeddah.

Ocon scored a solid number of points with his sixth place finish, while Alonso saw his strong race cut short by an unknown reliability issue. 

“We have mixed feelings from today’s race and, in general, it’s another strong result, which underlines our competitiveness. It’s a great result for Esteban to finish in sixth place. He’s been solid all weekend and it’s good for him to convert a strong qualifying performance into a healthy bag of points.” said Szafnauer.

“We do have a taste of disappointment that we were unable to put both of our cars into the points with Fernando unfortunately retiring from the race after driving very well all evening. We’re investigating the issue to see what exactly has occurred.”

Szafnauer allowed the teammates to race each other for position on Sunday, making for one of the day’s most exciting battles. He was pleased to see both drivers bringing out the best in the car throughout the race.

The entry list for the third round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship has now been published where a total of 66 crews will take on the asphalt roads at Croatia Rally on 21-24 April.

Kalle Rovanperä who is leading the championship standings after winning last time out in Rally Sweden, will be the driver that is opening the roads on the Friday tests.

Joining alongside Rovanperä in the Toyota Gazoo Racing outfit is his compariot Esapekka Lappi and the British driver Elfyn Evans. Driving outside of the factory team in a similar Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 for the Toyota Gazoo Racing NG is the Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta.

The Hyundai Motorsport line-up with three Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cars will remain unchanged for the third round in a row and will consist of the Rally Sweden podium finisher Thierry Neuville from Belgium, the Estonian Ott Tänak and the Swede Oliver Solberg.

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team will be fielding four Ford Puma Rally1 cars for the Croatia Rally where Irishman Craig Breen, Britoin Gus Greensmith and Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux will be eligible to score manufacturer points for the team, meanwhile the new signing and fellow Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet will be driving outside of the factory team.

2018 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Am-class champion Peter Mangion will return to the series for the 2022 season with the Toro Verde GT squad as one of their four entries.

Mangion joins Jake Giddings, Angus Whiteside, and Peter Kyle-Henney at the team that is set for its Carrera Cup GB debut this season.

With the return of both Mangion and Kyle-Henney, the battle will resume on track for the now teammates; in 2018 Mangion claimed nine class wins in his rookie season, along with four second place finishes to take the title, twenty-two points ahead of his closest rival, Kyle-Henney.

2019 saw Mangion back in the series and looking to add to his success, opening the season with a victory and a second place, unfortunately he was forced to step away from racing due to other commitments.

For 2020 he returned to racing in the Ginetta GT4 Supercup, racing in the Am class, he claimed one win and another five podium finishes that year, finishing fifth in the championship. 2021 was a lot quieter with only one race in the Ginetta at Croft.