Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

As their name suggests, the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) serves as one of the United States Army‘s five active duty special forces divisions. In late June, they had a slightly different special operation when they ascended to the summit of Pikes Peak to deliver the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb‘s checkered flag.

Jeff Hartsough, a senior non-commissioned officer who dabbles in hillclimbing, led a convoy of military machinery like Flyer 72s and Polaris MRZRs to the mountain summit to present the flag to race officials. Although officially just a pre-race procession, it doubles as additional practice for the 10th as well as data collecting for the vehicle manufacturers; Polaris maintains a successful off-road division, while Flyer Defense frequently collaborates with the 5th Special Forces Group to race light strike vehicles at the Mint 400.

“We’re not just here to have fun, we’re actually training,” Command Sergeant Major Kevin Dorsh told the PPIHC broadcast. “We’re actually getting some good data for that. We have some reps. They’re with those vehicles, they’re going to pull the data, be able to pull that back, ultimately make the force better.”

10th Group, nicknamed “The Originals”, is headquartered at Fort Carson just outside Colorado Springs. Most of their operations take place in Europe under the United States European Command (EUCOM), with emphasis on regions like Germany and the Baltics, though they have also been deployed to the Middle East. Members of the 10th stationed in Europe currently help train Ukrainian special forces to defend against the Russian invasion.

Dorsh, who has been with the 10th since 2002, saw parallels between his group and the PPIHC organisers.

Masanao Nitta‘s Toyota Hilux is a bit different from others in rally raid, featuring a bodywork that is made using natural fibres instead of carbon fibre or other elements. After finishing third in 2023, he will run it back and enter the 2024 Asia Cross Country Rally with Kenta Satonaka as his co-driver. They will race under the Würth Power 135 TRD Hilux banner.

Nitta and Satonaka finished tenth overall in the 2023 AXCR, one of ten Hiluxes entered. The year before, Nitta’s first AXCR with the Hilux, he had Tsutomu Matsui as his navigator en route to a twentieth outright and fourteenth in the T1D category; Satonaka and Araki Etoh finished directly behind them in twenty-first to win the T2G(A) class. The Hilux received an award from race organisers in 2022 for its use of natural fibres, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions during the vehicle manufacturing process.

The truck was built by Toyota Racing Development in 2018 for competition in Australia’s Finke Desert Race with fellow Japanese driver Tadamitsu Niihori. After retiring on début, Niihori won the Extreme 4WD class in 2019. Once Nitta acquired the Hilux, he and TRD began making heavy modifications, the most notable being to replace the body with a natural-fibre frame produced by Bcomp.

“Based on last year’s positive experience, we have confidence in the natural fibres and have applied a new charcoal-coloured version this year,” said Nitta. “Additionally, Würth’s high-performance chemical products are essential for this cross-country rally. The AXCR 2024 will again be a long-distance rally with extreme road conditions, so car maintenance and care by the TRD crew will be key. The team will work together to reach this goal with Würth Power 135 TRD Hilux.”

Besides its skin, the Hilux has also received performance upgrades with the suspension and engine. TRD’s Katsutoshi Kashimura, the project leader, stated the team “overhauled this vehicle 120%, and I am confident that it will demonstrate its enhanced performance and ideally finish higher than last year.”

Patrick O’Donovan will finally get his shot in an Extreme E race weekend when he enters the Hydro X Prix with Legacy Motor Club. The 20-year-old with team up with Gray Leadbetter, who is one year younger than him, to comprise the youngest driver duo in the series.

O’Donovan currently works as a Championship Driver for the series, meaning he assists in testing the course and is on standby should a male driver be unavailable at the last minute. He first filled the role last July ahead of the Island X Prix.

“I feel like I know the car really well having been Championship Driver for quite some time, and hope to show what I’ve learned when we get back on track in Scotland,” said O’Donovan. “I’m really looking forward to mixing it with the best out on track. Legacy MC showed huge potential at the first event in Saudi Arabia and alongside Gray we will look to build on that at the Hydro X Prix. To race for Jimmie Johnson is an incredible feeling.”

He mainly competes in rallycross, where he has proven to be one of the discipline’s rising stars as the twice reigning British Rallycross Champion. O’Donovan won twice in the 2022 FIA World Rallycross Championship’s RX2e category en route to a fourth in points, then moved up to the premier RX1e class at the 2023 season finale in Hong Kong where he notched a third-place finish in the second race. He also dabbled in Nitrocross at the last race of the 2023/24 season.

A NASCAR Cup Series outfit, Legacy Motor Club was classified sixth in both race days during their début weekend at the Desert X Prix in February, with seconds in the two Redemption Races. Leadbetter, a Championship Off-Road regular, partnered with the great Travis Pastrana for that round. Johnson, seven-time Cup champion and co-owner, is scheduled to take over the ride starting with the Island X Prix doubleheader in September.

Valtteri Bottas is unfazed by the lack of clarity over his Formula 1 future, claiming it’s just part of the sport.

The 10-time race winner isn’t too concerned by his undecided future, and told the media ahead of the 2024 British Grand Prix that it’s too early to be worried about not being part of the 2025 F1 grid.

He said: “It’s actually exciting, I mean, it’s part of the sport and we’re actually still in July. I’ve been in situations before that I’ve had to wait until September or October. So, I think we’re still in a decent situation. If you would ask me in October, if we’re in this situation, then it may be starting to get frustrating, but in July, not really.”

Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and as they prepare to become Audi in 2026, it’s unlikely that Bottas will stay with the team beyond this season with Nico Hülkenberg already confirmed and the team targeting the likes of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Liam Lawson according to the media.

Bottas joined Sauber in 2022 after a fruitful spell with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team came to an end, where he was teammates with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. During his time with the Silver Arrows, he won 10 races and finished runner-up in the World Drivers Championship twice, in 2019 and 2020. 

Rumours have once again been circulating about the future of Daniel Ricciardo, with a potential move to Williams Racing on the cards, according to F1 presenter Will Buxton.

Ricciardo’s future with the Oracle Red Bull Racing family is uncertain. The Australian was brought back to put pressure on Sergio Pérez and earn a promotion back to the main team but after a difficult start to 2024, he was unable to do so and Red Bull put their faith in Pérez, handing the Mexican an extension. Dr. Helmut Marko has also been mounting the pressure on Ricciardo, claiming that Liam Lawson is ready to replace him at Visa Cash App RB.

Ricciardo has been in good form over the past few races, beating Yuki Tsunoda in Montreal, Barcelona and Spielberg, while also scoring points in two of these race weekends. If the 35-year-old stays in this sort of form, he may not have to worry about his future with RB, although Marko has come out and made a case for RB being a junior team and needing young drivers to develop.

Buxton has claimed on F1TV that Ricciardo is in conversations with Williams to partner Alex Albon in 2025: “His entire future [is] on the line right now,” he told F1TV. “There is much talk that he will be out of this seat after the summer break.

“There is talk that he may be in negotiations with Williams for their second seat next year alongside Alex Albon. Williams, as we understand, are sick of waiting for Carlos Sainz to make his mind up on where he wants to go next year and may close that door off for him.”

Daniel Ricciardo has defended his former teammate Max Verstappen after his coming together with Lando Norris towards the end of the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo spent two and a half years alongside Verstappen at Oracle Red Bull Racing and the pair raced closely during that time and even famously came together at the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Despite a few incidents during their time as teammates, the pair remain close friends with lots of mutual respect for each other. 

Verstappen has always been known for his no-nonsense driving style, but there has been times where it’s crossed the line, especially in the 2021 title fight with Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen has avoided any controversial incidents until recently, when he came together with Norris in a fight for the lead of the Austrian Grand Prix, which was ultimately seen as the Dutchman’s fault by the stewards – handing Verstappen a 10 second time penalty.

Ricciardo has defended his former teammate speaking to the media at Silverstone, claiming that it wasn’t dangerous: “You’re fighting for a win so you’re not just going to wave someone by. I think the contact can happen probably nine times out of 10 with no consequence.”

“They’d been going back and forth, maybe the angle was a bit awkward, Lando ended the race. I think the outcome was probably bigger than what was actually happening on track. What I saw at least, nothing seemed over the top. Was it pushing the edge? Probably. But was anything dangerous or reckless? At least from what I’ve seen, no.

Ollie Bearman has been confirmed on the 2025 Formula 1 grid, MoneyGram Haas F1 Team have confirmed, ahead of the 2024 British Grand Prix.

Rumours had been circulated for some time that Bearman was set to join Haas, who needed a replacement for the departing Nico Hulkenberg, who makes the move to Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber in 2025.

Bearman made a surprise debut in F1 earlier in the year, stepping in for Carlos Sainz Jr. and finishing seventh for Scuderia Ferrari at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Briton’s excellent performance only increased the expectation of a race seat in 2025, and as Ferrari junior, a move to Haas makes perfect sense. The 19-year-old has six Free Practice One sessions scheduled with the American team this season, and will take part in the first session at this weekend’s British Grand Prix.

“It’s an exciting thing to be able to give a young driver as talented as Oliver Bearman his first full-time seat in Formula 1,” said Ayao Komatsu, team principal of Haas. 

“He’s developed into an incredibly mature driver under the guidance of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and the world saw that for themselves when he was called in at the last minute to compete at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

Before it makes its competition début, the new Ford Raptor T1+ will be showcased at the upcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed. Reigning Dakar Rally winner and new Ford factory driver Carlos Sainz will be in attendance to both present the vehicle and drive it in the Hillclimb stage.

Sainz, who previously raced for Ford in the World Rally Championship, joined their rally raid division in May following the shutdown of Team Audi Sport. He scored his fourth Dakar Rally victory in Audi’s final race before they shuttered due to a lack of parts to contest the full World Rally-Raid Championship. Before signing with Ford, he did a one-off in the W2RC’s BP Ultimate Rally-Raid with Mini and finished fourth.

Ford Performance opened their rally raid arm in collaboration with South African Rally-Raid Championship powerhouse Neil Woolridge Motorsport and WRC team M-Sport. Nani Roma and Gareth Woolridge débuted the team with the Ford Ranger T1+ in 2023, peaking with a third in the W2RC’s season-ending Rallye du Maroc by Roma, before they struggled at the Dakar in January due to a double stage retirement midway. Nevertheless, each driver showed pace with top-ten stage finishes as high as ninth courtesy of Roma on Stage #11 and seventh from Woolridge the next and final day.

NWM continued the Ranger T1+ programme independently after Dakar, while Ford Performance and M-Sport are focusing on developing their own model with the Raptor. Roma, a Spaniard like Sainz, will race the Raptor as well.

Besides the Raptor, Ford will also bring the Ford Mustang GTD and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb-contending SuperVan 4.2 to Goodwood. M-Sport’s Ford Puma Rally1 WRC challenger is expected as well.

After forty years, the Gotland Grand National has found a new home in the socken of Hejdeby. The bid to host the race in October still needs to be formally approved by the County Administrative Council, though organiser Nordic Sports & Entertainment expects them to sign off as other parties, including the Swedish Armed Forces, have done the same.

The world’s largest enduro race took place at the Tofta shooting range, primarily used for tanks and other military vehicles, from the inaugural edition in 1984 to 2023. When NSE attempted to renew their lease beyond 2023, the military denied it as they needed the area to train troops regularly. This came on the heels of Sweden’s increasing defence spending amidst the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, while the country recently joined NATO in March.

The island of Gotland was demilitarised in 2005, but units returned a decade later following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. Gotland is situated at the centre of the Baltic Sea, with Sweden to its west and friendly Baltic states eastward but also the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad—a warm-water home for the Baltic Fleet—to the south. Last month, American and Polish troops joined their Swedish allies on Gotland for NATO’s annual BALTOPS exercsie.

With Tofta unavailable but the economic benefits of such a massive event for Gotland obvious, NSE hoped to find a different location on the island and turned to Hejdeby. The socken (basically Sweden’s version of a county) is situated more inland than Tofta.

The County Administrative Board ruled in March that a delimitation consultation was required to ensure racing in Hejdeby would not endanger the ecosystem. NSE conducted one in May with the help of the Gotland Museum, engineering firm Sweco, and environmental experts Mikael Norén and Nils Ryrholm. The Swedish Armed Forces, government agencies like the Swedish Transport Administration, Police, and Forestry Agency, and island entities such as the Gotland Energy Board and Gotland Botanical Society were also approached for input. In early June, the company and Sweco co-produced a 265-page Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to outline the course and effects on the surrounding area.

The organizer of Rally Greece and the WRC Promoter have signed a new contract with a two-year extension and will be featured in the FIA World Rally Championship until 2027.

The current contract would be valid until next year but the two parties have now agreed to extend it and then the rally is expected to return to its traditional June date like it was back in the old days. The decision is still under subject to World Motor Sport Council approval.

The event made a comeback to the WRC calendar in 2021 after nearly a eight-year hiatus. In recent years, the rally has been held in September, but now it will return to early summer. the rally which is more known as the Acropolis Rally, was part of the inaugural WRC season in 1973 and was featured in the rally calendars all the way to 2013.

The 2024 EKO Acropolis Rally will be held between 5-8 September in the city of Lamia and will include legendary stages such as Tarzan and Thiva, marking the rally’s last appearance as an autumn event.

“We are thrilled to extend our partnership with the EKO Acropolis Rally Greece, this rally is a cornerstone of our championship and a favorite among our global fanbase and competitors alike. None of this would be possible without the support from Prime Minister Mitsotakis since day one. I must also acknowledge the invaluable contributions from Lefteris Avgenakis in the past and Yiannis Vroutsis now. Their understanding of the positive impact that bringing the WRC to Greece creates has been instrumental, and we look forward to continuing this journey in 2026 and 2027.” Jona Siebel, WRC Promoter Managing Director, said.

Akira Miura and his Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body were boiling in the Moroccan heat last month, but it will be all worth it come January. From 17–28 June, the team conducted two weeks of testing in Morocco to gauge and upgrade their Toyota Land Cruisers’ capabilities in the desert for the 2025 Dakar Rally.

“Not everything went perfectly, but it turned out to be a very easy and fun car to drive, and I’m keen to show a solid performance at the upcoming Dakar Rally 2025,” said Miura.

Although the team won their eleventh consecutive Dakar Rally in the Stock category in January, team-mate Ronald Basso‘s Land Cruiser finished nearly forty-eight hours behind Miura due to a rash of stage retirements brought on by mechanical failures and crashes. Miura also had his own struggles with high oil temperatures and getting stuck.

For their test, TLC placed emphasis on improving the car’s durability in difficult desert terrain. To do this, the suspension stroke has been increased while Toyo Tire is providing new tyres.

In total, Miura drove the car roughly four thousand kilometres on both gravel and sand. Temperatures typically ran over forty degrees Celsius (104° F) during their fortnight in Morocco.

The largest off-road race in Europe turned thirty years old as Rallye Breslau ran through the military training complexes at Żagań and Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland.

As part of the anniversary, the race was extended a day with the addition of a special winner’s stage on the last day. After the last two editions were plagued by route changes on the fly when the Polish Land Forces needed to use the training grounds, organiser RBI Sport had to be relieved that such major modifications need not occur in 2024 and they could celebrate the thirty-year festivities smoothly.

“This year, the Breslau has been absolutely amazing. Absolutely unbelievable,” said race director Alex Kovachev. “You can ask anybody from the probably 1,500 people who are here in the bivouac, but also the people on social media. Magnificent event. I am very, very thankful to all competitors, and I’m extremely thankful to my [organisation] team. Guys, you are amazing. I would go to the moon with you.”

Bartłomiej Tabin, on the heels of his Dakar Rally début in January, won his home rally for bikes after taking the lead from Ties Hellegers, who retired prior to the night stage on the fourth day. On the ATV side, fellow Poles Marcin Wilkołek and defending class winner Adam Krysiak led a Polaris 1–2 finish as they held off CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team‘s Gaëtan Martinez and Antanas Kanopkinas; all but Krysiak have World Rally-Raid Championship experience. CFMOTO also fielded a third CFORCE 1000 for Graham Guy, a rally raid newcomer who finished twenty-fifth.

Given how treacherous military polygons can be, it was far from a smooth rally even for those in the Cross-Country classes. Żagań, where various Polish and American armoured divisions reside, and Drawsko, a proving ground used by all NATO troops, feature tight roads that restrict lateral movement and forced everyone to ride in each other’s dust. Jim Marsden, an Ultra4 star who finished sixth in Extreme Car, described Drawsko as having “deep sand and whoops” akin to Baja along with “big swamps and lots of big water crossings” much like those seen in the Croatia Trophy, one of the most demanding off-road events in the world.

Historic Sportscar Racing has launched HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Petty’s Garage, a new historic series for stock cars from NASCAR‘s past. It will make its début at Virginia International Raceway on 23/24 August in support of IMSA’s Michelin GT Challenge followed by joining NASCAR at Watkins Glen International on 13/14 September and the Charlotte Mtoor Speedway Roval on 11/12 October.

To oversee the programme, HSR will collaborate with the Historic Stock Car Racing Association. The HSCRA has supported NASCAR and IMSA race weekends as well as the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association, and will also be present at the VIR and WGI race weekends.

Title sponsor Petty’s Garage is an aftermarket parts distributor run by the legendary Petty family and its patriarch Richard Petty. Fittingly, HSR’s announcement took place on Petty’s 87th birthday.

“The across-the-board support for and the rapid growth of the HSR Classic Stock Cars category made starting a dedicated series around the division an easy decision,” said HSR president Chris Ward. “NASCAR stock cars of all generations are perhaps the most identifiable category of race cars in the U.S. to motorsports enthusiasts, competitors and even mainstream audiences. We have experienced this incredible growth and popularity with several HSR Historic Stock Cars showcase events in the last few years, particularly in partnership with the HSCRA.

“We can’t thank enough HSCRA founders Chris Evans and Carlus Gannand all of the HSR Group 8 competitors, and we look we forward to continuing to race with them in the HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Petty’s Garage series for many more years to come.”

Valtteri Bottas doesn’t think Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber’s lack of pace is a short term fix as they remain the only team to not score points after the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.

Bottas finished sixteenth in the race on Sunday, having an uneventful race due to a lack of pace for Sauber, which has been evident all season. Zhou Guanyu has had similar struggles, also failing to score points all season long. The Fin hasn’t had a bad individual season though, beating his teammate in both the qualifying and race head-to-heads, but he’s got no points statistically having his worst start to a campaign since 2017.

Speaking to F1TV, Bottas spoke about his uneventful race while also crediting the way they made progress between the Sprint and the main race on Sunday. 

He said: “There wasn’t much action where I was but we did better than in the Sprint race with the pace. We did find a little bit of something, so it was a little bit closer with the competition.” 

Bottas doesn’t think there’s a short term fix to the problems Sauber have got, but did say that the tight margins in the midfield may have a part to play in their progress when they introduce new upgrades.

Daniel Ricciardo felt like he maximised the result after finishing in the points at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix in his 250th Formula 1 Grand Prix start.

Ricciardo has been in great form of late, beating teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the last three races. The Australian is finally starting to find some consistency for Visa Cash App RB after a difficult start to the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season. 

Starting in eleventh, Ricciardo climbed up to ninth, scoring two points for his team. The result is very impressive, considering the pace of the RB team in comparison to BWT Alpine F1 Team, as Ricciardo managed to stay ahead of defend Pierre Gasly for almost the entirety of the final stint, while he put himself within striking distance of Kevin Magnussen on the last few laps too.

An upgrade package at the Spanish Grand Prix has seen RB go backwards, with the team unable to understand the issues with the update, and Ricciardo acknowledged that he was battling really hard to hold on to the final few point scoring positions.

Speaking to F1TV, he said: “We were a bit more on the defence, a bit more mirror watching. We were hanging on to the points, but at the end on the last few laps I had DRS on Magnussen so we had a little bit of pace, probably at the end when the tyres were getting older but for most of the stint, I felt like we weren’t a very fast car in our group so we were just hanging on by the skin of our teeth.