Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Peugeot TotalEnergies car #93 have been disqualified from the Qatar 1812km. In a press release, the French team revealed the reason why their #93 Peugeot 9X8 suddenly lost power in the final moments of the opening round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), rendering it unable to make it back to the pits under its own steam after the chequered flag.

According to Peugeot’s press release, the sudden loss of power was due to the car running out of fuel. As a result, the car could only limp around on hybrid electric power alone, something which teams are only allowed to do if they pit at the end of that lap. The car crossed the line in 7th place, but, as they failed to pit, the car was disqualified.

The #93 Peugeot of Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne and Nico Müller had put on a spectacular performance for the majority of the race. On lap 16 of the 325 lap race, Müller made a superb move around the outside of turn 1 on the leading Ferrari 499P to take the lead of the race. He successfully defended the lead from the faster #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport, which would eventually go on to win the race, until lap 54.

Peugeot managed to stay within roughly 30 seconds of the lead Porsche for the majority of the race. Only towards the end of the race did a significant margin begin to appear between the two. The #93 was being hunted by the #12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche and the #5 Porsche with Matt Campbell at the wheel, the man who had put that car on pole. With two laps to go, less than 3 seconds separated the three cars.

Suddenly, on lap 334 out of 335, Vergne slowed down in the Peugeot. It looked like a sudden loss of power had afflicted the #93 car, cruelly denying it a podium. The car limped across the line to finish 7th on the overall standings. However, due to Vergne crossing the line under electric power only and not making it back to parc fermé, after 10 hours of almost flawless racing, the #93 car was disqualified.

The opening FIA Formula 1 World Championship race of the 2024 season is now in the books, and it was Max Verstappen who completed a Grand Slam, winning the race from pole position, leading all fifty-seven laps and securing fastest lap to boot!

The podium was completed by the second Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 of Sergio Perez, with the podium being completed by Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr.

In part two, those who missed out on points in the race look back at their Saturday evenings under the floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit.

#24 – Guanyu Zhou – Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber

“Today, we maximised everything we could, and I am happy we were able to fight so closely for the points. We had a clean race with a good start where I was able to make up some positions, but it was quite challenging to keep the Aston Martins behind without compromising our tyres.

The opening FIA Formula 1 World Championship race of the 2024 season is now in the books, and it was Max Verstappen who completed a Grand Slam, winning the race from pole position, leading all fifty-seven laps and securing fastest lap to boot!

The podium was completed by the second Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 of Sergio Perez, with the podium being completed by Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr.

The points scorers in the race look back at their Saturday evenings under the floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit.

#1 – Max Verstappen – Oracle Red Bull Racing

“It was a special one today. These kind of days don’t happen that often where the car feels spot on, including the balance and feeling of the car and everything went really well.

For those hoping that the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season would be closer than in 2023, the Bahrain Grand Prix put paid to many of those hopes as Max Verstappen took victory on Saturday evening from pole position having led every lap and taking fastest lap to boot.

The beginning of the weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit saw Verstappen and Oracle Red Bull Racing appear to struggle, and it was only in Q3 during Qualifying where the Dutchman first took top spot in any session.

However, come race day, the reigning triple World Champion was in a class of his own as, once he stayed in the lead at the start of the race, he was untouchable, with all of the action happening behind him as he dominated for an eighth consecutive victory.

Verstappen Wins, but Battles Rage Behind

Verstappen withstood a first corner attack from fellow front row starter Charles Leclerc at the start, but the Dutchman was already out of DRS range when it became active just a lap into the Grand Prix.

A slow start by Nico Hülkenberg saw him slip a couple of places down the order, but the slow nature of turn one caught him out, with the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team driver tipping Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team’s Lance Stroll into a spin.

The top two in nearly every class was separated by minutes going into the fifth and final stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, and the leg being an open dash to the finish meant those trailing had to give their all. Alas, the margin was too great as those who entered the day as the leader earned the victory in the end.

Nasser Al-Attiyah led Seth Quintero in the FIA overall by 9:21, and only reinforced his win as he won Stage #5 ahead of Martin Prokop, the latter enjoying a string of podium finishes after crashing out of the third day. Even if Quintero had been able to pull it off, he would have lost anyway due to a fifteen-minute time penalty for missing a waypoint. This dropped him from his original finish of third to seventh, while allowing Yazeed Al-Rajhi to leapfrog him in the overall for second.

Rokas Baciuška‘s streak of finishing second in every ADDC Challenger stage ended Saturday when he finished third behind Cristina Gutiérrez and Nicolás Cavigliasso. Although he beat Austin Jones for the final stage podium spot, he only won by 1:59 and needed to make up another four-and-a-half minutes to catch him for the overall. Nonetheless, Can-Am Factory Team still enjoyed a 1–2 overall finish.

An even closer battle took place in SSV, where Mansour Al-Helei went into Saturday leading Yasir Seaidan by a mere 1:22. Seaidan was never able to catch Al-Helei in the 206-km run back to Abu Dhabi as the former won by 1:20 to pad the margin.

Konrad Dąbrowski held off Jean-Loup Lepan for both the stage and overall victories in Rally2, beating him by 2:40. Dąbrowski had even led all bikes in the early portion of the stage before being passed by Ross Branch, who beat his team-mate Aaron Marè by eight minutes but had to make up an improbable gap of 47:55 to win in RallyGP. Despite finishing the stage fourth for bikes and behind Dąbrowski, Marè still held him off to be the top bike outright. Dąbrowski was able to narrow the gap to less than five minutes from 10:14, coming up short by 4:56.

The 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) kicked off in superb style with a brilliant victory for Porsche Penske Motorsport. The #6 car looked masterful throughout the race, as indeed it did throughout the weekend. Callum Ilott claimed a magnificent second place in his debut with Hertz Team JOTA, with the #5 Porsche Penske making it an astonishing all-Porsche podium.

If that wasn’t enough, the first ever LMGT3 victory went Porsche’s way as well. Manthay PureRxing claimed victory in their Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3, leading home the two Aston Martins of Heart of Racing Team and D’Station Racing.

Speaking after the race, Kevin Estre of the #6 Porsche said “thanks a lot to the whole team. They made an amazing car for the weekend with great balance and no issues. I’m really pleased and happy where we end up today compared to last year! It feels great to be on the top of the podium and we’ll definitely enjoy it!“

The inaugural Qatar 1812km delivered a superb endurance race, with the action ebbing and flowing throughout, countless battles and changes for position, soaring excitement and genuine heartbreak. It was a fascinating race from start to finish.

Race Report

It was a great start by Miguel Molina in the #50 Ferrari AF Corse, swinging round the outside of turn one ahead of the #7 Toyota and the pole position #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport. On the opening laps, Toyota dropped to 8th, continuing a disappointing week for the Japanese team.

The first Qualifying session of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season took place under the floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit on Friday evening, and it was Max Verstappen who took pole position for Oracle Red Bull Racing.

Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz Jr. had topped the three free practice sessions across Friday and Saturday, but when it mattered, Red Bull found their form and took yet another pole position.  And remember, Verstappen has won each of the last sixteen times he has started from the very front of the grid.

In part two, let’s see what the remaining ten drivers had to say after the first Qualifying session of the season!

#22 – Yuki Tsunoda – Visa CashApp RB

“It’s a shame we missed out on Q3 by that little, but I’m happy with my performance. We struggled a lot yesterday, especially in FP2, but the team did a fantastic job of turning things around overnight, and the car felt good today.

The first Qualifying session of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season took place under the floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit on Friday evening, and it was Max Verstappen who took pole position for Oracle Red Bull Racing.

Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz Jr. had topped the three free practice sessions across Friday and Saturday, but when it mattered, Red Bull found their form and took yet another pole position.  And remember, Verstappen has won each of the last sixteen times he has started from the very front of the grid.

Let’s see what the top ten drivers had to say after the first Qualifying session of the season!

#1 – Max Verstappen – Oracle Red Bull Racing

“It feels good to be back on pole today! Testing was really good and then this weekend was a bit more tricky for us; it was difficult to get the balance of the car right due to the tricky conditions with the wind being quite strong.

The first Qualifying session of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season took place on Friday evening at the Bahrain International Circuit, and it was Max Verstappen who took top spot despite not having led any of the free practice sessions prior to Qualifying hour.

Prior to Qualifying, the final free practice took place in Bahrain, and Carlos Sainz Jr. ensured Scuderia Ferrari made it three different teams to lead the way across the three practice sessions, none of which were last years’ dominant team Oracle Red Bull Racing.

Let’s take a look at what happened across Friday in Bahrain.

Sainz Heads Final Practice, Red Bull Finding Pace

After seeing Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton lead the first two practice sessions in Bahrain on Thursday, Ferrari hit the top in the final session, with Spaniard Sainz heading the field with a best time of 1:30.824.

Fernando Alonso ensured it was a Spanish one-two at the top of the time sheets, with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team driver hitting the top with a time of 1:30.965 before Sainz found a time 0.141 seconds faster.

Zhang Xue, the founder and intrepid leader of Kove Moto, has resigned from his post as CEO, citing differences in how he wants to lead the manufacturer compared to other executives. Nonetheless, he is still a stakeholder in the company and maintains good relations.

“I made this decision last Friday. If I had to give a reason why, I would say that it’s because our values differ,” Zhang explained. He had initially posted his resignation message on WeChat. “I treated Kove as if it were my own child, but I have to love myself first and find value in my own life. I believe I can do it, but it’s because I am no longer the CEO of Kove. There are many things that I can’t make a decision on, so it cannot grow according to my vision. Of course, there is nothing wrong about this.

“Our manager is also a very, very good person, and he’s now the CEO. Let him follow his own managing philosophy, which I think is not wrong, because everyone’s values are different.”

Zhang, a former motocross and enduro rider, founded Kove in 2017 with the goal of eventually fielding bikes in motorsport. In 2023, Kove became the first Chinese bike manufacturer to compete at the Dakar Rally, and enjoyed great success in their début when all three riders Deng Liansong, Fang Mingji, and Sunier reached the finish. Kove expanded their rally raid programme throughout the year, adding foreign factory riders Neels Theric and Xavier Flick who competed in other World Rally-Raid Championship events. Zhang himself also entered the Taklimakan Rally in China alongside five other Koves.

At the 2024 Dakar Rally, Kove expanded into the premier RallyGP category on a partnership with Mason Klein on the new Kove 450 Rally EX. Despite an up-and-down race as he ran as high as third but was plagued by mechanical failures, Klein’s effort won the hearts of many following the race. 2024 was the second step in Zhang’s five-year plan with the hope of placing one Kove in the top twenty, though Fang Xiangling ended up being the highest-finishing Kove in thirty-fifth in Rally2. Zhang’s plan consisted of the following: finish in the first year (2023, achieved), a top twenty in 2024, a top ten in 2025, a podium in 2026, and winning the fifth and final phase in 2027.

Aaron Marè and Abdulaziz Ahli simply need to reach the finish without problems on Saturday to win the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in their respective categories. Everyone else, on the other hand, will have to bring their A-game.

Marè and Ahli respectively top the RallyGP and Quad with comfortable advantages after Stage #4, the former ahead of Ross Branch by nearly forty-eight minutes while the latter leads Hani Al-Noumesi by an insurmountable eight hours. Branch, the first bike out on Friday, took a wrong turn just past KM 103 and ended up on local farmland; Marè, Konrad Dąbrowski, and Jean-Loup Lepan followed him off course before they worked together to rejoin the route. Once back on track, Marè took the lead following the refuel area at KM 117 and rode off to win by seven-and-a-half minutes. In order to erase the 47:55 gap separating them, Branch would both need to finish ahead of Marè and hope he has some sort of trouble, the latter of course not the most sportsman thing to pray for, especially a team-mate.

“Today I took it pretty safe, just trying to manage the race and the bike, so I could maintain the overall lead,” said Marè. “I’m happy with how things turned out today, and things look good for tomorrow. I have to open the route tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to doing that again. Ross did a really great job today opening the stage and navigating the route; watching him in the stages has been a great learning experience for me.”

On the Quad side, Ahli virtually has his fourth consecutive ADDC title secured, having won every stage while Al-Noumesi and Kamil Wiśniewski fell behind with mechanical issues. Wiśniewski, the Prologue winner, was knocked out of the race entirely on Thursday, leaving Al-Noumesi as Ahli’s only competition left.

While those two races are virtually wrapped up, things have only gotten closer in Rally2 and all three FIA categories.

The much anticipated 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is underway with the first pole position of the season going to Porsche Penske Motorsport at the Qatar 1812km.

In a thrilling session that went down to the final seconds, Matt Campbell completed his lap in the Porsche 963 in 1:39.347. After a poor showing in the free practice sessions, Toyota Gazoo Racing will be thrilled with their front row start, Nyck de Vries doing a sterling job in his first Hyperpole qualifying session to finish 0.164 seconds behind polesitter Campbell.

In a sign of the much vaunted competitiveness of the 2024 season, there are six different teams and five different teams occupying the first seven grid slots. The #12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche lines up third, an excellent debut performance by Callum Ilott. Ferrari AF Corse line up alongside the gold Porsche, with Antonio Fuoco doing the honours for the Scuderia.

Kevin Estre put the other Porsche Penske Motorsport car in fifth, alongside the still wingless #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies car. The flat, open, fast circuit is proving useful for Peugeot to unlock the potential of their car. The fourth row of the grid is occupied by Cadillac Racing and the Le Mans winning #51 Ferrari 499P, and the top ten is rounded off by the sister Hertz Team JOTA Porsche and Peugeot TotalEnergies cars.

There were a couple of surprises when it came to who missed out on the Hyperpole session, a ten minute shootout for ten fastest cars on the grid. 2023 champions, the #8 Toyota, could only manage 11th fastest. However, their best position in free practice was 12th, so the team won’t be totally shocked. 12th was the best the #83 private Ferrari could manage, followed by the Proton Competition Porsche.

McKenzy Cresswell is gunning for the 2024 GB3 Championship title in his second season with Elite Motorsport.

The BRDC Rising Star who lives in Weybridge, Surrey, celebrated his 18th birthday last month and embarks on his third season in GB3 having finished 11th and fourth in the final standings over the past two years.

He accumulated nine podiums, eight last year including victory at Silverstone in July. Indeed, Cresswell headed for the final GB3 event of the season at Donington Park in title contention despite the season starting poorly at Oulton Park for McKenzy.

Prior to entering GB3 in 2022, Cresswell won more races, claimed more fastest laps, and scored more podiums than any other driver in his “rookie” British F4 season in 2021, finishing third in the final standings, just 26-points behind the title winner.

Although born in the UK, Cresswell moved to Austin, Texas, when he was four-years-old, returning to the UK just before his 12th birthday and is currently a senior at a US High School in Cobham, Surrey. This year he is balancing demands of motor racing with his Advanced Placement exams. He’s also a keen skier and relaxes by fishing in the river Thames.

The 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season got underway on Thursday at the Bahrain International Circuit, and after the belief that Oracle Red Bull Racing would dominate again, the picture on Thursday told a very different story, at least at this time.

Daniel Ricciardo and the Visa CashApp RB Team paced the opening session of the season under the sunshine in Bahrain, but the times tumbled in the second, more representative session where the soft tyre came to the fore, and Lewis Hamilton led the way this time around for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team.

In part two of the review, the other ten drivers from the second session share their thoughts on day one of the season!

#23 – Alexander Albon – Williams Racing

“We were relatively surprised by our pace in FP1 but by FP2, we found a good pace on the Medium tyre, however lost a little bit on the Softs. The cars around us are quicker than I’d like, especially the Haas, so we need to look at what we can do better.

The 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season got underway on Thursday at the Bahrain International Circuit, and after the belief that Oracle Red Bull Racing would dominate again, the picture on Thursday told a very different story, at least at this time.

Daniel Ricciardo and the Visa CashApp RB Team paced the opening session of the season under the sunshine in Bahrain, but the times tumbled in the second, more representative session where the soft tyre came to the fore, and Lewis Hamilton led the way this time around for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team.

The top ten drivers from the faster, second session, share their thoughts on day one of the season!

#44 – Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team

“It was very windy in FP1, and the track was very different to during the test. We didn’t know exactly where we would stack up against everyone else, but we had a positive FP2 session. The car was feeling good, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We know there is more to extract, and our long run pace isn’t in the fight with the Red Bulls.