Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Best Lightweight / Entry-Level Motorcycle of 2022: CFMoto 700 CL-X

After years of KTM owning this class with its 390 Duke and (390 Adventure), there’s a new kid in town – new in the US, anyway – in the form of the CFMoto 700 CL-X. It’s only fitting, really, since CFMoto’s Chinese manufacturer and KTM have a decade-long history together. That same Chinese OEM had a pre-existing relationship with Kawasaki also, and if CFMoto’s 700 CL-X isn’t powered by an engine eerily similar to a Versys 650 parallel Twin, I will eat my cat. In fact, the 700 CL-X is powered by a Versys twin that’s been stroked by 4mm, to 83 x 64mm dimensions – a thing Kawasaki’s never had the decency to do. That takes it to 693 cubic centimeters, and a claimed output of 74 hp at 8,500 rpm (and 48 lb-ft at 6,500 revs). Which makes this one a tad larger than our usual Lightweight winners, but for $6,399, how can you not supersize it?

It feels almost as fast as a Yamaha MT-07 blasting down the ⅓-mile front straight at the “testing facility” CFMoto took us to on day one of our little press junket, near their lovely hometown of Plymouth, Minnesota. Not only is it a sweet little engine, the rest of the package is surprisingly nice, too: CF is on a mission to change minds about Chinese motorcycles, and after our brief encounter with, I think, seven of its new bikes, I’d say it’s well on its way. The new 790 KTM-powered 800 Adventura is even more impressive, but wasn’t available in time for this year’s MOBOs.

2022 CFMoto 700 CL-X/ 700 CL-X Sport Review – First Ride

Scuderia Ferrari has announced a statement that Mattia Binotto has resigned as Team Principal and will leave his role at the end of 2022.

Binotto has been a part of Ferrari for twenty-eight years after joining the team in 1995 as an engine engineer. He has been an integral part of the team, which saw a lot of success in the early 2000s with Michael Schumacher.

In 2013, Binotto became the head of the engine department and three years later in 2016, he was promoted to Chief Technical Officer. Over this period of time, Ferrari continued to compete for race wins and in 2019, Binotto was made Team Principal.

Ferrari’s CEO, Benedetto Vigna, thanked Binotto for his dedication to the team and for helping Ferrari get back to a position of competitiveness as he wishes him well for the future.

“I would like to thank Mattia for his many great contributions over 28 years with Ferrari and particularly for leading the team back to a position of competitiveness during this past year.”

ORACLE Red Bull Racing‘s Head of Race Engineering Gianpiero Lambiase gives his honest thoughts on the team’s performance in the post-season testing sessions at the Yas Marina.

Including the two current drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, FIA Formula 2 driver Liam Lawson contributed an impressive one-hundred and eleven laps during last Tuesday’s session.

Lambiase said that the team are well aware they need to maintain their own expectations for the following season, commenting that ‘there is no room for complacency. As the drivers had an in-depth understanding of the RB18, the focus was solely on the evaluation of the 2023 tyres.

“Everyone within the Team is fully aware that there is no room for complacency,” commented Lambiase “and as such, we headed into the test with a full programme across both cars, which we were able to complete successfully. With the benefit of a thorough understanding of the RB18, the drivers focused their attention on evaluating the 2023 tyres.“

Although, there was a different reason for Lawson’s participation in the session. It seems the team are preparing Lawson for future Formula One appearances in the 2023 season as Liambiase stated that Lawson’s ‘higher priority was that the 20-year-old become more familiar with the car and the trackside operations. It’s crucial for the team that its junior driver is well acquainted with the Formula One car due to Lawson playing an essential part in the team’s activities.

FIA Formula 2 driver Liam Lawson again made an appearance in the ORACLE Red Bull Racing garage and participated in the post-season testing in Abu Dhabi and was extremely grateful to get behind the wheel for the last time in 2022. The New-Zeland-born driver completed the most laps and set a faster time than current Red Bull driver Sergio Perez.

Lawson made his debut Formula One appearance earlier in the season after Red Bull’s sister team, Scuderia AlphaTauri, granted him the opportunity to take over from Frenchman Pierre Gasly for the day at the opening practice session at Spa-Francorchamps, and again at Mexico City standing in for Yuki Tsunoda. However, the testing session in Abu Dhabi saw Lawson spend an entire day in the cockpit of the double-title-winning RB18 in which he completed one hundred and eleven laps of the Yas Marina, covering a total of 586.191km.

Currently racing for the Carlin team in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Lawson was rumoured to be joining the Red Bull Team as a reserve driver for the 2023 season, however, the announcement of Daniel Ricciardo‘s homecoming seemed to dispel any rumours that Lawson would be joining the Milton-Keynes based team.

Even though testing sessions take part in a less high-pressure environment and do not allow the scoring of points, Lawson still took a lot of positives from the day and felt that he benefitted from a full day behind the wheel, rather than the usual hour permitted during free practice sessions.

“Days like today are very important.” Lawson commented, “F1 testing is very limited, so track time is extremely valuable and I’m grateful that I got to drive the and to help the Team with development for next year.

ORACLE Red Bull Racing team secured its second World Championship with Dutch driver Max Verstappen after the 25-year-old achieved a staggering 15 Grands Prix wins and four-hundred and fifty-four points in the Drivers’ Championship. The Milton-Keynes-based team brought the curtain down on a knockout season, which featured the team breaking the record for the largest points haul in Formula One history, with an all-around positive and highly successful post-season test in Abu Dhabi.

The track activities for the post-season testing featured two cars for the single-day test, the drivers split tyre evaluation duties between them with the 2022 World Champion sitting behind the wheel in the afternoon, whilst Mexican driver Sergio Perez led the action in the afternoon.

The double-winning title RB18 took to the circuit one last time at the Yas Marina as the two drivers completed a round total of one hundred and sixty-four laps between them.

Verstappen was pleased with the outcome and felt as if the team are already on the right track, although the double-world champion is still remaining cautious as tyres are notorious for varying in performance, circuit dependent.

“We completed our programme and got a first, basic understanding for next year,” said Verstappen, “which I think worked out well. It’s always nice, when you have the final compound construction, to get a few laps in but at each track the tyres behave differently, so it’s difficult to judge. Having said that, it’s always better to have something rather than nothing. Overall, everything behaved quite normally, so it was a good day.”

The McLaren F1 Team rounded out the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World championship with a productive post-season test, that saw Oscar Piastri step into a McLaren car for the first time. Executive Director of Racing, Andrea Stella was pleased with the day of testing with the team.

McLaren finished the season behind BWT Alpine F1 Team in the Constructors Championship and will be hoping to jump above the French team next season and reclaim a fourth-placed finish.

Piastri managed to complete 123 laps for the team and got some crucial data ahead of the winter break.

“It’s been a productive day of testing here in Abu Dhabi at the post-season test, where we’ve managed to complete a lot of important work. Firstly, it’s been great to get Oscar into the MCL36 and start his integration into the team.

“The main objective for him today has been to get as much mileage under his belt as possible, and to start to get him used to working with the team.”

Lando Norris was pleased with a productive day for McLaren F1 Team as they rounded out the 2022 FIA Formula 1 season with the Abu Dhabi Post-Season Test.

Norris will race alongside Oscar Piastri next season, who replaced the under-performing Daniel Ricciardo. Norris was able to finish as ‘best of the rest’ in the 2022 season and was the only driver not from the top three teams to secure a podium finish.

Norris was pleased with the day of testing, as he completed 115 laps and gathered some solid data for Pirelli’s development of the 2023 tyres.

“Useful day. It was good to get some time with these tyres to help Pirelli’s development of them into 2023 and to gather important data on how they operate. It was a productive day to round out the season.

“Big thanks to Pirelli and the team for their hard work. We’ll now head into the winter focused on preparing for the 2023 season and doing everything we can to start next year on the front foot.”

Oscar Piastri was happy with his first day with McLaren F1 Team after it was announced he’d be replacing Daniel Ricciardo for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

The Australian driver, who won the FIA Formula 3 and FIA Formula 2 titles back-to-back in 2020 and 2021, is considered to be one of the most exciting upcoming drivers but he has a tough challenge on his hand, with his teammate being the driver who finished best of the rest in the 2022 season.

While Lando Norris may be a tough teammate to beat, Piastri is highly thought of in the paddock and was part of the BWT Alpine F1 Team driver academy and was touted as a replacement for Fernando Alonso, however, Piastri decided to take the step to McLaren for his first full-time seat in Formula 1.

The Formula 1 Post Season test at the Yas Marina Circuit was the perfect opportunity for Piastri to finally get behind the wheel of the McLaren, and he was pleased with his day.

“A good first day with McLaren, I think we learnt a lot. It was great to finally join up with the team, and thanks to them for a good day of running. We did a lot of laps and experimented a lot which is exactly what today is all about.

Daniel Ricciardo has returned to Oracle Red Bull Racing in a third driver role for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, and Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner was delighted to welcome Ricciardo back to the Red Bull family.

Ricciardo spent four seasons with the team and had a large amount of success with them, winning seven races including that incredible comeback from as low as seventeenth in the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Australian driver has eight wins to his name, as well as thirty-two podiums to his name, meaning his experience will be endless and extremely useful to the team.

The Australian left the team at the end of the 2018 season and has since raced for Renault F1 Team and McLaren F1 Team and has been unable to replicate his time at Red Bull with just the one win to his name post 2018.

Horner firstly gave his welcome message to Ricciardo, and honoured his “enormous talent and brilliant character”.

“It is great to bring Daniel back into the Red Bull family. He has enormous talent and such a brilliant character; I know the whole factory is excited to be welcoming him home.“

Daniel Ricciardo has returned to Oracle Red Bull Racing today and will be in a third driver role for the Milton-Keynes-based team.

A poor spell with McLaren F1 Team saw Ricciardo replaced by the young star, Oscar Piastri but we finally have confirmation that Ricciardo will not be leaving Formula 1 at the end of the season, with the Australian agreeing a special reunion with Red Bull.

Ricciardo takes the role in hope of a bigger opportunity opening up in 2024, with ‘The Honey Badger’ wanting to return to a seat higher up the grid after knocking back approaches from Haas F1 Team and Guenther Steiner earlier this year. The move makes a lot of sense for Red Bull too, with the team enjoying a great relationship with the Australian during his five-year spell after he progressed from their junior programme.

Ricciardo made his debut for HRT in 2011, but he quickly joined Toro Rosso the following year before being called up to Red Bull in 2014, where he spent his time alongside Sebastian Vettel, Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen. Ricciardo won eight races with the team, before departing to Renault in 2019, including his famous 2018 Monaco win.

His time at Renault F1 Team was underrated, despite not bringing any wins back to the French team he was on the podium twice for them in 2020. After concerns about the team’s future, Ricciardo moved quickly to replace Carlos Sainz Jr. at McLaren, as much as it looked like a good match, it was far from it. The Australian was beaten in both seasons by Lando Norris, but his talent was still evident as he won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, marking McLaren’s first win since 2012. Despite the win, he struggled to string together a run of consistent results with the car not suiting his style.

Oracle Red Bull Racing claimed both drivers’ and constructors’ championship titles in 2022 with seventeen race wins, including Max Verstappen’s most recent at the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner described the season as a “season like no other” with some excellent wins and some sad moments, such as the loss their founder Dietrich Mateschitz.

Verstappen took his record-breaking fifteenth win of the season with over eight seconds in hand over Charles Leclerc. It wasn’t the race weekend that Sergio Perez wanted as he failed to finish ahead of Leclerc in the race, meaning he couldn’t claim second in the Drivers’ Championship.

“What a season and what a way to end it. It’s just unbelievable. Winning 17 races as a Team. Five 1-2 finishes and being so close to 1-2 in the Drivers’ Championship brings to an end what truly has been a remarkable year.

“It surpasses anything we have ever achieved. The drivers have been exceptional. A record-breaking 15th win this season for Max.“

Horner was pleased with a third straight victory in Abu Dhabi as he gave his thanks to everyone that played a part in a brilliant season.

Max Verstappen walks away from the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season as a two-time World Champion, after a record-breaking season with fifteen wins and he made no mistake on the final race of the season, coming home with yet another win for the Oracle Red Bull Racing team.

Despite both world titles already being wrapped up, Verstappen had an almost perfect Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, securing pole position on Saturday and winning the race without a real challenge on Sunday. As it has been multiple times this season, the win was a comfortable one for Verstappen, finishing over eight seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc.

“It was incredible to win here again and to get 15 wins in total this season is unbelievable. It was a good race, the one stop really worked for me, and it was all about tyre management today. “

Verstappen admitted the team tried everything they could to try and secure Sergio Perez second in the standings, but it just didn’t happen for the Mexican driver in the final few laps round the Yas Marina Circuit.

“As a Team, we did everything we could to get Checo up there ahead of Charles, we had split strategies, but it didn’t work out today. Overall, we’ve achieved a lot this year as a Team and we can all be proud of that, it’s great motivation heading into next year.“

Following a successful final weekend in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Logan Sargeant, Williams Racing has finally confirmed that the young American will be partnering Alex Albon at the Grove-based team for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Sargeant headed into the Formula 2 season finale in Abu Dhabi needing to finish at least fifth in the Driver Championship to obtain the final ten points required to secure his Super Licence. A sixth-place finish in the Sprint Race was followed up by a fifth-place finish in the Feature Race, allowing Sargeant to capture fourth in the Drivers Championship and a full-time drive with the Williams team in 2023.

The twenty-one-year-old becomes the first American driver to race in Formula 1 since Alexander Rossi, who undertook a five-race stint for the Manor Marussia F1 Team in 2015.

Sargeant’s impending arrival in the sport is potentially a very significant moment for Formula 1 as they look to continue expanding into the American market. With Formula 1 also set to race in the U.S. on three separate occasions next season, Sargeant has every chance of becoming a fan favourite within the American fanbase.

Speaking on the news, Sargeant was understandably delighted, giving thanks to the personnel inside the Williams team and to the owners of the team, Dorilton Capital, for providing him with the opportunity to race in Formula 1.

While some ponder Sebastian Vettel's possible return as an F1 driver, Helmut Marko believes the four-time world champion would be the ideal candidate to oversee Red Bull's racing operations.

Ferrari has announced that it has accepted the resignation of Mattia Binotto who will leave his role as team principal on December 31.

The windscreen is highly vulnerable to damage as it is exposed to various elements, and when it cracks, you should repair it immediately.

Williams Racing Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson reflected on a successful post-season test for the team, where Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant completed programmes that aimed to gather knowledge on Pirelli’s 2023 tyres. 

“We’ve had a very productive day to complete the 2022 season. Both cars ran reliably throughout, which allowed Alex and Logan to run their intended programmes. Alex ran through a series of tyre tests, exploring the 2023 tyres at various track temperatures and fuel loads.” 

Robson said that Sargeant was able to get far more running in during the full day test as opposed to the free practice sessions he partook in during the season, giving him a solid basis to work off of going into his first season with the team.

“Logan got his first experience of a proper day of F1 testing as well as some useful exposure to the 2023 tyres. We were able to do a lot more work with him than is possible during an FP1 session and everything he did will set him up nicely for the crucial pre-season testing that we will do next February.”

With both drivers putting in great laps on Pirelli’s softer compounds, Robson was happy with the team’s results relative to the rest of the grid, with Albon finishing the test as sixth fastest and Sargeant slotting in just behind in seventh. 

Logan Sargeant participated in post-season testing with Williams Racing, where he completed eighty-two laps for the team. Having acquired the necessary super-license points at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to qualify for a seat in F1, Sergeant will be joining Williams in 2023 to drive alongside Alex Albon. 

The test was successful for the American driver, as he was able to complete the entirety of their run plan with the team. Sargeant said that he was pleased to be able to get a whole day’s running in for the first time, which allowed him to fully acclimate to the FW43. 

Sargeant plans to use the time off from racing over the winter to ensure that he is as prepared as possible for his debut season in F1, from working out to putting in mileage on the simulator.

“Today went well. Throughout the day we gradually progressed, got through our test plan and completed all the laps we needed to do. By the end of the day I felt super comfortable.

“It was really nice to get a full day rather than a FP1 to properly get to grips with everything. My season hasn’t ended, there’s a lot of work to do over the next three months to prepare myself for next season.

Rick Ware Racing will switch Ford partners for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. After working with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2022, they have joined forces with RFK Racing. RWR announced the news on Monday, shortly after it was broken by Lee Spencer of Racin’ Boys.

Holding two charters, Ware fields the #15 and #51 Ford Mustangs full-time. While the #15 is split between multiple drivers, Ware’s son Cody Ware pilots the #51. The two cars finished next to each other in the owner points with the #15 ahead in thirty-fourth. Ware placed thirty-second in the driver standings with a top ten in the regular season finale at Daytona.

The partnership with SHR allowed RWR to find a permanent manufacturer after spending much of their Cup programme’s history running a mix of Fords and Chevrolets. Despite dissolving the SHR alliance, Ware will still work with Roush Yates Engines and Ford Performance for engines and support.

“Very excited to be a part of this alliance as we take another step as a team and myself as a driver,” Cody Ware tweeted.

RFK Racing spawned from Brad Keselowski purchasing a stake in Roush Fenway Racing ahead of the 2022 season. Although both Keselowski and Chris Buescher missed the playoffs, the latter scored his first Cup win since 2016 at Bristol to complete a non-playoff driver sweep of the Round of 16. Buescher finished twenty-first in points with ten top tens and a pole, while Keselowski was twenty-fourth with six top tens and also notched a pole. The duo also won the two Daytona 500 qualifying races.

Best Electric Motorcycle: Zero DSR/X

Just because the candidates for Best Electric Bike this year are rather sparse doesn’t mean there isn’t a motorcycle worthy of an award. Energica’s new Experia certainly appears to be worthy of consideration, but as we mentioned in our opening page, a model needs to be available in dealers by the time of our posting. The Experia is not. This leaves one really excellent motorcycle left to choose. It would be hard not to recognize the Zero DSR/X in the Best Electric category after basically calling it the best motorcycle Zero has made so far. If you look at where Zero started – as essentially a glorified mountain bike – to where the company is now, and in a relatively short amount of time, the DSR/X is very impressive. In a way, you could say the DSR/X is the ultimate evolution of that original glorified mountain bike. Built to capitalize on the ADV craze sweeping the industry, it certainly is the most capable Zero so far.

2023 Zero DSR/X Review – First Ride

Unsurprisingly, it boasts the current pinnacle of Zero’s engineering talents. From the highest battery capacity to date and its most torque-rich motor, to the level of refinement within the proprietary Cypher III operating system. Partnering with Bosch to integrate its safety systems lends another point of credibility to the doubters out there, as do the premium components from J.Juan and Pirelli. Maybe the most important thing, however, is simply creating a motorcycle that looks, feels, and works like… a motorcycle. Zero’s done that with the DSR/X. Apart from the sound and the charging routine, the learning curve to riding a DSR/X is basically nill. We’re kidding ourselves into thinking it will give the likes of the BMW GS or KTM Adventure series a run for their money, but let’s give credit where credit is due. The Zero DSR/X is a good motorcycle without the need for qualification.

Best Electric Motorcycle Runner-Up: BMW CE 04