Elfyn Evans says he has no excuses not to make the most of his Toyota World Rally Championship move as he prepares to make his debut for the manufacturer. Evans switched from M-Sport to arguably the best-funded team, Toyota, in the off-season, and will make his first start alongside six-time WRC champion Sebastien Ogier and
Month: January 2020
Ducati will again become the first manufacturer to launch its 2020 MotoGP programme when it takes the covers off its new livery later on Thursday. The Italian marque will show off the Desmosedici in 2020 colours during an event at the Palazzo Re Enzo in Bologna, just a few miles away from its Borgo Panigale
One-time race winner Charlie Kimball has landed a full-time IndyCar drive with AJ Foyt Racing in 2020, having contested only a handful of rounds last season. Kimball spent the first seven years of his IndyCar career with Chip Ganassi Racing, before switching to Carlin for the team’s inaugural season at the top of U.S. open-wheel
Six-time Le Mans winner and 1983 Dakar Rally winner Jacky Ickx believes fellow ex-Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso can win win the long-distance off-road event, having followed Alonso’s first outing. Alonso finished 13th during this month’s Dakar in Saudi Arabia at the wheel of a factory Toyota Hilux 4×4, although the two-time Formula 1 champion
MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez says recovery from his latest surgery has been “less painful but more difficult” than the aftermath of his previous operation. The Honda rider underwent surgery on his right shoulder in late November after having injured it during qualifying at for the Malaysian Grand Prix – when he crashed heavily trying
Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville will donate up to €10,000 to a local charity or association at each round of the World Rally Championship in 2020. Neuville, who has 12 WRC wins and has finished second in the championship for the last three seasons, announced on his Facebook page that he will donate €2000 at each
Yamaha’s 2020 MotoGP bike has been designed to make it easier to battle in the pack, says the team’s group leader Takahiro Sumi. The appointment of Sumi as the head of the M1 project was one of a number of organisational changes Yamaha made in the wake of a disappointing 2018 campaign. These were followed
Daniel Suarez has secured a NASCAR Cup Series lifeline with Gaunt Brothers Racing, which will run as a full-time team for the first time in 2020, Autosport has learned. An official announcement confirming the move is expected this week. Suarez, the 2016 Xfinity series champion, was left without a Cup seat for the 2020 season
Andrea Iannone’s appeal hearing to have his FIM doping ban overturned has been set for February 4, which means he will miss the first MotoGP test of 2020. The Aprilia rider tested positive for an anabolic steroid over the winter from a sample taken during the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend, which he claims was ingested
The FIA has confirmed changes to the World Rally Championship calendar following the loss of Rally Chile due to social unrest in the country. The governing body’s World Motor Sport Council approved Chile’s request to withdraw from the 2020 WRC calendar. While there had been speculation of a 14th round being drafted in, WMSC confirmed
Tom Blomqvist has been named as part of McLaren’s Bathurst 12 Hour line-up alongside Alvaro Parente and Ben Barnicoat. The trio will drive for Australian squad 59Racing, which will pair the all-Pro entry with a Silver class car – the details of which will be announced on Tuesday. The race won’t just be Blomqvist’s Bathurst
Mercedes Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas finished ninth on this weekend’s Arctic Lapland Rally in Finland, which was won by new Toyota World Rally Championship driver Kalle Rovanpera. Bottas was driving a previous-generation Citroen DS3 World Rally Car, and started his second attempt at the snow and ice rally auspiciously by posting the second-fastest time
Two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso says he has yet to decide if he will return to the Dakar Rally, after finishing 13th on his debut in 2020. Since exiting F1, Alonso has sampled various categories of motorsport and has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, as well as the World Endurance
Retired triple premier class world champion Jorge Lorenzo will be made an official MotoGP legend during this year’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. After a miserable season aboard the factory Honda in 2019, in which he failed to register a top-10 finish, Lorenzo announced on the eve of the Valencia season finale that he would
Two-time World Rally champion Carlos Sainz Sr has secured this third Dakar Rally victory in the 2020 edition of the event, held in Saudi Arabia for the first time ever. Sainz, the father of McLaren Formula 1 driver Carlos Jr, finished more than six minutes clear of defending winner Nasser Al-Attiyah after 12 stages. Representing
The final stage of the Dakar Rally on Friday will be shortened due to the construction of gas pipelines in the planned route. Originally 151.6 miles of the last stage were due to be timed and conclude the event, but now the crews will be timed over 103.1 miles. Works for new gas pipelines are
For the first time in the history of the World Rally Championship, the series will start in 2020 without a driver running with number one on the doors. Ott Tanak won the WRC title last year and had the right to take the number one for his car during the 2020 season, ending a five
Stephane Peterhansel set the pace in the penultimate stage of the 2020 Dakar Rally, but X-raid Mini stablemate Carlos Sainz Sr retains a healthy lead ahead of the marathon’s finale. Sainz had to open the road in the 235-mile timed special within the stage, taking the competition back to Haradh from Shubaytah. He consequently gave
The McLaren 720S GT3 will race in the renamed GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for the first time in 2020, including its debut in the blue-riband Spa 24 Hours. The first GT3 car developed in-house by McLaren, pictured racing in British GT above, will contest what was formerly known as the Blancpain GT Series
MotoGP rookie Brad Binder felt he did a “better job” on the KTM during the Jerez test, but admits he is still waiting for “something to click” on the bike. Last year’s Moto2 runner-up Binder will contest his debut season in the premier class with the works KTM squad in 2020, and ended the last
Penske has admitted that Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin could make his IndyCar race debut in 2020, following his successful first test at Sebring on Tuesday. McLaughlin tested a Penske-run Indycar at Sebring and lapped just one second slower than the pacesetting time of 52.3 seconds set by Indy Lights champion Rinus Veekay for Ed Carpenter
X-raid Mini driver Carlos Sainz has taken a commanding lead in the 2020 edition of the Dakar Rally after topping stage 10, which was suspended before the halfway point. The Haradh – Shubaytah test was due to feature 534 kilometres of timed competition in the Rub’ Al Khali desert, but worsening weather conditions forced the
Fernando Alonso’s Toyota Hilux has been damaged in a double rollover during the 10th stage of the 2020 Dakar Rally. The Spaniard hit a dune at an awkward angle just over a kilometre into the 331-mile test, pitching he and Marc Coma’s Hilux into a roll. The car landed back on its wheels after two
The Dakar Rally stewards have issued a “public warning” to Mini crew Vladimir Vasilyev and Vitaly Yevtyekhov over the alleged use of “forbidden roadbook annotations” during the 2020 event. Organiser ASO has sought to crack down on what it considers illegal navigation aids for this year’s event, and had cameras installed in the cockpits of
New rules have been introduced for the renamed GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and its blue-riband Spa 24 Hours round to encourage more strategic racing. The changes to the sporting regulations for the series formerly known as the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup include re-introducing a competitive element to pitstops and new regulations governing
NASCAR has made changes to its aero rules for short tracks and road courses in an effort to create “more exciting” races by reducing downforce. The rear spoiler of the Cup Series car will be reduced from 8-2.75 inches for the nine rounds where the new package will be used. The splitter overhang is also
Ex-Toyota World Rally Championship driver and Intercontinental, European champion Juho Hanninen will co-drive for privateer Jari-Matti Latvala on Rally Sweden in a Yaris WRC next month. Latvala was dropped by Toyota for 2020, and the M-Sport squad that gave him his break in the WRC elected to sign Citroen refugee Esapekka Lappi to the last
Ex-Toyota World Rally Championship driver and double Intercontinental/European champion Juho Hanninen will co-drive for privateer Jari-Matti Latvala on Rally Sweden in a Yaris WRC next month. Latvala was dropped by Toyota for 2020, and the M-Sport squad that gave him his break in the WRC elected to sign Citroen refugee Esapekka Lappi to the last
Mark Lemmer says his Barwell Motorsport team has suggested safety tweaks to Dubai 24 Hours organiser Creventic following the “deeply regrettable” pitlane incident that went viral during last weekend’s race. The British GT regular squad (pictured above at the 2019 Spa round of that series) was leading the race when it was handed a four-minute
X-raid Mini driver Stephane Peterhansel recorded his third stage win of the 2020 Dakar Rally, as Nasser Al-Attiyah closed in on rally leader Carlos Sainz Sr. The three frontrunners benefitted from an advantageous position in the running order for the near-296-mile Wadi ad-Dawasir – Haradh stage, following low-key finishes on Monday. But whereas Peterhansel and