Daniel Suarez will continue his career in the NASCAR Cup Series next season, driving for a new team owned by former driver Justin Marks. Trackhouse Entertainment Group, founded and owned by Marks, announced Wednesday it had formed a Cup Series team and will debut at the 2021 Daytona 500 with Suarez as its driver. The
Month: October 2020
Triple MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo insists Yamaha is not “wasting” his talents as a test rider through a lack of mileage on the M1 this year. After retiring from racing at the end of 2019 following his tough sole season on the factory Honda, Lorenzo returned to Yamaha in the winter as its official
Hendrick Motorsports has gone in-house and chosen Alex Bowman to replace retiring NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson in the #48 machine in 2021. On Tuesday, HMS announced Bowman, who currently drives Hendrick’s #88 Chevrolet in the Cup Series, will move to the #48 beginning with the 2021 season. Bowman will take over Johnson’s ride
Leopard Racing says “things are being negotiated” for it to make a step to MotoGP in 2022 as a satellite operation, though it admits it has a way to go. The current agreement between MotoGP organisers Dorna Sports and the International Race Teams’ Association (IRTA) expires at the end of the 2021 season, as well
It was announced in June that the race would be extended in duration by an hour. Series boss Stephane Ratel said that he wanted to the event to be a “race to remember that we talk about in years to come”. The shift to 25 hours reflected the fact that the clocks changed on the
Plans for the Spa 24 Hours GT World Challenge Europe blue riband to run to 25 hours have been scrapped, while the event will now be held behind closed doors. It was announced in June that the race would be extended in duration by an hour. Series boss Stephane Ratel said that he wanted to
2014 IndyCar champion Will Power will have a hand in the design of a new $175 million circuit in his hometown of Toowoomba. Plans for the Will Power Centre for Motorsport and Driver Training Excellence were formally unveiled last week, the Wagner Corporation leading the development with a $95 million pledge. The Queensland state government
KTM’s Brad Binder says he’s not happy with the number of mistakes he has made in his rookie MotoGP season and believes he has “missed a lot” of points-scoring opportunities. The 2016 Moto3 world champion has had an impressive rookie season so far in MotoGP, which included a maiden victory in August at the Czech
The latest NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race ended in controversy at Talladega with NASCAR officials defending the yellow line rule at the centre of the debate. Denny Hamlin survived a post-race investigation to clinch the victory, but his triumph was initially under threat for multiple reasons. Hamlin’s win was put into question as he went
Denny Hamlin survived a post-race investigation to win the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Talladega, edging out Matt DiBenedetto in a photo-finish during the third period of overtime. A big accident on 187 of a scheduled 188 involving points leader Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr and Alex Bowman brought out the second
After another frustrating weekend five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon says the Chip Ganassi Racing team still has a tough job ahead to clinch the title at St Petersburg. Following on from two 10th place finishes at Mid-Ohio, Dixon could only bag a ninth and an eighth from the two races on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s
Fabio Quartararo admits he is “not really thinking” about beating future team-mate Maverick Vinales in the 2020 MotoGP campaign ahead of his move to the works Yamaha squad in 2021. Quartararo will join Vinales at the factory Yamaha team next year after both were signed to two-year deals with the Japanese manufacturer back in January.
Will Power converted pole into victory at IndyCar’s Harvest Grand Prix at Indianapolis despite intense pressure from Colton Herta, as Josef Newgarden trimmed Scott Dixon’s points lead. Penske driver Power made a strong start to maintain the lead as Herta locked up at Turn 1 – but maintained second ahead of Andretti Autosport stablemate Alexander
IndyCar has pushed back the introduction of its hybrid power unit formula to 2023 in an effort to spread out costs for teams and manufacturers in an uncertain economy. The hybrid formula is part of a multi-year contract extension IndyCar has reached with Honda and Chevrolet, which promises a continuation of manufacturer competition and also
Will Power took pole at the Indianapolis road course for the second Harvest Grand Prix race, while championship contenders Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon will start ninth and 15th respectively. In the first qualifying group, Alex Palou of Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh used two fresh sets of red tyres to set a 1m09.2s
IndyCar owner Penske Entertainment has announced significant steps in its Race for Equality & Change initiative to improve diversity within the series and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. These include a major expansion of its relationship with NXG Youth Motorsports (NXG), a non-profit organisation that introduces minority students to motorsport, and the appointment of a
Pol Espargaro says he is “really convinced” he can replicate his KTM podium success on the Honda in 2021 amid questions asking if he is regretting his next MotoGP move. As first revealed by Autosport earlier this year, Espargaro will join Marc Marquez at the factory Honda squad next season, with Alex Marquez being moved
Reigning IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden says he has “no room to be mediocre” and a “perfect” run if he is to beat Scott Dixon to the 2020 title. Newgarden claimed his third victory of the season in Friday’s opening Harvest GP race on the Indianapolis road course, when Chip Ganassi Racing’s five-time champ Dixon could
Reigning IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden dominated the first race of the Harvest Grand Prix double-header on the Indianapolis road course, slashing Scott Dixon’s championship lead to 40 points. Newgarden, who started on the front-row alongside rookie polesitter Rinus VeeKay, ran in third place in the early stages as Ed Carpenter driver VeeKay and Harding Steinbrenner’s
Meyer Shank Racing has announced that Formula 1 majority shareholder Liberty Media has made a minority equity investment in the team. MSR became a full-time one-car IndyCar team this year after gradually building up its number of outings in the series, and switching partner teams from Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (as it was then) to
A cut-and-shut car without a full-time engineer was hardly the ideal platform for a Le Mans winner four years out of single-seaters to make his Champ Car bow. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Guy Smith doesn’t recall his 2004 cameo fondly, as he tells MATT KEW Guy Smith and co-drivers Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello had romped to
Franco Morbidelli says he is “looking forward to fighting” with his mentor Valentino Rossi next year when both become MotoGP team-mates at Petronas SRT. Nine-time grand prix motorcycle world champion Rossi signed a one-year deal last weekend with Yamaha to be a fully-supported works rider at SRT for 2021. He will join his VR46 Academy
The X-raid Mini team has retained Carlos Sainz and Stephane Peterhansel for the 2021 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. This will mark the duo’s third consecutive Dakar outing for Mini, both having joined the marque in 2019 following Peugeot’s withdrawal from the rally raid as a factory entrant. Sainz and Peterhansel will drive X-raid’s two
Honda technical manager Takeo Yokoyama says HRC is having to try “more than expected” to get the 2020 RC213V to work with the new Michelin MotoGP rear tyre construction. Michelin introduced a new rear tyre carcass for the 2020 season which offers better grip and durability in race situations. But it has had a profound
Rinus VeeKay took his maiden IndyCar series pole position in qualifying for the first race of the Harvest Grand Prix double-header on the Indianapolis road course, just pipping Colton Herta. VeeKay, in his first season in the IndyCar series driving for Ed Carpenter Racing, was one of 13 drivers to run in the second group
The IndyCar Series has released a 17-race calendar for the 2021 season which does not include the oval rounds at Iowa and Richmond. The 2021 season-opener on 7 March on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, is the first of nine races on NBC network television – a schedule that also includes the historic Grand
Fabio Quartararo admits he “can’t replace” Valentino Rossi when the Frenchman steps up to the factory Yamaha squad in 2021 and is simply “taking his bike”. Nine-time grand prix motorcycle world champion Rossi will take Quartararo’s place at Petronas SRT next season, after a one-year deal with the Malaysian outfit and Yamaha was announced last
After some stunning recent performances in the GT World Challenge Europe series, we meet Britain’s latest rising star, in association with Sky The name Christopher Froggatt isn’t immediately familiar in the way that his Tempesta Racing team-mate, two-time grand prix winner Giancarlo Fisichella is. But that’s perhaps to be expected given that that the 26-year-old
Nine-times World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb will return to the Dakar Rally in 2021 after signing a deal with the Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme team. Loeb will be a part of BRX’s two car line-up in the top-tier T1 category alongside 2014 winner Nani Roma, whose appointment was confirmed by the squad in September last
Craig Breen will rejoin Hyundai for the World Rally Championship’s first visit to Belgium in November, marking his third outing this season. Breen and co-driver Paul Nagle will team up with Hyundai team regulars Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak for the season-ending Ypres Rally. It will be his third WRC appearance of 2020, following previous