Sebastien Ogier says sealing a seventh World Rally Championship title in 2020 would mean less than his previous successes because of the drastically-shortened season. Ogier trails Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans by 14 points going into this week’s decider at Rally Monza in Italy. The Frenchman’s previous title successes came between 2013 and 2016 in a
Month: November 2020
AJ Foyt’s career is one very few can beat in terms of success and none can rival for longevity. In an article originally published in Autosport magazine on 26 August 2010, Charles Bradley rewinds the clock with the American legend to tell his amazing story When it came to his fellow racers, AJ Foyt bruised
A hydrogen-powered contender will take on the Dakar Rally in 2024. Former World Rallycross team GCK Motorsport has launched a four-year off-road programme, starting with an all-electric vehicle and culminating in a hydrogen machine. French freeriding skier and rallycross driver Guerlain Chicherit’s squad has already started testing the new GCK e-BLAST 1. It won’t contest
The Dakar Rally has released details of the route for the 2021 edition, featuring nearly 5,000 competitive kilometres divided into 12 stages that are “80-90% new”. After months of uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the 43rd running of the Dakar and the second to take place in Saudi Arabia will start on 3 January in
On this day 15 years ago, Richard Burns sadly passed away due to cancer, exactly four years after claiming the 2001 World Rally crown. In an article originally published in Autosport magazine on 1 December 2005, David Evans recounts his incredible career along with tributes from those who knew him best Diagnosed with an astrocytoma
Tony Kanaan says that his return to Chip Ganassi Racing’s IndyCar team adds pressure to win, but that it is a “great problem to have”. The Brazilian veteran, who raced for Ganassi from 2014 through ’17, was confirmed this morning as the oval driver of the #48 CGR-Honda for the next two years. He will
Indianapolis 500 winner and 2004 IndyCar champion Tony Kanaan will return to Chip Ganassi Racing after signing a multi-year deal to race the four ovals on the calendar in 2021. Kanaan raced for CGR in the American open-wheel series from 2014 through to 2017, scoring a win at the 2014 Fontana finale and 10 other
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans says the importance of this week’s pre-Rally Monza test cannot be underestimated ahead of next month’s final round of the World Rally Championship season. Evans holds a 14-point lead over Toyota team-mate and six-time champion Sebastien Ogier heading into Rally Monza, which is set to go ahead despite Italy’s ongoing coronavirus restrictions.
25 years ago today, Colin McRae became Britain’s first World Rally champion. In an interview published by Autosport magazine on 30 November 1995, he reflects on that famous triumph on the RAC and explains why F1 won’t tempt him away from the WRC The look says it all. Two hours into his reign as Britain’s
The TORO Racing Mercedes driver was in a class of his own over the 12-lap journey, his cause helped by weekend-long pacesetter Darryl O’Young starting back in 11th due a qualifying race penalty. That left Ye with clear air in front and breathing room to O’Young in the crucial early stages of the race. He
Ye Hongli put in a commanding performance on the Guia circuit to claim a crash-shortened 2020 Macau GT Cup. The TORO Racing Mercedes driver was in a class of his own over the 12-lap journey, his cause helped by weekend-long pacesetter Darryl O’Young starting back in 11th due a qualifying race penalty. That left Ye
Rossi contested the 12-hour event at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi last year in a Kessel Racing-run 488 Ferrari partnered by Marini and his long-time friend and business partner Alessio Salucci. The trio took a class win in their 488 GT3 in the Pro-Am class and were third overall and will return to
MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi will return to the Gulf 12 Hours in Bahrain in January with his Avintia-bound half-brother Luca Marini joining him in a Ferrari 488 GT3. Rossi contested the 12-hour event at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi last year in a Kessel Racing-run 488 Ferrari partnered by Marini and his long-time
Three-time MotoGP race winner Franco Morbidelli will take part in next month’s World Rally Championship finale at Rally Monza with Hyundai Rally Team Italia. WRC organisers announced earlier this year its coronavirus-affected 2020 season would be brought to a close on 3-6 December with the ACI Rally Monza event. Rally Monza has typically featured MotoGP
Sebastien Ogier will stay with Toyota in the World Rally Championship in 2021, deferring his plans to retire from the top echelon of rallying for at least another year. Autosport revealed back in July that Ogier had expressed his intention to contest the 2021 WRC season to Toyota, and the Japanese marque was also not
Two former Cup Series champions – Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr – took part in this week’s two-day test at Charlotte, with Busch driving a car prepared by Richard Childress Racing in collaboration with NASCAR and Truex in a car built by Action Express. The drivers spent several hours Monday testing on the Charlotte
NASCAR’s 2022 Next Gen car received better reviews from its drivers on the Charlotte road layout than on the oval course, says senior vice president of racing innovation John Probst. Two former Cup Series champions – Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr – took part in this week’s two-day test at Charlotte, with Busch driving
Hyundai boss Andrea Adamo suggested Dani Sordo is better equipped to help the team retain its World Rally Championship manufacturers’ crown after choosing him over Craig Breen for Rally Monza. The Alzenau-based squad clinched its first makes’ title last year and Hyundai currently sits at the top of the standings by just seven points over
Sebastien Loeb has conducted his first test with Prodrive’s new BRX T1 machine ahead of next year’s Dakar Rally, believing he and the team “will do something quite good”. The nine-time World Rally champion will compete with the Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme team in next year’s off-road endurance event, which takes place on 3-15 January
Dale Coyne is expecting Alex Palou to shine at Chip Ganassi Racing, especially when IndyCar reverts to a more normal race weekend schedule, allowing more track time. This year’s batch of IndyCar rookies (Palou, Rinus VeeKay, Oliver Askew and Dalton Kellett) suffered greatly from the knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with not only zero
Andreas Mikkelsen has said he does not expect an easy ride on his return to Rally Islas Canarias next week. Mikkelsen will drive the same Topp-Cars-run Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo that carried him to victory on Rally Hungary earlier this month. Having dominated on his first competitive outing of the season to record a straightforward
Busch and Truex spent much of Monday testing the new-design Cup car at Charlotte, the first involving more than one car. Busch drove a car prepared by Richard Childress Racing in collaboration with NASCAR, with an engine built by ECR Engines, and was previously tested at Auto Club Speedway and Dover. Truex drove a car
Martin Truex Jr says NASCAR Cup’s Next Gen car “does everything a little bit better”, having tested it along with Kurt Busch at Charlotte’s ‘roval’ circuit. Busch and Truex spent much of Monday testing the new-design Cup car at Charlotte, the first involving more than one car. Busch drove a car prepared by Richard Childress
A special documentary marking 25 years since Colin McRae became the first British driver to win the World Rally title will be broadcast later this week. Called ‘Colin McRae: 25 Years A Champion’, the programme features interviews with McRae’s team boss at the time Dave Richards and McRae’s father Jimmy, who is reunited with the
The makeshift AF Corse crew, with Pier Guidi’s regular co-drivers James Calado and Nicklas Nielsen on duty in yesterday’s World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain, started second on the grid for the six-hour race but only showed its hand in the final 90 minutes. A daring strategic call at the final round of pit-stops helped
Ferrari’s Alessandro Pier Guidi, Come Ledogar and Tom Blomqvist claimed victory in the Paul Ricard 1000km as AKKA ASP’s Timur Boguslavskiy clinched the overall GT World Challenge Europe title. The makeshift AF Corse crew, with Pier Guidi’s regular co-drivers James Calado and Nicklas Nielsen on duty in yesterday’s World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain, started
M-Sport has completed its Ladder of Opportunity strategy with the new Fiesta Rally3, meaning it now builds a car for each of the World Rally Championship’s five-tier class structure. Designed and engineered at the Cumbrian team’s Krakow facilities in Poland, order books for the four-wheel-drive supermini – which costs £89,875 excluding VAT – are set
The seven-time series champion will switch to IndyCar next season with a street and road course-only programme with Chip Ganassi Racing, ending a run of 19 seasons with Hendrick Motorsport. Johnson was the highest of the drivers not in title contention on his 686th career start as stablemate Chase Elliott came through from last after
Jimmie Johnson said it “still stings” that his full-time NASCAR Cup career ended with a “bittersweet” final year, but was pleased to bow out with a fifth place at Phoenix. The seven-time series champion will switch to IndyCar next season with a street and road course-only programme with Chip Ganassi Racing, ending a run of
The veteran 52-year-old and Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini team-mate Sandy Mitchell took their second win of the season in the title-deciding round at Silverstone to seal the team’s first crown since 2014 with Marco Attard and the first for Lamborghini since it entered the championship in 2016. Collard, who had contested at least one BTCC race