NASCAR is set to make its first appearance at the Circuit of the Americas next year as part of a major calendar shakeup featuring increased road racing, including six races on road courses, fewer intermediate oval tracks and its first race on dirt since 1970. NASCAR considered the smaller 2.2-mile course before deciding to the
Month: December 2020
NASCAR will use the 3.41-mile grand prix track layout when the series visits Circuit of the Americas for the first time in 2021. NASCAR is set to make its first appearance at the Circuit of the Americas next year as part of a major calendar shakeup featuring increased road racing, including six races on road
Two-time DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom will make his debut on the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January, driving a new Yamaha SxS machine prepared by the experienced X-Raid team. The 2016 World Rallycross Champion, who finished runner-up on his return to World RX this year, will venture into cross-country style competition by racing in
Ex-Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya will return to McLaren in 2021 to race a third Arrow McLaren SP car in the Indianapolis 500. The Colombian legend, who won the race for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2000 and for Team Penske in 2015, will join the team’s full-timers Patricio O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist at IndyCar’s
World Rally Championship veterans Dani Sordo and Craig Breen have been retained by Hyundai for 2021, and will share the team’s third car alongside Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville. Sordo, who won this year’s Rally Italy on Sardinia, will alternate with Breen in the car that the duo shared with Sebastian Loeb in 2020, although
The Austrian’s squad became the pre-eminent force in the spec Formula 1 support championship following the introduction of the 997-generation Porsche 911 in 2005. In the 16 seasons since, which featured a move to 991 machinery in 2013, Lechner Racing and its Middle Eastern-backed derivations have won the teams’ crown 11 times, including a clean
Walter Lechner, who twice raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours and founded his eponymous team best-known for its dominant success in the Porsche Supercup, has died aged 71. The Austrian’s squad became the pre-eminent force in the spec Formula 1 support championship following the introduction of the 997-generation Porsche 911 in 2005. In the
The 27-28 February race weekend planned for Auto Club Speedway in Fontana has been cancelled, and instead NASCAR will host Truck, Xfinity and Cup series races the weekend after the Daytona 500 at the venue’s road course – which was used as a replacement venue during the pandemic-altered 2020 schedule. The Xfinity and Cup series
NASCAR’s 2021 Cup Series schedule has already undergone minor changes due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, which will include the return to the Daytona road course. The 27-28 February race weekend planned for Auto Club Speedway in Fontana has been cancelled, and instead NASCAR will host Truck, Xfinity and Cup series races the weekend after
Andretti Autosport has announced that Colton Herta will switch to the IndyCar team’s #26 car, taking over the car piloted by James Hinchcliffe towards the end of 2020. Herta raced under the Harding Steinbrenner Racing banner in his rookie season of 2019, with the team nominally only an Andretti satellite operation, but this became Andretti
Sebastian Ogier feels the World Rally Championship promoters should explore the possibility of more showcase-type events for future calendars following the success of Rally Monza. Rally Monza became a late replacement event on the COVID-19-hit 2020 WRC calendar, after 10 events in total were cancelled this season either due to the global health pandemic, while
Sebastian Ogier feels the World Rally Championship promoters should explore the possibility of more showcase-type events for future calendars following the success of Rally Monza. Rally Monza became a late replacement event on the COVID-19-hit 2020 WRC calendar, after 10 events in total were cancelled this season either due to the global health pandemic, while
Sebastien Ogier has revealed he will hold off fully celebrating being crowned World Rally Champion for the seventh time in eight seasons because of the ongoing COVID-19 health pandemic. The Frenchman won Rally Monza by 13.9 seconds from outgoing WRC title holder Ott Tanak to become only the second person in history to win the
Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier secured his seventh World Rally Championship title with victory on Rally Monza as Hyundai successfully defended its manufacturers crown. Pre-event points leader Elfyn Evans crashed out in snowy conditions on Saturday’s SS11, opening the door for team-mate and rally leader Ogier to overturn his 14-point pre-weekend deficit. The Frenchman’s winning margin was
Penske Entertainment says that conversations are ongoing with Ferrari over building an IndyCar engine when the series switches to 2.4-litre hybrids in 2023. In May this year, Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Mattia Binotto said that the Scuderia was evaluating the possibility of entering IndyCar when F1’s budget cap comes into force. Rather than make
Sebastien Ogier closed the final full day of Rally Monza on the cusp of his seventh World Rally Championship title after Elfyn Evans crashed out. The opening loop of three stages began with a stage win for Ogier by 8.3 seconds, pushing his Toyota Yaris past Hyundai’s overnight pacesetter Dani Sordo to the top of
McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes the 2021 Arrow McLaren SP line-up of Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist holds a “superstar” status, and that the team hit its targets for 2020. Speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the 2020 Formula 1 season, Brown declared himself content with
World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans has crashed out on the 11th stage of Rally Monza, putting his title hopes in serious jeopardy with main rival Sebastien Ogier currently leading. As snow continued to fall on the closed road stages on the final full day of competitive stages, Evans slid wide near the end of
Sebastien Ogier has taken the lead of Rally Monza after Saturday morning’s opening stages, as Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans remains on course for the World Rally Championship title. Having spent Friday on routes around the Monza circuit, the field completed its first loop of mountain road stages on Saturday. Ogier immediately threw down the gauntlet
Dani Sordo holds the overnight lead after the first full day of Rally Monza, with both Sebastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans in title contention in the World Rally Championship decider. The Spaniard won the opening stage of the morning but then M-Sport Ford’s Esapekka Lappi gambled and put on one of the two sets of
The FIA World Rally Championship has collaborated with Motorsport Network to launch a dedicated Motorsport.tv channel ahead of the 2020 finale at Monza this weekend. Launching onto Motorsport Network’s OTT platform, the championship will deliver the latest news updates and most spectacular videos from the world of rallying to the network’s 56 million-strong digital monthly
The German squad, whose successes with the Bavarian marque also include victory in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship and the 2012 DTM, will not be given a works programme by BMW for 2021, Autosport has learned. The move follows a gradual downscaling of Schnitzer’s activities with BMW Motorsport since it was dropped from the
BMW will end its relationship with the Le Mans 24 Hours-winning Schnitzer Motorsport squad after more than 50 years. The German squad, whose successes with the Bavarian marque also include victory in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship and the 2012 DTM, will not be given a works programme by BMW for 2021, Autosport has
Sebastian Ogier opened the World Rally Championship’s Rally Monza on top of the leaderboard, with the Toyota driver closing out the first stage half a second ahead of Thierry Neuville. The WRC’s final event of 2020 is underway after an initial 4.3km (2.7mi) blast round the Villa Reale at Monza, with six-time champion Ogier taking
The British manufacturer has opted against restarting its works assault on the Intercontinental GT Challenge with M-Sport, which was put on ice in the summer, and is releasing the six factory drivers it has under contract. The GT3 programme that dates back to 2013 will then come to what Bentley described as a “natural end”
Bentley will end its factory programme with the Continental racer at the end of this year as part of a phased withdrawal from the GT3 category. The British manufacturer has opted against restarting its works assault on the Intercontinental GT Challenge with M-Sport, which was put on ice in the summer, and is releasing the
“It’s been difficult, maybe a bit too difficult, to manage the balance between the Silver pairings and the Pro-Am, between the very competitive Silver pairings and less competitive Silver pairings. Benjamin [Franassovici, SRO general manager] has had to zig-zag a lot throughout the season trying to do that. It’s why we pushed to go back
Half of the 2020 British GT3 grid consisted of Silver-Silver pairings. But the decision to outlaw such combinations, and return to its Pro-Am roots, will have a mixed impact as key championship stakeholders told JAMES NEWBOLD “It’s been difficult, maybe a bit too difficult, to manage the balance between the Silver pairings and the Pro-Am,
In a few short days, Elfyn Evans could become Britain’s first World Rally champion in almost two decades and join elite company that includes Richard Burns, Colin McRae and Louise Aitken-Walker. She tells NICK GARTON what he needs to do at Monza A framed copy of Autosport from December 1990 was recently restored to pride
Ed Carpenter says he’s focused on retaining Conor Daly and the US Air Force sponsorship for 2021 rather than chasing a Formula 1 star. With a selection of experienced F1 names and promising F2 drivers coming to the end of their current contracts, there has been much speculation that one or two might make the