October 19, 2023

Motorsport News

The voice of British Motorsport

Motorsport News2 min read
Formula 1 Rethink After Drivers Fall Ill During Sweltering Qatar Gp
Formula 1’s rulers the FIA has said that alterations might be made to the running order of the race calendar or to the cockpit cooling of the cars to avoid a repeat of the problems which affected drivers in the recent Qatar Grand Prix, where several
Motorsport News2 min read
The Big Boost UK Rallying Needs
October 6, 2019 was exactly 1474 days ago from the day this issue of Motorsport News is published. The crew of the final car which took to the Wales Rally GB finish ramp on Llandudno Promenade on that overcast afternoon could not have imagined that i
Motorsport News1 min read
Drivers’ Association Boss Calls For Heat Solutions
Grand Prix Drivers Association chairman and former Formula 1 driver Alex Wurz has also urged the FIA to take action after a number of drivers falling ill in the heat of the recent Qatar Grand Prix and thinks rejigging the cars could be a solution. Wu
Motorsport News1 min read
Deadline Extended In Massa Legal Case
Lawyers acting on behalf of 2008 F1 World championship runner-up Felipe Massa have given the FIA and Formula 1 bosses extra time to deliver a response to its challenge on the result of that season’s title race. Massa has engaged lawyers to challeng
Motorsport News1 min read
Stroll Told Off After Qatar Gp Outburst
Formula 1’s governors, the FIA, have warned Aston Martin racer Lance Stroll after a violent outburst at the recent Qatar Grand Prix. The 24-year-old reacted angrily after being knocked out in the opening part of qualifying at the Lusail circuit and w
Motorsport News1 min read
Belgian Gp To Remain At Spa Until 2025 At Least
Bosses of the Spa-Francorhamps circuit in Belgium have signed a new deal with Formula 1 chiefs to keep the grand prix at the famous venue until 2025. The track, which was one of the founding circuits on the World championship schedule in 1950, had be
Motorsport News1 min read
Karting Series To Unearth F1 Academy Talents
Chiefs of the female-only F1 Academy racing category have launched a karting series for 2024. They have linked up with the Champions of the Future karting organisers to create a three-tiered karting scheme which will include limited costs and a cei
Motorsport News1 min read
Brit Sims Leads Cadillac Crew To Imsa Title Glory At Dramatic Petit Le Mans
Briton Alex Sims won the IMSA Sportscar Championship as he and Cadillac team-mates Pepo Derani and Jack Aitken finished sixth at Petit Le Mans last weekend, one place behind series newcomer Jenson Button. Colin Braun, Tom Blomqvist and Helio Castron
Motorsport News1 min read
Pirelli To Remain As Sole Formula 1 Tyre Supplier
Italian firm Pirelli has won the exclusive rights to provide tyres for grand prix racing through to the end of 2027. The company fought off competition from Bridgestone to secure the deal, which also covers the supply of Formula 2 and Formula 3 rubbe
Motorsport News1 min read
Circuits To Change To Avoid F1 Track Limits Issues
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has said that circuit configurations need to change to stamp out track limit offences, or the venues could drop off the grand prix schedule. There have been a number of races affected by multiple penalties, and ther
Motorsport News1 min read
Maini Gets Support From Former Champ Hakkinen
Indian Formula 2 racer Kush Miani will be mentored by two-time World champion Mika Hakkinen as he aims to graduate to Formula 1. Maini, young brother of ex-F2 racer and sportscar competitor Arjun Maini, is nearing the end of his maiden season in the
Motorsport News1 min read
Century On Title Attack In British Gt’s ’23 Finale
British GT title challengers Darren Leung and Dan Harper have promised to attack in this weekend’s season-finale race as they seek to beat James Cottingham to the crown. Century BMW M4 GT3 duo Leung and Harper are 13 points shy of 2 Seas Mercedes pa
Motorsport News1 min read
Ace Hilton Takes On Radicals
Fiesta Junior racer Luke Hilton this week is stepping up to compete in Radical’s seven-day World Finals event taking place at the Algarve circuit. Sixteen-year-old Hilton – who is coached by British Touring Car ace Bobby Thompson – is making his comp
Motorsport News1 min read
Gamble For Donington
McLaren factory driver and Autosport BRDC Award winner Tom Gamble will join British GT’s grid at Donington Park this weekend partnering Kavi Jundu in Paddock Motorsport’s Artura GT4. Gamble, 21, has British GT experience racing a Century BMW GT3 in S
Motorsport News1 min read
Optimum Duo Seeks Gt4 Crown
Long-time British GT4 points leaders Charles Clark and Jack Brown are looking to finally seal the title at this weekend’s Donington Park finale though six crews remain in contention. The Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura pair has been the clear GT4 t
Motorsport News1 min read
Wilmot Returns To Honour Kirby
Andy Wilmot will return to the TCR UK grid at this weekend’s Brands Hatch season finale racing in honour of his late friend Dan Kirby. Focus and Volkswagen champion and former British Touring Car Championship racer Wilmot was Kirby’s business partner
Motorsport News1 min read
Five-star Warhurst’s Winning Porsche Sprint Challenge Run Takes Him To Title
Rising sportscar star Joe Warhurst sealed the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB title at Brands Hatch 10 ago by completing a run of five race wins all from pole. Team Parker Racing’s 18-year-old had never won in Sprint Challenge prior to his victory run st
Motorsport News1 min read
In Brief
Thomas Balfe, son of British GT frontrunning driver and team owner Shaun, will make his Ginetta racing debut in GT Academy this weekend at the manufacturer’s season-closing meeting at Donington Park. Balfe Jr will be part of what is set to be a seaso
Motorsport News1 min read
Carlin Predicts More Sharp Titles
Rodin Carlin boss Trevor Carlin has predicted Louis Sharp will win more championships after the teenager sealed British Formula 4’s crown with his team 10 days ago. Sixteen-year-old New Zealander Sharp took the title at Brands Hatch after a battle w
Motorsport News1 min read
Elden Festival Reunion
There will be a reunion of drivers from the famous Elden marque’s early 1970s heyday at this weekend’s latest Formula Ford Festival. Johnny Gerber, Chris Smith, Mike Catlow, Ted Wentz, Tim Brise and Denny Shattuck will all be at Brands Hatch, and som
Motorsport News1 min read
Douglass And Fox Step Up
Mckenzie Douglass will graduate to the Ginetta GT championship with Fox Motorsport at Donington Park this weekend as driver and team make their debuts in its frontrunning GT Pro class. The 16-year-old Welshman raced in Ginetta Junior with Elite Motor
Motorsport News1 min read
Slater Rues Qualifying Errors
Rising star Freddie Slater rued qualifying mistakes that coloured his race results in his latest British Formula 4 weekend. The record-breaking 2023 Ginetta Junior champion, who is sampling various single-seater categories in late ’23, had his second
Motorsport News2 min read
Rali Ceredigion On The Brink Of 2024 Erc Calendar Slot
Wales’ place in top-level international rallying could be restored at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council today (Thursday). The body was due to rubberstamp the European Rally Championship calendar for 2024, which is understood to feature
Motorsport News1 min read
Welsh Hero Pryce Backs New Erc Event To Fly
Osian Pryce, the winner of the inaugural Rali Ceredigion in 2019 and the third running last month, has backed the event to be a hit among the European championship elite. Welshman Pryce, 30, scored ERC points on his second appearance in the series in
Motorsport News1 min read
Ostberg Reveals Quit Plan Prior To Hungary Erc Victory
Mads Ostberg was on the verge of quitting ahead of his winning performance on Rally Hungary earlier this month. The one-time World championship event winner started 2023 as a favourite to lift the ERC title. Instead, he endured a mixed campaign, maki
Motorsport News2 min read
McERLEAN AIMING FOR GERMANY GAINS AFTER HUNGARY HELL
Josh McErlean reckons Rally Hungary wasn’t an entirely wasted outing, even though his crash on the opening superspecial of the European Championship event meant he failed to complete a competitive stage. The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver em
Motorsport News1 min read
Major 2024 UK Rally Calendars Unveiled
In a bid to reduce costs at all levels of the championship, the British Rally Championship is being trimmed back to six rounds for 2024 and will not leave the UK mainland. In its 66th season, the BRC will focus on longer and more challenging rallies
Motorsport News1 min read
Stellar Schedule For Asphalt Competition
Seven stand-out rallies will make up next year’s Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship, which opens with the return of the North West Stages in March. New to the schedule is the Three Shires Stages following the success of the 2023 edition of the Ledbur
Motorsport News1 min read
Historics Return To Isle Of Man For New Line-up
The key change for the British Historic schedule is the addition of two major asphalt rallies as the series returns to the Manx Rally for the first time in nearly a decade. The Argyll Rally is fresh to the championship as is the new two-day Anglo-Cal
Motorsport News1 min read
More Of The Same For Btrda Gravel Competition In ’24
While other championships have undergone significant calendar refreshes for 2024, the BTRDA Rally Series will retain an unchanged format. The same eight one-day, 45-mile rallies will make up the schedule, with virtually the same dates as this year.
Motorsport News1 min read
Welsh Rally Championship Retains Successful Calendar For Format
As one of the best-supported rally championships, the Welsh series had a bumper year in 2023 with seven gravel events across the principality. It is a case of more of the same for ’24 with a calendar that will suit many Welsh crews. The season-openin
Motorsport News1 min read
Seven Rallies To Make Up New English Championship
Run by the same team as the BTRDA Rally Series, the Motorsport UK-endorsed English Rally Championship will feature the same seven rallies as 2023. The five non-Welsh BTRDA events form the core of a season that is wrapped up by the late season Wyedean
Motorsport News1 min read
Wyedean Stages All Set For 48th Edition
After extensive work and negotiations over many months, the Wyedean Stages will run on Saturday, November 18, and entries are now open for the 90 available places. The future of the Forest of Dean event, now in its 48th year, was in some doubt but th
Motorsport News1 min read
Luke Francis Returns To Rallying On Cambrian Event
Luke Francis, the 2016 Welsh champion, will make his first competitive start in five years on this month’s Cambrian Rally, driving a Ford Fiesta R5. Having stepped back from rallying in 2018 to focus on business and family life, Francis will reunite
Motorsport News1 min read
Armstrong And Henderson To Square Off For Scottish Title
Jock Armstrong and David Henderson will compete for the Scottish Rally Championship title in a winner-takes-all finale on Saturday’s Carlisle Stages. Armstrong (Subaru Impreza) has led the standings since the opening round and could have clinched
Motorsport News1 min read
Elkins Returns With Ex-tanak Fiesta Wrc
Peter Elkins hopes to use his ex-Ott Tanak Ford Fiesta WRC more regularly after contesting the recent Three Shires Stages. In only his third rally in eight years, Elkins and co-driver Andrew Sankey finished 15th overall on the closed-road event in th
Motorsport News2 min read
Chicks In Control On The Hero Challenge In Their Datsun 260z On The Lancashire Lanes
Steve and Alex Chick won the Lancashire-based HERO Challenge Three in their Datsun 260Z. This victory, added to second and sixth places on the other two rounds of the series, earned them the Challenge Cup as well. Simon Ayris and Matt Outhwaite had l
Motorsport News2 min read
Taylor Lays Down A Marker At Mildenhall
The third round of the BriSCA Formula 2 National Series attracted a strong entry to Mildenhall Stadium. But amid a field packed with stars, it was yellow-graded Kyle Taylor who won the final. Beth Usher led the race for several laps before she was pu
Motorsport News1 min read
O’donovan Ready To Step Up To World Rx In Hong Kong
Reigning British Rallycross champion and European Rallycross event-winner Patrick O’Donovan will make his World Rallycross Championship debut in Hong Kong next month. The 19-year-old, who finished on the podium in the competitive French Rallycross C
Motorsport News1 min read
MAX McRAE JOINS BTRDA RALLYCROSS ENTRY LIST
Max McRae, son of former World Rally Championship contender Alister and nephew of 1995 WRC title-winner Colin will switch codes from rallying this weekend to race in the final round of the BTRDA Rallycross Championship at Knockhill. The 19-year-old h
Motorsport News2 min read
Harris Has To Work Hard To Get Back To The Front
Tom Harris has an affinity for the Odsal track. He won the World Final at the Bradford arena back in 2021 and on Saturday he continued his hot form in Yorkshire to make it back-to-back BriSCA F1 final victories. Harris was made to work for the victo
Motorsport News2 min read
O’donovan Lands Big British Points On French Adventure
Supercar drivers from the British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy joined the ultra-competitive French Rallycross Championship’s season finale at Dreux near Paris for the second year in a row, where Patrick O’Donovan topped the British runner
Motorsport News2 min read
Robin Hamilton
MG Metro 6R4 owner Age: 63 Lives: Edinburgh “I don’t drive the 6R4 very often nowadays. I just tend to do these demonstration rallies like the Historic Rally Festival and I did an event Brunton airfield in Northumberland. That’s about the only two ou
Motorsport News1 min read
Historic Battle Goes Down To The Wire In Kielder
The season-long contest for the British Historic Rally Championship will be resolved between Roger Chilman and Nick Elliott on this weekend’s Carlisle Stages. With 54 competitive miles in the western end of Kielder, including two stages in the darkn
Motorsport News1 min read
Stouf Plots Roger Albert Clark Rally Assualt With Ace Co-driver
Belgian driver Stefaan Stouf will return for another crack at the R.A.C. Rally next month. Stouf won the 2010 rally in his Ford Escort Mk1 when snow made conditions treacherous and he made good use of more suitable tyres. He returned in 2019 and 2021
Motorsport News1 min read
Rare Assen Date In Holland Tops 2024 Calendar For Bernie’s V8s
The Bernie’s V8 race series will venture to Holland next year for a race alongside the Dutch Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge at the Assen circuit. The popular YTCC series is for cars of the 1960s, ’70 and ’80s. Other dates on the Bernie’s V8 calenda
Motorsport News1 min read
Taylor Plans To Take His Imp Back To The Woods
Though the car has completed less than one forest stage in the last eight years, Geoff Taylor will take his Sunbeam Imp Sport back onto gravel for November’s Malton Forest Rally. Taylor has only done one rally in the last five years with the car, the
Motorsport News1 min read
Horatio The First
Formula Junior racer Horatio Fitz Simon sealed the first half of his double title bid for 2023 by winning the Lurani Trophy. Fitz-Simon (Lotus 22) sealed the pan-European title 10 days ago at the Mugello circuit in Italy by beating the challenge of t
Motorsport News2 min read
In Brief
The Triumph TR7 V8 that Chris Ingram will drive on the Roger Albert Clark Rally is nearing completion at David Appleby Engineering. Once it has had a rolling road session, it will be ready for a first shakedown test and then more running on forest ro
Motorsport News7 min read
Ash Sutton’s Path To Btcc Domination
Winning more than one third of the 2023 British Touring Car Championship season’s races was not only Ash Sutton’s best year-long return yet, it was the best of all time. The Alliance Racing Ford Focus man started out on the grass at Donington Park a
Motorsport News16 min read
Will Stevens I Don’t Regret Any Chance I Have Taken In My Career
Will Stevens is that relatively rare thing in international motorsport, especially for a British driver, in the sense that he was somewhat unfairly labelled as an outright pay driver during his junior career. This is something that he addresses eleg
Motorsport News2 min read
Labey Is The Cream Of Jersey In Fiesta Rally2
Young James Labey wrote himself straight into Jersey rallying history by taking a sensational victory on the 40th-anniversary running of the Jersey Rally. Armed with a Ford Fiesta Rally2 that he had only rallied once before, 21-year-old Labey shrugg
Motorsport News2 min read
Pullan Masters The Peak District For First Hrcr Success
Andy Pullan celebrated first HRCR Championship win on the Dansport Historic Rally in Derbyshire. With co-driver Ryan Pickering in their Peugeot 205GTi, Pullan was 44 seconds ahead of his nearest rivals John Abel and Iain Tullie in their Ford Escort.
Motorsport News2 min read
Initial Success For Taylor And Lund At Llanbedr Airfield
Darrell Taylor and co-driver Cat Lund scored a double first at Harlech, taking their first event win on their first time as a pairing. In sunny but slippery conditions, the Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew took the early lead, helped when top seeds Rob Hughe
Motorsport News3 min read
Barlow Brothers Become The Newly Crowned Kings Of Mull
Fergus and Craig Barlow became emotional first-time victors of their home event, the famous Mull Rally, on their first attempt at the rally with a Rally2 car as favourites John MacCrone and Daniel Harper both had their victory bids undone by mechanic
Motorsport News1 min read
Classes
Jonathan Mounsey/Richard Wardle were the fourth-fastest Class 1 crew to reach the Tobermory finish in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, but with all three crews ahead of them making the podium, they left the island with the class award in their pockets. Ther
Motorsport News2 min read
Dunne’s Dutch Mastery With A Double
Callum Voisin, Joseph Loake and Alex Dunne are tantalisingly poised for this weekend’s GB3 title-deciding Donington Park triple-header as they are separated by just 17 points – less than half a race win – after two dominant wins by Dunne at Zandvoort
Motorsport News2 min read
Dix Fixes A Double Win In Junior Saloons
His first Junior Saloons wins since May were Oskar Dix’s reward for a tenacious Donington Park performance. Polesitter Dix was passed by Daire Flock midway through the opener but then pounced when Flock suffered gear selection issues. Dix resisted t
Motorsport News2 min read
Grant Claims Paul Simms Memorial Win
Callum Grant signed off his Historic Formula Ford championship season in perfect style with a double win at Silverstone to claim the Paul Simms Memorial Trophy. In both races, Grant and Benn Simms enacted a wonderful wheel-to-wheel contest for a ful
Motorsport News2 min read
Last-lap Dramas At Snetterton Finale
A brace of podiums was enough for Gareth Claydon to seal the BMW Compact Cup title at the championship’s finale last weekend. Claydon only needed to score well in the first two outings from the triple header to secure the crown and pole position on
Motorsport News2 min read
Polley Holds Off Hughes In Proper Nail-biter
Sam Polley displayed excellent defending skills at last weekend’s Classic Sports Car Club 20th-anniversary meeting at Croft to hold off James Hughes and win the red-flag shortened Swinging 60s Group 1 and Classic K race. Polley, who started fourth o
Motorsport News2 min read
Red Flags Can’t Stop Paterson’s Double Glory
Red flags dominated last Saturday’s Oulton Park meeting, but it couldn’t stop Roddie Paterson’s Caterham taking a double win in Sports/Saloons as the championship celebrated its 40th anniversary. Paterson had a huge lead on the opening lap of race o
Motorsport News2 min read
Mullins Marvels With Mondello Record
Sylvie Mullins was the talk of the paddock on Sunday at Mondello Park. Driving his new Gould GR55B hillclimb car, he qualified on pole position for both BOSS Ireland races. He wasn’t aiming to win them though, instead he wanted the lap record. Not ju
Motorsport News3 min read
Theo Micouris
It was an absolutely incredible feeling to win the Radical SR1 Cup championship, something I could have only dreamed of. At the start of the year when I first did a test in the car we weren’t even going to be able to race it, we were just thinking we
Motorsport News3 min read
What’s On
You would think a Formula 1 team growing from unlikely beginnings to end Williams and McLaren dominance – and with unconventionality and flamboyance – would have a firm place in our memory. But instead Benetton seems neglected by history. Prolific jo
Motorsport News1 min read
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