Grant enfinger takes Richmond’s trucks win over Crafton

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Grant enfinger passed Matt Crafton with only seven out of the two hundred and fifty laps remaining which earned him his third victory in the Nascar Truck series regular at Richmond Raceway. Enfinger made a comeback from an incident he had experienced in the early sections of the last stage after his truck developed a tyre rub forcing him to pit following contact with his ThorSport teammate Ben Rhodes. Grant Enfinger got back on the lead-lap and gradually worked his way back to the top, eventually passing teammate Crafton with only seven laps to go, closing the regular season the same way he began it in Victory Lane. This is his fifth career victory. Matt Crafton came in second and Rhodes third making it a 1-2-3 win for ThorSport Racing. Brett Moffitt finished fourth and GMS Racing Tyler Ankrum rounded up the top five spots for the race. “Man, definitely a special night for us…It’s been a rough couple months. Even though we got the year started off pretty good, it’s been a rough couple months. We catch a little flack every now and then but we had three F-150s at ThorSport Racing that could have won the race tonight and I’m proud of that.” Enfinger said. “Matt seemed like he wanted to run the bottom but we ran the center really good. That was our advantage on the long run. We’ve been beating our heads against the wall lately but I feel like we’re going into the playoffs with some momentum.” Following a break between stage two and three, many trucks headed for the pits but Ben Rhodes in the No.99 ThorSport truck remained on the track and in the lead even after the race restart on lap 153, Enfinger managed to grab back the lead after the restart but a lap later Rhodes reclaimed the lead. This move made Enfinger’s No.98 Ford get a tyre rub. Austin Wayne got himself spinning on turn one in an incident that also got ThorSport Racing’s Johny Sauter bringing out the caution as the drivers elected to pit. Moffitt went four-wide in Turns 1 and 2 on the restart to go from 12th to fourth in one lap. On Lap 187, he got around Rhodes to take the lead for the first time in the race. On Lap 196, Crafton managed to move into the runner-up spot, less than a second behind Moffitt but Crafton finally ran down and passed Moffitt for the lead on Lap 219.With 15 laps remaining in the race, Crafton had built a 1.7-second lead over Grant Enfinger with Moffitt in third.Enfinger closed to Crafton’s rear bumper with 10 laps to go, hoping to challenge him one final time for the lead. Enfinger cleared Crafton with seven laps remaining to take the lead for the third time in the race.

Ginetta withdraws its solo LMP1 car from 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Ginetta has withdrawn its solo LMP1 entry from this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Ginetta AER G60-LT-P1 has been under Team LNT has been scrapped off the rescheduled World Endurance Championship which will be held in France on 19th-20th September. The chief executive of the Ginetta Company which is under The LNT Group, Matte Lowe said, “ “Team LNT with its Ginetta-AER G60-LT-P1 will not be contesting the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours… New COVID cases in France are at their highest level since the start of the pandemic and with the latest quarantine rules in place when returning, as a factory-based team, this will in effect mean a minimum four-week closure of the Ginetta manufacturing facility, with a knock-on effect on Ginetta’s core UK championships.” “This, coupled with the significantly altered WEC calendar, has meant that after careful consideration, the decision has been taken that the G60-LT-P1 will not contest this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.” The executive added. The car was due to be driven by Guy Smith who is the 2003 Le Mans champion, Chris Dyson who was Smith’s partner in the American Le Mans and works driver Mike Simpson. This leaves only five cars in the LMP1 class being the Toyota TS050 Hybrid Pair, two Rebellion-Gibson R13s and one ByKolles ENSO CLM-Gibson P1/01. Ginetta boss Lawrence Tomlinson stated that they were also not ready in the new WEC series set on November in Bahrain. The outfit has not been competing in WEC since last November when its two entries participated in the Bahrain WEC, the team also missed on the February Austrian fixture and last month’s 6 hours of Spa. The team boss stated that they needed to return the cars to UK for rebuilding for missing Austin and also pre-testing a series of upgrades on the G60 LMP1 over competing at Spa. The team had also narrowed down to one car because they didn’t want to produce necessary spares for two in case a race postponed from June didn’t happen. “The factory will instead focus on testing and refining the cars in preparation for the 2021 season.” Lowe added on a statement from LNT. The team have no further plans to bring the Ginetta for the next season but according to Tomlinson they are hopeful that another team will take over the cars and hence the car will be on the grandfathered basis since there will be introduction of Le Mans Hypercar rules.

Alpine to enter WEC 2021 LMP1 rebranded as Rebellion

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Signatech Alpine will be moving to the pinnacle of endurance racing for the 2021 World Endurance Championship as they will enter the series rebranded as Rebellion R-13. This move was reported on Thursday and the news follow closely the announcement of Renault Formula 1 rebranding its name to Alpine for 2021 season, however an official announcement is expected on Monday. It is alleged that the signatech team will be operating one of the three R-13 chassis on loan from Oreca which currently owns the car and it is expected that it will be rebranded in the same way as Oreca 07 LMP2 car known as Alpine A-470. Rebellion Racing had confirmed earlier this year that they would be dropping out of endurance racing after the end of 2019/2020 World Endurance Season but according to sources the team confirmed that it has no plans to sell or loaning out the two Oreca-Gibsons cars that remain under their ownership. The current Signatech LMP2 drivers Andre Negrao and Nathanael Berthon who will be driving for Rebellion in the upcoming Le Mans 24 Hours, have been reported to be the contenders for the new drive. This comes as Thomas Laurent who was with Rebellion in 2018/2019 season and now currenltly with Signatech might also be considered for the ride. Signatech will be moving to the LMP1 class which has only attracted Toyota, Bykolles and Glickenhaus although there was the introduction of LMH(Le Mans Hypercar) which may leave Signatech to be the only current-gen Lmp1 on the grid unless Ginetta is able to find a customer willing to continue operating its G60-LT-P1 beyond the end of this season. It also raises the prospect of Alpine gearing up to commit to either the LMH formula or the LMDh ruleset that the WEC will share with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which was originally planned to come on stream in 2022 but could be delayed by a year. In such a scenario, Alpine would face off against fellow French marque Peugeot when the latter joins the WEC field with a new hybrid-powered contender some time in 2022.

Quartararo leads San Marino GP F2 as KTM and Yamaha dominate top 10

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Fabio Quartararo topped San Marino GP FP2 at Misano ending the Friday session as the best overall as Yamaha and KTM filled eight of the top nine positions in the practice session. Quartararo led a 1-2 Petronas Yamaha as his teammate Franco Morbidelli came in second by a tenth of a second . The frenchman had an impressive 45-minute long session as he improved on his own lap times but all eyes were on the Yamaha Factory rider Maverick Vinales who was the FP1 pace setter and the duel was on for the top spot. The battle was hot between the two racers as they traded places in the beginning of the session but Team Ecstar Suzuki rider Joan Mir stopped the party as he took P1 on his Suzuki machine recording a time of 1m33.236s just 0.134 seconds faster than Quartararo. Mir’s teammate at Suzuki Ecstar also did an impressive job after he snatched the leadrship from Mir by recording a lap time of 1m33.015s giving him a two tenths of a second from his teammate. Brand Binder who is the Czech GP was the fastest but as his session was coming to a close he crashed around turn 6 after sliding onto the gravel on his KTM, this ended his session as he did not get back to the track. It was an encouraging session for both Yamaha and KTM as their four-strong each armada proved difficult to penetrate in FP2, with Pol Espargaro going third quickest on the factory RC16, but only just ahead of the impressive Iker Lecuona on the sister Tech 3 bike, the Spaniard consistently bouncing towards the top of the timesheets during the session before ending up in fourth. Franco Morbidelli put a time of 1m32.367s as Local hero Valentino Rossi completed the top five on the second factory Yamaha, Vinales ultimately slipping to sixth behind his team-mate as the session came to a close. Danilo Petrucci saved some honour for his official Ducati squad with the seventh quickest effort, while Binder fell to eighth ahead of Austrian GP victor Miguel Oliveira. Aleix Espargaro completed the top ten for Aprilia, the Spaniard inching ahead of Andrea Dovizioso by just 0.009.

Valtteri Bottas stays on top of Hamilton in F1 Practice session

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Valtteri Bottas topped the afternoon practice session in the inaugural Tuscan Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes continues to show the superiority of their W11 car. After an intense 1st Practice session in the morning the drivers rolled out in the afternoon under clear skies and strong sun to gain experience on the Mugello circuit which is Ferrari owned. Haas’ Romain Grosjean was the first to register a timed lap recording a time of 1m 19.257s but was quickly subdued by Mclaren’s Lando Norris with 1m 18.658s on the C2 medium compound tyres, however the Mclaren racer had experienced technical issues with his car on lap 5 which forced him to pit. Ferrrari’s Charles Leclerc experinced a spin on his second lap which also forced him to pit although he had a chance to fight if he continued to race. His teammate Vettel on the other hand was complaining over the radio about tyre overheating and went further to say even a single cool-down lap was not enough between the timed laps as the tyres do not cool down enough. Mercedes’ drivers were the last to head to the track in the afternoon session and it did not take long for the Mercedes W11 car to prove its dominance on the track as Valtteri Bottas topped with 1m 18.019s on the medium compound tyre as Hamilton in the sister W11 came in second, six tenths of a second slower on the hard compound tyre. On their second timed laps, Bottas was able to achieve a time of 1m 17.997s which was an improvement as his teammate Hamilton was able to improve by four tenths of a second compared to his previous lap. Sebastian Vettel was the first to complete the qualifying simulation as he did 1m 18.498s on his last timed lap which was over half a second slower than Bottas’ time that he had recorded earlier running on medium compound tyres. His teammate Leclerc didn’t do much well either on the soft tyres as he was only able to beat Vettel by only a tenth of a second. Mclaren’s Lando Norris did not experience a good afternoon as he span and crashed into the wall on turn 3 after touching the gravel trap which saw him lose control of his car, the MCL 35 was on red walled soft compound tyres. The session ended up being red-flagged. When the timed racing resumed Bottas improved to 1m 19.989s beating Hamilton with 0.207s while Redbull’s Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon finished third and fourth respectively having a gap of only seven tenths of a second. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen also span at the San Donato corner after he was tagged by Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, after the mexican left the pit and was unable to slow down driving into the back of the Alfa, this made the session to be halted as the front wing of the RP20 was left on the track.

Quartararo looking forward for a return to form at San Marino GP

Kevin Peterson02 mins

After experiencing 3 disappointing races, the 2020 MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo will be returning to Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix this weekend hoping to widen his slender lead at the top of MotoGP standings. Currently he leads the championship by only 3 points having 70 points ahead of Andrea Dovizioso who has 67 point being the second in the standings. This comes as six-time champion Marc Marquez being out of the championship as he is recovering from a broken arm after crashing during the opening of the race. Fabio Quartararo finished second in the 2019 San Marino Grand Prix just behind Marquez and went ahead to finish 5th in the overall standings for the 2019 MotoGP being quite a good performance since it was his rookie year. “Misano is one of my favourite circuits because it has a little bit of everything, slow corners, fast corners and switching from left to right…I’m curious to see how it works with the new asphalt and if the conditions will have changed a lot since last year.” Said the 21-year-old frenchman who rides for the Yamaha satellite team. Quartararo won the opening two rounds in Jerez but has failed to make to the podium since, allowing Dovizioso and the Ducatis as well as the Suzukis, KTMs and the other Yamahas to close the points-gap in the overall standings. San Marino Grand Prix will see over 10,000 spectators attending at the Marco Simoncelli circuit to see whether Quartararo will gain back his ‘fly’

Schumacher and Robert Shwartzman to debut in 2021 F1 Season

Kevin Peterson03 mins

The last few days has seen a turn of events in the Formula 1 teams as there are new signings and talks undergoing to change the drivers’ lineup for the 2021 Formula 1 Season. This comes as Sergio Perez leaves Racing point and Sebastian Vettel is set to replace him as the team will be rebranded as Aston Martin Racing in 2021. The new signings and reshuffles do not just end there as Sergio Perez may switch to Alfa Romeo as he announced he is not yet ready to leave Formula 1. Perez will be back to Alfa Romeo where he kick-started his Formula 1 career back when the team was named Sauber. He will be joined by Mick Schumacher who is the son to 7-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, Mick was in support of Ferrari to make his transition from Formula 2 to Formula 1. This leaves Raikkonen and Giovinazzi out of the Alfa Romeo team. Haas F1 drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean have to fight for their seats for the 2021 season as Robert Shwartzman is eager to join the Formula 1 community and Ferrari are making sure that he gets his wishes soon, but Grosjean and Magnussen might be bidding farewell to their seats as Nico Hulkenberg is set to take a seat in the American team as its alleged that Shwartzman will be his teammate. AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat may be also set to leave the team as Yuki Tsinoda will be replacing him as Honda has been wishing to have a Japanese driver on the Formula 1 grid again. Carlos Sainz as mentioned in the last couple of weeks will be taking Sebastian Vettel’s seat in Ferrari as the current Ferrari driver goes to Racing Point, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo will be switching to Sainz’s seat at Mclaren. This leaves Ricciardo’s seat open and there are speculations that Fernando Alonso might be making a return in Formula 1.

Sebastian Vettel to join Aston Martin for 2021 F1 Season replacing Sergio Perez

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel is set to join Aston Martin Racing which is currently Racing point as it announced on Thursday. The 33-year old will be replacing Sergio Perez who announced that he will be leaving the team at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season on wednesday night. Vettel will be driving alongside Lance Stroll who is the son of the team’s major investor Lawrence Stroll. Although it has not been yet specified on how long the contract with the current Ferrari driver will last but the team said that Vettel will be joining the team for 2021 and even beyond. Sebastian Vettel had been informed by the Ferrari in May that his contract will not be renewed beyond the 2020 season and the racer had announced that he was considering his options to stay in the sport or not. “It’s a new adventure for me with a truly legendary car company,” Vettel said in a statement. “I have been impressed with the results the team has achieved this year and I believe the future looks even brighter. “The energy and commitment of Lawrence [Stroll] to the sport is inspiring and I believe we can build something very special together…I still have so much love for Formula 1 and my only motivation is to race at the front of the grid. To do so with Aston Martin will be a huge privilege.” Racing point has been highly collaborating with Mercedes Formula 1 as its power unit and other components of the Mercedes 2019 F1 car are evident in Racing Point’s RP20 and the team was even penalised a few weeks back in August with a fine amounting to 400,000 euros and 15 point penalty for copying Mercedes’ 2019 car’s brake ducts. The collaboration with the Mercedes F1 team have certainly helped Racing Point as it boasts current rankings being position 4 in the Constructors’ Championship being above big teams such as as Ferrari and Renault. The team has also been improving over the previous years and well, we will be expecting more.

Ferrari unveils burgundy livery for its 1000th F1 GP at Mugello

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Ferrari has revealed its 1000th celebratory livery for its 1000th Grand Prix which will be at Mugello this weekend. Both Ferrari SF1000 cars driven by Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel will have a burgundy shade that was used by Ferrari 125 F1 cars which raced for the team in its debut in 1950 at the Monaco Grand Prix which is some seventy years ago. Both Ferrari racers(Leclerc and Vettel) will also have special suits for this race weekend matching in with the classic livery which will have a retro numbering and a logo written ‘1000 GP’ written on the engine cover. Ferrari also plans to mark the 1000th race with celebrations in nearby Florence on Saturday night which will also feature a demonstration run of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2004 which won the 2004 Formula 1 Championship on Sunday, the race day with Schumacher’s son, Mick Schumacher at the wheel. Ferrari is the only team that has participated in all the 71 Formula 1 seasons managing to win 238 of the overall events making it the team with the highest number of victories than any other team in the history. Ferrari owns the Mugello circuit and the Tuscan Grand Prix with be the first race 2020 that the fans will be allowed to attend as close to 3,000 tickets will be available for the event. “Scuderia Ferrari’s 1000th Grand Prix is a very important milestone, therefore it had to be marked in a special way,” said Piero Ferrari, the vice-chairman of Ferrari. “That’s why we decided to run a unique livery on the cars for this event, with the SF1000s taking to the track at the Mugello Circuit in the Burgundy colour first seen on the 125, the first racing car to carry the Ferrari name.” “Even the look of the race numbers on Charles’ and Sebastian’s cars will reflect the tradition of the past, giving the impression of being hand painted onto the bodywork, while the drivers’ race suits will also match the car colour.” Pierro Ferrari added. “It’s a tribute to our origins, to our starting point for the amazing Ferrari story, characterised by an endless desire to compete, alongside the will to build road cars that are exceptional in terms of technology and design.” “Ferrari is unique in the world, because the company has the soul of a car manufacturer and of a racing team, an inseparable link that is never questioned. Only a few months ago, no one could have imagined that our thousandth race could take place at our own Mugello circuit. I am pleased that in the Grand Prix official name, Formula 1 chose to pay tribute to Ferrari, the only team that has always been present in the sport’s seventy one year history.” As an honour to Ferrari 100th Grand Prix ,Mercedes has decided to paint The Formula 1 Safety Car which is a Mercedes AMG GTR road car from silver to red.

Sergio Perez confirms Racing Point exit paving way for Vettel

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Racing point’s driver Sergio Perez has announceds that he will be leaving the team at the end of 2020 Formula 1 season. The mexican joined the team in 2014 when it was under the name Force India and also remained as a key factor for the survival of the team after it was taken over by a company headed by Lawrence Stroll naming it Racing Point up to date. Sergio Perez exit clears the way for Sebastian Vettel to join the team as he has been heavily linked with the team which will be rebranded Aston Martin Racing after the owner(Lawrence Stroll) invested in the British car company. Perez had signed a three year contract with Racing Point last year and it seems it was in the best of his interests to terminate the contract after 2020. It is not yet known what the 30-year-old plans after 2020 but he wishes to remain in Formula 1 for the 2021 season. It is believed that Alfa Romeo might be seeking for his sevices as the Haas Formula 1 team yet to determine its driver line-up for 2021. “Everything in life always has a beginning and an end, and after seven years together, my time with the team will come to an end after this season,” said Sergio Perez in a statement released on Wednesday. “It hurts a bit as I bet on the team during very rough times; we managed to overcome obstacles and I am very proud of saving the jobs of several of my team-mates…I’ll keep the memories of the great moments lived together, the friendships and the satisfaction of always giving my all.” “I will always be grateful for the opportunity given to me by Vijay Mallya, who believed in me in 2014 and allowed me to continue my F1 career with Force India. To the current administration led by Lawrence Stroll, I wish nothing but the best in the future, specially with the upcoming Aston Martin project.” Added perez. “I don’t have a plan B. My intention is to continue racing here, but that would depend on finding a project that motivates me to continue giving my 100 percent in each lap…I want to thank each one of you who have been with me throughout these 10 years. To my family, who has always been there to support me despite anything.” “To all the sponsors who believed in my project, to my staff, and mainly God, who blessed me with the opportunity to live this incredible adventure called F1…I hope I can give you some good news real soon, but for now, let’s enjoy together the next races. I carry you in my heart” The 30-year-old has scored eight podiums so far, five of them being with Racing Point.

Toyota handed 7Kg weight penalty for 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Toyota Gazoo Racing have been handed a weight penalty ahead of this month’s 24 hours of Le Mans double points round for the World Endurance Championship. This comes as the weight for the toyota TS050 Hybrid which raced last year exceeding by 7Kg compared to the edition they are looking forward to present this year. The last year’s car weighed 888Kgs whreas this year’s car weighed 895Kgs creating the 7Kg gap. The new weights of the car were published on the Equivalence of technology table on Wednesday and are significantly low compared to the weights in the previous years which had a record maximum of 932Kgs, reflecting the higher per-kilometre levels of hybrid energy deployment allowed on regular WEC tracks compared with the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans. The weights for the normal and turbocharged versions of the toyota cars remain at 816Kgs and 833Kgs respectively as per the Equivalence of Technology table released on Wednesday. The maximum amount of petrol that can be used by the cars has also been increased so as to enable Rebellion, Ginetta and the Bykolles racing cars to achieve at least 11 laps between the pitstops as the Toyotas. This comes as the equality of stint length between the hybrid and the non-hybrid LMP1 cars being a major change made ahead of the 2019/2020 World Endurance Championship. Privateers in the championship were also given a one second advantage on being informed the time it takes to fuel the cars as the refuelling restrictor diameter were increased for both the normal and the hybrid cars. This creates a level playing field for the two classes(normal and hybrid) of cars to compete in 2019/2020 WEC Le Mans. Aston Martin Vantage GTEs boost levels have been incresed from last year’s, this is after the boost levels were reduced on the british cars on the Friday of the Le Mans week after Sorensen claimed th pole position for the GTE Pro.

Cal Crutchlow undergoes surgery, fitness test on Thursday

Kevin Peterson02 mins

The LCR Honda Castrol rider has confirmed via graphic Instagram pictures that he has undergone a right arm pump surgery. This is the second time this season that crutchlow has undergone surgery. The first crash that led to the first surgery happened during the warm up in the Spanish GP when he crashed fracturing his left scaphoid and just a week later Crutchlow mentioned he was experincing problems with the arm pump in his right hand. This problem saw him pit in Andalucia but he later got back to the track. These problems have greatly affected the rider in his pursuit for the championship this year. The 34-year-old underwent the surgery ahead of the first round of Misano Grand Prix as he is set to undergo a fitness test on Thursday afternoon to be decrared fit for the sixth round of MotoGP World Championship

Petronas Yamaha dismisses Dovizioso rumours

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Petronas Yamaha SRT has denied rumours and speculations that they are holding talks with Andrea Dovizioso who is the outgoing Ducatti rider, to join their team for the 2021 season. This is while they are seeming to have a stalemate with nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi who says he is ready to sign for the team. The Dovizioso rumours were dismissed by the Petronas Yamaha SRT boss Razlan Razali who took to social media to deny the allegations and rumours that they were holding talks with Dovizioso who is currenly seeking for a ride for the 2021 season after disclosing tha he will be parting ways with the Ducatti team at the end of the season. “Setting the record straight, we are not considering Dovi at all for 2021.” The Yamaha boss stated. The rumours had been going on for a couple of weeks but as well the rumours could just be a tactic to to rush Valentino Rossi and the Yamaha team to put the pen on paper for the 2021 season. There were speculations however that Dovizioso will be in the 2021 MotoGP season after he announced at a redbull event celebrating AlphaTauri’s Formula 1 win at Monza that he will be fighting for the championship come 2021. Well, this seems highly unlikely since the only remaining slots for the MotoGP 2021 are only Aprilia and Petronas Yamaha without considering Ducatti. Aprilia confirmed that they can’t afford Dovizioso as he is not ready to drop his asking price just to get a ride for 2021. There are speculations that there will be a major announcement this weekend at the San Marino Grand Prix as there are rumours that Valentino Rossi will be confirming his future in MotoGP after the race in his homeground. The contract delays with the Yamaha SRT have not only been evident due to finances but also the attempts to secure positions in the new team for his loyal crew. The veteran champion also requests for a full-factory specification bike besides a considerable salary. Yamaha on the other side pledged to support Valentino Rossi for 2021 even as the replaced him with Fabio Quartararo.

Lewis Hamilton launches Extreme E Racing team

Kevin Peterson02 mins

Lewis Hamilton announced that he will launch his own Extreme Racing team that will be participating Extreme E off-road series. The Formula 1 champion’s team will be branded x44, containing the number 44 which is currently his race number for the Mercedes Formula 1 team. The new team is set to make its debut early next year for the next Extreme E off-road season but however the superstar will not be directly participating in the series due to his current Formula 1 racing career. Extreme E is a race series featuring electric monster trucks racing through regions at risk from climate change. These massive vehicles will be driving around glaziers, through rainforests and over deserts, helping preserve their fragile ecosystems for future generations. The vehicle itself is built by Spark Racing Technology, the French company that built Formula E’s first and second-generation cars. “Extreme E really appealed to me because of its environmental focus,” said Hamilton, and it means so much to me that I can use my love of racing, together with my love for our planet, to have a positive impact.” Hamilton said.The 35-year-old also announced that X44 would be built around the values of “sustainability and equality,” and will commit to Formula E’s existing plan to have one woman and one man driver tackling half of each race.

Williams CEO Mike O’Driscoll announces retirement from the team

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Mike O’Driscoll who was the CEO Williams racing announced his intentions to departure from the team following its sale to the Dorilton Capital company. Mike O’Driscoll joined the Formula 1 team in 2011 and later in 2013 he was handed the role of CEO for the Williams team, since then he has been the CEO but the role was coming to an end with the team announcing the 64 year old is bound to retire. His biggest role was to oversee the team’s long term strategy and also supporting sir Frank Williams and Claire Williams. O’Driscoll had also been among the board of directors for the team but it announced on Tuesday the new composition of directors who include Matthew Savage and Darren Fultz who are the co-founders of the Dorilton capital. James Matthews who is a former racing driver was also mentioned among the new board of directors. “It has been and remains a huge privilege to be part of this great team. I am proud to have played my part in securing the long-term future of Williams and look forward to working closely with Matthew and his team, to ensure a smooth transition and the best possible trajectory for the team’s future success,” the former CEO commented on his retirement from the Williams team. Williams new chairman Matthew Savage also went ahead to commend and congratulate O’Driscoll on his departure from the team. “Mike has made a huge contribution as CEO, working alongside theWilliams family since the IPO in 2011, he has steered the corporate side of the group admirably through challenging timesand has been invaluable in preparing Williams for the next exciting phase.” Matthew Savage said. This marks a major development in the Williams team following the exit of Sir Frank Williams who was the team founder and his deputy Claire Williams. It appears a major reorganisation in the team is underway.

Brandon Jones wins Darlington Xfinity as Hamlin and Chastain collide

Kevin Peterson06 mins

It was an intense battle for the lead in the Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway, as the two front running cars came into contact and tangled just two laps remaining to the end of the race. This gave way for Brandon to get a rather unexpected win. There was a thrilling last 10 laps between Xfinity series regular Denny Hamlin and 2020 Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin as they gave fans a thrilling spectacle as they competed for the lead but they both had contact around turn 3 with only two laps to go allowing car No.23(Brandon Jones) to get around them and get the checkered flag. Ross Chastain recovered from the contact to earn his 4th runner up of the season just crossing the finish line 3.363 seconds after Brandon Jones. Ryan Sieg(RSS Racing) came in third as it was quite an excellent performance by Riley Herbst who came in fourth despite being a rookie. The fifth position was rounded up by Hamlin. The rest of the top tens were taken by rookie Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Michael Annett, Austin Hill and rookie Myatt Snider. “This is a tough place to get around and man, just smart in the head I think today, I think that’s what got ’em,” said driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Brandon Jones. “I saw they were really racing hard and I knew I was catching them and we knew he (Hamlin) was gonna pull that big slider. That’s what you gotta do sometimes to get yourself in position.” Chastain showed a series of mixed reactions regarding to the duel with Hamlin but despite the mishap managed to secure a berth in the 12-driver Xfinity Series Playoffs. he has also won five Xfinity Series wins at Darlington and is also the highest ranked driver still without a win on the year. “Denny was faster, I knew that, everybody watching NBC knew that. I just kept gripping the top best I could, probably hit (the wall) 25 times,” Chastain said. “To be able to be up against a guy like Denny Hamlin, a future Cup champion and go to the end like that with him, I’m proud of this group, proud of the effort,” the 5-time champion winner added. “It’s another heartbreak, but we man, we finished and we still finished second with a beat-up race car.” Denny Hamlin had started last being the 37th car on the grid went ahead to win both stages and put a Darlington driving clinic all afternoon trying to come back from a weak starting position and slow pit stop. Chase Briscoe was a fierce cup contender for the race leading the best 55 laps on Saturday afternoon but he run over a spill left by Brett Moffitt’s damaged car making him to spin out and collide onto the wall with only 30 laps remaining. Despite the downfall the Stewart-Haas driver was able to get the 11th position. The champion Leader Austin Cindric finished 12th. Brandon Brown’s No.86 Chevrolet suffered damage in a collision between ryan Sieg and Daniel Hemric forcing him to make a whole lots of pit stops to keep the car running but not for a competitive win. The Team’s efforts however paid off as he endend up position 17th.