It was announced late last month that Keating will join United for a full season in the IMSA SportsCar Championship , sharing the squad’s ORECA 07 with a yet-to-be-named second driver and enduro racer Alex Quinn, as the team switches its focus following the WEC’s decision to scrap the LMP2 class for 2024. The American driver currently races in the WEC for Corvette Racing in the GTE Am class, but had previously suggested it was unlikely he would remain in the series in 2024 as the current generation of GTE machinery makes way for GT3 cars. Read Also: De Vries poised for 2024 Toyota WEC seat after AlphaTauri F1 exit Teenager Pierson gets Toyota Hypercar chance in Bahrain WEC test Menezes announces Peugeot WEC exit after Bahrain finale Now Keating has clarified that a desire to spend less time at the race track was behind his decision to only contest IMSA, describing his title win for Corvette - sealed at the Monza round in July - as an ideal way to leave … [Read more...] about Keating explains decision to bow out of WEC, join United in IMSA
Explain why mowgli had to leave the jungle
Why Honda MotoGP team wouldn’t block Marc Marquez’s exit
Although the Spaniard has recently been speaking about his intention, or rather hope, to reveal where he will race in 2024 during this weekend's grand prix at Motegi, there is no certainty that by the end of the race on Sunday he will have been able to resolve the dispute he created for himself by wanting to leave Honda one season before the contract he signed at the beginning of 2020 expires. Marquez landed in Japan on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, he is scheduled to attend an event at Honda's engineering school in Tokyo. Given his sporting situation, one of his main objectives is to sit down with the manufacturer's executives, with whom he hopes to be able to agree on an amicable parting of ways. That meeting will most likely not take place until the weekend at Motegi, where the top brass of Honda Motor, the parent company, is expected to be present. That top brass, led by Shiniji Aoyama - the two-wheeled division's most senior boss - will be at the circuit. Koji Watanabe, … [Read more...] about Why Honda MotoGP team wouldn’t block Marc Marquez’s exit
How Honda’s F1 withdrawal turbo-charged its title success
With Max Verstappen set to land his third consecutive F1 drivers' crown this year, as well as a constructors' title double for Red Bull, there is no hint yet of the partnership's stunning form hitting the buffers. But there is a certain irony to the fact that Honda's latest golden era in F1 has only come in the wake of it originally announcing back in 2020 that it would be withdrawing from F1 at the end of the following season. That shock decision could have marked the death knell of Red Bull's ambitions at the time, just as the Honda project appeared to be gathering momentum following its disastrous early hybrid era years with McLaren. But in a fascinating admission ahead of its home Japanese GP, it has emerged that, rather than quitting being a negative thing for the partnership, Honda's decision was actually one of the elements that have made it so successful ever since. It actually triggered an acceleration of its development that helped produce better power units for … [Read more...] about How Honda’s F1 withdrawal turbo-charged its title success
No backsies for Bottas: Hamilton wins on Mercedes team orders
On the approach to turn two at the Sochi Autodrom, drivers pass within about 250 metres of a restaurant called La Punto. There for 300 roubles you can buy a cocktail of tequila, sambuca and tabasco sauce which they call ‘Sample B’. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The name is a reference to the site’s former purpose: It was the home of Russia’s state-run doping programme, where urine ‘B samples’ from athletes were switched so drugs cheats could compete undetected. So in the grand scheme of things, far worse crimes against sport have been committed in Sochi than when Valtteri Bottas waved Lewis Hamilton by on the 24th lap of Sunday’s Formula 1 race so he could win. Not that you’d know it from the borderline hysterical reaction on social media. Mercedes outmanoeuvre Vettel From the moment the five red lights vanished Mercedes gave Ferrari a lesson in team tactics, including those of the less-than-savoury kind. At Monza, Ferrari locked out the front row … [Read more...] about No backsies for Bottas: Hamilton wins on Mercedes team orders
Tanak in talks but WRC 2024 future yet to be decided
The 2019 world champion is out of contract for next season having penned a one-year deal with M-Sport Ford for the 2023 campaign, after leaving Hyundai with a year remaining on his contract. Tanak has endured a difficult return to the Ford squad that offered him his first full-time WRC season in 2012. The Estonian claimed victory in Sweden and finished second in Croatia, although those results are his only visits to the podium to date this year. Tanak says he wishes to continue competing in the WRC next year while M-Sport is hoping to secure his services for 2024. However, M-Sport bosses have admitted it won’t be a straightforward decision to keep Tanak. The British team’s future at rallying’s highest level next year has been questioned, although boss Malcolm Wilson says the squad has no intention to stop competing in Rally1 in 2024. Tanak revealed in Greece he’s had discussions with all WRC teams but admitted it is “difficult' to know how his future will pan out. … [Read more...] about Tanak in talks but WRC 2024 future yet to be decided
How one Marquez’s MotoGP switch can inspire another
Marc Marquez has the entire world neatly in the palm of his hands, hanging off his every word as the saga around his future plans for 2024 seemingly nears its conclusion. The eight-time world champion has a contract with Honda in MotoGP for next season, a fact he has repeatedly stated as uncertainty over his future continues. That hasn’t stopped shock links to Gresini Ducati emerging and persisting. They persist, however, because Marquez wants them to. Insight: How Ducati could be the key to reviving Honda's fortunes with Marquez By now, his struggles on the RC213V this season are well documented. His rather glum first impressions of Honda’s 2024 prototype he tried at the Misano test last week did nothing to dispel thoughts among many that he will, in fact, break contract with Honda. Then he tells Spanish media the day after that “the commitment is this: to try to succeed with Honda, whether in one year, two or three”. At the Misano test he outlined his deadline for … [Read more...] about How one Marquez’s MotoGP switch can inspire another
10 things we learned from the 2023 F1 Japanese Grand Prix
Max Verstappen and Red Bull winning Formula 1’s 2023 Japanese Grand Prix by a commanding 19.4-second margin might sound a very familiar tale, but this was coming one week on from their shock defeat in the Singapore race. There was therefore plenty of attention being paid to the potential true impact of the twin technical directives now in force covering flexing wings and floors. But Red Bull utterly rebuffed this intrigue with its RB19’s display back at a smooth, sweeping course where the car was designed to thrive. His usual advantage restored, Verstappen was devastatingly good, while team-mate Sergio Perez had another poor weekend. McLaren took up the chase, with Ferrari slipping back to third quickest but showing good progress in an important area. Then there were a few themes of the Singapore weekend cropping up again, plus the latest on Daniel Ricciardo ’s injury recovery, the final moves in the driver market and a bizarre Alpine team orders spat. All that … [Read more...] about 10 things we learned from the 2023 F1 Japanese Grand Prix
Alfa Romeo 4E To Be Launched As Electric 4C Replacement: Report
In 2019, Alfa Romeo enthusiasts received the somber news that the beloved 4C was coming to an end. The small sports car, which debuted in Coupe form in 2013 and as a Spider in 2015, was now officially out of production for the entire world. The Coupe had already bid farewell to the US market in 2018, leaving only the remaining 4Cs in dealer inventories as the last chance for potential buyers to own this Italian gem. However, Alfa Romeo is now a different company. One that is profitable again and aiming for a new sales record around the middle of the decade. It is now setting its sights on the future with ambitious plans for a new electric roadster, according to a new comprehensive report by Autocar . This move is part of a broader electrification strategy aimed at expanding and revitalizing the brand’s lineup. Gallery: Alfa Romeo 4C Competizione 4 Photos The unveiling of the 33 Stradale supercar … [Read more...] about Alfa Romeo 4E To Be Launched As Electric 4C Replacement: Report
Pedal Cars At Goodwood, An Adorable Racing Legacy Continues
Will Dron’s hero is his dad. Paternal idealization isn’t a rare thing, sure, but Will’s admiration is well placed. Tony Dron was a racing driver, and the kind of chap who wouldn’t boast about it. To meet him you’d be blown away by how charming, kind, and humble he was. It’s only when you ask him about his adventures racing all over the world in all manner of cars (the Porsche 924 at Le Mans in 1980 was one of many special tales) would you realize he was a truly remarkable human being. “He didn’t have any family history of racing, or cars. He just took to them, and loved it. He went to watch Jim Clark at the Nürburgring with a friend of his from school, he watched him gliding through the forest in the back sections of the Nordschleife and thought: ‘My god, that is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. I have to do that,’” recalls Will, “He didn’t want to race… he had to race.” Tony passed away in 2021 after years of struggles with chronic pulmonary obstructive disease. A quick … [Read more...] about Pedal Cars At Goodwood, An Adorable Racing Legacy Continues