All the latest news from the racing world!
F1
Ross Brawn has said that Sprint races could become a part of every race weekend in the future. The change wouldn’t happen overnight, but it could be the end result of research of the format on the coming years. I personally would not like to see that happen, as whilst I like the idea of trying it, and maybe keeping it at some events, I doubt it will work everywhere.
Williams will not run at the Abu Dhabi post season test, which is for young drivers, and will have the new 18-inch tyres. The team has admitted it could put them on the back foot to not go there, but they didn’t feel it was worth building a ‘mule car’.
IndyCar
Kirkwood may be a free agent on the IndyCar market after the Andretti F1 deal fell through. If the deal had been agreed, Herta could well have gone to F1, leaving a seat open for Kyle. McLaren and Dale Coyne could be very promising options for him, given what they have done this year.
Ed Carpenter was pleased with Hunter-Reay’s pace at Barber, but is still evaluating his options. The choice is likely between him and Daly, who has performed well on occasions for the team.
MotoGP
Marquez will miss the Algarve MotoGP race after suffering a concussion in a training accident. This means that Bradl will yet again race for the factory HRC squad, alongside Pol Espargaro. This is a dent in the momentum that Marc had been building in the last few months, but I am sure he will bounce back soon from it.
Other News
Nakajima and Davidson have announced their retirement from racing at the end of the season, both of whom race in the WEC this year. They have had varying levels of success, as Davidson was with Toyota during the time where they struggled to win Le Mans, and couldn’t do it either in his previous stint with Peugeot. On the other hand, Nakajima has been with Toyota through their most successful years, and secured multiple Le Mans wins.
Porsche is set to give its first test run of the LMDh car it will bring to race in 2023, later this year. This had been the plan all along, and if it does go ahead, it will give them plenty of time to get the car up to speed before it debuts, likely at Daytona in January 2023.
Alpine are hopeful that they will be able to continue running their grandfathered LMP1 car in the 2022 season. The World Motor Sport Council extended this allowance into the 2022 season, which surprised me, as with Glickenhaus now up and running, and Peugeot joining next year, it isn’t as if they desperately need cars on the grid for 2022.
McLaren have signed Emma Gilmore to be a part of their Extreme E programme next year. She already has experience of the series, which will help McLaren, and along with Tanner Foust, they should be a good pairing. The team also revealed a rather nice livery for their Odyssey car, which has graphics depicting the environments they will be racing through in 2022.
-M
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