F1, Indycar, BTCC, sports cars
F1 Sprint races to continue in 2022
The new Sprint qualifying format trialled by Formula 1 bosses at the British Grand Prix is set to continue next season – although only “historical” events will hold them. F1 boss Stefano Domenicali recently told investors: “We have ideas to create a special format for certain historical grands prix.”
Ericsson crashes but still wins in Indycar
Marcus Ericsson took an unlikely victory in the Indycar race on the streets of Nashville recently. The Swede damaged his car and received a drivethrough penalty after crashing into the back of a rival during an early restart but used pit strategy to jump into the lead mid-race and then held off Chip Ganassi-honda team-mate Scott Dixon for his second Indycar career win.
Mclaren to take full control of Indycar team
Mclaren Racing will take a controlling 75% stake in the Arrow Mclaren SP Indycar team it co-owns by the end of this season. Boss Zak Brown has confirmed the squad will expand to three cars by 2023 and could do so next year if extra funding is found.
BTCC hybrid to make race debut next month
Andrew Jordan will give the British Touring Car Championship’s 2022 hybrid powertrain its race debut at Silverstone in September. The former champion will drive the BTCC’S Toyota Corolla test car fitted with the new system to gain experience of it in race action. He will start all three races from the pits to avoid affecting the title battle.
Brazilian pair win again in IMSA championship
The Whelen Engineering Racing team dominated the recent IMSA Sportscar Championship race at Road America, as Brazilians Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani took a second 2021 win in their Cadillac. Brits Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell finished second for Mazda.
Audi and BMW split the spoils in DTM
Audi’s Kelvin van der Linde and BMW’S Marco Wittmann won a DTM race each at Zolder. EX-F1 driver Alex Albon impressed with third and sixth places in the two races – and claimed he could have won were it not for the difficulty of overtaking on such a tight circuit.