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BMW has ruled out an early entry into the new World Endurance Championship hypercar concept prototype class. The German manufacturer will not be a “prime mover” in the new top class of the WEC from 2020/21, according to BMW Motorsport boss Jens Marquardt. BMW had an involvement in the working group table that formulated the regulations during the summer in order to “monitor what is going on for the future”, said Marquardt… The new Class One DTM cars for the 2019 season will be “two to three seconds” quicker than their predecessors, according to Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller. Audi and BMW have undertaken testing with the 2019 cars and experienced an increase in power of 100bhp due to the new four-cylinder two-litre turbocharged engines. The revised aerodynamics of the 2019 cars have also improved aero efficiency, just a year after the DTM introduced a simplified aero package to reduce downforce… Drivers in the new FIA Formula 3 Championship will have unlimited DRS uses during the 2019 season. Formula 3 cars have never used DRS but, because the new FIA series will replace the GP3 Series on the Formula 1 support package, the overtaking assist will be in unrestricted use in 2019. In GP3, drivers were limited to six uses of DRS in the feature race and four in the sprint

race... Former Brabham and Mclaren Formula 1 designer Professor Gordon Murray was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in the 2019 Queen’s New Year Honours. The legendary designer’s accolade is in recognition of his ‘services to motoring’ – rewarding his lifetime’s work in the automotive sector as well as on the racetrack.