| By Matt Beer | Wednesday, May 8th 2013, 14:10 GMT |
Formula 1 could not reintroduce mid-season testing without teams setting up separate test squads again, reckons McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale
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| By David Evans | Wednesday, May 8th 2013, 15:22 GMT |
Volkswagen team principal Jost Capito says he will not be pressured by his drivers into delivering upgrades to the Polo R WRC before they are ready
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, May 8th 2013, 16:12 GMT |
Formula 1 bursts back into action at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend for the start of what will be a crucial phase of the world championship battle
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| By Jamie O'Leary | Tuesday, May 7th 2013, 14:31 GMT |
Former Production World Rally champion Hayden Paddon will contest the German and Finnish rallies in WRC2 later this year.
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| By Jamie O'Leary | Tuesday, May 7th 2013, 14:44 GMT |
Ferrari protege Raffaele Marciello believes that the experience gained in last year's Formula 3 European Championship will prevent him from missing out on the title again
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| By Jamie O'Leary | Tuesday, May 7th 2013, 15:41 GMT |
Gary Paffett has called on DTM race officials to take a harder line over dangerous driving, following the opening round of the season at Hockenheim last weekend
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| Monday, May 6th 2013, 16:08 GMT |
Marc Marquez followed up his controversial second place in the Jerez Grand Prix by setting the pace in MotoGP testing at the Spanish track.
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| Monday, May 6th 2013, 16:43 GMT |
Toyota believes the form of its latest TS030 HYBRID in Saturday's Spa 6 Hours proves it can challenge arch-rival Audi at next month's Le Mans 24 Hours.
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| Monday, May 6th 2013, 17:58 GMT |
Ducati MotoGP test rider Michele Pirro will fill in for Ben Spies in the satellite Pramac squad for the French Grand Prix
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| By Mark Glendenning | Sunday, May 5th 2013, 18:36 GMT |
James Hinchcliffe won an extraordinary IndyCar race in Sao Paulo by taking the lead from Takuma Sato on the final corner of the last lap
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| Sunday, May 5th 2013, 19:42 GMT |
Pramac Ducati MotoGP driver Andrea Iannone will undergo arm surgery on Tuesday
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| By Connell Sanders Jr | Monday, May 6th 2013, 00:31 GMT |
David Ragan claimed his second NASCAR Cup series win by heading an unlikely one-two for Front Row Motorsport in a rain-delayed race at Talladega
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Subscribe to Premier Sports TV to watch all Sprint Cup events live in the UK. Visit www.premiersports.tv for more information.
| Saturday, May 4th 2013, 17:13 GMT |
Carl Edwards will start from NASCAR Sprint Cup pole at Talladega by virtue of his practice performance after rain forced the cancellation of Saturday's qualifying session
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Subscribe to Premier Sports TV to watch all Sprint Cup events live in the UK. Visit www.premiersports.tv for more information.
| By Mark Glendenning | Saturday, May 4th 2013, 19:13 GMT |
Ryan Hunter-Reay will start Sunday's IndyCar race on the Sao Paulo street circuit from pole position after coming out on top from an eventful qualifying session
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| By Gary Watkins | Saturday, May 4th 2013, 20:23 GMT |
Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer led home an Audi one-two-three victory at the Spa round of the World Endurance Championship
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| Friday, May 3rd 2013, 19:58 GMT |
Sebastien Loeb moved 40 seconds clear of Sebastien Ogier as the Rally Argentina drama continued on Friday afternoon
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| Friday, May 3rd 2013, 22:35 GMT |
Sebastien Loeb will start the final day of Rally Argentina with a 39.8-second lead over Sebastien Ogier
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| Friday, May 3rd 2013, 23:13 GMT |
NASCAR Sprint Cup star Kurt Busch is to test an Andretti Autosport IndyCar at Indianapolis next Thursday, and is open to attempting the Indy 500 in the future
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| Thursday, May 2nd 2013, 19:06 GMT |
Lewis Williamson has completed the 2013 GP3 Series driver line-up by filling the final vacancy at new team Bamboo.
Williamson has tested for the squad, which replaced Atech CRS in the series when it expanded into single-seaters alongside its World Touring Car Championship programme, throughout the winter and been a regular pacesetter.
"I've been involved in testing with Bamboo for all the sessions both in and out of the car and am relieved to be on the grid this season, plus it's exciting signing at the last minute," said Williamson.
The 23-year-old Scot was a GP3 frontrunner with MW Arden in 2011.
He moved up to the team's Formula Renault 3.5 arm with Red Bull support the following year, but lost his place on the drinks firm's young driver scheme halfway through the season.
Williamson subsequently returned to GP3 with Status.
2012 recap: Red Bull lets a talent slip through the net
Bamboo team boss Richard Coleman expects Williamson to prove his squad is a match for its more established rivals.
"It will be great to see Lewis show the true potential of the Bamboo Engineering GP3 car and put us up there in our first season," said Coleman.
Williamson joins Carmen Jorda and Melville McKee in the Bamboo line-up.
2013 GP3 Series line-up: ART Jack Harvey Facu Regalia Conor Daly MW Arden Daniil Kvyat Carlos Sainz Jr Robert Visoiu Carlin Eric Lichtenstein Luis Sa Silva Nick Yelloly Jenzer Patric Niederhauser Alex Fontana Samin Gomez Manor Dino Zamparelli Tio Ellinas Ryan Cullen Status Jimmy Eriksson Josh Webster Adderly Fong Bamboo Carmen Jorda Melville McKee Lewis Williamson Trident Emanuele Zonzini David Fumanelli Giovanni Venturini Koiranen Kevin Korjus Aaro Vainio Patrick Kujala
| By David Evans | Thursday, May 2nd 2013, 18:17 GMT |
Sebastien Loeb is adjusting his driving style closer to Citroen team-mate Mikko Hirvonen's as he sticks with a compromise set-up for his World Rally Championship return in Argentina.
Unable to attend the team's final test for this event, Loeb took the same set-up as team-mates Hirvonen and Dani Sordo for this week's Villa Carlos Paz-based event, but could not find his rhythm with his Citroen through Thursday morning's opener.
"It's not 100 per cent with the car," he said. "After the first stage, I talked to the engineer and he told me I had to drive more in the style of Mikko, I had to be more aggressive with the car.
"This is not me, but I did it and the time was not so bad in the second stage."
Citroen engineer Cedric Mazenq said: "We found a couple of things new in the tests in Portugal and the one before this rally [the pre-event test in Sardinia] and Sebastien has never driven like this, which is why we pushed for him to modify his driving.
"These were not big changes, just a lot of details. He is beginning to understand how the car is working and he decided to leave the car for this afternoon.
"We saw in the first one [in the morning] he lost a little bit of time, but in the second one, he is already making the time."
Mazenq confirmed the team has the parts to change the DS3 back to Loeb's usual Rally Argentina set-up if he loses time on the afternoon loop.
| Thursday, May 2nd 2013, 19:28 GMT |
Sebastien Ogier stretched his Rally Argentina lead to 16.3 seconds over Sebastien Loeb by the end of Thursday's leg.
Ogier's Volkswagen was quickest on both the loop's stages, stretching away from the Citroens in the process.
But the frustrated Loeb did not feel there was anything more to the deficit than an errant tyre choice on Citroen's part, as its hards proved less compliant than Ogier's softs amid unforeseen drizzle.
Ogier did not have a flawless run, completing the long Asochinga stage with a loss of pressure in a rear tyre and some bodywork damage, but his lead was not jeopardised.
Mikko Hirvonen remains in contention. Although he has lost second place to Loeb, he is only 1.8s behind his team-mate.
Jari-Matti Latvala was very happy with his pace as he took second to team-mate Ogier on SS4, but ended the day peeved when a handbrake issue cost him time on SS5's hairpins, leaving him 41s off the lead.
Mads Ostberg dropped out of fifth place when his M-Sport Ford broke a steering arm on the loop's first stage.
But M-Sport still has a car in fifth as Evgeny Novikov moved past the third VW of Andreas Mikkelsen to take the place.
Myriad dramas for the top-class tailenders mean Dani Sordo is already back in the top 10 after rolling his Citroen in the morning.
Leading positions after SS5: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Sebastien Ogier VW 1h57m14.1s 2. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 16.3s 3. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen + 18.1s 4. Jari-Matti Latvala VW + 40.7s 5. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford + 1m37.7s 6. Andreas Mikkelsen VW + 1m55.1s 7. Thierry Neuville M-Sport Ford + 2m12.5s 8. Martin Prokop Czech Ford + 6m41.4s 9. Gabriel Pozzo M-Sport Ford + 10m10.3s 10. Dani Sordo Citroen + 10m32.6s
| By David Evans | Wednesday, May 1st 2013, 15:34 GMT |
Volkswagen driver Jari-Matti Latvala set fastest time at this morning's Rally Argentina qualifying stage.
Latvala was three hundredths of a second quicker than returning world champion Sebastien Loeb across the 3.75-mile stage just outside Villa Carlos Paz.
"I'm happy with that," smiled Latvala at the end of the stage.
"I made some changes to the car after shakedown this morning - the car felt soft – so we fitted stiffer springs, but we need to go stiffer still. This is a good start."
Quickest after two practice runs in the morning, Loeb admitted to feeling a little rusty when it came to finding the limit in qualifying.
"It didn't feel natural at the start of the stage," Loeb told AUTOSPORT. "I wasn't sure on the braking point, but then it was OK."
Championship leader Sebastien Ogier was third fastest almost three tenths down and ruing one small mistake in the stage.
"I ran wide in one corner," he said, "it's small, but it cost time. The road was very soft and we just slid a little bit more than I thought we would."
Loeb's fellow Citroen drivers Dani Sordo and Mikko Hirvonen were next up with Mads Ostberg the leading M-Sport runner 1.371 seconds down on Latvala's benchmark.
None of the drivers suffered any significant problems through the stage, which determines who will run where on the road for the event's opening leg tomorrow.
Local hero Gabriel Pozzo was slowest of the World Rally Car qualifiers in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC, 9.234s off.
| By David Evans | Wednesday, May 1st 2013, 17:45 GMT |
Jari-Matti Latvala has gambled on the weather staying dry, despite the threat of rain, on tomorrow's opening leg of Rally Argentina.
Latvala elected to run last on the road of the World Rally Cars in Villa Carlos Paz this afternoon, with only Qatar M-Sport's Evgeny Novikov bucking the trend - the Russian star leads the crews away from first on the road.
"There is some talk about some rain," said Latvala, "but I don't think it will be much if it comes.
"I think the conditions will clean. In the past, in the dry conditions, I have gone first on the road – like I did in Sardinia – and it was not so good."
Latvala added that another advantage of following his rivals through the stage came from knowing what they were doing ahead of him.
"In my position, I can see the split times and see how the guys ahead are driving," said the Finn.
Local hero Gabriel Pozzo follows Novikov into the stage. The order for the rest of the drivers is reversed from the result of qualifying. Sebastien Loeb is ahead of Latvala, with Sebastien Ogier one place in front of him.
| By David Evans | Wednesday, May 1st 2013, 20:30 GMT |
Sebastien Ogier took first blood in Rally Argentina by winning Thursday afternoon's superspecial stage.
The Volkswagen Polo R WRC driver was 1.9 seconds ahead of Dani Sordo, with the Spaniard's Citroen team-mate Sebastien Loeb third fastest, 2.2s down on the
early leader.
Ogier's inch-perfect run through the 3.75-mile gravel stages on the outskirts of Villa Carlos Paz was watched by 60,000 fans.
The World Rally Championship leader's early success was doubly satisfying as he beat countryman and rival Loeb in a head-to-head race on the stage.
"It's a nice feeling to start the rally like this," said Ogier at the finish. "There are so many people here, it's a good atmosphere."
Sordo admitted to a slightly cautious run, following his roll at a promotional event in Buenos Aires last weekend.
"I didn't want to push like hell. OK, this is part of the rally, but it's more for the show and I didn't want to make a mistake," he said.
Unusually, Loeb did make mistakes in the sister DS3 WRC.
"There were a lot [of mistakes] in the stage," said Loeb. "They have to stop. But it's always a great atmosphere on this rally and it was in this stage. Ogier was very fast."
Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen ensured there were three Polo R WRCs in the top five overnight, with the Finn admitting to a slightly cautious approach to his opening lap of the stage.
Mikko Hirvonen rounded out the top six, conceding he found the opener slippery, while local hero Marcos Ligato took an early advantage in the WRC2 category aboard his Subaru Impreza.
Rally Argentina proper gets underway on Thursday, with two loops of the Santa Catalina-La Pampa (16.83 miles) and Ascochinga-Agua do Oro (32.33 miles) stages planned.
| By Marcus Simmons | Tuesday, April 30th 2013, 15:45 GMT |
FIA Single-Seater Commission president Gerhard Berger has given the clearest indication yet that this year's Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 race will not include cars powered by engines built to the new regulations.
Moves had been made for Macau, F3's flagship race, to be solely for all-new powerplants this November to herald the new rules, which will be mandatory in the FIA F3 European Championship in 2014.
But the scheduling of the final two rounds of this year's European championship, at Hockenheim and Paul Ricard, does not allow teams enough time to convert their cars ready for air-freighting to the Far-Eastern event.
With the new engines offering approximately 10 per cent more power, performance-balancing measures have been weighed up by the FIA.
But AUTOSPORT understands that there is not enough room to incorporate the ballast on the current Dallara chassis if this was to be accomplished on weight, and there are reliability concerns if it was done via engine air restrictor tweaks.
"We are looking at different scenarios," said Berger, who was a podium finisher in Macau in 1983. "There is one logic: the engines we are running at the moment."
The likely Macau rules will put teams from the Japanese championship, which did adopt the new regulations for 2013, in a difficult situation. To compete in Macau, they would have to convert their cars back to old-spec engines.
Regarding the Japanese situation, Berger said: "It's a limited number of cars [seven appeared for the opening round in the main championship class]. We have to find the right thing for the sport altogether."
The move could jeopardise participation from the Japanese in Macau.
Top team TOM'S has won more the race more times than any other (with five victories) and has the longest unbroken record of participation (since 1991).
But team boss Susumu Koumi told AUTOSPORT that reverting to old-spec engine, electronics, set-up and driving style (due to the different characteristics of the new engine) would make it extremely difficult to be competitive.
AUTOSPORT SAYS
Marcus Simmons
(@marcussimmons54)
If Joseph Heller were alive today, he would surely be greatly amused by the current situation in Formula 3.
Here's the deal: the Japanese have the only championship running to current FIA rules, yet look likely to be barred from taking their machinery (in its current state) to the FIA's flagship F3 race, because it would comfortably beat all the cars from the FIA's own championship, none of which run to FIA rules.
This particular Catch 22 is an inevitable consequence of events dating back to March 31 2012, the deadline for engine makers wishing to lodge their intention to build new-rules powerplants - and therefore to be granted homologation – for 2013.
For various reasons, Mercedes and Volkswagen didn't meet that deadline. And, with their support absolutely vital to the FIA as it strove to rebuild F3, they (along with Tomei, which did meet the deadline but never really pushed to build a new ThreeBond engine for 2013) were allowed to field their old units in European F3 this season, with guarantees from Merc and VW that they would come on board with the new rules for 2014.
So, as far as European F3 was concerned, the new engines were swept under the carpet – without actually being banned – for 12 months.
But the inevitable bulge in that carpet is Macau, the fact that the Japanese pressed ahead in good faith with the new rules for 2013, and the logistical impossibility for the Europeans to convert their cars.
Having arrived at this point, it's difficult to see what else the FIA can do for Macau, but our sources indicate that the Japanese are none too impressed.
The Japanese have long been an intrinsic part of F3, and TOM'S, Mugen and Toda are all racing new engines this season. Their participation is vital for the long-term strength of the category.
What's more, the TOM'S record in Macau is superior to any European team. The squad has taken victory there with Rickard Rydell, Peter Dumbreck, Darren Manning, Oliver Jarvis and Keisuke Kunimoto.
Berger is correct in saying there is a need to "do the right thing for the sport". Certainly, barring the new engines from Macau 2013 appears to be the 'least wrong' thing, because if they were allowed to compete then the European teams who provide the bulk of the field would find it very tough to sell drives for the event.
That said, the FIA clearly needs to do some bridge-building with the Japanese who, if this goes through, will have been penalised for acting throughout with the best of intentions.
| By Mark Glendenning | Tuesday, April 30th 2013, 16:32 GMT |
Pippa Mann will make her second Indianapolis 500 start next month after securing a drive with Dale Coyne Racing.
The 29-year-old Briton announced on Tuesday that she will drive a third car for the team alongside Justin Wilson and Ana Beatriz.
"I actually first met Dale several years ago, before I came to the US, at what turned out to be the final Champ Car test at Sebring right before the open-wheel merger," she said.
"We've sort of had an ongoing conversation ever since then, and I actually got very close to getting in one of Dale's cars on Bump Day last year.
"A year later, we've now put this programme together."
Mann finished 20th in her Indy 500 debut with Conquest in 2011 and made the only other IndyCar start of her career later that year when she was classified 22nd at Kentucky Speedway with Rahal Letterman, although she was also on the grid for the cancelled Las Vegas race.
She has been without a full-time drive since finishing fifth in her second season of Indy Lights in 2010. Her last single-seater outing was at Sonoma in Auto GP last year.
Her addition to the grid brings the confirmed Indy 500 field to 30, three short of the traditional car count of 33, although several drivers including Townsend Bell, Jay Howard and Jacques Lazier are all reportedly working on deals.
| By Matt Beer | Tuesday, April 30th 2013, 16:47 GMT |
The San Marino Rally has lost its place on the 2013 European Rally Championship schedule.
The event had been due to form round seven on July 11-13, but financial issues mean it will not now join the series.
Francois Ribeiro, motorsport development director for ERC organiser Eurosport Events, said all involved had done everything within their power to keep San Marino in the fold.
"We have tried everything to find a number of solutions to keep the San Marino Rally on the ERC calendar but, unfortunately, this has not been possible with the new management of San Marino's motorsport federation," said Ribeiro.
"We regret the idea of losing a compact gravel event in Italy, but the cut in public funding went beyond expectations."
There will be no replacement for San Marino, reducing the ERC calendar to 12 rounds.
Drivers will now count their best four scores from the first six and best four scores from the last six events on the calendar, rather than the previous six/seven rally split.
