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While Porsche joined the Formula E series last season, the Monaco E-Prix was not on the calendar during the 2019-20 season, so Porsche’s 99X Electric has never raced there. This was a new opportunity for the German team to learn another new track, and unfortunately lady luck was not on their side. After podium results in Rome and Valencia, Porsche netted zero points from the race in the principality. While Andre Lotterer managed to finish in 9th, he had a collision with another car on the final lap of the race and was awarded a time penalty, pushing him back to 17th. Teammate Pascal Wehrlein was caught up in a collision instigated by another competitor, and was forced to retire from the race shortly before the checkered flag. When you place a big bet, you have to be prepared to walk away from the table empty-handed, and that’s exactly what happened to Porsche.
During the race Pascal started in 8th after a tight qualifying which saw him off pole by only 0.05 of a second. Traffic piled up at the hairpin during the first lap of the race, however, and he was stuck behind stopped cars, dropping him to 15th in the blink of an eye. Because the circuit is so tight and passing is difficult in such closely matched cars, Wehrlein was not able to make up ground lost. In the closing laps of the race he was hit from behind by a competitor, and the resulting flat tire caused him to sit out the rest of the event.
Lotterer, meanwhile, started from 19th on the grid. With the benefit of starting near the back, he was able to miss the stoppage that caught up Pascal on lap one, gaining a handful of spots in one fell swoop. During his second use of attack mode, he made up a bit more ground, elevating himself to twelfth. In the closing stages, he made up more places to end the race in 9th. His avoidable contact penalty undid all of that work, unfortunately, knocking him out of the points once more.
Comments on the Monaco E-Prix, Race 7
Amiel Lindesay, Head of Operations Formula E: “Pascal did a good job in qualifying and only just missed out on Super Pole. The start wasn’t ideal. When he got stuck in the middle of traffic at the hairpin, a top placing was out of reach in this initial phase. The qualifying didn’t go well for André but he did a mega job coming from 19th to ninth in the race — not many manage that in Monaco. Unfortunately, the time penalty robbed him of the rewards he deserved. We have six weeks until the next races in Mexico. We’ll use this time to prepare for the challenges of the second half of the season.”
André Lotterer, Porsche works driver (#36): “Things didn’t really come together for me in qualifying, but it went much better in the race. At the start, I stayed out of any trouble and tried to conserve energy and get into a good rhythm. I succeeded. We really wanted to finish in the points, which is a pretty ambitious goal when you start from 19th on the grid, especially in Monaco. And we would’ve made it, too, had it not been for the time penalty at the end. Hopefully, things will go better for us in Mexico.
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche works driver (#99): “It was a disappointing weekend all in all, at least in view of the result, but once again we underlined our potential. Our speed was pretty good, especially in qualifying. My start wasn’t great. I was shunted from behind in the hairpin. As a result, my car sustained quite a few damages. I’m now looking forward to the two new opportunities that are coming up at the doubleheader in Puebla.”
After the bright orange and white Penske-run Acura prototypes ended their tenure in IMSA’s top flight category DPi at the end of the 2020 season, fans were worried that the bright prototypes would bow out for a more visually subdued field. With the Meyer Shank Racing team picking up one half of the Acura banner (Wayne Taylor Racing will run the other Acura) fans needn’t have worried. Pink race car good.
With the 24 Hours of Daytona kicking off in just a couple of weeks, MSR is prepping its Acura ARX-05 for the season with a truly killer lineup of all-star drivers. Three time IMSA champion and Acura factory ace Dane Cameron will team with Le Mans winner and highly underrated talent Olivier Pla for the full season. Joining the pair for endurance rounds will be defending DPi champ Juan Pablo Montoya and the versatile Daytona 24-winning AJ Allmendinger.
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Meyer Shank Racing has been running pink liveries inspired by sponsor AutoNation’s DrivePink campaign to finding a cure for cancer in IMSA and IndyCar recently. Thus far the campaign has raised and donated over $25 million to various anti-cancer efforts. The team says it wants to bring awareness to the cause, but I’m pretty sure everyone is already aware of cancer and the fact that it’s bad. Either way, I’m down with the pink car.
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While most racing series have a slew of largely very boring liveries, IMSA has a much more diverse car color lineup. I don’t think that’s coincidence, as teams are perhaps more willing to go out on a limb with their designs to be noticed in such a large field of cars. If anything, I’m extremely glad that we won’t have another red/white/black car on the grid. The world has its fill of those.
The Haas Formula One Team finally did it. It fired both of its current drivers and replaced them with two young guns that have been competing in the junior ranks of the sport. In 2021, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin will hit the F1 grid for the first time in their careers. Let’s run you through what you need to know about both of ‘em.
If you see that last name, you know exactly who this is. Mick Schumacher is Michael Schumacher’s 21-year-old son and a driver that, in part because of his performance and in part because of that loaded last name, has caught the gaze of motorsport pundits around the globe since he first got behind the wheel.
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Let’s run through his stats:
For a young driver in a competitive world, those are some fairly impressive numbers—certainly far more impressive than other drivers that have ridden to the pinnacle of a racing discipline on the back of a famous name. Expectations will be high for Mick, but there’s no reason to believe he won’t meet them.
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Schumacher joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in January of 2019, so his promotion to Haas makes sense—the team is powered by Ferrari engines.
He was due to make an FP1 outing at the Eifel Grand Prix, but bad weather saw his chance behind the wheel postponed. Instead, the first time we see Mick on track during an F1 race weekend will be the first free practice session in Abu Dhabi.
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Russian-born 21-year-old Nikita Mazepin is currently sitting third in the Formula 2 championship with two wins and six podium positions to his name. He has also finished within the top three in the GP3 championship and the F3 Asian championship. That said, he hasn’t really been pegged as one of the drivers expected to progress into F1—you’d likely only recognize his name if you avidly watch the junior formulae.
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And he comes along with his fair share of criticism, both of being a pay driver and for his unsportsmanlike behavior, which includes beating the shit out of one of his competitors.
Yes, Mazepin is largely part of the 2021 Haas squad because he has a lot of money. His dad is worth over $7 billion as a result of the family chemical company, and the family was in talks with the Force India team as it went into administration and was ultimately bought out by Lawrence Stroll.
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That said, he’s showing brief glimpses of promise in his career. He’ll need to work hard to achieve consistent results, but I can imagine Haas will cut him some slack if he’s able to cover his bills.
Current drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen are both looking like they’re done with F1. There’s been a lot of back-and-forth talk about where they’ll end up—IndyCar, IMSA, Formula E, wherever—but this late in the year, finding a seat can be difficult.
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That said, Kevin Magnussen has joined Chip Ganassi Racing’s DPi program in the IMSA series. Grosjean’s plans are currently to be determined.
Today marks the start of the annual MOTUL Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, but before we head into the race itself, we need to look at yesterday’s wild qualifying session, where three of the four IMSA classes contesting the race broke an official record.
We’ll start with the big dogs in the DPi cars, the top level of machinery available in IMSA. Mazda set the first provisional pole with driver Harry Tincknell becoming the first driver to run a sub-69 second lap time, but his time was quickly overshadowed by both of Team Penske’s Acuras, who spent much of qualifying shaving fractions of a second off the other’s time.
Ultimately, with Dane Cameron behind the wheel, the No. 6 set a flying 1m 8.412s lap. That stands as a new track record for the DPi machines.
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The LMP2 class, which follows DPi, didn’t set any new records this year, but PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Patrick Kelly set the fastest time in the class. No record, but he can rest easy knowing that he was a full 1.5 seconds per lap ahead of his closest competition.
GTLM saw a new record, a 1m 15.163s lap that set a qualifying record for the class at the track. As we’ve come to expect this year, the Corvettes were quick right out of the gate, so it was the No. 3 piloted by Antonio Garcia that ultimately found them starting at the top of the class.
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The Corvettes weren’t the only cars to break the lap record. The No. 25 BMW M8 of Conor De Phillippi also cracked the previous record, but with the Corvette running faster, he wouldn’t be taking home the accolades.
It was a similar story in the GTD class, Shinya Michimi claimed pole position in the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3. It’s Michimi’s first-ever pole position, and it gives the championship-leading team a boost over the competition with a much better starting spot. His 1m 19.291s lap is a new class record.
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You can find the full list of qualifying times and starting position here. Coverage for Petit Le Mans begins at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new racing series in town. The Superstar Racing Experience—or, SRX—is an upcoming stock car racing series developed in a partnership between former NASCAR driver and team owner Tony Stewart, crew chief Ray Evernham, former NASCAR executive Sandy Montag, and sports agent George Pyne. Here’s what you need to know about it so far.
As stated above, SRX is a stock car series that describes itself as “a back to basics racing series set to re-ignite the passion of the die-hard motorsports fans and reintroduce racing to a whole new generation.”
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Stewart compared the series’ intentions to those of IROC, the International Race of Champions. This isn’t necessarily a series designed for up-and-coming talent; instead, well established talent will get behind the wheel of identical cars to see who’s the best of the best.
In addition to the identical cars, drivers will be paired up with a different crew chief every week to ensure that the playing field remains level.
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According to Pyne. “This is a product designed for 2021 and today’s race fan. We’ll have shorter races, with either a 30-minute or 45-minute format. We may have a different crew chief paired with a different driver on a regular basis. We’ll tell the story on television in a unique, funny way. There’s an opportunity to invent a better product to bring to race fans with an exciting national element. It’s the time for an innovative and modernized product in racing.”
While very little has been confirmed so far, we do know that SRX is aiming for a six-race season that will likely take place at short tracks. There is an interest in moving to other tracks at a later date.
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The series will also be aired live on CBS during two-hour primetime Saturday broadcasts.
When
SRX is set to take its first green flag in 2021. Concrete dates have still not been revealed.
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SRX is aiming to field 12 drivers during its inaugural season, with the hope that other drivers will follow suit. Stewart was the first driver announced, and he has a pretty impressive list of achievements to his name. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019 after a career that saw him win a championship in the Indy Racing League, an Indianapolis 500, three NASCAR Cup series championships, and an IROC championship.
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The other drivers announced thus far include:
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“The racing fans are longing for that, and they’re longing to see their heroes, who have earned their way through the short tracks of America and around the world,” Ray Evernham said on a Zoom call after the announcement of the series. “They will practice their craft on national television in close corners, with cars that are prepared equally and largely dependent on driver input and not on aerodynamics, computers, technology and science.”
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Largely, SRX seems to be a response to the highly technical professional racing available today with an emphasis on short track and dirt track racing as the first step on the motorsport ladder for American drivers—a tradition that has fallen to the wayside in recent decades.
The founding crew emphasizes the possibility of “unique content” but currently does not have a definite strategy for what that would look like. That said, they seem confident that sponsors, investors, fans, and media alike will be drawn to the series via familiar names and simplified technology.
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In essence, it seems like a neat way for veteran drivers to once again compete against their peers—this time those from all disciplines.
Formula One has finally fleshed out its revamped 2020 schedule with the addition of races at Istanbul and Abu Dhabi with two events at Bahrain. The second race at Bahrain, known as the Sakhir Grand Prix, will be staged on the circuit’s outer loop layout—which could see the series posting laps under 60 seconds.
While Formula E had previously been the only series so far to run a different layout at a track due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the addition of the outer Bahrain circuit will become the next alternative layout to be used.
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Essentially, the outer loop perfectly mimics the Bahrain Grand Prix circuit up to turn four, at which point the track bypasses the central portion of the circuit and connects back at what would normally be turn 13 via a long series of sweeping turns. Anticipate this track being a quick one similar to Monza with its lack of tight corners.
There’s also a longer version of the Bahrain track that had been used in 2010, but it wasn’t a hit with anyone, either drivers or fans.
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This will be the first time that the outer loop will be used for an international racing event, which has only previously been used for club racing or corporate events.
The shorter, faster track sees F1 anticipating the quickest lap times ever set, with simulations clocking in at around 55 seconds. The current record for the quickest F1 lap time during a race weekend was set by Niki Lauda at Dijon in 1974, where the Austrian driver clocked a lap of 58.79 seconds.
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F1’s managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn has said that the whole purpose of this track layout is to challenge drivers and teams, saying, “We assessed a number of options for the alternative circuit layout and concluded the outer circuit will provide the best alternative and will provide a new challenge for all the teams and entertain all our fans with high speeds and fast lap times.”
The Sakhir Grand Prix will take place on December 6, 2020.
I’ve seen a lot of things in my years, but I’ve never seen a drag racing R32 GT-R turned into a winning hillclimb beast. That is, until now. It’s instantly obvious that when a car has 1200 horsepower on tap it’s going to be fast—it is—but the level of speed is truly mind-bending. The degree to which the driver has to moderate the power through the slower corners is truly astonishing.
Dump on the throttle, power down into the corner, hop off the throttle and carry as much momentum through the corner as possible, but don’t even fucking think about pressing down on the loud pedal again until you get the sumbitch pointed straight as an arrow. What a great way to drive. This has to be a scary machine to pilot.
This recent upload from Hillclimb Monsters on YouTube is pretty obviously an older recording, evidenced by the fact that it was filmed on a series of potato cams. Apparently this car has continued development and now makes over 1400 horsepower, making this a more mild state of tune from around 2014. The car is raced by Desmond ‘Dezzi’ Gutzeit in South Africa, where it has won the Knysna Simola Hillclimb outright in 2014, 2015, and 2016 before losing the overall honors to a 1500 horsepower Nissan R35.
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I’ve seen my share of incredibly fast RB-engine machines, and cars with this level of power are generally built for drag racing or standing mile events. That this thing has a proper handling chassis with a good bit of development done in the car’s aerodynamic downforce is something of an anomaly. I sure would like to see more of these kinds of absolutely no-holds-barred builds.
As we get psyched up for the biggest hillclimb event of them all—The 98th Pikes Peak International Hillclimb—this weekend, I’ve been watching hillclimb videos from all over the world. Here’s hoping that at least some of the runs this weekend are as exciting as this crazy Nissan running in South Africa.
Welcome to the Jalopnik Weekend Motorsports Roundup, where we let you know what’s going on in the world of racing, where you can see it, and where you can talk about it all in one convenient place. Where else would you want to spend your weekend?
This is the most jam-packed weekend of racing we’ve seen since 2020 started, and if your existential dread is getting you down, this weekend might be a good one to sit on the couch and watch vroom vrooms go fast. It’s time again to give you some idea of what’s running this weekend and where you can check it out. I’ll personally be watching F1, Indy Qualifying, the WEC race from Spa, and the potential mess that will be the NASCAR Daytona road course races.
Virgin Australia Supercars Darwin Triple Crown Race 13
From Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
1:30AM Saturday on MotorTrend on Demand
DTM Lausitzring Sprint
From the Lausitzring, Schipkau, Germany
7:15AM Saturday on MotorTrend on Demand – Race 1
FIA WEC Total 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps
From Spa Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium
7:30AM Saturday on MotorTrend on Demand
Formula One Spanish Grand Prix
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Barcelona, Spain
9AM Saturday on ESPN – Qualifying
IndyCar Indianapolis 500
From Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, IN
11AM Saturday on NBC Sports Gold – Live Qualifying
3PM Saturday on NBC – Tape Delayed Qualifying Broadcast
NASCAR XFinity Series Race At Daytona RC
From Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
3PM Saturday on NBCSN
Virgin Australia Supercars Darwin Triple Crown Race 14
From Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
11:20PM Saturday on MotorTrend on Demand
Virgin Australia Supercars Darwin Triple Crown Race 15
From Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
1:30AM Sunday on MotorTrend on Demand
MotoGP Austrian GP
From the Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria
7:30AM Sunday on NBC Sports Network
DTM Lausitzring Sprint
From the Lausitzring, Schipkau, Germany
7:15AM Sunday on MotorTrend on Demand – Race 2
Formula One Spanish Grand Prix
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Barcelona, Spain
9AM Sunday on ESPN – Race
IndyCar Indianapolis 500
From Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, IN
12:30PM Sunday on NBC Sports Gold – Live Top 9 Qualifying
1PM Sunday on NBC – Top 9 Qualifying Broadcast
NASCAR Cup Series Race At Daytona RC
From Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
3PM Sunday on NBC
If you know anything we missed or have any great livestreams, let us know in the comments below. And tell what you’ll be watching!
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All times in Eastern time zone.
Rallycross might be the perfect outlet for electric motorsport right now. The rounds are short and the action is fast paced, meaning cars don’t need a lot of range for a ten minute heat race. The instant torque means electric rallycross cars can dig out of the hole in rapid fashion. And while the weight takes a proper hot shoe to control, it’s far less of a detriment in a loose surface series than one that requires grip. All of that is why I’m so excited about STARD’s Projekt E electric Ford Fiesta making its race debut this weekend.
Rallycross ace and former WRC rallyist Manfred Stohl will be the guinea pig strapped into the seat for this EV vs ICE experiment. Ahead of the FIA World RX championship allowing electric racers in its Supercar class for the 2022 season, the STARD car will run this weekend’s round of the Hungarian Rallycross Championship at the Kakucs circuit.
The Fiesta is powered by a trio of electric motors totaling 450kW (about 615 horsepower) shoving forward thrust through all four wheels. That should put the car on more or less equal footing with the conventionally-powered two-liter turbocharged Supercars, which make around 600 horsepower in race trim. The Supercar class features an 11-car grid at this round, so Stohl will have plenty of competition for the race victory.
STARD CEO and lead engineer Michael Sakowicz had this to say about the upcoming race in a discussion with Motorsport.com: “It’s just another session in our extensive and continuous testing program. Our expectations are to collect further data and experience, and to have a great race weekend. It’s the first race event for us at all in this strange year.”
“It’s great that we’re giving an electric rallycross car its first proper debut,” said Sakowicz. “We’ve been pioneers in electric rallycross since 2015. We are not afraid of the challenge to do things no-one has ever done before, that’s why we’re leading the way.”
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This car is meant to be a test bed for the upcoming Projekt E series, which will race alongside FIA World RX later this year as a standalone category with spec STARD powertrains. This event in Hungary will mark the first time that an electric rallycross machine has competed in the same event on track at the same time racing for the same trophy as other traditionally-powered cars.
To complicate things, World RX is adding Junior eRX as a third tier below Projekt E in 2021. So by the time 2022 rolls around, there will be three different specifications of electric rallycross car running around the track throughout a World RX weekend. Why is it so hard to get normal people to understand how racing works again? Oh, right.
If you want to see the Projekt E in action, check out this test with Tiff Needell. It’s a pretty astonishing machine, but it doesn’t sound like it’s designed to be directly competitive with FIA Rallycross Supercar classed gas cars. Maybe STARD has some tricks up its sleeve to keep the car competitive. Who knows what will happen. I look forward to seeing the result of this little experiment.
