Invicta has announced that Leonardo Fornaroli will turn into considered one of its Formula 2 drivers for the 2025 season after winning the Formula 3 title at Monza.
The 19-year-old became the primary Italian to win the Formula 3 championship in its current form on Sunday, overtaking compatriot Gabriele Mini on the ultimate corner to take third place behind Christian Mansell.
The Mini, which finished second, was then disqualified for running with tyre pressures below the minimum required standards. Ultimately, Fornaroli took the title by 23 points.
Fornaroli also became the primary driver to top the points standings without taking a single race win, following a successful campaign that saw him finish on the rostrum seven times.
The move to Invicta marks the tip of a three-year partnership with Trident, with which Fornaroli competed within the European Formula Regional series in 2022 and each of his F3 campaigns.
The Norfolk-based team currently fields 2023 Formula 3 champion Gabriel Bortoleto and Kush Maini, and in its first yr of operation with the Dallara F2 chassis in 2024, the team sits at the highest of the teams’ championship.
“I am extremely happy to celebrate winning the F3 championship with this news and I am looking forward to moving to F2 next season,” said Fornaroli.
“Invicta Racing has proven for a few years that it’s among the best teams in Formula 2, and this season is not any exception.
Gabriel Bortoleto of Invicta Racing
Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
“I’m really excited to be working with the team for the 2025 season. I need to take this chance to thank Trident for the last three years, they are surely the most effective team in F3.
“To go from the best team in F3 to the best in F2 is a real dream come true.”
While consistency has been key to Fornaroli’s success, questions will arise about his ability to win races in his first Formula 2 season, as his last single-seater victories got here in 2021, with one win each within the F4 Central European Zone Championship and the Italian F4 Championship.
Before making his debut at the beginning of the 2025 season, Fornaroli will participate in post-season testing in Abu Dhabi along with his latest team.
“We are delighted to welcome Leonardo to our team in 2025,” said Invicta Team Principal Andy Roche.
“Winning the F3 championship is an incredible achievement for him and I have no doubt he will do a great job in 2025. We have been following Leonardo’s career in single-seaters for several years and it is clear that he is an outstanding talent.”
“Following in Gabriel’s footsteps this year, we are delighted that the reigning F3 champion will join our team for the second year running.”
Bortoleto's victory from last on the grid in Sunday's Formula 2 race moved him 10.5 points behind championship leader Isaac Hadjar (Campos) with three rounds to go.
There are many talented junior racing drivers amongst them, their egos boosted by lifetime victories in karting and entry-level single-seaters. When drivers reach Formula 3, the wheat begins to be separated from the chaff, with only 30 spots available every year to proceed their climb to the tantalising prospect of F1.
Comparing CVs and looking out solely at pre-season achievements, Leonardo Fornaroli was probably not a reputation you’d have predicted to complete the championship on top. His two wins in 98 single-seater races – each in F4 competition in 2021 – three pole positions and 15 podiums didn’t appear to be the CV of a driver who can be in comparison with the perfect of his peers.
Oh, how improper we were.
What has flown under the radar is the Italian’s consistency and increasing ability to get to the chequered flag without incident. He finished every race he entered within the Formula Regional European in his debut 2022 season, didn’t see the flag only once when he moved as much as F3 last 12 months and had an ideal ending record within the campaign that has just ended.
Then there was his prowess in points. In the primary eight races of his FRECA profession, Fornaroli didn’t rating in 4 starts. But in the following 12 races, he scored in all but one. That trend continued last 12 months in F3, remaining with Trident, when he scored in 11 of the 18 races, ending eleventh overall – not bad for a rookie.
He has only didn’t rating points twice this season, ending eleventh within the Imola Sprint and twelfth within the Red Bull Ring Sprint (from twenty fourth on the grid, by far his worst starting position) to increase his final tally of 153 points.
“This season reminds me a bit of the one I had two years ago in Formula Regional when I won the rookie title without any rookie wins because I was just more consistent than the others, so I kept finishing second and managed to take the title,” said the 19-year-old after securing the title in dramatic fashion, passing Christian Mansell on the ultimate lap – before the disqualification of foremost rival Gabriele Mini prolonged his points result in 23 points.
A consistent approach to scoring points meant that despite not winning a race, Fornaroli (right) secured the F3 championship title
Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
“I had two or three good probabilities to win races. The first one was Melbourne. Unfortunately, in qualifying I had a set of tyres that didn't work well, so we needed to take one other one, which was for the second race, so I began on used tyres in comparison with the others, after which Dino [Beganovic] from the center of the race to the tip he was simply faster than me. But P2 was still good.
“Imola is second. The pace was incredible and we got the primary two or three with Trident. I didn't have latest tyres there but the whole lot was great. When Ollie Goethe passed me on the straight, I went a bit more to the suitable than before and got a surprise on the straight that I didn't know was there, the automotive stalled completely and I lost three positions again. It was one other great opportunity.
“On Sunday, unfortunately, I didn't win. It was supposed to be amazing to win the title without winning. I will analyze the race to see what I did wrong so that I don't repeat it in the future.”
“Now that the adrenaline has died down, I've started to realize that Sunday's race wasn't perfect. I'll look at all of this to try to improve for the future.” Leonardo Fornaroli
Asked if there was a moment when he consciously prioritized the championship over individual race wins, Fornaroli added: “I think after Silverstone I said to myself: OK, now to get back to the top I have to be there always, even if I don't win.” [races]'. That was an important moment of the season, after I completely modified my attitude.'
While it is straightforward to praise Fornaroli for his consistency throughout the season, there will likely be those that query whether he has that extra edge, those extra tenths of a second that separate the nice drivers from the truly great ones.
Having moved as much as F2 for 2025 with Invicta, the identical team that currently fields the 2023 F3 champion and an F2 title challenger for Gabriel Bortoleto, the pressure will likely be on to quickly prove that he can come out on top in a single event. After all, winning a championship and not using a single victory is lots like lightning – it doesn’t strike twice.
In his favour, Fornaroli is the primary to confess to the concept, repeatedly saying he desires to analyse where things could have gone higher and learn how to avoid repeating mistakes. Asked if the shortage of a race win matters to him, he replied: “Of course, now I care less, but now that the adrenaline has died down I’ve started to realise that Sunday’s race wasn’t perfect. I’ll look at all of this to try and improve for the future and try to get my first win in these categories.”
Fornaroli admits his performances in 2024 weren’t ideal, but he lost fewer points than his rivals, which proved decisive
Of the 12 different drivers to win races in 2024, Mini's closest rival has claimed one podium finish, while Luke Browning finished third with two wins and Arvid Lindblad fourth with 4 wins. The only other drivers to complete in the highest 12 and not using a win were Mansell (fifth) and Noel Leon (tenth).
Fornaroli added: “I'm the only driver in front who hasn't had a win, as you said, and that shows that I'm more consistent than the others. So even though Luke, Arvid and Gabi had more wins than me, I managed to be more consistent than them, especially in the last three rounds and finish ahead of them.”
This season was something of a wierd one then. Was Fornaroli the fastest on the grid? You could say no, even when he was certainly one of only two drivers (together with Browning) to have won pole greater than once. But was he capable of string together a consistent set of strong weekends with fewer mistakes than anyone else? Yes.
While he may look with envy on the growing trophy cabinets of some rivals, make no mistake, there will likely be 30 drivers in F3 next 12 months and 21 in F2 who’ve studied every second of what Fornaroli has done this season. It wasn’t the points he scored that earned Fornaroli the F3 title, it was the shortage of points. That’s a lesson all young drivers can learn from this deserving champion.
Fornaroli sets an unusual winning pattern within the junior racing automotive category
TGM Grand Prix has revealed it’s in talks with former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat to take over the Super Formula seat vacated by Nobuharu Matsushita.
The Honda-powered TGM team fielded former Formula 2 driver Matsushita alongside Juju Noda in the primary three rounds of the season but withdrew on account of lack of funding.
Hiroki Otsu was brought in to interchange Matsushita for the fourth round of the season at Fuji, with TGM subsequently confirming his contract until the tip of the yr.
However, before a call was made on Otsu's seat, TGM boss Kazuhiro Ikeda stated ahead of the in-season test leading as much as the Fuji race that the team was in negotiations with an unnamed international driver to take over Matsushita's seat.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Ikeda confirmed that the motive force in query was Kvyat, but added that complications arising from sanctions imposed by Japan on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prevented a deal from being struck.
“As a Japanese team, we can’t hire him,” Ikeda said. “He can get a visa and enter Japan, but he can’t work [and receive a salary].
“The team can’t pay him directly, and he feels that if he can’t receives a commission, there’s no point in him coming here. That was the most important problem.
“I asked him to discuss it with his sponsors, but the obstacles were too great.”
Juju, TGM Grand Prix
Photo: Masahide Kamio
Kvyat revealed to Motorsport.com last yr that he desired to race in Super Formula and, during post-season testing at Suzuka, seemed set to drive for an additional Honda team, Nakajima Racing, before the deal fell through relatively late within the season.
He added that he would really like so as to add a second programme to his schedule alongside his current Lamborghini World Endurance Championship commitments, having had the chance to check the Dallara SF23 as a part of his test role within the Abu Dhabi-based autonomous A2RL series.
Ikeda added that the choice to maintain Otsu within the automobile until the tip of the season was dictated by the will to return TGM to its 2023 baseline form.
Last yr, Otsu raced for Japanese team Servus at Fuji, replacing the injured Toshiki Oyu, and impressed the team along with his high level of technical ability.
“We felt we had lost our sense of organization, so we formed Otsu to try to get back to where we were in the middle of last year,” Ikeda said.
“He knows how the car should behave, so we wanted to use his experience. And we didn't want to keep changing drivers, because that's not good for the fans or the championship.”
Otsu finished fifteenth within the Motegi race last month, while TGM haven’t scored any points since Matsushita finished eighth within the opening round at Suzuka in March.
Andretti Global’s Louis Foster was officially crowned the 2024 Indy NXT Champion after winning from pole position at The Milwaukee Mile.
The 21-year-old Briton managed to overtake the opposite competitors from the lead position and led all 90 laps, beating his only championship rival, Jacob Abel, in a time of 4.3602 seconds on the historic one-mile oval.
“It’s amazing,” Foster said. “I’m speechless. I have to thank the team; they’ve been behind me for the last two years. Big thanks to everyone in the No. 26 and my sponsors… It’s been a crazy two years and I’m super happy to get the win.”
Louis Foster
Photo: IndyAutomotive Series
The performance was Foster's seventh win of the season, which puts him in fourth place within the all-time standings, alongside Bryan Herta, Mark Taylor, Oliver Askew and David Malukas. He has a probability to maneuver into third place alongside Alex Lloyd within the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway in two weeks. Greg Moore and Kyle Kirkwood share the highest spot with 10 wins on the season, while Paul Tracy and Pato O'Ward are tied for second with nine.
Behind Foster and Abel in third place was Salvador de Alba Jr.
The top five was accomplished by debutants Bryce Aron and Jamie Chadwick.
Race
Foster was in a position to speed up cleanly from the beginning. However, the identical couldn’t be said for Foster’s front row mate and title rival Abel, who was hit from behind by HMD Motorsports rookie Christian Brooks. The contact nearly caused the No. 51 Abel Motorsports automobile to spin before he dropped to sixth as the sector headed into Turn 1.
Abel managed to quickly get back to fifth place and put pressure on Brooks' rear wing, but was unable to pass him.
Meanwhile, on lap 10, Foster's lead over Chadwick was 0.7726s. By lap 16, that lead had increased to 1.0905s.
The field began to settle, but a yellow flag got here out on lap 30 when Myles Rowe, #99 HMD Motorsports with Force Indy, spun at Turn 2. Fortunately, he didn’t hit anything, allowing for a fast change of pace for the race.
A restart on lap 33 saw Foster move strongly into the lead, while Chadwick lost second to de Alba, while Abel moved as much as fourth, ahead of Brooks.
On lap 39, Abel made a robust pass on the surface of Turns 1 and a couple of to secure third place.
Foster's advantage over de Alba was 0.5282 seconds on the halfway point of the race. Two laps later de Alba closed to inside a number of automobile lengths before Foster prolonged his advantage again.
As the sector began to expand again heading into lap 52, the most important battle on course was for sixth place between Brooks and Abel Motorsports rookie Yuven Sundaramoorthy, who were inside 0.2 seconds of one another in a tense battle. On lap 57, Sundaramoorthy attempted to pass Brooks on the surface of Turn 1, but had little room and broke free, losing ground at Turn 2 and eventually taking seventh to Andretti Global’s James Roe.
On lap 61, Abel caught the rear wing of the Andretti Cape de Alba machine. The pace was temporary, nonetheless, as Abel quickly dropped to 0.8s just three laps later and remained in third place.
The battle for sixth place was again close, this time Roe was unable to pass Brooks on lap 66 and fell into the clutches of Sundaramoorthy. The two were riding side by side and touched, almost sending Sundaramoorthy into the wall. Both regained their composure and went after Brooks again, with Roe completing the pass on Brooks, taking sixth place on lap 69, as Sundaramoorthy's move to also pass was stopped.
Meanwhile, the battle for the lead was fierce on the front of the sector, with Foster’s large lead over de Alba reduced to 0.4171s on lap 70, with Abel trailing by just 1.4847s.
Foster's lead increased to 1.0598s just five laps later.
With 12 laps to go, Foster began to meet up with the opposite riders and overtake them by a lap, first passing Ricardo Escotto of Juncos Hollinger Racing, who finished thirteenth.
Foster managed to chop cleanly through the gang and quickly prolonged his lead over de Alba to five.4082s on lap 85.
Abel passed de Alba with one other outside move at Turns 1 and a couple of with three laps remaining.
International rallying returned to the UK for the primary time since 2019 last weekend, with Rally Ceredigion making a spectacular debut within the European Rally Championship. The event actually filled British rally fans with hope and might be the catalyst for the revival of Rally GB.
Last weekend was one other impressive milestone for the Welsh Tarmac Rally, achieving ERC status and returning the UK to the international rally scene for less than the fourth time. This was achieved because of the tireless efforts of the team led by Event Director Charlie Jukes, who managed to rally the community together, securing funding from local councils and businesses to make the concept a reality, via a military of 1,250 volunteers.
They deserve huge credit for achieving this, and much more so after Rally Ceredigion seamlessly stepped as much as ERC level, showcasing British rallying on the international stage with a well-organised and professionally run event. Fans flocked back to the stages across the Welsh town of Aberystwyth and there was a buzz across the region, bringing back memories of the last World Rally Championship rally in Wales in 2019. The sight of rally cars flying through the bumpy narrow streets of the attractive Welsh countryside and racing around Aberystwyth Castle was great publicity for the Welsh Tourist Board.
This begs the massive query. Is a closed tarmac rally, as a substitute of the historic forest gravel stages of the past, the longer term of Rally GB?
Toyota WRC factory driver Elfyn Evans took part within the event before flying out to arrange for this week’s Rally Greece. The Welshman believes Rally Ceredigion has the potential to progress to WRC status, but admits that while a tarmac rally would suffice, the last word goal can be to race Rally GB on gravel.
“I think it gives us hope,” Evans told Motorsport.com. “There’s no reason why this event can’t achieve World Rally Championship status. Perhaps the accommodation can be the largest challenge here in Aberystwyth, but actually the roads and the organisation are able to doing it. It’s a credit to the organisers who’ve put in the hassle since this rally began in 2019.
Ceredigion gave British rally talent the possibility to compete against Europe's biggest names on home soil
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
“I think it would add something really special to [world] championship, but deep down I think everyone wants the classic Welsh forest to come back. That would be the last resort, but I think it would be a viable option for the future.”
The view espoused by Evans is almost all. However, Rally Ceredigion is conveniently positioned near the sacred gravel roads of Hafren Forest or Sweet Lamb, so is possible for a “best of both worlds” split-surface rally – an idea the FIA is open to reviving if crucial. It is an option that needs to be seriously considered.
Nicky Grist, Colin McRae’s former co-driver, was amongst the celebrities who turned up to look at the event unfold. He was amongst those that felt Rally Ceredigion represented a positive “milestone” for the longer term and further strengthened the case for Rally GB.
“We imagine there are interesting business models which were adopted by other WRC events around the globe that would narrow this down [funding] gap” Hugh Chambers
“With Rally GB going down I have to pay tribute to the organisers who did it,” Grist tells Motorsport.com. “It’s not supported, possibly somewhat bit by the Welsh government, however it’s not low-cost to get the ERC after which you might have to run the rally to the standards which were set. It took loads of commitment, labor and energy to draw sponsors.
“Rally GB is a special matter, it’s something that the governing body within the UK has to be sure that happens. It seems to me that to some extent they haven’t necessarily supported it.
“Now greater than ever the WRC is more about money than the event itself and I feel if someone has the eagerness and the budget to do it then it’s taken seriously. Gone are the times when it was at all times the championship, and it should at all times be and can remain that way.
Since the Wales Rally GB was last on the calendar in 2019, the WRC has modified quite a bit
“You have to pay the money, do what's required as far as the promoters go, and then you have a chance at a championship round. Now that I've gotten rid of that, I think [Rally GB] will be a much more expensive event to organize than in the past. There are always options, but it has to be led from the top and they have to have the passion to do it.”
Grist is true that if Rally GB does return, it’ll need leadership from Motorsport UK. But what the organisers of Rally Ceredigion have achieved has not escaped the eye of Motorsport UK. Its CEO Hugh Chambers and chairman David Richards witnessed the events first-hand once they toured the event on Sunday.
Motorsport UK has said for several years that it wants the WRC to return to those shores, but securing third-party funding has proven and continues to be a hurdle. The WRC’s funding budget is larger than the ERC’s, at around £4.2m (€5m). But Chambers says there’s hope.
“We are looking at a number of different options to bring the WRC back to the UK, not just in Wales but in other home countries,” Chambers told Motorsport.com. “We are in a a lot better position to do this now than we now have been for a few years.
“The typical budget for WRC events worldwide is currently around €5 million. There are some exceptions, however it's around €5 million. If you return to Wales Rally GB, it was probably around €3-3.5 million [million when it was on the calendar] and since 2019 there was a major increase [in costs that would make it more expensive today].
“At the identical time, we imagine there are interesting business models which were adopted by other WRC events around the globe that would narrow this down [funding] gap. At some point we are going to need significant third-party funding to make this feasible.
“This [Rali Ceredigion] organizers have done an amazing job of taking it to the next level. There is potential for this to happen [event] to be able to grow, but there are some challenges with infrastructure and not least with accommodation. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. I'd rather celebrate the fact that we're in the ERC and really build on that success and have this fantastic event on a multi-year basis.”
Chambers wants UK back in WRC but admits funding hurdles are larger than ERC
Photo: JEP
Asked if Motorsport UK could help secure additional funding for Rally Ceredigion in the longer term, Chambers added: “We are already supporting the event, we work closely with the organisers and we recognise that it is incredibly important to us to have an ERC round in the UK. We will continue to work with them in any way we can.”
While Chambers hasn’t ruled out a future for the closed-road, tarmac-based Rally GB, he admits that Rally GB’s DNA is “probably” gravel and if it will probably be brought back, the event will gain “this unique, historic place in the calendar”.
There’s little question that the one thing holding back Rali Ceredigion from the WRC is maybe the infrastructure and accommodation around Aberystwyth, which Chambers notes shouldn’t be insurmountable. But the event actually showed the strength of a united community. Will Motorsport UK not learn from what the volunteer group has achieved?
“The most important element of all this is the way the local community got behind this gathering; whether it was businesses, the council, other stakeholders, the university. Everyone really understood the importance of this event.” Hugh Chambers
“Without a doubt,” Chambers replies. “But that was also the case for Wales Rally GB in 2019. A lot of the elements we see here, like the STEM exhibition, are elements we had as part of that.
“The most important element of all this is the way the local community got behind it; whether it was businesses, the council, other stakeholders, the university. Everyone really understood what it meant to the local economy, the local community, and it really worked incredibly well.”
Rally Ceredigion often is the way forward for Rally GB, however it has actually played an element within the return of the WRC.
Will Ceredigion's success be the impetus for the return of a British rally to the WRC calendar?
An try and prevent teams competing within the Hypercar World Endurance Championship from fielding two drivers from next season has apparently failed.
This proposal, recommend by the WRT BMW team, was not welcomed by the opposite participants and can probably be rejected.
The decisions were made by WRT boss Vincent Vosse in response to Cadillac’s decision to field just two drivers within the six-hour races this 12 months. However, Vosse admitted that the established order, which allows teams and manufacturers to choose whether to field two or three drivers, is prone to remain.
It is thought that without the unanimous support of the teams there can be no changes to the sports regulations.
“I would be surprised if there was a change,” Vosse told Motorsport.com. “It seems that most manufacturers are against imposing a new rule.”
The complications of getting to introduce a three-driver squad and the multitude of rule changes it might require explain why most look like against the change.
There are currently no driving time regulations in Hypercar and there are not any rules allowing teams to nominate a reserve driver for a race weekend, not even for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
Photo: Andreas Beil
Porsche Penske Motorsport Managing Director Jonathan Diuguid said: “It would make the regulations far more complicated.
“We have a spare driver for some races, but not for all of them. Now, if one in every of our drivers gets sick, we could get through the weekend [with two].
“If we start enforcing three drivers, that can begin to cause problems, especially within the event of a collision of events where we will’t have a spare driver.
“Besides, these are complicated cars to drive, so we don’t wish to employ drivers who are usually not prepared.
“I don't like to use the S word, which is safety, but this is probably something that falls into that category.”
Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie made an identical argument for keeping the foundations of their current form, declaring that the French manufacturer only fielded two drivers in each of its cars at Spa in May when Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne were Formula E drivers in Berlin.
“The solution we found in Spa was a good compromise and we would like to keep the same regulations,” he explained.
“If you have three drivers and something happens to one, you can always do the race with just two. We are pushing for the rules to stay the same.”
#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Loic Duval
Batti Pregliasco, manager of the factory AF Corse team, also said the regulations “should remain as they are”.
There can be a second proposal on the table, consistent with the one regarding two and three drivers.
This would mean stopping teams and manufacturers from changing drivers through the season, which could have a serious impact on those teams whose drivers also compete within the FE World Championship.
“It’s important to keep the door open,” Pregliasco said. “We’re happy with our six drivers, but I understand that a manufacturer might want to bring in a driver for Le Mans. Or a driver might lose performance during the season.”
Vosse argued that the regulations should make clear whether a team fields two or three drivers within the shorter WEC races, as using two has a transparent advantage in most of these events.
“Two drivers give a clear advantage in terms of track time and team strategy, but we decided to field three because that is the number of drivers needed for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most important race of the year,” he told Motorsport.com in July.
“I would like the regulations to clearly state how many drivers a car must have, whether it should be two or three.”
Aston Martin’s recent Valkyrie World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship contender has accomplished greater than 6,000km of testing since hitting the track last month.
The Le Mans hypercar, developed by the British manufacturer based on the Adrian Newey-inspired Valkyrie road automobile, covered a distance of three,700 miles over six days of testing on its home turf within the UK after which across continental Europe.
It all began with a full day of testing at Donington Park, two days after the finished Valkyrie AMR-LMH took to the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit on 16 July.
This was followed by yet another day at Donington and two more at Silverstone before the programme moved to Aragon in Spain for a two-day test.
Aston Martin Endurance Racing boss Adam Carter has expressed his satisfaction with the testing up to now of the Valkyrie, which will probably be fielded by American team Heart of Racing in each the WEC and IMSA next yr.
“We have set a testing programme with ambitious and realistic targets and we are delivering on that, ticking the boxes,” Carter told Autosport/Motorsport.com.
“We have covered 6,000km so far and are very pleased with the progress, but it is still early days in what will be a long programme.”
Carter declined to disclose who has driven the AMR-LMH up to now, apart from those that got behind the wheel of the automobile during initial testing prior to the discharge of the primary photos of the automobile.
Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH
Photo: Aston Martin
Harry Tincknell, who’s contracted to Valkyrie development partner Multimatic Motorsports, took part within the shakedown at Silverstone before long-time Aston worker Darren Turner and regular HoR contributor Mario Farnbacher took the reins for the primary proper test at Donington.
Former Aston driver Stefan Mucke accomplished his first run within the automobile, with the bodywork still unfinished, at Silverstone’s Stowe circuit in early July.
Carter revealed that Aston and the HoR team are looking beyond the present group of GT Aston Martin drivers, which include two-time GTE Pro WEC title winners Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen.
“We will be relying on Aston Martin Racing for support during this initial phase of testing and we have also started to look at a number of drivers from other teams,” he said.
HoR team principal Ian James stressed that no decisions have been made on who will race the three Valkyries next yr – two within the WEC Hypercar class and one in IMSA’s GTP – but stressed that “driver chemistry” will probably be key when determining the line-ups.
“There are a lot of good drivers out there but we want drivers who can leave their egos in the garage and do a solid job,” James told Autosport/Motorsport.com.
“That's what we're looking for: team players.”
Carter revealed that initial testing for the Valkyrie will likely also include a visit to the Middle East, where the WEC will feature two rounds in Bahrain and Qatar.
He said the event program has a probability of expanding to the United States when the second automobile goes into production in the autumn, as planned.
He declined to comment on whether the Valkyrie would make its race debut on the Daytona 24 Hours IMSA race that kicks off the season in January next yr, something that has already been teased alongside Aston Martin’s return to sportscar racing’s top division in October 2023.
IMSA has scheduled a so-called sanctioning test in Daytona for November, during which competitors for the upcoming season are required to participate.
Carter said it was debatable whether the Valkyrie would must be homologated by then.
Last December, the Lamborghini SC63 LMDh, the brand new model for IMSA’s GTP class for 2024, took part in a correct test in homologated form, even though it was not scheduled to hitch the IMSA grid until the 12 Hours of Sebring in March.
World Rally Championship legend Sebastien Ogier has expressed his desire to make his first DTM start since making a guest appearance in 2018.
Ogier revealed his intention to compete within the German GT3 Championship after participating within the fifth round of the season on the Nürburgring last month.
“One day I will definitely be part of this show because it is always great fun,” said the Frenchman. “Everyone is very close to each other, there are good tracks, so it is a good championship.”
Ogier already has experience racing GT3 machines, having competed within the ADAC GT Masters round on the Lausitzring in 2014 on the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS GT3 with Markus Winkelhock.
He recently took part in a partial LMP2 race within the 2022 World Endurance Championship, and has also tested Toyota’s Le Mans hypercar twice.
However, as a substitute of endurance racing, Ogier is more concerned with the DTM sprint format.
There are also other personal the reason why Ogier is leaning towards the ADAC series. Since 2014, he has been married to German presenter Andrea Kaiser, who works as a reporter for DTM television station ProSieben.
“There are always close races here, it’s always very intense,” he said of the DTM, where all races last just over an hour.
“The fact that my wife works here obviously helps me follow the races a lot.”
Ogier put in a powerful performance in his only DTM appearance six years ago on the Red Bull Ring in a Mercedes C63 Class One. Despite ending last in qualifying, he fought his way through the sector, ending twelfth and sixteenth in each races.
In 2016 he also had the chance to check drive an Audi RS 5 Class One as a part of a automotive swap with former DTM star Mattias Ekstrom.
It’s not unusual for WRC drivers to try their hand at GT3 machines within the DTM. In 2022, Ogier’s former rally opponent Sebastien Loeb was given the possibility to race a Ferrari 488 GTE for Red Bull AF Corse at Portimao, replacing regular driver Nick Cassidy. He finished sixteenth and 18th in each races in a 29-car field.
For now, Ogier, who’s under contract to Toyota, is specializing in a partial season within the WRC, by which he’s second within the championship despite only participating in six of the nine rounds to this point.
Although he has a great likelihood of winning a ninth WRC title, which might put him level with Loeb, the 40-year-old is playing down his probabilities of difficult for the highest prize in rallying, with Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville 27 points clear with 4 rallies remaining.
Ogier will, nevertheless, compete in the subsequent round of the WRC, the Acropolis Rally, this weekend.
This week, the sport features one in every of the least conventional vehicles in a rare appearance. Gran Turismo 7 Daily races, available today and for the subsequent seven days.
Daily Races are the important ranked multiplayer events in GT7because players' rankings – Driver Rating (DR) and Sporting Soul Rating (SR) – are updated after each race and are used to find out their rating in a very powerful esports series each season.
Races happen every 20 minutes (every 30 for Race C) throughout the week, providing you with loads of probabilities to achieve (or lose) rating points. DR is a zero-sum game for all competitors and is predicated on where you finish, while SR is predicated on how well you’ll be able to stay on the track and avoid obstacles or other cars.
Again, Race A is partially out of the query this whole week because there is no such thing as a DR update — which is pretty common on this race. This means you might have little to achieve and might easily lose SR if you might have a chaotic race — which is entirely possible.
That's since you'll be using the Gran Turismo Racing Kart 125 Shifter, which is, because the name suggests, a kart with several different gears. It is usually a very difficult vehicle to drive as a result of its very quick steering gear and extreme aversion to curbs.
All of that is enhanced by the indisputable fact that you're racing on the most recent track added to the sport, the Eiger Nordwand. The triple-turn section shall be interesting, and also you'll be driving through it five times, because it's a five-lap race, and the karts have standard Sports Soft tires.
Also be careful for the “false start check”. This requires you to maintain your kart on the brakes from the moment the last starting light comes on until it goes out, otherwise you’ll get a brief penalty for losing power on the spot and can probably be a part of an enormous crash unless you’re behind.
Race B is more standard and takes you to the fictional Sardegna Road Track to race Gr.4 cars.
You have a free selection of cars on this category, which is analogous to GT4 when it comes to using modified road cars, but with a wider range of drivetrains than we normally see in the actual world. In fact, it’s one in every of the all-wheel drive cars that currently dominates the rankings in the shape of the Nissan GT-R Gr.4.
Regardless of your selection, this can be a five-lap race on the medium-length B track and the automotive will need standard Racing Hard tyres.
This week in Race C we’ll see the return of a regulation that has been rarely utilized in on a regular basis races recently, but which can actually be familiar to you when you often compete in Multi-Driver Championships: the required tyres.
The race itself is a ten-lap race around Mount Panorama in GT3 Gr.3 cars, with a selection of cars from that class. It's all standard to date, but you'll must buy and use – for not less than one lap – upgraded tyres.
Medium and soft racing tyres can be found. These should be used for one lap (passing the beginning/finish line once on the track, not within the pits) in the course of the race, otherwise a one-minute penalty shall be added to the general time at the top of the race.
You also must think about the 4x tire wear multiplier. This will cause the Soft tires to wear down much faster than the Medium, so while it would be best to ride the grippier Soft tires for so long as possible, you will see that there’s a point where they’re worn to the purpose where they’re slower than recent Medium tires.
To access Daily Races, you could unlock Sport Mode by completing Menu Book 9 (“Championship: Tokyo Highway Parade”) within the single-player hub GT Cafe. A PlayStation Plus subscription is required to participate.
WITH GT7Daily Races are updated every Monday for the lifetime of the sport. By now, a brand new set of races must be out on Monday, September ninth.
Gran Turismo 7 Daily Races: Kart Attack 21
Gran Turismo 7 Daily Races September 2nd: Race A
Path: Eiger North Face, 5 laps
Car: Gran Turismo Racing Kart 125 Shifter – Specific Car
Oscar Piastri has slammed Lance Stroll for losing time behind the weaker Aston Martin team throughout the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Piastri was chasing Ferrari leader Charles Leclerc after his second pit stop, with the Monegasque attempting to increase tyre life with a one-stop strategy.
After losing around two seconds while attacking and overtaking Carlos Sainz, Piastri still had an eight-second deficit to make up on Leclerc when he found himself behind Stroll on lap 49 and lost further time to the leader, ending the race 2.6 seconds behind the road.
“I asked straight away what pace I needed to keep up with Charles,” Piastri said, reflecting on his final stage. “And the pace I needed was what I kept up for the primary few laps. And at that time I used to be pretty optimistic.
“You know, I lost a variety of time behind Carlos. Stroll was driving prefer it was his first kart race, and I don't know what went through his mind when he saw his blue flag. It cost me one other second.
“I needed this stage to be perfect to win this race. And you realize, those little things ultimately cost us just a little little bit of a likelihood. It would have been unlikely anyway, but it surely definitely wasn't removed from possible to attain it.
“I was pushing as hard as I could to do it. I couldn't go any faster. So, yeah, I just fell a little short.”
On-board footage shows that Stroll did indeed let Piastri pass when the blue flag was first waved, however the Canadian stayed on the surface into the Variante Ascari, so the McLaren driver was unable to take a perfect line and needed to brake on the within. It was Piastri's slowest lap after he passed Sainz, losing half a second in the ultimate sector.
The Australian still has few regrets – not even in the case of strategy. Although McLaren’s two-stop tactics didn’t repay, Piastri explained that simply slowing down wouldn’t have been enough to make the one-stop work.
“If the information I got on the radio is true, it wasn’t really about going slower,” he added. “I just stuck to the grain and got through it.
“Given the practice, when it happened, you basically couldn't press the brake pedal because you'd turned the front left into a 50-cent coin, it seemed like a very risky move. Of course, in retrospect, it was the right move, but everyone's a lot smarter by the time the checkered flag drops.”
