PREVIEW: 2024 United States Grand Prix
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TheCheckeredFlag previews and predicts the 2024 United States Grand Prix.
Although his European Union sanctions are officially lifted, Nikita Mazepin has no plan of racing in Formula One again. His motorsport focus is expected to remain on sports cars and cross-country rally.
Rokas Baciuška, the newly crowned World Rally-Raid Challenger Champion, heard some rumours suggesting the 2025 Dakar won’t take place due to the wars in the Middle East. It’s the first time fellow Lithuanians Benediktas Vanagas, Antanas Juknevičius and Vaidotas Žala heard the chatter; sentiment holds that while not impossible, it’s just hearsay for now.
Three years after his début, Ukrainian and world land speed record holder Serhii Malyk is looking to race the Dakar Classic again in 2025 with his Renault Kerax D-50. His team will be dubbed Spirit of Ukraine after the electric bike he built for the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2019.
The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme has set up shop at a new building in Mies, Switzerland, which also includes a new museum highlighting bike racing’s history.
Janey Lee and Kylie Walton, who have been among the iconic Monster Energy Girls since 2015, will make their desert racing débuts at this weekend’s NORRA 500, racing a Can-Am Maverick.
The 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship officially came to a close Friday with the fifth and final leg of the Rallye du Maroc.
Jean-Loup Lepan had a hard fall during Stage 2 of the Rallye du Maroc, resulting in multiple fractures and haemopneumothorax that required intensive care. He was brought home to France on Friday.
Rebellion Spierings, a new partnership between Dakar Team Spierings and Rebellion Racing, will race the Taurus T3 Max in the Challenger class at Dakar 2025 with team owners Alexandre Pesci and Paul Spierings.
Good friends Ottavio Missoni and Cesare Zacchetti will join forces again at the 2025 Dakar Rally, racing Kove 450 Rally EX bikes in the Original by Motul class.
Like many of his classmates, Juraj Varga has made the switch from Quads to SSVs after their category’s Dakar Rally demise. Varga hopes to be the first Slovak to race the Dakar in two different classes, but to get there, his focus first will be on European rallies.
For the second year in a row, the FIA has punished EnergyLandia Taurus Factory Team for an environmental infraction. In this case, two team members were spotted dumping waste water into the desert, netting the team a €15,000 fine.
As Dakar Rally winners Harith Noah and Tobias Ebster led the way on Thursday, Romain Dumontier’s hopes of back-to-back World Raid-Raid Championships in Rally2 grow slimmer.
With Nicolás Cavigliasso missing out on stage points in a crucial Stage 3, Rokas Baciuška has secured the World Rally-Raid Championship in the Challenger category. He is the first person to win a W2RC title in two different classes.
The Race of Champions will return to a stadium format in 2025, competing at Sydney’s former Olympic host venue and current rugby and football ground Accor Stadium.
Manuel Andújar was the first car on the scene to attend to Frédéric Baudry after his ultimately fatal accident in Stage #1. On Tuesday, the FIA confirmed the W2RC Quad champion would get 20:09 removed from his time for coming to his aid.
João Ferreira’s SS1 time has been reduced from 3:27:16 to 2:19:52 after a hearing with FIA stewards confirmed he was the victim of two major navigation device malfunctions that dropped him to 33rd in Ultimate.
