Category: Auto Sport

The two-time world rally champion reunited with his 2000 and 2002 championship winning co-driver Timo Rautiainen to make a return to competitive rallying at the all-new event in northern Italy, celebrating Group A and WRC car era machinery.

The rally, held in the town of Varzi, is the brainchild of former Hyundai Motorsport boss Andrea Adamo, and marked Gronholm’s first rally outing since Rally Sweden in 2019 when he and Rautiainen campaigned a Toyota Yaris WRC car.

Competing in a 2008 WRC specification Subaru Impreza, Gronholm went off the road at the flying finish of the rally’s opening stage on Friday night. It has been reported that the 55-year-old and his co-driver are okay following the incident.

Gronholm has however been forced to retire from the rally after the car, a similar model to which he drove on Rally Portugal in 2009, sustained significant damage.

The accident occurred after the pair had clocked what ultimately proved to be the stage winning time, 8.1s faster than Frenchman Patrick Magnou, driving a Peugeot 306 Maxi.

Gronholm previously rallied in Impreza on Rally Portugal in 2009

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

Former WRC driver Andreas Mikkelsen was third fastest, 14.0s adrift, driving an S2000 specification Skoda Fabia.    

Ex-factory Hyundai and Mitsubishi WRC driver Alister McRae ended the stage in fifth overall (+23.1s) driving a version of the iconic Subaru Impreza his late older brother Colin drove to win the 1995 world title. 

The rally continues with six more stages on Saturday.  

Ericsson, who won the 2022 Indy 500 and has finished sixth in the IndyCar standings with Ganassi for the past two seasons, has no deal in place for next year but can’t formally negotiate with other teams until August.

After remarking recently that his phone has been “quite busy” with interest from elsewhere, Ericsson has gone on record saying that he wants to remain at Ganassi for 2024 – but his drive there has thus far been bankrolled by support from Swedish billionaire Finn Rausing.

Ericsson wants better terms going forward, and when team owner Chip Ganassi was question by media at Indianapolis, he said that “Marcus has a big future in the sport and I want it to be on this team” but that “we just need to finalise some sponsorship”.

When asked by Autosport what Ganassi meant by that latter remark, Ericsson replied: “Yeah, it’s a good question. But I don’t think it’s a question for me, really.

“I’ve said a few times now that I want to be treated as a top driver, because that’s what I am in this series. It’s where I wanna be and hopefully we’ll get to that point with Ganassi. I feel like I deserve that.”

Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Ericsson said he’s been hardened by his earlier career, which included five years racing in Formula 1 with Caterham and Sauber/Alfa Romeo, before he switched to IndyCar competition in 2019.

“It would’ve been nice to have everything sorted already for the future, but I think – at least in my career – I’m used to running most of the season and not knowing what I’m doing the next season,” he added.

“Would I like to have it different? Yeah. But it’s not the case, so I can’t really focus too much on it.

“For me, I need to focus on delivering on track, I feel I’ve done that this year, I’ve been strong this season with leading the points until the last race and we’re in good shape and looking good for the 500 again this year.

“I need to keep my head on that, and focus on that and I think, if it was 10 years ago, I’d have been more affected by the situation, but now I feel like it doesn’t really affect me. I’m focused on what I need to do.”

Ericsson is in his fourth season with CGR, with whom he has scored four wins.

“I’ve loved my time so far with Ganassi, it’s been great,” he said. “I’ve been building every year and getting stronger every year with the #8 team. It’s been working very well.”

Bowman was sidelined about a month ago after suffering a compression fracture when he collided with another vehicle, rolling multiple times in a sprint car crash at 34 Raceway in Iowa.

He has missed three points-paying events and the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro while he recovered.

“It’s a boost for all of us to have Alex return to the #48 car this weekend at our home track,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports.

“He’s still 17th in points, which says a lot about how well the team performed at the start of the year. Alex has worked hard to rehab the injury and come back strong, and I look for him to continue having a championship-caliber season.”

Josh Berry, who previously subbed for an injured Chase Elliott earlier this year, was behind the wheel of the #48 car this past month, with finishes of 10th, 25th, and 30th.

He also made the All-Star Race after winning the Open. Berry is a regular in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving full-time for JR Motorsports.

Bowman has been granted a medical waiver by NASCAR and remains eligible for the championship playoffs. He is 17th, just five points outside the playoffs right now. He finished 10th in last year’s Coke 600.

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, HendrickCars.com Throwback Chevrolet Camaro and Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Forward Together Toyota Camry

Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images

NASCAR makes chassis changes following Larson/Preece crash

NASCAR has made two updates to the chassis following its investigation of the Talladega crash involving Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece.

After spinning, Larson’s car shot back up the track into the path of Preece, who made direct contact with the passenger-side door of the car.

The violent impact caused significant damage to the side of Larson’s car, and a door bar inside the cockpit could be seen pushed upwards and twisted after the crash.

NASCAR took both the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and the #41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford back to the R&D Center to investigate.

Both Larson and Preece were uninjured in the crash, but Preece said it was “definitely one of the hardest hits I’ve ever taken in my racing career.”

NASCAR has now made changes to the right side door bar gussets, while the front clip V-brace must be removed from the assembly. These updates are effective immediate.

In a memo sent to the race teams, NASCAR made it clear that further updates are being considered. The sanctioning body will be performing two days of of crash tests this week at a facility in Ohio.

Honda initially announced its exit from F1 in 2020, and officially withdrew from the championship after helping Max Verstappen clinch his maiden title the following year.

However, it continued to provide power units to Red Bull and still does as part of a supply deal that now runs until the end of the 2025 season.

Honda’s future beyond then had been unclear though, as it was left facing uncertainty about other options on the grid following Red Bull’s decision to tie-up with Ford for its own Powertrains efforts from 2026.

Furthermore, there was intense debate among Honda’s senior management about whether or not to make a formal return to F1 so soon after quitting.

However, Aston Martin’s impressive progress in F1, allied to it being a free agent after 2025 when its current customer Mercedes deal comes to an end, saw it emerge as an ideal candidate for a tie-up.

A deal has now been completed that will see Aston Martin becoming Honda’s official manufacturer team in F1.

Martin Whitmarsh, Group CEO of Aston Martin Performance Technologies, said: “Our future works partnership with Honda is one of the last parts of the jigsaw puzzle slotting into place for Aston Martin’s ambitious plans in Formula 1.”

Honda says its decision to commit to F1 so soon after walking away was triggered by a ramping up of grand prix racing’s sustainability ambitions.

As well as F1 committing to be net carbon zero by 2030, it is switching to fully sustainable fuels from 2026 when new power units will also be boosted by a greater proportion of electrical power.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Toshihiro Mibe, Global CEO of Honda, said: “One of the key reasons for our decision to take up the new challenge in F1 is that the world’s pinnacle form of racing is striving to become a sustainable racing series, which is in line with the direction Honda is aiming toward carbon neutrality, and it will become a platform which will facilitate the development of our electrification technologies.

“We believe that the technologies and know-how gained from this new challenge can potentially be applied directly to our future mass production electric vehicles, such as an electric flagship sports model, and electrification technologies in various areas, including eVTOL which is currently under research and development.”

Having achieved world title success with Red Bull in 2021 and 2022, and currently leading the standings this year, Honda is clear that it is embarking on the partnership with Aston Martin to deliver more championships.

Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe said: “They are currently working on various measures to strengthen the team and strive to win the F1 championship title.

“So, as they have given the high marks to our F1 power unit technology and we can relate to their sincere attitude and also strong passion to win, we decided to work together and strive for the championship title as Aston Martin Honda.”

Wilson’s Dreyer and Reinbold Racing-run car was hit from behind by Katherine Legge’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing machine after cars ahead of them stacked up at Turn 1.

Both cars spun and subsequently hit the wall at differing angles at high speed. While Legge’s struck the wall side-on, and she was unhurt, Wilson’s hit the SAFER barrier head-on.

As the AMR safety crew attended to him, they immediately called for a back brace and stretcher before he was extricated from the car in a carefully-executed procedure that took over 10 minutes. He gave a thumbs up as he was loaded into the ambulance.

The 33-year-old from Sheffield, UK was taken to the medical centre and then transported on to a local hospital for advanced imaging, where the injury was diagnosed.

Stefan Wilson, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet qualification photo

Photo by: Geoffrey M. Miller / Motorsport Images

A statement from his entrant Cusick Motorsports, which was partnering with Dreyer & Reinbold for the first time this year, read: “After being transported to IU Health Methodist Hospital for further tests, it was disclosed that Wilson suffered a fracture of the 12^th thoracic vertebrae and will stay overnight at the hospital for further tests and observation.

“Based on this type of injury, Wilson will not be allowed to compete in this Sunday’s 107^th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.”

 

The 12^th thoracic vertebra (T12) bears the most weight of that region of the spine, and while it is the strongest of those bones it is also the most susceptible to a stress-related injury.

Wilson had qualified for what would have been his fifth Indy 500 start in 25^th place. It is unclear what steps Cusick and Dreyer & Reinbold will take next, saying it will “have more information in due course”.

Graham Rahal is the only driver who failed to qualify for the race in his RLLR-run car. He said earlier today that he wouldn’t consider buying a driver out of a starting spot on the grid so he could take part.

Palou set the fastest four-lap average of 234.217mph around the 2.5-mile oval, narrowly defeating Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay.

Palou signalled his intent with an opening lap of 235.131mph, and his four-lap average was 234.217mph. “That was fun, very fun,” he said on the radio.

“It means the world to me, we knew it was going to be tight, they gave the fastest car to me,” he said. “Watching [the other drivers] was tougher than doing the four laps.”

VeeKay will start second with a speed of 234.211mph, just 0.004s and 0.006mph slower than Palou.

“I got everything out of it, but it’s just so tight,” he said. “I thought we really had a shot at pole position.”

Top 12 qualifying pacesetter Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist fell below the 235mph barrier required on the opening lap, and could only manage third with 234.114mph.

Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing) will start fourth, having got high in Turn 1 on his opening lap, having entered the corner at over 240mph, and he couldn’t repeat the speed he showed in Top 12 qualifying. His average speed was 233.661mph and he admitted “that wasn’t what we wanted” on the radio.

Pato O’Ward lapped his Honda-powered Arrow McLaren in 233.756mph for fifth. “My first Fast Six and it’s awesome for the team,” he said.

Scott Dixon, who was hunting for this third consecutive pole for Ganassi, battled loose handling after a strong opener, his effort producing 233.151mph for sixth. He reported: “The run for us was too on the nose, it was super loose and scrubbing speed from the get-go.”

Of those who didn’t make it to the Fast Six from the earlier Sunday qualifying session, Alexander Rossi (McLaren) will start the Indy 500 in seventh, ahead of Takuma Sato (CGR), Tony Kanaan (McLaren), Marcus Ericsson (CGR), top rookie Benjamin Pedersen (AJ Foyt Racing) and Will Power (Team Penske).

The final row of the grid was also decided today, with Christian Lundgaard (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) starting 31st, ahead of Sting Ray Robb (Dale Coyne Racing) and Jack Harvey – who bumped out RLLR team-mate Graham Rahal in the dying moments of last-chance qualifying.

Indy 500 – Starting grid

 

Rosenqvist set the fastest four-lap average of 233.947mph around the 2.5-mile oval with just over an hour remaining of the six-hour session, boasting a quickest single lap 234.329mph.

“That was a phenomenal run,” he said. “I wasn’t super-happy with my first run, so we trimmed the car out but I had no idea we’d be so quick. That put a smile on my face.”

Alexander Rossi made it a McLaren 1-2, taking full advantage of a favorably-early draw inside the opening 40 minutes to set an average of 233.528mph, with a fastest single-lap of 234.177mph.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou was third quickest with 233.528mph, which he set in much warmer track temperatures in the second hour of the session, following an overnight Honda engine change.

Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing) was fourth, ahead of Scott Dixon (CGR) who enjoyed his best run at the warmest part of the day, and was also forced to change his engine overnight.

Tony Kanaan, who starts his final race next weekend, rolled back the years with a 233.347mph effort to make it three McLarens in the top six.

Also making the Fast 12 were Takuma Sato (CGR), Pato O’Ward (McLaren), Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing), Marcus Ericsson (CGR), top rookie Benjamin Pedersen (Foyt) and Will Power (Team Penske).

Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

The battle for the last spot in the Fast 12

The primary target of the six hours of qualifying was to get inside the top 12 positions, allowing drivers to transfer into Sunday’s Fast 12 session to decide the first four rows of the starting grid.

Just after the halfway point of the session, Kanaan’s four-lap average tied to the 10 thousandth of a second at 2m34.7591s with Ed Carpenter for P12. But Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti) squeezed ahead of them both with 232.662mph for the vital transfer spot with 90 minutes remaining.

Kanaan’s late flyer of 233.347mph jumped him up to fifth, pushing Kirkwood out and putting Power on the bubble. “I’m too old for this man,” Kanaan quipped.

Carpenter ran again, almost brushing the Turn 4 wall on his way to 232.689mph, but just missed bumping Power. “I had one awkward downshift, but that’s how tight it is,” he rued.

Carpenter will start the Indy 500 from 13^th on the grid, ahead of Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, Kyle Kirkwood (the fastest Andretti Autosport car), Conor Daly (ECR) and Josef Newgarden (Penske). Positions 13-30 are now set, and these cars won’t run tomorrow.

Katherine Legge, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images

The battle to avoid last-chance qualifying

The drama at the bottom of the speed charts revolved around the quartet of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s cars, Dale Coyne Racing’s David Malukas and Sting Ray Robb, and Callum Ilott’s Juncos Hollinger Racing entry as they all toiled to avoid tomorrow’s back row shootout, which decides what driver goes home.

Having switched to team-mate Agustin Canapino’s test car for today, after team boss Ricardo Juncos declared his original car “unsafe”, Ilott dragged himself out of the drop zone at the halfway point of the session with the 27^th best run. “Honestly it’s tough, I kinda wanna cry and maybe I did a little bit,” he admitted with relief.

Canapino himself came closest to crashing today, clipping the wall on the exit of Turn 1 hard enough to bend his right-rear suspension. “I had a big understeer with the wind, so my mistake,” said Canapino, who was safely in the field in 26^th.

Malukas grabbed 30^th with 90 minutes to go, dumping team-mate Robb and the RLL cars of Christian Lundgaard, Graham Rahal and Jack Harvey into the danger zone. But Lundgaard responded and bumped him back a few minutes later.

But with 13 minutes remaining, Malukas produced 231.769mph to leap to 23^rd and consign Lundgaard into the bottom four with Harvey, Robb and Rahal. One of them will go home at the end of tomorrow.

Lundgaard got the final run of qualifying, but could not improve on his time, which meant Katherine Legge is guaranteed to start the race in 30^th spot.

Indianapolis 500 qualifying: Day 1 results

Sato lapped the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in 38.3382s, a speed of 234.753mph, in his Honda-powered Chip Ganassi Racing car, ahead of Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport) and Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing).

Sato also topped the four-lap average speeds – which is how qualifying is decided – at 233.413mph set in the closing minutes of the session, ahead of CGR team-mate Marcus Ericsson and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.

Fast Friday means the BorgWarner turbos common to the Honda and Chevrolet engines were wound up from 1.3-bar boost to 1.5-bar, a level at which they’ll remain until the end of qualifying on Sunday evening. It meant a power boost of up to 100bhp over the previous running.

Weather conditions were bright and sunny, but a strong breeze pushed the cars hard into Turn 3 at over 240mph, although that meant a headwind towards Turn 1.

Kyle Kirkwood set the bar for Andretti Autosport with 232.649mph, going on to set a four-lap average of 231.739mph.

Pato O’Ward took over at the top for Arrow McLaren at 232.710mph but had to bail out on his qualifying run after a moment at Turn 3, after hitting over 243mph on the backstretch. Conor Daly just topped that with 232.723mph for Ed Carpenter Racing.

Sato then stole the show with a lap of 234.753mph before almost brushing the wall at Turn 2 and abandoning his qualifying sim. VeeKay and Felix Rosenqvist (McLaren) jumped to second and third around the same time, suggesting there was an aero benefit of having three fast cars on track together.

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport Honda

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Will Power went third for Team Penske in the second hour with an unassisted 233.212mph but, more importantly, his four-lap average was the fastest at that point with an incredibly consistent 232.474mph. His team-mate Scott McLaughlin beat him a little later with 233.347mph, but with a slightly slower average of 232.316mph.

Kirkwood then took the best four-lap average back with 232.616mph and leapt to third on the single-lap speed charts with 233.608mph, before VeeKay beat Kirkwood’s average with 232.898mph, with a 234.171mph fastest lap that was second-only to Sato at the time.

Newgarden then bested VeeKay’s four-lap average with 233.086mph in the final hour. “We had a disastrous first run today but we went away and worked on it,” he said. “We need to nail our runs tomorrow to get into the Sunday show.”

As the clock ticked down, Power backed up Newgarden’s four-lap speed with 233.070mph to go second, also going ahead of VeeKay.

Marco Andretti leapt to second overall with a lap of 234.202mph, while Ericsson briefly topped the four-lap chart with 233.113mph, before Sato beat that late on with a stellar 233.413mph average.

O’Ward produced 233.796mph for fifth overall, just ahead of Newgarden, but struggled on his four-lap run and was only 13^th quickest on that chart.

Santino Ferrucci was seventh overall at 233.758mph for AJ Foyt Racing but had to wave off his qualifying run after two very quick tours.

Qualifying for the Indy 500 starts tomorrow at 11am local time, after another free practice session at 8:30am.

Indy 500 – Practice 5 results

Ericsson lapped the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in 39.1974s, at a speed of 229.607mph in his Honda-powered Chip Ganassi Racing car.

He led fellow Indy 500 victors Scott Dixon (his Ganassi team-mate), Simon Pagenaud (Meyer Shank Racing) and Team Penske’s Will Power in the six-hour session.

Teams started the day in qualifying trim in perfect weather conditions, with Ericsson setting the early pace at 226.930mph, his CGR-Honda running behind a trio of Arrow McLaren Chevys.

McLaren’s Alexander Rossi took P1 for a moment with 227.713mph before another Ganassi driver Alex Palou – who was running behind those four cars – pipped him with 227.718mph.

Ericsson then produced his huge lap of 229.607mph in the tow after 45 minutes, with McLaren’s Pato O’Ward going P2 with 227.734mph.

Teams then focused on race runs for the majority of the afternoon, although Dixon leapt up to P2 on 229.186mph when he got a good tow with a couple of hours remaining. Conor Daly moved to third for Ed Carpenter Racing at 228.215mph, in front of yesterday’s pacesetter Takuma Sato (CGR).

As the final ‘Happy Hour’ unfolded, the cars packed up once more to give strong tows. Pagenaud jumped to P3 with 228.681mph, ahead of Will Power’s 228.577mph – the latter the fastest Chevrolet-powered runner among a Honda-packed top five.

Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

But nobody else was able to get into the 229mph bracket to rival Ganassi’s top two. Colton Herta took fifth place for Andretti Autosport at 228.240mph, ahead of Daly, Sato, O’Ward, Palou and Rossi.

Like yesterday’s session, there were very little incidents to report apart from O’Ward almost getting taken out by RC Enerson (Abel Motorsports), who veered off the track onto the apron at racing speed before Turn 1 and into the pitlane exit, just as the McLaren driver was leaving. Fortunately, no contact was made – but it was reported that Enerson had lost contact with his spotter.

O’Ward said: “I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose but that was definitely a close one! Exiting pitlane I was not expecting that. He must’ve seen me, and I know these oval cars are difficult to stop, but that could’ve been nasty for sure.”

In the no-tow charts, Ericsson set a late 224.414mph to lead Power (224.283mph) and Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing) on 224.277mph.

Practice resumes on Friday in Indy at noon, local time, for another six hours of running. Fast Friday, as it is known, sees the BorgWarner turbos common to the Honda and Chevrolet engines get wound up from 1.3-bar boost to 1.5-bar, a level at which they’ll remain until the end of qualifying on Sunday evening.

 

Sato lapped the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in 39.2261s, a speed of 229.439mph – faster than the quickest lap in regular boost-level practice last year.

The two-time Indy 500 winner led a Ganassi 1-2, ahead of team-mate Scott Dixon, AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci, Alex Palou (CGR), Scott McLaughlin (Penske) and Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta.

Following Tuesday’s washout, today’s running was held in perfect weather conditions. That encouraged teams to use a qualifying setup earlier than usual in the week of practice, as they had extra tyres from the rained-out day.

Soon after the green flag waved, Dixon got a double tow off Ganassi-Honda team-mates Marcus Ericsson (the defending race winner) and Palou to reel off a sequence of 228.914mph and 229.174mph inside the first 10 minutes of the six-hour session.

“More [speed] than I expected to be honest, to do a 228 then 229,” said Dixon. “It’s good to see it pulls up strong [in the tow].”

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Palou set a lap of 226.411mph for P2 on his opening run: “The car is pretty fast so far, it’s a good start,” said the 2021 series champion. He would later beat that with 228.720mph.

With 90 minutes to go, Sato leapt to the top with 229.439mph, to lead Dixon and Palou, but admitted “I got a good tow” to do so.

In the final hour, his CGR team-mate Ericsson moved up to fourth at 227.701mph, but Herta then got among the Ganassi cars by taking P4 at 228.057mph with 35 minutes remaining.

Ferrucci left it late in ‘Happy Hour’ at the end of the day to jump up to third with a mighty 228.977mph effort, while McLaughlin grabbed fifth near the end of the session with 228.473mph.

Ryan Hunter-Reay also impressed with Dreyer and Reinbold’s one-off entry, eighth fastest at 227.619mph, ahead of Penske’s Josef Newgarden – who topped the speed trap before Turn 1 at 237.6mph.

Marco Andretti – who claimed his Andretti Autosport car “tried to kill me” earlier in the day – was tenth quickest, ahead of Jack Harvey (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing).

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus Veekay (31^st fastest overall) led the no-tow laps at 223.212mph, ahead of his team boss.

Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

It was a mainly incident-free day, although Graham Rahal brushed the Turn 3 wall with the right-rear corner of his Honda-powered RLL car inside the first hour.

“It was a head-up-rear moment to be honest,” he admitted. “I was looking up at the flags [to judge the wind direction] and then down for what way I wanted to go with the tools and just didn’t leave enough margin. It was just a rookie move.”

Indy 500 newcomers Abel Motorsport completed a refresher program with driver RC Enerson in the morning, the team having missed the open test in April.

Practice resumes on Thursday in Indy at noon, local time, for another six hours of running.