Motorsport News 19/08/21

Craig Breen scored back-to-back podiums in the World Rally Championship for the first time by pushing home hero Thierry Neuville for Ypres Rally glory. The Irishman, 31, was one of the favourites to run at the front in Belgium and didn’t disappoint alongside co-driver Paul Nagle. But second could so easily have been first had it not been for a moment of Hyundai team controversy when Breen was inadvertently baulked by Ott Tanak, who is also part of the South Korean make’s WRC effort and was recovering after stopping to change a punctured tyre. “He wasn’t in front of me for a long time, but he was kicking up all the dust on the road,” said Breen, who was just seconds behind Neuville at the time of the incident. Neuville’s victory puts him level…

Craig Breen is a man without a ride for 2022 – well officially at least – but his performance on the Ypres Rally last weekend added further weight to the argument that Ireland’s finest is more than worthy of driving in the WRC full time. By finishing second to Thierry Neuville, his Hyundai colleague and Belgium’s best, Breen proved he’s a force on Tarmac as well as on gravel, the surface on which he secured the runner-up spot in Estonia last month. Although several Ypres rookies excelled last weekend, Breen and Neuville were the masters of this specialised event, which was making its first WRC appearance after Covid put paid to its planned debut last November. The event was well received by the competitors and the fans alike. Of course, there was…

Mercedes driver Nyck de Vries won the Formula E title in Berlin on Sunday in dramatic fashion after all three of his championship rivals crashed out of the finale. The Dutchman finished eighth in the race which was enough for him to win the title by seven points. He had dropped down to 12th place at the green lights as championship hopefuls Mitch Evans (Jaguar) and Eduardo Mortara (Venturi) collided. From third spot, Evans had failed to get away and Mortara, who had lined up in 11th spot, hit the almost-stationary car. Mortara broke a vertebra in the accident. Briton Jake Dennis was also in the title picture but he crashed hisAndretti BMW on the Tempelhof track, which handed de Vries a clear run to the crown. The event was won by…

Sources are suggesting that Mercedes will pull out of Formula E for the 2022-2023 season. The German firm entered the all-electric single-seater series in 2019-2020, but will ditch its programme as the field is due to switch to the Generation 3 machines for the season after next. Both Mercedes drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries have been race winners this season and Mercedes won the teams’s title in the final rounds of the championship in Germany last weekend. Mercedes’ motorsport boss Toto Wolff said: “We are in the sport not only because we guys like to compete and drive around in circles. But it is mainly a marketing and communications platform. “And therefore, like everything we do, is under constant evaluation in terms of the benefits that any platform is able to generate…

Three-time British Touring Car Championship title winner Matt Neal has not ruled out a comeback to the series in the future though says he is looking to consolidate the future of his squad, Team Dynamics, first. Neal began his BTCC career in 1991 but has taken a sabbatical this season to oversee the team he co-owns with technical director Barry Plowman. He said: “On one side of it I have had a really good run in the BTCC and enjoyed a great career, but on the flip side of it, I would love to get my son Henry in the car in the future. He has been quick every time he has driven the car. ” Henry Neal has had a successful race-winning career in the TCR UK category after progressing through Legends…

The Mini Challenge will continue to be part of the biggest race weekends in British motorsport for the next five years after agreeing an extended deal to remain on the support package for the British Touring Car Championship. The new deal, which comes into effect from the end of the current agreement, will mean the one-make series takes up one of the TOCA support slots until the end of 2026. The series joined the BTCC support bill in 2020. Mini Challenge promoter Antony Williams said: “When we announced that we had secured a slot on the prestigious and high profile TOCA package back in 2019 I was incredibly proud of how the Mini Challenge had come of age, and was just as proud of my team, our partners and our drivers for…