Motorsport News 07/10/21

World Rally Championship chaser Elfyn Evans says he will take the run-in round by round after putting himself back in the heart of the title battle with a stunning victory in Finland last weekend. The Toyota Yaris WRC driver dominated the opposition to land his fifth career win and slash the gap to points leader and team-mate Sebastien Ogier to just 24 points with two rallies remaining on the 2021 schedule. The victory also marked a home win for Evans’Toyota team, which is based in Puppola and headed by former WRC battler Jari-Matti Latvala. Evans said: “I’m really happy to be able to give the team a win on their home rally. I always said from the outset, the aim was to do the best on each rally we have left. We have…

Win number five of Elfyn Evans’ World Rally Championship career could not have come at a better time. When the pressure ramped up in the battle for the ultimate prize, the Welshman delivered in fine style with victory on last weekend’s Rally Finland. Sure, the chances of him lifting the title this season are still slim. Including the Powerstage bonus marks, there are 60 points up for grabs and only two events left to bank them. Evans’ team-mate Sebastien Ogier’s 24-point buffer at the top of the table might not be huge, but for a man of Ogier’s composure, they should prove sufficient. But what Evans is racking up is an impressive roster of events won. Just look at his track record: Rally GB, Finland, Sweden are among his trophies, three of…

Qatar has been added to the Formula 1 schedule this season with a race planned for the Losail circuit in November. The race will take place on November 21 and is part of a 10-year deal for the country to host a Formula 1 grand prix. Qatar will not hold a race in 2022 as it is the host nation for World Cup but will return to the line-up in 2023. While the initial race will be held on the Losail circuit, which has previously hosted rounds of the Moto GP series, future events will be at a new venue, most likely to be a street race in the country’s capital, Doha. Qatar will be the fourth venue in the Middle East to host a F1 race, alongside Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Saudi…

Formula 1 is likely to introduce a simplified engine in 2026 and F1’s bosses hope that the move will tempt new manufacturers to join the sport’s top flight. The move will mean that the powerplants rely more on the kinetic energy recovery systems [MGU-K] rather than the hybrid power [MGU-H] that has become prevalent in the motors. F1 teams have edged towards a plan to delay the next generation engine and make it more workable and these moves have been made while discussions are ongoing with Volkswagen about a new powerplant. The move would mean the power introduced into the engine from the MGU-K systems is boosted from the current 161bhp to 469bhp. Some of the engine firms were keen to retain the hybrid element of the engines as they feel it is a…

Italian racer Antonio Giovinazzi says he is not considering any other options as he battles for his spot on the Formula 1 grid in 2022. Giovinazzi’s current Alfa Romeo team is the only vacant spot on the grid next term as all other teams have confirmed their line-ups. Mercedes refugee Valtteri Bottas will move to the team in 2022 taking the place of the retiring Kimi Raikkonen, while Giovinazzi’s future is still unclear. The 27-year-old Ferrari Development Driver has raced for the team for three seasons and his best result was in Brazil in 2019, when he finished in fifth spot. He said: “To be honest, for now, I want to focus to keep this seat in Formula 1. “Then if in the worst case, I would start to think about for next year.…

Circuit bosses have worked on the surface of the Istanbul track, which is due to host this weekend’s grand prix, to avoid the chaos that struck the event in 2020. The circuit was reintroduced to the Formula 1 calendar in 2020 after nine years away and rain meant that the track was highly slippery for all drivers. It had been resurfaced a couple of weeks before the race and the new asphalt caused numerous problems. The drivers used Pirelli’s harder compound dry rubber in last year’s event and complained that they could not get heat into the tyres. FIArace director Michael Masi has told teams that “the entire track surface has been treated to increase the grip level.” Masi said: “We do regularly each season send updates to the teams about any circuit changes…