First test in anger against other cars for the Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH at Daytona. Put this on your wishlist for AMS2 in future, everyone.
Charles Leclerc has been hit with a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding the number of energy stores allowed.
I don't speak Brazilian Portuguese, but I'm pretty sure this is a 12 hour race from Taruma on right now https://www.youtube.com/live/yKmliRnZX08?si=L3jZVuNfpmt_yZPG
Carlos Sainz Sr’s Ford rolled over in the first part of the Dakar Rally’s 48-hour stage on Sunday, leaving him stranded in the desert. https://www.autosport.com/dakar/news/sainz-suffers-rollover-in-crucial-48-hour-dakar-stage/10686430/
Every year, on the first weeks of January, I like to sit down and create my own personalized motorsports calendar for the year, with all the dates for the categories I like. Formula 1, WEC, Indy, IMSA, Stock Car, etc. So, I was looking at the Brazilian Endurance calendar for 2025 and the first race will be held on a circuit that I have never heard about, the Raceville Speed Club, in Brotas, São Paulo. Here's the website for the circuit: https://www.raceville.com.br/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RacevilleSpeedClub Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/racevillespeedclub/ According to the description, it's a vacation resort. They have hotels, food, swimming pools, nature. And also off-road trails, a dirt track, a kart track and a FIA standard asphalt track. UTV Track Kart Track Layouts for the asphalt track: Here's an onboard with Caca Clauset, one of the minds behind the project: And here's a mini documentary by Acelerados, talking about how the track was built: According to the owners, the plan is not only to provide a resort for motorheads, but also to be one of the top tracks in Brazil and to bring the main national categories to race there (AMG Cup, Porsche Cup, Stock Car, etc). Lots of Brazilian legends have already been there, such as Maurizio Sala, Ingo Hoffmann, Rubens Barrichello and Emerson Fittipaldi, who brought his legendary yellow Copersucar to the racetrack. Also, on the top right corner of the website (where it reads "BAIXE NOSSA PISTA") you can download the track for rFactor 2. Here's a video showing the rFactor 2 track:
So are Mercedes against charity? Tbh it's a bit ridiculous how seriously all these F1 people take themselves, especially when you see how cheesy all the things they do are when for example they want to "honour" someone (see e.g. stupid giant Senna helmet with all the drivers inside it at Brasil (???))
This is a really cool video: Behind the Scenes: Max Verstappen Driving the Acura ARX-06 I normally don't like Verstappen, but here, he looks like a really cool dude. And he's having fun in that Acura! (We need that car in AMS2!! )
Max has a bad reputation, but outside of the cockpit he seems to be a nice guy. Look up some videos of him having fun with Perez & Ricciardo or how nice he is to his girlfriends daughter. I can‘t believe it, but I‘m excited about the new F1 season. Lewis at Ferrari, Ferrari & McLaren came out with not evolutioned but revolutioned cars for the last season with this rules, I‘m curious how Sauber and Williams will do - bring it on! Also at WEC and IMSA I‘m looking forward to the Aston Martin hypercar, the DTM fiele is filling up niceley, it will be a great year for racing!
Ferrari says that the car ist 99% new, for example the front suspension changed from pushrod to pullrod and it seems like they can mount it at different positions, like the mercedes last year. They also moved the engine position „deeper“ into the car to get more freedom for aerodynamic design. All in all, the design is pretty aggressive. Same for McLaren, they changed the front suspension design and completly changed the air cooling system of the car. We yet have to see the new Red Bull, but it is absolutly possible that they just revolutioned last years car and made some progress to be faster, while the other teams need to understand the new cars again.
Okay, let's hope that Ferrari and McLaren did not try and be too clever and have gone backwards then. We need multiple teams at the top so red bull does not just run away with the championship.
