Bahrain Raid Xtreme return to desert action in the Rallye du Maroc at the weekend, with Sebastien Loeb and Orly Terranova both looking towards a repeat of last year’s milestone victory in the event for the Prodrive Hunter.
Nine-time World Rally Champion Loeb is reunited with Fabian Lurquin who has recovered from surgery for the final round of the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), while Terranova combines with a new co-driver, fellow-Argentine Bernardo Graue, in a second BRX Prodrive Hunter.
The 2,240km event gets under way with Friday’s prologue near Agadir on the Atlantic coast, before following a trail of five desert stages in an extreme test of human and mechanical endurance to the finishing point at Merzouga near the Algerian border.
It was in Morocco 12 months ago that another Frenchman, Guerlain Chicherit, took the Hunter to its maiden rally victory, with Loeb giving the car its first win for BRX just over two weeks later in Andalucia.
This will be Loeb’s first W2RC outing since April’s Sonora Rally in Mexico, where Lurquin broke his shoulder during a tumble into a dry riverbed, just 24 hours after the BRX pair had secured a splendid stage victory.
Since then, the WRC legend has remained busy and successful behind the wheel in Rallycross, Extreme E and rallying, but he is relishing the chance to pursue another desert rally triumph in his BRX Prodrive Hunter.
“To get back in the Hunter, I’m really looking forward to it,” said Loeb. “Morocco is a very good rally with tracks, dunes and a bit of everything, so it will be interesting once more.
“The nice dunes are in Merzouga, but I like the fast tracks too with the good grip, which are a bit like WRC in some places. That’s what I enjoy with this car.”
A close runner-up in Morocco last year, Terranova, is equally enthusiastic about stepping back into the freshly built Hunter, which has been modified at Prodrive’s UK base with the sole aim of a BRX victory in mind.
“Morocco was a great rally last year for me with a second place, and this time I aim to push just as strongly as we cross towards the dunes at Merzuoga,” said the Argentine. “I enjoy the tracks and the spirit of this rally, so I’m very much looking forward to the stages.”
Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah, who has won the rally six times, goes into the event holding a commanding 51-point lead over his nearest rival, Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, and is poised to retain the W2RC drivers’ title that he took ahead of Loeb last season.
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Formula E and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) have today revealed the next generation of race car, the new all-electric GEN3 Evo, capable of 0-60mph in 1.82s.
Leveraging a roster of innovative technical upgrades, the GEN3 Evo unveiled at H.S.H Prince Albert II’s Private Car Collection will debut in Season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship where some of the world’s greatest manufacturers and drivers race wheel-to-wheel in iconic locations around the globe.
Developed by specialists from Formula E and the FIA, the latest GEN3 Evo edition marks a significant leap in electric racing technology, with acceleration 0-60mph 30% faster than a current F1 car, and 36% faster than the GEN3 car.
Capable of accelerating nearly a full second faster than its predecessor – the GEN3 – that was the world’s first race car designed for street racing, it sets an even higher standard in performance, sustainability, and efficiency. The GEN3 Evo serves as a formidable ambassador for the future of motorsport, embodying cutting-edge advancements and a commitment to environmental responsibility.
On Saturday, April 27th, Abu Dhabi will host a groundbreaking event, welcoming 10,000 spectators to witness the inaugural ASPIRE Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) at the iconic Yas Marina Circuit. This brand-new autonomous racing competition marks a significant milestone in motorsport history, billed as the largest league of its kind globally.
Eight teams will compete: Code19 Racing (one of the first independent autonomous racing entity from the USA), Constructor University (based in Germany and Switzerland), Fly Eagle (representing Beijing Institute of Technology from China and Khalifa University from the UAE), HUMDA Lab (a member of the Széchenyi István University Group from Hungary), KINETIZ (a collaboration between Singapore Nanyang Technological University and Kintsugi based in the UAE), PoliMOVE (representing Politecnico di Milano from Italy), UNIMORE (also from Italy - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), and Technical University of Munich - TUM (from Germany), vying for a substantial prize purse of US$ 2.25 million.
Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 continues its hunt for glory in the world’s two most prestigious endurance racing series, as the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] resume this weekend.
The WEC begins its European leg on Sunday with the 6 Hours of Imola (ITA), and an inaugural visit to one of the continent’s best-known circuits, before heading to Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) on 11 May, and then the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15-16 June. Meanwhile IMSA heads to the world famous Long Beach street track for its first sprint race (100 minutes) of the season. A second-place finish in the brand-new LMGT3 class for the Heart of Racing (HoR), and third for D’station Racing, made Aston Martin the only one of the nine GT manufacturers present to score a WEC double podium finish at the season-opening 1812km of Qatar in March. It means both teams arrive in Italy in strong form.
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