Sebastien Loeb gave Bahrain Raid Xtreme another podium boost in the Rallye du Maroc today as the final round of the World Rally-Raid Championship once again delivered an epic desert battle.
Partnered by Fabian Lurquin in his BRX Prodrive Hunter, Loeb set the third fastest stage time for the third leg running, and climbed two places to second overall on another dramatic day when just 14 seconds separated the top three.
Swede Mattias Ekström in an Audi won the 336km third stage, which started and finished at the bivouac in Zagora, but he did it with only six seconds to spare from the Toyota of Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah, who edged out Loeb by just eight seconds on the day.
At the end of another huge tussle between the world’s elite drivers, Loeb was 6 mins 16 secs away from rally leader Al Attiyah, and within reach of the third outright podium place in the championship.
The pace of the nine-time World Rally Champion in the BRX Prodrive Hunter saw him move ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, who dropped to third overall, and also climb above Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard’s Audi had mechanical issues.
Orly Terranova and Bernardo Graue were unable to complete yesterday’s stage in their BRX Prodrive Hunter after damaging the suspension in hitting a big rock at speed. But the Argentine duo bounced back from that setback to set the seventh fastest time today.
Loeb had produced a remarkable performance in the Hunter to finish third fastest on the previous leg, despite losing power for a large part of the stage through an exhaust problem.
He will now be aiming to close the gap on Al Attiyah over the two remaining stages, knowing that, with just under 500km of competitive action ahead, the rally is far from over.
Today’s stage was another fast, long and demanding test, with only a handful of dunes to negotiate, but a variety of terrain to cover, including new sections added to the rally route for the first time.
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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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