Important Motorsport Dates for 2023

Motorsport at present will not be interrupted by any third party events, so according to current calendars we have racing from the weekend we go into 2023 with the Dakar Rally, through to December with national events and eSports. Here are just a small selection of dates to keep free as a motorsport enthusiast!

Photo: Zak Mauger/LAT/Formula E

14th January

Formula E starts its third generation at the beloved Autodromo Hermamos Rodriguez in Mexico City, where we shall see the new era of cars reach 200mph hour and a new format of racing begin. McLaren and Maserati enter the fray with a mix up of drivers, so keep the date free! Formula E expects more overtaking in much smaller and lighter machinery, and don’t forget that all the qualifying and racing in one day so an action-packed day looms!

19th February

On this day, you shall see the 65th running of the “Great-American Race” at Daytona Beach in Florida. Daytona is one of three Superspeedways in the States, the others being Indianapolis and Talladega. Fan-favourite Jimmie Johnson is expected to return for the Stock Car Series, which would have seven former winners in the field. Even if NASCAR is not your taste, I do advise it as a watch as they do race on tracks of COTA and Road America throughout the year. There is also the conclusion of the Asian Le Mans series at Yas Marina on the same day, which is a four-hour event.

YAS MARINA CIRCUIT, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (Photo by Mark Sutton / LAT Images)

26th-28th May

This weekend is a belter. In Europe and stateside we have two of the three legs of the ‘Triple Crown’ running simultaneously. On Saturday is the F1 Monaco Grand Prix, where on most occasions qualifying could be more important than the Sunday. On Sunday we have the 107th running of the Indy 500 at the Brickyard. Monaco could be more of a tactical battle strategy, followed by seeing the complete flipside of motorsport with cars going at 220mph for nearly three hours! Do not forget to finish off the day one of the speedways. NASCAR has the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, so if no problems do arise with cautions and delays you could watch all three consecutively, a true treat to a motorsport fan!

10/11 June

The final third of the ‘Triple Crown’ would be the famous Le Mans 24 hours which celebrates its centenary this year. The categories for this season have either been revamped or doubled, especially the hypercar which should make it the most contested battle, with Ferrari and Peugeot joining Toyota in the battle at the top for overall victory.

Ferrari seek for victory for the first time since 1965 when legendary Jochen Rindt won as part of the team and Peugeot more recently with the 908 in 2009. The middle classes of LMP2 and GTE will continue to be as close as ever throughout the race and season, a race that is 6/7 times longer than Indy 500 can be separated by seconds overall. The go-to section if you want to go would be the Porsche Curves, a fantastic section to see a car hooked up in qualifying or race mode!

Photo: Rick Dole
©2010 Rick Dole/All Rights Reserved.

24th September

MotoGP heads to India. The Buddh International Circuit was first used in 2011 by F1, the banked 10-12 turns having an Istanbul Park feel. India is second most populated country with nearly 1.4 billion people and with reports of over 200 million owning a motorcycle which is a 75/25 ratio making it perfect sense for bikes to race here.

It will be great to see the track return to the world stage as the Grand Prix of Bharat and with bikes it has the chance to provide some fantastic overtaking opportunities. National racing has taken place there from 2016, but do expect the likes of WSBK to strike a deal in the future as this will be an instant success! Along with this, F1 hosts the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the European Le Mans Series is at Spa and British Touring Cars is at Silverstone. Three of the most iconic tracks in use along with MotoGP possibly breaking into India.

19th November

Is it another cash cow or F1 gone bust with a third race in America with the race in Vegas? It is not the first time F1 has gone racing in Vegas, as they had two races in the 80’s. They raced at Caesars Palace in 1981 and 1982. It is expected that they will be using the Las Vegas Strip in the night race featuring 17 corners going past the previously used palace and Casinos.

The festival in 2022 that announced the race went well and it comes across as an unique event. With the race being the penultimate round of the season we could see a driver or constructor be crowned here – what a place to do so!

Qatar continues to go strength to strength with MotoGP at Losail for another race in penultimate round of this year’s series this weekend as well. An honourable mention for WRC which concludes in Japan on this day too.

Just a few dates to advise! We will give you weekly updates of all events from Speedway to F1 happening on that weekend. Looks like a fantastic year ahead.

Fernando Alonso named as McLaren Racing ambassador

McLaren have announced the continuation of their relationship with double world champion Fernando Alonso, naming the Spaniard as a McLaren Racing ambassador.

They also revealed that Alonso will drive alongside Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris in selected tests over the course of the 2019 season to aid in the development of this year’s car, and also of the 2020 design.

“Becoming a McLaren ambassador is a true honour,” Alonso said. “It is a special team, and despite the challenges we have endured recently, it remains so. I said before I stopped racing in Formula 1 last year that I see myself with McLaren for a long time to come, so I am delighted at this new role and the ability to stay closely involved with the team I feel is my spiritual home.”

Fernando Alonso, McLaren, in the pit lane | LAT/McLaren

Speaking of the announcement, McLaren Chief Executive Zak Brown said, “For any race team, having someone of Fernando’s class on hand to provide support through his experience is of huge value. His insights and perspective will be welcomed by both our drivers and engineers alike, while his stature and character remain highly appealing to our partners and fans.”

Alonso retired from F1 at the end of last year with two titles and 32 race wins to his name, four of which came during his first stint at McLaren in 2007. He rejoined the team in 2015, where an underwhelming Honda power unit put a stop to any hopes of adding to his tally.

As part of his pursuit of motorsport’s Triple Crown, Alonso will make his second Indy 500 appearance later this year, having first competed at the event with McLaren in 2017.

“We have the Indianapolis 500 in May of course, which I am looking forward to immensely,” Alonso said, “but this is just the beginning of many things we can do together. I am particularly passionate about nurturing young talent, whether that’s with my own team or helping the new generation of Formula 1 drivers at McLaren unlock their true potential. This is important to both the team and myself, so will be an especially rewarding part of my role.”

 

[Featured image – Steven Tee/McLaren]

McLaren abandon IndyCar 2019 plans but leave door open for Indy 500

McLaren team principal Zak Brown has admitted that the team have been forced to put their plans for a full-time IndyCar entry on hold after engine negotiations stalled. The failure of the deal is a partial legacy from the explosive McLaren-Honda relationship in F1, with Honda reluctant to supply the team that criticised them so heavily during those turbulent years.

Admittedly, it was all getting a bit late in the day for a new entry anyway, given that there are only a few months until the new season gets underway in March next year. If McLaren were serious about being in IndyCar full-time, a deal would have been sorted out months ago. They have, instead, made the decision to focus on their F1 project, which certainly needs some sorting out!

Earlier in the year, it was said that the McLaren shareholders were less than keen on the team entering IndyCar for 2019, again based on the fact that they need to get their F1 performances back to a respectable level before they allow themselves to get distracted by IndyCar.

Even with all of McLaren’s internal problems, the biggest issue for them was always going to be engine supply. IndyCar has just two engine suppliers: Honda and Chevrolet. The dawn of the universal aero kits has brought the two closer together than ever before, but Honda have rather stolen a march on their American counterparts, taking the drivers championship and nearly locking out the top ten with only Penske getting a nose in for Chevrolet.

This means that, in an ideal world, McLaren would want to team up with Honda, especially given that they are the suppliers of Andretti, who McLaren were looking to do some sort of partnership with. However, all the aforementioned F1 shenanigans has made that nigh on impossible. A Chevrolet deal hasn’t proven any easier, because the only team that realistically has enough resources to accommodate McLaren is Penske, and they’ve said that they’re not interested in such a partnership.

That has left McLaren in a tight spot and, despite some rumblings about a potential Harding link-up or even buyout, they’ve been forced to put their IndyCar aspirations on the shelf, at least for now.

Zak Brown has, however, not ruled out the potential for an Indy 500-only entry for Fernando Alonso, presumably in association with Andretti again. This would be no mean feat for the Spaniard though. It will not be as easy for him as it was in 2017 because of the universal aero kits which have closed the field up and made it much more difficult to jump in and be fast straight away.

Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada
Sunday 10 June 2018.
Fernando Alonso, McLaren.
Photo: Steven Tee/McLaren
ref: Digital Image _1ST0758

To win the mystical ‘Triple Crown’ Alonso would realistically have to look at a full season of IndyCar, and even that holds no guarantees of Indy 500 success, something that any IndyCar driver would agree with.

All of this really begs the question of just what Alonso will do in 2019. He’s yet to make any announcement or even drop a cryptic clue on Twitter about it, leaving everyone guessing. If he is to do IndyCar it won’t be with McLaren, but surely McLaren wouldn’t be talking about doing an Indy 500 entry if they knew Alonso was going to another team. Maybe he isn’t going to do a full IndyCar season after all?

If it’s not IndyCar, then the sky’s the limit for Alonso. It really is anyone’s guess as to what he’ll do next season, but it’ll probably be more than one series, given that he’d race every weekend if he could!

Anyway, while 2019 may be off the table for McLaren, they have reiterated the fact that they do want to do IndyCar at some point in the future. The time just isn’t right for them yet, but hopefully it will be soon.

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