MotoGP is back! After the long winter break we are finally at the Lusail International Circuit for round 1 of the 2024 season.
New faces and stars are all ready to take on the 21 rounds of 2024, and it was a familiar face of Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) who delivered the first Moto3 pole position of the season.
An incredible lap time set by Holgado with a new all time lap record here in Doha. It’s all set for another epic Moto3 race tomorrow in Qatar!
Image Credit: @Tech3Racing on X
AT IS HAPPENED
Qualifying 1
Scott Ogden (Mlav Racing) lead the field out onto the circuit for the first 15 minute qualifying session of the season.
As the first set of flying lap times were set, it was Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing) on the Joan Mir inspired #36 to top the timings with a 2:03.892.
The first runs were complete with several riders back in the garages for some changes. It was Filippo Farioli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) a few tenths clear of Piqueras at the front. The top 4 heading through to Q2 at this point were Farioli, Piqueras, Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia).
With the sun setting in Qatar and as newbie Joel Esteban (CFMOTO Aspar Team) was called back to the pits, it was still all to play for to get through to Q2.
With 1 minute left of the session, a Moto3 familiar sight of all riders dawdling on track, looking for someone to follow on their last flying lap attempts.
Farioli went by two riders but ran too deep in sector 3. Farioli lit up the sectors on his final flying lap attempt but failed to beat his quickest time.
That didn’t matter though as the top 4 order remained the same. Farioli quickest with Piqueras, Lunetta and Furusato all through into Q2.
Qualifying 2
The battle for pole position was on and the flood lights were switched on trackside.
As the swarm of riders crossed the line on their first flying laps, it was a brief Honda 1-2 with Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) and Lunetta at the top of the timings. This was short lived as Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets MSI) smashed the provisional pole time set by over a second. What a lap from Ortola and a new all time lap record time set with a blistering 2:02.541. Could anyone beat this time set by Ortola with 9minutes left of the session?
With the first run at pole position completed, all of the riders headed into the pits and most would of been baffled by Ortola’s incredible lap time. At this stage in Q2, Ortola was on provisional pole with Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2nd and David Alonso (CFMOTO Aspar Team) 3rd rounding off the provisional front row of the grid.
Just under 4 minutes of the session remained as all of the riders headed back out onto the circuit to fight for pole position.
With only 2 minutes left of the session, Alonso’s team communicated with him to come into the pits to box. Alonso aware of the time left continued on in the session ignoring the call to the pits.
Daniel Holgado was up through sectors 1 & 2 half way around his last flying lap. Personal bests for David Munoz (BOE Motorsports) and Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team) also on their last attempts at pole position. Holgado was still estimated P1 as he headed into the final corner.
Holgado crossed the line with an incredible lap of 2:02.276. After we thought nobody was stopping Ortola marching to pole position, Daniel Holgado set a new all time lap record and now has his 3rd pole position of his career.
Image courtesy of Getty images/Red Bull content pool.
Max Verstappen was no match for anyone else on the grid on a challenging night in Jeddah as he stormed towards a ninth consecutive grandprix win, equalling his own record from the past. His teammate Perez was the closest to him and finished 7 seconds behind him, which in itself was a commendable effort given how dominant Verstappen has been in the recent times. Yet another Redbull 1-2 in Saudi Arabia means that the tone for the season has been set in stone and is unlikely to change unless something drastic happens.
Ferrari secured a consecutive podium spot with Charles Leclerc doing the best he could but the story of the night was neither Leclerc, nor Verstappen or Perez, it was the 18 year old rookie, Oliver Bearmann who was supposed to be heading to the Formula 2 paddock come Saturday but found himself driving a Ferrari in Formula 1. It was a dream scenario and the young British driver took everyone by surprise after a fantastic drive to finish 7th. After a few initial overtakes on Tsunoda and Hulkenberg, Bearmann was on it from start to finish and finally held his nerve to finish ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
Oscar Piastri finished a strong 4th in his McLaren after a decent drive. McLaren was pacy in sector 1 in the fast curves but lacked straight line speed which made them vulnerable at times. Mercedes fell short yet again at this race as the best they could do was George Russell finishing 6th and Hamilton finishing 9th. Hamilton was vocal on the radio about Mercedes lacking with respect to McLaren and so was Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin after he termed McLaren as being in a different league compared to them.
At the beginning of the race, Alpine’s struggles this season continued as Gasly was forced to retire on lap 1. It did not get any better for the French team as the other driver Esteban Ocon could only finish as high as 13th, well outside the points. A mixed race entailed for Aston Martin as Alonso finished 5th, scoring good points but Lance Stroll crashed into the barriers after grazing the wall on lap 7.
A splendid team game was played by Haas for the final points position as Hulkenberg scored the precious point but all the work was done by Kevin Magnussen, defending by the skin of his teeth against Tsunoda and Albon, just so that his teammate could have an enough amount of gap to pit in and emerge ahead of the points chasing pack. He had quite an eventful race on his own as he was hit with a 10-second time penalty twice, once due to his collision with Albon and once due to leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Yuki Tsunoda was fiery throughout the race and drove as if he had a point to prove but fell short at the end as he could only finish 14th and it looked like race of many distractions for Daniel Ricciardo as he could only finish 16th in a underwhelming show, including a spin towards the ending stages. Alexander Albon finished 11th in his Williams just outside the points after a good drive that included some brave overtaking but his teammate Sargeant could only finish 15th, with Williams not taking any points. It was a worse outing for Sauber as they were the last two of the finishing cars with Bottas in 17th and Zhou in 18th.
With a Redbull 1-2 in both the races so far in the season, it would be vastly surprising if anything changes come the Australian grandprix in 2 weeks time. Verstappen will have his eyes set on the 10th straight win and Perez will try to get closer to his teammate than he did today. Ferrari will hope for a change in their fortunes in their bid to catch Redbull but it seems like a step that will not be climbed for this season.
Verstappen dominated the Bahrain Grand Prix, leading his teammate and Sainz as he crossed the line to take what could be the first of many wins this season.
The 2024 season has begun. Image courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool
Lights out and Leclerc got a good start managing to get alongside Verstappen into turn 1. However, the Red Bull forced the Ferrari to take the outside line where Leclerc had to back out and let Verstappen go. Perez also got a great start as he gained a place in one lap.
Further back, Stroll was spun round and went from P12 to last at turn 1. At the pinch point Bottas bumped into the back of Hulkenberg who then tapped the back of the Aston Martin. Hulkenberg and Bottas picked up front wing damage, causing Hulkenberg to pit while Bottas was able to cope with the damage for the rest of the race.
It didn’t take long for Norris to gain places as he made a move on Alonso into turn 1. This left the door open for Piastri who was able to take advantage just a few laps later.
Meanwhile, Russell spent the first few laps pressuring Leclerc and was able to make a move around the outside of turn 4 on lap three. Perez was not far behind but took his time to take on the Ferrari. Leclerc was suffering with some brake issues which haunted him all race, but on lap seven Leclerc locked up and went wide out of turn 10. This made the move easier for Perez, who took the place from Leclerc.
The Monegasque problems didn’t end there, Leclerc had a big lock up out of turn 1 just a lap later, which gave Sainz hope to turn 4 but Leclerc was still inside the DRS of Perez meaning he just kept ahead. It didn’t take long though for Sainz to use DRS into turn 1 on lap 11, taking on his teammate in a very close wheel to wheel battle, no teams orders at play here.
LAP 11/57
A stunning moment as the two Ferrari drivers duel down into Turn 1 ⚔️🍿
It was then time for the first round of stops. Every car swapped for hard tyres, with Russell and Leclerc pitting at the same time and Perez choosing to stop one lap later. The undercut can be very powerful at Bahrain and it very nearly worked for Perez but he came out just behind Russell.
On new tyres though Perez had better grip up the hill after turn 1 and down into turn 4. Russell took a very defensive line but couldn’t make it work for him on the exit and the Red Bull completed the switch back with perfection.
Close racing. Image courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool
Sainz was unable to make the undercut work for him, he stayed out a couple of laps but came out behind his teammate. Meaning another close fight was imminent. It therefore only took a couple of laps before Sainz lunged from very far back down the inside of turn 1, taking the place from Leclerc.
While Verstappen pitted without a single car around him, Russell was defending his podium position from Sainz but was unsuccessful as Sainz took the inside line into turn 4. The chase was now on for Sainz to take on the Red Bulls.
Leclerc wasn’t the only driver nursing issues. Both Mercedes were told to lift and coast around lap 24 to control the power unit temperatures. Albon was also experiencing similar issues with the Mercedes engines. However, when not in traffic all these problems improved and were much easier to manage.
During the second round of pit stops Bottas came in for a switch of tyres, however this was set to be his second slowest ever stop. This time it was less than a day but he was stationary for 52.4 seconds while the team had to get a new wheel nut as the one they had refused to go on the rim.
As of lap 44 the unhealthy cars of Leclerc and Russell appeared to make a recovery, with Leclerc all over the back of Russell at every corner. Russell locked up under the pressure in turn 10 and went very wide. Side by side down to turn 11, Leclerc had enough confidence with his brakes to take the position from the Ferrari.
Tsunoda not happy with his team. Image courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool
Further down the pack, the RBs asked for a driver swap despite Tsunoda being within DRS to Magnussen in front with his teammate behind in DRS. Despite protests Tsunoda complied on lap 53 but this hurt both drivers as Verstappen lapped them a few corners later. Ricciardo lost time to Magnussen and neither RB got past the Haas before the end of the race.
Verstappen ended the race as he began, in P1, with Perez in second and Sainz rounding out the podium. The Dutchman finished 20 seconds ahead of his teammate, which is six seconds less than 2023 but still a large gap to the rest of the grid. He is going to take some beating again this year.
A shoutout to Stroll who had solid performance to recover from the back of the pack after turn 1 lap one, to finish in P10 and gaining a point for his efforts.
The top 3 for the Bahrain Grand Prix 2024. Image courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen took pole in Bahrain but was closely followed by Leclerc and Russell in P2 and P3. The most exciting part, by the end of Q3, the top 9 were covered by just over half a second.
Starting with Q1, anticipation was high as each practice session produced a different fastest three so far. It was set to be unpredictable at both ends of the grid.
The Ferrari’s and Red Bull’s were swapping times at the time with the odd lap from the McLaren’s. Stroll put in a stunning lap to make it to P2 just behind Sainz at the very end of qualifying.
Bottas not able to make it out of Q1. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
After looking slow in testing, Haas picked up pace in practice and showed their true colours during qualifying were able to make it into Q2 just beating both Sauber’s who qualified in P16 and P17 respectively. Sargent followed this pair, not able to make any improvement on his lap.
The story for Alpine is very different. After struggling all weekend, they couldn’t make it out of Q1, qualifying last and second last on the grid. Over the radio Ocon had some words of encouragement for his team despite only getting one proper run in Q1.
Out in Q1 – Bottas, Zhou, Sargent, Ocon, Gasly.
Q2 gave us hope for a tight battle for pole in Q3. Verstappen topped the times after the first runs with a 1.29.374, closely followed by his teammate. However, on new tyres, there was a glimmer of hope for Norris, who was half a second back from the pair of them.
With the second runs being completed Sainz was only two tenths from Verstappen and Leclerc put in a stunning lap to go P1 with a 1.29.165. Hulkenberg was also enjoying his Haas by placing it in P6 and making it to Q3.
Lewis Hamilton trying to improve in Q2. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
The Mercedes looked in trouble as they couldn’t compete with Ferrari, RedBull but were able to get P4 and P7 to get into Q3. They were competing with the RB’s who were quick in FP1 but both couldn’t get any further in qualifying. Tsunoda was just out qualified by the McLaren’s by 0.007s but importantly for him, beat his teammate.
Despite putting in some strong laps earlier, Stroll couldn’t improve during Q2 and was eliminated while Alonso put in a solid lap to put himself between Hamilton and Hulkenberg. The other Haas driver, Magnussen rounded out those completing qualifying in Q2.
Out in Q2 – Tsunoda, Stroll, Albon, Ricciardo and Magnussen.
It was all to play for in Q3. After the first runs the gap was only 0.059 between Verstappen and Leclerc, meaning the fight was on. Russell was in P3 and driving well, beating Sainz to that top 3 spot.
Alonso heading out on new tyres. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
Hope was alive as we waited for the second run with the clock counting down. Keeping us entertained was Alonso, who put on new tyres in the gap and went for his quick lap. With the track to himself he moved up into P3 with a 1.29.542.
Alonso headed back in, everyone else came out of the pits to start their last flying laps. Russell improved his time to take back P3 while his teammate finished down in P8 but has said his car is set up more towards race pace. At the very top Verstappen improved his time to a 1.29.179 which was slower than the lap Leclerc completed in Q2.
It was down to Ferrari to take pole, however, Leclerc improved but not enough to take pole from Verstappen. Sainz couldn’t get any closer either but moving up into P4, pushing Alonso down to P5. The McLaren’s followed behind, Norris ahead of Piastri and Perez finished down in P9, despite his teammate taking pole. Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10 but only completed laps on used tyres in Q3, saving a new set for the race.
The top 3 in tomorrows race. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
The grid is set for the first race of the season. RedBull don’t look to have completely run away with qualifying but the race could be a completely different story. The race starts at 3pm GMT, don’t miss it.
The Disney Pixar Cars movie intro came to life on Sunday night when Daniel Suárez edged Ryan Blaney by 0.003 seconds and Kyle Busch by 0.007 seconds in a three-wide finish in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to take his second Cup series win of his career and his first oval win.
Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, crosses the finish line ahead of Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Zero Sugar Ford, to win the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Suárez wins
Blaney and Busch
Front Row Motorsports vs Team Penske
Rest of race recap
Full race results
Points standings
6 min read
In what had been a thrilling and intense restrictor plate race, with dynamic hypercompetitive pack racing all race long, came down to a five-lap shootout that Suárez lost control of on the restart as Blaney retook the lead, only on the final lap coming out of turn four for Kyle Busch and Suárez to pull up alongside Blaney, with Suárez surging ahead with side drafting and momentum on the top lane to win the third closest NASCAR Cup series race in history.
Suárez said: “It was so damn close. It was good racing. Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving pushes. In the back straightaway he didn’t push me because he knew I was going to [screw] his teammate, but man, what a job. We wrecked [on] lap two. The guys did an amazing job fixing this car.”
Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Suárez was caught up in an Atlanta record-breaking 16-car crash on lap two when Front Row Motorsport’s driver Todd Gilliland checked up to let teammate and polesitter Michael McDowell in on the top, causing a large stack up behind, pinballing Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace sideways, taking Josh Williams out of the race and later Noah Gragson as he would retire the car at the end of stage one as a result of the crash.
Suárez recovered from the crash but would narrowly escape further carnage when with 21 laps to go, Chase Briscoe boldly made it four-wide with Suárez on the bottom entering turn three resulting in Denny Hamlin collecting Briscoe, taking them both out of contention.
Suárez would find himself on the row front row inside of 30 laps to go, and would battle for the lead until taking the checkered flag.
It’s Suárez’s second Cup win, his first coming in the 2022 Sonoma road course race, both with Trackhouse Racing.
Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, and crew celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
Reigning Cup series champion and race runner up Ryan Blaney was one of the cars to beat throughout the race, leading six times for 31 laps, including duelling with Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson for the lead in the first half of stage one, and staying up front for the second half of stage two, before leading for much of the final 40 laps prior to the checkered flag.
Blaney said: “I thought I laid back enough in [turns] one and two to not let both lanes get that big of a run. What a cool finish. Appreciate the fans for sticking around. That’s always a good time when we can do that, race clean, three-wide finish to the end. Happy for Daniel. Fun racing with Kyle. I can’t complain; I’ve won them by very, very little too, so I can’t complain too much when I lose them by that much.”
Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Zero Sugar Ford, leads the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Third place Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch had an up-and-down race being involved in three crashes including when Denny Hamlin spun off Busch’s front end as he came down on him with nine to go in stage one, at the beginning of stage three when Kaz Grala ran Busch very tight on the bottom of turn one before being collected by Busch as a result, and escaping the four-wide melee crash with Briscoe with Busch up top.
Busch even had to come from a lap down in the final stage after a serving a drive through speeding penalty under green but after getting the free pass, he found himself charging to the front inside of 50 to go through a four-wide manoeuvre and would fight to the checkered flag to try to claim his third Atlanta Cup win.
Busch said: “Typically whoever is behind getting into [turn] three prevails at the start finish line with the side draft and everything, so I was second to the 12 [Blaney] right there, and the 99 [Suárez] was the furthest back, and he made the ground back up with the side draft and stuff. It’s good to see Daniel get a win. We were helping each other, being Chevy team partners and working together there.”
The finishing order may have been different if Bubba Wallace, who is close friends with Blaney, had been able to lock bumpers and push Blaney in turns three and four on the final lap but instead washed up the race track and lost touch with the front three.
The race featured a record 48 lead changes amongst 14 different drivers. Suárez led twice for nine laps. The race saw 10 cautions for 65 laps of the 260 lap 400-mile race.
Front Row Motorsports vs Team Penske
It was a bittersweet day for Front Row Motorsports after competing with Team Penske for the top positions in the race.
Front Row’s Todd Gilliland led a career high of 58 laps, the most of anyone, on six separate occasions while Michael McDowell would lead five times for 27 laps including winning stage one in a one-lap shootout.
Michael McDowell, driver of the #34 Benebone Ford, lduring the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Team Penske’s Joey Logano was due to start second but the reigning race winner was sent to the rear for the start of the race and had to serve a drive through penalty under green due to wearing a webbed left glove during qualifying that NASCAR deemed illegal due to violating NASCAR rule 14.3.1.1 governing driver protective clothing and equipment. It is possible that Logano wore the glove to gain a competitive advantage due to being able to manipulate the airflow more on the drivers side.
To Logano’s fortune, he was serving the drive through penalty as the 16-car crash on lap two happened, so was able to stay on the lead lap.
Stage two was a fierce battle between the two teams, as Gilliland led the opening segment with Logano behind, and McDowell inside the top five.
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, Chris Buescher, driver of the #17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, and Todd Gilliland, driver of the #38 Georgia Peanuts Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
The second half of stage two saw Front Row’s race become undone as they first drifted back as their cars became tight before McDowell, during the green flag pit stop, wheel hopped entering pit road and collided with last week’s Daytona 500 winner William Byron, sending them both spinning into and off the wall. The race miraculously stayed green and both were able to continue with McDowell just one lap down after repairs.
After the green flag pit stop cycle, it was the Penske trio of Austin Cindric, Logano, and Blaney out front but Logano drifted back with a few laps to go and coming off turn two on the final lap crashed into the wall as his car got very tight, collecting Chris Buescher.
Cindric won stage two. Logano would finish the race several laps down following multiple repairs.
Front Row fell short in the final stage as despite Gilliland leading the start of stage three and again later, Gilliland had to pit for damage late on, and was forced to pit under green inside of 15 laps to go for right side tyres, taking him out of contention.
Todd Gilliland, driver of the #38 Georgia Peanuts Ford, pits during the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
McDowell gambled to stay out longer than most of the field in stage three to regain track position but was forced to pit with 35 laps to go as he began slipping down the order. McDowell still recovered to an eighth place finish.
Rest of race recap
Ross Chastain sent Georgia’s Chase Elliott for a spin as he pushed Elliott in the rear in turn three with 65 laps to go, as Chastain was fighting with Wallace for the free pass who was just one car length ahead.
Elliott rescued his car with a sideways drift in the turn three grass reminiscent of Lightning McQueen’s save at the end of the Cars movie.
Elliott was then caught up in Josh Berry’s crash with 12 to go spinning down the backstretch, but was able to recover to a 15th place finish.
Denny Hamlin, despite being involved in multiple crashes including with Busch and Buescher, led parts of the final stage, only to receive heavy damage in the Briscoe crash with 21 to go.
Hamlin’s teammate Martin Truex Jr. would lead parts of the final stage also, fighting Kyle Larson for control of the race.
The next race is the Pennzoil 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday 3rd March with the race starting at 3:30pm ET (8:30pm UK time).
Full race results
Daniel Suárez
Ryan Blaney
Kyle Busch
Austin Cindric
Bubba Wallace
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ross Chastain
Michael McDowell
Chris Buescher
Ty Gibbs
Harrison Burton
Martin Truex Jr.
Corey LaJoie
Kaz Grala
Chase Elliott
Ryan Preece
William Byron
Daniel Hemric
Carson Hocevar
Justin Haley
John Hunter Nemechek
Austin Dillon
Denny Hamlin
B.J. McLeod
Erik Jones
Todd Gilliland
Alex Bowman
Joey Logano
Josh Berry
Tyler Reddick
Chase Briscoe
Kyle Larson
Brad Keselowski
Christopher Bell
Zane Smith
Noah Gragson
Josh Williams
Points standings
*=win -=playoff cut line
Kyle Busch – 77
William Byron* – 76
Austin Cindric – 76
Bubba Wallace – 74
Ryan Blaney – 69
Chase Elliott – 65
Daniel Suárez* – 64
Ross Chastain – 62
Alex Bowman – 60
Martin Truex Jr. – 60
Kyle Larson – 58
Corey LaJoie – 57
John Hunter Nemechek – 53
Ty Gibbs – 50
Chris Buescher – 49
Christopher Bell – 47
Erik Jones – 47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 44
Denny Hamlin – 44
Michael McDowell – 40
Daniel Hemric – 40
Chase Briscoe – 37
Harrison Burton – 36
Ryan Preece – 35
Tyler Reddick – 31
Noah Gragson – 29
Zane Smith – 29
Justin Haley – 29
Carson Hocevar – 26
Kaz Grala – 24
Josh Berry – 20
Todd Gilliland – 19
Joey Logano – 18
David Ragan – 17
Austin Dillon – 16
Brad Keselowski – 16
Jimmie Johnson – 9
Featured image: Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, crosses the finish line ahead of Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Zero Sugar Ford, to win the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Following on from the closest Daytona 500 finish ever, this weekend sees NASCAR returns to its moonshining roots in Atlanta, Georgia, for the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
3 min read
The NASCAR Cup Series will race around the 28 degree banked 1.54-mile superspeedway oval for 260 laps (400 miles), with stage lengths of 60, 100, and 100 laps.
This will be the fifth NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway since the track reconfiguration in 2021 turning the track into a steeper banked, repaved, ‘mini-Daytona’ type racing track, with the cars using a superspeedway package like at Daytona and Talladega.
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Autotrader Ford, and Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 King’s Hawaiian Ford, lead the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
For large parts of the race, drivers will be racing in high-speed packs, utilising the draft and pushes to get to the front, especially on restarts. As the tires begin to wear more into a run, cars will begin to spread out and large packs will break up, racing more like a traditional 1.5-mile speedway race.
Last year’s Ambetter Health 400 saw Joey Logano achieve his childhood dream by winning the race after outduelling former Penske teammate Brad Keselowski in the final laps of the race, partly due to a helpful push from Christopher Bell down the backstretch to clear the pack.
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Autotrader Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Michael McDowell earned his first ever Cup series pole today with a lap time of 30.999 seconds (average speed of 178.844mph). With 467 Cup races under his belt, it’s the most start’s by a Cup driver before securing a pole since J.D. McDuffie’s 404 Cup starts before securing a pole at the 1978 Delaware 500 at Dover Motor Speedway.
Michael McDowell, driver of the #34 Benebone Ford, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 24, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Josh Williams will make his fourth Cup series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend for Kaulig Racing, qualifying 30th.
This follows a memorable 2023 spring Xfinity race at Atlanta where Williams grabbed the headlines after parking his No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet at the start finish line and walking across the track to the garage after refusing to accept NASCAR’s ruling for him to park his car for the race, due to multiple yellow flags coming out for debris off his car following race damage.
It led to a surge of fan, garage, and sponsor support for Williams, who is known to be a big personality, and unafraid to express himself in NASCAR, being a ‘what you see is what you get’ type character, as well overachieving in his equipment, leading to a full-time Kaulig Racing ride in the Xfinity series this season as well as a part-time Cup schedule with them including at Atlanta this weekend.
Since the reconfiguration in 2021, last week’s Daytona 500 winner William Byron has won two of the first four Atlanta races, including the first race in the spring of 2022, and the summer 2023 race. Chase Elliott won the 2022 summer race and Joey Logano won the 2023 spring race.
HAMPTON, GEORGIA – JULY 09: William Byron, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 09, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Other active drivers to have won at Atlanta Motor Speedway pre-2021 reconfiguration include two-time winners Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, as well as reigning Cup series champion Ryan Blaney, and Denny Hamlin.
Tune in Sunday for the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway this with the race beginning at 3pm ET (8pm UK time).
Full qualifying results
Michael McDowell
Joey Logano
Kyle Busch
Todd Gilliland
Kyle Larson
Ryan Blaney
Chris Buescher
Austin Cindric
Chase Brisoce
Austin Dillon
William Byron
Martin Truex Jr.
Denny Hamlin
Josh Berry
Noah Gragson
Harrison Burton
Alex Bowman
Bubba Wallace
Tyler Reddick
Ryan Preece
Ross Chastain
Christopher Bell
Daniel Suárez
Brad Keselowski
Ty Gibbs
Daniel Hemric
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Chase Elliott
Zane Smith
Josh Williams
Justin Haley
Corey LaJoie
Kaz Grala
John Hunter Nemechek
Carson Hocevar
B.J. McLeod
Erik Jones
Featured image: HAMPTON, GEORGIA – MARCH 19: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Autotrader Ford, Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Menards/Knauf Ford, and William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
After surviving a 23-car wreck with nine laps to go, William Byron went on to win his first Daytona 500 on Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary via a four-lap shootout, when the yellow came out on the final lap for a Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric wrecking on the frontstretch. At the moment of caution, Byron had his nose ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman to be 0.006 seconds in front, making it the closest finish in Daytona 500 history, and a Hendrick Motorsports one-two, on Monday night.
5 min read
Hendrick anniversary celebrations
It was William Byron’s second Cup win at Daytona having won the 2020 summer race, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and his 11th Cup series win.
Byron said: “I’m just a kid from racing on computers and winning the Daytona 500. This is so freaking cool.”
Byron gave Hendrick Motorsports their ninth Daytona 500 win, tying them with Petty Enterprises for most Daytona 500 wins.
William Byron, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, and crew celebrate in victory lane after winning he NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Team owner Rick Hendrick said, “I’m telling you, you couldn’t write the script any better. We win this on our 40th to the day, so that’s awesome.”
It was the 40th anniversary to the day as NASCAR was forced to move the race to Monday due to bad weather all day Sunday.
Hendricks Motorsports made their NASCAR Cup Series debut in the 1984 Daytona 500 when Geoff Bodine took their No. 5 Chevrolet to an eighth place finish.
Three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon, who won the Great American Race with Hendrick Motorsports in 1997, ’99, and ’05 with the No. 24 Chevrolet, and now is Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports was ecstatic about the win.
Gordon said: “I might not have been driving the car tonight, but I felt like I made every lap with our guys, especially with the 24 and with William in those closing laps when he was out front. To me, when I found out that they had won, I honestly was about as excited as I was when I was driving. It is 2024, and the 24 is always going to be very, very special to me. But what I loved the most is seeing him make it his number.”
Jeff Gordon celebrates his win in the Daytona 500 (Photo credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Alex Bowman very nearly ended Byron’s chances of winning the Daytona 500 on lap 192 when down the backstretch he bumped an already loose Byron that sent him veering to the left into Brad Keselowski’s right rear setting off the 23-car wreck. Both Bowman and Byron managed to escape the wrecking field unscathed.
Chastain, Busch, and Logano
Ross Chastain had led 14 laps of the Daytona 500 and been duelling at the front for much of the final stage of the race, including on lap 192 when the 23-car wreck occurred behind him.
Chastain, after already making aggressive blocks earlier in the final stage on Joey Logano, as the field took the white flag on the frontstrectch, from the second row Chastain bolted for a closing gap between Austin Cindric and William Byron but Chastain got collected by Cindric before both spun down into the grass and back into the pack, bringing out the yellow, ending the race one-lap early.
Speaking to the media afterwards, Chastain said: “I took the gap, I don’t apologise for that. Too aggressive though, and when you don’t finish.” Chastain wound up 21st.
Polesitter Joey Logano, going for his second Daytona 500 win, led a race high of 45 laps but was taken out by Brad Keselowski in the lap 192 big one and finished 32nd.
AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #16 Celsius Chevrolet, and Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 Nasty Beast Toyota, lead the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Kyle Busch went into Monday’s Daytona 500 as the driver who had led the most laps in the Daytona 500 race in history without a Daytona 500 win. Busch led in all three stages of the races and was in the mix in the final 10 laps but was unable to draft up to the front in the closing laps and had to settle for 12th.
Kyle Busch had an eventful race as in stage three during the stage break, a loose lug nut led to a tyre puncture forcing him to limp round and get a new set of tyres, only to take back the lead of the race with less than 60 laps to go.
The after falling back through the pack, Busch would bounce off the turn two wall in the mid pack on lap 172.
Rest of race recap
After Logano and 2021 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell led the field to green for the 66th running of the Daytona 500, a multi-car crash on lap six transcended when Keselowski pushed John Hunter Nemechek in the rear, turning him down into Harrison Burton and rookie Carson Hocevar, ending both their races, as well as collecting Kaz Grala, Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, and Ryan Preece in the melee.
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, and Michael McDowell, driver of the #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford, lead the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Fans saw two and three-wide action in all the stages, with pit stop strategies mostly aligning with the manufacturer’s.
David Ragan and Ryan Preece tried to win stage one without pitting for fuel for a second time but were caught by the Kyle Busch led pack with three laps to go, that ended with Chase Elliott winning stage one, and with the four Hendrick Motorsport’s drivers inside the top five.
Stage two saw Joey Logano lead the opening 20 laps of the stage and Kyle Busch led much of the last 15 laps, overcoming a pit road penalty for having too many pit crew members over the wall. It was reigning Cup series champion Ryan Blaney who won the stage.
Three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin took the lead on lap 152 and would lead again from 154-162, while Busch would bounce off the turn two wall in the mid pack on lap 172.
Also taken out in the lap 192 big one was last year’s Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Thursday night’s duel one winner Tyler Reddick, and Ryan Blaney.
The next race is the Ambetter Health 400 from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday 25th Feb with the race starting at 3pm ET (8pm UK time).
Full race results
William Byron
Alex Bowman
Christopher Bell
Corey LaJoie
Bubba Wallace
AJ Allmendinger
John Hunter Nemechek
Erik Jones
Noah Gragson
Chase Briscoe
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Zane Smith
Chase Elliott
Martin Truex Jr.
Daniel Hemric
Ty Gibbs
Chris Buescher
Denny Hamlin
David Ragan
Ross Chastain
Austin Cindric
Ryan Preece
Riley Herbst
Josh Berry
Justin Haley
Anthony Alfredo
Jimmie Johnson
Tyler Reddick
Ryan Blaney
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Joey Logano
Brad Keselowski
Daniel Suárez
Todd Gilliland
Michael McDowell
Austin Dillon
Kaz Grala
Harrison Burton
Carson Hocevar
Points standings
William Byron – 54
Alex Bowman – 50
Christopher Bell – 44
Chase Elliott – 42
Bubba Wallace – 39
John Hunter Nemechek – 37
Kyle Larson – 37
Kyle Busch – 37
Erik Jones – 35
Corey LaJoie – 33
Austin Cindric – 33
Denny Hamlin – 30
Chase Briscoe – 29
Zane Smith – 29
Noah Gragson – 28
Martin Truex Jr. – 24
Ross Chastain – 24
Tyler Reddick – 24
Ty Gibbs – 23
Daniel Hemric – 21
Chris Buescher – 21
David Ragan – 17
Ryan Blaney – 17
Daniel Suárez – 17
Ryan Preece – 14
Josh Berry – 12
Justin Haley – 12
Jimmie Johnson – 9
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 9
Joey Logano – 9
Brad Keselowski – 8
Carson Hocevar – 8
Harrison Burton – 7
Todd Gilliland – 2
Michael McDowell – 1
Austin Dillon – 1
Kaz Grala – 1
Featured Image: William Byron, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, leads Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, to the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NASCAR are racing on a Monday to get the Cup Series’ super bowl season opener underway at Daytona International Speedway, Florida, for the 66th running of the Daytona 500.
4 min read
Preview
Schedule
Lineup
Forty V8 Gen 7 stock cars will compete in the Great American Race in front of a sold out crowd at speeds over 200mph, on the high 31 degrees Daytona banking, inches apart from each other for 200 laps, in a bid to win one of NASCAR’s most prestigious prizes, the Harley J. Earl Trophy and forever immortalise themselves into the history books on stock car racing’s biggest day.
The Daytona 500 relinquished the usual Sunday race date due to heavy rain all day yesterday but it’s clear skies ahead for today’s running of NASCAR’s crown jewel event.
Last year saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. win the Great American race for the first time with JTG Daugherty Racing in a double overtime finish after marching through the field from 31st with 20 laps to go.
There are seven active Daytona 500 winners in this year’s edition of the race including three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and two-time Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, and crew celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Schedule
The Daytona 500 race starts at 4pm ET (9pm UK time) with American actor and pro wrestler Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson giving the command to fire engines.
The race will be broken down into three stages of 65, 65, and 70 laps totaling 200 laps (500 miles). There is a grand purse of over $28 million up for grabs to be shared out amongst the 40 drivers and teams, making victory lane a very wealthy place to find yourself in post-race.
Grand Marshal Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson speaks to the media during a press conference after the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 was postponed due to weather at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
It is likely we will see an overtime finish given five of the last six Daytona 500 races have had an overtime finish; where NASCAR reset the laps to two laps to go if there is a yellow flag brought out too close to the finish but before one lap to go, in an attempt to end the race finish under green racing conditions, with the race leader needing to take the one lap to go white flag at the start finish line to make the race end official regardless of whether or not the yellow flag comes out on the final lap. If the white flag isn’t taken due to a yellow flag being brought out, the field of cars are restacked and another NASCAR overtime will commence.
Lineup
2015 Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano secured the pole position for Team Penske on Wednesday night in the brand new Dark Horse Mustang, the first Daytona 500 pole for Team Penske, with fellow Ford driver and 2021 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell, lining up alongside him for Front Row Motorsports, the first time Ford have swept the front row for the Daytona 500 grid since 2012 and ending Chevrolet’s 11-year streak of taking pole.
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, (R) winner of the Daytona 500 pole award and Michael McDowell, driver of the #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford, Front Row second fastest winner pose for a photo during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Lining up on row two are the two duel winners, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell from Thursday night in the brand new Toyota Camry XSE, where rows 2-20 were decided for the 500 via two 60-lap heat races with a 42-car field split in half to compete in either heat.
Row three sees NASCAR’s most popular driver and 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott start 5th alongside 2022 Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric.
Row four is composed of three-time Daytona 500 pole winner Alex Bowman starting 7th and 2016, ’19, and ’20 Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin lining up 8th.
Row five sees breakout star and rookie Carson Hocevar lineup 9th in his first Daytona 500 start, with John Hunter Nemechek lining up 10th making his second Daytona 500 start, now driving for Legacy Motor Club.
2006 and 2013 Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson will start 23rd after narrowly qualifying for the Great American Race in Thursday night’s duel race passing rival qualifying challenger J.J. Yeley coming off turn four on the final lap to secure his spot in today’s race, with Yeley going home.
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #84 Carvana Toyota, and JJ Yeley, driver of the #44 100 Coconut Water Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #1 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Full lineup
Joey Logano (2015 Daytona 500 winner)
Michael McDowell (2021 Daytona 500 winner)
Tyler Reddick
Christopher Bell
Chase Elliott
Austin Cindric (2022 Daytona 500 winner)
Alex Bowman
Denny Hamlin (2016, ’19, ’20 Daytona 500 winner)
Carson Hocevar
John Hunter Nemechek
Erik Jones
Harrison Burton
Daniel Suárez
Zane Smith
Ty Gibbs
Brad Keselowski
Kyle Larson
William Byron
Chris Buescher
Chase Briscoe
Ross Chastain
Justin Haley
Jimmie Johnson (2006, ’13 Daytona 500 winner)
Bubba Wallace
Ryan Preece
Kaz Grala
Martin Truex Jr.
AJ Allmendinger
Corey LaJoie
Josh Berry
Todd Gilliland
Ryan Blaney
Austin Dillon (2018 Daytona 500 winner)
Kyle Busch
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2023 Daytona 500 winner)
Riley Herbst
Daniel Hemric
Noah Gragson
Anthony Alfredo
David Ragan
Featured image: Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, and Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, lead the field to start the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
FEBRUARY 18: Laia Sanz (ESP) / Fraser McConnell (JAM), Acciona | Sainz XE Team celebrate , 1st position during the Saudi Arabia on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Ferraro / LAT Images)
Acciona Sainz recorded their first win of the season at Round 2 of the Desert XPrix this afternoon.
Their victory means the Spanish team move into second in the championship – just two points behind reigning champions RXR.
In a day full of excitement, here’s how the action unfolded.
Qualifying 1 Heat 1:
Yesterday’s race winners, RXR, kicked off qualifying in Round 2, as they faced off against McLaren, Veloce, and Legacy Motor Club.
Championship newcomers, Legacy Motor Club, got away the best off the line, moving into first position ahead of RXR. Veloce were initially right on RXR’s tail, but they dropped off as the teams started the second lap.
After the switch, RXR looked to close back up to Legacy – eventually taking them for first on the final lap.
RXR won the first heat of the day, followed by Veloce, and McLaren. Legacy dropped down to fourth after they were awarded a 17s time penalty for leaving the switch zone too early.
Qualifying 1 Heat 2:
The remaining four teams – Acciona Sainz, JBXE, SUN Minimeal. and Andretti, completed the first qualifying session.
Acciona Sainz took an early lead, as Andretti and SUN Minimeal battled it out behind them. After initially dropping behind SUN Minimeal, Andretti were able to get through into second place.
And that was pretty much all for Qualifying 1. Acciona Sainz took the win, followed by Andretti, SUN Minimeal, and JBXE.
Qualifying 2 Heat 1:
The first heat of Qualifying 2 got underway with Veloce, McLaren, JBXE, and Andretti all looking to secure a place in the final.
It was McLaren who led after turn one, after experienced racer Mattias Ekstrom took a very wide entry and used his superior traction to speed past his rivals. Veloce came out of the first turn in second, closely followed by McLaren.
There would be no moves before the switch zone, but Veloce were able to jump McLaren after the iconic team suffered a slow stop.
Andretti were next to try their luck with the McLaren team. And despite some incredible defensive driving from Gutierrez in the McLaren car, Andretti were eventually able to get the move done.
Andretti then made light work of the Veloce car, moving up into first place, and taking the win. McLaren also got Veloce on the line, finishing second.
Overall Qualifying Classification:
RXR – 20 Points
Andretti – 18 Points
Acciona Sainz – 16 Points
Veloce – 14 Points
McLaren – 14 Points
Legacy Motor Club – 12 Points
SUN Minimeal – 10 Points
JBXE – 8 Points
Redemption Race:
The bottom four qualifiers looked to salvage some points from the round in the Redemption Race.
Off the start line, JBXE’s weekend went from bad to worse. Light contact with the McLaren saw the JBXE machine dig into the sand and role over. The driver, Dania Akeel, was able to get out okay, but they would take no further part in the race.
A brief red flag for the incident meant a three-car, three-lap shootout. Legacy took the lead off the line, closely followed by SUN Minimeal in second and McLaren in third.
There would be no changes to the order before the switch zone, but it wouldn’t take long after it for McLaren to close up on SUN Minimeal. Though it took a few attempts, McLaren were able to move into second place, and start chasing down the Legacy Motor Club car.
And close down the Legacy Motor Club team, McLaren certainly did. In the final corner, McLaren sent a move up the inside and took the Redemption Race win.
Final:
The final race of the weekend saw the top four qualifiers battle it out for a place on the podium. And if yesterday’s final was a cracker, today’s was a bit of a damp squib.
Acciona Sainz took the lead off the start, with Andretti not far behind. RXR had found themselves in third place, but Veloce were able to get through.
And that is how the final would finish. Acciona Sainz took home the first placed trophy, putting them right into the championship fight. Andretti recorded their best result of the season so far, with a second place, and Veloce rounded out the podium.
Overall Round Classification:
Acciona Sainz
Andretti
Veloce
RXR
McLaren
Legacy Motor Club
SUN Minimeal
JBXE
Championship Standings:
RXR – 41 Points
Acciona Sainz – 39 Points
Veloce – 33 Points
Andretti – 31 Points
McLaren – 30 Points
Legacy Motor Club – 18 Points
SUN Minimeal – 10 Points
JBXE – 10 Points
An exciting weekend concluded with victories for RXR and Acciona Sainz.
New entrants Legacy Motor Club also made a good account of themselves, taking the Continental Traction Challenge in Round 2.
Extreme E returns in July with a European race yet to be confirmed. It is sure to be an exciting weekend, and – as ever- we will be there to take you through all the action.
The final day dawned then of the only snow and ice round of the world championship and could Esapekka and Janne hold on and take a very popular victory? Having been in this position at Rally Finland in 2017, they certainly knew what was needed to get their car over the line.
The other question was could Elfyn and Scott pass Adrien and Alex for second place? Of course, the points were reset to the Sunday points table and the M-Sport crew had secured second place points at the end of Saturday’s stages.
First up was SS16 Västervik 1 – 25.50 km and with the sun rising as the crews started, Kalle came through to win the stage from Elfyn and Takamoto. Adrien was sixth fastest in the stage and this meant that Elfyn passed the Frenchman for second place overall, now five seconds behind the Toyota crew. In WRC2 the top three fastest were Oliver, Roope and Sami. The young Swede continued to lead the category, now leading second placed Sami by a minute and eighteen seconds.
A couple of hours later the crews lined up for the second run of SS17 Västervik 2 – 25.50 km and this time it was Elfyn setting the pace from Thierry and Adrien. The Welshman jumped to the head of the standings for Sunday’s points as well, which was important to the points standings. In WRC2 Sami was fastest from Emil and Georg, whilst Oliver was still leading the category from Sami and Georg.
The final stage then, SS18 Umeå 2[Power Stage] – 10.08 km to decide the rally and Sunday’s points. Kalle set the early pace, going faster than Ott. His teammate was up on the splits as well and as Elfyn came through his Yaris bounced off one of the snowbanks and was ultimately one tenth of a second behind Kalle. Thierry was third fastest, Ott fourth and Takamoto fifth Meanwhile, EP came through finally and took his second victory. A brilliant Oliver set the fastest time in WRC2 from Georg and Roope, winning the category from Sami and Georg.
Let’s take a look at the final positions and hear from the drivers.
Final Overall Classification – Rally Sweden
1
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
2:33:04.9
2
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
+29.6
3
A. Fourmaux
A. Coria
Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid
+47.9
4
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
+1:46.3
5
O. Solberg
E. Edmondson
Škoda Fabia RS
+5:04.2
6
S. Pajari
E. Mälkönen
Škoda Fabia Evo
+6:23.9
7
G. Linnamäe
J. Morgan
Toyota GR Yaris
+6:26.4
8
R. Korhonen
A. Viinikka
Toyota GR Yaris
+6:48.1
9
M. Heikkilä
K. Temonen
Toyota GR Yaris
+7:25.7
10
L. Bertelli
S. Scattolin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
+7:37.7
Hyundai Motorsport
Esapekka Lappi
“This feels so good right now. I have been hunting for this second victory for quite a while. I have to say a big thanks to Cyril for keeping me in the team after a difficult second half of my 2023 season; this moment is such a huge contrast to that. A massive thank you to the team, and to my family at home as well. We are all here to win and when you achieve it, it is the best feeling in the world. It has been a brilliant rally – it could have been more entertaining with fewer retirements, but the snowbanks can be your friend or your enemy. This week they were my friend; I paid them well.”
2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 02, Rally Sweden 15-18 February 2024 Esapekka Lappi, Janne Ferm, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid Photographer: Dufour Fabien Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry Neuville
“It is good to get another victory for the team. It’s important even if the performance wasn’t the greatest, especially on the first passes. However, two victories in three weeks is great motivation for us – we only had two wins in the 2023 season. We had to get through without any mistakes, and I think we might have been the only crew who didn’t have any. We had to accept the situation of Friday and we hoped for a better Saturday, where we managed to climb up the rankings. I’m happy to be at the end with decent points.”
Ott Tänak
“It has been tricky this weekend to have the pace we needed to be fastest. Obviously the mistake on Friday was frustrating and afterwards even more so. We felt better in the car on Friday when the roads were a bit more slippery but when the grip improved we just weren’t comfortable. From my side, definitely too many mistakes to start the season but we know we can be a lot better. We’re looking forward to having a clean rally in Kenya.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Elfyn Evans
“It’s been a very up-and-down weekend. It wasn’t looking so good on Friday when we had a difficult job with our road position. But we managed to get through it which I think was important and gave us the opportunity to climb back up the leaderboard. When conditions were suiting us, our pace was quite OK and today we managed get some good points in the end. I think we probably should have won the Power Stage but made a couple of mistakes at the end. Still, from where we were earlier in the weekend and to come out of it with a good haul of points, I think we can be reasonably happy.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“Our only goal today was to help the team to get some points and I’m pleased that we were able to do that, and we also tried to help Elfyn where we could. Of course, I’m not satisfied with our weekend because we came here to win. Sorry and thanks to the team, because everyone did a really good job in our preparation, the car was fast enough to win, and we just couldn’t bring it all together. At least we could bring some points at the finish, and we will look forward to the next opportunity.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“Today I wanted to try and take some points, but it was not easy with our road position, and the very different lines that we had to follow in the Power Stage. It has been a difficult weekend for me. We had good performance and the car had very good potential, I was just not able to take the result from it. I need to think about how I can learn from this and do better next time so that I can take these chances when they come. The next event in Kenya has been good for me before, and I just need to reset and go with the right approach for that rally.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Adrien Fourmaux
“Really great to get my first podium at the top level in Sweden, my fourth rally on snow and the second of the 2024 season. We are now third in the championship, which is really positive and gives a lot of confidence and motivation to the whole team who have been working really hard. We can be really proud that we’re working all together, and it’s been working perfectly. We want now to just enjoy the podium, it’s been brilliant, and hopefully there are more podiums coming!”
Grégoire Munster
“We learned a lot here in Sweden and improved throughout the weekend. The gaps per kilometre were getting smaller and smaller, and that was the goal. Unfortunately, we made the small mistake on Saturday evening, but getting stuck in a snowbank is part of the experience of Rally Sweden! I think every driver who has done the rally has had that experience at some time. It was unfortunate as it makes extra work for the mechanics, but they fixed everything so it could go again on Sunday to give us even more experience, which I’m very glad to have had.”
William Creighton, 14th WRC2
“I’m happy to get all the kilometres in and to get to the finish. I’ve learned a lot and I just need to keep working on my side with the driving to try and get the most out of these cars. It’s not going to happen overnight, so I just need to keep working on it.
“It’s been great working with M-Sport, with the support of the Motorsport Ireland Academy, here at Rally Sweden and it has been so much fun with these conditions. The last two weekends have been very different and I’m really looking forward to the next event to try to keep on improving and see where we go.”
WRC2
Oliver Solberg
“What can I say? It’s been a fantastic event. For my first (first points scoring) WRC2 round of the season, to win with Škoda like this is something very special. Škoda Motorsport is building a very special car with the Fabia RS Rally2 and it was a big pleasure to drive it here.
“The conditions were not easy – on Friday the snow was really deep in places and then on Saturday we were having some gravel coming through and all the time you had to be thinking about the tyres and trying to protect them.
“I think we showed the good pace on the first day and it was really cool to finish third overall, that was a pretty amazing feeling for me and to share that with the home fans and so many of my family… I was stoked for that.
“Saturday and Sunday was more about driving with the control. We had a lot to lose if we pushed too hard. We were sitting in fifth overall and with the good lead [in WRC2], so we didn’t want to take any big risks.
“Congratulations to the organisers for making a rally with such a special atmosphere and I want to say a big thanks to Elliott and the whole team for helping me to make this an amazing event.”
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round two
1
T. Neuville
48
2
E. Evans
45
3
A. Fourmaux
29
4
S. Ogier
24
5
O. Tänak
21
6
E. Lappi
19
7
T. Katsuta
12
8
K. Rovanperä
11
9
O. Solberg
8
10
A. Mikkelsen
6
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round two
1
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
87
2
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
87
3
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
47
2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 02, Rally Sweden 15 – 19 February 2024 Esapekka Lappi Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Summary
Well, what an amazing rally we were treated to and what a popular winner as well. Esapekka and Janne completely deserve this victory in Sweden and with it have matched the teams success from last season in terms of victories. Four stage wins for the Finns showed their pace at the front of the field.
For Elfyn and Scott, they recovered really well after their push to the front of the field for the last two stages on Friday. There was the 360 spin that they recovered from and took two stage wins along the way.
A first ever podium for M-Sport duo Adrien and Alex showed how far they had come since they last competed in this rally two years ago. During that rally they ran in fifth overall for quite a while before getting a penalty for being late to a time control and then having to retire with a mechanical issue. This year they set some top three times and added a stage win as well. It was a great drive from the French duo.
Finally let’s discuss the points awarded following this rally. The new points system meant that Elfyn and Scott who finished in second place actually took more points than Esapekka and Janne who of course won the rally. Now surely that can’t be right?! It’s a completely bizarre situation and I do wonder if the FIA will look again at this method of awarding points. We shall see.
Next rally on the calendar is the Safari Rally Kenya to be held from the 28th to 31st of March, much earlier this year and in its more traditional time of year near Easter. It will be spectacular!
