Specialized Motorsports Search

2+ min ago (202+ words) Thursday, 11 Dec 2025 Audi signage is seen at the New York International Auto Show Press Preview in New York City, U.S., April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon Dec 10 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's Audi Group said on Wednesday it had entered a strategic partnership with U.S.-based technology company UST, which will acquire a majority stake in Italy-based design and engineering unit Italdesign. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, will keep Audi as a long-term strategic partner and key client of Italdesign. Financial terms were not disclosed. UST said the acquisition will help Italdesign expand globally through UST's network in over 30 countries. Italdesign CEO Antonio Casu added the partnership will help the firm deepen its presence in international markets and broaden its service portfolio. Italdesign, founded in 1968 by Giorgetto Giugiaro, one of the world's most influential car designers, became part of Volkswagen in 2010 and was fully acquired in…...

7+ min ago (366+ words) Twenty cars from five GT3 manufacturers entered for Gulf 12 Hours" Driving Force Events has released the full, 20-car entry list for the Gulf 12 Hours, with a grid made up of five different GT3 manufacturers. Defending winners Audi are joined by cars from Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche for the 15th edition of the event at Yas Marina Circuit. Mercedes-AMG is the best represented brand at the event with seven entries, spearheaded by the likes of Winward Racing, Grove Racing by GetSpeed and Tigani Motorsport. Team Motopark has entered a single car under the CapitalRT by Motopark banner, headlined by Mercedes-AMG factory driver Adam Christodoulou and former LMP1 and NTT IndyCar Series driver Mikhail Aleshin. TFT Racing, which took overall pole in this year's Michelin 24H Barcelona, has enlisted N'rburgring 24 podium finisher Nico Bastian to drive its No. 28 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo alongside Patrick Charlaix, Benjamin Paque and…...

50+ min ago (436+ words) F1 just wrapped up its final season on ESPN, and the numbers from this year turned more than a few heads in the American motorsports world. ESPN not only managed to pull off a strong finish in 2025 but, in fact, was the biggest single-season viewership in U.S. F1 history, turning this eight-year run into one of the great success stories in modern sports TV. The 2025 season averaged 1.3 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC, marking the highest live television average the championship has ever achieved in the country.What made it stand out even more is how far things have come since 2018, when ESPN first brought F1 back to its networks, where races were pulling a little more than half a million viewers. To see that number more than double over eight seasons says a great deal about where the sport is heading in the…...

1+ hour, 48+ min ago (310+ words) Charles Leclerc has had enough of waiting. After another season of promise without payoff, the Monegasque star says 2026 isn't just another year for Ferrari " it's the make-or-break moment. Ferrari entered 2025 with high expectations. They'd just missed out on the Constructors' title the year prior and added Lewis Hamilton (yes, the seven-time champion) to supercharge the team. But the dream fizzled fast. Ferrari's 2024 rocket became a 2025 question mark. Leclerc salvaged seven podiums, while Hamilton's best results were P4 in Imola, Austria (twice), Silverstone, and Austin. Not only did the Scuderia finish the season winless, but Hamilton also endured the first podium-less campaign of his storied career. The Stakes of 2026 Next year brings all-new power unit and chassis regulations, essentially resetting the competitive order. In simple terms: if Ferrari gets it wrong, they could be stuck behind for years. That's exactly why Leclerc…...

1+ hour, 54+ min ago (481+ words) In July 2025, NASCAR announced that it would return to Southern California in 2026 with a street race at Naval Base Coronado. And while the news excited every NASCAR fan, given that the seven-time champion, Jimmie Johnson, grew up in El Cajon, just a short drive from San Diego, the upcoming event will offer him a chance to compete at the highest level in his own backyard. During Brandweek in Atlanta in November, Johnson confirmed that he will take part in the first Cup Series race at Coronado, with his partner Carvana returning as the primary sponsor of his No. 84 LMC Chevy. He explained that, as a kid growing up just miles from San Diego, he often imagined racing in the city in a NASCAR machine, but the idea felt like a dream beyond the horizon. He never believed it could happen…...

2+ hour, 5+ min ago (229+ words) Cadillac F1 Team, the newest and 11th team on the grid, sports perhaps the most experienced and successful driver lineup of any new team ever. Former foes Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas join forces in a partnership that has 16 Formula One wins between them. It will certainly give Cadillac a fighting start in a sport known for ruthlessly spitting out new teams. The strongest pairing this year is certainly that of Ferrari, despite their struggles in the 2025 season Max Verstappen's 2026 season will bring an unwelcome return to his race number 33, rather than the number 1 the four-time world champion has become accustomed to. This season will also bring a new challenge in teammate Isack Hadjar, who replaces outgoing Yuki Tsunoda. Will Verstappen's speed end another driver's career? Or will the new regulations provide a platform for Hadjar to shine? It would be hard…...

2+ hour, 11+ min ago (611+ words) Although Max Verstappen was only two points away from winning a fifth consecutive title, the Dutchman was composed after crossing the final chequered flag of the year. This is largely because Verstappen never thought the 2025 Championship was realistic " often describing McLaren's advantage as too large to overcome. The same cannot be said for Oscar Piastri, who led the standings for almost two thirds of the season. A string of poor results to end the season doomed the Australian's title chances and forced him to settle for 3rd place. On theme with the first 23 rounds of the season, Piastri was asked if McLaren's team dynamics could go against him in the aftermath of Lando Norris becoming World Champion. In his usual fashion, the 9-time race winner rejected this suggestion. Perhaps more than any other since 2021, this season was characterised by swings in…...

2+ hour, 14+ min ago (211+ words) Al Manar Racing moves to Ferrari after single season of racing BMW machinery" Al Manar Racing will switch to Ferrari machinery after a single season with BMW, debuting with a Dragon Racing-run effort in this weekend's Gulf 12 Hours. The team, fronted by Omani racer Al Faisal Al Zubair, moves to join the Prancing Horse after racing with BMW and Team WRT in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, Intercontinental GT Challenge and the Michelin 24H Series. Although the alliance between Al Zubair, BMW and WRT only lasted a single season, it brought notable successes, including overall victory in January's Michelin 24H Dubai and a podium finish in the Indianapolis 8 Hour. Al Manar's new tie-up with Ferrari will debut in this weekend's edition of the Gulf 12H, where Al Zubair is set to share driving duties with Ben Tuck and Chris Froggatt while…...

2+ hour, 23+ min ago (532+ words) The road from IndyCar to F1 has always felt uneven, as drivers with high speeds and strong racecraft often found themselves boxed in by the FIA's strict superlicence rules. That picture is finally shifting as the FIA has approved a brand-new superlicence points structure for IndyCar starting in 2026, which is the most significant adjustment the series has received in years. This update gives the sport's drivers something they have been waiting on for years, which is a smoother and faster route to F1 without making the whole system feel unfair. For years, IndyCar drivers felt shortchanged when it came to FIA's superlicence points, as the system required drivers to collect 40 points across three seasons to qualify for F1. Even if the IndyCar champion earned the full 40 points, the old structure offered very little support to the rest of the top ten. That point…...

2+ hour, 23+ min ago (618+ words) Motorsport News, Rumors, Editorials and Race Predictions Although Max Verstappen was only two points away from winning a fifth consecutive title, the Dutchman was composed after crossing the final chequered flag of the year. This is largely because Verstappen never thought the 2025 Championship was realistic " often describing McLaren's advantage as too large to overcome. The same cannot be said for Oscar Piastri, who led the standings for almost two thirds of the season. A string of poor results to end the season doomed the Australian's title chances and forced him to settle for 3rd place. On theme with the first 23 rounds of the season, Piastri was asked if McLaren's team dynamics could go against him in the aftermath of Lando Norris becoming World Champion. In his usual fashion, the 9-time race winner rejected this suggestion. Perhaps more than any other since…...