In the round-up: Michael Andretti says the Andretti racing organisation hold ambitions to race in the Le Mans 24 Hours in the future as well as enter Formula 1
In brief
Andretti’s ambitions extend to Le Mans hypercar entry
The Andretti racing organisation is looking to further expand its operations to include the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance Championship as well as enter Formula 1.Andretti, which has publicly announced it intends to submit an entry into F1, is competing in the IMSA sportscar championship in the United States in partnership with Wayne Taylor Racing. Speaking at a press conference ahead of next weekend’s Daytona 24 Hours, Michael Andretti said his family’s racing team also held ambitions to compete in the WEC and at Le Mans in the Hhypercar class.
“One of the objectives is to hopefully have a WEC team out there in the next few years,” Andretti said.
“That (Le Mans) is a definite goal for us. Our goal is to be in every major racing event in the world. And, obviously, Le Mans that’s one of the big ones. And so, down the road, we definitely want to be there.”
Michael Schumacher’s debut Jordan goes under auction
The Jordan 191 in which seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher ran in opening practice for his F1 debut at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix will go under auction in just under two weeks’ time.
Schumacher made a famous debut in the round to stand in for Bertrand Gachot, who was remanded in a British prison after assaulting a taxi driver. While Schumacher qualified and raced in chassis number five, he began the opening practice session in chassis number six, which will go under auction at Bonhams on Thursday 2nd February. The car has an expected sale price of between €1.4m-€2m.
After qualifying a remarkable fifth on the grid in a different car, Schumacher would retire from his debut after burning out his clutch. He would be signed by Benetton for the next round.
Wurz extends lead in FROC
Charlie Wurz, son of former Formula 1 driver Alexander Wurz, extended his championship lead in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship – formerly known as the Toyota Racing Series – in New Zealand.
The 17-year-old won two of three races over the second round at the Teretonga circuit to extend his championship and advantage earned over the first round to 24 points over Callum Hedge. There are three more rounds remaining, with the next coming this weekend at Manfeild.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Why AlphaTauri’s newest recruit Nyck de Vries could be 2023’s dark horse (F1)
"He'll turn 28 before he makes his debut, which could be considered ‘old’ for a rookie – he’s seven years older than fellow rookie Oscar Piastri, who will line up alongside Lando Norris at McLaren, for example. But it is that life experience – and wealth of knowledge about competing in multiple forms of motorsport and fighting for World Championships – that will play in his favour."
Here's An Exclusive Mercedes-AMG One Hybrid Hypercar We Can Afford (Hot Cars)
"Amalgam is the pinnacle of scale model car manufacturers - and every example is handcrafted in limited numbers. One of their latest releases is the all-new Mercedes-AMG One in 1:8 scale. Now, while the actual car costs $2.7 million, the scaled-down version has you covered for $17,570."
Ahead of Formula E championship, 26 race cars to arrive in Hyderabad (The Hindu)
"The Central government has given special clearance for the racing cars to come directly to Hyderabad. This is huge. Suppose, if it were to land in Mumbai or Chennai, it would take at least 48 hours for the cars to reach Hyderabad and that’s a logistical challenge. The clearance gives us time to focus on other aspects of racing."
Tickets go on sale for Diriyah E-Prix (Trade Arabia)
"Tickets are on sale now starting at SR100 SAR for the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix, featuring the biggest names in global motorsport and the world’s fastest, lightest, most powerful and efficient electric race on January 27 and 28."
10 people who have attended the Indy 500 who can match Shaquille O'Neal's celebrity (Indy Star)
"Shaquille O'Neal, a former NBA champion and MVP, will perform at this year's Snake Pit during the 2023 Indianapolis 500. While O'Neal is a well-known celebrity, he isn't the only big-time name to attend the 500 over the last 20 years. Here are 10 people (with no previous ties to racing) who match O'Neal's star power that has shown up at the Indy 500:"
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it to us via the contact form.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
2023 @F1 season, loading… ■■■■■■■■■□□ pic.twitter.com/jJ0oUb0Ri6
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) January 22, 2023
Danke @DVAG für die Einladung #BalldesSports #Sporthilfe pic.twitter.com/DSsHMEQCu8
— Mick Schumacher (@SchumacherMick) January 22, 2023
Here's a tribute to @schumacher #f1 https://t.co/uB3Xvnd2vU
— Damon Hill (@HillF1) January 22, 2023
24 hours of intense #iRacing at Daytona are done and the drivers truly delivered. 👏 The #55 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team @WilliamsEsports brought home a hard-fought P3 finish, 🥉 while #90 and #91 from Mercedes-AMG Esports Team @UranoEsports couldn't finish. #AMGEsports pic.twitter.com/I869hVQ6SY
— Mercedes-AMG Motorsport (@amgmotorsport) January 22, 2023
To everyone saying @iRacing would be a better game than @rFactor2 for @LeMansVirtual…
Well, here you go I guess.
Seems like there is no platform atm that can deliver acceptable quality for good races. pic.twitter.com/SuXTfoNYKi— Michael Rächl (@MichaelRachl) January 21, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
This weekend’s Caption Competition winner is JackySteeg!:
“Oh, so THAT’s what a podium looks like!”
JackySteeg
Thanks to everyone who came up with caption idea this week and a special mention to James Brickles, Stephen Crowsen, Roth Man and Pat Ruadh who all came up with particularly good captions.
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Brent Foster!
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd January 2023, 1:08
Definitely not a championship dark horse but perhaps generally in the midfield, & while his full-time driver debut may happen relatively late, the experience over other single-seaters should indeed be a benefit (he’s six years older than Piastri btw).
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
23rd January 2023, 1:20
Nyck’s teammate has 42 times as many F1 races under his belt. That’s the kind of experience that may actually apply to – you know – driving a Formula 1 car.
MichaelN
23rd January 2023, 15:12
Seems unlikely that this experience would help, especially since that same team said it was normal for Tsunoda to need almost three years to fully get to grips with F1. If one takes that at face value (and not as a way to shield Tsunoda from outside criticisim), De Vries’ experience in other categories as compared to Tsunoda’s experience in actual F1 doesn’t seem that impressive. If anything, he’ll be under instant pressure to deliver more ‘Monza 2022’ performances.
If De Vries can do well that’d be great, but let’s not forget that the 2019 F2 season he won wasn’t exactly a highlight season for the series. If you look down the order, Latifi came 2nd ahead of Ghiotto and Sette Câmara. All three of which have pretty much ended their single seater racing career.
mmertens (@mmertens)
23rd January 2023, 15:27
Agree, also he will have to cope with much less pressure than Piastri, who is in a team with higher aspirations than midfield. De vries will also and most importantly be against a much easier team mate to be compared to. Lando Norris is one of the most consistent drivers in the field, and is always quick. Your team mate is always the first benchmark, so Piastri will be expected to collect points every week. Lastly, Alpha Tauri is a team used to adapt new drivers and to build their confidence levels through the season. McLaren has a much more Top team approach. They expect you to arrive and deliver, maybe with Piastri they will cut some slack, but probably no more than 6 races. Will be interesting to see the performance from De vries and Piastri.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
23rd January 2023, 1:17
Could anyone elaborate as to why this is huge, or needs approval by the India government in the first place?
Just a few freighters flying in and out of a city of several million people, you’d think that would happen quite often.
playstation361
23rd January 2023, 2:33
It is Law related.
IRL did a good job I think so hope the same will be the case with FE in the end.
https://postimg.cc/0KPDG2QT
MichaelN
23rd January 2023, 15:04
Wayne Taylor Racing is a solid team, and if they can join Andretti in their attempt to join the WEC that sounds pretty good. Still, they’d need to buy a car and the Hypercar class is probably going to become an even more complex BoP game than GTE was. As nice as BoP sounds in theory, a third party like Andretti is likely to lose out in all that politicking when the likes of Toyota, Porsche, Ferrari and Peugeot start ‘voicing concerns’, if you will.
amian
23rd January 2023, 16:45
Wow! Damon Hill’s helmet looks so confusing and yet so good in the Benneton!
Qeki (@qeki)
23rd January 2023, 19:45
It seems like Andretti are really ready for the top level of motorsports