Trending Sports Updates

Photo: IDEC Sport Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory Program driver Valerio Rinicella will make his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut this year, driving an IDEC Sport Oreca 07 Gibson alongside team regulars Paul Lafargue and Job van Uitert. Rinicella won the 2024 Asian Le Mans Series title and is making a full-time switch from single-seaters to sports cars this season, with his main program being in the European Le Mans with IDEC. He finished fourth in the season opener in Barcelona earlier this month alongside Jamie Chadwick and Laurents Hoerr in the Genesis-backed car . He has now been confirmed as tackling Le Mans with class stalwarts Lafargue and van Uitert, who previously finished on the podium together with IDEC in 2024. Rinicella described competing at Le Mans as “a childhood dream coming true” and added: “For a first-time entry, there’s obviously a lot of excitement, but also a bit of pressure. “It’s a race with very experienced drivers, so I still have a lot to learn, esp...

Photo: Conquest Racing Lorenzo Patrese will sub for Manny Franco at the wheel of Conquest Racing’s GTD entry for next weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Patrese, the son of Riccardo Patrese, will make his first sprint round start with the Eric Bachelart-led team, aboard the No. 34 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo alongside Albert Costa. The 20-year-old FIA Silver-rated Italian driver has been part of the team’s Michelin Endurance Cup lineup this year. Franco is unavailable for the first two-hour and 40-minute race of the season for personal reasons. “It’s an amazing opportunity to race at such a legendary track,” said Patrese.  “I’m excited to get started and very happy to be back with the team sooner than expected. “Albert and I make a strong pairing for this race, and I’m really looking forward to the weekend.” Conquest is coming off its first podium finish of the season in last weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, where ...

Photo: SRO Six new additional cars are expected on the GT America powered by AWS grid this weekend at Circuit of The Americas, for Rounds 3 and 4 of the season. The provisional 21-car entry list , features three new Ferrari 296 GT3 entires, a pair of additional Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos and another Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, further boosting the FIA Bronze-rated single driver sprint series. One11 Competition and Ferrano Motorsports are set to field Ferraris in the SRO3 class for Jason McCarthy and Tony Ferrano, respectively, while Rodin Younessi, who was originally slated to take part in last month’s pair of season-opening races at Sonoma Raceway, is again listed in his AF Corse entry. CJ Moses, known for his time in the series with an Audi R8 LMS GT2, has switched to a Mercedes-AMG fielded by Random Vandals Racing for his first start of the season, while Dan Knox returns to the series with his Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG. Wright Motorsports, meanwhile, is set to field an additional P...

Photo: Asian Le Mans Series Asian Le Mans Series teams are currently in a holding pattern for the confirmation of the 2026-27 calendar, amid the ongoing uncertainties and geopolitical situation in the Middle East. The upcoming season, which was earmarked to start off in November in the United Arab Emirates following the FIA World Endurance Championship season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain, and conclude in Sepang in mid-January, has not yet been officially confirmed or announced by organizers. While some teams are pushing ahead with plans, on the basis of the proposed calendar, which was communicated to teams prior to the start of the U.S./Israel conflict with Iran, others are waiting for further clarity to see what develops. “The main consideration is what the calendar looks like and the what the budget then looks like because of the calendar and what the desire is from the drivers,” United Autosports CEO Richard Dean told Sportscar365. “That’s not an easy thing to predict at the mom...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Andrea Lorenzina/DPPI ***Toyota’s victory in Sunday’s 6 Hours of Imola was not only notable for being the manufacturer’s 50th FIA World Endurance Championship win on its 100th series start, it also meant that all-time wins record holder Sebastien Buemi has now triumphed 27 times and in all five Toyota prototype models. ***Meanwhile, for co-driver Brendon Hartley it was a 24th victory that puts him one clear of Mike Conway in second place on the wins list and also means the New Zealander has now taken 12 triumphs for Toyota and 12 for previous employer Porsche. ***It was also the first win for the No. 8 Toyota crew since Bahrain 2024 and the first time it had succeeded in Italy. ***Toyota Racing technical director David Floury acknowledged that keeping Kamui Kobayashi out on old tires until the end of the race was considered but ultimately deemed “too risky.” The decision to change tires at the last stop put the car shared by Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Conwa...

Photo: Charly Lopez/DPPI Ferrari should not “regret” its narrow defeat to Toyota in the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Imola as it lost for reasons beyond its control, believes Alessandro Pier Guidi. The Italian driver made the remarks in the wake of finishing second on home turf aboard the No. 51 Ferrari 499P he shared with James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi, behind the winning No. 8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid of Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi. Pier Guidi was referencing the second virtual safety car period of the race that allowed the No. 8 crew a chance to change all four tires at low cost, after it had jumped ahead by virtue of triple-stinting its tires. By contrast, the No. 51 car that Pier Guidi took over from Calado changed two tires under green, before changing the remaining two under caution, after which it was never able to reassert the advantage. “They decided to go for a triple [stint] and they might have paid a penalty in term...