General Motorsport Thread

[Red Devil-Taker316]

That Nationwide Race was crazy. Larson's car was torn in half.

[Lineker]

Robert Kubica will compete in the 2013 World Rally Championship as he continues to recover from injury sustained in a rally crash.

[Lineker]

Olympic and world track cycling champion Jason Kenny has signed up to race in his debut motor racing season.

The 24-year-old, who won individual and sprint gold at London 2012 , will drive in this year's one-make Ginetta GT5 Challenge Series.

"I'm looking forward to doing a few different things and one of them will be racing my car," Kenny said.

"I want to do a whole season - seven race weekends. I believe I can do so without affecting my training."

The Ginetta machines are similar to touring cars and the challenge series begins in Oulton Park on 30 March.

Fellow Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy is also trying his hand at motor racing as he drives in the celebrity challenge at the Australian Grand Prix.

Kenny, who won keirin gold at last month's world championships in Minsk, said it's too early to say whether swapping two wheels for four is a future career option.

"It's still racing and I will see how it goes and take it from there," he said.

The Bolton racer is also keeping his cycling plans loose ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

"I haven't got an aim for Rio in 2016, a lot of things are happening between now and then, including the Commonwealth Games," Kenny added.

"I have never been to one - and I am just looking forward to those."

The Commonwealth Games take place in Glasgow in July and August next year.

[Lineker]

Japanese rider Yoshinari Matsushita has died in an accident at the Isle of Man TT qualifying session.

The 43-year-old Tyco Suzuki rider, who first competed in the iconic Manx event in 2009, was only entered into the race earlier in the day.

Matsushita is the 21st rider to die at the races since 2000.

"Yoshi was a really popular competitor who had a large number of friends in the TT Races paddock," clerk of the course Gary Thompson said.

"He was a genuine and friendly character who always had time for everyone. He will be sorely missed."

The coroners have been informed and an investigation into the circumstances of the accident is under way.

Matsushita's TT entry for the Northern Ireland-based Tyco Suzuki team was only announced earlier on Monday when it was revealed that he would up teaming up with Guy Martin and Josh Brookes in the Supersport 600 event.

The Japanese rider was a regular competitor in the Superstock and Superbike classes and finished fifth in the 2011 TT Zero for electric bikes.

Earlier on Monday, Matsushita had spoken of his delight at being given the late chance to compete for the Tyco Suzuki team.

"As a member of this great team for the TT, I draw the full power to be able to use their experience to fight this monster course at best. I did not ever think a miracle like this would ever happen," Matsushita had said.

An official statement on the TT website read: "ACU Events Ltd regrets to announce that Japanese rider Yoshinari Matsushita, 43, was killed during the qualifying session at the 2013 Isle of Man TT Races in an incident at Ballacrye in the north of the island. The session was immediately red-flagged following the accident."

British MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow tweeted: "Sad news from TT tonight. Thoughts are with Yoshinari family and all involved."

Tyco Suzuki manager Phil Neill said that everyone in the Northern Ireland-based team had been "devastated" by Matsushita's death.

"We were very much looking forward to working with Yoshinari during TT2013 and pass on our deepest condolences to his family and fellow team members," added Neill.

[EddieG]

Knew this thread was around somewhere.

Danish driver Allan Simonsen has died after crashing his car during the Le Mans endurance race in France, the organisers say.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23014877

[Starvinho]

British racing driver Sean Edwards killed in crash in Australia

British racing driver Sean Edwards has died in a crash at the Queensland Raceway in Australia.

The 26-year-old was a passenger in a Porsche which hit the barriers during a private test session.

Edwards is currently leading the Porsche Supercup championship, a series which supports Formula 1 races.

The Briton is the son of former F1 driver Guy Edwards, who pulled Niki Lauda out of his burning Ferrari after a crash at the Nurburgring in 1976.

Edwards won the Nurburgring 24 Hours in May, his first major victory in endurance racing, with Bernd Schneider, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Nicki Thiim.

He played his father in Ron Howard's movie Rush, released last month, which focused on the rivalry between Lauda and James Hunt during the 1976 season.

Past and present F1 drivers have expressed their shock at the news of his death.

Former McLaren driver and BBC F1 co-commentator David Coulthard tweeted: "Shocking news about Sean Edwards passing, top man and super talented racer, condolences to his nearest and dearest."

Marussia driver Max Chilton added on Twitter: "Truly shocked to hear the devastating news about Sean Edwards, watched him win many races and will be a huge loss to the sport."

Former Benetton, McLaren and Jordan driver Martin Brundle tweeted: "Terribly sad news re the death of Sean Edwards, a very talented racer. Condolences to his family and friends. Motorsport can be too cruel."

Edwards had contested the Porsche Supercup series since 2008 and holds an 18-point lead in the championship ahead of the final two races at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi next month.

He had a short career in single-seaters, competing in the Formula Renault championship, before switching his attention to GT racing.

The Briton competed in the FIA GT2 and GT3 series as well as the Le Mans Series and Porsche Supercup.

RIP

[Lineker]

My jaw dropped open when I saw this five minutes ago. Sure, motorsport is dangerous and everybody knows that and understands the risk, but you just don't expect this to happen to a championship leader! Horrendous news, he was extremely talented.

Ugh.

[Lineker]

Ex-Virgin Racing driver Lucas di Grassi introduces Formula-E cars. Well worth watching, the series sounds fantastic. Might have to get down to the London race myself.

[Rich]

Four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti has retired from racing on medical advice following injuries he sustained in a recent high-speed crash.

Sad stuff

[EddieG]

Saw it earlier, not that surprised, that crash was nasty, went into the fencing and hit someone in the crowd.

[Lineker]

Former Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica crashes out of the Wales Rally GB, his debut at the top level of rallying, after rolling his Citroen on to its roof.

The Pole, 28, was making his first appearance at the wheel of a full factory specification car after winning the second tier WRC 2 Championship and had been in seventh place after the opening leg of the season-ending event.

Kubica, a former BMW-Sauber and Renault F1 driver has been competing with a modified gear selector system to compensate for the lack of strength in his right hand after a near-fatal rally crash partially severed his forearm in early 2011.

[Gazz]

It's tragic that WRC blows so much these days.

[Lineker]

ITV4 confirms TV deal to broadcast all 10 Formula E races exclusively live and free-to-air in the UK

[Red Devil-Taker316]

Apparently NASCAR Spring Cup Driver and former 3 Time Champion Tony Stewart ran over someone in a revenge attempt tonight in a Sprint Car race. An investigation is taking place.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2014-08-10/tony-stewart-sprint-car-hits-driver-fight-incident-trouble-investigation-new-york-watkins-glen-kevin-ward

[Lineker]

I forgot to post this from GP3 at Spa:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv0hQijEG9M

Amazingly, the poor bugger walked away unharmed! It was his first session in the car and all!

[Lineker]

IndyCar driver Justin Wilson has died as a result of the injuries he suffered in an accident during a race on Sunday, the IndyCar Series has announced.

 

[Lint]

Yea, I saw the video of it and it was such a freak accident.  One in a million kinda thing

[Lineker]

Moto2 rider Luis Salom has died following a crash in Barcelona Free Practice 2.

The 24-year-old fell at turn 12 and the session was red flagged with just under 25 minutes left.

A Moto2 statement read: "Two medical cars and then two ambulances were immediately on scene to treat the 24-year-old and the medical helicopter was also deployed to assist in his treatment.

"Due the severity of his condition, the decision was taken to transfer Salom by road to the nearby Hospital General de Catalunya. On arrival, he underwent surgery, but despite the best efforts of the trauma team, he passed away at 1655pm local time."

[MalaCloudy Black]

That's an Electric car built in 2014, by a group of students from Hochschule Luzern and ETH Zurich.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Cloudy

[Lineker]

Kobayashi is on pole at Le Mans!