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Onslow-Cole makes surprise BTCC return with Team Hard – BTCC

British Touring Car Championship race winner Tom Onslow-Cole will make a surprise return to the series after an absence of seven years for the next three rounds.

Onslow-Cole, who took victory seven times in the series, will replace the injured Ollie Brown at Team Hard for the next three rounds at Thruxton, Silverstone and Croft.

It means that the 33-year-old will be reunited with the Volkswagen CC, a car that he gave its BTCC debut in 2013 and that Team Hard will retire at the end of this season as it works upon a project to build new Cupras for 2021.

Since leaving the BTCC, Onslow-Cole has been predominantly active in international GT3 competition, winning the Pro-Am class title of International GT Open in 2018 and 2019.

He will now join Jack Goff and Nicolas Hamilton in Hard’s line-up of VW CCs, with Carl Boardley continuing in the team’s BMW

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Lewis Hamilton’s Next Adventure Is an Electric Off-Road Racing Team

Lewis Hamilton is officially joining the club of successful Formula 1 racers turned team owners. However, unlike Bruce McLaren, Alain Prost, Jackie Stewart and other famous names that came before him; Hamilton’s chosen to put his millions not in F1, but in the newly-founded Extreme E.

The electric off-road racing series announced Tuesday morning the debut of the X44 racing team, founded and financed by none other than the six-time F1 world champion. According to the official announcement, the team is expected to make its debut in early 2021 along with other squads owned by the likes of United States’ Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport, as well as others from Europe and Asia with previous Formula E experience, such as Abt and Techeetah.

Hamilton will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of X44 due to his commitments to F1 and various sponsors, but claims to look forward to

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F1 champion launches Extreme E team

Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has announced he will have a team competing in the inaugural all-electric off-road racing Extreme E series next year.



Lewis Hamilton wearing a hat and sunglasses: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 12: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP poses for a photo in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on March 12, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)

© Charles Coates/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 12: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP poses for a photo in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on March 12, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)

Extreme E is a series founded by the same team behind Formula E, with races hosted across the globe to promote electrification, sustainability and equality.

Its maiden season will be staged in five remote locations which have already been damaged or affected by climate issues, including the Arctic and the Amazon, raising awareness of climate change.

Hamilton, 35, called the opportunity to have his own team an “exciting new project” and said

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Lewis Hamilton forms team to race in Extreme E electric SUV series

Lewis Hamilton has formed a team to compete in the Extreme E Series, the environmentally conscious series that will race 550-horsepower electric SUVs next year.

The circuit will compete around the world in five locations threatened by climate change.

Hamilton’s team will be X44, a reference to the six-time Formula One champion’s Mercedes.

“Extreme E is an exciting new sustainability initiative, and this is a great opportunity to be involved from the outset as a team founder,” Hamilton said in a series release.

“Of course, my ambitions and commitments with Mercedes in Formula One mean that I won’t be operationally involved in X44, but I’m excited to play a different role in this new series, one that brings my vision for a more sustainable and equal world to life.

“Extreme E really appealed to me because of its environmental focus. Every single one of us has the power to make

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WRC team bosses praise “amazing job” by Rally Estonia organisers

World Rally Championship team bosses believe Rally Estonia deserves to be a regular fixture on the calendar following its debut last weekend.

M-Sport’s Richard Millener and Hyundai’s Andrea Adamo told Autosport it was a successful debut for the Tartu-based competition, which was drafted in to bolster a calendar badly depleted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Estonia ran as an official WRC promotional event in 2019 as the country pushed for a slot in the WRC – and the cancellation of multiple events this year, including Rally Portugal, Rally Finland, Rally New Zealand, the Safari Rally and Wales Rally GB meant that the long-term project materialised five years early.

PLUS: Home hero Tanak elates Estonia to reawaken WRC from its slumber

Millener said Estonia was a barometer against which all rounds of the WRC must now compere themselves to.

“They have certainly proved themselves worthy of a spot on the calendar –

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Williams names Simon Roberts as acting F1 team principal – F1

The Williams Formula 1 team has named Simon Roberts as acting team principal for its “transition period” after the Williams family stood down following the Italian Grand Prix.

Last week it was announced that Claire Williams would step down from her role as deputy team principal after the Monza race, marking the departure of the Williams family following the team’s sale to American investment fund Dorilton Capital.

With a tight turnaround to the next F1 race this weekend, the Tuscan GP at Mugello, Williams has announced Roberts will become acting team principal starting from this weekend.

It remains unclear how long Roberts will hold the position, but the team has confirmed he will keep the role “during this transitional period” following the overhaul of senior management personnel at Williams.

Gallery: The Williams family bows out of Formula 1

Outgoing CEO Mike O’Driscoll, who had been with the team since 2011,

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Williams family depature news a “surprise” and a “shock” to F1 race team



a person driving a race car on a road: Williams family depature news a

© LAT Images
Williams family depature news a

The Williams Formula 1 race team preparing for the 2020 Italian Grand Prix found the news that the Williams family would step away from the squad “surprising” and a “shock”.

The announcement that Frank and Claire Williams will end their involvement with F1 after this weekend’s race at Monza followed the sale of the squad to investment firm Dorilton Capital last month.

In the two weeks since the sale was revealed, the Williams race team has travelled to Belgium and Italy as part of F1’s latest 2020 triple header, with drivers George Russell and Nicolas Latifi discovering that the Williams family would be departing shortly before it was announced.

GALLERY: The Williams family bows out of Formula 1

The team’s head of vehicle performance, Dave Robson, explained how it had been received by the squad.

“So that news at the beginning of

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WRC team bosses praise “amazing job” by Rally Estonia organisers – WRC

World Rally Championship team bosses believe Rally Estonia deserves to be a regular fixture on the calendar following its debut last weekend.

M-Sport’s Richard Millener and Hyundai’s Andrea Adamo told Autosport it was a successful debut for the Tartu-based competition, which was drafted in to bolster a calendar badly depleted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Estonia ran as an official WRC promotional event in 2019 as the country pushed for a slot in the WRC – and the cancellation of multiple events this year, including Rally Portugal, Rally Finland, Rally New Zealand, the Safari Rally and Wales Rally GB meant that the long-term project materialised five years early.

PLUS: Home hero Tanak elates Estonia to reawaken WRC from its slumber

Millener said Estonia was a barometer against which all rounds of the WRC must now compere themselves to.

“They have certainly proved themselves worthy of a spot on the calendar –

… Read More
Automotive
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Hamilton launches X44 race team to contest maiden Extreme E season – Formula E

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has launched his own motorsport team – X44 – which will contest the maiden Extreme E season in a major coup for the electric off-road series.

The move marks Hamilton’s first role in team ownership, with the squad’s X44 name referencing the #44 race number that the Mercedes grand prix driver has carried in F1 since 2014.

Hamilton will not race for his own team, with X44’s driver pairing – one female and one male, as mandated by XE’s rules – yet to be announced.

Hamilton said: “It’s an exciting new project and it will be fun to have a different role from being the team driver.

“What is most appealing though, is that the Extreme E championship will be not only raising awareness of some of the most critical environmental issues facing our planet, but also doing something about it through working with

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Frijns: Maiden DTM win a “relief” after years of “frustrating” team orders – DTM

Robin Frijns was relieved to score his maiden DTM win at his home round at Assen, having felt “frustrating” Audi team orders in the past had masked his true potential.

Frijns qualified on the front row for the first of the two Dutch races on Saturday, and overhauled polesitter Loic Duval after the pitstops to secure his first victory since joining the category in 2018.

The Dutch driver has been one of the star performers of the 2020 season so far, scoring four pole positions and six podium finishes, including his victory, in the opening eight races of the season.

Frijns’ upturn in performance has coincided with a ban on team orders in 2020, allowing all drivers within both the Audi and BMW stables to challenge for victories without the threat of being asked to concede positions to aid their employers’ title bids.

Asked by Autosport if the Assen victory

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