SUVs can be seen in every segment of the car market nowadays and now, Honda has even developed a SUV racing car with a hybrid powertrain. While SUVs have been used in competition before, this particular one is a special one-off project vehicle which is a sneak preview of the Honda’s technology to come.
Developed by Honda Performance Development (HPD), the racing arm of Honda’s North American subsidiary, the CR-V Hybrid Racer will make its debut at the 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. In 2024, hybrid power units will officially debut in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, bringing electrification to the event.
The MCL36 is McLaren Racing’s new Formula 1 car for the 2022 world championship which sees significantly changed technical regulations. The new regulations – which include a switch to 18-inch wheels – have forced the engineers to completely overhaul their designs but the FIA expects that the racing will become closer and more exciting for fans.
With aerodynamics being crucial to performance, Formula 1 cars are designed with features to generate as much downforce as possible. At the same time, this must be achieved without sacrificing performance so it’s a challenge which engineers faced when developing the MCL36.
Gulf Oil racing car inspiration
The new bodywork, described as having ‘speed and elegance… very vibrant’ by McLaren CEO Zak Brown uses similar colours as before but with a different livery. It has ‘Fluro Papaya’ as the dominant colour which will certainly make the car easily identifiable on the track. The blue (lighter than in 2021) is similar to that used by Gulf Oil in its racing cars before, and the racing link with the oil company goes back to 1968.
More sustainable fuel
McLaren will continue to use the Mercedes power unit in the MCL36 which, apart from being improved, has been retuned to run on E10 fuel instead of E5. This is the most significant regulation change of the hybrid era began in 2014. The change is part of the FIA’s move towards making motorsports a sustainable activity and fuels must use sustainable ethanol. The engineers have had to optimize the combustion process but just how well the engine will run on E10 fuel will only be known during official pre-season testing towards the end of this month.
The drivers are the same ‘Commonwealth pair’ as in 2021 – Daniel Ricciardo from Australia and Lando Norris from Britain. Ricciardo, who finished 8th in the Drivers’ Championship last year, began racing in 2011, while Norris, aged 22, entered F1 with McLaren in 2019.
Lando Norris in the McLaren Racing MCL35M at a round of the 2021 F1 World Championship.
McLaren Racing finished fourth in the championship last year with their highest points finish since 2012 that included one race win during the year. They have 20 world championship titles to their name and will be trying just as hard in 2022 to add another. The new regulations are helpful, in a way, in levelling the playing field again as each team has to now start to make their car more competitive from essentially the same ‘base’. The promise of closer racing could also be advantageous for some drivers.
2022 Arrow McLaren SP Team IndyCar racing cars
IndyCar and Extreme E challengers
Also unveiled at their base in England was the team’s IndyCar and Extreme E challengers. In addition, the livery of team’s esports programme, McLaren Shadow, was also shown to the world. The team also presented the 2022 Arrow McLaren SP team of Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist who will start their 2022 IndyCar campaign at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Florida, on February 27.
Emma Gilmour and Tanner Foust will race with this all-electric rallycar in the Extreme E series this year.
The McLaren Extreme E all-electric off-road racer will be used for the second season of the all-electric off-road series which began last year. The drivers will be Emma Gilmour from New Zealand, and 4-time US rallycross champion, Tanner Foust. Gilmour, who has also taken part in the WRC, becomes the first female McLaren racing driver, in-line with the team’s commitment to showcase and inspire diversity in motorsport. The McLaren Extreme E team will be on the starting line for the first round of the 2022 Extreme E Championship at the Desert X-Prix in Saudi Arabia next weekend.
Whoever said that IndyCar racing was as thrilling as watching a TV test pattern, clearly hadn’t watched last weekend’s Indianapolis 500 that took place at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was an action-packed race that saw rookie, Fernando Alonso, who, despite an impressive form all weekend, was relegated to the sidelines due to engine failure.
Takuma Sato eventually emerged victorious after a hard fought battle and has entered the record books as the first Japanese driver to win the prestigious race. Despite his amazing feat, this year’s race will be remembered for a very different reason.
Most will remember it as a day they witnessed a terrifying crash between pole sitter Scott Dixon and Jay Howard. Howard, driving the No.77 Lucas Oil/Team One Cure Honda hit the barrier outside of turn 2 and careened back towards the track, directly into the path of Scott Dixon’s No.9 Caping World Honda. Dixon with no time to react, plowed into Howard’s car, launching his No.9 car into the air and hitting the fence. Both cars were heavily damaged and debris from the crash was spread all over that section of the track.
Surprisingly, neither Dixon nor Howard sustained any injuries, which is a testament to the safety that is engineered to these types of race cars. The incident caused a 19-minute red flag for wall repair and track cleaning.
Check out the video above to see exactly what contributed to the hair-raising crash that we will not forget anytime soon.
