Motorsport news

iRacing has announced a comprehensive refresh of the Mazda MX-5 ahead of the 2026 Season 4 launch. The update will include significant revisions to the car's physics model, tyre behaviour, suspension tuning, aerodynamics and visual appearance. The Mazda MX-5 will remain part of iRacing's free base content offering, ensuring continued accessibility for all members.

The 68th Monte Erice hillclimb in Sicily was stopped following a serious accident involving multiple people. During the TCR class start sequence at 11:37, car number 54 driven by Marco Nicoletti went off track and lost control at checkpoint 9. The incident led to the suspension of the event.

iRacing has unveiled a fresh lineup of unofficial series for Week 13, combining revivals of community favourites with newly designed events aimed at delivering varied racing experiences. The platform responded to user requests by curating a diverse slate of competitions across multiple vehicle classes and track types. Two returning series headline the update. Battle of the Little Wings brings together lower-formula machinery—FIA F4, Super Formula Lights, and Skip Barber Formula 2000—on shorter circuits, with drivers competing both within and across class categories. Ridiculousness returns with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship prototypes and GT3s tackling tight oval layouts at Bristol, Dover, and Milwaukee. Six new series expand the Week 13 offering. The Doctor's Office pairs the Dallara P217, Ligier JS P320, and Ferrari 296 Challenge on iconic road courses. To The Streets focuses on precision driving with the Dallara IL-15 on street circuits, with plans to rotate vehicle types in future seasons. Manufacturer Madness groups multiple Ford models—stock cars, GT cars, and sports cars—on American road and street layouts, with different manufacturers featured in subsequent seasons. Incident Limit Challenge penalises every contact and corner-cut with drive-through penalties, using the Toyota GR86 at Lime Rock Park's Chicanes layout. Storm Chasers emphasises wet-weather performance, featuring the BMW M2 Racing (G87) on Oulton Park's International layout in 15-minute sprints. Free for All rotates between licence types using included content; the current season features the FIA Cross Car, Pro 2 Lite, and Volkswagen Beetle Lite on dirt road courses. The full Week 13 schedule is available on the iRacing website.

The sixth round of the Rundstrecken-Challenge Nürburgring (RCN) 2026 took place under ideal conditions, with sunshine, a dry track and cool temperatures. Nearly 170 competitors tackled the 15-lap "Rhein-Ruhr" endurance test on the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife. Michael Luther and Markus Schmickler (BMW M4 GT4) claimed their third overall victory of the season. "The driving was fantastic at the start and lap times were really quick," Luther reported. "Later, as traffic built up and there were some incidents, we just had to manage our lead." David Vogt (Opel Astra TCR), partnered this time by experienced co-driver Marc Basseng, crossed the line 35 seconds adrift. "We learned a lot and were quick again," Vogt said. Reinhold Renger and Marc Andreas Riedl (Porsche Cayman GT4 CS) completed the podium. The day's biggest story came in the championship standings. Sven Markert and Lars Harbeck (BMW 320i) won class H3 despite incurring a substantial time penalty for incorrectly executing their confirmation lap through a Code-60 zone. The Berlin pair's class victory was enough to move them to the top of the RCN championship table, displacing previous leaders Jens Schneider and Robin Reimer, who finished third in class R4. "We thought our championship hopes were over after we messed up the confirmation lap," Markert said. "So we were incredibly relieved when we saw the final result." RCN series manager Willi Hillebrand praised the turnout and conditions. "A strong grid in excellent weather, and the championship is wide open again. We're looking forward to the final rounds."

A club racing event at Salzburgring was marked by multiple interruptions and a dramatic incident as Alex Mohr secured victory in a race that required two separate restarts. The Austrian circuit hosted an eventful contest that saw the action halted twice during the running, disrupting the flow of competition. Among the notable moments was a significant crash involving a vehicle rollover, which contributed to one of the stoppages and added to the chaotic nature of the afternoon's racing. Despite the disruptions and challenging conditions, Mohr managed to navigate through the turbulent race to claim the top step of the podium at the Salzburg venue.

NVIDIA's DLSS 5 technology is beginning to reach the sim racing community through community-developed mods and third-party tools, offering potential performance gains for popular racing simulators. The technology, which uses neural rendering to upscale lower-resolution images while maintaining visual quality, is being implemented experimentally across multiple titles. Community developers are working to integrate DLSS 5 support where official implementations may not yet exist, expanding access beyond games with native vendor support. Sim racers interested in the technology can explore available implementations and supported titles through community resources documenting current DLSS 5 adoption in the racing sim ecosystem.

Five drivers separated by just five seconds set the tone for a closely contested Monte Erice hillclimb, with race day scheduled for Sunday. Luigi Fazzino topped the practice timesheets in his Osella PA30 Evo, posting 3'01"54 on the second timed run, but the field behind him is bunched tightly. Franco Caruso in a Nova Proto NP01 trails by only 76 hundredths of a second, while Francesco Conticelli, also driving a Nova Proto NP01, sits third, 2.41 seconds back. Achille Lombardi (Osella PA30) and Michele Puglisi (Nova Proto NP03) complete the top five, with Puglisi notably competitive despite running a 1150cc engine against the 3000cc machinery of his rivals. Practice conditions were warm and dry, drawing a substantial crowd to the Sicilian mountain course. Race director Fabrizio Fondacci and his deputy Francesco Sanclemente oversaw proceedings with strict safety protocols in place. Organisers expect a full house on Sunday as the event shapes up to be one of the most evenly matched editions in recent years. The 2024 Monte Erice counts towards both the Italian National Hillclimb Championship and the Italian Historic and Classic Hillclimb Championship. In the historic categories, Harald Mössler (Austria, Darek Mk3) led Group 1 practice in 3'50"67, Marcello Calandrino (Porsche 911 Carrera RSR) topped Group 2 in 3'55"39, Salvatore Caristi (Fiat 128) led Group 3 in 3'48"26, and Totò Riolo (PRC A6), the national championship leader, set the fastest Group 4 time of 3'32"00. Automobile Club Trapani, the event organiser, renewed its partnership with Rotary Trapani Erice for the "End Polio Now" campaign. At the finish area, spectators were invited to experience the Monte Erice course via a detailed simulator provided in collaboration with Sim Siciliarally. Race day begins at 08:00 with the first run, followed by a second timed ascent. The provincial road connecting Valderice and Erice will close to traffic from 05:30, with a brief window until 06:45 for essential journeys. Full closure takes effect from 07:00 until the official start.

Kris Meeke has taken a commanding lead at Rally Ceredigion, the penultimate round of the FIA European Rally Championship, after a strong Saturday performance. The Toyota driver capitalised on a mistake by Teemu Suninen on the opening stage of the day to build a 20.5-second advantage heading into Sunday's final four stages. Miko Marczyk holds third place, with fellow Polish driver Jakub Matulka in fourth. Meeke's breakthrough came on the opening stage of Saturday morning, the 12.02 km Aberffrwd test. The Irishman set the fastest time while Suninen, driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, spun on the exit of a tight right-hand corner and lost over 10 seconds. The incident handed Meeke an 11.9-second gain. Suninen fought back on the 20.71 km Cwm Elan stage, posting a time 5.7 seconds faster than Meeke to reduce the deficit to seven seconds before the midday service in Aberystwyth. However, Meeke regained the initiative over the remaining stages, winning three consecutive tests to extend his lead to 19.4 seconds before the final double pass through the Aberystwyth street stage, where he finished 20.5 seconds clear. Despite losing the lead, Suninen remains in a strong position to secure his first ERC title. The Finn can clinch the championship on Sunday if he finishes second or higher, provided that Andrea Mabellini—his only remaining rival for the crown—finishes no higher than seventh and scores no more than one point on the Power Stage. Mabellini currently sits seventh, over a minute behind the leader. Marczyk trails Meeke by 41.5 seconds, holding a 27.5-second buffer over Matulka. Max McRae occupies fifth place in a Fabia RS Rally2, eight seconds behind Matulka and on course for his best ERC result to date. In the ERC3 category, Ville Vatanen leads in a Ford Fiesta Rally3 and needs only to finish the rally to secure the title. The FIA ERC4 and Junior ERC battle remains tight, with Timo Schulz holding a 0.8-second advantage over Tom Heindrichs after the Aberystwyth street stage repeats. Sunday's finale comprises four stages totalling 63.80 km, beginning with the 20.64 km Gorsgoch test at 08:15 local time, followed by Ty Glyn, a repeat of Gorsgoch, and a final pass through Ty Glyn as the Power Stage.

Alberto Scarafone has secured the Italian Supersalita (hillclimb) championship at the 61st edition of the Trofeo Luigi Fagioli, held on the roads of Gola del Bottaccione near Gubbio in Umbria. The event, often referred to as the "Monte Carlo of hillclimbs," served as the opening finale of the 2026 Italian Supersalita Championship season. The 4,150-metre course climbs from Gubbio to Madonna della Cima. Scarafone's victory on a perfect late-August Sunday confirmed his status as the championship's leading contender as the season progresses.

The 11th Monte Erice Storica hillclimb will take place on Sunday, 6 September, with the first of two timed runs scheduled to start at 08:00. The event, organised by the Automobile Club Trapani in Erice (TP), forms the seventh round of both the Italian Historic Car Speed Hillclimb Championship and the Tricolore Historic Car series. Recognaissance runs have been completed ahead of the competitive action. The two-run format will be decisive for both championship standings as the season reaches its midpoint.

Luigi Fazzino set the fastest time in practice at the Monte Erice hillclimb, posting 3'01"54 aboard an Osella PA30 Evo during the second timed run. The field remained tightly bunched, with Franco Caruso in a Nova Proto NP01 trailing by just 0.76 seconds in second place. Competition remained close throughout the session, with multiple drivers separated by narrow margins as the event continued to develop.

iRacing's Week 13 event for the 2026 Season 3 will serve as a testing ground for new features and race formats ahead of the season proper. The week combines community-focused racing with experimental mechanics designed to refresh the competitive experience across multiple series. Weather conditions will play a more dynamic role this week. A new Weather Reroll system will introduce variable atmospheric conditions throughout the week. The 13th Week Ferrari 296 Challenge and GT3 Challenge will see weather changes once daily at 00:00 GMT, while the 13th Week Porsche Cup Series will feature weather rerolls before every race. The iTested Series expands its car roster to 17 vehicles with the addition of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH, joining the existing GTP, LMP2, and GT3 categories. The series will also introduce multiple pace car testing configurations across Fuji Speedway, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Notably, participation will affect Safety Rating only, leaving iRating unaffected for drivers pursuing the iTested award. Two high-profile series receive format overhauls. The 13th Week Porsche Cup Series adopts a structure inspired by the Porsche Esports Supercup, featuring one qualifying lap, an inversion of the top eight qualifiers before a seven-lap sprint, and a 14-lap feature race without inversion. The 13th Week NASCAR iRacing Truck Series will run at full race distance—175 laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway—matching real-world event length. Several other Week 13 series will remain at a single track throughout the week, mirroring the format of standard 12-week seasons.