Motorsport news

The 2026 edition of the Monte Erice hillclimb has confirmed its status as one of Italy's most popular grassroots motorsport events, with 260 crews formally registered for the competition organised by the Automobile Club Trapani. The entry list comprises 153 modern cars and 107 historic vehicles. The historic category has set a new record for the event, surpassing its previous participation mark for the first time in the hillclimb's history.

The RENNSPORT racing simulator is entering a new development phase with revised priorities centred on core performance improvements rather than feature expansion. The studio has signalled that artificial intelligence, force feedback fidelity, and overall stability will form the foundation of upcoming work. The shift reflects a common pattern in sim racing development, where refinement of existing systems often yields greater player satisfaction than incremental content additions. Enhanced AI behaviour, improved haptic feedback through steering wheels, and reduced technical issues are areas that directly affect the driving experience across all content.

iRacing's 2026 Season 3, Week 12 (September 1–7) features a full calendar of racing across multiple disciplines, highlighted by the iRacing Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway as part of the NASCAR iRacing Series. The special event recreates the real-world Labor Day tradition at the historic oval, available in both fixed and open setup configurations using current NASCAR Cup Series machinery. The NASCAR iRacing Series continues its 36-week campaign at Darlington for Week 27, with fixed-setup races scheduled for Wednesday 21:00 GMT, Friday 01:00 GMT, Saturday 10:00 and 16:00 GMT, and Monday 01:00 GMT. Open-setup sessions run Thursday 01:00 and 18:00 GMT, Saturday 01:00 GMT, and Sunday 14:00 GMT. Elsewhere, the iRacing Grand Prix Tour reaches Week 15 of 24 at Autodromo Nazionale Monza with the Mercedes-AMG F1 W13 E Performance, while the INDYCAR iRacing Series concludes its 17-week season at WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca. Dirt racing takes centre stage with the Dirt 410 Sprint Car Tour at Huset's Speedway (Week 29 of 37) and the Dirt Super Late Model Tour at Eldora Speedway (Week 31 of 39). Short-track enthusiasts can compete in the NASCAR Modified Tour at New Smyrna Speedway and the Super Late Model Tour at Stafford Motor Speedway. The Vintage Grand Prix Tour returns with the Lotus 79 at Suzuka International Racing Course for Week 11 of 16. Daily racing series include the FIA F4 Esports Regional Tours and GT3 Regional Tours, which serve as qualification pathways for their respective global championships. New for 2026 is the FIA Cross Car Championship at rookie level, featuring mixed-surface rallycross racing at Daytona. The Ring Meister series runs the Pontiac Solstice at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, while Draft Master Challenge by SIMAGIC features 1987-spec NASCAR Cup Series cars at Daytona. Rain Master Challenge by Podium1 offers wet-weather GT3 racing at Spa-Francorchamps.

Retro-styled top-down racer Pretend Cars Racing 2 has officially left Steam Early Access, bringing its arcade motorsport gameplay and track creation tools to full release at a budget price point. The title combines classic isometric racing aesthetics with modern features including a built-in track editor, allowing players to design and share custom circuits alongside the game's existing content library.

Krzysztof Hołowczyc and Łukasz Kurzeja won the 18th edition of AKPOL Baja Poland, extending the Polish driver's record tally in the event to eleven victories. Competing in an X-raid MINI JCW Rally 3.0i, the crew dominated the special stages around Szczecin and Drawski Polygon to secure first place ahead of Michał and Julita Małuszyńscy in a Toyota Hilux EVO, with Adam Kuś and Maciej Giemza rounding out the podium in a Taurus EVO MAX. The 2024 edition served as the fourth round of the FIA Baja Europe Cup, the sixth round of the FIA Central Europe Zone Championship, the fifth round of the Polish Cross Country Rally Championship, and the third round of the Czech championship. A total of 194 competitors from 13 nations started the event, with 81 vehicles and 150 drivers reaching the finish. The FIA Baja Europe Cup round covered 646.23 kilometres, including five special stages totalling 366.60 kilometres. Kuś and Giemza won Friday's prologue in Szczecin, completing the 8.85-kilometre stage in 7:23.2, with Hołowczyc and Kurzeja 2.3 seconds adrift. However, the prologue determined starting order rather than contributing to the overall classification. Saturday's three special stages on Drawski Polygon proved decisive, covering 314.44 kilometres combined. Despite a wheel change that cost approximately three minutes, Hołowczyc moved into the lead by the second pass through the polygon, winning that stage by over four minutes and never relinquishing top spot. He won four of the five special stages overall and finished with a margin of 6:36.1 over the Małuszyńskis, with Kuś and Giemza a further 7:27.7 back. In the Polish Cross Country Rally Championship, the podium remained unchanged, with Hołowczyc and Kurzeja also topping the FIA Central Europe Zone Championship and Czech championship classifications. Benediktas Vanagas and Aisvydas Paliukenas finished fourth overall and were the highest-classified regular FIA Baja Europe Cup participants, though their Toyota caught fire immediately after the final stage due to a hydraulic line failure near the exhaust; the crew extinguished the blaze and saved the vehicle. In the motorcycle category, Kamil Piątek overcame a 54.2-second deficit to Marcin Talaga on Sunday's final stage, ultimately winning by 1:36.2.

iRacing is preparing its largest single-player feature overhaul to date, with developers revealing details of a long-awaited career mode designed to compete directly with Assetto Corsa and the Gran Turismo series. The centrepiece of the announcement is how content access will be handled: the entire library of cars and tracks available in iRacing will be usable within career mode without requiring separate purchases. Greg Hill, senior vice president and executive producer at iRacing, confirmed that the career mode will be included as part of the standard subscription at no additional cost. Players will gain access to the specific cars and tracks needed at each career stage, even if those items are not owned on their main account. The career progression system will guide drivers from grassroots motorsport through to top-tier categories, with stronger vehicles, tougher AI opponents, longer races, and new championships unlocking as players advance. However, the content model differs from traditional unlocking mechanics. Cars and tracks provided during a career stage will only remain available for that specific phase; once a career stage concludes, access to those items expires unless the player has purchased them separately. Crucially, vehicles and circuits accessed through career mode cannot be transferred to standard online racing. This approach addresses a significant concern for players considering a paid simulator: progression through the developer-designed career path requires no additional spending. The feature set at launch will include seven career types and adjustable difficulty levels, with the option to retry specific objectives. Multiple attempts will negatively impact the career classification score relative to other players. Hill noted that sponsor management, driver-owner mechanics, and team budget systems will not be available at launch, but iRacing intends to expand the career mode post-release with additional career types and features. While the career mode is technically complete, no specific release date has been announced. If delivered as described, the feature could substantially reshape iRacing's market position, transforming it from primarily a competitive online platform into a viable alternative for players seeking a traditional single-player career experience.

iRacing has introduced Physics Islands, a technical optimisation designed to reduce CPU physics processing overhead by more than 50 percent in large-field races. The feature is intended to free up computational resources while maintaining simulation fidelity. According to the platform, Physics Islands will also create headroom for future enhancements to physics calculations, input handling, and force feedback systems. The optimisation addresses a long-standing performance bottleneck in online racing simulators, where CPU load scales significantly with the number of active vehicles on track.

The 44th Coppa Sila hillclimb, organised by the Automobile Club Cosenza, enters its decisive phase with the race scheduled for Sunday, 30 August at 10:00. Competitors will tackle the demanding 9.5-kilometre Silan course in a single timed ascent, with no opportunity for a second attempt. Two reconnaissance runs on Saturday allowed drivers and teams to study the selective Calabrian track and refine their setups ahead of the main event. Low grip conditions during the morning sessions made interpretation of the course particularly challenging, placing emphasis on driving precision, chassis setup and the ability to find the optimal pace quickly. Samuele Cassibba set the day's fastest time of 5'05.16 in the second reconnaissance run, piloting a Nova Proto V8 3000. Francesco Leogrande followed closely in an Osella PA, drawing on his familiarity with the track's most treacherous sections, including the dramatic forest straight. Ettore Bassi in a Nova Proto NP 03 described the course as one of Italy's most selective challenges. The event forms the 12th round of the Italian Mountain Speed Championship South and carries the Domenico Scola Trophy. Competition spans multiple categories: Gabry Driver impressed in the GT class aboard a Ferrari 458, while Antonio Aquila showed strong pace in the Racing Start group in a Seat Leon. Domenico Tomaselli (Peugeot 106 R, E1 class), Felice Romano (Osella PA21, CN group) and Adolfo Eusebio (Audi SR3, TCR) also featured among the standout performers. The Italian Two-Cylinder Championship will see Angelo Mercuri and Mirko Paletta, both in Fiat 500s, competing for honours, while historic cars included Ciro Barbaccia in an Osella PA9 and Luigi Perrotta in a Citroën Saxo. Race start is at 10:00 on Sunday. Prize presentations will take place in the closed park 30 minutes after the final competitor in each class crosses the finish line.

The third edition of the Polish Rally Legend concluded with a single-day competitive format on Saturday, featuring nine special stages divided into three loops across 50 kilometres of racing. Following a parade section on Friday, crews tackled three stages repeatedly: the 5.1-kilometre Polanica Zdrój, the 5.4-kilometre Spalona, and the 6.3-kilometre Duszniki-Zieleniec test. Guest entries Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak in a Citroën C3 WRC set the fastest times across all stages, finishing over a minute ahead of Adam Sroka and Rafał Piotrowski in a Škoda Fabia, but the main competition among registered participants proved far more competitive. Initially, Miklós Kazár and Tamas Begala in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX led the field, building a 20-second advantage by the Duszniki-Zieleniec stage. However, a 30-second penalty for arriving late at a service point shifted momentum. Patrycjusz Grygo and Mariusz Kupiec in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI capitalised on the setback, moving to the front and ultimately securing victory by 5.7 seconds over Kazár and Begala. Bartosz Pawarski and Kamil Kuklewski in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX completed the podium, 10 seconds further back. Grygo's win marked a significant return to rally competition after a nearly two-year absence. In class results, Tomasz Czopik and Małgorzata Kosińska won the C5 4×4 category in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V, while Michał Streer and Jakub Wróbel took the K1 class in a Renault Clio. A total of 72 crews were classified at the finish.

iRacing has confirmed that its Career Mode will provide access to all necessary cars and tracks for player progression without requiring additional purchases beyond the base subscription. The feature will support seven distinct career paths, allowing drivers to choose their own progression route through the sim's racing ladder.

The 44th Coppa Sila hillclimb has begun in Cosenza, with several Calabrian drivers competing prominently. Two reconnaissance runs over the weekend allowed competitors to familiarise themselves with the challenging local course. The event forms the 12th round of the Italian Southern Mountain Speed Championship, with the Domenico Trophy also at stake.

Imperial Racing Division secured multiple podium finishes at the 61st Trofeo Luigi Fagioli, the first of two finals in the Italian National Hillclimb Championship, over the weekend. Salvatore Tortora drove the Peugeot 308 run by AC Racing and entered under Scuderia Ateneo colours to second place in Race 1, then claimed victory in Race 2 and set a new class record, strengthening his position in the RSCUP category. Antonio Aquila, representing Scuderia Vesuvio, finished second in Race 1 and won Race 2 in the Seat Leon run by SP Racing, keeping the Racing Start title fight alive ahead of the final round at Caltanissetta. Gianni Loffredo of Scuderia Vesuvio took second in the RS 1.6 Turbo class driving a Mini JCW prepared by Fratelli Abate, while Antonio Scorza returned to action in a Cupra and secured second place in TCR, rebuilding his confidence with the car. Imperial Racing Division will return to competition this weekend at the Coppa Sila, a hillclimb counting towards the Southern Italian National Mountain Speed Championship. The team will field Stefano Medaglia from Scuderia Cosenza Corse in a Mini JCW and Aquila again in the Seat Leon ST.