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Michael Masi has joined the Supercars series in Australia as their new Commission Chair.

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Former Formula 1 race director Michael Masi has denied reports linking him to a role in Supercars.

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Valtteri Bottas declared his first rallying experience as "very good" after finishing fifth in the Arctic Lapland Rally in Finland.

The Mercedes driver would drive a WRC-spec Ford Focus with renowned co-driver Timo Rautiainen and managed to win the eighth stage of the event set in his snowy homeland, after an unsurprisingly steady start.

"It was a very good overall experience," he told Finnish broadcaster MTV. "Our goal was to get to the finish and we did it. We learned a lot of lessons and the pace grew all the time. 

"Everything went as planned. We were able to avoid the biggest mistakes, although there were a few situations."

Bottas finished six places ahead of another F1 name fans will know in former Ferrari driver Mika Salo, indicating how impressive his debut event was.

Now though, his focus will return to the day job with pre-season testing getting underway with Mercedes on February 18th in Barcelona.

Mexican rally star Benito Guerra put in a stunning performance to eclipse 19 fellow superstars of motorsport and win the Race Of Champions for the first time on a thrilling afternoon of non-stop action and entertainment at the Foro Sol, the iconic stadium section of Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez F1 circuit.

Following Team Nordic’s triumph in yesterday’s ROC Nations Cup, all cooperation went out of the window today. The individual Race Of Champions pitted some of the world’s best drivers in a range of identical cars – including the VUHL 05 ROC Edition 2019, Ariel Atom Cup, Stadium Super Truck, RX Supercar Lite, Speed SXS UTV, KTM X-Bow and ROC Car – on a purpose-built pursuit track.

On a sunny afternoon in Mexico City, the Race Of Champions featured surprise after surprise as legends of global motorsport bit the dust. The best-of-three Grand Final boiled down to a battle between Le Mans winner Loïc Duval and home hero Guerra. In the end Guerra saw off his French rival in two straight heats to become ROC Champion of Champions for the first time.

Afterwards a delighted Guerra said: “This feeling is completely amazing. I’m lost for words but really happy. It’s incredible to compete against so many of the world’s top drivers. I had to face many great drivers along the way, not least three F1 drivers in Pierre Gasly, Esteban Gutierrez and Sebastian Vettel. So this is an amazing moment for me, definitely one of the highlights of my career. It was a very tough competition, but I’m really happy to come out as the number one.

“Thank you so much to Fredrik Johnsson and his team for bringing the Race Of Champions to Mexico and for doing such a perfect job putting on this event. Of all the amazing cars we drove, my favourite was the Vuhl. I’m proud to be a Mexican driving a Mexican car in front of a Mexican crowd. Thank you so much to all the crowds for supporting me too, it felt incredible. This win is for Mexico!”

Duval added: “Of course I would have loved to win today, but I’m very happy with my achievement in reaching the Grand Final – and to be beaten by a Mexican in Mexico was special. In these races you never know how to balance being conservative and going for it, but in the end I lost against the best man on the day. All the people were of course cheering for Benito but that was fine by me, it just meant the atmosphere was incredible. Mexico is one of the best countries for supporting motorsport and it’s nice to have this kind of support and to see people waving flags in the crowds.

“This whole weekend has been an awesome experience, to hang out with all these great drivers and to talk about everything, not just racing. I didn’t drink too much last night, which probably helped… But there is always another day – and hopefully I can come back to the Race Of Champions again in the future to go one step further!”

It was a night of glory for Mexican motorsport as the home country provided no fewer than three of the four semi-finalists. In one semi-final, Duval beat Mexico’s 2018 Indy Lights Champion Patricio O’Ward. The other race saw the end of a spirited run by another home star, former F1 racer Esteban Gutierrez, who was beaten by Guerra.

The quarter-finals proved an unhappy round for the heroes of yesterday’s ROC Nations Cup for Team Nordic. ‘Mr Le Mans’ Tom Kristensen lost out to his former Audi team-mate Duval while FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson was beaten by O’Ward.

FIA Formula 3 European Champion Mick Schumacher also went out in the quarter-finals at the hands of Gutierrez, while Red Bull Racing Formula 1 star Pierre Gasly was defeated by Guerra.

The drivers were earlier split into four groups of four, battling for the right to line up in the knockout stages.

Kristensen dominated Group A with three wins out of three, while O’Ward ended up in second place with two wins. That meant reigning ROC Champion of Champions David Coulthard was unable to repeat his heroics from Riyadh last year. He bowed out, despite a single win against Mexican NASCAR driver Abraham Calderon.

Kristoffersson and Duval both progressed from Group B with two wins each. But it was an early goodbye from Brazil’s 2016-2017 Formula E Champion Lucas di Grassi and the USA’s 2017 IndyCar Champion Josef Newgarden, even though they both took a win.

Group C produced one of the afternoon’s biggest cheers when home hero Guerra defeated four-time F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel in the very first heat. The German was later knocked out after losing a dramatic head-to-head with his ROC Nations Cup team-mate Schumacher, who was en route to three wins out of three. Mexican NASCAR ace Daniel Suárez also failed to progress after crashing out of his last race while Guerra made it through with two wins.

Gasly made it through with a perfect record, topping Group D with three wins out of three. He was joined in the quarter-finals by Gutierrez with two wins. But it was a farewell for Italy’s 2018 eROC Champion Enzo Bonito despite an impressive win against Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, who also went out.

Kicking off the afternoon’s action, eight of the drivers were matched up in pairs for a series of Round 1 play-offs. And there were some huge casualties before the group stages even began: Triple Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves was defeated by Duval while triple World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx fell to Calderon. Yesterday’s eROC World Final winner James Baldwin was also knocked out at this stage at the hands of his fellow simracer Bonito while Mexican sportscar great Memo Rojas was beaten by Schumacher.

Calderon earlier won the ROC Mexico shoot-out between eight home drivers to seal the last place on today’s grid, after defeating yesterday’s ROC Mexico winner Ruben Garcia Jr in the final.

Team Nordic’s Tom Kristensen and Johan Kristoffersson are celebrating after they took a stunning victory in the ROC Nations Cup at Mexico City’s Foro Sol.

On a sunny afternoon in the Mexican capital, legends from many of the world’s biggest motor sport series teamed up in pairs to battle for national and regional pride. They raced a mix of cars – including the VUHL 05 ROC Edition 2019, Ariel Atom Cup, Stadium Super Truck, RX Supercar Lite, Speed SXS UTV, KTM X-Bow and ROC Car – on a purpose-built pursuit track.

And what a festival of action it was – as ‘Mr Le Mans’ Kristensen and reigning FIA World RallyX Champion Kristoffersson prevailed in the final against the might of Team Germany. In the first heat Kristensen beat off the challenge of four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel by two races to one. This year's FIA Formula 3 European Champion Mick Schumacher struck back in style for Team Germany by beating Kristoffersson 2-0 in the second heat. But Kristensen, competing in a record-equalling 15th Race Of Champions, was just too strong in the decider, taking the ROC Nations Cup trophy for Team Nordic.

Afterwards a delighted Kristensen said: “That was a very tight fight, as you saw with my race with Sebastian. Then Mick had a brilliant fight with Johan that took it to the decider. He should be very proud of himself on his first visit to the Race Of Champions – and I’m always proud any time I beat a Schumacher.

“So we are both very proud to take Team Nordic to the win today. It was Johan who brought us into the final, because he was very strong early on. He started the day better and I finished the day better, and it worked out in the end. The Mexican crowd has a lot of passion and we loved being here. This was my 15th ROC appearance, equalling Stig Blomqvist’s record. I hope Stig is watching it somewhere and I hope he’s a bit proud of me even if I’m not a Swede!”

Kristoffersson added: “The Race Of Champions is a tough event – to work all the way through the group stages then go to the semi-finals and final. We had some crucial victories along the way and then Tom brought home the biggest trophy. It’s my first time in Mexico and I’m really happy to be here, and to be a part of the event against some of the best drivers in the world. I think it will be a long night but now we have one trophy, we can be a bit more relaxed about the individual event tomorrow. So let’s see what happens but first we have to get through tonight…”

Beaten finalists Team Germany also had a fine afternoon’s work, but they narrowly missed out on bringing home the trophy.

Schumacher said: “This was a great experience, and it was special to share it with Sebastian. He’s done an awesome job and without him we wouldn’t have made it into the final. So we’re happy to have had a good run in the ROC Nations Cup. We did well – not quite enough to get the win, but second place is not too bad. 

“It’s great for the Mexican fans to see so many different drivers and nationalities as well. There has been a lot to take in but I was happy to be here to fight against some legendary drivers all the way to the final. During one race against Helio Castroneves I also took my sister Gina as a passenger. I guess she brought me some luck because I won that one, so I was happy to win with her too. Now we can turn our focus to tomorrow’s individual Race Of Champions.”

Vettel added: “Mick and I can be proud of what we did today. It would have been great to go home with the trophy but it’s never easy to get all the way through the Race Of Champions, and we did well. There’s no shame in losing against Tom and Johan, who are world class drivers and they were just a bit too quick today. In the final I had a good feeling in the rallycross car, but Tom was a bit quicker.

“It’s fun to be here in Mexico, we’re all from the same motorsport family and we don’t get to spend much time together so this is a nice way to do it. As for tomorrow, anything can happen. With the format we have at the Race Of Champions, it’s so competitive you have to get everything right. It’s about adapting to the cars without mistakes and finding the flow. It will largely depend on our form tonight in the bar…

“Most of all it’s obviously very special to have teamed up with Mick today. I remember my first Race Of Champions appearance and looking up to Michael. We all know it would be more special to have Michael here to witness Mick’s performance today, but I’m sure he would be proud of his son.”

The home fans enjoyed cheering on Team Mexico’s F1 star Esteban Gutierrez and 2018 Indy Lights Champion Patricio O’Ward all the way to the semi-finals, before they were finally defeated by Team Nordic. Team Brazil (Helio Castroneves and Lucas di Grassi) also made it as far as the semi-final before they were beaten in straight heats by Team Germany.

The afternoon’s action began with the 10 teams split into three round-robin groups. On a day of match-ups between huge stars of world motor sport, many superstars fell by the wayside at this early stage.

The might of Team France (F1 ace Pierre Gasly and Le Mans star Loïc Duval) were one of the early casualties, defeated in Group A despite a win apiece. Team Infinitum Mexico (Memo Rojas and Benito Guerra) also went out with two wins. Both teams were defeated by Team Germany and Team Mexico, who both progressed with four wins each. Team Germany were placed at the top of the group as a result of having the faster times in the ROC Skills Challenge.

Team Brazil came out on top of Group B with three wins at the expense of two teams who were only decided this morning. Team Sim Racing All Stars (eROC World Final winners Enzo Bonito and James Baldwin) each took a win but went out. Team Telcel Mexico (NASCAR ace Daniel Suarez and this morning's ROC Mexico kart race winner Ruben Garcia Jr) also departed at this stage with a single win between them.

Team Nordic’s Group C triumph with three wins also resulted in some of motorsport’s biggest names leaving the competition. Team Great Britain (David Coulthard and Andy Priaulx) ended up on two wins while Team USA’s pair of IndyCar champions Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden finished with a single victory.

After the ROC Nations Cup finished it was time to raise the national pride stakes even further with a special Mexico versus The World contest. This time the home drivers took on all the other drivers in a head-to-head shootout in both simracing and real cars.

The world team secured early wins on the track with Formula 1 superstars Vettel and Gasly. Mexico hit back through Garcia Jr and Suárez, but ROC Nations Cup finalists Kristoffersson and Schumacher sealed the victory before the world team went on a lap of honour of the Foro Sol stadium.

Earlier in the day James Baldwin came out on top in the eROC World Final between some of the world’s fastest gamers. The action took place both in real-life ROC Cars on the Riyadh track and in the virtual world of Assetto Corsa. The Briton saw off the challenge of fellow countryman Brendon Leigh in an enthralling final to win his place on the ROC Nations Cup grid. Sebastian Job and Nils Naujoks also performed well but were knocked out in the group stages.

Before today’s action the drivers took part in the ROC Skills Challenge, a special course set up near the Foro Sol track featuring chicanes, slaloms, 360° turns and parallel parking. There was an early triumph for Vettel, whose time of 42.72s edged Kristoffersson into second place by little over a tenth of a second.

British simracer James Baldwin has come out on top in the 2019 eROC World Final, seeing off strong competition from some of the world’s fastest gamers at Mexico City’s Foro Sol.

Baldwin will now compete for Team Sim Racing All Stars alongside Italy’s Enzo Bonito (last year’s eROC Champion) in the ROC Nations Cup later today against some of the world’s greatest racing drivers. The two simracers will also go head-to-head for a place in the group stages of tomorrow’s individual Race Of Champions.

After last year’s eROC was a purely invitational event, this year the competition was opened up to anyone on the planet in a bid to find the overall ‘best of the best’. Many of the world’s finest gamers entered a six-week competition to win a ticket to Mexico before a 32-driver online shootout, won by G2 Esports Sim Racing’s Sebastian Job.

The other simracers in action included Britain’s Brendon Leigh, the 2018 F1 Esports World Champion for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports, who was the runner-up in last year’s eROC World Final.

Also in the competition was Germany’s Nils Naujoks, who was offered a wild card based both on the strength of his performance in the eROC World Qualifying and his impressive career in gaming over the last 15 years – including five ESL Pro Series titles.

Baldwin, the 2018 Renault eSports Champion and Veloce eSports racer, had earlier won December’s eROC Invitational, beating off 16 invited champions from across all forms of Sim Racing.

The eROC World Final action took place both in the virtual world of Assetto Corsa and in a mix of real-life ROC machinery on the Foro Sol ROC track itself – after ROC Academy training by stunt legend Terry Grant. And it all happened under the watchful gaze of Grant himself plus two of the greatest drivers in history: Formula 1 legend David Coulthard and ‘Mr Le Mans’ Tom Kristensen.

Despite limited experience in real racing cars, part of the challenge involved setting a lap with the champion drivers judging the simracers on a range of criteria including track awareness and positioning, car control and outright pace. The gamers were more at home in the other part of the challenge, which involved simracing on the Assetto Corsa version of the ROC Mexico track.

After the scores for both sections were totted up, Baldwin and Leigh progressed to the final. The action took place both in real-life KTM X-Bows on the Foro Sol track and on the sims, but in the end Baldwin prevailed.

Baldwin said: “It feels unbelievable. I’m still trying to process it. This morning I knew the assessment didn’t go too well yesterday, so I knew I had to make it up on the sim and in the real-life car on the track. In the end everything went really well, it just went how I thought it would in my mind. I had a positive mental attitude and it paid off. As for this afternoon, I don’t know what to expect, but I’m so excited. Let’s get on with it!”

Last year’s eROC Champion Enzo Bonito had some words of advice for his new team-mate on Team Sim Racing All Stars ahead of the ROC Nations Cup.

Bonito said: “The main thing is to remember to enjoy it because a chance like this doesn’t come along very often. So the eROC World Final is great news for everyone who comes from simracing. Last year was one of the first experiences I’ve had in a proper racing car and I had no idea what to expect. At first I was completely lost, but Terry Grant gave us exactly the tips we need, helping us understand everything.

“With more time in the car you start getting the feeling, to the extent that at times it felt like driving a simulator. So I just did what I’d been doing at home… if anything the feeling was even better because the feedback doesn’t just come through your hands but your whole body. If James can take some tips from simracing and transfer it to the real racing, like I did last year, he’ll enjoy it and he’ll be fine!”

ROC President Fredrik Johnsson added: “Congratulations to James on winning the eROC World Final. It’s exciting to see how well the gamers have transferred their skills from the simulator to the real track – not least thanks to Terry Grant’s ROC Academy training – and today’s action shows how far they’ve all come.

“This was the second eROC World Final but it is still just the beginning. Last year’s inaugural event was purely invitational but this year we were determined to expand the search to find the ‘best of the best’ from all over the world. Now we aim to keep opening up eROC to an even wider audience. Whether you play on your mobile, iPad or anything else, the whole planet will have the chance to compete – and if you are good enough, you could find yourself racing at the Race Of Champions against some of the world’s best drivers in identical cars…”

Driving greats from all over the world have arrived in Mexico City ahead of this weekend’s Race Of Champions – and today they put in their first practice laps of the brand new ROC pursuit track at Mexico City’s Foro Sol, the iconic stadium section forming part of Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Formula 1 circuit.

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Formula 1 racer Pierre Gasly and Le Mans 24 Hours winner Loïc Duval have become the latest drivers to sign up for the Race Of Champions – on January 19-20, 2019 at the Foro Sol, the iconic stadium section forming part of Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Formula 1 circuit.

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Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and 2016-2017 Formula E Champion Lucas di Grassi have become the latest drivers confirmed to compete at the Race Of Champions – on January 19-20, 2019 at the Foro Sol, the amphitheatre forming part of Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Formula 1 circuit.

Castroneves and di Grassi will join forces for Team Brazil, competing against a field featuring Formula 1 legends Sebastian Vettel and David Coulthard, ‘Mr Le Mans’ Tom Kristensen, reigning FIA World Rally X Champion Johan Kristoffersson plus FIA F3 European Champion Mick Schumacher and Mexican racers Memo Rojas, Daniel Suárez, Benito Guerra and Patricio O’Ward.

Helio Castroneves is one of the greatest drivers in the history of IndyCar. He became the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 back-to-back in his first two starts at the Brickyard in 2001 and 2002, then he took a third win in 2009 for good measure. He took a total of 30 IndyCar wins and finished as the IndyCar Series runner-up four times prior to his retirement last year. The Brazilian now races in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – and he remains well known outside of motor sport for his triumph in the 2007 American TV Series Dancing with the Stars.

His record at the Race Of Champions is strong too, having reached the final of the ROC Nations Cup earlier this year in Riyadh in partnership with Juan Pablo Montoya for Team Latin America (see picture below) Now he will aim to go one step further for Team Brazil alongside his new team-mate Lucas di Grassi.

Castroneves said: “The Race Of Champions is a tremendous event which gives us the chance to race in different places and different cultures, so it’s a big honour to be invited back again. The cool thing about this event is that every driver has a chance, no matter what they’re used to racing. The variety of cars means there’s something suited to everyone, whether they race in open-wheelers, Rally X or NASCAR. So it really is all about the talent. I really look forward to putting on a great show for all the fans in Mexico City and I’m sure the atmosphere will be amazing.”

Former McLaren and Red Bull driver David Coulthard has announced the launch of a new all-female racing category to be known as W Series for 2019.

In recent years, efforts have been underway to try and increase the participation of women in motorsport with only Susie Wolff, Tatiana Calderon and Carmen Jorda having roles within Formula 1 teams.

Wolff, who is now team boss at the Venturi Formula E team, has been the most active advocate with her 'Dare to be Different' association, however, it is another racing Scot that is the driving force behind this latest push.

"We at W Series firmly believe that female and male racing drivers can compete with one another on equal terms given the same opportunity," said Coulthard.

"At the moment, however, women racing drivers tend to reach a ‘glass ceiling’ at around the GP3/Formula 3 level on their learning curve, often as a result of a lack of funding rather than a lack of talent.

"That’s why an all-new all-female single-seater motor racing series is required – W Series – to establish a competitive and constructive motorsport habitat in which our drivers will be able to equip themselves with the necessary skill-set eventually to move on up to existing high-level mainstream racing series and compete with the best male drivers on equal terms."

The car that will be driven is a Tatuus F3-spec machine with six 30-minute races to take place at various circuits across Europe.

To ensure only the most talented female drivers are present a three-man panel has been created to select who will get a seat. Coulthard will be one alongside former McLaren team manager Dave Ryan and Red Bull designer Adrian Newey.

A prize fund of $1.5million is up for grabs with $500k going to the eventual champion to help her make that next step up the ladder towards F1.

W Series CEO is Catherine Bond Muir and she hopes the project can be a catalyst to end the male domination seen on racing grids everywhere.

"There are just too few women competing in single-seaters series at the moment," he stated.

"W Series will increase that number very significantly in 2019, thereby powerfully unleashing the potential of many more female racing drivers.

"W Series drivers will become global superstars – inspirational role models for women everywhere – and every organisation, every company, every sponsor and indeed every single person who helps W Series’ winners and champions achieve those ground-breaking successes will be able to celebrate their part in it, publicly, to lasting worldwide acclaim.

"W Series is an inspiring innovation whose time is now."

Former Indianapolis 500 winner and Champ Car champion Gil de Ferran has suggested America's best racing drivers were lost to stock car racing, such as NASCAR, in response to a claim made by Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner.

Last week, the team principal at Formula 1's American team suggested hiring a driver from the United States is a priority for Haas, however, currently, there are no drivers "ready" to make that step.

That drew a stern response from some figures including Mario Andretti criticising the claim and de Ferran also disagreed, pointing to the likes of former Manor driver Alexander Rossi and IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden, but also admitted in single-seaters opportunities have been missed.

"I think that a lot of the young American talent has grown, but is focused on the other branch of racing - stock car racing," he said at the Autosport International show last weekend.

"Early on they took this branch and to be fair it is very difficult, [but] the pool [of drivers in single seaters] is smaller than what it could be."

Given the lack of success, American drivers have had in attempting to reach F1 via GP3, F2 in Europe compared to staying at home and focusing on IndyCar it was put to de Ferran there is also now a stigma against those who leave the States.

"I think it's more to do with the individual than anything else," he responded. "You had [Juan Pablo] Montoya who was very successful on both sides and [Jacques] Villeneuve who won a world championship.

"It's down to the individual guys. In the same way that Nigel [Mansell] went over there [to the US] and killed it."