Motorsports
Leb won the 2nd special drawing at the Dakar Rally and reduced the difference to Al Attiya
Sebastian Leb won the second test of the Dakar and reduced his lead over champion Nassel Al Attiyah to 9:16 – Sam Sunderland from GasGas became motorcycle champion.
The nine-time rally world champion Leb remained unbeaten with the buggy of the Bahrain Raid Xtreme – prepared by Prodrive – on the 338 km of the 2nd Special Dakar Rally 2022 from Hale to Al Artavia.
At each time control point, he steadily increased his difference and thus paid 3:28 minutes faster for the goal than the factory Toyota Nassel Al Attiya, and so the Frenchman – who won the Racing Special for the first time since 2019 – reduced the difference to the champion, driver Qatar, at 9:16 minutes.
Today’s test to Al Artavia was planned as a marathon along with tomorrow’s 255 km, which means that tonight’s teams are not allowed to intervene outside. Whatever repairs were needed, the participants had to do it themselves.
However, heavy rain on Sunday changed the organizers’ plans and thus the location of today’s camp – as the original from Al Artavia was flooded – and consequently the service was approved by the teams.
6 and 8 minutes behind Leb, with the third and fourth class of the day, followed by Carlos Sainth and Stefan Petrancell. The Spaniard and French countered Audi after yesterday’s disastrous day – when Sainth spent more than two hours looking for a time control point and Petrancell lost nearly six hours by destroying the rear axle and suspension of the Audi RS electric Q e-tron.
The German car has thus shown – on its debut in the Dakar – that it has the speed right from the start and, it seems, the reliability it has so far. But Audi has no hope of winning, as Sainth is 33rd, 2 hours and 24 minutes away, while Petrancell, with the penalty of 16 minutes for not finishing yesterday’s special, is now 68th, 23:45 hours behind is.
Lucio Alvarez, also from Overdrive Toyota, climbed to third place but is more than 40 minutes away from Champion Al Attiya. Toyota Gazoo Racing’s latest counterpart and former Dakar winner with VW, Ziniel de Viger, climbed to 4th place overall and a half-minute away from Alvarez today at the age of 8.
On the motorcycles, Juan Barreda Bort was the one to make year one today in the Honda CRF 450 rally – but it was GasGas’ Sam Sunderland who finished right behind him who climbed to the top of the overall standings. Yesterday’s champion Daniel Saunders, also from GasGas, lost too much time in preparation and then with a navigation error. It was only 28th, 35 minutes away.
Yamaha factory Adrien van Beveren climbed to second place in the overall standings, despite losing 11 minutes to Spanish veteran Barreda Bort in the eighth year of the day – just 2:51 minutes behind the 2017 Sunderland winner.
After the 10-minute penalty against Saunders, which caused him to drop from third to seventh place in the overall standings, behind Sunderland and Van Beveren, Matthias Walkner’s trio concluded the overall standings with the first KTM. The Austrian remains in the fight for victory, although he was only 14 years old today, and kept the difference to the top at 4 minutes.
After a bad start yesterday with the first year (the 28th victory of the special in Dakar), Bareda Bort just entered the top ten today, 20 minutes behind the top of the motorcycles, while the dream of a good result for the former MotoGP star Danilo Petrucci ended the race today because of mechanical problems with the Tech 3 team’s KTM.
As for the Greek participation, Vangelis Bersis and Fotis Koutsoumpos stayed in 60th place in the Dakar Classic category, as the time gap after yesterday’s flood was so tight that the organizers had to cancel today’s special for this category. The two Greeks took advantage of the fact to repair the instrument that displays the average hourly speeds, resulting in yesterday’s rates.
Source: sport24
Jessica Martinez is an author at Sportish, a publication dedicated to sports news and analysis. She covers various topics related to sports and provides insightful commentary on the latest developments in the world of sports.
Motorsports
Red Bull finally decides on Verstappen’s team
After several significant personnel changes in the team, Max Verstappen has finally learned who he will be working with in the Red Bull pits for the new season.
At the end of last year, it became known that three key members of the four-time world champion’s headquarters had left. According to De Telegraaf, Jeff Ayton replaced Verstappen’s vehicle control engineer Michael Manning, who left the team after the 2025 season. He has previously worked with other Red Bull drivers and worked temporarily with Verstappen in Manning’s absence last year.
Verstappen’s former engine mechanic David Mart has moved to Audi and his replacement at Red Bull has not yet been determined. Performance engineer Tom Hart is also leaving the team; He will join Williams but will continue to work with the Milton Keynes-based team for a while.
Changes also occurred among mechanics. After Matt Culler moved to the position of Audi’s chief mechanic, Verstappen was replaced as his first mechanic by his twin brother John Culler. He is well known to Max, who has previously held a similar position on the other side of the Red Bull pits, working alongside Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.
Despite rumors about the winter break, Gianpiero Lambiase will remain Verstappen’s race engineer for another season.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Motorsports
Ferrari will have a red-white livery. Images of the Scuderia jersey have been revealed
Photos of the allegedly leaked Ferrari F1 team jerseys for the 2026 season have appeared on the internet.
The published photos show a red T-shirt with white inserts.
Ferrari will officially announce its color on January 23. At the same time, some sources reported that the design of the 2026 car should be “pleasantly surprising”.
Given that Ferrari and other teams have used darker shades of their primary colors (red in the Scuderia’s case) in recent years, the introduction of red and white team uniforms could signal a move towards a lighter color scheme.
The same idea is put forward in a video published on the Scuderia’s official account.
2026 FERRARI PRODUCTS? 👀 pic.twitter.com/ClhblugnUh
— La Gazzetta Ferrari (@GazzettaFerrari) January 18, 2026
It’s just a matter of time⏱️ pic.twitter.com/SyykHCiHcw
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) January 18, 2026
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Motorsports
F1 champion: “We may see a complete surprise in the championship fight this year”
Former Formula 1 champion Damon Hill has warned fans that the winner of the 2026 season could be a real surprise.
The current large-scale changes to the regulations are among the biggest in the history of the sport. They are expected to change the balance of power in the starting grid for a long time.
Hill is confident that the pundits have no idea who will start the new season with the best cars because the cars will be completely different, even in terms of handling.
Particular attention of the expert is drawn to Aston Martin, which was able to make a leap from the middle of the table after signing Adrian Newey from Red Bull.
Hill noted the following about Lando Norris’ chances of defending his title:
“All bets are off for this year. We don’t know who will be in uniform. You can’t automatically assume that pilots who performed well under previous regulations can now do it again.”
The cars are completely different. “50% of engine power is now provided by the electric battery, and this affects the way cars are controlled, their aerodynamics and their design.”
Hill added that the season could be a complete surprise:
“Yes, you can [ожидать смену эпохи в Ф1 в этом году]. We may see a complete surprise. It’s like Jenson Button beating Brown; Everyone was surprised because they understood the rules better.
“And the master of understanding the rules is Adrian Newey, who went to Aston Martin. He left Red Bull and Max Verstappen, Christian Horner also left that team. But he went to Aston Martin.”
“So we’re waiting for him to wave his magic wand over Aston Martin. And it could happen.”
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
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