Damien Smith Dakar Rally is still an epic adventure

DamienSmith

RACING LINES

Will trad Toyota be able to stay ahead of innovative Audi?

SAND WE’RE OFF FOR 2023

NewseasonstartswiththeDakarRallyintheSaudiArabiandesert

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AU DI B I DS FOR H ISTORIC WI N

Clever tech and pace advantage are no guarantees of victory

SAU DI ’S HOM E H E RO

WALKI NG ON B RO KE N G ROU N D GOOD XMAS

L AM BORG H I N I The Italian firm has signed ex-Formula 1 and current Indycar racer Romain Grosjean to develop its LMDh hypercar, which will begin endurance racing in 2024. He will make his Lambo debut this month, driving a Huracán GT3 in the Daytona 24 Hours.

S I LVE RSTO N E Regulars have been saddened by the passing of Syd Herbert, better known as Silverstone Syd, who for decades drove the Jaguar fire-tender safety vehicle at the circuit. Tributes poured in following his death before Christmas at the age of 89.

BAD XMAS

Akeel is representing the host country and Arab women at Dakar

TOP STEP Gulf 12 Hours

BRITAIN’S JAMES CALADO signed off on 2022 by adding a Gulf 12 Hours victory to his roster of success.

The World Endurance Championship’s GTE Pro class king was part of AF Corse’s crew that led a Ferrari one-two in the race held at the UAE’s Yas Marina Formula 1 track.

The win marked the Italian team’s fourth and Ferrari’s eighth in 11 editions of the race, which ran continuously across 12 hours for the first time, rather than being split into two six-hour chunks.

Calado, Antonio Fuoco and Alessandro Pier Guidi completed 335 laps 14.388sec ahead of the sister 488 GT3 driven by Davide Rigon, Alessio Rivera and Nicklas Nielsen.

“It‘s a tricky race, ” said Calado. “It’s very competitive, there are a lot of great drivers, so to win with all these cars on the grid is obviously a great achievement. To go out at the end of the year with a win is really nice. I’m over the moon for the team. ”

An Audi R8 LMS Evo II completed the podium, while Daniel Juncadella was crowned the 2022 Intercontinental GT Challenge champion, despite failing to finish in his Team Gruppe M Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Ferrari 488 won convincingly from strong field of 34

AMG’s Juncadella: he’s got the whole world in his hands

MOTORSPORT GREATS T HE M AGNUSSENS

Let’s include a father-and-son duo in our greats club for the first time. Jan Magnussen, who has featured here before, misfired in Formula 1 after a stellar season in British Formula 3 but then reinvented himself as an endurance racing star. Kevin surpassed his dad’s achievements with McLaren, Renault and Haas before dropping out of the top tier – only to gain an unexpected second chance last season. ‘K-Mag’ is continuing with Haas this year, but that isn’t stopping the 30-year-old from guesting in sports cars and racing with his dad, 49, when he can. The Danes shared a car at Le Mans in 2021 and resurrected the partnership in December in a Ferrari at the Gulf 12 Hours, marking Kevin’s debut in a GT3 car. “It has been great to spend

the weekend like this with my dad, ” said Kevin.

“We had a lot of fun. We’ve been talking racing all our lives, and doing this you go another deeper level, which is really cool. ” They will reunite once again at the Daytona 24 Hours, driving a GTD car, before Kevin is dragged back into his day job.