Tanner Foust – Syndication Server

Hosaas to race for McLaren at Extreme E finale

Hedda Hosaas will replace Emma Gilmour in McLaren’s Extreme E lineup for the season-ending Copper X Prix in Chile next week, driving alongside Tanner Foust for the team while Gilmour continues to recover from injuries she sustained at the second …

The New Zealander rolled towards the end of her opening practice run at the event, sustaining a rib fracture and concussion. She was replaced at the event by championship reserve Tamara Molinaro, who went on to have a similar crash that forced McLaren to sit out of the second half of the weekend.

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“Although Emma will not compete for us in Chile, I am glad she is making good progress with her recovery,” said NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team sporting director Gary Paffett. “Throughout her time in Extreme E, Hedda has proven herself to be a strong competitor in the championship, and I am confident she can help the team achieve success to round off our second season in Extreme E.”

Gilmour, pictured in Sardinia earlier this season, has raced for McLaren since it entered Extreme E at the start of 2022. Andrew Ferraro/Motorsport Images

In joining McLaren, Hosaas becomes the first Norwegian to race for McLaren in its 60 year history. It also completes a meteoric rise up the Extreme E ranks for the 22-year-old. Like Gilmour, she began her career in the series as a reserve driver for Veloce Racing, making her debut with the British team in place of Christine Giampaoli Zonca at least year’s Desert X Prix in Saudi Arabia. Her performance in that brief cameo appearance earned her an immediate move to JBXE for the following round, where she has remained since.

“I’m looking forward to competing for the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team in Chile next week,” said Hosaas. “I’m sending all my best wishes to Emma for a speedy recovery and hope I can do her and the whole team proud.”

While not yet fit enough to drive, Gilmour will be on-site at the Copper X Prix in Antofagasta to offer support for the team from outside the car.

“Following my incident in Sardinia in September, I’ve had to take the difficult decision to not compete in the final round of the 2023 Extreme E season in Chile next week,” she said. “I have been making good progress with my recovery, but do not feel well enough to compete yet. I’m confident that Hedda will do a good job to help bring the team some well-deserved success.

“I’m looking forward to supporting the rest of the team on the ground and helping them to end the season on a high.”

McLaren withdraws from Island X Prix II after second roll

NEOM McLaren has confirmed that it is withdrawing from the remainder of the Island X Prix II weekend in Sardinia after a second major incident in as many days. On Friday, Emma Gilmour rolled out of the first free practice session, an incident that …

NEOM McLaren has confirmed that it is withdrawing from the remainder of the Island X Prix II weekend in Sardinia after a second major incident in as many days.

On Friday, Emma Gilmour rolled out of the first free practice session, an incident that destroyed the team’s car and necessitated an overnight stay in hospital for the New Zealander.

On Saturday the team utilized the championship’s spare car, with championship reserve driver Tamara Molinaro stepping in to Gilmour’s spot alongside Tanner Foust – a move that made her the second-ever female to race for McLaren, and the first Italian to do so since Andrea de Cesaris at the 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix.

However, during the Redemption Race on Saturday afternoon, Molinaro flipped after contact with JBXE’s Hedda Hosas at the start of the race.

Molinaro emerged from the incident without any significant injury, but the car was heavily damaged. Just before 9 p.m. local time, the team issued a statement confirming their immediate withdrawal from the weekend.

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“The NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team regrets to confirm that we will not be competing in round eight of the 2023 Extreme E season,” it said.

“Due to damage sustained to the chassis during the Redemption Race earlier [Saturday], it will not be possible to repair the car in time for [Sunday’s] running and we have therefore taken the difficult decision to not participate in round eight.

“As racers, this is not a call we take lightly, especially given the efforts of the team to prepare for and during the event. However, the number one priority is that both Emma and Tamara are alright and in good spirits following their incidents.

“Our full focus will now be on the final two rounds in Chile and ending the season on a high.”

With McLaren sidelined, just nine teams will take part in the second half of the Island X Prix II, round eight of the 10-round season. It will be the first time since the championship’s inaugural campaign in 2021 that fewer than 10 teams have contested a championship round.

Foust returning to Nitrocross in Utah

Tanner Foust is returning to Nitrocross for the second and third rounds of the 2023-24 season at the Utah Motorsports Campus, in what will be his first starts in the series since 2021. The American will race for XITE Energy Racing alongside Oliver …

Tanner Foust is returning to Nitrocross for the second and third rounds of the 2023-24 season at the Utah Motorsports Campus, in what will be his first starts in the series since 2021.

The American will race for XITE Energy Racing alongside Oliver Bennett, taking the spot of Kris Meeke who shared the second XITE entry with Jenson Button and Timo Scheider last year, and ran at the season opener in Oklahoma in June.

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Foust is a U.S. rallycross stalwart with four championship titles and a record 24 event wins across Rally America rallycross, Global Rallycross, X Games, and Americas Rallycross, as well as a record 25 consecutive heat wins at the height of Volkswagen’s dominance in the discipline.

But after starting every race from when rallycross made its way Stateside in 2010 until the conclusion of 2021, Foust has been absent since Nitrocross – then known at Nitro Rallycross – moved to a single-make, all electric formula at the start of 2022. Instead he has been focusing on Extreme E with McLaren and various other projects, but remained interested in a return to Nitrocross in some form, and almost made a one-off return last season only for the deal to fall through.

“I knew I was going to be doing Extreme E with McLaren but I wasn’t sure about signing on for a very hectic schedule,” he said last year. “I would rather focus on one championship and come in as a guest driver every once in a while for now.

“I think it’s starting to find some traction again, but that’s going to be a building process, and when it gets there I’ll definitely be in the mix.”

Foust joins a field that will also include IndyCar racer Conor Daly and YouTuber Cleetus McFarland, as well as reigning champion Robin Larsson, 2021 champion Travis Pastrana, 2021 European Rallycross champion Andreas Bakkerud, and current points leader Fraser McConnell.

In the feeder classes, all three of Ken Block’s children will be in action, with U.S. rally and Extreme E driver Lia once again racing in the second-tier NEXT category, while her younger siblings Mika and Kira will be sharing an entry in the Can-Am Side-by-Side class in what will be both of their debuts on the Nitrocross bill.