Motorsport

US mass media company Liberty Media has today (Wednesday) unveiled details of an investment initiative worth $1.55bn (€1.45bn) which is designed to aid its takeover of the Formula One motor racing championship.

Sports and betting-related services company Sportradar has entered into partnerships with the MotoGP motorcycling series and Norway’s National Platform, a body set up to combat match-fixing in the country.

The Formula One motor racing championship will return to France, it was confirmed today (Monday), after a five-year race deal commencing in 2018 was unveiled in Paris.

The World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) has unveiled major reform plans including the addition of a second class for 2017, while the motor racing series’ calendar has been revamped for next season with the addition of races in historic motorsport venues Macau and Monza.

The calendar for motorcycling’s 2016-17 Endurance World Championship (EWC) has been revised with a new event in Slovakia being added to replace a previously scheduled race in Portugal.

Formula One’s Italian Grand Prix will remain at Monza for the next three years after formal confirmation of a new race deal for the historic circuit.

The TCR International Series has added four new races to its calendar for the 2017 season, with Georgia set to stage a major motorsport event for the first time.

The Canadian Grand Prix will remain on the Formula One calendar next season after the Mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre, said an agreement in principle had been reached between the motor racing series and local race promoter Groupe Octane.

Formula One’s long-term future in Southeast Asia has been called into question after the motor racing series’ chief executive, Bernie Ecclestone, said Singapore was reluctant to extend its race deal and Malaysian stakeholders repeated their stance that the country’s event would not continue beyond 2018.

The Formula E electric car-racing series has joined forces with the French and Moroccan governments to launch the Electric Sports Coalition (ESC).

Japanese automotive giant Honda and Italian company Ducati have each agreed five-year extensions to their manufacturer agreements for the MotoGP motorcycling championship.

Russian automotive marque Lada has confirmed it will exit the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the end of the 2016 season, reducing the motor racing series to factory backing from just two manufacturers.

The MotoGP motorcycling championship has sealed a five-year extension to its race contract with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a deal that means it has tied down fresh agreements with three of its four Spanish venues in 2016.

German automotive giant Volkswagen has today (Wednesday) confirmed its exit from the World Rally Championship (WRC) motor racing series, stating that it faces “enormous challenges” amid the fallout from the emissions scandal that has hit the company.

German automotive giant Volkswagen, the dominant force in the World Rally Championship (WRC), is set to exit the motor racing series at the end of the current 2016 season, according to multiple reports.

Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit (SIC) will continue to stage a MotoGP event until at least 2021 after a new five-year agreement was reached between local organisers and Dorna Sports, the motorcycle-racing series’ commercial rights-holder.