We’re calling this The Breakthrough Challenge, but it surely may effectively have been The Delivering on Their Apparent Potential Challenge. Not as snappy, but it surely matches the invoice for a number of of the racers we’re connecting with or telling tales about in RACER No. 335.
For Alex Palou, already a three-time NTT IndyCar Sequence champion – and homing in on a fourth title as you learn this – the shortage of an oval race win on his stats sheet was merely a barely annoying anomaly, however maybe an even bigger deal for others. As he recounts in our cowl story, he put that proper within the largest method doable by profitable the 109th Indianapolis 500. Seal damaged, he then added a second on the Iowa Speedway bullring. Pleased now?
We additionally have a look at how the Spaniard, on eight wins up to now in 2025 and counting, compares with the all-time nice Indy automobile seasons from legends like A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Mario Andretti.
For Oscar Piastri, it appeared solely a matter of when, not if he’d turn out to be a real Formulation 1 title contender. However midway via the 2025 schedule, with a season-high six grand prix wins and a 16-point championship lead over considerably extra skilled McLaren teammate Lando Norris, it’s the pace with which the third-year F1 driver has turn out to be the man all of them at present need to beat that surprises us.
Can Piastri turn out to be the third Australian driver to win an F1 title? We recall the Antipodean aces who went earlier than him – triple champ Jack Brabham and, in an enchanting look again at his 1980 title-winning season, Alan Jones.
We additionally showcase Robert Kubica’s key function within the AF Corse Ferrari workforce’s 24 Hours of Le Mans win. He was destined for an F1 Ferrari seat earlier than sustaining a significant and everlasting arm damage in a 2011 rally crash that fully reset any current expectations. However Kubica by no means misplaced religion in his personal potential, and the Le Mans win is greater than redemption – it’s a declaration of intent.
And there’s a lot extra, together with a catch-up with workforce boss Michael Shank on Meyer Shank Racing’s parallel packages within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and NTT IndyCar Sequence, six-time IndyCar champ Scott Dixon’s tackle easy methods to hold profitable, Robert Wickens’ reflections on his first Nürburgring 24 Hours journey and, 25 years on, a have a look at two generations of Earnhardts sharing the observe and the highlight within the 2000 NASCAR Cup Sequence.
Add in our tackle efficiency automotive and automobile tradition in The Scene, evaluation on the large racing storylines in The Spin, plus a double dip into two-wheeled motion with VR46 Ducati MotoGP racer Franco Morbidelli and motocross rising star Haiden Deegan and, as all the time, we hope you benefit from the newest RACER as a lot as we loved placing it collectively.
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