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February 27, 2026

Cadillac names F1 chassis MAC-26 for Mario Andretti

Cadillac named its first Formula 1 car MAC-26 — standing for Mario Andretti Cadillac 2026 — as a tribute to Mario Andretti, the 1978 F1 World Champion. The naming also recognizes the Andretti family’s multi-year campaign to secure an entry into the F1 World Championship. Mario Andretti said racing “has been the joy of my life” and expressed appreciation for the tribute.

The Cadillac Formula 1 Team will make its competitive debut next weekend in Australia. Dan Towriss, CEO of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team and head of Andretti Global, said the chassis name reflects Mario’s spirit and underscores the belief that an American team belongs in Formula 1. The announcement framed the Cadillac entry as both a sporting milestone and a symbolic nod to American racing heritage.

The article noted the Andretti effort faced resistance from former Liberty Media executive Greg Maffei, but also had support from the FIA, substantial funding, and backing from a major automaker.
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February 27, 2026

Bezzecchi leads as rain, wind and tire gambits hit Buriram

Marco Bezzecchi topped both Friday practice sessions at the Thai MotoGP in Buriram and produced a late lap that set a new record (one report put it at 1:28.526), finishing roughly 0.4 seconds clear of Marc Márquez. He credited his crew’s quick, last-minute reaction to looming storm conditions and praised improvements in Aprilia’s stability and weekend setup, but downplayed favorite status — “Marquez is the favorite, not me” and “I’ll be happy with a good start.” He declined to elaborate on aerodynamic rumours and warned that Ducati and Márquez will remain major obstacles going forward.

Márquez reached Q2 and was second fastest on Friday while still managing recovery from a shoulder injury that has limited his braking position and riding style. He rode with Ducati’s 2024-spec aerodynamic package to reduce strain on his right shoulder, said he was “not riding in an automatic way,” and reported feeling better on used tires than on new rubber. Starting the session on a medium rear tire was a calculated risk that nearly cost him a Q2 spot when light rain and a late pit call complicated track action; he called himself “lucky” to progress. He also acknowledged Bezzecchi and Aprilia looked a step ahead, in part because of their ability to exploit Michelin’s harder rear-tire construction.

Dark clouds, intermittent rain and strong winds repeatedly shaped the session, prompting teams to prioritize early banker laps and make rapid setup changes. Aprilia’s strong early running — at one point taking three of the top four places in practice — and Bezzecchi’s record lap gave the factory momentum into qualifying and the sprint, but riders and teams noted that Friday form, heavily influenced by weather and tire strategy, did not guarantee race-day performance.
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February 27, 2026

Brecken Reese to run 29-race USAC tour in No. 20Q

Brecken Reese, 19, of Canyon, Texas, will run the full 2026 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Championship in the Jeff Reese-owned No. 20Q. The move puts him on the series’ 29-race tour, which will open with back-to-back Kokomo Grand Prix nights at Kokomo Speedway on April 24–25. The campaign represents a step up in commitment to build on his momentum, seek redemption and make consistent progress against full-time competitors.

Reese ran a part-time USAC midget schedule in 2025, making 16 National Midget feature starts and finishing 14th in the standings. He posted three top-10 finishes — fourth at Bloomington Speedway, seventh at The Dirt Track at IMS and 10th at Bakersfield — driving both the family car and for Grady Chandler. He said the experience taught him how to “put a full night together,” a lesson he plans to apply across the 29-race tour.

Reese also captured the 2025 POWRi Stock Non-Wing Keith Kunz Motorsports Challenge Championship, including a KKM Challenge victory at U.S. 24 Speedway in August 2025. He has multiple micro sprint and 305 sprint car wins and works outside of racing for his family’s business, Cierra Towing & Crushing.
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February 27, 2026

Eli Tomac records seven Daytona 450SX wins, missed 2025

Eli Tomac recorded seven 450SX main-event victories at Daytona across 11 starts, including seven of eight Daytona 450SX mains between 2016 and 2023. His worst Daytona finish was fourth place in his first 450SX start—the only time he finished off the podium—and he missed the 2025 Daytona Supercross after breaking his leg at the Tampa Supercross. Over the 2025 season Tomac also notched his 107th 450SX podium (third all-time), his 236th SMX League podium (the most all-time), and moved into the top five for 450SX starts. Tomac’s career Daytona results are recorded across the 2016–2025 timeframe, even though he did not race the 2025 Daytona event.

Other veteran performers and rising stars added momentum and milestones during 2025. Hunter Lawrence secured his first 450SX victory in his 26th start, becoming the 70th different 450SX Class winner and joining the group of riders with 25 SMX League wins; he and brother Jett Lawrence became the second pair of brothers to each score 450SX victories. Cooper Webb extended an active podium streak to eight rounds and notched his 80th 450SX podium, tying Ken Roczen for seventh all-time; Webb finished second at Daytona five times and reached the Daytona podium in seven of his eight starts. Ken Roczen won the 2025 Daytona Supercross; he and Eli Tomac are the only active riders on the current roster who have won Daytona’s 450SX main. Jett Lawrence, the 2024 Daytona winner, was sidelined for the 2025 season with an ankle injury. Ken Roczen, Justin Cooper and Chase Sexton also reached notable career start and top‑5 benchmarks across the season.

250SX and divisional storylines continued alongside the 450SX narrative. Pierce Brown captured his first career 250SX win in his 37th start, Jo Shimoda returned from a neck injury to earn his 12th 250SX podium, and Daxton Bennick became the fifth rider to podium in three consecutive Eastern Divisional Openers. Daytona International Speedway’s place on the calendar remains significant: the track has hosted a Supercross round every season, and Daytona winners have gone on to claim the 450SX title in 25 of 52 seasons and the 250SX title in 25 of 41 seasons.
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February 27, 2026

Bagnaia faults rushed setup after missing Q2 in Buriram

Pecco Bagnaia failed to reach Q2 after posting the 15th-fastest time in Friday practice at Buriram and was the only GP26 rider to miss the top group. He blamed a rushed approach and the wrong setup, saying “I just worked bad” and “I’m in Q1 because of my own fault, I was in too much of a hurry and messed up,” and cited a degraded new setup, a hurried tire change when rain threatened, and a tailwind on the back straight as compounding factors.

He nevertheless praised aspects of the GP26, noting later braking and greater stability in the morning, and confirmed he stayed with the 2024 fairing rather than the 2025 aerodynamic package for the event. Bagnaia vowed to push on Saturday to return to Q2 and “give it 100%,” as the team planned overnight changes and further setup work ahead of qualifying.

Fabio Di Giannantonio, by contrast, finished third in the opening practice and reported he had “everything in place,” praising the GP26’s race pace and a more honest front end while confirming he was running the factory aerodynamics package. He said his best lap was almost half a second off Marco Bezzecchi’s benchmark but that the team had margin to improve; both riders acknowledged Bezzecchi and Aprilia looked quick in Thailand, and the combined takeaway was that Ducati must refine setup and aerodynamic strategy for mixed and changing conditions to recover in qualifying and realize the bike’s potential on race day.
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February 27, 2026

Honda, Aston Martin scramble to fix Sakura V6 vibrations

Excessive vibrations from Honda’s new Sakura V6 repeatedly damaged Aston Martin’s battery system during pre‑season running, forcing Honda to stop on‑track work and severely curtailing the team’s testing program. HRC head Ikuo Takeishi said the battery looked as if it had been ‘shaken’ inside the monocoque, and Honda described the vibrations as ‘dangerous’ and ‘extremely challenging.’ Repeated battery‑system failures prompted Honda to halt running, and a shortage of spare parts meant Aston Martin completed just six install laps on the final day of Bahrain testing.

Honda has identified excessive combustion‑engine vibrations from the Sakura V6 as the source of the damage but has not found a single root cause, saying the problem appears multifactorial. Engineers at HRC are running bench tests and using simulations at the Sakura facility and a virtual test rig to reproduce the issue, while developing both chassis and power‑unit countermeasures to reduce vibration. Honda and Aston Martin are assessing fixes under a tight timeline ahead of the season opener in Australia and the engine homologation deadline on March 1; HRC says it is collaborating with Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll and technical director Adrian Newey, and Honda aims to have the package competitive by the Japanese GP at Suzuka.

The disruption left Aston Martin with sharply limited preseason mileage: across three pre‑season tests the AMR26 completed about 400 laps in total, including 128 laps over three days in Bahrain and 2,115 km of running overall — roughly a third of the distance some rivals logged, while many teams recorded more than 300 laps and several exceeded 400. The shortfall was compounded by the AMR26’s late delivery, a shortage of spare parts and a complex integration program that included a new in‑house gearbox, new electronics and suspension. Tetsushi Tsunoda, head of power‑unit development at HRC, described the situation as a ‘double handicap,’ citing late supplier signings and prior regulatory limits on early investment; Honda drew a parallel with past vibration and correlation troubles in 2017 and said it will focus on combustion and other development work to close the performance and reliability gap as the season progresses.
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February 27, 2026

Bezzecchi posts 1:29.346 FP1 best at Buriram

Marco Bezzecchi set the early benchmark in Friday’s opening Free Practice (FP1) at the Thai Grand Prix at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, topping the MotoGP timesheets with a 1:29.346 on a medium rear tire and holding the fastest lap for the entire 45-minute session. His FP1 time was slower than the 1:28.668 he set on a soft tire during last weekend’s test.

Fabio Di Giannantonio was the quickest Ducati in second with a 1:29.456, while Jorge Martin recovered from a crash at the final corner to record third with a 1:29.551; Martin reportedly kept his engine running by grabbing the clutch to avoid a service-road restart penalty. The timesheet was tight, with less than a second covering the top 13 and all five manufacturers represented inside that group. Pedro Acosta was the top KTM in fifth, reigning champion Marc Marquez was sixth as he continued to recover from last weekend’s illness, and Francesco Bagnaia was seventh, just 0.019 seconds adrift of Marquez; Franco Morbidelli, Alex Marquez and Luca Marini completed the top 10.

FP1 action in the support classes set early benchmarks as well: in Moto2, David Alonso topped the session with a 1:35.148 on his Pirelli-shod CFMOTO Inde Aspar Kalex, edging Izan Guevara by 0.012 seconds, with Filip Salac third and Collin Veijer, Manuel Gonzalez and Dani Holgado fourth to sixth and Tony Arbolino tenth. In Moto3, Adrian Fernandez led FP1 with a 1:41.302 for Leopard Racing, ahead of Joel Kelso and David Almansa, establishing the early order ahead of later practice that will help decide direct Q2 access.
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February 27, 2026

Kawasaki: Sexton sidelined with hip, lower-back injuries

Monster Energy Kawasaki announced on social media that Chase Sexton will miss Round 8, the Daytona Supercross, after a practice crash that left him with hip and lower-back injuries. The team provided limited medical detail and no firm timetable; one post added he will be out “at least one round,” while other updates reiterated there is no return date.

Cycle News described the announcement as sudden and said missing Daytona is almost certain to end Sexton’s title hopes given the timing and his position in the points. Sexton, the 2023 450 Supercross champion, is currently fifth in the 450SX standings with one main-event win (Anaheim 2) — his only podium so far — and a season average finish of fifth. He trails points leader Hunter Lawrence by 27 points. This season’s reported finishes include 8th at Anaheim 1, 4th at San Diego, 5th at Houston, 7th at Glendale, 5th at Seattle and 6th at Arlington.

The absence follows Sexton’s high-profile move to Monster Energy Kawasaki in the off-season and would be his first missed Supercross since Seattle in March 2022. Kawasaki did not name a replacement; Garrett Marchbanks will be the team’s sole rider entered at Daytona. Team personnel, fans and media are awaiting further updates on Sexton’s recovery and possible return.
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February 27, 2026

Daytona infield forces setup over endurance

Racer X’s preview framed Daytona’s infield layout as the most unique round on the Supercross calendar, making the track’s technical characteristics the central factor shaping race strategy. Unlike the limerock era exemplified by Jeff Stanton — which featured 20-lap mains and roughly 90-second laps — Daytona’s infield prioritizes speed and technical riding over ironman-style endurance, so bike setup, speed control and precision will be decisive.

Analyst Jason Thomas walked viewers through the infield on the broadcast hosted by former Women’s National Champion Sarah Whitmore, outlining features that will influence tactics. The start splits the course toward the adjacent speedway and immediately sends riders through alternating 180-degree turns; laps include rhythm sections of doubles and triples, back-to-back split-bowl berms that have generated significant passing, and a particularly risky high-speed stretch near turn one that produced Levi Kitchen’s season-ending crash in 2025.

Later in the lap riders face setup compromises with clay Supercross whoops and a beach-sand sequence that contains a slowing tunnel jump, two designated sand lines and a fast dash alongside pit lane to the finish. The segment combined a track walkthrough with an injury rundown, naming riders who would be absent from the weekend’s competition; Racer X Online published the full injury list and details to prepare fans for on-track action and the altered starting lineup those absences create.
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