F1Weekly Podcast # 1160
ON TODAY’S PROGRAM…
WILL GEORGE BE PSYCHOLOGICALLY STRONG ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON?
ARE LEWIS AND FERNANDO ADDICTED TO FORMULA 1?
FERNANDO ALONSO IS NOW 45 YEARS OLD LITERALLY THE MARK MARTIN OF F1 AND…
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY WE HAVE AND INTERVIEW WITH …SHANE SENEVIRATNE FOUNDER OF US RACETRONICS AND RACE TEAM MANAGER.
Created in 2005, US RaceTronics (USRT) first entered the 2005 Atlantic championship season and instantly achieved success. That season saw US RaceTronics capture 1 pole, 5 podium finishes, and finish 5th in the Championship standings. The “little team that could” proved that hard work and sacrifice still paid off.
With the initial momentum of the prior season 2006 through 2009 saw US RaceTronics continue its success in the Atlantic series. The strength team drivers Simona De Silvestro and Frankie Muniz, the team was able to consistently finish on the podium with a total of 21 podiums, 7 poles, 5 race wins and finish 3rd in the 2009 Championship standings.
Seneviratne, who holds deep roots in the Atlantic Championship, the GTD program has been largely centered around Silver-rated driver Goikhberg, who also moves over from GTWC America competition.
“We’ve been doing Super Trofeo and veered off into the AMG with SRO but my heart’s always been with Lamborghini,” Seneviratne told Sportscar365.
“I like the guys, I like the brand. We had the opportunity to get in here and we started talking to Misha.
“It all started with Misha and Bob Perona. He has been Misha’s driver coach for a long time and Bob and I all worked with Simona de Silvestro in the Indycar days.
“Bob felt like the most comfortable thing for Misha to do was to be in that same kind of support and environment that Simona had when she ran and she was successful with us.
“She came from Newman Wachs with Jonathan Summerton. We built that culture and gave her the support [needed].
“We’re trying to create that same atmosphere for Misha.
“The majority of the budget comes from there. With Arrow, we had a small partnership last year with the Super Trofeo and they were excited to step up a little bit more and see what they could do with a GTD program.”
While having run under the USRT/O’Gara Motorsport/Change Racing banner in Super Trofeo last year, the team will eventually be fully known as Forte Racing, a new marketing company that Seneviratne is a part owner in.
“I’ve had a long-term relationship with Lamborghini of Beverly Hills, Tom O’Gara’s dealership,” Seneviratne explained.
“Then Edoardo Piscopo and Julia, Edoardo’s wife, they also wanted to get involved, [as well as] Eddie [Littlefield] from Change Racing.
“It was [USRT]/O’Gara/Change [last year], so we’re now trying to get rid of all those names and start with a single brand, which is Forte Racing.”
Seneviratne heads into his first 24-hour race as a team owner although he operated O’Gara Motorsport’s short-lived Lamborghini GTD program in 2016, which led to the relaunch of USRT later that year.
Seven years later, debuting Lamborghini’s second GT3 evolution, Seneviratne is looking forward to the renewed challenge.
“More than pride, I’m glad to represent Lamborghini and to have this opportunity,” he said. “It’s not an opportunity that you get very often.We have to work together as a cohesive group.
“But I can’t emphasize enough how supportive Lamborghini has been. It’s the same way I like to run the team.
“I feel like Lamborghini had now just become an extension of that. We don’t throw each other under the bus. We are there for support and there’s no egos involved.
“There’s five ways to do something so I’m always listening and they’re listening to us.
“Right now they have way more [endurance racing] experience, all of the Lamborghini technicians, and we’re absorbing it in.
“We’re grateful that we have really good support from Lamborghini.”
With the demise of the Atlantic Series US RaceTronics’ owner Shane Seneviratne took his talents to the IndyCar Series where he was paired once again with De Silvestro as the Team Manager for the HVM Racing. His talents were once again utilized with De Silvestro in 2013 by the KV Racing Technology team where he was brought on as a Consultant.
In 2015 Seneviratne was hired by O’Gara Motorsports as their Race Team Director for their newly created Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America Series entries. The team won the season opener at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway with Pro driver Richard Antinucci. The team’s consistent performances throughout the 2015 season led to O’Gara Motorsport winning the Team Championship, Dealership Championship, Pro Championship with driver Richard Antinucci, and Amateur Championship with Ryan Ockey. Amateur driver Ryan Ockey also won the 2015 Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo World Championship.
The team continued its success in 2019 with Damon Ockey and Jacob Eidson winning the North American Pro-Am Championship, while the team’s second team of Pro-Am drivers, Ron Atapattu and Patrick Liddy finished third in the Championship. The team also fielded 16-year-old rookie Amateur driver Steven Aghakhani who would finish second in the North American Championship, after missing the first race due to age restrictions, but captured the Amateur World Championship becoming the youngest World Champion in Lamborghini Super Trofeo’s history.
2020 was a challenging year for the world and for USRT. Last minute changes in scheduling and driver lineup were necessitated due to restrictions stemming from the COVID pandemic. The Lamborghini Super Trofeo season was shortened to 10 races from the normal 12 and the cancellation of the World Finals left USRT just short on championships. Steven Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson finished runners up in the Pro Championship, while Leo Lamalas finished runner up in the Am Championship. John Hennessy missed the final two races of the season, finishing fourth in the LB Cup Championship his rookie season.
US RaceTronics’ 2021 saw several peaks and valleys. The Pro duo of Steven Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson had one win and 8 additional podium finishes, but also suffered issues in a couple of races that left them just short of the North American Championship, finishing third. Meanwhile, John Hennessy won the season opener in the LB Cup Championship, but suffered an injury in a crash in Race 2, ending his hopes for a North American title. After missing the four subsequent races, Hennessy came back strong, winning five out of the remaining six races and sweeping the World Finals with four straight wins at the Misano, Italy track to become the LB Cup World Champion.
2022 will see US RaceTronics back in action in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North American Series for their seventh consecutive year.
For more information on how to become a driver with US RaceTronics, learn more about the Series, or attend a race, contact us today!
De Tullio Converts Qualifying
Pace Into Portland Victory.
PORTLAND, Ore. (Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026) – For the first time since March, Alessandro de Tullio sealed the deal.
De Tullio led all 35 laps from the pole to win the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing entry. It was the rookie’s second victory of the season, as he also won in late March from the pole at Barber Motorsports Park.
The victory provided sweet relief for the INDYCAR development series rookie, who has shown tremendous pace in qualifying with eight pole positions this season – one shy of the series record – but had just the Barber win to show for it before today. De Tullio also crossed the finish line first from pole in June at Road America, but he and teammate Nicholas Monteiro were disqualified after post-race technical inspection discovered a sporting infraction.
“It wasn’t easy,” de Tullio said. “I had to take care of the tires. There was quite a bit of (wear) toward the end. Good race. The car was great. I can’t thank the full team enough.
“Super happy to get this one, and hopefully it sticks.”
De Tullio took the checkered flag 2.1885 seconds ahead of series veteran Lochie Hughes in the No. 26 Andretti Global car. Hughes’ teammate Max Taylor completed the podium finishers in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen entry.
Rookie Tymek Kucharczyk finished fourth in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports car, while Jacob Abel rounded out the top five in the No. 48 Abel Motorsports entry in his first series start since 2024.
The tense race for the series championship and NTT INDYCAR SERIES career enhancement package awarded to the title winner tightened even further with just three races remaining this season. Enzo Fittipaldi took over the series lead by one point with his seventh-place finish in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car, taking the top spot from Nikita Johnson, who entered this event with a one-point margin over Fittipaldi.
Johnson finished eighth in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR machine. Meanwhile, Kucharczyk drew even closer to the top two with his 11th top-five finish in 14 starts this season, as he remained third, just 18 points behind leader Fittipaldi and 17 behind Johnson.
“Tough weekend,” said Fittipaldi, who started 12th. “I don’t understand why we struggled so much this weekend. We have an idea, but it’s strange. We were looking forward to this race weekend; I thought we were going to be really strong. For some reason, we were struggling a lot.”
De Tullio left no doubt about his speed at the start, as he got a good jump at the green flag and built a small gap entering the notorious chicane in Turns 1 and 2 of the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course. He parried a strong move by Hughes in the chicane complex and started to pull away.
“It was tough because we have to start early here as a rule, so they (rivals) get a good draft,” de Tullio said. “Lochie, obviously, is a driver with a lot of experience, and he knows how to race. So, it was difficult to hold him off there in Turn 1. We just had to go elbows out, and we kept it clean – that was most important.”
The only other drama happened when rookie Carson Etter spawned the only caution period of the race, on Lap 3. Etter spun exiting Turn 12 and nosed into the pit wall in the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing entry.
De Tullio rocketed from the field again on the restart on Lap 5 and never trailed. His gap to Hughes grew to nearly three seconds with 10 laps to go, as de Tullio was able to easily lap the No. 15 Cusick Morgan Motorsports machine of rookie Nicholas Stati, a task that was harder for his closest pursuers Hughes, Taylor and Kucharczyk.
Once that chasing trio cleared Stati, they set sail for de Tullio and sliced nearly a second from his lead. But there weren’t enough laps to trim that gap any further.
The next INDY NXT by Firestone race is Sunday, Aug. 30 at the Milwaukee Mile, the last oval race of the season. The 2026 season concludes with a doubleheader Sept. 5-6 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.
MORGAN MASTERS KNOCKHILL
TO WIN ‘RACE TO POLE’
Mercedes man on top in Scotland
Cataclean Plato Racing’s Adam Morgan claimed his first Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship pole position since 2018 after winning today’s (8 August) Qualifying Race at Knockhill.
Mercedes man Morgan showed the upturn in pace for the rookie outfit with his second overall career pole in Britain’s elite motorsport championship, whilst teammate Dan Rowbottom confirmed the squad’s speed with third at the finish.
There was local joy too as Gordon Shedden’s Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Toyota was sandwiched between the two ‘Silver Arrows’ at the conclusion of the 20-lap race.
It was almost a one-two for Cataclean Plato Racing with Rowbottom running side-by-side with Shedden across the start/finish line for the penultimate time, but the three time champion used his quality and experience to hold off his rival.
There was drama on the opening tour when Aiden Moffat (LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing – Audi) and Josh Cook (Speedworks Corolla Racing – Toyota) were both fired off track in separate incidents, the latter involving a heavy hit into the barrier for his Toyota at the chicane.
The top three positions remained settled following the restart but there was a quick change behind as Chris Smiley (Restart Racing – Hyundai) scythed by Charles Rainford’s WSR BMW for fourth at the final hairpin.
The WSR pairing of Rainford and Daryl De Leon eventually had to settle for fifth and sixth, as the 330i M Sports showed good consistency rather than race-winning pace, whilst the fight for seventh kicked off behind.
It was Mikey Doble that won that particular battle as he got the draft out of the final hairpin on the last lap. The #88 Audi A3 Saloon ran side-by-side with Ricky Collard’s Team VERTU Hyundai across the line and incredibly took the place by just 0.006s, whilst reigning champion Tom Ingram (Team VERTU – Hyundai) looked on from behind.
Dan Cammish resisted the pressure from NAPA Racing UK teammate Ash Sutton to take a top ten finish, with the Ford Focus Titanium duo separated by less than half a second.
Full credit, however, went to Morgan as he not only claimed his first qualifying success for eight years, but he also secured the second ‘Race to Pole’ triumph for Cataclean Plato Racing. The Cheshire driver had finished either sixth or seventh in the previous Qualifying Races so far this season so today’s performance represented a huge turnaround for the multiple race winner.
Rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship take place at Knockhill tomorrow with the action getting underway in the UK on ITV4 from 11:15. The races will also be beamed around the world on Racer TV (North America) and the BTCC YouTube Channel (Rest of the World).
Adam Morgan, Cataclean Plato Racing, said: “It’s mega. The car is in a lovely spot here. It’s allowing you to use the kerbs, it’s got really good traction and I’ve just been able to really get on top of it. My first pole position was back at Rockingham in 2018, so we’ve had to wait a while, but we’ve finally done it. It’s a great start to the weekend for Dan (Rowbottom) and I and we can hopefully keep moving forward. I think we’re in a good place. We’re back!”
2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Qualifying Race – Knockhill
1. Adam Morgan, Cataclean Plato Racing – Mercedes 20 laps
2. Gordon Shedden, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport – Toyota +2.968s
3. Daniel Rowbottom, Cataclean Plato Racing – Mercedes +3.448s
4. Chris Smiley, Restart Racing – Hyundai +4.028s
5. Charles Rainford, WSR – BMW +5.437s
6. Daryl De Leon, WSR – BMW +7.000s
7. Mikey Doble, LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing – Audi +11.943s
8. Ricky Collard, Team VERTU – Hyundai +11.949s
9. Tom Ingram, Team VERTU – Hyundai +12.122s
10. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK – Ford +13.917s
11. Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK – Ford +14.391s
12. Tom Chilton, Team VERTU – Hyundai +16.887s
13. Dexter Patterson, Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing – Audi +17.543s
14. Árón Taylor-Smith, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport – Toyota+19.858s
15. James Dorlin, Restart Racing – Hyundai +20.162s
16. Lewis Gilbert, WSR – BMW +20.347s
17. Lewis Selby, NAPA Racing UK – Ford +23.680s
18. Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK – Ford +24.937s
19. Ryan Bensley, Speedworks Corolla Racing – Toyota +24.946s
20. Nicolas Hamilton, Team VERTU – Hyundai +27.005s
21. Nick Halstead, Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing – Audi +36.986s
NC. Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing – Audi + 3 Laps
DNF. Josh Cook, Speedworks Corolla Racing – Toyota +20 Laps
Alex Palou Wowed by Dry Run in New IR-28 on IMS Road Course.
Alex Palou finally got what the weather wouldn’t allow two days earlier — a chance to experience the new-for-2028 IR-28 NTT INDYCAR SERIES car in dry conditions.
Four-time series champion Palou returned Tuesday to the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for a two-hour test, becoming the second driver to evaluate the next-generation machine after Alexander Rossi completed its first public test Saturday.
Palou’s initial outing Sunday was hampered by rain (photo, below), limiting him to just a handful of laps on Firestone Firehawk rain tires. Sunny conditions Tuesday evening allowed him to complete significantly more mileage and give engineers valuable dry-weather data as development of the IR-28 continued.
“It was good,” Palou said. “We got a lot more laps in. It was great to get some dry running and new tires to see how this car really feels.”
The early verdict was encouraging.
The new car is awesome,” Palou said. “It basically feels like the current car, but it’s built better. Everything just feels refined. When you lean on it, all the shifts, everything just feels really good.”
There are few drivers better suited to provide meaningful feedback.
Palou has won four NTT INDYCAR SERIES championships, including the last three in succession, and enters the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls) with an 83-point lead over Team Penske’s David Malukas. With six races remaining over five race weekends, Palou is attempting to become just the second driver in series history to win four consecutive championships, joining Sebastien Bourdais from 2004-07.
While Tuesday’s objective centered on gathering data rather than chasing lap time, Palou admitted it wasn’t easy to resist the temptation to push.
“It’s tough,” he said. “As a driver, I come with the mindset of not pushing at all and just trying to give feedback and be relaxed. Then I go one lap and I can give a bit more and by the end, I can go full push. I like to push. That’s how I feel good with myself and the car.”
Even without running qualifying-style laps, Palou said the IR-28 immediately felt more planted to the asphalt and responsive than the current car.
“It feels like more downforce, or at least more efficient downforce,” he said. “The basics already feel a lot nicer than what we have now.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise was how different the car felt despite appearing similar to the current chassis.
“Honestly, it already surpassed my expectations,” Palou said. “When you look at it, it’s very similar to our current car, but it actually feels a lot different. It feels like a completely different new car, which is great. I didn’t expect that, so I’m already happy.”
Like many throughout the paddock, Palou is eager to see the IR-28 make its competitive debut.
“I’m very happy to announce that we’ll race it next year,” he said with a laugh. “I wish. That’s the level of excitement everybody has. When we saw it in person for the first time, I was shocked by how good it looked. The renders didn’t really do it justice. It looks like a big animal.
“Everybody is excited — the drivers, the teams and especially the fans. But it’s good that we have so much time to work on the car before we actually race it. It’s important that we get it right and have a car that’s good on speedways, street courses and road courses. We want to be able to race in the rain, too. It’s important that we get everything right.”
Being selected as one of the first drivers to test the IR-28 also carried personal significance.
“It’s actually very special,” Palou said. “I was telling my dad that because six or seven years ago I wasn’t part of any team and just wanted to be part of something like this. Now to be the second driver to test the new car is awesome.
“It’s awesome that Honda, INDYCAR and Dallara trust my feedback. I also think it’s super important that we get feedback from a lot of different drivers because everybody focuses on different things. I might be thinking about braking while somebody else is thinking about steering or something else. Having a big variety of drivers testing it is only going to make the car better.”
Palou Draws Closer to Fifth Title
With Masterful Portland Victory.
PORTLAND, Ore. (Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026) – In a master class of tire management and pure pace, Alex Palou drove closer to his record-tying fourth consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship and fifth overall title with a victory Sunday in the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland.
Palou earned his sixth victory of the season and 25th of his illustrious career, driving his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 4.1167-second victory over the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of NTT P1 Award winner Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian.
SEE: Race Results
The Spaniard increased his championship lead to 110 points over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, a gap of more than two races with just five races remaining this season.
“Everybody at CGR and Honda did an incredible job,” Palou said. “I had an absolute rocket ship today. It was very, very nice to drive every single lap.
“Chip puts the best guys around me, but then also everybody is just executing. That car is a rocket ship, and I’m just lucky enough to drive it.”
Two-time series champion Will Power finished third in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda in his first race with Andretti Global at Portland International Raceway after winning this race the last two years with Team Penske.
Rinus VeeKay capped a strong weekend by finishing fourth in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, with Kirkwood putting two Andretti Global cars into the top five in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda.
The race, which had just one caution period for two laps, evolved into a chess match of tire strategy and management over its 110 laps.
Rosenqvist, Palou and Power each started on the slower, more durable Firestone Firehawk primary tire from the top three positions, respectively. Rosenqvist led the first 30 laps until he and Power both made their respective first pit stop on Lap 31, staying on the primary tires.
Palou and strategist Barry Wanser decided to stay out one lap longer on an “overcut” strategy, pitting for alternate tires on Lap 32. Palou was able to lay down a blinding lap on that extra trip around the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course and exited the pits ahead of Rosenqvist and Power.
Silverstone, Northamptonshire, UK.
Sunday 10 July 2016.
Alex Palou (ESP, Campos Racing), Antonio Fuoco (ITA, Trident), Charles Leclerc (FRA, ART Grand Prix)
Photo: Zak Mauger/GP3 Series Media Service.
ref: Digital Image _79P7688
The overcut worked for Palou, as it usually does due to his mastery of tire preservation.
“The overcut was just so powerful,” Rosenqvist said. “I also struggled a little bit on my launch (exiting the pit box). That’s basically what did it. He got ahead of us.”
Palou cycled back to the lead on Lap 37 after Josef Newgarden pitted on a different strategy in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet. From that point, Palou only trailed during pit cycles, but it wasn’t an easy canter to the checkered flag despite leading a race-high 60 laps.
The Spaniard pitted at the end of Lap 56 with a lead approaching five seconds and switched from alternate to scuffed primary tires. Meanwhile, Rosenqvist stopped at the end of Lap 59 and changed from primary to alternate tires.
“I was a little bit worried there when we put those alternates on,” Palou said. “They were so good. We didn’t expect them to be so good. I was like, ‘Man, if someone is going keep them for the end, we might have a battle.’”
The extra grip provided by the red-sidewall alternate tire helped Rosenqvist pull to within one second of Palou by Lap 80. Then Palou was able to keep the No. 45 Desnuda Organic Tequila Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Louis Foster between himself and Rosenqvist, and one lap later Palou’s lead expanded to 1.7 seconds.
Palou made his final stop at the end of Lap 82, staying on scuffed primary tires. Then it appeared Power could have a shot at catching Rosenqvist and maybe reaching Palou, as Power had a set of the quicker Firestone Firehawk alternate tires waiting in his pit stall for his final stop.
But Power never heard the call from strategist Ron Ruzewski to pit at the end of Lap 86 and stayed on track. Power then got stuck behind the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Scott Dixon and the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet of Sting Ray Robb in the intervening lap before he pitted on Lap 87, ending his chances of challenging Rosenqvist for second or Palou for the win.
“I think we would have had a better shot at Rosenqvist because the reds (alternate tires) were really good at the first part of the stint,” Power said. “I never heard it (call to pits). I think I missed a call there. We certainly lost a lot on that next lap.”
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham on Sunday, Aug. 16 on the streets of Markham, Ontario.
