Strap yourselves in for a rollercoaster ride as there’s an epic weekend of motorsport in store!

Calling all petrol heads! Start your engines and buckle up for a mouth-watering weekend of epic motorsport action. We’ll all be on the edge of our seats over the next few days as Le Mans 24 hours and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix hit our screens.

Le Mans 24 hours

It’s that time of year again! When some of motorsport’s finest talents’ capacity for endurance, concentration and strategic awareness are well and truly put through their paces in the most gruelling endurance race of them all, Le Man 24 hours. As if that’s not enough, the sense of occasion at Circuit de la Sarthe will no doubt reach fever pitch proportions as the stands will be packed with fans for the first time in 3 years (after being completely banned in 2020 and partially banned in 2021 thanks to COVID).

When it comes to the race itself, it’s looking like TOYOTA GAZOO will be the team to beat at la Sarthe once again and the Japanese giants will no doubt fancy their chances of making it 5 Le Mans victories in a row this Saturday. It was the GR010 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López that took the chequered flag here last year and they will be confident of repeating this feat after securing a victory at TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps last month.

However, they’re not the only previous Le Mans winners on team Toyota as Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley (who’ve clocked up 3 and 2 wins respectively) make up 2/3rd of the team driving the other GR010 Hybrid. They will be joined by Ryo Hirakawa, who’s driving a hypercar class vehicle at Le Mans for the first time in his career.

That doesn’t mean things will be plain sailing for Toyota here though as Alpine Elf Team will be eager to put an end to their rivals winning streak on their home turf. Alpine have started the FIA World Endurance Championship season strongly and are currently setting the pace in both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships.

André Negrão, Matthieu Vaxivière and Nicolas Lapierre currently lead the way in the race to be crowned drivers’ champions after 1st and 2nd place finishes in the first two rounds and a win would put them in the driving seat at the half-way point of the season.

In addition to the above, we’re also set to see 2 notable debuts at Le Mans this year. Firstly, actor Michael Fassbender will be making his first Le Mans appearance in the LMGTE Am class driving a Proton Competition Porsche 911. Secondly, Josh Pierson is set to become the youngest ever driver at Le Mans as he slips behind the wheel for United Autosports at the tender age of just 16.

With so much excitement in store, this is one race you definitely won’t want to miss.

Azerbaijani Grand Prix

Of course, Le Mans isn’t the only place where it’s all kicking off this weekend as far as motorsport goes, as Formula 1 heads to Baku for the Azerbaijani Grand Prix. It was Charles Leclerc who took the chequered flag here last year and the Monacan will be champing at the bit to pick up another win here as he seeks to overhaul reigning champion, Max Verstappen at the top of the Driver’s Championship standings.

Despite impressing in qualifying in the last round, Leclerc was ultimately found wanting on home turf as a strategic blunder by his team meant he had to settle for a 4th-place finish, something he made his feelings very clear about over the team radio at the end of the race.

That being said, the Ferrari man may have to look over his shoulder as Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez is now just 6 points behind him in the driver’s championship standings. The Mexican showcased exactly what he was capable of in the last round with a strong performance in qualifying, as well as a superb drive in the race itself to deny Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz a first victory in Formula 1.

George Russell also impressed in the last round with a 5th-place finish behind both Ferraris and Red Bulls, and arguably represents Mercedes’ best hope of picking up points here. Having said that, Lewis Hamilton will also be keen to prove that he’s still got it and with his championship winning pedigree one could say it’s still a little early to say he’s completely dead and buried just yet.

Whatever happens, we’re set to be in for a thrilling spectacle this weekend!