Northampton Town have seen two of their League One games in December and January selected for live TV broadcast by Sky Sports.

The Cobblers’ games against Peterborough United and Burton Albion will now have new kick-off times for Sky TV broadcast, with both games moving as part of a greater announcement of TV picks by Sky Sports between October and mid-January.

The Nene Valley Derby between the Cobblers and Peterborough at Sixfields will be shown on Monday 9th December 2024 and will take place as an 8pm kick-off. The game was originally scheduled for a 3pm slot on Saturday 7th December.

The other game that will be moved by Sky will be the Cobblers’ trip to play Burton Albion, which was scheduled for Saturday 4th January 2025.

The match at the Pirelli Stadium will remain on that date, but will now be a 12:30pm kick-off rather than a 3pm one.

Northampton’s other game to have had a date change for TV purposes was previously announced last month, in the form of a match against Wycombe in mid-September.

Sky have chosen the Northampton v Wycombe game for a TV broadcast on Saturday 14th September, with the game being a 12:30pm kick-off.

The EFL broadcaster is also televising all opening day fixtures in all 3 of the EFL tiers, which includes the Cobblers’ opening day trip to Bristol Rovers, along with all games in international break weekends.

Red Bull have confirmed the departure of the team’s Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley will leave the team to take a position as Team Principal at Audi’s planned team.

Wheatley, 57, will leave Red Bull after 18 years with the Milton Keynes-based team at the end of the 2024 season, before starting work with Audi after a period of gardening leave. The two teams have not publicly stated when Wheatley will start with Audi, with his future team saying he is to start there by July 2025.

The move is part of a reshuffle at the Audi project, which has seen former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto recently confirmed as the team’s new Chief Operating Officer and Technical Officer. Former higher-ups Andreas Siedl and Oliver Hoffmann were confirmed as leaving last week.

The German motor manufacturer is taking over the Sauber team, with the team to race as Audi from 2026.

Audi have said the structure of their Sauber operation will see Binotto run as an operational manager out of the team’s base in Switzerland and oversee technical development of the race cars, while Wheatley will work on managing the team at races and as a Team Principal representative.

Wheatley had joined Red Bull in 2006, leaving the Chief Mechanic role at Renault just after they had won the 2005 Drivers and Constructors championships.

The Briton joined Red Bull as a Team Manager, before gaining the title of Sporting Director in 2018.

He has been involved in Red Bull for all of their championships, with the team winning six Drivers and seven Constructors Championship titles, including the last 3 Drivers and 2 Constructors prizes.

The Milton Keynes-based team currently lead both championships after 14 races of the current F1 season, which is currently on a summer break.

Wheatley is the second noteworthy figure to leave Red Bull, with the team’s Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey announcing his departure after 17 years with the team in May. It is as yet unknown where he is intending to move to after leaving Red Bull, which will happen by March 2025.

In a statement, Red Bull’s Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner paid tribute to Wheatley and said that the team will now look to reshuffle the team’s structure.

He said, “It has been a long and successful relationship with Jonathan, over 18 years. His contribution to six World Constructors’ Titles and seven World Drivers’ Championship, first as Team Manager and latterly Sporting Director will forever be a marker in our Team history.

“Jonathan will remain in his position until the end of the 2024 season, as the Team seek to defend both our World Drivers’ and World Constructors’ Titles successfully. A period of gardening leave will follow in 2025.

“Everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology wish him all the best in his new role and would like to place our thanks to Jonathan. Red Bull Racing have tremendous strength and depth and this provides opportunity to elevate others within the Team. We will announce a new Team structure in the coming weeks.”

In a statement published by Audi, Wheatley said he was proud of his work with Red Bull but was excited to take the task of helping Audi launch their first ever Formula One team.

He said, “I am extremely proud to have been a part of the Red Bull Racing journey over the last eighteen years and will leave with many fond memories. However, the opportunity to play an active part in Audi’s entry into Formula 1 as head of a factory team is a uniquely exciting prospect, and I am looking forward to the challenge. Also I am glad to be working together with Mattia, whom I have known for many years and who is the right person to collaborate with in this exciting project.“

The boss of the Silverstone-based Hitech GP racing team has taken a job as Team Principal of the Alpine Formula One team.

Oliver Oakes was confirmed earlier this week as Alpine’s new Team Principal as a replacement for Bruno Famin, who was announced ahead of last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix as leaving the F1 side of Renault’s operation at the end of August 2024.

The 36-year-old was confirmed on Tuesday (31/07) as the new boss of the team, where he will report to the Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo.

He will be the second-youngest team principal in F1 history, in a record beaten only by Christian Horner, who was 31 when he first took charge of Red Bull Racing in 2005.

Oakes helped relaunch Hitech as Hitech Grand Prix in 2015 and had been racing cars in the Formula 2 and Formula 3 series. The firm also made a bid to join the F1 grid when the FIA opened up a process for potential new teams to apply, but were unsuccessful.

Before becoming a team administrator, Oakes had previously been a race driver, winning the Karting World Championship in 2005 and being funded by Red Bull’s driver programme when he attempted to step up to race cars before retiring from competitive driving.

Oakes said in a statement published by Alpine, “I am extremely grateful to Luca de Meo and Flavio Briatore for this opportunity to lead BWT Alpine F1 Team back to competitiveness. The team has talented people and excellent resources at its core, and I am confident that we can accomplish a great deal together during the remainder of this season and the longer term. I look forward to getting started after the summer break.”

Hitech GP have yet to comment on their arrangements going forward.

The Silverstone-based Hitech currently sit 4th in the F2 Constructor’s Championship, with Paul Aron having been a contender in the championship fight. They have 4 rounds remaining in Monza, Baku, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The team also sit 5th in the F3 Constructor’s Championship, although driver Luke Browning remains in contention for the Driver’s Championship ahead of the final round in Italy later this month.

The move comes amid a time of flux for Alpine, who recently re-hired former Team Principal Flavio Briatore as an executive advisor.

Having finished fourth in the 2022 season, they finished sixth in 2023 and currently sit eighth in 2024, picking up just 11 points from the first 14 races of the season.

Rumours are suggesting that the team, which is majority owned by Renault, is considering shutting down Renault’s F1 engine programme and becoming a customer of another engine manufacturer.

The team is also yet to confirm it’s second driver for 2025 alongside Pierre Gasly, with Esteban Ocon set to leave at the end of 2024 after five seasons with the team to join Haas.

Travel advice has been published ahead of the Reggae Land Festival at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes this weekend.

A two day festival celebrating reggae music and culture will take place on Saturday 3rd August and Sunday 4th August at the music venue, which previously held the festival last year.

In preparation for the event taking place, advice has been published for festival goers regarding what to expect.

Due to the high volume of vehicular traffic heading to the venue and volumes of pedestrian traffic at the egress stage, a series of road closures, diversions, temporary speed restrictions and waiting restrictions will be in place around the site footprint to facilitate safe access and egress of patrons to the event and to mitigate delays on the highway network.

People driving to the venue are advised to follow the ‘Concert at MK Bowl’ yellow signs as you approach the venue, to ignore your sat-nav where necessary and allow extra time for your journey.

Road closures for the event will see Watling Street, Chaffron Way and Grafton Street will be closed for 9am Saturday 3 to 3am Sunday 4 August and 9am Sunday 4 to 3am Monday 5 August in areas immediately around the National Bowl.

For car parking, a number of official event car parks providing public parking in the immediate vicinity of the Bowl. Spaces can only be guaranteed by advance booking at the charge of £25 cars/minibuses/blue badge holders and £75 coaches. All bookings are subject to a booking fee and must be made via
https://parkthecarhere.com

Car parks are open from 10:00 and close at 02:00, while there is no overnight parking available and any vehicle left in car parks after the closure time will be removed at the owner’s expense.

Parking will be on grass and is therefore subject to weather conditions, while as this is a green field event, there are no EV charging points available on site.

The designated accessible car park is located in the East Car Park (Orange) What3words reference trash.watched.remaining, while drivers are advised to follow ‘Concert at MK Bowl Parking’ signage for the specific car park booked.

Parking on the day will be subject to availability, while drivers are advised to use car parks provided as parking enforcement will be operational during the event. Residential areas will be protected and illegally parked cars are at risk of being towed away.

Additional paid parking is available in Milton Keynes City Centre, with the most convenient located near to Milton Keynes Central Railway Station which connects to the pedestrian cycleway Redway system, a 25-30 minute signposted walk to the venue.

‘No Waiting’ restrictions will be in place on the roadways surrounding the Bowl and no drop offs will be permitted. There are two official Drop Off and Pick Up Facilities.

The official Taxi Rank Drop Off and Pick Up facility is located on Chesney Wold, which will be subject to a one-way system with entry from Summerson Road. Postcode is MK6 1NE, while What3words reference is grief.sunroof.painted.

Meanwhile, a Private Hire, Family & Friends Drop Off & Pick Up point is located on Kelvin Drive. Postcode is MK5 8NH, while What3words reference is basket.skirt.ambitions.

Big Green Coach is operating return coach travel from Bedford, Birmingham, Coventry, London King’s Cross, Luton, Northampton, Peterborough and Stevenage, and places can be booked by visiting the Big Green Coach website. All coaches will parked on the Orange (East) car park with easy access into Gate 6.

Cycle parking is available at the Green Car Park (Car Park A) and will be in a secure location stewarded throughout event times.

The nearest railway station is Milton Keynes Central with services operated by Avanti West Coast and London Northwest Railway. From Milton Keynes Central railway station, people can exit right and walk for 50 metres before turning right on to a footbridge over the railway line. This is pedestrian cycleway Redway system “Leisure Route 51” and a 25-30 minute (just over one mile) and will be signposted with event signage to the Bowl.

Anyone travelling by train is advised that the return journey to the rail station may take longer due to the number of concertgoers exiting the venue at the same time. Patrons using rail transport are reminded that it is their responsibility to allow enough time to make the necessary rail connections when leaving the venue.

No local buses directly serve The National Bowl site, but services 8/8A and service 4 operate to adjacent streets. Additionally, a number of services operate from Station Square adjacent to Milton Keynes Central railway station from where the redway Leisure Route 51 can be used to access the Bowl.