INTERNATIONAL WRAP: WRC PORTUGAL & AUSSIES OVERSEAS
Ogier flying through WRC Portugal – Photo: LAT
WRC – PORTUGAL
Sebastien Ogier has added another Portugal Rally win to his resume, after four days of tackling the technical gravel roads.
After claiming his maiden victory at Portugal seven years ago, Ogier’s win over the weekend was his fifth at the event.
Ogier’s M-Sport teammate Ott Tanak held the lead the rally at the end opening day after early rally leader Toyota’s Jari-Matti Latvala rolled.
Tanak would struggle with his own issues on day two, swiping a bank and breaking his Fiesta’s suspension and brakes. Handing the lead to a charging Ogier.
By the end of day two Ogier held a clear lead over the two Hyundai’s of Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo. Which would also be the result at the end of the final day.
Kiwi, Hayden Paddon, finished the rally 29th after suffering electrical and steering issues with his Hyundai. Paddon would however claim a couple of stage wins to prove he had the pace to challenge when the car was repaired.
The win for Ogier sees the M-Sport Ford driver extend his lead in the championship with 128 points. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville sits in second with 106 points while Toyota’s Jari-Matti Latvala is third (88 points).
MOTOGP – FRENCH GP
Viñales and Rossi battling for the lead – Photo: LAT
Maverick Viñales has won the French MotoGP race at Le Mans, after a dramatic dual with Movistar Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi.
Viñales took the lead of the race early, while Rossi had to move his way from third to steal the lead the race with just three laps left in the race. However the multiple champion went on to make two uncharacteristic mistakes, while pushing in on the final lap, that ultimately saw Rossi crash out of the race. Handing the win to Viñales, the 500th MotoGP win for Yamaha.
Rossi wasn’t the only big name to not finish. Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez crashed out with a 11 laps to go, while pushing for a podium result.
Local French rider Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) scored the first MotoGP podium of his career, finishing in second, after briefly leading the race.
Previous round winner Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), charged through from thirteenth, to claim the final spot in the podium.
After his spectacular crash in practice, Aussie Jack Miller finished the race in eighth.
After five rounds of MotoGP, Viñales now has a clear lead in the standings with 85 points. Behind the points are tight between Pedrosa (68 points), Rossi (62 points) and Marquez (58 points)
NASCAR – CHARLOTTE
Kyle Busch wins All-Star Race at Charlotte – Photo: LAT
Kyle Busch is a million dollars richer after taking out the Monster Energy All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway over the weekend.
Busch, who had sat in second place during the opening three stages, stormed off to lead remaining ten cars in the final 10 lap dash to the end.
Kyle Larson, who lead the first two 20 lap stages, finished second after a battle with Jimmie Johnson in the final stage.
“We’ve never won at Charlotte in a Cup car and we finally achieved that goal tonight,” an elated Busch said in Victory Lane. “I won the All-Star Race. I won a million bucks. There’s reason to celebrate and reason to celebrate big.”
FORMULA E – PARIS
AUSSIES OVERSEAS
Alex Peroni wins on the streets of Pau
RENAULT EUROCUP
Alex Peroni has led the Aussies on the streets of Pau, with a fifth in Race One, while behind Thomas Maxwell secured 15th, Luis Leeds 18th and Zane Goddard 19th. Peroni started Race Two from Pole and converted it into victory. Peroni took the first Australian Formula Renault race winner since Daniel Ricciardo, while Maxwell, Leeds and Goddard all finished the race just outside of the points.
EUROPEAN FORMULA 3
Joey Mawson had a strong weekend on the streets of Pau, though suffered bad luck in the opener. He was running as high as third until a sudden sprinkle of rain caused the Aussie to lose the rear end and hit the wall. Mawson’s second race heralded a 16th on the tight street circuit, but the last race of the weekend capped off a tough weekend for the Aussie, who retired.
BLANCPAIN GT ASIA SERIES
Aidan Read continued his chase for the Blancpain GT Series Asia title at Chang in Thailand. Unfortunately in the first race, he and co-driver Alberto Di Folco were hit with a pit stop timing infringement, finishing 12th. The second race proved to be a better result with the pair finishing sixth.
BRITISH F4
As one Aussie won in Pau, another won at Oulton Park. Oscar Piastri broke Jamie Caroline’s four race winning streak to take victory in the second and final race of the British F4 weekend. Piastri finished sixth in the opener, with the third and final race being cancelled due to barrier damage.
“I’m really happy to get my first F4 win. We’ve been working very hard during the first three rounds and I have been learning a lot so it’s great to get on the top step already.” Piastri beamed.
“I was very focused on the start from pole and got away really well which gave me a gap. However, I made a couple of early mistakes which allowed Sargeant to close up a bit. I felt the car was improving as the race went on so that is a good sign for future races.”
LMP3 CUP CHAMPIONSHIP
Thomas Randle has finished third with co-driver Mike Newbould in the second LMP3 Cup race at Brands Hatch. Randle also set the fastest lap in what was their first podium for the team. The first race was a recovery job as they finished a lap down in fourth.
SUPER GT
Jake Parsons and co-driver Shinnosuke Yamada had an impressive run at the third round of Super GT at Autopolis. The pair moved from 25th in the GT300 Class to 14th, a lap down on the winning VivaC Toyota 86 Mother Chassis of Takamitsu Matsui and Kenta Yamashita.
CHINA F4
Josh Burdon has taken a clean-sweep of the results in the Chinese F4 Championship. Burdon dominated the weekend, posting Pole, three fastest laps and three wins across the weekend’s racing at Chengdu. Burdon will now attack the FRD LMP3 Series.
Joey Mawson also raced at Pau over the weekend
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