INTERNATIONAL WRAP: NASCAR MICHIGAN & AUSSIES OVERSEAS

Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr leading on the restart at Michigan – Photo: LAT

NASCAR – MICHIGAN – ROUND 15

Kyle Larson earned his second win in three rounds, backing up his recent win at Dover with another in Michigan over the weekend.

After starting the race from pole, Larson used a series of exceptional restarts to lead almost half of the 200 laps at Michigan. However it was the restart, after the caution was called for debris, on Lap 180 that Larson used to steal the lead back off Kyle Busch.

Then Larson charged away from the field on the final restart on Lap 196, to take the win over Chase Elliot and Joey Logano.

Kyle Larson celebrates his Michigan victory – Photo: LAT

“I knew the Penske cars took off good, so I was happy to see him behind me. For us to withstand a few restarts there with some tough competitors there was pretty important. I can’t thank these guys enough.” Larson said of the decisive restart.

The win moves Larson into the points lead in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup, with the playoffs to determine the championship winner later in the season.

WORLD SUPERBIKES – MISANO, ITALY – ROUND 7

Chaz Davies and Jonathan Rea crash during World Superbike race at Misano – Photo: LAT

The opening World Superbike race at Misano saw three big crashes, that changed the result in the closing laps.

Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes scored the win, but it took the last lap crash of Chaz Davies (Ducati) and Jonathan Rea for Sykes (Kawasaki), who were battling hard for the lead of the race, to get the result.

The crash saw Davies sustain injuries that would force him to sit out the second race of the weekend. While Rea was able to get back on his bike to finish third, behind Alex Lowes (Yamaha).

Sykes also benefited when Marco Melandri (Ducati) crashed out, while the two were battling for earlier in the race.

In the second race, which was much less dramatic than the first saw Marco Melandri bounce back from his crash the previous day to get the win. He lead the Kawasaki pair of Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes to the chequered flag.

The result see Rea continue to lead the World Superbike Championship with a clear 50 point lead over teammate Sykes.

AUSSIES OVERSEAS

Joey Mawson competing in European Formula 3 – Photo: LAT

MICHELIN LE MANS CUP

Several Aussie’s made the trip over to France to be a part of the Le Mans 24 Hour race meeting.

Greg Taylor and James Winslow (Winslow also competed in the 24 Hour race), were the best of the Australian drivers, finishing eighth and fifth in the two Michelin Le Mans Cup races for Graff LMP3.

Graff teammates John Corbett and Scott Andrews finished 16th in the first race, just behind fellow Aussie Ricky Capo in the Eurointernational LMP3 car. While an incident on the first lap saw both the Graff LMP3 of Corbett and Andrews and the Eurointernational LMP3 of Capo retire from second race.

EUROPEAN FORMULA 3

Joey Mawson narrowly missed out on a podium in the European Formula 3 races at the Hungaroring in Budapest over the weekend.

A grid penalty from the previous round at Pau saw Mawson start from fifth in the first race. He exploited that starting position to challenge for the podium during the race. Ultimately settling for fourth.

The second and third races weren’t so good for Mawson. While he improved on his starting position in both races starting further down the grid left a lot of work for the Sydneysider. Earning a seventh and eighth in the last two races of the weekend.

For a more detailed analysis of the weekends international motorsport, pick up the next issue of Auto Action Magazine. In the mean time make sure you follow Auto Action on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest updates.