INTERNATIONAL WRAP: WEC MEXICO & AUSSIES OVERSEAS
Porsche dominated the WEC round in Mexico – Photo: LAT
WEC – MEXICO– ROUND 5
Porsche dominated the FIA World Endurance Championship round in Mexico City.
Leading from pole position Earl Bamber, Brendon Hartley, and Timo Bernhard in the No. 2 919 Porsche Hybrid took out a comfortable win ahead of their Porsche teammates. The two Toyota’s were never really in the fight for the lead, finishing more than a lap behind the Porsches.
In LMP2 the Rebellion Racing team took its first class victory with Bruno Senna, Nicolas Prost and Julien Canal.
Aston Martin’s Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim won the GTE Pro class after a race long battle with the Ferrari 488 of Sam Bird and Davide Rigon.
The GTE Am class was won by Christian Ried, Marvin Dienst and Matteo Cairoli in a Porsche 911 RSR.
Aussie Nick Foster with co-drivers Ben Barker and Michael Wainwright finished third in the GTE Am class in their Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR.
INDYCAR – WATKINS GLEN– ROUND 16
Alexander Rossi won the IndyCar race at Watkins Glen – Photo: LAT
Alexander Rossi took his second IndyCar Series career victory at Watkins Glen after starting from pole position.
However, the story of the race was Josef Newgarden. The championship leader crashed in pit lane during the final round of pit stops triggering a late race safety car. Newgarden resumed, after lengthy repairs, but finished 18th.
It wasn’t an easy win for Rossi, the race started in tricky wet conditions, but it wasn’t long before the field had to stop and switch over to slick tyres. Rossi maintained the lead during the open pit cycle. However, an issue with refuelling on his second pit stop forced him to stop early for his third, dropping him down the order.
From there Rossi put down qualifying times, and with the assistance final safety car was able to move into the lead of the race.
A second place finish for Scott Dixon closed the points gap to Newgarden, now just 3 points separating the pair heading into the final round.
Aussie Will Power finished the race in sixth.
WORLD RALLY CROSS – FRANCE – ROUND 9
Johan Kristoffersson made World Rally Cross history by claiming his fourth consecutive round win. Beating local favourite Sebastien Loeb on his home turf.
Kristoffersson won two of his heats and his semi before taking out the win in the final.
Loeb had a string of second places leading through the heats and the semi’s before repeating that performance in the final. 2016 Champion Mattias Ekstrom rounded out the podium.
NASCAR – DARLINGTON
Denny Hamlin made a huge comeback to the NASCAR race at Darlington – Photo: LAT
Denny Hamlin made a huge comeback after a mistake to take the NASCAR win at Darlington.
Hamlin, who had been leading the race ahead of the final round of pit stops, missed the pit entrance almost crashing into the concrete barrier. Losing 20 seconds to the leaders and dropping to third in the process.
He then went on to fight his way back, passing Kyle Busch to move into second.
Luck the favoured Hamlin when Martin Truex Jr., the race leader on older tyres, slid into the wall and then suffering a puncture dropping him out of contention.
Kyle Busch went on to finish the race second. Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon and rookie Erik Jones rounded out the top five.
AUSSIES OVERSEAS
NHRA
Richie Crampton was twelfth fastest in the Top Fuel qualifiers, earning a first round match up against Doug Kalitta. We’ll report on his progress in the finals tomorrow.
PORSCHE SUPERCUP
Read all about Matt Campbell’s successful weekend in Porsche Supercup at Monza.
PROMAZDA
Anthony Martin needed to win in the final ProMazda round of the season to claim the title. Unfortunately, for the West Australian, a third was the best he could manage in extremely wet conditions at Watkins Glen, finishing up the championship in second place behind Brazilian Victor Franzoni.
“I was pushing 150 percent out there with the championship on the line.” said Martin after the weekend.
“It sucks to be the first loser, as I call it, but I gave it my all. I didn’t leave anything out there. I’m very disappointed not to take the championship but I had a great time this year.”
“The season has been one big bumpy rollercoaster. Victor and I traded the lead I don’t know how many times, and we had some intense battles. Congratulations to Victor and to Juncos Racing. Consistency wins and they were just a little more consistent than me.”
NISSAN MICRA CUP
Keishi Ayukai earned an eighth in the opening of two Nissan Micra Cup races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park over the weekend.
The Australian had been battling for fifth after starting 13th, but was spun on the final lap dropping back to him back to eight.
The second race, was worse for the Ayukai when he was spun and crashed into on final corner of the final lap while battling in the top 8. Leaving him with a DNF against his name with the finish line in sight. He had been racing as high as fifth during the race.
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.
