INTERNATIONAL WRAP: MOTOGP ARAGON AND AUSSIES OVERSEAS

Marc Marquez too the MotoGP win at Aragon – Photo: LAT

MOTOGP – ARAGON – ROUND 14

It was a strong showing for the two factory Honda’s of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, with the team taking a commanding one-two finish at Aragon in Spain.

The win for Marquez moves him clearly into the lead of the MotoGP Championship with a 16 point margin over Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso whose teammate Jorge Lorenzo finished the race in third to complete the podium.

The race wasn’t easy for the two Honda riders, who had to fight their way up the order after starting fifth and sixth. At one point in the race the battle at the front so in intense that Marquez moved from third to first and back for fourth in the space of one corner.

However, the story of the race was Valentino Rossi in is return to MotoGP racing just 23 days after breaking his leg. The Yamaha rider had been battling with Lorenzo for the lead of the race for the first 11 laps. Once the Honda’s managed to eventually get past, Rossi dropped back to finish in fifth.

Aussie Jack Miller hovered around his starting position of 13th for the entirety of the race.

MotoGP now heads to Japan in October for the next round of the Championship.

NASCAR – NEW HAMPSHIRE

Kyle Busch claimed the win in New Hampshire – Photo: LAT

Kyle Busch has moved into the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs with his win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this morning.

Starting from the pole, Busch collected a stage victory and led a race-high 187 laps on his way to his third win of the 2017 NASCAR season.

The race wasn’t without issues though, with several playoff contenders caught up in a mid-race accident. Martin Truex Jr, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeffrey Earnhardt were all caught up in the accident, however all cars were able to resume the race after some repairs.

Kyle Larson finished second, while Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr., who recovered from the earlier incident rounded out the top five.

AUSSIES OVERSEAS

Remy Gardner in Moto2 at Aragon – Photo: LAT

MOTO2

Another learning weekend for Remy Gardner in Moto2 at Aragon. After starting 17th on the grid, the Tech 3 rider dropped down the order to 24th at the start of the race. He then moved his way back up to finish 20th.

EUROPEAN FORMULA 3

Joey Mawson had difficult start to his Formula 3 weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Mechanical issues in the first race saw him lose a lap while in pit lane, to finish the race in 18th position after sitting just outside the top ten earlier in the race.

The weekend improved in the second race with a eighth place finish for Mawson. He then went one better to finish seventh in the third and final race of the weekend.

F3 – Red Bull Ring – Race 1

F3 – Red Bull Ring – Race 2

FORMULA RENAULT

The Aussie contingent in Formula Renault was again lead by Thomas Randle in the eighth round of the series at Spa in Belgium. Randle finished tenth in the opening race, fifth in the second race and eleventh in the third race of the weekend.

Thomas Maxwell was the next best with two 13th’s and 12th in the final race. Alex Peroni took a 15th, 16th and 14th. Zane Goddard a 24th, 18th and 13th. While it was a difficult weekend for Luis Leeds with a 29th, 23rd and a DNF to round out the weekend.

Formula Renault – Spa – Race 1

Formula Renault – Spa – Race 2

Formula Renault – Spa – Race 3

ELMS

Also at Spa this weekend was the European Le Mans Series which had three Aussies in action. James Allen was part of the outright winning LMP2 Graff team taking out the 4 hour race. Ricky Capo’s Eurointernational team finished 26th outright and 11th in the LMP3 class. While fellow LMP3 competitor Neale Muston in the M.Racing – YMR car failed to finish after issues halfway through the race.

SPEEDWAY GP

Aussie Jason Doyle continued to extend his lead in the Speedway GP series at the most recent round in Stockholm. He finished the round in third place, after four heats and a semi final, well ahead of his nearest rival. Fellow Aussie’s Chris Holder and Max Fricke also had good weekends finishing sixth and twelfth respectively.

BLANCPAIN GT SERIES ASIA
Nick Foster had a mixed weekend with Craft Bamboo Racing in the Blancpain GT Asia series races at the Shanghai International Circuit. The first race didn’t last very long for Foster who was taken out in a first corner incident. It would have just been a harmless spin, but he was then collected by the No. 30 Bentley. The second race was much better for Foster who finished ninth in his repaired Porsche 911 GT3R.

Blancpain GT Asia – Shanghai – Race 1

Blancpain GT Asia – Shanghai – Race 2

NISSAN MICRA CUP

After a last minute scramble to repair his car after the previous round Keishi Ayukai found further issues in qualifying, heavily damaging his Nissan Mirca race. However, that didn’t hold him back. The car was again hastily rebuilt in time to make the grid for the first race of the weekend, where Ayukai finished 14th. He then backed up that with a 15th in the final race of the year.

Ayukai finished the Nissan Micra Cup Championship in ninth place.

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