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Ogier beats legendary Loeb: 6 moments you missed in motorsport this weekend
There are just too many wonderful motorsport events and series to fit into a comparatively short weekend. Sadly because of this, many exciting moments go unnoticed to the oblivious racing fan. But that’s a thing of the past.
What a great motorsporting weekend, featuring a mixture of sports car racing, rallying and, well, Formula 1 talk.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona (United SportsCar Championship) ran laps around the gorgeous Floridian sunshine, and darkness. Up north, Rallye Monte Carlo opened the World Rally Championship for 2015, with sterling performances by Citroen and Volkswagen.
We also round up the latest pre-season news from the likes of NASCAR and Formula 1.
1. Sebastian Ogier leads VW one-two-three in Monte Carlo
Two Sebastians competed in one of motorsports most historic and prestigious events this weekend, high in the mountains above the Principality. The Monte Carlo Rally has a habit of claiming scalps, thanks to its unpredictable mixture of mud, fog, ice and snow, and sometimes all at the same time.
Although Volkswagen didn’t start particularly strongly, the manufacturer dragged out a podium lockout with Sebastian Ogier taking maximum points.
2. Sebastian Loeb is our hero and there’s nothing you can do about it
Nine World Championships. 78 rally wins. Over 900 stage wins. Enormous talent. This is Sebastian Loeb.
Back for one whirlwind adventure around the roads that he made his own in the mid-2000s, Loeb came extremely close to beating his French rival, but pushed a bit too hard into the final stage of the day, leading to Loeb’s retirement.
Nevertheless, it was priceless seeing the great man return to the sport he dominated for a decade.
3. NASCAR drivers are rather good at this road racing thing
The United SportsCar Championship also got underway in the States this weekend, with the famed Rolex 24 at Daytona first on the calendar. Daytona might not have that bad of an infield circuit, but anything becomes daunting after 24 hours at the wheel. It turns out that NASCAR drivers don’t just turn left after all either.
Jamie McMurray Kyle Larson, two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers joined by Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan of IndyCar fame, drove the Ganassi Riley-Ford EcoBoost DP to the top of the podium with their closest challengers just 1.3 seconds behind.
4. What was the most important thing at 24 Hours of Daytona? A possum
In more disturbing news at Daytona, one of the GT Daytona-class Porsches collected and killed a possum early in the morning. Ironically, the possum ripped an entire hole in the front of the car with the body eventually found in the boot. Moreover, the possum now has a Twitter account, @BallastPossum.
Someone has a dark sense of humour.
5. Jeff Gordon to retire from racing, world bursts into tears
Speaking of dark, its a dark day for motorsport when Jeff Gordon announces his retirement. And, well, he has.
After a glittering career in NASCAR Gordon has called it quits.
6. Lotus unveils its 2015 Formula 1 contender
And it’s a looker, unlike the terrible 2014 car.
It didn’t just look bad either, it was slow. Lotus will hope that this car, dubbed the Lotus E23 will pack more pace for the season ahead.
