There are just too many great 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 thatâ€
The Valentine’s Day weekend was filled with love in many cases, but love lost in others, namely the first event of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season — the Daytona 500. There were no fluffy teddy bears and roses being handed from driver to driver this weekend, or driver to official.
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Nevertheless, the weekend did smile upon a few of its favourite sons, namely Sebastien Ogier. Andreas Mikkelsen must be wondering what happened to his luck in Sweden though.
Additionally, new information was made available regarding a possible late entry to the Formula 1 circus, Ducati launched its new MotoGP contender and Lada unveiled its new WTCC entry, competing in this year’s World Touring Car Championship.
So, without any more Valentine’s Day puns, let’s keep our heads but lose our hearts to this week’s motorsport roundup.
1. NASCAR officials are officially good at causing chaos
In some motorsport series, group qualifying makes sense. Formula 1 was a poorer for it when the mid-2000s qualifying was decided by one-lap single-file bashes around empty circuits. It was boring and made many want to launch a shoe towards their TV sets. But a series like NASCAR, that thrives on collisions, is where this seemingly mundane format makes sense.
So when NASCAR officials changed the qualifying format this year to a no holds barred race-like event, panels, smoke and drivers’ opinions went flying. Have a look at Clint Bowyer’s mini-rant above to get a sense of the drivers’ frustrations.
2. Matt Kenseth wins 14-car pileup, double red flagged, 75 lap race
There’s the small matter of the Sunday race, of course, and Matt Kenseth started his 2015 season the way he ended 2014 — with a win.
There was also a much larger matter of a 14-car pileup, in true NASCAR fashion, which resulted in one of two complete race stoppages. Nevertheless, after the final restart, Kenseth pulled away from Truex Jr. and Edwards to win the first event in a long, long NASCAR season.
3. Rally Sweden ends with Ogier on top spot, Mikkelsen spins to third
Well, we wonder who will stop Volkswagen and Seb Ogier this season, because the double World Champion has taken another win in 2015, this time in the snowy pastures of Sweden.
Although teammate Mikkelsen really should’ve won this one, bad luck reared its ugly head at the least opportune moment when he hit a bank sending him spinning on the final stage. He finished in third, but the rally was Ogier’s, with Neuville’s Hyundai coming in third.
In other news, New Zealand’s Hayden Patton finished a career-best fifth place.
4. Manor’s not yet an F1 team but its Twitter account thinks it is
The Formula 1 grid has been looking a little sparse this season, with only nine teams on the grid, but the FIA hopes that this will change at the very last minute.
The team has a slim chance of making teh grid in time for Australia’s 15 March event, but it’s still under speculation. Nevertheless, the team’s social networks are pretty much set in stone already.
Follow @ManorF1Team on Twitter.
5. Ducati launches new MotoGP machine
Image: Ducati Motor Holding s.p.a.
Although Yamaha and Honda have set the pace at Malaysian testing earlier this month, Ducati has launched its new MotoGP contender which will be ridden by Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso.
Dubbed the Desmosedici GP15, it’s quite a looker and will hopefully be a lot more competitive than last year’s contender.
6. Lada launches new WTCC challenger
Touring cars has also felt the love this weekend, with Lada launching its new WTCC competitor. The Russian outfit hasn’t had the most successful WTCC tenure thus far, but it will be looking to take some valuable Championship points away from Seat and Chevrolet this season.
Have a look at the company’s latest contender, the Lada Vesta.
Feature image: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images via NASCAR
