We’re heading into the backend of the season now with practically all motorsport series. And yes, let’s call it crunch time.
With Formula 1 taking a summer break, and Formula E taking its annual break, it’s up to the rest of the Championships to make up for it.
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NASCAR Sprint Cup didn’t disappoint this weekend, with Pocono playing host to the Windows 10 400. In middle America, the legendary Mid-Ohio circuit entertained the IndyCar Series.
The WRC visited much colder climes in Scandinavia while we saw torrential rain in Austria. And finally, we visit sunny Australia, for the next round of the V8 Supercars.
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Luck, not just fuel, runs dry for Kyle Busch as Kenseth takes shock win
Motorsport is a funny old thing. Reliability is key, and so is speed, but if you run out of fuel, you can’t do much about either. And that’s what leaders at Pocono discovered this weekend.
Well on his way to taking his fourth race victory in a row, Kyle Busch ran out of fuel leading the race. Not to be outdone, the Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano joined in as well, also from the lead.
It was Matt Kenseth who took the opportunity, and claimed a well deserved (and shock) victory ahead of Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon. Busch remains beyond the Chase places, even after winning four races and limping home in 21st.
IndyCar Series: Rahal claims home win, closes Championship gap on Montoya
Mid-Ohio played host to this weekend’s latest IndyCar duel, and Graham Rahal came out on top thanks to bags of luck and a sixth-sense from his team. Rahal pitted just before a caution was thrown for a spin on track, but Montoya failed to do so.
Once normal service resumed, Rahal was leading with all of his pitstops completed, and Montoya was 12th.
With two races to go in the Championship, Montoya still leads but only by nine points from Rahal.
WRC: Latvala finally beats Ogier in Finland
Finland is a massively scary WRC stage. It’s fast. It’s icy. And not everyone can get to grips with it. Except, of course, a Finn.
Jari-Matti Latvala, largely racing in the shadows of Sebastien Ogier, has shown his class this weekend, beating the incumbent French Champion by 13 seconds. Ogier leads the Championship by over 80 points, but Latvala’s second straight Rally Finland win deserves a round of applause.
V8 Supercars: Pepsi Max Crew claims Ipswich clean sweep
Well, it’s one of those things in motorsport, but some tracks suit more teams than others. And this was especially true with the Pepsi Max Fords of Mark Winterbottom (who took the double) and Chad Mostert.
World Superbikes: Rea wins race one in Malaysia, but finishes second in race two
Winning a race from seventh is not too shabby, let alone nearly winning the Riders’ Championship in August. Jonathan Rea has been dominant all season, and at Sepang this weekend, the Northern Irishman showed the world once again why he deserves the title.
In race two, his closest challenger Chaz Davies took another victory to add to his double at Laguna Seca a fortnight earlier.
DTM: Ekstrom leads from start to finish in delayed (and wet) Austrian GP
DTM is a real slugfest this season, with BMW, Mercedes and Audi all taking points away from one another at various events. Roll on to Austria, and it was Audi and Mattais Ekstrom’s time to shine.
The Audi driver now leads the Drivers’ Championship with 111 points, and relegates Edoardo Mortara and BMW’s Pascal Weirlein (previous leader) to second and third respectively.
Feature image: Todd Warshaw/NASCAR via Getty Images
