Lorenzo wins in the Czech Republic, Kenseth owns Michigan: weekend motorsport roundup

With Formula One on hiatus, much of attention this weekend (outside of the US at any rate) would have been on racing of the two-wheeled variety. In particular, there was plenty of focus on MotoGP, with the battle for the championship moving to Brno in the Czech Republic.

There was plenty at stake, with the Championship lead up grabs and Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo took it with both hands.

The Nascar Sprint Cup meanwhile landed in Michigan, where Matt Kenseth completely dominated proceedings, winning the race for the third time in his career.

In South Africa, the Single Seater championship hit East London, where Robert Wolk extended his lead in the championship.

Interestingly a weekend without Formula One threw up a story showing how perilous the future state of the sport might be.

1. Jorge Lorenzo takes the lead in MotoGP championship

There was no stopping Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo this weekend as the MotoGP championship moved to Brno in the Czech Republic. After dominating free practice and qualifying, Jorge Lorenzo won ahead of fellow Spaniard Marc Marquez.

The win put Lorenzo level on points at the top of the championship with Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi, who finished third on the day.

Rossi could potentially have maintained his lead had he not slipped down two places to fifth at the start of race, meaning that he had to fight his way back to a podium position.

2. Matt Kenseth massacres the opposition in Michigan

Nascar, that epitome of American motorsport, made its way to Michigan where Matt Kenseth claimed his third win for this season, his third win at the Michigan International Speedway and the 34th of his career.

The 2003 premier series champion survived a restart with 13 laps left and overtook Kevin Harvick to win by 1.722 seconds. As Kenseth pointed out though, a large part of that win was thanks to a push from teammate Denny Hamlin.

“Denny did a spectacular job pushing me,” Kenseth said of the last run. “From the restart zone to about Turn 2 was like a superspeedway race – whoever got locked up – and those Chevys could really hook up”.

3. South African Single Seater Championship all but wrapped up

Round four of the South African Single Seater Championship which took place in East London, proved another successful weekend for Robert Wolk (41 – Chemical Logistics Mygale) with two race victories. This gives him a clear advantage in the SASS championship – all of 30 points ahead of his closest rival.

The series moves to Phakisa in the Free State this coming weekend, with three new drivers set to join the line-up.

4. Formula battles to find new teams

Formula One’s organisers know that if the sport is to continue to have widespread appeal, it needs to become more accessible. They also know that they need a wide variety of teams competing on race days.

It’s a little disappointing then that the US-based Haas team will be the only new team in F1 next season after the FIA’s attempts to attract newcomers to the sport failed to come up with any viable candidates.

Formaula One currently has 10 teams and has not had 12 since the end of 2012.