After the Easter weekend lull when almost no motorsport action was seen, the roar of engines — both petrol and electric — were heard once more.
This week, we cover the second round of the Formula 1 Championship in Bahrain, and head out west for MotoGP, NASCAR Sprint Cup and Formula E.
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Lastly, the European season saw the WTCC roar into life, while the World Superbikes series was also seen running rings at Aragon.
F1: Rosberg makes it five wins in a row in Bahrain
It’s hard to believe that Rosberg had such a tough time in 2015 chasing Hamilton’s shadow, because the German has kicked off 2016 with two defiant wins. Adding to his three wins at the back of last season, he has now won five on the trot, and joins Sir Stirling Moss on 16 total career triumphs.
After getting a much better start than polesitter Hamilton (who was sideswiped by Bottas), and Raikkonen (who’s “finger slipped” on the startline), the German romped away into the distance to finish ahead of Raikkonen and a recovering Hamilton in third.
F1: Vettel suffers engine issue on parade lap, highlights Ferrari reliability issues
And Vettel? Well, he didn’t even make the grid. The German suffered an engine failure on the parade lap, and promptly pulled to the side of the track. It’s Ferrari’s second engine issue in as many races, after Raikkonen suffered a turbocharger failure in Australia.
F1: Vandoorne, Wehrlein, Grosjean have stellar outings
In other news, Stoffel Vandoorne — replacing an injured Alonso at McLaren — scored the team’s first points of the season finishing ninth on his race debut. Pascal Wehrlein in the Manor was passing Force Indias, Renaults and McLarens in the team’s most entertaining showing, and Romain Grosjean finished fifth, scoring another 10 points for the American Haas team in only its second race outing.
MotoGP: Marquez wins flag-to-flag Argentinian race by light years
It was a strange MotoGP weekend, made so by the questionable tyres Michelin brought to the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. As a result of a free practice tyre failure for Scott Redding, the FIM and MotoGP management decided that a flag-to-flag race, with a mandatory stop in the middle of the race, would be the safest bet for all involved.
So, with Lorenzo third on the grid, Rossi second and Marquez on pole, everything was to play for.
Marquez got a great start, along with Dovizioso on the second row, but Rossi got wheel spin off the line and Iannone braked too late, clouting Marquez and Pedrosa sending the latter down the order. Marquez was able to recover though, and soon passed Rossi and then-leader Dovizioso to lead the race.
Lorenzo fell off before the pit stops, and well, that was that. Marquez won by what seemed like a year. Rossi crossed the line in second, while Dani Pedrosa finished third. And the Ducatis?
MotoGP: Ducatis crash into each other on final lap
Well, let’s just say that Iannone isn’t the most popular rider on the grid. The Italian, on the final corner of the final lap, took his teammate out of the race as the two fought for the final podium position. Iannone was arguably to blame; went into the corner too hot (again) and side-swiped Dovizioso who pushed his Ducati across the line to finish 13th.
World Superbikes: Chaz Davies takes double victory in Aragon
In other news, Jonathan Rea extended his Championship lead, but the weekend belonged to Chaz Davies on the Ducati. He won Saturday’s race and Sunday’s main event, with Rea and Sykes following in his exhaust.
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Kyle Busch claims first win of the year at Martinsville
Kyle Busch, after his great start to the Xfinity campaign, finally won a Sprint Cup race this year. AJ Allmendinger finished second, while Kyle Larson rounded up the podium. Oh, and yes, Busch also won the Xfinity race too, thus taking home two grandfather clocks.
IndyCar Series: Scott Dixon wins in Phoenix as Montoya, Castroneves falter
In a day that seemed just perfect for tyre failures, Montoya and race leader Castroneves both were put out of contention when their rubber gave way. But it was Scott Dixon, finishing ahead of Simon Pagenaud and Will Power, who won in the desert.
WTCC: Rob Huff, Pechito Lopez win at Paul Richard
WTCC is back and so is Rob Huff in a Honda. The Brit took the first race around Paul Richard with reigning Champion Pechito Lopez taking the second race win.
Formula E: di Grassi gets his own back in Long Beach
After Mexico City’s farce, Lucas di Grassi has come back stronger than ever to win in Long Beach. Stephane Sarrazin finished in a well fought second place, while Daniel Abt rounded up the podium.
