10 Things You Might Have Missed From Last Weekend's Motorsport Action
In another busy weekend of motorsport - which included F1, WEC and MotoGP - here are 10 things for you to catch up on:
The inaugural Russian Grand Prix was far from exciting. It was probably the most boring race of the 2014 season so far. This journalist found it so dull that he dropped off to sleep.
2. Touching tributes
There were some lovely tributes and messages of support for injured Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi at the Sochi Autodrom, which hosted the Russian Grand Prix.
The F1, GP2 and GP3 drivers all had stickers on their cars and helmets, while the 2014 field gathered at the front of the grid before the race. Lewis Hamilton also dedicated his victory to the Frenchman. Forza Jules, our thoughts continue to be with you.
3. Marquez crowned champion
Marc Marquez unsurprisingly secured his second MotoGP championship last weekend, after finishing in second place at the Motegi circuit. The Spaniard dominated the opening part of the season, winning the first 10 races. He couldn’t keep his incredible victory streak up, but the runner-up spot in Japan meant he took the title with three races to go.
4. BTCC season comes to a close
The 2014 British Touring Car Championship came to a typically dramatic end last weekend at Brands Hatch. Race one included a huge first lap pile-up and was won by Jason Plato, but third place was enough for Colin Turkington to take the title.
Plato took victory in race two but was later penalised for colliding with Turkington, giving Adam Morgan his maiden win in the series. Gordon Shedden triumphed in race three, which took place in challenging conditions.
The Bathurst 1000 took place last weekend at the iconic Mount Panorama circuit. The famous V8 Supercars race concluded in dramatic fashion, with Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert – who started last on the grid - battling for the win in the final two laps.
However, Whincup was dangerously low on fuel and was eventually forced to coast to the finish line, with Mostert and co-driver Paul Morris taking the victory.
6. Toyota one-two
The FIA World Endurance Championship was at the Fuji circuit in Japan last weekend for the fifth round of the 2014 season. The six-hour race was won by the No.8 Toyota of Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi, with third driver Nicolas Lapierre missing the event due to personal reasons.
The No.7 Toyota of Kazuki Nakajima, Alexander Wurz and Stephane Sarrazin finished second, with Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley’s No.20 Porsche completing the podium. G-Drive Racing won in LMP2, with Rebellion Racing taking the LMP1-L victory. AF Corse triumphed in GTE-Pro, while Aston Martin Racing took the GTE-Am win.
Kevin Harvick survived a late restart at the Charlotte Motor Speedway to take the Nascar Sprint Cup Bank of America 500 on Saturday night. He led 162 of the race’s 334 laps to take his first win in the Sprint for the Chase Cup, securing a spot in the up-coming Eliminator Round.
Jeff Gordon was second, with Jamie McMurray third. It was a dramatic event, with several unusual incidents after the race on track and in the pit lane resulting in a post-race bust-up between Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth.
The Nascar Nationwide Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway was chaotic to say the least, with several big crashes. Brad Keselowski took his fourth win of the season after passing his Penske Racing team-mate Ryan Blaney with 14 laps to go. Kyle Busch finished second, with Matt Kenseth in third.
The penultimate round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship season took place in Turkey at Istanbul Park. Andreas Bakkerud took the victory, with Timmy Hansen and Topi Heikkinen in second and third. Petter Solberg, who secured the title at the last race in Italy, retired from the final.
10. GP2 and GP3 return
F1 support championships GP2 and GP3 were in action at the Sochi Autodrom. Unlike the main F1 event, the races were both exciting and action-packed. Jolyon Palmer wrapped up the 2014 GP2 title with a win in Saturday’s feature event, with Marco Sorensen taking the victory in Saturday’s sprint race.
Meanwhile the first GP3 race was won by Dean Stoneman, following his switch to Koiranen GP after Marussia Manor Racing withdrew from the weekend for commercial reasons. The Briton narrowly missed out on the chaotic race two victory, which instead went to Patric Niederhauser.
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