Welcome to a new edition of Motorsport Weekend, our own feature where we talk about the best motorsport events in the last three days.
This week, we had action both on two and four wheels. The Moto GP championship had its British Grand Prix held in Silverstone, the WTCC competition arrived at Italy’s Monza circuit while Nascar’s Sprint Cup saw its first non-oval circuit race of the season held at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.
So, curious to see how Jorge Lorenzo, Andy Priaulx or Jimmie Johnson faired in their respective competitions? Then hit the jump and read all about it.
First off, the Moto GP race in Silversone was a show of force by Yamaha driver Jorge Lorenzo, who dominated the race from start to finish. Valentino Rossi’s teammate also benefited from a lack of form by Dani Pedrosa, who eventually managed to finish the race eight overall.
But while the first place was secured by Lorenzo, the battle for second and third was extremely heated up, with riders from Ducati, Honda and Yamaha duking it out. In the end, Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso managed to finish in second place while the podium was completed by Yamaha’s Ben Spies.
Overall standings still show Lorenzo in the number one spot, with 115 points, followed by Dovizioso with 78 and Pedrosa with 73.
Moving on, we have the World Touring Car Championship and the Belgium GP held at Zolder. The race, even though it promised a lot of exciting things, wound up to be a bit of a disappointment. The biggest loser of the day was Seat’s Jordi Gene, which after winning the first race, was disqualified for a jump start by officials. This meant the first race was won by Gene’s teammate, Gabriele Tarquini, followed by Chevrolet duo Yvan Muller and Alain Menu.
The second race was even duller, as BMW’s Andy Priaulx (pictured above) led from start to finish, taking advantage of coming in eight in the first race and starting in pole position. He was followed by Chevrolet’s Rob Huff and by Seat driver Tiago Monteiro.
Overall WTCC standings show Yvan Muller in the lead, followed by Tarquini who trails by 19, and Priaulx, trailing by 23 points.
Last but not least, we had the Nascar Infineon raceway event, counting for the Sprint Cup, held in California. The Toyota/Save Mart 350, the first non-oval race this season brought a lot of good luck for reigning champ Jimmie Johnson, and a lot of bad luck for Marcos Ambrose, who led for the majority of the race.
During the last entry of the safety car onto the track, Ambrose was in the lead, so he went into fuel saving mode, shutting the engine from time to time and coasting behind the official car. Sadly, this proved a bit too much for his Toyota, which stalled and wasn’t able to start back on time, which resulted in six cars overtaking the driver.
Johnson was right behind Ambrose, so when the safety car retired, he raced away to an easy victory, the first in a non-oval circuit in his career. Johnson was followed by Robby Gordon and by Kevin Harvick. Ambrose, sadly, wound up in sixth place.
Overall standings still show Kevin Harvick in the lead, but Johnson now trails by 140 points, followed by Kyle Busch, trailing by 141 points.
