OCTOBER 28, 2015
Monday, October 26, 2015 at 08:47AM
(BBC image)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) won the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, on Sunday clinching his third Formula 1 World Championship. Hamilton becomes only the second British driver after Sir Jackie Stewart to achieve the feat. It was Hamilton's tenth win of 2015 in a very entertaining and challenging race that was run in changing conditions after torrential rains wreaked havoc on Friday and Saturday. Hamilton pressured his teammate, Nico Rosburg, into a mistake in the closing laps and swept by for the win. Rosburg was noticeably - and understandably - pissed-off afterward. Sebastian Vettel was third in his Ferrari. Read more here.
(MotoGP image)
Dani Pedrosa (No. 26 Repsol Honda Team) rode a brilliant race at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix to take his 51st GP victory in front of 88,000 fans, with Jorge Lorenzo (No. 99 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) finishing ahead of his title rival Valentino Rossi (No. 46 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) to reduce the Doctor’s lead in the standings to just 7 points with one race left. Pedrosa led from flag to flag to win by 3.612s in hot and humid conditions at the Sepang International Circuit, but his victory was overshadowed by an incredible dust-up between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda Team) that saw the latter crash out. Race Direction reviewed the incident after the race and handed Rossi three penalty points and he will be forced to start the final race of the season from the back of the grid. Get more info from MotoGP here.
(Photo by Russell LaBounty/NKP ©2015, courtesy of Ford)
Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion) does his celebratory burnout after winning the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS) was second and Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports 3M Chevrolet SS) finished third. Suffice to say that the race was a mess at the end. Get more NASCAR info here, and read Peter's NASCAR commentary here.
(Photo by Garry Eller/HHP for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS) finished fifteenth with a crippled car, pissing-off (and wrecking) half the field in the process at the end, while Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports 3M Chevrolet SS) delivered another good finish. Both advance to the next round of the convoluted "Chase" while Dale Earnhardt Jr. was eliminated from contention.
(Formula E)
Sebastien Buemi (No. 9 Renault e.dams) started from the pole position, set fastest lap and won the first Formule E race of the 2015-2016 season, the SWUSP Beijing ePrix. “It was a perfect race," Buemi commented. "I had a bad start, to be honest; Nick [Heidfeld] had a fantastic start. In the end it’s a perfect weekend and I’ve never scored all the points before, it’s good and I’m going to enjoy that. I’m looking forward to Malaysia now.” Lucas di Grassi (No. 11 ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport) finished second and Nick Heidfeld (No. 23 Mahindra Racing) was third. Watch video highlights here.
(Photo by Ferdi Kräling Motorsport-Bild GmbH, courtesy of Audi)
The lead No. 7 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro driven by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer is just one point behind Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) heading into the final round seven at Shanghai on November 1st. Fifty-two points are yet to be awarded this season. “The battle for the World Championship title has never before been as intense as this year,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Our 2012 World Champions, Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer, have maintained their chances in the title race by delivering consistent performances.” The three Audi drivers are the only driver combination to deliver podium finishes at every round in the current season and in fact were leading the World Championship for five races. The three drivers are also the most successful WEC drivers of all time with a record ten victories since 2012.
(IndyCar)
Twenty-two-year-old Spencer Pigot, the 2015 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires champion, will compete in at least three rounds of the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Graham Rahal and Pigot will form an American lineup at RLL Racing, the team co-owned by Bobby Rahal, David Letterman and Mike Lanigan. Pigot’s initial schedule includes the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 13, the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 14 and the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on May 29. Both parties are working to extend the number of races, and sponsorship will be announced at a later date. “I'm very excited and honored to be starting my career in the Verizon IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing,” said Pigot, of Orlando, Fla. “It's always been my goal to be an IndyCar driver and be in the Indianapolis 500. I can't thank everyone at RLL and Andersen Promotions enough for this opportunity. “I think it's a great place for me to be as a rookie because of all the experience within the team. The team is coming off a great 2015 season and hopefully we can build on that success. The 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 is going to be a very special moment for me and the highlight of my career so far. It's what I've been working towards ever since I started racing. It's the biggest race in the world and I can't wait to be a part of it.”
(VW)
Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross will celebrate its first championship at the Red Bull Global Rallycross season finale in Las Vegas. With four consecutive wins and double podium finishes, Andretti Rallycross teammates Scott Speed (No. 41 ORAFOL Volkswagen Beetle GRC) and Tanner Foust (No. 34 Rockstar Energy Drink Volkswagen Beetle GRC) are the only drivers left in the running for the 2015 driver’s championship.
Editor-In-Chief's Note: The 2016 Verizon IndyCar schedule is better in terms of quality and quantity. It revolves, of course, around the 100th Running of Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on May 29th, but the addition of Phoenix, a new event on the streets of Boston and the return to Road America - "America's National Park of Speed" - in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, makes for a noteworthy improvement. The 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule also expands by five weeks, starting earlier (St. Petersburg, March 13) and ending later (Sonoma, Sept. 18). -PMD
The complete schedule, with television networks and times (all ET):
March 13 Streets of St. Petersburg ABC 12:30 p.m.
April 2 Phoenix International Raceway NBCSN 8 p.m.
April 17 Streets of Long Beach NBCSN 4 p.m.
April 24 Barber Motorsports Park NBCSN 3 p.m.
May 14 Grand Prix of Indianapolis ABC 3:30 p.m.
May 29 Indianapolis 500 ABC 11 a.m.
June 4 Raceway at Belle Isle Park ABC 3:30 p.m.
June 5 Raceway at Belle Isle Park ABC 3:30 p.m.
June 11 Texas Motor Speedway NBCSN 8 p.m.
June 26 Road America NBCSN 12:30 p.m.
July 10 Iowa Speedway NBCSN 5 p.m.
July 17 Streets of Toronto NBCSN 3 p.m.
July 31 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course NBCSN 2 p.m.
Aug. 21 Pocono Raceway NBCSN 3 p.m.
Sept. 4 Streets of Boston NBCSN 2 p.m.
Sept. 18 Sonoma Raceway NBCSN 7 p.m.
2016 WORLD RX CALENDAR*
1. PORTUGAL – MONTALEGRE/April 16-17
2. GERMANY – HOCKENHEIM/May 7-8
3. BELGIUM – METTET/May 14-15
4. UK – LYDDEN HILL/May 28-29
5. NORWAY – HELL/June 11-12
6. SWEDEN – HOLJES/July 2-3
7. CANADA – TROIS-RIVIERES/August 6-7
8. FRANCE – LOHEAC/September/3-4
9. SPAIN – BARCELONA/September/17-18
10. LATVIA – RIGA/October/1-2
11. GERMANY – ESTERING/October 15-16
12. ARGENTINA – ROSARIO/November 26-27
* subject to confirmation by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in December
Editor's Note: Watch "Episode 3" of AutoextremistTV on YouTube here. -WG