OCTOBER 19, 2016

(crash.net)
Twenty-three-year-old Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda Team RC213V) claimed the 2016 MotoGP World Championship by winning the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi and having his rivals - Valentino Rossi (No. 46 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1) and Jorge Lorenzo (No. 99 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1) - crash out. It was the third MotoGP world title for Marquez in four years and his fifth victory of the season. Rossi fell from second position early in the race while pushing to catch Marquez, and Lorenzo - sore from a massive crash on Saturday - went off while under pressure for the runner-up spot from Andrea Dovizioso (No. 4 Ducati Team Desmosedici GP). Dovizioso finished second and Maverick Viñales (No. 25 Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR) finished third.  

(Photo by Alan Marler for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Outback Chevrolet SS) won Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Hollywood Casino 400 at the Kansas Speedway by 1.183 seconds over Carl Edwards (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing XFINITY Toyota Camry). It was Harvick's fourth victory of the season and the 35th of his career, and he now joins Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Chevrolet SS) in the Chase for the Sprint Cup's Round of 8 which begins after next weekend's race at Talladega. Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion) was third.
(Getty Images/NASCAR)

(Audi Sport)
Stéphane Sarrazin, Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway (No. 6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid) gave Toyota its first victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship in almost two years in the 6 Hours of Fuji, as a late strategic gamble of not taking fresh tires on the final pit stop was just enough to give the team the win. The factory teams from Audi, Porsche and Toyota staged a pitched battle for 6 hours, separated by mere seconds. Lucas di Grassi, Loïc Duval and Oliver Jarvis (No. 8 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18) started from the pole and led the race for five hours, but came up 1.439 seconds short at the end. “Our three drivers showed a brilliant performance,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “We battled up until the end. When Toyota, for the last stop, were able to benefit from the strategic advantage of pitting late, and chose not to change tires, they took the lead for the first time. Loïc Duval did everything to recover the top spot, almost making up a 12-second deficit. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough but, once again, we saw fascinating endurance racing.” Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard (No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid) finished third.

(Ford)
Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell (No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT) won the 6 Hours of Fuji in the GTE Pro class, scoring the first win in the World Endurance Championship for the team. Stefan Mücke and Olivier Pla (No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT) finished close behind to make it a glorious 1-2 for Ford.
(Aston Martin)
Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla Lana and Mathias Lauda (No. 98 Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage) won the GTE Am class in the 6 Hours of Fuji.

(Audi Sport)
Mattias Ekstrom (No. 5 Team EKS Audi S1 EKS RX Quattro) won the FIA World Rallycross Championship after scoring enough points at the German RX round to secure the title with one round still remaining. Kevin Eriksson (No. 96 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST) took the Germany RX win, claiming his first every victory in the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy. Petter Solberg (No. 1 Citroen DS3) finished second, while fellow Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud (No. 13 Hoonigan Racing Division Monster Ford Focus RSRX) claimed the third podium spot. “This is probably the best day in my whole motorsport career - it feels like I have electricity running through my whole body,” grinned Ekstrom. He continued: “I have a lot of amazing memories: from winning the Swedish Touring Car Championship back in 1999, my first DTM title in 2004, my Race of Champions win against Loeb in Paris, and also against Michael Schumacher in 2007, then my second DTM title.  Now I’m the new World RX Champion and this feeling beats it all because when I started EKS from scratch less than three years ago, this was my dream.  I have always wanted to go to an FIA prize-giving ceremony and now I finally can.  This is a huge effort for my family, the team and all the guys who have worked to make this happen.  To become an FIA World Champion is what I have always wanted and it is the best feeling in the world.  Obviously, I owe a lot of gratitude to my employer, Audi Sport. My bosses gave me permission to compete at the Estering in order to maximize my chances of winning the title. That couldn’t be taken for granted, and I’m very thankful for this. I hope that by clinching the big trophy, I was able to put a smile on their faces.”

(VW)
Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (No. 1 Volkswagen Polo R WRC) were crowned World Rally Champions for the fourth time in a row after taking victory at the Rally Spain. It was the fifth win of the season and ninth podium in eleven races for the duo, who finished ahead of Dani Sordo/Marc Martí (No. 3 Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai 120 WRC) and Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (No. 0 Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai 120 WRC). Team-mates Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jæger (No. 9 Volkswagen Polo R WRC) went into the Rally Spain as their closest rivals in the title race, but the Norwegians’ hopes of winning the championship ended when they were forced to retire from the rally. Eighth place in the Manufacturers’ classifications for Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (No. 2 Volkswagen Polo R WRC) means Volkswagen is positioned to claim its fourth Manufacturers’ title in a row next time out at the Rally Great Britain. Sébastien Ogier is only the third World Rally Champion to be crowned champion four years in a row in the pinnacle of rallying, and the fourth four-time world champion in the history of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). He is now on a par with Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Mäkinen. Only his compatriot, nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb has more titles to his name.
(VW)
Julien Ingrassia and Sébastien Ogierafter after their big win in Spain.