AUGUST 28, 2019
Monday, August 26, 2019 at 08:54AM 
Alex Rins (No. 42 Team Suzuki Ecstar) scored a sensational victory at the GoPro British Grand Prix as he and Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda Team) treated fans to a phenomenal MotoGP™ duel. Rins eventually beat Marquez to the line in a stunning finish. Maverick Viñales (No. 12 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) finished third. Silverstone was set for a typical MotoGP barnstormer, but nobody expected the drama at the first turn involving Fabio Quartararo (No. 20 Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Andrea Dovizioso (No. 4 Ducati Team). After the starting lights went out and with the riders heading into Copse for the first time, Quartararo’s back end slipped around as the Frenchman reacted to Rins getting out of shape in front of him. Quartararo crashed and, unable to take avoiding action, Dovizioso collided with the stricken Petronas Yamaha and just like that two leading race contenders were out of the race. Dovizioso headed to the medical center for a checkup after landing heavily and was later transported to Coventry hospital. It was confirmed later that Dovi has no broken bones, but he will need further checks after taking a big blow to the head. With four laps remaining, Rins made an error on the exit of the Vale chicane, coming out of the seat. This dropped Rins 0.6 back and gave Marquez some breathing space. But Rins reeled in Marquez by the end of the lap, which set up a tense final three laps. In the meantime, Viñales was still lurking 1.5 seconds back. On the penultimate lap, Rins made a move stick as he dived under Marquez at Turn 15 only to have Marquez blast back past on the Wellington Straight. A little further down the road, Marquez was again on the defensive. Heading into Sector 3 – a place Rins had been strong all race – the Repsol Honda was holding the tight line. No way through at The Loop for Rins, but would Marquez’ run onto the straight be hampered? Seemingly not. Marquez held it into Brooklands – the last real overtaking spot – but Rins was strong round Luffield and through Woodcote. The lap previous saw Rins get alongside Marquez round the outside at the finish line – Roberts and Sheene-esque from 1979 – but was ran wide. At the final corner, Marquez knew Rins had the advantage and tried to hold him off. The Repsol Honda had a slight twitch on the rear as Rins took a wide, sweeping line on his Suzuki and spectacularly won the race to the line to win by just 0.013! Later on, Rins revealed he thought it was the last lap on the penultimate lap. (Thanks to MotoGP Media) Watch video highlights here.
(Photo by special AE contributor Whit Bazemore)Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda Team) was beat at the line by Alex Rins (No. 42 Team Suzuki Ecstar) in a sensational finish to the GoPro British Grand Prix.
(Photo by special AE contributor Whit Bazemore)Fabio Quartararo (No. 20 Petronas Yamaha SRT) had a disastrous first turn at Silverstone.
Editor-In-Chief's Note: We hope you are enjoying the superb photography and insider's perspective of MotoGP racing by special AE contributor Whit Bazemore. MotoGP has become my personal favorite form of motorsport, and to have someone with Whit's talent share his visual art and deep knowledge of MotoGP is truly special for us, and we really appreciate it. By the way, you may recognize Whit's last name; Bazemore began making a living from drag racing when he was sixteen years old, and he is a two-time U.S. Nationals winner and still the fifth-fastest Funny Car driver ever at 333.25 MPH. -PMD
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Takuma Sato (No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Mi-Jack/Panasonic Honda Turbo V6) qualified fifth for Saturday night's Bommarito Automotive Group 500 NTT IndyCar Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway, dropped to last place after opening-lap contact with other cars in Turn 1 and battled back to win in the closest finish in this track's 10-year history - 0.0399 seconds over Ed Carpenter. The victory came six days after being the center of attention for his role in the first-lap, multi-car accident at Pocono Raceway that left his car upside down. But the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver stood his ground and focused forward, and that approach led him to his second win of the season, the fifth of his career and first on a short oval track. Next to the 2017 Indianapolis 500 victory, Sato called this the most gratifying win of his career. "Yes, I'm sure," Sato said. "Winning (from) pole at Barber was very significant - just the domination of the weekend is always great credit for the team and satisfaction. But this win is so special - beside Indy 500, obviously nothing like (that). This is just so emotional. Gave me unbelievable boost. (It's) a great story." Sato might not have held off Carpenter (No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet Turbo V6) had the race gone another corner much less another lap. Carpenter made a furious charge in the final two laps to overtake Tony Kanaan (No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing ABC Supply Chevrolet Turbo V6) and close in on Sato. The margin was the closest of the NTT IndyCar Series season. "It could have been (different winner) if we had a little longer straightaway or another lap," Carpenter said. After Sato held off Carpenter at the finish line, all eyes turned to NTT P1 Award winner and championship leader Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske PPG Chevrolet Turbo V6), who had been swapping fourth place with rookie Santino Ferrucci (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Cly-Del Manufacturing Honda Turbo V6). Ferrucci had drifted high a few laps earlier, allowing Newgarden to get past. But Ferrucci passed Newgarden back - apparently in tight form - and Newgarden spun in Turn 4. "I was happy I wasn't in the (wall), to be honest with you," Newgarden said. "The engine was still going, I wasn't in the wall. (I thought), thank goodness I'm kind of straight, I can't believe we're still going here." The incident caused Newgarden to drop to seventh place, which cost him six points, but he will head to Portland International Raceway for next weekend's penultimate race with a lead that has grown each of the past two weeks. Newgarden leads teammate Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Team Penske Menards Chevrolet Turbo V6) by 38 points, Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda Turbo V6) by 46 points and Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda Turbo V6) by 70 points after they finished fifth, 13th and 20th, respectively. Ferrucci, who led a race-high 97 of 248 laps, scored his second consecutive fourth-place finish and the third of his rookie season, and it allowed him to move two points ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing's Felix Rosenqvist (No. 10 Monster Energy Honda Turbo V6) for the lead in the Rookie-of-the-Year battle. Conor Daly (No. 59 Carlin Gallagher Chevrolet Turbo V6) gave his team its best finish of the season in sixth place. Next up for the NTT IndyCar Series is Sunday's Grand Prix of Portland. Live race coverage on NBC begins at 3 p.m. ET (noon PT local) with the green flag at approximately 3:45 p.m. Live radio broadcasts will be available on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (XM 209, Sirius 98, Internet/App 970). (Thank you to IndyCar media, as always.)
(Michelin Motorsport)
Something happened in Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway that has never happened before in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship history dating back to 2014. The GT Le Mans (GTLM) class finishing order had teammates finishing together from top to bottom, led by the Porsche GT Team which scored a 1-2 sweep on the 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit. No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR/Michelin driver Nick Tandy led his teammates, Earl Bamber in the No. 912 Porsche across the line by 0.737 seconds to score the third victory of the season for himself and his co-driver, Patrick Pilet. It was the sixth victory of the season for the Porsche GT Team and was the second VIR victory for Tandy and Pilet, who won here in 2015. The two Porsches dominated most of the race, combining to lead 86 of the 88 laps completed in the race. The No. 911 led a race-high 48 laps, including the last 20 after Tandy claimed the lead when Richard Westbrook surrendered it to make his final pit stop of the race in the No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT/Michelin. After that, it came down to teammates Tandy and Bamber to settle it between themselves. The victory all but sealed the 2019 WeatherTech Championship GTLM manufacturer’s title for Porsche, which only needs to earn the minimum points for starting the final two races of the season to win it. “It’s a perfect day,” Pilet said. “We had a tough qualy for Nick. He was really (upset) he went off, but I told him never give up. We have a great car. The guys make an excellent job. All the Michelin tires were working perfectly on our car this weekend. Yeah, the manufacturer’s championship was the first step, so this is done now, we can fight until the end with our sister car, which made a great job today. It was a great fight with them. We will try to make their life a bit more difficult for the driver’s championship. Even if it’s not easy, we will never give up until the end. It’s a great day for Porsche.” With the victory, Tandy and Pilet closed the gap in the driver and team standings to 11 points, 280-269, behind Bamber and his co-driver Laurens Vanthoor. The No. 912 duo known as “Bamthor” earned their seventh podium result of the season. Finishing third were co-drivers Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia (No. 3 Corvette Racing C7.R/Michelin), who now have finished on the podium in four consecutive races at VIR dating back to their first of two consecutive wins starting in 2016. Fourth place went to Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin (No. 4 Corvette Racing C7.R/Michelin). (Thanks to IMSA Media.)
(Mercedes-Benz)
In the GT Daytona (GTD) class, the No. 33 Team Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3/Michelin of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating scored their first victory – and podium – of the season at the 3.27-mile circuit in Alton, Virginia. (Thanks to IMSA Media.)
(Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Christopher Bell (No. 20 Toyota) won the NASCAR Xfinity race at Road America - "America's National Park of Speed" - on Saturday. Watch the video highlights here.
(Trans Am Series by Pirelli)
Ernie Francis Jr. (No. 98 Breathless Racing Frameless Shower Doors Ford Mustang) scored his third victory of the season and captured the TA class championship lead in Saturday’s Ryan Companies 100 at Road America. Boris Said (No. 3 Elavon/Burtin Racing Chevrolet Camaro) came home second, while Cliff Ebben (No. 36 Stumpf Ford/Machavern Group/Lamers Racing Ford Mustang) completed the podium, with the Wisconsin driver prevailing in a spirited late-race battle with Amy Ruman (No. 23 McNichols Co. Chevrolet Corvette). Francis had a torrid early battle with pole sitter Chris Dyson in the No. 20 Plaid Ford Mustang. The two cars were running within a half-second of each other before Dyson spun in his race-leading Mustang on the 10th lap in Turn 5 of the 4.048-mile circuit. The spin gave the lead to Francis, who was closely followed by Said. Francis gradually built his advantage over Said, winning by 35.842 seconds.