If “Fast Friday” is any indication, the record pole speed for the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge could be in jeopardy Sunday, and Team Penske has that mark squarely in its sights. Penske teammates Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske Shell Powering Progress Chevrolet), Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Team Penske Pennzoil Chevrolet) and Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Business Chevrolet) were the three fastest drivers during simulated qualifying runs in practice Friday for the 108th edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” as the focus shifted toward PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying on Saturday and Sunday on the 2.5-mile oval. Reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Newgarden averaged 234.063 mph in his best four-lap qualifying sim;McLaughlin posted the second-fastest qualifying sim at 233.623 mph; and 2018 Indy 500 winner and two-time series champion Power was third at 233.451 mph. Speeds soared Friday because the Honda and Chevrolet engines that power the field featured approximately 100 more horsepower due to increased boost levels that also will be available this weekend during PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying. The first day of PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying takes place from 11 a.m.-5:50 p.m. Saturday. A practice session will precede qualifying from 8:30-9:30 a.m., with two 30-minute groups. Positions 13-30 in the starting field will be set Saturday, with the Last Row Shootout, Top 12 and Firestone Fast Six qualifying sessions Sunday afternoon deciding the rest of the 33-car starting grid. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media)

Bend. Back in 2018, a younger, but no less brash, Jorge Martin won the Moto3 Championship and established himself as a future superstar. It wasn’t just the fact he was a new World Champion, but it was the way he won: he could cut and thrust, and barge through a field with elbows out more aggressively than most, but he could also (and often did) simply get to the front of a race, and disappear into the distance as if participating in a one-man time trial. A season high 11 pole positions only confirmed what everyone already knew — Jorge Martin was a very quick motorcycle racer.

Fast forward to this past weekend in Le Mans for the French GP, and everyone saw again, what they’ve seen all year and most of last year: Jorge is still brash and is still a very quick motorcycle racer. Maybe he is the quickest of all and he needs to be, since he is racing for more than wins — he is racing for what must be, in his eyes, the ultimate prize — a factory Ducati seat for next year.

The most important and most fascinating back story of the ’24 season so far involves the second factory Ducati bike and who will ride it starting in 2025. Jorge narrowly lost out two years ago when the Ducati brass picked Enea Bastianini over Martin for the ride. Martin’s first two MotoGP seasons (2021 and 2022) on the Pramac Racing Satellite team showed signs of his brilliance, but Bastianini had a better season in ’22, and was rewarded with the move up.

2023 was a different year. Bastianini, on the factory bike, was hindered by injury, while Martin contended for the Championship, still on the satellite Pramac team, taking four wins along the way. A clause in Martin’s contract stipulated a World Championship win would automatically get him promoted into the factory team. Still stung by having lost out the previous year, one could see the hunger in Martin’s eyes. It was almost as if getting the factory seat meant more to Martin than the Championship itself. And who’s to say it didn’t? Alas, it was close, going down to the last race in Valencia, but a mid-race mistake and crash meant Martin finished a close second. Ducati brass stuck with Bastianini for this season, as they rightly should have.

Just prior to the end of last season, a potential spanner was thrown into the two man fight for the seat. Six-time MotoGP Champion and arguably the best motorcycle racer ever, Marc Marquez’ last minute switch to another Ducati satellite team (Gresini - on a one-year-old Ducati GP23) from Honda now makes the fight for the remaining factory bike a three-way battle. Bastianini, Marquez and Martin all deserve the seat, but only one will get it. But, who?

Starting the French GP from a record setting pole position, plus a commanding win in the 1/2 points Saturday afternoon sprint race, Martin led the Championship by 28 points. His previous two years on the Ducati give him a slight edge over Marquez at this point of the season. But Marquez is a force. Serial winners have to win, period. And Marquez is nothing if not a serial winner. Six MotoGP Championships, 93 pole positions, and 59 race wins. What more do you need to know about the guy?

In the background is Bastianini — an exceptional racer, but one who has had some bad luck, and one who has been overshadowed by his teammate, two-time Champion Pecco Bagnaia. In Ducati, it isn’t a good idea to be overshadowed by anyone, no matter your potential, or your past. So, it was with this back story — a race for the best bike on the grid and legendary status as a Ducati Factory Racer that we arrived at the French GP.

At the start, number two qualifier Bagnaia got the hole shot and led into T1, and through the Dunlap Chicane. Martin was right on his tail. Marquez made up five spots immediately. With 10 to go, Marquez drafted past di Giannantonio on the main straight and was now in a podium position, albeit 2.5 seconds behind Martin, who had suddenly closed a three tenth gap to leader Bagnaia and was right on his exhaust.

The fight was between Jorge and Pecco with Marquez ready to pick up the pieces. It took Martin two attempts to pass Bagnaia for the lead, and once done, Marquez had closed the gap significantly. That was lap 19, with 8 to go. By lap 21, Martin had opened a small gap to Bagnaia, but Marquez was right there, within inches of Bagnaia. The fox was now in the hen house.

This was a suddenly a three-way fight for the win, but not just the race win. Ducati’s second bike decision could be imminent, so the stakes were incredibly high. Plus, it had been an unbelievable 931 days since Marquez’ last win — all the pain and suffering, the four right arm surgeries, the doubt that even the best athletes in the world can experience, the years of on-going physical therapy, and of course, the difficult decision to leave the God-like Repsol Honda Factory Team and a $25m paycheck for a small Italian Ducati team offering used, year-old bikes and not much of a salary. All of this for the glory of being the best, and for winning.

The three raced as one as the laps counted down. At the start of the last lap, it was all to play for. This was high-stakes poker at 200mph, on motorcycles. Bagnaia was literally two inches from Martin’s rear wheel as they leaned into the ultra-fast right hander of the Dunlap Chicane. No crash, but no successful overtake either. Marquez closed up, too, and was just behind Bagnaia.

Down the back straight and Marquez lunged under Bagnaia into the left hander Chemin aux Bœufs for second. Martin had a small gap, and Bagnaia could not fight Marquez in the remaining few corners. Martin, Marquez, and Bagnia finished in that order, with Bastianini a lonely fourth after having epic late race pace.

My bet is that Martin gets the factory seat, Marquez moves to Pramac with a current bike, as does Bastianini. Marquez wants the factory bike, make no mistake, but surely the challenge of winning a championship on a so-called privateer team must be an enticing proposition for him to consider. As long as the engineering support is the same for Pramac as it is for the factory - and Ducati would make that happen - Marquez won’t care one iota the bike’s color...

Stay tuned!

Nick Tandy completed a daring pass for the lead with 12 minutes remaining in Sunday’s Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N and drove on to victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Tandy, in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, hounded leader Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R through the last half-hour of the two-hour, 40-minute race. When they came upon slower traffic through Turns 3 and 4 of the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course at the 12-minute mark, Aitken was balked behind the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R, while Tandy slid inside and past for the decisive move of the race. Tandy, who shared the No. 6 Porsche with Mathieu Jaminet, pulled away to win by 5.764 seconds over Aitken, whose No. 31 Cadillac co-driver was Pipo Derani. The No. 6 became the fourth different car to take an overall and GTP class win in as many races this season. It also marked the 100th sports car racing victory for cars fielded by Roger Penske, 37 of those coming under the IMSA banner. “In qualifying, we maybe didn’t have the speed, but it looked like we had good long-run speed all day,” said Roger Penske, who was present at WeatherTech Raceway for his legendary racing team’s milestone triumph. (After being at Spa on Saturday!) “We had great pit stops and great strategy by the guys, and fantastic driving by the guys in car No. 6. For the Porsche program to come here and win is a big deal. I came here and won (as a driver) in the ‘60s, if you can believe it.” “I can tell you there’s a lot of pressure coming from Porsche because they expect us to win,” Penske continued. “We’ve got a deep bench here. We’ve been through a lot of stuff this past couple weeks, but hey, we’re on a roll.”

The GTD PRO victory went to the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and co-drivers Seb Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich – the first for the team – by 9.074 seconds ahead of the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 EVO. With wins in both GTP and GTD PRO, Porsche now has compiled 601 wins in IMSA competition. Russell Ward and Philip Ellis won for the third time in four GTD races in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. They were running a close second to the No. 557 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 when Robby Foley was bumped off course with just five minutes left in the race. Foley recovered to finish second with co-driver Patrick Gallagher in the 557th race start with BMW for Turner Motorsport, the most worldwide for any team. The next WeatherTech Championship race is the Detroit Grand Prix, featuring the GTP and GTD PRO classes. The 100-minute race airs live at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, June 1 on USA Network and Peacock. Watch the Extended Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to Mark Robinson/IMSA Wire Service)

(Indianapolis Motor Speedway images)

The 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray 3LZ coupe – the quickest production Corvette in history – will lead the field to the green flag for the 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Corvette E-Ray "is the only sports car pairing two separate propulsion systems to provide naturally aspirated V-8 power with electrified responsiveness powered by eAWD," according to Chevrolet PR minions. A 6.2L V8 is complemented by the electric motor that channels an additional 160HP and 125 lb-ft of torque through the front wheels for a combined 655HP. The addition of the electric drive unit helps the E-Ray achieve a zero to 60 mph time of 2.5 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 10.5 seconds. Stealth Mode enables the Corvette E-Ray to drive on electric power for up to 4 miles at speeds up to 45 mph. Corvette is the longest-running car nameplate in automotive industry history, so it’s no surprise Corvette has paced “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” more times than any car. The 2024 race marks the 35th time for Chevrolet to pace dating back to 1948 and the 21st time overall, since 1978 for America’s favorite sports car.

Road America is gearing-up to host its SVRA Vintage Festival Weekend from May 17-19. Renowned as a pivotal hub of motorsport history since 1955 and carved out of the beautiful rolling hills of Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine region, America's National Park of Speed attracts enthusiasts worldwide. The weekend will include the SVRA SpeedTour, which will spotlight competitions from the Formula 4 United States Championship (F4 U.S.), Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas), and the Mazda Miata Heritage Cup Series. One of the festival's standout events, the Hagerty Cars & Caffeine showcase, allows vintage car and motorcycle owners to display their prized possessions on Saturday morning. In addition to the races, the Paddock Shop will offer a variety of merchandise, and Road America's iconic concession stands will provide delicious food and drinks. The beautifully landscaped Road America grounds feature several new enhancements, including scenic viewing trails both outside and now inside Turns 9 and 10 ('The Carousel'), the overlook at Turn 11 (now known as 'The Bluffs'), and a new pathway leading to Turn 12 (aka 'Canada Corner"). The Briggs & Stratton Motorplex will have public karting on Friday, with the Road America Karting Series on Saturday and the Road America Supermoto Series on Sunday. Disc Golf will also be available all weekend. As a token of appreciation for their service, Road America is offering FREE admission to all active, reserve and veteran military personnel with a valid ID for the SVRA Vintage Festival Weekend. The gates will open at 7 a.m. daily. Tickets for a 3-day weekend pass are $55, and day passes are available at $25 for Friday, $30 for Saturday, and $30 for Sunday. Children 16 and under can enter for free with a paying adult. The event will proceed rain or shine according to the scheduled program. For more details on the event schedule or to secure your tickets, visit www.roadamerica.com or contact the Road America Ticket Office at 800-365-7223.