10 Things You Might Have Missed From Last Weekend's Motorsport Action

In another busy and exciting weekend of motorsport - which included IndyCar, Nascar, BTCC and WRC - here are 10 things you might have missed:

1. Plato back in contention

Jason Plato put himself back in contention for the 2014 BTCC title after winning two of the three races at the Snetterton circuit last weekend. He dominated the opening event from pole, before fighting hard with Colin Turkington for the race two victory.

Aron Smith took a dramatic reverse-grid race three win, holding off Fabrizio Giovanardi and Mat Jackson.

2. Nightmare for Jordan

Reigning BTCC champion Andrew Jordan had a disastrous race weekend at Snetterton. A big practice crash at Riches meant he was forced to miss qualifying. He started race one from the back of the grid after gaining medical clearance, finishing 16th. He climbed one place in race two but following another medical inspection, he was deemed unfit to compete in race three.

Scott Dixon put in a strong drive, with a great strategy from Target Chip Ganassi Racing, to move from 22nd (last) to first in last weekend’s IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio. It is both Dixon and the team’s first win of the 2014 season.

He took the chequered flag five seconds clear of Sebastien Bourdais, with James Hinchcliffe in third. Josef Newgarden had looked set to challenge Dixon but a slow final stop and a drive-through penalty for running over an air hose cost him a good chance of scoring his first IndyCar win.

Dale Earnhardt Jr took his third win of the 2014 Nascar Sprint Cup season on Sunday, finishing ahead of Kevin Harvick in the GoBowling.com 400 at the Pocono Raceway. It was his second victory at the circuit this year, having triumphed in the June Sprint Cup race.

He took the lead from Greg Biffle on lap 147 and dominated the rest of the event - even a late caution couldn’t halt his charge, after Kurt Busch hit the wall with seven laps to go. He is now tied with Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski for the most wins so far this season.

A scary moment for Denny Hamlin at Pocono in the closing stages of Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400 sparked a chain reaction behind, with 13 cars involved in a huge pile-up.

Brad Keselowski secured his third Nascar Nationwide Series victory on Saturday night after leading 146 of 250 laps at the Iowa Speedway. It was his 30th triumph in the series, holding off Michael McDowell and Trevor Bayne. Keselowski then jumped on a plane and headed to Pocono to race in the Sprint Cup.

7. Contract signed

As F1 headed off on its summer break, it was announced that the Australian Grand Prix has secured a new contract that will see the event, held at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, host the opening round on the Formula 1 calendar through to 2020.

The World Rally Championship headed to Finland last weekend for the eighth round of the 2014 season. Jari-Matti Latvala dominated the majority of the four days, although there was a late brake problem scare. However, he managed to hold off his charging Volkswagen team-mate Sebastien Ogier to take the win by 3.6 seconds.

If there is one thing Rally Finland is known for, it is jumps. The video above showcases some of the best of them from previous years, while the pictures below are from last weekend’s action.

Rally driver Sébastien Chardonnet somehow managed to escape with very little damage and continue after this huge moment during last weekend’s event in Finland.