10 Things You Might Have Missed From Last Weekend's Motorsport Spectacular
In another busy and exciting weekend of motorsport - which included Formula 1, BTCC, IndyCar, Nascar and WRC - here are 10 things you might have missed:
1. Photobombed
Lewis Hamilton hilariously photobombed a picture of Nico Rosberg and two fans during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
2. A challenging track
One of the best things about the Canadian Grand Prix is seeing the F1 drivers push the cars to the limits and really attack the challenging Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. With unforgiving walls on the exits of most of the corners, we get to see some close calls and plenty of incidents.
Just one week after the dramatic Duel in Detroit, the IndyCar series was back in action for the Firestone 600 at the Texas Motor Speedway. Ed Carpenter put the disappointment of the Indy 500 behind him to register his second victory of the season.
A restart with two laps to go bunched up the field but Carpenter managed to hold on to first, with Will Power climbing from fifth to second when the racing resumed due to a late pit stop for fresh tyres. Juan Pablo Montoya was third and scored his first single-seater podium since the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, when he was racing in F1 for McLaren.
The Nascar Sprint Cup series took to the Pocono Raceway for round 14 of the 2014 season. Brad Keselowski led 95 laps and looked set to take the win. However, a piece of rubbish attached to the grille of his car caused the engine to start overheating.
He attempted to knock the debris off using the airflow around Danica Patrick’s car with five laps to go but lost momentum. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in close pursuit and took the lead, winning his second race of the season. Keselowski couldn’t close in and finished second, with Kurt Busch in third.
There was drama in the pitlane during the Pocono 400, after Jimmie Johnson and Marcos Ambrose made contact. The former was spun around, but fortunately he did not hit any of the other pit crews.
6. Turkington dominates at Oulton Park
Following a five-week break, the BTCC returned last weekend, competing at Oulton Park circuit. The racing took place on the International layout, which hadn’t been used by the series since 1996. Colin Turkington led race one from start to finish, with his eBay Motors team-mate Rob Collard in second and Jason Plato in third.
Turkington’s dominance continued in race two, where he finished well clear of Rob Austin in his Audi A4, and Collard. The weather took a turn for the worse for race three. Track conditions were very tricky, with several crashes in the early stages. Aron Smith took the reverse grid pole and scored his second win in the series, with Gordon Shedden and Turkington completing the podium.
7. Ogier wins Rally Italia Sardegna
Sebastien Ogier extended his lead in the World Rally Championship standings after taking his fourth win of the year at the Rally Italia Sardegna. The VW Motorsport driver took the lead from his team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala – who had to stop and change a rear wheel after hitting a rock - on the final stage on Saturday.
He eventually finished the event with a 1 minute 23 second gap to Mads Ostberg, with Latvala recovering to third. Mikko Hirvonen had a disastrous event and ended up with a burnt out car. Ogier and Latvala then took a refreshing dip in the sea, after their team pushed them in.
#VW Latvala tried to push in Ogier, Ogier tried to push Latvala - team pushed them both in! #WRC @VolkswagenRally pic.twitter.com/Ly5nuIu58m
— Becs Williams (@Becsywecsy) June 9, 20148. Who was at fault?
Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez have disagreed on who was at fault for their huge last-lap Canadian Grand Prix crash. Massa branded his rival “dangerous”, while Rob Smedley – head of vehicle performance at Williams – criticised Force India for not retiring the car, due to the brake issues Perez had been suffering.
Perez was given a five-place penalty by the stewards but hit back at the earlier criticism on Monday, saying the misjudgement was in fact from Massa. Various pictures were shared by the two drivers on social media demonstrating why they were not to blame. Who do you think was at fault? Leave a comment below.
9. Speed triumphs at X Games Austin
Former F1 driver Scott Speed took his second consecutive Red Bull Global Rallycross victory at X Games Austin, which took place at the Circuit of the Americas. The American, driving for Volkswagen Andretti Autosport, won all five of his race sessions before dominating the final. Bucky Lasek finished in second place, with Nelson Piquet Jr some way further back in third.
José Maria López stormed to a clear victory in the first race of the WTCC weekend at Moscow Raceway, with Honda’s Gabriele Tarquini preventing it from being an all-Citroen podium. Sebastien Loeb was third, with Yvan Muller in fourth.
However, Lopez stalled on the grid in race two and was forced to retire. A Citroen driver still finished first, but this time it was Ma Qing Hua, who made his debut in the series in a fourth C-Elysée. Muller finished second and Honda privateer Mehdi Bennani finished third.
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