11 Highlights From Last Weekend’s Motorsport Action

Qualifying was postponed to Sunday because of rain. With just one shot, Scott Dixon put in an early four-lap average of 226.760mph and was forced to wait and see if any of the 30 other drivers would beat him. They didn’t, and he took pole position for the 99th Indianapolis 500, from Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Tony Kanan and Helio Castroneves.

Ed Carpenter became the third IndyCar driver in one week to suffer a scary airborne crash during practice for the Indy 500. Fortunately he was fine and managed to take part in qualifying.

3. Tackling the Nordschleife

The Nurburgring 24 Hours took place last weekend at the iconic Nordschleife, with the No.28 WRT Audi R8 LMS of Christopher Mies, Edward Sandstrom, Nico Muller and Laurens Vanthoor taking victory at the prestigious race despite a late spin and brief pit lane fire. They finished 40 seconds clear of the No.25 Marc VDS BMW Z4.

The third spot on the podium went to team Falken’s 911 GT3 R (driven by Dumbreck, Henzler, Ragginger and Imperatori), which finished one lap behind the leading duo.

For pics behind the scenes, check out what Alex and Adnan were up to as spectators.

4. MotoGP at Le Mans

MotoGP returned to action last weekend with the French Grand Prix. It took place at the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix circuit, which includes the first few corners of the 24 Hour layout. Jorge Lorenzo started third but took the lead at the start, dominating the race to take his second consecutive win. Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso completed the podium, with Marc Marquez coming home in fourth.

The World Touring Car Championship also raced at the Nordschleife, with two races each lasting three laps. José María López became the first driver since Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass in 1983 to win a world championship event at the track in race one, with Yvan Muller just taking victory in race two from López.

Denny Hamlin scored his first ever Nascar Sprint Cup All Star race win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway last weekend. He held off a charge mid-way through the final 10-lap segment to take the victory and the $1 million prize money, with Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon second and third.

A loose lead ballast weight fell off another car during Nascar Xfinity practice and was collected by Jamie Dick’s No.55 Chevrolet, breaking through his windscreen and hitting the side of his helmet. Lucky escape!

Chris Buescher took the Nascar Xfinity 3M 250 victory at the Iowa Speedway, pitting during a late caution and charging past Chase Elliott with two laps to go to move into first place in the drivers’ standings.

9. ELMS at Imola

The second round of the European Le Mans Series took place at the Imola circuit, with the No.46 Thiriet by TDS Racing car of Pierre Thiriet, Ludovic Badey and Tristan Gommendy scoring the first win for the Oreca 05 LMP2 Coupe.

10. V8 Supercars returns to the track

The V8 Supercars were back on track at the Winton Motor Raceway for round four of the season. Chaz Mostert took the race one win, with Mark Winterbottom emerging triumphant in the second and third rounds.

Marklund Motorsport’s Toomas Heikkinen took his second consecutive victory at the World RX of Belgium, with Petter Solberg and Reinis Nitiss second and third. Solberg now leads the championship by 22 points.