The racing weekend that was - Wk 27

In Formula One, the British GP at Silverstone:
Finally, Lewis has the weekend he has been so desperately searching. He wins his home race slashing the championship gap to four points while championship leader and teammate Nico Rosberg retires with gearbox failure.

aftermath of Raikonnen's excursion

There was an incredible accident at the start of the race which caused the race to be temporarily red flagged. Ferrari's Kimi Raikonnen ran wide at Aintree but as he rejoined [with WOT] a little bump on the grass unsettled the car and sent the car fish-tailing into the Armco, collecting William's driver Felipe Massa in the process.

Though Rosberg had led from pole, around mid-race he suffered gearbox trouble and was forced to retire. Too bad for the spectators, for Hamilton was closing in fast and this could have turned out in another epic duel. The Fin Valtteri Bottas racing for Sir Frank Williams rose through the field from 14th on the grid to P2 for the second consecutive time, while Daniel Ricciardo finished P3 as he held of a charging Jenson Button.

Vettel-Alonso duel 

The best battle of the race was between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. The Red Bull of Vettel was clearly quicker than the Ferrari and kept hustling the Spaniard, who instructed his team over the radio to launch a complaint to race officials accusing the reigning world champion of being over-aggressive. Though Alonso defended his position excellently, he could not hold off Vettel when he got his nose alongside out of Woodcote and after the pair ran inches apart towards Copse, Alonso had to yield to Vettel. Click here to see an analysis of the duel.

Bottas celebrating on the podium

Formula One standings are as follows:
1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, 165 points,
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes, 161
3. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull, 98
4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari, 87
5. Valtteri Bottas - Williams, 72

The next race is scheduled for July 20 and will be run at Hockenheim, Germany.


In NHRA, at Norwalk, Ohio:
After a long drought, Funny car legend John Force made it to the Funny car finals and had to race long time rival Ron Capps. But after getting to the final round, the old man wasn't going to go down without a fight. In a thrilling side-by-side drag race John Force collected his first Norwalk win and his 140th career win by running a 4.113 at 317.27 mph to Capps' losing 4.134.

"It was special for me," said John Force. "I've come to this track for decades......we raced some great kids: [Ron] Capps, Cruz [Pedregon], [Tim] Wilkerson, Chad Head."

In Top Fuel, a dominant Antron Brown racing for Don Schumacher racing (DSR) collected his 5th Wally of the season and second in a row by beating his team mate Tony Schumacher in the finals.

In Pro Stock, though it might come as a surprise to some to see women excel in this male dominated sport, current points leader Erica Enders-Stevens claimed her fourth victory of 2014 and the tenth of her career by beating her old crew chief Dave Connolly in the final round. Though I always root for our friend Dave, on Sunday he just didn't have the horsepower to beat the Rick Jones built Elite Motorsports Chevy Camaro. This is becoming an all too familiar sight at many NHRA winner's circle, and the guys are not liking it, especially Summit racer Greg Anderson.

In Pro Stock bike, Matt Hines claimed his third win of the season by beating Hector Arana Sr. The Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson bikes are starting to come around.

The next race is on July 18-20 and marks the beginning of the Western Swing, which is a grueling period for NHRA drag racers. These are back-to-back races with almost no time to have parts and support material hauled in from the team's headquarters.  Always a very interesting period in the season.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Jalopnik
Photo credit: Skysports, Dailymail.co.uk, NHRA, Dragstory,