The racing weekend that was - Wk 20 UPDATED

In MotoGP at Le Mans:

The always fun loving Italian on the podium

Le Mans turned out to be a sensational race, with loads of passing, bumping and falling. Though Vale put on a great ride, he could not reel in team mate Jorge Lorenzo who led from start to finish. This was the Spaniard's second race win in a row. And though phenom Marc Marquez did not do well at the start, by overshooting more than once, he did manage to save his race by separating the Ducati riders, in spite of a valiant effort by Iannone at the end.

The race marked Dani Pedrosa's (Honda) return to action after mission three events due to arm pump surgery. Towards the mid point he went down but manage to get back on the RC213V and finished the race in 16th place.

Fifth place finisher Andrea Iannone dislocated his left shoulder in a Tuesday testing fall at Mugello but come race day dug deep down to still ride a great race.

Jorge at Tertre Rouge

Lorenzo on winning: "...But you know myself, Marc, Valentino, we have talent and we have to wait for all the circumstances to be on the right way and Marc is going to come back. He is going to win races and be competitive in the future. Obviously we have to try to keep this [championship] points advantage."

However, Andrea Dovizioso thinks differently from Jorge Lorenzo regarding Marc's pace.

"It is always difficult to understand details if you are not on the bike, but my opinion is that the talent of Marc hides some limit of the Honda. Because he is the only one who is able to go fast. Also last year and especially this year. So I believe Honda at the moment does not have the right balance."

Top five:
1. Jorge Lorenzo, ESP, Movistar Yamaha
2. Valentino Rossi, ITA, Movistar Yamaha,
3. Andrea Dovizioso, ITA, Ducati
4. Marc Marquez, ESP, Repsol Honda
5. Andrea Iannone, ITA, Ducati

Next MotoGP will head to the Gran Premio d'Italia, at Mugello on May 29-31


V8 Supercar from Winton Raceway, Australia:
One of the editions of arguably the most thrilling racing series South of the equator was run last Sunday down under. If you haven't seen a race yet, be sure to look one up.
Chaz Mostert led most of the race after having started from pole. However, towards the end his team mate Winterbottom took over first place when Mostert slammed his Falcon FG X rearwards into the tire wall. For more on the race, including a short video, please click here.

Top five:
1. Mark Winterbottom, Prodrive Racing, Ford Falcon,
2. Fabian Coulthard, Freightliner Racing, Holden Commodore,
3. Craig Lowndes, Red Bull Racing, Holden Commodore,
4. Michael Caruso, Nissan Motorsports, Nissan Altima,
5. Garth Tander, Holden Racing Team, Holden Commodore

Next V8 Supercar race, SKYCITY Triple Crown in Darwin, June 19-21


NHRA at Atlanta for the Summit Race.
A bit late with our review for I just finished watching it delayed coverage. It turned out to be a great race for a couple of racers, namely Leah Pritchett, Tim Wilkerson, Hector Sr. and Greg Anderson.

In Top Fuel, Leah Pritchett (pictured on the right) qualified in the number three spot (her best ever) and later went all the way to the finals. In doing so she won over "The Greek", J.R. Todd and none other than Larry Dixon. Unfortunately Antron Brown got the better of her. Still, an outstanding performance by the Dote racing Team Gumout Dragster. Brown's winning time was a 3.887 at 310.48 mph.

In Funny Car, Tim Wilkerson kept focusing on his rounds and made it all the way to the finals. He kept his cool and outran Ron Capps with a 4.318 at 260.31 mph, and in doing so made it to the winner's circle for the first time since 2011 (Seattle). This was Wilkerson's 18th career win and his first at Atlanta. Great job Tim and crew!

In Pro Stock, Summit Chevy racer Greg Anderson experienced a stuck WOT during the burnout of the first round of elimination. Thinking he must have hurt the engine he immediately moved the car out of the groove. But when his crew chief Rob Downing radioed him that all seemed ok, they hurriedly pushed the car back to the starting line. Forced to stage right away they barely got the wheelie bars adjusted. Funny thing is that his opponent had to lift off early and had to watch Anderson make a good pass and earn the win. Moral of the story is to "never give up".
Anderson would meet his team mate Jason Line in the final who took home the "Wally" for the Summit KB Racing Team.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, the four women rode good but kept loosing by red lighting. In the end, it was Hector Arana Sr. who got a emotional win. This was his first win since 2009 and seventh overall.

Arana on his final round at Atlanta: "I knew I could keep winning, but I had to believe in myself. In the final, the bike jumped like a Bronco. It pulled to the right, but I was not going to give up unless he  [Eddie Krawic] was way in front of me. As long as I had control of the bike, I was staying with it."

The next race is the 27th Annual NHRA Kansas Nationals, on May 22-24.


Source: Crash.net, V8Supercars.com, MotoGP, NHRA

Photo credit: V8 Supercars, MotoGP, Leah Pritchett