The racing weekend that was

In MotoGP, at Qatar:

Vale leading Marc - epic Yamaha vs Honda

The season opener got off with a bang yesterday with Valentino Rossi and rookie Marc Marquez providing loads of entertainment, whilst fighting for second place. First went to reigning double world champion Jorge Lorenzo, who's long sessions of winter testing paid off handsomely.

"Half an hour before he race I felt nervous. I had to concentrate a lot to relax on the grid because I knew the start was important," explained Lorenzo after the race. "I knew it would be hard to open up a gap but I had to try. I made a good start, pushed more than 100 per cent."

The Factory Yamaha star not only retained his pole position after the start, but also pounded out consistent hot laps to wear down the competition. By the midway point, he had opened up a four second gap which grew to almost six seconds in the end. Dani Pedrosa had ried to keep up with Lorenzo but after six laps could not keep up with the champion's relentless pace.

A familiar sight

After two difficult years racing for Ducatti, multiple world champion Valentino Rossi returned to Yamaha to secure his first podium position right of the bat.

After the race, a very happy Rossi commented: "I am so happy because my target was to arrive on the podium in the first race. After the warm-up I knew I had a good chance. However, I needed to do a good start and risk a bit to overtake the bikes in front that were a bit slower than me.....then when I had some free track I had a great pace and got closer and closer. At the end it was a great battle all three - but especially Marc, until the last lap. I was maybe a little faster but we were very close."

Congrats Vale and happy to see you back on a competitive bike!


NASCAR, at Martinsville:
Basically in control for 347 laps out of the 500, Jimmie Johnson drove to another win at Martinsville Speedway, his eight win at the .526-mile short track. At no point during the race was his position higher that fifth on the track.

The first repeat winner through six 2013 Cup races, Johnson now regains the points lead over defending champion Brad Keselowski.

On lap 487, the race got red flagged when Kurt Busch's brakes failed and sent the car hard into the Turn 1 wall. As the car slid along the fence fire spew from underneath the hood, but when the car came to a standstill Busch triggered the onboard fire extinguisher before exiting the car. Cool, calm and collected, that's how race car drivers do it.

Jr. after being bumped by Patrick #10

Dale Earnhardt Jr got bumped by the No 10 who got a push from No 55. Trading paint even after the checkered dropped were Kevin Harvick and Brian Vickers. Things are definitely heating up in NASCAR!


More to follow soon. Thanks for reading.

Source: MotoGP, Crashnet
Photo credit: Crashnet

The racing weekend that was

In Formula One, at Sepang, Malaysia:

In only the second race of the season, the Formula One racing series is already engulfed in controversy.

Webber leading Vettel

Sebastian Vettel (RBR) who started from pole, fell back to second following the first round of pit stops, and trailed Mark Webber (RBR) until the late stages of the race, when he went mano-a-mano with his teammate Mark Webber. And even though team orders required Vettel to hold position, P2 that is, in a move that shows his total disregard for team orders he passed his teammate to take his 27th Grand Prix win, equaling three-time champion Jackie Stewart in the all-time list.

In a race which had many complaints about tire wear two teams stood out, and both had team orders passed out to its drivers. Interestingly enough, some listen better than others. For RBR instruction or code "multi21" means for its drivers to turn down their engines and hold station, which Vettel did not do.
As for the Mercedes, P4 driver Nico Rosberg tried in vain to get his team to let him pass his teammate Lewis Hamilton, driving in third place but at a much slower pace.
I guess the lesson to be learned here is that when you are a multiple world champion you don't have to follow rules.

Below I've posted an interview with RBR team principal.

And then, there is this story on Jalopnik, by Raphael Orlove, titled: An In-Depth Analysis of F1's Most Awkward/Amazing Podium. A must read for F1 enthusiasts. To view it click here.

Race results:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull_Renault,

2. Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault,

3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Mercedes,



Fastest lap: Sergio Perez, McLaren-Mercedes 1m 39.199s

Alonso drives with a damaged front wing

F1 Drivers' Championship (2 of 19):
1st. Sebastian Vettel 40 points, 2nd. Kimi Raikkonen 31 points, 3rd. Mark Webber 26 points, 4th. Lewis Hamilton 25 points, and in 5th. Felipe Massa 22 points.

The Spaniard Fernando Alonso explained that he was "very unlucky" to have to retire from the race, after contact with Sebastian Vettel on the first. The incident caused him to lose his front wing, when the Scuderia gambled on leaving him out instead of bringing him into the pits for a nose change.

In NASCAR, at Fontana, California:
For those of you who followed NASCAR during the past week, you know that what happened during the race could have been scripted in Hollywood, which is a stone's throw away from the track.

The intense rivalry between Joe Logano and Denny Hamlin which started in the previous race, two weekends ago, continued without missing a beat. The two cars were so evenly matched they were running close the entire race. On the final lap, it appeared as if Logano opted to settle scores rather than take the win, even telling reporters afterwards: "That's what he gets."

Below a short video on the final lap and the above mentioned race incident.

The eventual race winner, Kyle Busch, had won the Nationwide race the night before, and had started the Auto Club 400 race from fourth. Even so he lead the race for more than 125 laps (out of 200) and was running in third as the Logano-Hamlin duo fought it out for first. Eventually he got the sweep as he swept in front and won the race on the last lap. With this win, he breaks a 31-race winless streak stretching back to Richmond in April 2012.

Race results:
1. Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing), 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr, (Hendrick Motorsports), 3. Joey Logano (Penske Racing), 4. Carl Edwards (Roush Fenway Racing), 5. Kurt Busch (Furniture Row Racing).

With Dale Earnhardt's second place finish he is now in the lead of the championship point standings, followed by Brad Keselowski, and Jimmie Johnson.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Formula One, Crash.net, NASCAR, Wikipedia

Photo credit: Totally Cool Pic.com