Monday Pit Stop #15
There was plenty of action both and off road during the weekend, throughout all four corners of Europe. The rally with perhaps the most devoted fans anywhere in the world is Portugal, where in the past, rally fans would try to touch the cars as they zoomed past.
There's even an urban legend of how a Lancia mechanic once found a human finger in the airbox of one of their rally cars in the 1980s, allegedly sliced off at high speed. But what's undoubtedly true is that the fans are a lot better behaved now, even though their passion for the sport is undiminished.
Last weekend, they were treated to spectacular show, when two former champions, Toyota's Sebastien Ogier and Hyundai's Ott Tanak, went head-to-head all the way to the final Power Stage in Fafe.
Such was the difficulty of the gravel conditions around Porto that reigning champion Kalle Rovanpera was one of the relatively early victims, but in the end it was his team mate Ogier who hung on to claim his second WRC victory on the trot – despite the fact that the Frenchman is not even doing the full championship this year.
Ogier's sixth victory in Portugal (the 60th of his career) also means that he overtakes Markku Alen's record for the most wins on the event – which formed part of the inaugural championship calendar back in 1973.
Third place for Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville was enough to ensure that he and his team lead the championships heading into the next round, in Sardinia.
On the epic Spa circuit in Belgium, the Six Hours is traditionally the final warm-up for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June, with all the World Endurance Championship manufacturers making the most of the opportunities presented by the high-speed track, which has a few elements in common with La Sarthe.
As is often the case at Le Mans too, the race was interrupted by a red flag triggered by a sizeable accident, in which the third-placed Cadillac hit the barriers and nearly flipped over.
The end result was a surprising one, with a privateer Porsche 963 – run by the Hertz Jota team – recording its first overall win. This is the very team that 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button will drive for in June, as he bids to join the elite group of five drivers who have won both the F1 title and Le Mans.
Ferrari, which set pole position for the second consecutive time, ended up third by the finish, behind the factory Porsche 963.
Formula E had a double-header at the historic Templehof airport in Berlin, on a reworked circuit layout. Jaguar's Nick Cassidy won the opening race, while Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa claimed Race 2, which was interrupted by two safety car periods.
In the United States, Spain's Alex Palou scored his first championship IndyCar win of the season at the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The Chip Ganassi Racing Honda driver converted pole to victory after seeing off strong opposition from Will Power and Christian Lundgaard.
Palou, who also won the non-championship event at The Thermal Club, led 39 of the 85 laps, to beat Power by 6.6s, and move to the top of the points table by 10 points.
At Brands Hatch in England – the former home of the British Grand Prix – F1 Academy championship leader Abbi Pulling made history by becoming the first woman to win a round of the British Formula 4 championship, for Rodin Motorsport.
Finally, the opening round of Formula Regional by Alpine took place at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany, with Prema's Rafael Camara dominating the action in the opening race thanks to a grand slam: pole, race win, and fastest lap. The second race of the Pirelli-equipped series, which aims to help drivers graduate to international Formula 3, went to ART Grand Prix's Evan Giltaire. Camara finished second to establish a solid championship lead.
