Miguel Olivera Finishes MotoGP 2020 In Style, And More Future Announcements

MotoGP

The rollercoaster 2020 MotoGP season finally came to a close at Portimao and what better way to finish the season than their home favorite Miguel Olivera taking the final win of the season for the Tech3 KTM squad. And it was quite the dominant display, as the pole sitter was unchallenged all the way through to finish 3.1 seconds ahead of Pragmac Ducati’s Jack Miller in 2nd and Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli rounding off the podium. 

Unfortunately it was a race to forget for newly crowned champion Joan Mir as an electric issue forced him out of the race. With this result, Fracnco Morbidelli seals 2nd overall in the riders standings and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso sneaks into the top four in his final race for Ducati ahead of his sabbatical  for 2021. Now all the focus is on 2021 with the season provisionally set to kick off at Qatar on March 28.

Formula One

While there wasn’t any on-track action, a few changes for 2021 are likely to be on the horizon as reports suggest Aston Martin looks set to share safety car duties with Mercedes-Benz. If this does come into fruition, it’ll be the first time since 1996 that a non-Mercedes car will take on the role of a safety car.

F2

After a long break, next week will see the start of the final double header races at Bahrain that will close off the 2020 FIA Formula 2 World Championship. There is a difference between the two race weekends as the 11th round will be run on the regular Bahrain layout, while the season finale will run a shorter outer layout. As things stand, the only Indian driver on the grid, Jehan Daruvala sits 15th overall in the driver’s standings for Carlin and has come off the back of a consistent run of points finishes. Can the Indian driver grab a podium or even a win on the circuit he looked strong during pre-season testing?  All will be revealed once racing action kicks off on November 27.

WRC

With the season finale in Monza just around the corner, the main talking points veer towards 2021. Well one unexpected thing to come out was Sébastien Ogier announcing a contract extension with Toyota Gazoo Racing to the end of the 2021 season. This was after he had announced much earlier in the season that he would be retiring from the sport before the COVID-19 pandemic altered his plans. This means that Toyota Gazoo Racing’s 2021 lineup is complete alongside Evans and Kalle Rovanperä.

Formula E

While there’s still some time before Season 7 of the 2020/21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, more pieces of the driver market have been put into place. Sergio Sette Camara, who had participated in the Season 6 finale for the Dragon / Penske Autosport squad, has now been signed up full time for the season. This leaves only three seats vacant , with one alongside Sergio Sette Camara and the other at Mahindra Racing and NIO 333.

WEC

 

 There’s plenty to look forward to this month in the WEC off season as Toyota is expected to debut the GR Super Sport hypercar that will compete in the new LeMans hypercar class for the 2021 season. A prototype did make its public debut at the 24hrs of LeMans back in September but with a fair amount of  camouflage all over.