Motorsport Round-up: Quartararo, Evans And Tänak Triumph In MotoGP, Formula E And WRC

This past week saw the constant flow of racing carry on from the week before. MotoGP raced at Barcelona in Spain, while WRC tackled the fast but narrow roads in Rally Sardegna. The world also saw Jakarta have a thrilling debut Formula E race. Here’s everything that went down:

MotoGP

Christmas came home early for championship leader Fabio Quartararo, as the Yamaha factory rider led from lights out to take a dominant victory in the ninth round of the 2022 MotoGP season at Barcelona. But it wasn’t without drama as his closest championship rival, Aprilia’s Aleix Esparagro who was running second, made a colossal miscalculation on the final lap, backing off for the in-lap one lap too early. That dropped him to fifth place in the end and promoted the Pramac Racing Ducati duo of Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco to second and third position.  With his title rivals having a disastrous race, Fabio Quartararo has stretched his lead to 22 points to Aprilia’s Aleix Esparagro in the rider standings. 

Formula E

It's safe to say that it was a thrilling debut for Jakarta on the Formula E calendar, as the ninth round of the 2021/22 season, as the E-Prix saw an intense battle for the win from start to finish. Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans and the DS TeCheetah of Jean Eric Vergne kept swapping hands for the race lead multiple times, but the cycle was finally broken by Evans. That being said, it was still an intense final lap with Vergne right on his gearbox But, the Kiwi managed to fend off the challenge to claim his third win of the season. Edoardo Mortara rounded off the podium, finishing third for Venturi Racing. 

This result ensures only 12 points separating the top four drivers in the driver standings. The Mercedes of Stoffel Vandoorne holds a five-point lead over Vergne, followed by Mortara two points back and Evans another five points behind.

WRC

The fifth round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship saw Toyota Gazoo Racing’s winning streak come to an end with Hyundai Motorsport’s Ott Tänak taking top honours at Rally Sardegna. It’s Hyundai’s first win in the new Rally1 hybrid era and the Estonian driver’s first since Arctic Rally Finland in 2021. Craig Breen finished second for M-Sport Ford with Tänak’s teammate, Dani Sordo finishing in third position. Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Kalle Rovenpera continues to hold a healthy lead in the driver standings over Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville.

IMSA

We’ve got a new LMDh challenger in the form of the BMW M Hybrid V8. It will compete in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship season in the new GTP class. Some cool bits on the prototype include BMW M’s iconic blue-and-white livery as well as the traditional kidney grille. While technical specifications haven’t surfaced, the racer will be powered by a V8 hybrid engine as its name suggests. As things stand, it won’t be competing in the World Endurance Championship or Le Mans, but a possible entry could be on the cards depending on how it fares at IMSA. 

Next week will see Formula One and Formula 2 return to racing action at the Baku street circuit in Azerbaijan with the prestigious 24 hours Of Le Mans taking place in France.