Motorsport Roundup: Chaotic Mugello, Jehan’s Consistent F2 finishes, Morbidelli’s Maiden MotoGP Win And More

F1

From the thrills of Monza last week, we had another chaotic race at Mugello with only 12 cars classified as finishers after two red flag incidents. Despite that, Lewis Hamilton took his 90th win ahead of Valtteri Bottas to make it a Mercedes 1-2.  Red Bull-Honda’s Alexander Albon took a hard fought maiden podium in the end.  With a cushion of 54 points over Bottas and half of the 2020 season done, its smooth sailing for Lewis Hamilton to break the all-time win record and match Michael Schumacher’s 7 world titles. 

MotoGP 

After a two-week break, MotoGP action resumed at Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix. And the wait was worth it as we were treated to another thriller and a lot of firsts on the podium. Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli took his maiden win in the premier class, followed by Francesco Bagnaia taking his maiden podium in the Pragmac Ducati. Suzuki’s Joan Mir snatched the final spot of the podium from Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi on the final lap of the race.  

With another disaster for Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales, the San Marino Grand Prix has thrown the 2020 championship wide open with Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso leading the standings by just six points over Quartararo. MotoGP will return to Misano this week, but nothing is set as stone with the field being so close together.

F2

It was another consistent turn of form  Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala in round nine of the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship at Mugello, Italy. Qualifying 6th for the feature race, the Indian driver crossed the line in 10th place despite no radio and a double-stack pitstop in the end. Daruvala improved upon that in the sprint race with a 7th place finish. Daruvala will be hoping to continue this consistent run at round 10 of the season at Sochi from September 25-27. 

French GT4

 

Akhil Rabindra had another consistent run of form with AGS Events Racing at the third round of the  French FFSA GT4 Championship at Magny Cours. Partnered with Gilles Vannelet, the duo qualified eight overall in the Pro-Am category and improved upon that in Race 1 with a 4th place finish and 9th overall. In Race 2, the duo were running a strong 7th until technical gremlins forced them to retire from the race.  The duo will hope to bounce back when racing action resumes at Paul Ricard from October 3-4.

WEC

While the 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship is still underway, with the 24hrs of LeMans coming up this week, Renault-owned Alpine announced its step up to the LMP1 class from LMP2 for the 2021 season. Since its entry into LMP2 in 2013, the team has amassed two European titles, two world championship titles and has scored three LMP2 class victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The LMP1 prototype, driver lineup and more is expected to be revealed in the coming months.