Motorsport Roundup: French GP, Andalucia Rally, F1 Calendar Changes, Romain Grosjean’s Maiden Indycar Podium And More

The past week had plenty of topics to talk about, especially in the world of two-wheeled motorsports. It ranged from a thrilling rain-soaked French Grand Prix in MotoGP, to the Andalucia Rally taking place in Spain. Initial details on the upcoming Dakar 2022 also began to surface, and an ex-Formula One racer got a breakthrough result in Indycar. Here’s more on what went down these last seven days:

MotoGP

The 2021 French Grand Prix at the Bugatti Circuit was full of drama, with changing weather conditions bringing in plenty of crashes, shock results and varying tyre strategies up and down the field. When the dust settled, it was Ducati’s Jack Miller taking back-to-back wins and that was despite him incurring two long lap penalties for speeding in the pitlane. Following him home in second place was the Pramac Ducati of Johann Zarco, with Fabio Quartararo rounding off the podium in the factory Yamaha. 

This result has put Quartararo back into the lead of the riders standings by a single point over Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia.  Racing aside, there have been some calendar changes as the Finnish Grand Prix had to be cancelled due to travel restrictions. In place of that, MotoGP has added a second race at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The Styrian Grand Prix will take place on August 8, 2021. 

Andalucia Rally

This past week also saw the Andalucia Rally take place in Spain, covering over 1,600km over four stages. It was Joan Barredda who took the overall win for the Monster Energy Honda Team. There was also a strong showing from the Indian presence in the rally, with Hero MotoSports Team Rally finishing fourth and fifth with Joaquim Rodrigues and new signee Franco Caimi. Sebastian Buhler finished in the top ten making it a great start for the team as it preps for the Dakar 2022.

Formula One

While there was no racing action, there were some calendar changes. Unfortunately the Turkish Grand Prix couldn't take place due to travel restrictions. As a result, like MotoGP, Formula One added an additional race in Austria in the form of the Styrian Grand Prix on June 27, 2021.   

Shuffled racing calendars aside, McLaren will be going retro for the 2021 Formula One Monaco Grand Prix, with a special one-off Gulf livery for the MCL35M. It celebrates McLaren’s association with Gulf Oil, dating back to the days of founder Bruce McLaren in the late 1960s.

Dakar 2022

Dakar organisers ASO has released a few details regarding the upcoming 2022 edition. It will continue to be a single-country event once again, in Saudi Arabia. The rally will kick off with the Prologue in Ha’il on January 1 and conclude in Jeddah on January 14. There’ll also be some rider shuffles with Pablo Quintanilla joining Honda, reigning 2021 Dakar champion Kevin Benavides leaving Honda to join KTM, and Franco Caimi being added to Hero MotoSports Team Rally.

Indycar

Ex-Formula One driver Romain Grosjean had a lot of firsts in Indycar at the Grand Prix Of Indianapolis. The Frenchman scored his first pole position and went on to score a maiden podium in second place in just his third ever Indycar race. It is quite a brilliant comeback for Grosjean after walking away from a horrifying crash at his final F1 race at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.