Motorsport Roundup: Marquez Wins At COTA, Evans Bags Rally Finland Win, Maini At DTM Hockenheim, And F1 Qatar GP Confirmed

This past week, racing action took place at the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas, the WRC Rally Finland, and the seventh round of the 2021 DTM season. In off-the-track news, another race has been added to the 2021 Formula One calendar. Here’s all you want to know: 

MotoGP

Six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez was back on the top step of the podium for the second time this season, with the factory Honda rider, taking a dominant seventh win at the Circuit of the Americas, in Austin,USA. Coming in second place was the championship-leading Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo, with his title rival Francesco Bagnaia finishing in third place for Ducati. 

This result puts Quartararo 52 points clear of Bagnaia in the title race with just three more rounds to go.

WRC

The 10th round of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship season in Rally Finland saw Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Elfyn Evans stave off intense pressure from Hyundai Motorsport’s Ott Tanak to take top honors. Rounding off the podium was Tanak’s teammate Craig Breen in third position. This win has helped Evans close the gap to his teammate and championship leader, Sebastien Ogier, to 34 points with two rounds to go.

DTM

The penultimate round of the 2021 DTM season was a mixed bag of results for Arjun Maini at the Hockenheimring. For Race 1, the GetSpeed Mercedes driver qualified fifth, but a first-lap incident meant he was forced to retire from the race. The Indian driver managed to line up third for the final race of the weekend, but a pitstop regulation infringement dropped him down to eighth place by the end of the race. Maini will be looking to finish off his rookie DTM season on a high at the season finale in Norisring.

Formula One

While there wasn’t on-track action, Formula One did manage to grab eyeballs this week by confirming the Qatar Grand Prix as the 20th round of the 2021 season. It will be held at the Losail International Circuit, known for hosting MotoGP races. It is scheduled to run from November 19-21, which will be a part of a three-race Middle-Eastern climax to the season.

Next week, we will see Formula One resume its season at Istanbul for the Turkish Grand Prix, followed by DTM’s season final at the Nosiring.