Two championships will wrapped up this weekend in Europe while another heads to their penultimate round of the season. MotoGP remains in the Asia-Pacific as they are on a three-week Far East road trip and NASCAR heads to Talladega with drivers trying to stave off elimination and move on to the semifinal round of the Chase.
DTM Season Finale
Marco Wittmann locked up the DTM title at Lausitz over a month ago but there is still one race to go and plenty of other positions to be settled in the final championship standings. Mattias Ekström picked up his and Audi's first victory of 2014 at Zandvoort three weeks ago. Oschersleben winner Christian Vietoris is twelve points back of Ekström for second in the championship with the Italian Edorado Mortara a point behind back of the Mercedes driver. The 2013 DTM champion Mike Rockenfeller is fifth with two runner-up finishes this season at Oschersleben and Nürburgring. Rockenfeller could finishes as high as third in the final standings.
The back half of the top ten are covered by six points. Belgian rookie and Moscow winner Maxime Martin has 47 points, one ahead of Lausitz winner, the youngest winner in DTM history Pascal Wehrlein. The 2011 DTM champion Martin Tomczyk has 43 points but has not won a race since Brands Hatch 2011. A point back of him is his BMW Team Schnitzer teammate Bruno Spengler. The Canadian and 2012 champion could go winless in a season for the first time since 2009. Norisring winner and fellow Canadian Robert Wickens rounds out the top ten, a point behind Spengler.
Since the revival of DTM in 2000, Mercedes has won 10 of 15 fall Hockenheim races. BMW has won the last two fall Hockenheim rounds while Audi has only won once at the Baden-Württemburg track since the revival. Uwe Alzen sweep the two fall races in 2000 driving for Opel.
Saturday Update:
Miguel Molina won his second career DTM pole position and his first in there years for the season finale. Molina's first pole came at Hockenheim in October 2011. The Spaniard leads an Audi sweep of the top three positions as Zandvoort winner Mattias Ekström and Edoardo Mortara will start second and third. They currently sit second and fourth in the championship. Augusto Farfus will start fourth as the Brazilian looks to break into the top ten of the championship. The Brazilian won the spring race at Hockenheim last year. Jamie Green made it four Audis in the top five.
Pascal Wehrlein was the top Mercedes qualifier in sixth. The Lausitz winner will start in front of former DTM champions Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Scheider. António Félix da Costa starts ninth as the Portuguese driver looks for his first finish in the points since finishing eighth at Hungary in June. Paul di Resta will start tenth. The 2010 DTM champions' last victory in the series came at Hockenheim four years ago.
The DTM season finale will begin at 7:30 a.m. ET.
European Le Mans Series ends in Portugal
All three championships are up for grabs in the European Le Mans Series as they head into their season finale 4 Hours of Estoril.
The #36 Signatech-Alpine Apline-Nissan of Paul-Loup Chatin, Nelson Panciatici and Oliver Webb lead the #36 Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan of Harry Tincknell, Simon Dolan and Felipe Albuquerque by ten points. With their victory at Paul Ricard, the #43 Newblood by Morand Racing Morgan-Judd duo of Christian Klein and Gary Hirsch kept their title hopes alive. They are 18 points back of the Signatech trio. The final drivers mathematically eligible for the title are drivers of the #34 Race Performance Oreca-Judd Michel Frey and Franck Mailleux who are 23 points back and will have to win this weekend to have any hope of the LMP2 title.
In GTE, Matt Griffin is set to win back-to-back championships as he and his #55 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia teammate Duncan Cameron lead fellow co-drver Michele Rugolo by six points. Rugolo missed the Imola round but the #55 AF Corse has won every other race this season. Twenty-one points back is the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Andrea Bertolini, Sergey Zlobin and Viktor Shaitar. They won at Imola but have finished outside the top five in the last two races. Daniel McKenzie and George Richardson of the #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia have a chance to tie Cameron and Griffin in the standings but would lose the tiebreaker. Griffin won at Estoril last year driving for Ram Racing to seal the championship for him and Johnny Mowlem.
The #73 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 of Olivier Beretta, Anton Ladygin and David Markozov have a commanding lead in GTC. The trio lead the #60 Formula Racing Ferrari of Mikkel Mac and Johnny Laursen by 18.5 points entering Estoril. Their teammates in the #71 SMP Racing Ferrari, Kirill Ladygin, Luca Persiani and Aleksey Basov are the final drivers mathematically eligible for the title, sitting 25 points back. SMP Racing has won the last two races and won last year's season finale at Estoril.
Saturday Update:
The winners of the season opening race at Silverstone, the #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Ligier-Nissan of Pierre Thiriet, Ludovic Badey and Tristan Gommendy were fastest on Saturday from Estoril with a lap of 1:31.422. The #38 Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan was second, just 0.033 seconds back of the Ligier. The #48 Murphy Prototypes Oreca-Nissan was third with drivers Pipo Derani, James Littlejohn and Tony Wells. Murphy Prototypes won last year at Estoril. The LMP2 championship leading #36 Signatech Alpine was fourth with the #34 Newblood by Morand Racing Oreca rounded out the top five.
The #72 SMP Racing Ferrari was fastest in GTE with a 1:37.712. The GTE championship leading #55 AF Corse Ferrari was buried down, eighth in class, just under a second and a half back of the #72 Ferrari. The #71 SMP Racing Ferrari was fastest in GTC at 1:39.782 with their teammates and GTC championship leading #73 SMP Racing Ferrari second in class, just under a quarter of a second back.
Qualifying for tomorrow's race will take place at 4:30 a.m. ET. The race will start at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Blancpain Sprint Series Penultimate Round
The penultimate round of the Blancpain Sprint Series heads to Zolder with six teams still mathematically eligible for the title. Maximilian Götz leads with 116 points while his #84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes co-driver Maximilian Buhk has 100 points after being suspended for the Slovakia round after failing to comply with the stewards in a ADAC GT Masters race in Slovakia two weeks prior to the BSS round. Götz and Buhk won the most recent round at Portimão.
Twenty-three points behind Götz is the #28 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Hari Proczyk. The Dutch and Austrian driver have won four races in 2014 including a sweep of the Brands Hatch round. They won the qualifying round at Portimão before finishing second to Götz and Buhk in the championship race.
Drivers of the #2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra, René Rast and Enzo Ido are fifty-one back of Götz with their lone victory being at Zandvoort. The final pairing still eligible for the title is #0 BMW Sport Trophy Team Brasil drivers Sérgio Jimenez and Cacá Bueno. The Brazilians have yet to win in 2014 and are sixty-five back with sixty-six points remaining on the table.
Saturday Update:
The #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra of César Ramos and Laurens Vanthoor won the qualifying race at Zolder by 15.940 seconds over the #95 NSC Motorsports Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 of Nicky Catsburg and Peter Kox. Ramos and Vanthoor won from pole position. Second in the BSS championship standings, Bleekemolen and Proczyk rounded out the podium in the #28 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini. The #2 Belgian Audi Club Audi of Rast and Ido finished fourth. The #107 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 of Andy Soucek and Johnny Adam rounded out the top five with the championship leading #84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 of Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Götz rounding out the points in the qualifying race.
The championship race from Zolder will take place tomorrow at 7:45 a.m. ET.
MotoGP to the Outback
For the second of three consecutive weeks in the Asia-Pacific, MotoGP heads to Phillip Island. Problems with the Bridgestone tires forced last year's race to be shorten and forced teams to make a mid-race pit stop to switch bikes. Marc Márquez and Bryan Starling failed to pit within the required window leading to both riders being disqualified and costing Márquez a shot for victory.
This time Márquez heads to Australia having already clinched the 2014 world championship after finishing second at Motegi. Jorge Lorenzo enters not only as the winner of the last two MotoGP races but as the defending winner of the Australian Grand Prix. Prior to Lorenzo's victory, Casey Stoner had won his home Grand Prix six consecutive times. Valentino Rossi is the only other rider on the grid to have won at Phillip Island in MotoGP and his last victory at the track came in 2005. Márquez's lone victory at Phillip Island came in the 125cc class in 2010. Dani Pedrosa' lone Australian victory was in 250 cc in 2005.
Rossi and Pedrosa are tied for second in the championship with 230 points with the Italian owning the tiebreaker with more second place finishes. Lorenzo is three points behind them after finishing on the podium in the last seven races. Andrea Dovizioso rounds out the top five with 153 points.
Aleix Espargaró is sixth, one point ahead of his brother Pol with 117 points. Pol has won the last two years at Phillip Island in Moto2. Andrea Iannone has 102 points, six ahead of Stefan Bradl and ten ahead of Bradley Smith, who rounds out the top ten.
Saturday Update:
Marc Márquez won his twelfth pole position of 2014 at the Australian Grand Prix. The now-double world champion set the fastest lap at 1:28.408 around Phillip Island. He was 0.234 seconds faster than Ducati rider Cal Crutchlow, who qualified second. The winner of the last two races, Jorge Lorenzo will start third. Bradley Smith makes it two Brits in the top five as he will start fourth with Dani Pedrosa starting in the middle of row two. Aleix Espargaró qualified sixth, the top Open class bike.
Andrea Iannone will start seventh with his fellow Italian Valentino Rossi starting next to him in eighth. Pol Espargaró will start directly behind his brother in ninth. Andrea Dovizioso rounds out the top ten with Stefan Bradl and Hiroshi Aoyama rounding out the first four rows on the grid.
The Australian Grand Prix will take place at 1:00 a.m. ET with Fox Sports 1 coverage beginning at midnight.
Plate Racing
Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick have locked themselves into the next round of the Chase with victories at Kansas and Charlotte respectively as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the final race of the second round at Talladega.
Kyle Busch is 26 points to the good with Ryan Newman 21 points ahead of ninth. Carl Edwards is 20 points ahead of ninth with Jeff Gordon two points behind him and Denny Hamlin one point behind Gordon.
Kasey Kahne is on the bubble in eighth, one point ahead of Matt Kenseth in ninth. Five-time winner this season Brad Keselowski is 19 points back in tenth while Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. both are 26 points back of their fellow Hendrick's driver Kahne.
Of the twelve remaining Chase drivers, eight have won a race at Talladega with Jeff Gordon leading the way with six victories. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has five wins but has not won at the track in a decade. Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson are the only other drivers with multiple wins at Talladega, however both drivers have only ever won the spring race. The four Chase drivers without a Talladega Cup victory are Logano, Newman, Edwards and Kahne. Logano won the Nationwide race in 2012. Toyota has not won a Cup race since Hamlin won at Talladega in May.
Of the ten previous Chase races at Talladega, five have been won by a non-Chase driver. A Ganassi driver has been the top finishing non-Chase driver in the five Chase races so far in 2014. Kyle Larson has been the top non-Chase driver in four of the five races with his teammate Jamie McMurray being the top finisher at Charlotte last Saturday night. Larson's worst finish in the last five races has been sixth. McMurray won last's year fall race at Talladega and won the fall race in 2009 as well.
Saturday Update:
Brian Vickers will start on pole for tomorrow's race at Talladega. Jimmie Johnson will start second with AJ Allmendinger in third. Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski round out the top five. Michael McDowell starts sixth with Travis Kvapil in seventh. Kasey Kahne will start eighth while Terry Labonte will start ninth in his 890th and possibly final NASCAR Cup Series start. Michael Annett rounds out the top ten. Ryan Newman and Martin Truex, Jr. will start on row six.
Matt Kenseth will start 13th and Carl Edwards will start 15th.
Half the Chase drivers did not advance from the first round of qualifying with five having to use provisionals to make the field. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will start 29th. Denny Hamlin will start 37th, Kevin Harvick 38th, championship leader Joey Logano rolls off form 39th with second in points Kyle Busch in 40th. Jeff Gordon will start 42nd.
Coverage:
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race can be seen at 12:30 p.m. ET on Fox. Big boy Fox. NOT Fox Sports 1!
MotoGP coverage of the Australian Grand Prix will begin at 12:00 a.m. ET Sunday morning on Fox Sports 1.
Coverage of ELMS from Estoril can be found at their website Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET.
ESPN's coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race from Talladega will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Over/Unders
1. Over or Under: 0.5 British drivers in the points at Hockenheim? The three British drivers in DTM are all outside the top 15 in the championship.
2. Over or Under: 2.5 different nationalities represented by the three class winning teams?
3. Over or Under: 2.5 German drivers on the podium for the Championship Race at Zolder?
4. Over or Under: 1.5 positions lost by Marc Márquez on the opening lap?
5. Over or Under: 14.5 retirements in the Cup race?
Last Week's Over/Unders
1. Over: Bathurst went way over 6 hours and 20 minutes. It was the longest Bathurst 1000 at 7 hours, 58 minutes.
2. Over: 236 laps were run at Fuji.
3. Under: Zero Open entries finished in the top eight at Motegi.
4. Over: Six Mercedes finished in the points at Sochi. Felipe Massa and Nico Hülkenberg were the two that failed to score.
5. Over: Six Chevrolets finished in the top ten (Harvick, Gordon, McMurray, Larson, Newman, Kahne).
Predictions
1. We will see a driver pick up their first victory of 2014 in the DTM season finale.
2. Ferrari will not sweep the GT classes this weekend.
3. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT gets a win on home soil.
4. Marc Márquez ends his slump and wins in Australia.
5. Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. all fail to advance to the next round of the Chase.
Last Week's Predictions
1. There is a first time Bathurst 1000 winner this weekend. (Correct. Chaz Mostert and Paul Morris both got to taste success at Bathurst for the first time in their careers).
2. We will see some rain at Fuji. (Wrong. Surprisingly, especially with another typhoon barring down on Japan).
3. Jorge Lorenzo extends his consecutive podium streak to seven races. (Correct. Lorenzo won his second consecutive race).
4. McLaren exits Sochi ahead of Force India in the Constructors' Championship. (Correct. McLaren 143. Force India 123).
5. At least two Chase drivers will suffer tire failures at Charlotte. (Wrong. Actually no tire failures I could recall at Charlotte).
Overall: 3/5. Running Tally: 12.5/25
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