Friday Four: Another Persian Night

The final weekend of November sees four championships wrap up their 2016 seasons and all will take place in the Persian Gulf, most of the races occurring under the lights. Three championships will be decided and a theme of the weekend is battle between teammates for top honors.

Formula One
The 21st and final round of the longest Formula One season takes place at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The Mercedes teammates enter with Nico Rosberg looking for his first title and to join his father Keke among the few drivers to win the World Drivers' Championship. Lewis Hamilton looks to ascend to another atmosphere with his fourth championship.

Rosberg has 367 points from 20 races with Hamilton sitting on 355 points. Rosberg clinches the title with a podium finish. The teammates cannot finish tied on points if Hamilton wins the race. If Hamilton finishes second and Rosberg finishes seventh, Hamilton would win on tiebreaker based on third-place finishes. Each driver would have nine victories and four runner-up finishes while Hamilton would have four third-place finishes to Rosberg's two. The only other possibility for a tie would be Hamilton finishing fourth and Rosberg finishing outside the points and Rosberg would win on that tiebreaker with four runner-up finishes to Hamilton's three.

Rosberg won last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Hamilton finishing second. Hamilton has won at Yas Marina twice, in 2011 and 2014 with the latter clinching him his second world title. Rosberg has started on pole position the last two years at Yas Marina. Hamilton has started on pole position twice at Yas Marina but he has retired from both of those races. Hamilton has finished ahead of his teammate in the world championship in eight of his previous nine seasons. The lone exception was 2011 where Jenson Button finished second and Hamilton finished fifth.

Daniel Ricciardo is locked to finish third in the championship but the battle is for fourth with Sebastian Vettel five points ahead of Ricciardo's Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen. Kimi Räikkönen could finish ahead of Verstappen but he is 14 points behind the Dutchman. Sergio Pérez is seventh in the championship on 97 points, 12 ahead of Valterri Bottas. Nico Hülkenberg sits in ninth on 66 points. Fernando Alonso rounds out the top ten on 55 points.

Felipe Massa heads to his final Formula One race sitting 11th in the championship on 51 points. This will be 252nd grand prix entry and he will be trying to start his 250th grand prix. Five points behind Massa is Carlos Sainz, Jr., who has finished sixth in two of the last three races. Romain Grosjean sits on 29 points and is four points ahead of Daniil Kyvat.

Jenson Button heads to his final grand prix before take a sabbatical from Formula One in 2017. This will be Button's 308th grand prix entry and he will attempt to make his 305th start. Button will tie Michael Schumacher for second all-time in entries but will be one behind the German in the starts column. Kevin Magnussen has seven points. Felipe Nasr sits on two points after a ninth-place finish at his home race in Brazil finally got Sauber on the scoreboard. Jolyon Palmer, Pascal Wehrlein and McLaren-reserve Stoffel Vandoorne are tied on one point. Esteban Gutiérrez, Marcus Ericsson and Esteban Ocon all have one final shot to get points this season.

The 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be held at 8:00 a.m. ET on Sunday November 27th.

GP2
Three drivers could leave Yas Marina as GP2 champion.

Prema Racing teammates Antonio Giovinazzi and Pierre Gasly are 1-2 in the championship with the Italian holding a seven-points advantage with 197 points to 190 points after a victory and fourth-place finished at Sepang while Gasly finished outside the points in the first race that weekend and finished third in the sprint race. Giovinazzi has won three of the last six races and has four podium finishes in that time frame while Gasly has a victory, a second and a third in the last six races.

Giovinazzi started the season with five finishes outside the points in the first seven races but the two races he did score were at Baku where he won both races. Gasly started the season with four finishes outside the points in the first seven races but had two runner-up finishes and a third-place finish.

Russian Time's Raffaele Marciello trails his fellow Italian by 39 points. He has not won a race this season but has two runner-up finishes and four third-place finishes. For Marciello to win this title, he will have to win a race. The most points he could score without a victory is 38 points.

ART Grand Prix's Sergey Sirotkin sits fourth in the championship with 135 points and won twice this year. Racing Engineering's Jordan King and Norman Nato are tied on 122 points and each driver has won twice. Trident Racing's Luca Ghiotto is coming off his first career GP2 victory and has 111 points and he is four points ahead of MP Motorsport Oliver Rowland. DAMS Alex Lynn has 105 points and has two victories. Campos Racing's Mitch Evans rounds out the top ten with 89 points and has won once.

Race one for GP2 will be at 9:40 a.m. ET on Saturday November 26th with the final race of 2016 scheduled for 5:20 a.m. on Sunday November 27th.

GP3
Like GP2, three drivers are fighting for the championship in the GP3 finale.

ART Grand Prix drivers Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon are 1-2 in the championship with the Monegasque leading the Thai driver by 29 points. Leclerc has won three times but not since the feature race at Spa-Francorchamps six races ago. Albon has four victories but Leclerc has an average finish of 2.875 in feature races to Albon's 4.5. Trident Racing's Antonio Fuoco trails Leclerc by 45 points and the only way he can win the championship is by winning the feature race, finish in the top two of the sprint race and score all the bonus points for pole position and fastest laps and Leclerc scores fewer than three points. The fewest points Leclerc has scored in a race weekend this year is 16 points.

Arden International drivers Jake Dennis and Jack Aitken are fourth and fifth in the championship on 121 points and 119 points respectively. Dennis has won two of the last five races while Aitken has finished on the podium in four of the last five. ART Grand Prix's Nyck de Vries has 108 points and he won the sprint race at Monza three races ago. Koiranen GP's Matt Parry sits on 82 points, nine ahead of ART Grand Prix's Nirei Fukuzumi. DAMS Jakes Hughes and Jenzer Motorsport Arjan Maini round out the top ten on 69 points and 50 points respectively.

American Santino Ferrucci sits 12th in the championship on 34 points driving for DAMS and is 14 points behind Ralph Boschung, who will not compete this weekend. Ferrucci's best finish this season was third in the sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps but has only scored in five of 16 races and has not finished in the points in the last four races.

GP3 will race at 3:25 a.m. ET on Saturday November 26th and at 4:00 a.m. ET on Sunday November 27th.

World Touring Car Championship
José María López has already locked up the World Touring Car Championship but the final round of the 2016 season from the Losail International Circuit marks the final round of his WTCC career as he will focus on Formula E and joins Toyota's FIA WEC program. The Argentine driver has won three consecutive championships and has won 29 of 69 starts, leaving him second all-time in WTCC in victories behind only his Citroën teammate Yvan Muller's 48 victories.

Muller is second in the championship on 235 points but has only one victory this season. He is 31 points ahead of Honda's Tiago Monteiro, who has won twice this season. Honda's Norbert Michelisz is fourth in the championship on 190 points, ten ahead of another Honda driver in Robert Huff. Mehdi Bennani is four points behind Huff with Lada's Nicky Catsburg five points behind the Moroccan. Tom Chilton has 145 points and is in eighth with Gabriele Tarquini and Tom Coronel rounding out the top ten on 116 point and 109 points respectively.

The final races of the WTCC will take place at 1:20 p.m. ET and 2:35 p.m. ET on Friday November 25th.

Over/Unders
1. Over or Under: 6.5 cars within a minute of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner?
2. Over or Under: 5.5 retirements during the GP2 weekend?
3. Over or Under: 4.5 points scored by Santino Ferrucci?
4. Over or Under: 399.5 points being José María López's final total for the 2016 season?

Last Week's Over/Unders
1. Under: Three laps separated the GTE-Pro winning #95 Aston Martin and the GTE-Am winning #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche.
2. Under: There were seven cautions in the Cup race at Homestead.
3. Under: Only two championship ineligible drivers finished in the top five of the Xfinity Series race.
4. Over: GMS Racing led 76 laps in the Truck race and Kyle Larson led all 76 laps.
5. Over: Hyundai drivers scored 40 points in Rally Australia.

Predictions
1. One of the top six in the championship retire from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
2. At least one GP2 race features two drivers from the same country on the podium.
3. Charles Leclerc wins one of the GP3 races this weekend.
4. Citroën puts two cars on the podium in each race from Qatar.

Last Week's Predictions 
1. All point leaders entering Bahrain leave Bahrain as champions (Correct. The #2 Porsche, #95 Aston Martin and #83 AF Corse Ferrari all left as champions).
2. We get our seventh different winner in the last seven Homestead Cup races (Correct. Jimmie Johnson won at Homestead for the first time in his career).
3. There is caution in the final ten laps of the Xfinity Series race (Correct. The final caution came with ten laps to go).
4. Two of the four Truck championship eligible drivers finish outside the top five (Correct. Actually, three finished outside the top five; Matt Crafton in seventh, Christopher Bell in eighth and Timothy Peters in ninth).
5. Jari-Matti Latvala gets his first podium finish since Rally Finland (Wrong. Latvala finished ninth in his final rally with Volkswagen).
Last Week: 4/5 Overall: 25/45

2015 For the Love of Indy Awards

A lot has happened in 2015. From contact to contracts, passes to parkings, pit lane kerfuffles to rainy red-flagged periods. Records fell and I think 2015 left us realizing how great motorsports can be with drivers showing great diversity in running many different disciplines. Some races were duds but others shined. There have comebacks made by drivers from around the globe. Not everyone had a great season and they are looking toward 2016 but those who excelled never want the calendar to turn over. Today, we look back at the great moments from the 2015 motorsports season.

Racer of the Year
Description: Given to the best racer over the course of 2015.
And the Nominees are:
Jonathan Rea
Nick Tandy
Lewis Hamilton
Scott Dixon
Sébastien Bourdais

And the winner is... Nick Tandy
The British driver won at Le Mans overall in his first time competing in the LMP1 class. He won in LMP2 at the Nürburgring and finished on the class podium on two other occasions. He won four times in GTLM in the 2015 IMSA season, including the unbelievable overall victory in the sloppy Petit Le Mans. Tandy drove his way to the front at Road Atlanta that day. It was a shining performance on an otherwise gloomy day. While he didn't take home a championship, Nick Tandy demonstrated motorsports excellence in multiple types of machinery. He succeeded in situations when he and his teammates were not expected to be front-runners.

On the other nominees:
Jonathan Rea had a spectacular 2015 World Superbike season. The British rider started the season by finishing on the podium in 20 consecutive races and won 12 of those races, including sweeping four weekends. He ended the season with 14 victories and 23 podiums from 24 races. He finished in the top four in 23 races and the lone retirement occurred in the final race of the season.

Lewis Hamilton won his third World Drivers' Championship after winning ten of 19 races, scoring 17 podiums and winning 11 pole positions. He clinched the title with three races to go after winning a thrilling wet-to-dry-to-wet United States Grand Prix. More importantly, Hamilton shattered the notion that a driver can't succeed in Formula One and live in the United States and Hamilton spend so much damn time in the colonies at fashion shows and basketball games and walked away with the title.

Scott Dixon won his fourth IndyCar title this season and won three races, including his first Grand Prix of Long Beach and the season finale at Sonoma to give him the title on tiebreaker over Juan Pablo Montoya. He also scored his second career Indianapolis 500 pole position. The Kiwi not only excelled in IndyCar. He had a dominating drive at the 24 Hours of Daytona that put the pressure on the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP and that team cracked. They went over on Jordan Taylor's drive time and Dixon cruised to victory and etched Tony Kanaan, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson in the record book as 24 Hours of Daytona winners. Dixon also finished second in class at Petit Le Mans.

Sébastien Bourdais didn't win a championship but he had two IndyCar victories, including a dominating drive at Milwaukee; he won the 12 Hours of Sebring and won the Prototype class at Petit Le Mans with João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi and that trio finished second in the 24 Hours of Daytona. To top all that off, the Frenchman had a seventh in the Sandown 500 and ninth in the Bathurst 1000 as he ran the V8 Supercars endurance races in his free time during the ungodly long IndyCar off-season. 

Past Winners
2012: Kyle Larson

2013: Marc Márquez
2014: Marc Márquez

Race of the Year
Description: Best Race of 2015.
And the Nominees are:
The 6 Hours of Silverstone
MAVTV 500
Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
United States Grand Prix
Putrajaya ePrix

And the winner is... Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
It was 40 minutes of pure motorsports with four riders going at it. It had back-and-forth action. It had a final lap pass for the victory as Marc Márquez defeated Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Iannone and Valentino Rossi for the victory. The top four were covered by 1.058 seconds. There was not one boring lap of that race. Iannone murdered a seagull with his head. How many other races feature that? There was no separation between the top four.

And it wasn't just the top four. Dani Pedrosa had a good battle for fifth with Maverick Viñales. The Espargaró brothers went at it, the British riders of Bradley Smith and Scott Redding had a decent battle for a position inside the top ten. There was nothing but phenomenal racing up and down the field from the time the lights went out until the checkered flag waved.

On the other nominees...
The 6 Hours of Silverstone was just foreshadowing for the entire 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season. It featured Audi vs. Porsche for six hours. Heck, Toyota was even up there. You all three manufactures finish on the lead lap and the #7 Audi faced a potential penalty for exceeding track limits on what would be the race winning pass. Audi won that battle but Porsche would win the war but what a way to start a season.

The MAVTV 500 was one of the most exciting IndyCar races ever. There was a record-setting 80 lead changes but it didn't feel like there were 80 lead changes. It was a race that didn't feature any cautions and then there were a slew of them. There wasn't any pack racing and then the cars could never separate. There was a botched pit lane penalty that should have been called against Graham Rahal for leaving the pit lane with the fuel nozzle engaged. Rahal then got away with a block as he charged to the front and won the race while Ryan Briscoe got airborne but walked away.

What ended up being the World Drivers' Championship deciding race was fantastic. Practice had been limited due to heavy rain. Nico Rosberg was on pole but Lewis Hamilton came away with the lead in turn one. Sebastian Vettel would have to charge from 13th on the grid after serving a penalty for an engine change. Vettel wasn't the only one on the move. Max Verstappen climbed up from eighth, Jenson Button from 11th and Carlos Sainz, Jr. from 20th. Right when it appeared the race would Rosberg's for the taking and the championship would go to Mexico, he ran wide and Hamilton swept by. The British driver won and clinched the title while Rosberg and Vettel rounded out the podium and Verstappen finished an impressive fourth.

It appeared Sébastien Buemi was on his way to another grand slam in the second round of the 2015-16 Formula E season. After it had not occurred in the first season, Buemi scored maximum points in the first race from Beijing and was walking away at Putrajaya. And then he stopped. The heat and the humidity of the early Malaysian afternoon caused havoc on the race. Buemi's race was ruined, Nicolas Prost's race was ruined, Lucas di Grassi slid through to the race lead. Nelson Piquet, Jr. saved energy to perfection and it appeared the race would fall in his lap. António Félix da Costa had a lurch while in second. Both Dragon Racing cars retired. Sam Bird moved to second after Robin Frijns tapped the wall. The Dutchman would finish third after Jérôme d'Ambrosio hit the barrier. Frijns crabbed his way home as he suffered significant damage from tapping the wall. Di Grassi won the race but it never seemed to be a sure thing.

Past Winners
2012: Indianapolis 500
2013: British motorcycle Grand Prix
2014: Bathurst 1000

Achievement of the Year
Description: Best success by a driver, team, manufacture, etc.
And the Nominees are:
Scott Dixon: Fourth IndyCar Championship
Jonathan Rea: Fourteen victories and 23 podiums from 26 races.
Justin Wilson Memorial Charity Auction: Over $600,000 raised for Justin Wilson's family.
Craig Lowndes: First V8 Supercars driver to score 100 victories.
Pascal Wehrlein: Youngest DTM champion at 21 years old.

And the winner is... Justin Wilson Memorial Family Auction
The motorsports community rallied around the Wilson family after the death of Justin Wilson at Pocono. It wasn't just an IndyCar thing. All credit to those who organized the auction and those who organized the gathering of items that were put up for auction. From IndyCar to NASCAR, Formula One to Sports Cars, the motorsports community came to the aid of the Wilson's and there were items from other major international sports figures as well. It was a heart-warming event that showed how closely knit the motorsports community is and I cannot forget to mention all the t-shirts that were sold and the proceeds went to the Wilson family. I know I am one of many who couldn't afford to buy a firesuit for $15,000 but could drop $25. It wasn't much but I think many people just wanted to help anyway they could.

On the other nominees... 
The air is getting thinner around Scott Dixon. The only other drivers with at least four IndyCar championships are AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Sébastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti. He could grab sole possession of second in IndyCar championships in 2016 and at only 35, he could tie Foyt's seven championships.

I think Jonathan Rea needs more credit for the season he had. Entering this season, he had 15 career victories; he won 14 alone in 2015. He went from 17th to sixth all-time behind only Carl Fogarty, Troy Bayliss, Noriyuki Haga, Troy Corser and Colin Edwards. He tied Ben Spies and Troy Corser for third most wins in a season. His 23 podiums is the second most in a season behind only Edwards' 25 podiums in 2002. It was a remarkable season.

It seemed inevitable that Craig Lowndes was going to get 100 V8 Supercars race victories but nothing is guaranteed. Race weekend formats have changed and have made it possible for a driver to win 100 races in a career but it is still impressive nonetheless.

Pascal Wehrlein came from behind to win the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters championship. In his three seasons in DTM, Wehrlein has developed into one of the best young drivers in the world. He consistently brought the car home in points. He is such a smart driver and only turned 21 years old on the final day of the season. Great things are in his future.

Past Winners
2012: DeltaWing
2013: Sebastian Vettel for winning nine consecutive races on his way to a fourth consecutive title
2014: Marc Márquez: Setting the record for most wins in a premier class season.

Moment of the Year
Description: The Most Memorable Moment in the World of Racing during the 2015 season.
And the Nominees are:
Nico Hülkenberg winning Le Mans
"Schieb Ihn Raus"
Porsche 911 RSR defeating Prototypes at Petit Le Mans
Matt Kenseth vs. Joey Logano
Valentino Rossi vs. Marc Márquez

And the winner is... Matt Kenseth vs. Joey Logano
After Joey Logano spun Matt Kenseth while Kenseth was leading at Kansas, payback was just a matter of time. It didn't seem likely when Logano advanced to the semifinal round of the Chase and Kenseth was eliminated from championship contention but Kenseth didn't let that stop him. He drove into the side of Logano at Martinsville and set the bar for what NASCAR will allow. Logano went unpunished for his incident at Kansas but Kenseth was suspended for the following two races. Logano could not recover and would not be one of the four drivers championship eligible at Homestead. It was a black eye for NASCAR as it highlighted the series incompetence to distribute consistent penalties.

On the other nominees...
Nico Hülkenberg won overall Le Mans winners this year with Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber. While Hülkenberg's Formula One season was not nearly as successful as his first appearance at Le Mans, I think Hülkenberg should be recognized for taking advantage of an opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He didn't let his day job get in the way. Unlike many drivers who are leashed, Hülkenberg realized what opportunities laid at his fingertips with the talent he had. It got more people talking about trying Le Mans, running the Indianapolis 500, running NASCAR races. Hopefully drivers start cross-pollinating more. Carpe Diem boys and girl. Seize the day. Hülkenberg did just that.

"Schieb Ihn Raus" (translated: Push him out) was the command Timo Scheider received over his radio while battling Pascal Wehrlein and Robert Wickens for position in the second DTM race from Red Bull Ring. Scheider did just take, sliding into the back of the Canadian and like dominos, sending him into Wehrlein. Both Mercedes ended in the gravel trap, Scheider finished sixth. After the race, Scheider was disqualified and head of Audi Sport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich was banned from the remaining four rounds of the DTM season.

I mentioned it before when honoring Nick Tandy, the Porsche 911 RSR defeated the mighty Prototypes class to win Petit Le Mans. Granted, that race did end prematurely and had it not been restarted, a prototype would have won overall and not a GTLM car. But Tandy drove a phenomenal race and GTLM champion Patrick Pilet held his own while the Prototypes struggled on their wet tires. GTs beating prototypes is rare and it should be honored.

2015 could be labeled as "The Year of Contact." From "Schieb Ihn Raus" to Kenseth-Logano and then there was Valentino Rossi-Marc Márquez at Sepang. The Italian kicked the Spaniard off his bike and it cost Rossi big time. He kept his second but had to start last at the season finale at Valencia. He got up to fourth but it wasn't enough and Jorge Lorenzo took the championship despite entering trailing by seven points.

Past Winners
2012: Alex Zanardi
2013: 24 Hours of Le Mans
2014: Post-race at the Charlotte and Texas Chase races.

Pass of the Year
Description: Best pass of 2015.
And the Nominees are:
Final corner of Bathurst 12 Hour: Laurens Vanthoor from 4th to 2nd on the outside
Sage Karam at the 24 Hours of Daytona: From 3rd to 1st on the outside on a restart
Sergio Canamasas on Arthur Pic at Sainte Devote
Graham Rahal on Takuma Sato and Simon Pagenaud at Toronto
Kyle Busch at Loudon, unlapping himself on his way to victory

And the winner is... Laurens Vanthoor from 4th to 2nd on the outside
Twelve hours and the final podium positions came down to the final turn. Vanthoor got some help as Stefan Mücke, who was third, drove into the side of the Bentley of Matthew Bell but Vanthoor went around the outside and put the power down on exit of the corner and just avoided contact with Bell. Mücke thought he was going to end up second but because of Vanthoor's intelligence, the German ended up fourth.

On the other nominees... 
Sage Karam's move early in the 24 Hours of Daytona was impressive as he used the outside to get around his Ganassi teammate and the Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP. He also had some help as slower GT traffic was throwing picks.

Sergio Canamasas isn't the greatest driver on the planet but when he races at Monaco he enters another atmosphere. The Spaniard made a daring move on Arthur Pic entering Sainte Devote and came out on the other side with the position. No contact with the Frenchman. No contact with the barrier. Canamasas ended up on the podium because of that move.

Turn three is the best passing zone at Toronto. Graham Rahal was able to get up the inside of Takuma Sato entering turn three but completed the pass in turn four and then slid up the inside of Simon Pagenaud in turn five to get another position out of nowhere. That move ended up giving Rahal a ninth place finish while Sato was tenth and Pagenaud was 11th.

In July, Kyle Busch had to win races if he hoped to make the Chase. At New Hampshire, Busch was a lap down but drove down the leaders Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. On the front straightaway, Busch powered passed Keselowski on the outside and then dove to the inside and drove past Harvick to get back on the lead lap. Busch would go on to win the race.

Past Winners
2012: Simon Pagenaud at Baltimore
2013: Robert Wickens at Nürburgring and Peter Dempsey in the Freedom 100
2014: Ryan Blaney on Germán Quiroga

The Eric Idle Award
Description: "When You're Chewing on Life's Gristle, Don't Grumble, Give a Whistle, And This'll Help Things Turn Out For The Best, and...  Always Look On The Bright Side of Life."
And the Nominees are:
McLaren
Team Penske
Nissan
Marcos Ambrose
Jota Sport

And the winner is... McLaren
It was a terrible year for McLaren. Nobody was happy. Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were able to find moments of comic relief to the painful season but both drivers struggled all season with an unreliable car that was down on power to its competitors. On the bright side, it couldn't get any worse for McLaren and hopefully year two with Honda is a massive leap forward.

On the other nominees:
Team Penske choked away another IndyCar championship despite having three bullets at the season finale. To make matters worse, Penske had a chance to win the NASCAR championship and ended up with zero drivers eligible for the title at the finale despite having the driver with the most Cup victories this season.

Nissan brought out all the bells and whistles for their LMP1 return. They unveiled the car in a Super Bowl commercial! They painted the car in Manchester City colors! Here they were to take on Toyota, Audi and Porsche. And then they got the snout beat out of them at Le Mans and they didn't return and the entire future of the program was thrown into question after one race.

Marcos Ambrose returned to Australia but his time in V8SC lasted one round. He was replaced and returned for the endurance races. It was a disappointing ending to a great career.

For the second consecutive year, Jota Sport lost the title despite entering the final round of the European Le Mans Series season leading the championships. What will it take for this exceptional sports car team to win a title?

Past Winners
2012: Ben Spies
2013: Sam Hornish, Jr.
2014: Alexander Rossi

Comeback of the Year
Description: The Best Comeback in the 2015 season.
And the Nominees are:
Kyle Busch
Scott Dixon
Dani Pedrosa
Vincent Abril/Maximilian Buhk
Laurens Vanthoor

And the winner is... Kyle Busch
He broke his leg and won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Many didn't like that he could win the title despite missing 11 races but before the Chase, he would four races and was 25th in points ahead of Tony Stewart, Sam Hornish, Jr., Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who had all started every race of the season. Don't hate the player, hate the game. The system allows for it to be possible for a driver to win the title despite missing a handful of races. We rarely see drivers return from injury during a season and be remotely competitive but Busch was dominant over the summer and he held his own in autumn and it paid off with a championship.

On the other nominees... 
Scott Dixon entered the IndyCar finale from Sonoma 47 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya. He did all he had to do. He won the race and led the most laps from ninth on the grid! It was a drive that you would frame and show your kids on giving it your all even when the odds are stacked against you.

Dani Pedrosa missed three races after getting arm-pump surgery but he returned from surgery and finished fourth in the championship and won two races and scored six podiums.

Vincent Abril and Maximilian Buhk entered the Blancpain Sprint Series finale trailing Robin Frijns by eight points. The Bentley drivers scored maximum points (34) and won the final race of the season with Frijns finishing second, 0.375 seconds back. Abril and Buhk took the title by eight points.

Laurens Vanthoor would have been in that BSS title fight as Frijns' co-driver but he broke his leg at the previous round at Misano and it ruled him out for the finale. Vanthoor returned to competition at the Sepang 12 Hours but it's not just Vanthoor's return that should be acknowledged. The Belgian was running second, in rainy conditions and erased the 12-second lead Christopher Mies held in twenty minutes with 40 minutes to go in the race. Vanthoor would go on to win the race with Stéphane Ortelli (in his final race with Audi) and Stuart Leonard by over eight seconds.

Past Winners
2013: Michael Shank Racing at the 24 Hours of Daytona
2014: Juan Pablo Montoya to IndyCar

Most Improved
Description: Racer Who Improved The Most from 2014 to 2015.
And the Nominees are:
Jamie Green: From 10th to 2nd in DTM with four victories after not winning since 2012.
Martin Truex, Jr.: From 24th to 4th in NASCAR. One victory and 22 top-tens after only five top ten in 2014.
Danilo Petrucci: From 20th to 10th in MotoGP. Scored 96 points more in 2015 than 2014. Scored his first career podium. Finished in the points in 16 of 18 races.
Hiroaki Ishiura: From 5th to Super Formula Champion. Scored his first career victory in his 45th career start. Five podiums in 2015 after five podiums in his entire career entering this season.
Graham Rahal: From 19th to 4th. Ended a record 124-race winless drought. Won two races. Six podiums after six podiums in the previous four seasons.

And the winner is... Graham Rahal
This was the year we have all been waiting for from Graham Rahal. He was a championship contender and if it weren't for double points and Sébastien Bourdais, he would have probably finished second in the IndyCar championships. And he did it with no teammate and with an aero package that was behind that of Chevrolets. He really didn't put a wheel wrong all season. The poor results are mostly because he was an innocent bystander or was taken out (where was Tristan Vautier going?!) But now the pressure is really on Rahal. Can he build off his 2015 success or will he revert to his 2013-2014 form?

On the other nominees... 
Jamie Green won three of the first four races and then kind of disappeared but he did end up finishing second to Wehrlein and he finished on the podium in both races at the final weekend at Hockenheim, including a race victory to close out the season.

Martin Truex, Jr. had a massive turn around. He finished fourth because of the Chase format but without the Chase format, he would have finished fifth in the championship. It was a great year. He only had the one victory but he consistently ran at the front.

Danilo Petrucci kept finishing in the points and finished second at Silverstone in the wet. He never scored more than 27 points in a season and he ended up scoring 117 points in 2015 on a customer Ducati nonetheless.

I just want to acknowledge the season Hiroaki Ishiura had. He never lit the world on fire prior to this season and in Super Formula, where the grid features the like of André Lotterer, Kazuki Nakajima, Kamui Kobayashi and João Paulo de Oliveira, he drove smart, caught some breaks as Nakajima missed a round due to injury and won the title by constantly finding his way onto the podium.

Past Winners
2012: Esteban Guerrieri
2013: Marco Andretti
2014: Chaz Mostert

And there you have it. I would like to congratulate all the champions and race winners this year in the world of motorsports and I want to thank all of you who have been following along to this blog. Keep an eye out over the final two weeks of the year, as there will be more predictions for 2016 and other fun things to come as 2015 comes to a close. 

Musings From the Weekend: IndyCar Needs to Exploit Gaps in European System

This is the final Musings From the Weekend of 2015. I know. I am sad to. But there will be plenty posted over the final two weeks of the year. Keep an eye out for some fun stuff over the next two weeks as you put up Christmas decorations, wait for Stars War to be released and order Chinese food. However, this weekend featured a few red flags and some rain. Stéphane Ratel makes it difficult to be a GT3 fan in the United States and Canada thanks to geo-blocking. Off the track, a few drivers announced their plans to participate in IndyCar in 2016. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

IndyCar Needs to Exploit Gaps in European System
Esteban Ocon is in a dilemma. The GP3 champion is 19 years old and his career path is at a crossroads. It would seem obvious that Ocon should just move up to GP2 like four of the five previous GP3 champions but it's not that simple. The Mercedes development driver wants to go to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters next year and Mercedes-Benz shouldn't have a problem finding a place for the Frenchman.

The GP2/GP3 system does not allow a champion to return and defend their title and that makes sense on paper. It's a development series and once you win it, you are kicked out of the nest and have to make it on your own. The only problem is there aren't always seats available at the next level and GP2 champions Giorgio Pantano, Davide Valsecchi, Fabio Leimer and Jolyon Palmer have failed to get a Formula One race seat the year after their titles and it appears you can add Stoffel Vandoorne's name to that list. Ocon doesn't turn 20 years old until September 17, 2016 and while he wouldn't necessarily be a shoe-in for the GP2 title, if he were to win it, Ocon would likely find himself adding his name to that list above. He could go to Formula 3.5 V8 (formerly Formula Renault 3.5) but that isn't a series Mercedes has used for development drivers.

The GP2/GP3 system is made to keep drivers flowing through but currently there is a logjam of drivers trying to get to Formula One but with no alternative that will keep them in the eyes of Formula One team owners. Ocon could be 20 years old with nowhere to go. As long as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are winning races and getting along, there will be no room for Ocon at Mercedes and let's not forget to mention DTM champion and Mercedes development driver Pascal Wehrlein is also trying to make it to Formula One and tested a GP2 car last week.

DTM makes all the sense in the world for Ocon. He could run two years there before moving to GP2 or straight to Formula One. The FIA Super License points could become an issue though. Ocon sits on 65 Super License points and is set to drop five points from third in the 2013 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. However, Ocon is set to drop 30 points for second in the 2014 European Formula Three champion after the 2017 season and that could put the Frenchman in jeopardy of not being qualified for a Super License. The DTM champion only gets 15 points. DTM would be a butterfly bandage to a wound that needs a suture.

However, there is an alternative. The United States and the Road to Indy system. Indy Lights is also a butterfly bandage but IndyCar is Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte to the more expensive, harder to find  croquembouche that is GP2. Both champions get 40 Super License points, second in GP2 also gets 40 points and IndyCar only gets 30. There are fewer races in IndyCar but everyone agrees there should be more. But, unlike GP2, the IndyCar champion can stay as long as they like.

IndyCar needs to promote this one difference to Formula One teams and turn their series into a semester-abroad option for development drivers and a chance for Formula One teams to get a firmer hold in the American market. Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Williams and McLaren all have development drivers that could one day make it to Formula One. By sending one or two to the United States creates the opportunity for these names to build up a following stateside and if they were to make it to Formula One, it would be a name American fans could recognize and tune in to watch. It could also increase viewership of IndyCar in Europe and around the globe, as fans would have a chance to tune in and see highly touted drivers with Formula One in their future.

The stretch would be for IndyCar to turn their U.S. campus also into a series that the likes of Mercedes and FIAT invest in and develop engines for. IndyCar needs more engine manufactures. Honda and Chevrolet are strained and growth in the series has been stunted because of it. But if Mercedes could partner with a team or two (say... KV and Carlin) and FIAT could partner with a team (say... Andretti and Racing Engineering, who are evaluating expanding to IndyCar) all of a sudden the pressure is off Honda and Chevrolet, IndyCar has two more partners in the series and hopefully the grid would grow by 4-6 entries.

It's a pie-in-the-sky idea but IndyCar can't just be selling IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500 to manufactures. While many of you are angry that this sounds like IndyCar taking a backseat to Formula One, let's face it that IndyCar and Formula One aren't even in the same car. If IndyCar can benefit by turning itself into an American promotional and development arm for Formula One teams and manufactures, then why not do it? Of course, don't put all your eggs in that basket and still buddy up with Super Formula but IndyCar needs to be open to whatever it takes to raise the quality of the series and grow, not just in the United States but also around the globe.

IndyCar Needs to Embrace Electric Power
With the news coming out of Paris that countries from around the world will govern the reduction of carbon dioxide emission, I start thinking about the future of motorsports. While any motorsports series from around the world evolving into an all-electric series won't be the cure for the environment issues of the world, it is worth considering slowly adapting and weaning off fuel.

I think about IndyCar's place in the motorsports landscape and I think about Formula E. Formula E isn't lighting the world on fire but it has people's attention and most importantly, it has the attention of manufactures.

What if the 101st Indianapolis 500 was all-electric? It's not going to happen but let's play a hypothetical. Speeds would be much slower but the problem is how motorsports fans view electric motorsports. Fans hold electric motorsports to the standards of over a century of development when in reality electric motorsports are in year two. Back at the turn of the 20th century, when it was gas-powered engines vs. steam-powered, the speeds were comparable to what Formula E is running at today.

If anything, instead of pooh-poohing electric motorsports for not being equal to cars running on ethanol, gasoline or diesel, we should celebrate the milestones. We should celebrate the first 100-mph average lap and same for 150-mph and 200-mph and so on in electric equipment. The men and/or women who become the first to break those milestones should be celebrated in the same way René Thomas, Parnelli Jones and Tom Sneva were.

When I look at Formula E, I see a very narrow path being paved for electric motorsports. It seems the ball will only go in the direction that series is going and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is if it doesn't embrace the current motorsports infrastructure. Formula E has from the start been about racing on street circuits in city centers around the world and while that sounds nice, I only wonder what it means for places such as Monza, Spa-Francorchamps, Silverstone, Bathurst and Indianapolis? I think about oval racing in general. There is no reason why Formula E couldn't run an oval race or two. The series is too young to say oval racing is against their tradition. The series should be open to being different and not being all-street circuits.

However, while Formula E shows no interest in bringing their product to ovals, maybe another sanctioning body should partner with Formula E to further the development of electric motorsports and maybe that series should be IndyCar. IndyCar needs support races at oval races and an electric championship could be it.

My expanded idea:
An American-based electric series run in partnership with Formula E and IndyCar as a support-series to IndyCar events.

Run at all the ovals, three road courses and three street circuits.

The goal would to further develop the electric technology in hopes to one day become the formula for IndyCar.

There are a lot of questions I still have about how it would work. How long would races be? What is the practical length for a race around a place such as Indianapolis or Pocono? What road courses would be run? I'd love to see Road America be attempted because some day an electric car is going to have to tackle the over four-mile course. And these questions are a good thing. They lay the foundation for what needs to be explored. If I had to choose the three road courses, I'd select the IMS road course, Road America and Sonoma. As for the street circuits, I would select St. Petersburg, Toronto and Boston.

How many cars would there be? Would all these teams be run by IndyCar teams? IndyCar teams barely have enough to run IndyCar programs. There could be some crossover but Bryan Herta Autosport, Dale Coyne Racing and AJ Foyt Racing would be unlikely to compete. I think 18 cars would be good for a start. Andretti could run a car or two, same for Dragon Racing. Maybe Penske or Ganassi would consider joining the series. Maybe the likes of e.dams and Abt would expand to the United States. As for the drivers, I would have as many IndyCar/Road to Indy drivers as possible involved. They would already be at the race tracks and it would be good for both series as it would give current IndyCar fans drivers to watch for and it would give new fans drivers they could follow to IndyCar if they gave it at shot. It would be a win-win for each series.

As for a name for this pie-in-the-sky electric series, I was thinking IndyE but I think the terms "Indy" or "IndyCar" should be as far away from the name of this series name. I then came up with United States Electric Championship (USEC) but it sounds too similar to USAC. Considering there would be a race in Canada, I thought it should be the North American Electric Championship but NAEC is already claimed by IMSA for their North American Endurance Championship. What about the Can-Am All-Electric Championship? The CAAEC. It's not worth coming up with acronyms and names for something that currently doesn't exist but I have already wasted my time doing it.

One day there will have to be an all-electric race on an oval and it mind as well be sooner rather than later and IndyCar mind as well jump on the opportunity now and not let the ball pass them by.

Winners From the Weekend
You know about the Gulf 12 Hours but did you know...

The #17 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT of Laurens Vanthoor, Stéphane Ortelli and Stuart Leonard won the Sepang 12 Hours.

The #23 Top Speed Racing Lamborghini Super Trofeo Huracán of Yuan Bo, James Munro, Mohamad Afiq Ikhwan Bin Mohamad Yaz and Martin Rump won in the GTC class in the Sepang 12 Hours. The #86 Wing Hin Motorsports Toyota GT86 of Kenny Lee Wan Yuen, Ho Wil Liam and Wong Yew Choong won in the TC class.

Coming Up This Weekend
The final major race of the calendar year: Formula E heads to Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Friday Four: Persian Nights

Four championships come to a close and they all end in a Persian Gulf country. Three are dead rubbers. Two race take place on Friday. One championship is up for grabs between an Italian and Frenchman, who has lived on the podium in 2015. Normally I go biggest to smallest but today I am starting with the title that is still undecided.

GP3
The final weekend of the GP3 Series season occurs during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend and two points separate two drivers for the title.

Italian Ghiotto leads Frenchman Estaban Ocon 227-225 entering the final weekend of the season. The Trident Racing driver Ghiotto has won five races, stood on the podium eight times and has scored points in every race but has finished in the points in only 15 of 16 races. He started on pole on the first race from Monza, which earned him four points but that is his lone retirement this season. He won the most recent race in the series last weekend at Bahrain as a support race to the FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Ocon has not won since the first race of the season at Barcelona in May. However, Ocon has 11 consecutive podium finishes, ten of which are runner-up finishes. The ART Grand Prix driver Ocon, like Ghiotto, has finished in the points in 15 of 16 races with a disqualification from the second race in Austria being the lone blemish on his résumé. He finished third but was booted for an illegal undertray.

Both drivers are in their first GP3 season. Ghiotto ran four races last year for Trident and won pole on debut at Spa-Francorchamps but failed to finish in the points in any of the races. Ocon won last year's FIA European Formula Three Championship over current Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen (who finished third) and current DTM drivers Tom Blomqvist (second) and Lucas Auer (fourth).

A few GP3 drivers would could spoil the party the weekend are German Marvin Kirchöfer and Briton Emil Bernstorff. They are third and fourth in the championship and one point separates the two drivers. Kirchöfer is Ocon's teammate and has won four races, including the first race last weekend at Bahrain. Bernstorff drivers for Arden International and he has two victories. The only other drivers to win this season in GP3 are Jimmy Eriksson of Koiranen GP, Kevin Ceccon of Arden International and Óscar Tunjo, formerly of Trident Racing. Tunjo won in Austria but was replaced after the following round.

Formula One
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the final of Formula One's three dead rubbers to end the 2015 season but there are many battles for final position in the championship still to be decided.

Lewis Hamilton has locked up to world championship and his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg has locked up second in the world championship with Sebastian Vettel locked in third but the battle is for fourth. Valtteri Bottas is one point ahead of fellow Finn Kimi Räikkönen, 136-135. Bottas finished fourth last year in the world championship and a podium in last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix caused the Finn to jump Vettel and Fernando Alonso in the championship. Bottas finished third in Mexico two races ago. Räikkönen has finished on the podium in both night races this season. He finished second in Bahrain and third in Singapore.

Felipe Massa has an outside shot to finish in the top five of the championship. The Brazilian has 117 points and would need to win or finish second and have Räikkönen fail to score points. Daniil Kvyat has an outside shot to jump Massa but the Russian would have to win and have Massa not score points. Kvyat is ten points ahead of his Red Bull teammate with 94 points. Behind the Red Bull drivers are the Force India drivers with Sergio Pérez on 68 points and Nico Hülkenberg on 52.

Romain Grosjean and Max Verstappen are tied for tenth in the world championship on 49 points. The tiebreaker is held by Grosjean, who finished third in the Belgian Grand Prix. Felipe Nasr and Pastor Maldonado are tied on 27 points. Nasr hold the tiebreaker with a fifth in the Australian Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz, Jr. has 18 points, two ahead of Jenson Button and seven ahead of Fernando Alonso. Marcus Ericsson has nine points. Both Manor drivers, Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi, look for their first points in 2015.

In the Constructors' Championship, the top five appear to be set. Mercedes has clinched the title and it will likely finish Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull and Force India, second to fifth. Sixth-ninth is still up the air. Either Lotus or Toro Rosso will finish sixth. Lotus has 76 points to Toro Rosso's 67 while Sauber has 36 points to McLaren's 27 points.

GP2
Stoffel Vandoorne has clinched the title but the battle in GP2 is for second.

Alexander Rossi enters with 169.5 points, 30.5 points ahead of Sergey Sirotkin and 37.5 points ahead of Rio Haryanto. The American had a chance to clinch second last week in Bahrain but had a poor performance in qualifying and failed to score any points over the weekend. Mitch Evans rounds out the top five on 120 points and could still finish third in the championship but could also finished as far down as eighth. Evans won the second race of the weekend last weekend in Bahrain. Alex Lynn is on 106 points with his DAMS teammate Pierre Gasly ten points back. Raffaele Marciello is four points behind Gasly. Vandoorne's ART Grand Prix teammate Nobuharu Matsushita is ninth on 68.5 points. Richie Stanaway and Arthur Pic are tied for tenth on 60 points but Stanaway will not be competing in Abu Dhabi. Oliver Rowland replaced the New Zealander at Bahrain and will run this weekend as well.

Jordan King is 12th on 52 points. Artem Markelov has 48 points. Julián Leal has 38 points but he will not be competing this weekend. Sergio Canamasas rounds out the top fifteen with 27 points and Nathanäel Berthon is three points back. Robert Visoiu and Norman Nato are tied on 20 points but Visoiu will not be competing.

Vandoorne does have a chance to become the all-time leader in GP2 race victories if he wins one race this weekend. The Belgian is tied on ten victories with Pastor Maldonado on ten victories.

WTCC
The final round of the World Touring Car Championship occurs on Friday in Qatar to avoid going head-to-head to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

That championship has already been decided. José María López clinched the title in Thailand. His Citroën teammates Sébastien Loeb and Yvan Muller will battle for second. Loeb had 329 points to Muller's 324 points. This will be Loeb's final race for Citroën as the manufacture will drop him after this round. Loeb will be competing for Peugeot in the Dakar Rally next year. Ma Qing Hua is fourth on 213 points with Gabriele Tarquini fifth on 189 points.

One point separates Norbert Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro, 172-171. Rob Huff is eight on 103 points. Two points covers ninth to eleventh. Tom Chilton has 96 points while Hugo Valente and Mehdi Bennani are tied on 95.

Update (6:01 p.m. ET):
José María López and Yvan Muller split the WTCC races from Qatar.

Over/Unders
1. Over or Under: 6.5 points being the margin between first and second in GP3 championship standings?
2. Over or Under: 1.5 South Americans finished in the points in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?
3. Over or Under: 0.5 victories for Stoffel Vandoorne this week?
4. Over or Under: 0.5 podiums for manufactures not named Citroën?

Last Week's Over/Unders
Thursday:
1. Under: Two championship eligible drivers finished in the top five in the Cup race.
2. Over: Two Grand National Series championship eligible drivers finished in the top five.
3. Over: There were 14 lead changes in the Truck finale.
Friday:
1. Under: Two cars finished on the lead lap in the 6 Hours of Bahrain.
2. Under: Two Ligiers finished on the LMP2 podium.
3. Under: Four (France, Italy, Finland, UK) were represented on the GTE-Pro podium.
4. Under: Three laps separated the GTE-Pro and GTE-am winners.
5. Over: David Coulthard and Alex Buncombe made the semifinals in the Champion of Champions.

Predictions
1. Esteban Ocon takes the GP3 championship and wins a race this weekend.
2. There are at least two changes in championship position after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
3. Stoffel Vandoorne leaves Bahrain as the sole all-time leader in GP2 victories.
4. Mehdi Bennani finishes in the top ten of the WTCC standings.

Last Week's Predictions
Thursday: 
1. A championship eligible driver will not win the Cup race (Wrong. Kyle Busch won).
2. Chris Buescher wins the title but finishes behind two of his championship rivals (Correct. He finished behind all three actually).
3. One Truck championship eligible drivers finishes outside the top ten (Wrong. They all finished in the top ten).

Friday:

1. All three privateer LMP1 entries finish the race (Correct. All 32 cars in the 6 Hours of Bahrain finished).
2. Both Extreme Speed Motorsports cars finish and one finishes in the top half of LMP2 (Wrong. The ESM cars were the bottom two in class).
3. One of the FIA WEC teams with a streak of five consecutive podiums or more ends at Bahrain (Correct. The #17 Porsche finished 5th in class and the #83 AF Corse Ferrari finished 4th).
4. Aston Martin wins in GTE-Am (Correct. The #98 Aston Martin of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda won).
5. The Nations' Cup has a first-time winner (Correct. England won the Nations' Cup).
Overall: 5/8 Running Tally: 33/63

1000 Things

Back when I completed my 700th post, I decided I wanted to do something special for #1000. I didn't know what to do. I guess one night after probably a Trackside episode or reading articles when things were just negative I realized I was tired of it. It is tiring being angry. It is not good for your health either.

That's when I decided to start a list of all the things I love about motorsports. From past races to drivers. Race tracks to specific corners. From specific memories to concrete objects. It took about a year to get to from thinking about post #1000 to actually posting. The first three hundred came quickly. The rest took a lot of time. There would be binges where drivers, racetracks, past races, etc. were added and then there would go a month without looking at the list.

After reading over the list a few times, I am calm. My blood pressure is down. My head no longer aches. I am at ease. Perhaps this is something we should all do. When times get difficult and you just feel like throwing in the towel, you just need to list all the things you love. You don't need to hit 1000 but I am sure you could hit 100 if you gave yourself a day or two to think about it and go through your memory bank or your Twitter feed or old photo albums.

I hope this list can make you feel relaxed just like it made me. (Note: For time and convenience I screenshot the list into twelve parts).

This isn't all that I love about motorsports and this isn't in order from what I love the most to what I love the least. This is just a list of 1000 thing I love. There are plenty of people, cars, races, sights, sounds and moments I forgot. I am only human. I can only remember so much. 

1000 posts down. Here is to 1000 more.

Friday Five: Monza, Darlington, Algarve, Paul Ricard

Historic tracks are themes of the weekend. A Labor Day tradition returns while one of the greatest racetracks in Europe was be filled with tifosi and become a sea of red. There will also be a few sprint races in Europe.

Italian Grand Prix
The 12th round of the 2015 Formula One season heads to Autodromo Nazionale Monza plays host to the Italian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton holds the world championship lead with 227 points, 28 points ahead of his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton is coming off his sixth victory of 2015 after winning the Belgian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel heads to his first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver third in the championship, trailing Hamilton by 67 points. Vettel's Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen sits tied for fourth in the world championship with former Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa on 82 points.

Valtteri Bottas is three points behind his Williams teammate in sixth. Red Bull drivers Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo are seventh and eighth and 57 and 51 points respectively in the world championship. Romain Grosjean is ninth in the world championship and the final driver mathematically eligible after finishing third in Spa. The Frenchman sits on 38 points.

Vettel leads all active drivers with three Italian Grand Prix victories. A fourth win at Monza would tie Vettel with Nelson Piquet for second all-time in Italian Grand Prix victories. Hamilton and Fernando Alonso each have two Italian Grand Prix victories. Alonso is the last driver to win the Italian Grand Prix driving for Ferrari when he won in 2010.

Rosberg scored his first career podium at Monza last year when he finished second to Hamilton. A Finn has never won the Italian Grand Prix. Williams has not won at Monza since Juan Pablo Montoya scored his first career Formula One victory at the track in 2001.

Southern 500
For the first time since 2003, the Southern 500 will be held on Labor Day weekend as NASCAR returns to Darlington Raceway.

Kevin Harvick leads the championship and has finished in the top three in fifteen of the first 24 races and is the defending Southern 500 winner. Joey Logano is second and has won two of the last three races and has just two top ten finishes in six Darlington starts. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is third in the championship and finished second in last year's Southern 500. Brad Keselowski is fourth with Jimmie Johnson rounding out the top five.

Martin Truex, Jr. is sixth with past Southern 500 winner Matt Kenseth, who has won two of the last four races, in seventh. Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Jamie McMurray round out the top ten. McMurray is the highest driver in the championship without a race victory. The next three drivers in the championship, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Jeff Gordon, are all also winless this season. Gordon is the all-time leader in Southern 500 victories with six. Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are the only two race winners outside the top ten in the championship. All 11 race winners are locked into Chase. Clint Bowyer sits 15th and currently holds the final Chase position. At least three Chase positions will go to drivers based on points.

Greg Biffle currently is winless and is three positions behind Bowyer in the standings. Biffle is a two-time Southern 500 winner and he is the last Ford driver to win at Darlington, nine years ago. Team Penske enters Darlington 40 years after Bobby Allison won their lone Southern 500 in 1975 driving an AMC Matador.

GP2 Series at Monza
GP2 enters Monza with four rounds to go in the 2015 championship. Belgian ART Grand Prix driver Stoffel Vandoorne has a commanding championship lead as the McLaren development driver has 233 points and sits 105 points clear of Racing Engineering's American Alexander Rossi. Vandoorne could clinch the title this weekend if he leaves Monza with a 144-point lead over second place. Vandoorne and Rossi split the races at Spa two weeks ago.  Rossi is 19 points ahead of Rio Haryanto of Campos Racing and Sergey Sirotkin of Rapax. Alex Lynn of DAMS rounds out the top five with 81 points.

Lynn's teammate Pierre Gasly is sixth with 61 points. The Frenchman is three points ahead of Trident Racing's Raffaele Marciello. One points behind the Italian is New Zealander Mitch Evans who drives for Russian Time. Vandoorne's ART teammate Nobuharu Matsushita is ninth on 48 points with Rossi's Racing Engineering teammate Jordan King rounding out the top ten on 42 points. King is the last driver mathematically eligible for the championship.

There will be a few driver changes at Monza in GP2. Nissan LMP1 driver Jann Mardenborough will make his GP2 debut driving for Carlin and teaming with Julián Leal. At Team Lazarus, Swiss driver Patric Niederhauser will replace Nathanaël Berthon. Niederhauser will also be making his GP2 debut.

Last year at Monza, Vandoorne won the feature race while eventually 2014 GP2 champion Jolyon Palmer won the sprint race driving for DAMS.

4 Hours of Le Castellet
The European Le Mans Series heads to their penultimate round of 2015 at Circuit Paul Ricard. Twenty-nine cars are entered across the four class.

A dozen cars are entered in LMP2. The #38 Jota Sport Gibson-Nissan driven by Simon Dolan, Filipe Albuquerque and Harry Tincknell, leads the championship with 60 points, two clear of the #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing of Pierre Thiriet, Ludovic Badey and Tristan Gommendy. The only difference between Jota Sport's and Thiriet by TDS Racing's season is Jota Sport's two pole positions as each car has finished first, second and third this season. The #41 Greaves Motorsports Gibson-Nissan of Gary Hirsch, Björn Wirdheim and Jon Lancaster are third in the championship, ten points back of Jota. The American #40 Krohn Racing Ligier-Judd of Tracy Krohn, Oswaldo Negri, Jr., and Olivier Pla are fourth on 32 points.

Nathanaël Berthon is not at Monza because he is at Paul Ricard as one of three drivers in the #48 Murphy Prototypes Oreca-Nissan alongside Michael Lyons and Mark Patterson. Eurasia Motorsport is six points behind Murphy Prototypes as the #33 Oreca-Nissan will be driven by Pun Jun Jin, Nico Pieter De Bruijn and Richard Bradley. The SMP Racing BR01-Nissans have been rebranded for this race as AF Racing with the #20 being driven by Maurizio Mediani, David Markozov and Nicolas Minassian and Mikhail Aleshin, Kirill Ladygin and Victor Shaytar in the #21.

In GTE, Formula Racing has 48 points and leads that championship with Mikkel Mac, Johnny Laursen and Andrea Rizzoli in the #60 Ferrari F458 Italia. Five points behind them is the #55 AF Corse Ferrari of Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and Aaron Scott. Last year, Cameron and Griffin won at Paul Ricard with Michele Rugolo as their third driver. The #88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR of Richard Lietz, Marco Mapelli and Christian Ried are ten points back of Formula Racing. The Imola-winning #56 AT Racing Ferrari of Alexander Talkanitsa, Sr., Alexander Talkanitsa, Jr. and Alessandro Pier Guidi and the #52 Marc VDS BMW Z4 GTE of Andy Priaulx, Henry Hassid and Jesse Krohn are tied on 36 points. A point behind them is Silverstone winners, the #86 Gulf Racing UK Porsche of Adam Carroll, Michael Wainwright and Phillip Keen.

The #59 TDS Racing BMW Z4 GT3 of Franck Perera, Dino Lunardi and Eric Dermont leads GTC with 56 points. Four points back is the #62 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia GT3 of Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Stuart Hall. Mads Rasmussen, Adrien De Leener and Francisco Guedes will drive the #64 AF Corse Ferrari and are third in GTC with the #63 AF Corse Ferrari of Giorgio Roda, Ilya Melnikov and Marco Cioci is fourth. The #68 Massive Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will be driven by Casper Elgaard, Kristian Pouslen and Simon Moller.

The #3 Team LNT Ginetta-Nissan of Chris Hoy and Charlie Robertson have won two of three races and lead the LMP3 championship. Michael Simpson and Gaëten Paletou will drive the #2 Team LNT Ginetta-Nissan. Konstantin Calko, Mirco Van Oostrum and Dainius Matijosaitis are entered in the #15 SVK by Speed Factory Ginetta-Nissan and Roberto Lacorte and Giorgio Semagiotto will drive the #5 Villorba Corsa Ginette-Nissan.

Blancpain Sprint Series at Algarve
Fifteen cars are entered for the Blancpain Sprint Series weekend at Algarve International Circuit. Robin Frijns and Laurens Vanthoor leads the championship in the #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra. They have 78 points and lead the most recent winners in the BSS of Vincent Abril and Maximilian Buhk in the #84 Bentley Continental GT3. The #77 BMW Sport Trophy Team Brasil of Valdeno Brito and Atila Abreu are third in the championship with 59 points. The Monegasque pairing of Stéphane Richelmi and Stéphane Ortelli has the #3 Audi fourth in the championship with 46 points. The #333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari F458 Italia of Marco Seefried and Nobert Siedler round out the top five with 40 points.

Albert von Thurn und Taxis and Nicky Castsburg won the qualifying race at the last BSS round at Moscow Raceway and they return in the #88 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4-R-EX. JRM Racing have entered the #173 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 for Sean Walkinshaw and Craig Dolby.

Over/Unders
1. Over or Under: 2.5 penalties to drivers for exceeding track limits during the race?
2. Over or Under: 9.5 cautions in the Southern 500?
3. Over or Under: 3.5 average finish for Stoffel Vandoorne between the two races at Monza?
4. Over or Under: 3.5 Ferraris on the podiums between GTE and GTC?
5. Over or Under: 4.5 retirements between the two BSS races at Algarve?

Predictions
1. A Ferrari scores fastest lap at Monza.
2. Someone scores their first victory of the season at the Southern 500.
3. Richie Stanaway scores points this weekend for the first time since his Monaco victory.
4. There will be the first repeat overall winner in ELMS this season at Paul Ricard.
5. One of the two BMW Sport Trophy Team Brasil entries get a victory at Algarve.

Musings From the Weekend: It Makes Sense But It's A Work In Progress

A Frenchman dominated in Milwaukee. Rain continues to follow NASCAR but it all passed by race day. There was a great battle at Mosport. There was a first time winner in the Netherlands. A certain Spaniard regained their form for at least one race. There was racing all over the globe this weekend, from Portugal to Australia. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

It Makes Sense But It's A Work In Progress
I like the idea of the FIA Super License points but I am not sure it has been well thought out.

This past week at the World Motor Sport Council in Mexico City, the FIA announced changes to the FIA Super License points system.  The series that doesn't even exist, Formula 2 will pay 40 points to the top three finishers in the championship; the top two in GP2 will each receive 40 points. FIA European Formula 3, World Endurance Championship LMP1 and IndyCar will still pay 40 points to the champions of those respective series while the Formula Renault 3.5 will get 35 points, a five point increase. The GP3 champion will still get 30 points and the Super Formula champion will still get 25 points.

There were also three series added to the list of series that will receive FIA Super License points. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Indy Lights and the World Touring Car Championship were all added and the three champions from those three series will receive 15 points. The other addition was the Formula E champion will automatically be granted an FIA Super License but no points will be given out for that series. So congratulations to Nelson Piquet, Jr. on earning a super license.

One of the problems I have is there are still series not getting recognized, most notably for Americans, NASCAR. You can make all the jokes you want about NASCAR you want but there are talented drivers there are they deserve something. I am not sure the NASCAR Cup champion deserves a full 40 points for a title but it deserves something. I almost feel 25 points would be a good amount for the Cup champion with the Grand National and Truck champions receiving 10 points respectively.

What about Super GT's GT500 and GT300 champions? The GT500 class is going to the same technical regulations as DTM and they get squat... actually they get less than squat. What about Blancpain Sprint and Endurance Series? Should each series get their own points or should the combined Blancpain GT Series results determine who gets what Super License points?

What about GTE-Pro in WEC? Plenty of talented young drivers who had success in single-seaters such as Davide Rigon, James Calado, Richie Stanaway and Marco Sørensen and former Formula One drivers Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella and Olivier Beretta in that class. What about IMSA? Shouldn't the Prototype and GTLM champions get some type of love? What about Pirelli World Challenge? ADAC GT Masters? World Rally? British Touring Cars? I could go on and on.

Of course, I think some series should be valued more. DTM, WTCC and Indy Lights should not be on the same level. I actually think WTCC and Indy Lights are go at 15 points but the DTM champion should full 40 points as should the Formula Renault 3.5 champion and the Super Formula champion. I still don't get the logic of FIA European Formula 3 champion getting 40 but GP3 champion only getting 30. If anything, after seeing the driving in Formula 3 this year, I am not sure that champion should receive more than 20 points. And I am not going to try and wrap my head around the logic of national F4 champions receiving 12 points but national Formula 3 champions only getting 10 points.

The other thing I would like to see is bonus points awarded for winning races. Take Alexander Rossi for example. He currently has only three FIA Super License points from finishing ninth in the 2013 GP2 Series championship. If he wants an FIA Super License he needs 37 points so he would need to win the GP2 championship or finish second this year. If he finishes third, he would be seven points shy. My idea would be to pay bonus points to drivers who win races that way a driver can't make up some of those points that they can't pick up in the championship. My idea would be to pay three points for each victory a driver scores in a championship that pay 40 points to the champion, or as I would like to call them "Tier 1 Championships." For series that pay less than 40 points but more than 12 points or "Tier 2 Championships," it could be two points for each victory and for series that pay 12 points or less to their champions, "Tier 3 Championships," it could be one point per victory.

Alexander Rossi wouldn't be the only driver to benefit from bonus points from victories. While Rossi currently sits second in the GP2 championship, Rio Haryanto is third and the Indonesian driver currently has zero Super License points and like Rossi has to finish first or second in GP2 in hopes to earn a Super License. Haryanto already has three race victories and if he were to get one victory more then it would allow him for wiggle room in case he finished third in the GP2 championship.

I like the idea of it but it still has many holes. I do like that drivers will have to pass a test on the sporting regulations in order to receive the license. It's important that the competitors know the rulebook. For those who watch the NFL, it's embarrassing to hear players after a game say they didn't know a game could end in a tie. It's important to know the rulebook boys and girls.

The Pseudo-One Day Show
I liked the format of the Milwaukee IndyCar race this past weekend but I think it could have been scheduled better. There was one practice on Saturday before a practice session, qualifying session and race on Sunday. It was condensed but I liked it however the timing was off. Scheduling the race to start at 4:35 p.m. local time could work for a Saturday but not for a Sunday. Milwaukee got a decent crowd but if the race was at 1:00-1:30 p.m. local time, the crowd probably would have been better. How much better? We will never know.

How much practice do we want to see? Do we really care if the drivers get one hour of practice or two? Last year, I believe it was Will Power who was asked if he liked the doubleheader format last year and he said something along the line of yes and that fans don't pay to watch practice, they pay to watch races. If the drivers got one hour of practice, followed by qualifying and then the race, would we really care? I think the non-Triple Crown oval races should just be one-day shows. At Texas there could be practice at 5:30 p.m. local time, qualifying could be at 6:45 p.m. and the race could go green at 7:50 p.m. They could practice at Milwaukee at 9:00 a.m. local, have the Indy Lights race at 10:15 a.m., qualify at 11:30 a.m. and start the race by 1:15 p.m. Iowa could be spread out a little more because Pro Mazda and Indy Lights are also on the bill so IndyCar practice could be at 2:00 p.m. local with qualifying at 5:00 p.m. and the race starting at 7:50 p.m.

Forget the what-ifs. It might rain and throw a monkey wrench in the entire schedule but it doesn't have to ruin the day. If it rains, just worry about getting the races in because they are what matter. Some don't like the one-day format because the pole-sitter can't be promoted. To be honest, it's irrelevant to an extent. How many more people are going to turn because they find out Tony Kanaan is on pole or Josef Newgarden is on pole or Marco Andretti is on pole? The people who are going to go to the race are going regardless of who is on pole. Have anyone ever honestly said they aren't going to a race because a certain driver is on pole? That's like a Chicago Blackhawks fan saying they aren't going to a game because Scott Darling is starting between the pipes instead of Corey Crawford. No one does that.

If anything, the one-day show allows for the series to promote drivers in a new light. If anything, IndyCar needs to get the drivers away from the track to draw fans. Instead of having a day of practice and qualifying the day before the race, have the drivers get out. If anything, have a big party the night before race day with all the drivers attending and allow people to rub elbows with them and just hang out and get to know who they are. Rent out a bowling alley the night before a race and have a big party. Throw a street party. Do something different to let people know the race is in town and if people have a great time hanging out the Friday night before Texas or Iowa or the Saturday night before Milwaukee, then perhaps they will keep the party going the next day at the race. And that should be done for all the ovals, not just the non-Triple Crown races.

The one-day show isn't a bad idea but it will require a different outlook of the weekend. Instead of relying on qualifying to draw people out, engage the fans in local communities. I have been harking on IndyCar and IndyCar races not to rely on their fans to become Deadheads and have 10,000 people travel to every race. There are a lot of people in markets such as Milwaukee and Dallas-Fort Worth and Pocono, which is between New York and Philadelphia and has the entire state of New Jersey as it's neighbor. Engage the people and they may engage you. It's not bulletproof but it just might work.

Winners From the Weekend
You know about Sébastien Bourdais but did you know...

Marc Márquez finally got back to the top step of the podium as he won the MotoGP German Grand Prix.

Kyle Busch was his second NASCAR Sprint Cup race of 2015 as he took the victory at Kentucky.

Marco Wittmann and António Félix da Costa split the DTM races from Zandvoort. It was da Costa's first career victory in the series.

Mark Winterbottom swept the V8 Supercar races from Townsville.

Jordan and Ricky Taylor won the IMSA race at Mosport in the #10 Corvette DP. The #54 CORE Autosport Oreca of Jon Bennett and Colin Braun won in Prototype Challenge. The #911 Porsche 911 RSR of Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet won in GTLM.

The #38 Jota Sport Gibson-Nissan of Harry Tincknell, Filipe Albuquerque and Simon Dolan won the ELMS race from the Red Bull Ring. The #60 Formula Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Mikkel Mac, Johnny Laursen and Andrea Rizzoli won in GTE. The #62 AF Corse Ferrari of Stuart Hall, Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr won in GTC. The #3 Team LNT Ginetta-Nissan of Chris Hoy and Charlie Robertson won in LMP3.

José María López and Ma Qing Hua split the WTCC races from Portugal.

Belgian Xavier Siméon scored his first career Moto2 victory at the Sachsenring. Danny Kent scored his fifth victory of the Moto 3 season and extended his championship lead.

Félix Serrallés won his first career Indy Lights race at Milwaukee.

Brad Keselowski won the NASCAR Grand National Series race from Kentucky. Matt Crafton won the Truck race on Thursday.

Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar will be under the lights at Iowa.
World Superbike comes stateside and the British Empire looks to avenge the Revolutionary War at Laguna Seca.
NASCAR is at Loudon.
Super Formula returns to competition at Fuji.

Friday Four: Abu Dhabi and Putrajaya

Open-wheel is the theme of the weekend as three series put on a bow on their 2014 seasons under the lights in the desert while another series heads to their second round of the season on the streets of the federal administrative center of Malaysia. At the start of Friday, two champions still needed to be crowned. One has already clinched his crown but before we get to the coronation ceremony, we start with the World Drivers' Championship preview.

Formula One

It is Mercedes vs. Mercedes at the Formula One season finale from the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Lewis Hamilton enters with a 17-point lead over his teammate Nico Rosberg. The German took seven points out of Hamilton's lead by winning the Brazilian Grand Prix a fortnight ago. It was his fifth victory of the season. 

Hamilton has won ten races this season, including five of the last six. The Brit has held the points lead ever since winning the Singapore Grand Prix while Rosberg retired due to electrical issues. Hamilton has 15 podiums this season and every race he has been running at the finish has ended on the podium. He has retired from three races this season (Australia, Canada, Belgium).

Rosberg has half the amount of victories as Hamilton but just as many podiums. Rosberg's lone finish off the podium was a fourth at Hungary while his only other retirement beside Singapore was at Silverstone because of a gearbox failure. Rosberg has ten pole positions, the most in Formula One this season but only three of his victories have come from pole position. Hamilton has won from six of his seven poles with the lone exception being the season opener from Australia were the Brit retired.

Hamilton won the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and has finishes of second and seventh at Yas Marina. He has retired from twice in five Abu Dhabi Grands Prix including retiring from pole position in the inaugural running of the race in 2009. Rosberg has never won at Yas Marina but scored his first podium at the track last year with a third place finish. He also has finishes of fourth, sixth and ninth to his name with his lone retirement coming in the 2012 race. Rosberg has never started on the front row at Yas Marina with his best starting being coming last year when he started third.

This year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is worth double points with a victory paying 50 points, second paying 36 points and third paying 30 points The remaining positions will pay as follows: 24-20-16-12-8-4-2. 

Hear are clinch scenarios:

If Nico Rosberg wins at Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton needs to finish second to clinch the world title. If Rosberg finishes second, Hamilton needs to finish fifth. 

If Rosberg finishes third, Hamilton needs to finish sixth.

If Rosberg finishes fourth, Hamilton needs to finish eighth.

If Rosberg finishes fifth, Hamilton needs to finish ninth.

Rosberg can not win the world title if he finishes outside the top five.

NBCSN's Will Buxton has written two excellent pieces on each of the championship contenders, Hamilton and Rosberg, that I highly recommend.

Hamilton was fastest in FP1 with a lap of 1:43.476 seconds, 0.133 second over Rosberg in second. Fernando Alonso was third, 1.708 seconds back of Hamilton in what appears to be the Spaniards final race for Ferrari. In fourth was Sebastian Vettel, who will be making his final start for Red Bull at Abu Dhabi. The German signed a three-year deal with Ferrari starting next season. He was 1.858 seconds back with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo rounding out the top five, trailing the lead Mercedes by 1.885 seconds.

Jean-Éric Vergne was sixth with his Toro Rosso teammate Daniil Kvyat in seventh. The Frenchman was 2.242 seconds back and 0.117 seconds ahead of his teammate and future Red Bull driver. Valtteri Bottas just under 2.5 seconds back in eight. The Force Indias of Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg rounded out the top ten with 2.554 seconds covering the top ten cars.

Kevin Magnussen was 11th followed by Kimi Räikkönen. Felipe Massa was 3.073 seconds back in 13th. Esteban Gutiérrez was 0.007 seconds back of Massa with Pastor Maldonado rounding out the top fifteen. European Formula Three champion, Frenchman Esteban Ocon got the FP1 drive for Lotus in place of Romain Grosjean and was 16th, 0.355 seconds back of Maldonado.

Jenson Button was 3.759 seconds back of Hamilton but ran 8 laps. Only Felipe Massa ran fewer laps in the session. Caterham has made it to Abu Dhabi and Kamui Kobayashi was 18th, 4.495 seconds back. Adrian Sutil was 19th, 4.792 seconds back. Will Stevens will make his Formula One debut this weekend in the second Caterham. He rounded out first practice in 20th. 

GP2

The 2014 GP2 championship was clinched at Sochi by Jolyon Palmer. The British driver has won four of twenty races and finished on the podium on 11 occasions for DAMS. Palmer is 56 points clear of Carlin driver, future Sauber F1 driver and current Williams F1 test driver Felipe Nasr. The Brazilian also has four victories but has nine podiums and finished outside the points three times while Palmer has finished outside the points only once and has been at the running of every race this season. 

Eight points behind Nasr is ART Grand Prix and McLaren test driver Stoffel Vandoorne. The Belgian has three wins but has finished outside the points eight times. RT Russian Time's Mitch Evans is fourth in the championship with Trident's Johnny Cecotto, Jr. rounding out the top five. Racing Engineering's Stefano Coletti is thirteen points back of the Venezuelan with Campos Racing's Arthur Pic five points behind Coletti. Coletti's teammate Raffaele Marciello is eighth, four points ahead of Julián Leal of Carlin and Stéphane Richelmi of DAMS nine points behind Marciello and rounding out the top ten. 

Conor Daly returns for Venezuela GP Lazarus in the season finale. Daly missed the last two rounds at Monza and Sochi. His lone points came at Hungary when he finished seventh in the sprint race. 

Alexander Rossi and James Calado won last year's GP2 round at Yas Marina. 

GP3

Alex Lynn has clinched the 2014 GP3 championship and we have yet to start race one. The Carlin driver clinched the title as second in the championship, Dean Stoneman failed to get pole position. Stoneman needed to score maximum points to have a shot at the title. Stoneman started at Marussia Manor Racing but after the team failed to make it to Sochi, Stoneman moved to Koiranen GP. Stoneman has won four races to Lynn's three. 

ART Grand Prix driver German Marvin Kirchhöfer is third in the championship and won pole position for the first race from Abu Dhabi. He entered a point behind Stoneman in the championship but jumps the Brit as pole position pays four points. Swede Jimmy Eriksson is fourth, 11 points behind his Koiranen GP teammate Stoneman. Richie Stanaway rounds out the top five driving for Status Grand Prix.

Sixth through ninth in the championship are all British drivers. Lynn's teammate Emil Bernstorff is sixth with 112 points. Four points back is Status GP's Nick Yelloly. ART's Dino Zamparelli has 101 points and sits eighth with Arden driver Jann Mardenborough in ninth. Following the four Brits are three Swiss drivers with Mardenborough's teammate Patric Niederhauser rounding out the top ten followed by ART's Alex Fontana and Jenzer Motorsport's Mathéo Tuscher.

Last year, Daniil Kvyat and Tio Ellinas won at Abu Dhabi.

Formula E

After 70 days off, Formula E returns for their second round in Putrajaya, Malaysia. After a thrilling finish at the premiere race in Beijing, China, Lucas di Grassi leads the championship after taking a surprise victory. Di Grassi was the benefactor of a final corner collision between Nicolas Prost and Nick Heidfeld as the Brazilian slid by to make history as he gave Audi Sport ABT the victory. Andretti Autosport's Franck Montagny finished second with Virgin Racing's Sam Bird coming home third. 

Charlie Pic finished fourth with Mahindra Racing's Karun Chandok rounding out the top five. Dragon Racing's Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Oriol Servià finished sixth and seventh. China Racing's Nelson Piquet, Jr. came home in eighth with Venturi Grand Prix's Stéphane Sarrazin in ninth and Daniel Abt in tenth. Abt had finished third but was penalized 57 seconds for exceeding allowed battery usage limit of 28kW. 

Despite the final corner collision, Nicolas Prost is ninth in the championship because three points are awarded for pole position. Takuma Sato also finished outside the points but is tied for tenth with Sarrazin because the driver who scores the fastest lap gets two points. Sato will not be at Putrajaya as António Félix da Costa will run for Super Aguri. Da Costa was announced as Aguri's full-time driver but had to miss Beijing due to his DTM commitments. 

Other than the addition of da Costa, the only other driver change will occur at Andretti Autosport as Charles Pic will be replaced by American Matthew Brabham. The 20-year old ran Indy Lights in 2014 and won one race on the IMS road course. Katherine Legge will be da Costa's teammate at Super Aguri. Jaime Alguersuari runs his second race in three years for Virgin. Ho-Pin Tung will drive for China Racing despite it initially being announced Corvette factory driver Antonio García was going to replace him. Tung was going to have Asian Le Mans Series duty, however, the ALMS round from Thailand was cancelled, allowing Tung to run Putrajaya. 

Sébastien Buemi is fresh off clinching the World Endurance Drivers' Championship at Bahrain for Toyota and he will be looking for his first points in Malaysia. The e.dams driver failed to score points in three Formula One starts and two GP2 starts in Malaysia however that was on the Sepang International Circuit. Bruno Senna's day ended after two corners at Beijing. He is looking to complete his first lap in Formula E competition as is Jarno Trulli who failed to get off the grid. Trulli's teammate Michele Cerutti finished a lap down at Beijing. Trulli GP is the only team yet to score in Formula E.

Coverage
NBCSN will broadcast the final round of the 2014 Formula One season with pre-race beginning at 7:00 a.m. ET and the race at 8:00 a.m. ET Sunday.

Fox Sports 2 will show the Formula E Putrajaya ePrix live at 1:00 a.m. ET Saturday. Fox Sports 1 will rebroadcast the race at 4:00 a.m. ET. The race will be broadcast on Fox after NFL games this weekend. Check local listing for when the your local Fox affiliate will be airing the race.

Over/Unders

1. Over or Under: 14.5 cars finishing on the lead lap in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?

2. Over or Under: 0.5 points scored by Conor Daly this weekend?

3. Over or Under: 3.5 podiums for British drivers in GP3?

4. Over or Under: 62.75 MPH average speed of the Putrajaya race? Beijing was 61.2 MPH.

Last Week's Over/Unders

1. Under: Zero cautions involved a Chase driver at Homestead.

2. Under: There were zero green-white-checker attempts in the Truck race.

3. Under: One Lexus RC F finished in the top five at Motegi.

4. Under: There were no red flags during he WTCC weekend at Macau.

5. Over: Four Fords were in the points in Wales Rally GB.

Last Week's Over/Unders from Thursday

1. Under: Seven nationalities were represented across the four class winners at Bahrain.

2. Over: Volvo and Holden each won at Phillip Island.

3. Under: Eight drivers are eligible for the Stock Car Brasil title entering their season finale.

Predictions

1. Lewis Hamilton wins his second world championship.

2. Jolyon Palmer and/or Stefano Coletti score a fastest lap at Abu Dhabi.

3. Someone gets their first victory of the GP3 season in the season finale. 

4. We see some rain in the Formula E race.

Last Week's Predictions

1. Ryan Newman wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship (Wrong).

2. Matt Crafton wins the Truck series title (Correct). 

3. James Rossiter holds on to take the GT500 title (Wrong).

4. Sébastien Loeb gets at least one podium at Macau (Wrong).

5. Andreas Mikkelsen will finish ahead of one of his Volkswagen teammates in Wales Rally GB (Wrong as Mikkelsen retired).

Last Week's Predictions from Thursday

1. There will be a new LMP2 championship leader after Bahrain (Correct).

2. Jamie Whincup clinches the title at Phillip Island (Correct).

3. Cacá Bueno gets his first victory of the season at Salvador (Wrong).

Overall: 3/8. Running Tally: 28.5/53