Race Wrap: Monday, May 17
PORTUGESE POWER PLAY
The most famous jump in rallying, at Fafe in Portugal, gets its annual workout this weekend with the return of the World Rally Championship.
The series has become a two-way battle between Hyundai and Toyota, with the Japanese brand on top – for now – with its Yaris WRC and retiring world champion Sebastian Ogier, who is in his final WRC season.
At the same time as Portugal hosts the WRC, Gympie in Queensland will host the Australian Rally Championship and the locally-developed Yaris GR hot hatches that dominated the opening event in Canberra with Harry and Lewis Bates driving.
PERONI MAKES HIS PODIUM
Alex Peroni has made a podium breakthrough at Indianapolis as he pushes his Indy Lights championship switch from Formula 3 in Europe.
He was third in the second of a double-header race weekend in support of the IndyCar series and, after finishing fifth in the first race of the weekend, he now sits fifth on the championship table.
“To get my first series podium here was really special – the facility, the track, it’s awesome. We hoped the first podium would have come earlier but we’ve done it now and hopefully we can keep making progress and get a few more,” said Peroni.
GLICKENHAUS GETS GOING
Transplanted Aussie Ryan Briscoe is preparing for his first Le Mans sports car start of the year.
He will be driving at Portimau in Portugal in early June as part of the Scuderia Glickenhaus effort and has already been testing in Europe with the American outfit.
Briscoe has been to Le Mans six times before but never in an outright contender, and will share one of the two 007 LMH racers with former Porsche driver Romain Dumas and Richard Westbrook.
TOUGH TIME FOR HUNTER AT INDY
Hunter McElrea is sitting in fifth place in the Indy Pro 2000 championship after a tough weekend on the Indianapolis road course.
Engine troubles slowed his efforts and he was back in the pack, now looking forward to the next round on the short oval at Indy.
“Ah man… not the weekend I wanted or expected, very tough pill to swallow with nothing going right this weekend,” said McElrea.
MOTORSPORT RETURN FOR RALLIART
Mitsubishi is about to revive its Ralliart performance brand with the focus on the utes and SUVs that are driving its latest showroom efforts.
With no plans for a return of the classic Lancer Evo, Mitsubishi is most likely to focus its motorsport return on the Dakar and similar off-road events.
The news of a born-again Ralliart came right from the top, with CEO Takao Kato making an announcement at the company’s annual earnings report in Japan.
“We have decided to re-launch the Ralliart brand. For customers who wish to experience our Mitsubishi-ness, we will launch custom-made accessories for our model line-up as well as re-entering motorsport events around the world,” said Kato.
