Taking place at Brainerd International Raceway, the New South Welshman started strong, charging to pole position in qualifying for the second week in a row and breaking the track record in the process.

 

Unfortunately, Car fell behind Argentine Ian Rodriguez and championship leader Kyffin Simpson in the race, however he was able to hold onto a podium place by one and half seconds.

 

The 20-year-old didn’t make the same mistakes on Sunday as he produced the perfect day with two wins from two races.

 

Starting the morning race from P1, the Team Crosslink driver went on to lead every single lap of the race and clock up the fastest lap but faced a heap of pressure from Simpson with less than one second the difference at the conclusion of the race.

 

Car then topped off his weekend with his finest performance of the year, starting race three from the front, leading every lap and posting the fastest lap – only this time he crossed the finish line 15 seconds ahead of the second placed Simpson.

 

A title is unlikely for Car with 49 points separating he and Simpson ahead of the championship’s penultimate round at Virginia International Raceway in Alton on 24-26 September.

 

FIA Formula 2 Championship

Oscar Piastri enters the halfway point of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship season on top of the standings after a productive weekend behind the wheel.

With the championship‘s fourth round of the season running as a support category to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Piastri continued to impress with three top 10 finishes.

 

The weekend started well for the Victorian as he blitzed his way to pole position during Friday’s qualifying session, which saw him start Sunday’s feature race from the front of the 22-car grid.

 

For the first sprint race of the round, the top 10 was reversed, meaning Piastri started from 10th and the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Champion worked his way to P6 with some solid passes and the race’s fastest lap.

 

With Guanyu Zhou retiring, Piastri’s result, along with bonus points for pole position and the fastest lap saw him take the championship lead from his fellow Alpine Academy driver.

 

Piastri then extended his lead after the second sprint race of the weekend with P4 and some more fastest lap bonus points – his overtake on New Zealander Liam Lawson late in the race the standout moment and earning him plenty of plaudits.

 

When it came to the feature race, Piastri was unable to secure the win as he dropped down the field throughout, but made up ground and got himself into third, before having to defend his position from race two winner Richard Verschoor – which he achieved.

 

As a result of Zhou picking up the race win, Piastri now holds a two-point advantage heading into the next round at Monza on 11 September. 

 

Steering an M-Sport prepared Rally3 car alongside British co-driver Seb Marshal, Taylor enjoyed a promising start to her WRC return with two top-40 stage results.

 

Unfortunately, on the fourth stage of the rally, Taylor ran a little wide during a fast section and ended up having a huge crash which saw the car rolling as a result. However, both Taylor and Marshal walked away unharmed.

 

 

“In a fast section on an almost flat corner, I ran a little bit wide, put a wheel in the ditch, which dragged us down even more, and there was a drainage pipe and with the momentum of the car, we were sent into a roll,” Taylor told the WRC.

 

“Seb and I are fine. Absolutely gutted, but we’re okay,”

 

The 33-year-old will return to the championship for the WRC Acropolis Rally Greece, the second event of her three-rally program, on 9-12 September

 

Driving the Dempsey - Proton Racing Porsche 911 alongside former Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia winner Jaxon Evans and German driver Christian Ried, the trio had a tough run throughout the six-hour race.

 

After qualifying in the class around P10, the trio had it all to do throughout the race and they managed to climb up four places by the end of the race, completing a total of 187 laps and falling short of a class win by just over one lap.

 

The FIA World Endurance Championship now turns to the biggest race on the calendar, the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 21 August.