Power closes in on Indycar title

Monday 05 September, 2022
Will Power was just one many Aussies in action over the weekend.

NTT Indycar Series

Aussie Will Power has extended his lead in the NTT IndyCar Series standings with just one round to go after a second-place finish at the Grand Prix of Portland.

It what was a successful outing for Team Penske, Power's teammate and three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin took out his third win for the year after secured pole position.

It was a race largely dominated by McLaughlin, as Power was forced into battle with Patricio O’Ward with 20 laps to go, but was able to defend himself before producing a chase down on the race leader.
 
With limited laps remaining, he was unable to catch the Kiwi, ultimately finishing only just second behind the race winner.
 
With only one race remaining, Power holds a 20-point lead over his other teammate in Josef Newgarden, with a good result next time out could secure the Queenslander's second IndyCar title.

McLaughlin has kept himself in championship contention after his dominant performance of leading for 102 laps saw him move to fifth on the standings.
 
The final round of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series will take place in Monterey on 9-11 September.

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Spanish Formula 4 Championship

Hugh Barter has kept himself in championship contention after winning two out of three races in the Spanish Formula 4.
 
The first race saw Barter come from behind to take the win over rival Nikola Tsolov by just under fourth tenths of a second, while a podium in the second race was a good result for the young Australian who was on track to finish the weekend off with plenty of points in hand.
 
He was then able to convert pole position into a win in the third and final race of the weekend, where he led every lap, while also claiming the fastest lap of the day to top it off.

 
Fellow Aussie Noah Lisle was able to find his way to 12th position at the first race, which ended up being his best result of the weekend.
 
A disappointing 24th place finish in the second race then led to a retirement in the third, after an incident in the first few laps of the race.
 
Barter sits in second place in the driver’s championship, 106 points behind Tsolov with two rounds to go, while Lisle holds 28th position, yet to score any points.
 
The Spanish Formula 4 Championship will now head to the Circuito de Navarra in Los Arcos on 1-2 October.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

Jack Doohan and Calan Williams have both endured difficult weekends at the Dutch grand Prix.
 
Doohan started off the weekend on a good note, as he was able to qualify in second position for the feature race on Sunday, but the same couldn’t be said for Williams as a deleted lap time put him to the back of the grid for both races of the weekend.
 
Williams was able to move up two positions in the sprint race to finish 18th , while Doohan had a steady race and finished in ninth after the top 10 in qualifying was flipped around.
 
The Feature race was an excellent opportunity to make it back-to-back wins for Doohan, as he had an attempt to overtake championship leader Felipe Drugovich for the race lead, however the Australian locked up his front left tyre, forcing him into an early pit stop. 

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Lap 17 was when everything turned for Doohan, as a safety car deployment allowed the provisional race leader in Liam Lawson to slow the pack down before the restart, causing Richard Verschoor to run into the back of Doohan, sending him into the wall of the pit straight. 
 
There were some positives for Williams in the feature race though, as he was able to make up a lot of ground to power his way into P11, a good result for the team who started last on the grid. 
 
The next round of the Formula 2 Championship will be on 9-11 September at the famous Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit.

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GT World Challenge Europe

Jordan Love has had a weekend to forget in Hockenheim, finishing in 47th overall after a DNF in the main race.
 
Love, along with Jannes Fittje and Alain Valente qualified in P10 in the Silver class and P30 overall, setting themselves up for what could have been a good haul of points.
 
Unfortunately, a DNF an hour into the race meant the weekend was over for Love and his teammates in the Haupt Racing Team Mercedes, making it back-to-back weekends of not classifying.
 
The team now sits fifth in the Silver cup standings.
 
The next round of the fanatic GT World Challenge Europe takes place at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo Valencia on 16-18 September.

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Euro Formula Open Championship

Christian Mansell endured a consistent weekend of results in round six of the Euro Formula Open Championship, but was unable to close the gap in the title race.
 
Mansell was able to find his way to third place in the opening race of the weekend, battling hot conditions and rear-tyre troubles late in the race, eventually finding a way to still stand on the podium.
 
The second race didn’t quite go Mansell’s way, despite grabbing the lead of the race - a puncture ultimately ending his hopes of grabbing a win as he ended up fifth.
 
Mansell finished off the weekend with a second-place finish in the final race, making it a double podium for the round.
 
Mansell still sits in second position in the drivers’ standings, sitting 82-points behind the championship leader, Oliver Goethe with three rounds remaining in the season.
 
The next round of the Euro Formula Open Championship takes place at the Red Bull Ring in Australia on 10-11 September.
 
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