Kumho TCR World Tour

Ben Bargwanna has enjoyed a memorable international debut, finishing the inaugural Kumho TCR World Tour round with a TCR Europe Rookie Trophy.
 
Taking place at the famous Algarve International Circuit in Portugal, the TCR World Tour was running in conjunction with the TCR Europe Series, with Bargwanna entered in both.
 
In the historic opening race on Saturday, the Victorian started in 19th and guided the Burson Auto Parts Peugeot 308 TCR up two places to finish a solid 17th and ninth in TCR Europe.
 
Starting from the same position in race two, Bargwanna’s overall efforts in the drama-laden second race saw him avoid plenty of incidents to charge up the field and finish 13th overall.
 
He was then promoted to P12 after a post-race penalty was handed to Spaniard Felipe Fernandez for contact earlier in the race.
 
Finishing fourth in TCR Europe, Bargwanna also sealed the rookie win ahead of Brit Isaac Smith and Viktor Andersson.
 
Bargwanna leaves Portugal with four points and in 15th place on the Kumho TCR World Tour standings alongside Serbian Dušan Borković, while he sits sixth on the TCR Europe standings having cross-entered the event.
 
The next round of the Kumho TCR World Tour will be at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 26-28 May.

NTT IndyCar Series

It was double delight for Australian racing fans in the Childrens of Alabama Indy Grand Prix over the weekend as Will Power and three-time Supercars champion Scott Mclaughlin shared the podium.  

McLaughlin made the most of a perfectly timed safety-car intervention to work his way up from sixth on the grid to fighting for the race win against Romain Grosjean.  

After pitting lap 38, the Kiwi found himself with the upper hand over the Frenchman as he opted to stay out on older tyres, ultimately giving him the advantage in the next round of pitstops which saw McLaughlin come out in the lead.  

After a back-and-forth battle for the lead, a mistake from Grosjean saw McLaughlin make the final pass with 17 laps to go and hold on for his first IndyCar win of 2023.  

The win now sees him fourth in the overall standings and just 11 points off the current leader and former Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson. 

After qualifying in 11th, Power also uses pitstops to his advantage and worked his way up the grid and in podium contention late in the race. 

Unlike McLaughlin though, the Queenslander was unable to pass Grosjean and had to settle for third place – however it was still a positive as it was his first podium for the 2023 season. 

The result tops off a great race for the Australian, who now sits in seventh place in the overall standings. 

A two-week break awaits until the next round of the NTT IndyCar Series makes its way to famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway on 12-13 May.   

Rali Terras d'Aboboreira

Aussies Max McRae and Dale Moscatt were both in action during the weekend’s Rali Terras d'Aboboreira with both enjoying a solid run in Portugal.
 
Moscatt finished higher up the standings in the challenging nine-stage rally as the New South Welshman called the notes for Saudi Arabian Al-Rashed Rakan, who guided his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 to ninth overall.
 
The duo got better as the rally went on, posting the 17th and 16th fastest times on the opening three stages, before improving to the 13th and 12th fastest times during stages four to six.
 
Their final three stages saw them go 11th fastest on SS7 before ending the event with a pair of P9 finishes on both passes of the Amarante Natureza Encantada finale – sealing their top 10 finish.


 
McRae on the other hand, finished the event in 68th as he prepares for his maiden Junior European Rally Championship campaign, which begins later this month.
 
The West Australian actually fared well in almost every stage having picked up top 30 finishes in all but two of the stages, however a penalty on the opening stage for an early check in saw him and regular Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship co-driver Mac Kierans tumble down the order.
 
Despite the disappointing result, it was still a success for the teenager, who will start his 2023 Junior European Rally Championship season in Poland on 20-21 May.
 
Moscatt’s next event will be the Vodafone Rally de Portugal on 11-14 May.

Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland 

Harri Jones had a promising start to his 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland campaign over the weekend with a pair of seventh place finishes at the world-famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. 

After starting the weekend off on a high by qualifying in sixth for race one and fourth for race two, the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia winner fought hard for seventh place and first overall in the Rookie Class after some post-race penalties were handed out.  

Starting the second race from the second row, wet conditions saw close battles throughout but ultimately ended in the Australian falling to seventh place overall and second in the rookie class.  

Despite losing a couple of places, it showed promising signs for the young Australian driver who was increasingly happy with the car and is confident the results will come throughout the year.  

The next round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season will take place at the Hockenheimring in Germany on 9-11 June.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

Jack Doohan had a weekend to forget as the FIA Formula 2 Championship featured in Bake as part of the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.  

After qualifying in a disappointing 16th place, the Alpine Reserve Driver was unable to reap any benefits from the flipped grid format – forcing him to work his way up the grid for both the sprint and feature race of the weekend.  

Doohan was able to work his way up to as high as 11th before falling victim to an 18th lap pile up which saw six drivers have their race cut short.  

Unfortunately, the results didn’t get any better from there on out as a fairly clean feature race saw the Australian unable to move his way up the grid, finishing the race in 15th. 

Meanwhile, British driver Oliver Bearman became the first driver in Formula 2 history to win every session in a race weekend.  

The result now means that Doohan falls to 13th in the standings, only picking up a total of four points across his last two race weekends.  

The next round of the 2023 Formula 2 season will take place in Imola on 19-21 May.