No letting up from Hamilton at Spa
THE MOTORSPORT LAP/ The Belgian Grand Prix took place this past weekend after a month’s break of the championship, while local driver sprints to victory in Hungary
It may have been relatively quiet on the motorsport front during the monthlong Formula One break, but now the circus is back in full swing and it was the Belgian leg of the championship this past weekend.
The Spa-Francorchamps circuit, affectionately known as Spa, is one of the favourite races on the calendar as it is a fastflowing circuit where overtaking opportunities are aplenty.
Having qualified on pole position Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-AMG) was on form as he also managed to finish the race in first spot ahead of Sebastien Vettel (Ferrari) and Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Following this past weekend’s results, the championship contention is continuing to heat up with Hamilton trailing Vettel by only seven points with eight races to go. Vettel is on 220 points with Hamilton on 213.
The next race will take place this coming weekend in Monza, Italy and it will be interesting to see how that pans out and which way the championship lead will swing. This year’s season continues to be one of the most exciting yet and it would be great if the championship could go right down to the wire.
It was also the British Moto GP leg at the Silverstone racetrack where Ducati Team rider Andrea Dovizioso romped to victory ahead of Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha) in second and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) in third.
Meanwhile, in the Moto2 class, Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex) claimed victory ahead of Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team Kalex) in second and Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex) in third.
In the Moto 3 category, Aaron Canet (Estrella Glalicia 0,0 Honda) beat home team-mate Enea Bastianini (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda) in second and Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3 Honda) in third.
South African race driver David Perel has clinched the Blancpain GT Sprint AM Championship for Kessel Ferrari with one round to spare after winning at the fourth round of the series in Hungary over the weekend and is now close to taking the overall Blancpain GT AM title. This follows an exceptional year in both the series’ Endurance and Sprint championships, where he scored his most recent success alongside US driver David Earle in Budapest over the weekend.
“We had one aim this weekend and it was simply to finish the first race in order to clinch the Sprint championship,” said Perel. “Our weekend started tough but in the end we managed to do it with a race win.”
Perel is the first South African to win a championship in the world’s most competitive GT3 series, but he is not done yet.
“My aim this year was to win the Endurance Championship, but a last-minute agreement with my team meant I was able compete in the Sprint Cup, which means I am eligible for the overall title as well. Winning the Sprint title is already a huge achievement for me and I am proud to represent SA in such a competitive series. Now my focus switches to winning the overall AM title at the final round of the Sprint Championship at the Nurburgring in three weeks’ time — all I need is one point to take the honours.” said Perel.
WINNING THE SPRINT TITLE IS A HUGE ACHIEVEMENT. I AM PROUD TO REPRESENT SA IN SUCH A COMPETITIVE SERIES