It was a feast for motorsport fans over the last weekend. The 17th round of the 2018 Formula One, Japanese Grand Prix, was held at Suzuka International Racing Course on Sunday while for the MotoGP fans, it was the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix at the Buriram circuit. For Rallying aficionados, the 11th round of World Rally Championship (WRC) was a thrilling experience at Wales Rally GB.
Let's us dive deep to know what happened at F1 Japanese Grand Prix, MotoGP Thailand GP and WRC Wales Rally GB.
Formula One - 2018 Japanese Grand Prix
It was the day of British driver Lewis Hamilton as he crossed the chequered flag at Suzuka after starting from pole position. The Mercedes driver had a race without any pressure from the rivals and is now 67 points clear of championship rival Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) who finished the race at sixth after starting the race at P9.
It was Hamilton's 71st career victory and his 50th for Mercedes. It is also Hamilton's fifth victory in Japan and his fourth at the Suzuka circuit. Valtteri Bottas backed up his teammate to make it a Mercedes one-two, while Max Verstappen (Red Bull) survived the Vettel contact in the initial part of the race and another from Kimi Raikkonen to complete the podium.
Verstappen's Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo had a spectacular race climbing to fourth after the starting the race from P15 on the grid, ahead of Ferrari duo Raikkonen and Vettel. Sergio Perez and teammate Esteban Ocon claimed P7 and P9 respectively for Force India sandwiching Romain Grosjean of Haas at eighth. Renault's Carlos Sainz completed the top 10.
MotoGP - 2018 Thailand Grand Prix
The first ever PTT Thailand Grand Prix saw Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) emerge victorious to take another giant leap towards the 2018 MotoGP World Championship crown. The battle for the top spot in Buriram was intense and the Spaniard overtook rival-in-chief Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), in the last lap. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Maverick Vinales claimed a valiant comeback podium ahead of his teammate Valentino Rossi.
The nine-time world champion Rossi, who struggled with tyre life - a major factor in the soaring Thailand temperatures, ended P4 in what was a hugely promising weekend for Yamaha, with fellow M1 and leading independent team rider Zarco getting the better of Rins at P5 and P6, respectively.
The seventh win of the season draws Marquez level with Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) on 68 Grand Prix wins. It also gives the 25-year-old rider a magnificent chance to wrap the title race at Honda's home round at Motegi, Japan on October 21.
WRC- 2018 Wales Rally GB
With just two rallies left in this season, it was critical for reigning WRC world champion Sebastien Ogier (M-Sport) to win the Wales Rally on Sunday and the French driver did it in style. He secured his fifth victory of the season following a gripping final leg duel through the north Wales forests with Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota Gazoo).
Ogier's title hopes were hanging on Friday morning when a broken gearbox plunged the Ford Fiesta driver to eighth, but he charged up the leaderboard after his rivals also encountered their own problems. Win at Wales and three bonus points from the live TV Power Stage moved the Frenchman to within seven points of series leader Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).
Behind Ogier and Latvala, Esapekka Lappi secured the final podium place in another Toyota Yaris, a further 24.5sec behind. The 2-3 finish of Toyota drivers helped the team to extend the lead in the manufacturers' championship to 20 points over Hyundai Shell Mobis.
