Which major international category have you enjoyed most during the 2016 season to date?
That’s the question for this week’s Pirtek Poll following a busy start to the motorsport year.
Read through a snapshot of each category’s season before casting your vote on the poll below.
Formula 1
Mercedes is again the dominant team, but there’s still plenty of intrigue in the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship battle.
Team-mates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are locked in an intense title fight that included a controversial clash in the Spanish Grand Prix.
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Red Bull and Ferrari have meanwhile shown that, on their day, they also have the potential to win.
Eighteen-year-old Max Verstappen did just that in Spain, becoming the season’s third different winner and the youngest of all time.
MotoGP
The MotoGP world title is also perfectly poised after seven races, with less than a race win separating Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.
Motorcycle racing’s brilliant trio have shared the wins between them to date; the old master coming out on top of his younger rivals on two occasions.
The races themselves have been a mix of thrillers and walkovers, with Mugello and Catalunya the clear highlights.
IndyCar
Simon Pagenaud may be the runaway points leader, but with six different winners from eight races, it’s been anything but a dull start to the IndyCar season.
Pagenaud’s lead was set up by three consecutive wins on the road courses at Long Beach, Alabama and Indianapolis before a tough day at the Indy 500 brought hope for his rivals.
The 500 provided a rookie American winner in Alexander Rossi, who celebrated in front of a capacity crowd for the event’s much hyped 100th running.
NASCAR
Like IndyCar, America’s top stock car division has provided plenty of variety during the year to date, with 10 winners from the first 15 races.
As usual, tight finishes and controversy have peppered the season, most notably at the category’s showcase Daytona 500.
Denny Hamlin took the spoils at the season opener after making last corner contact with team-mate Matt Kenseth and subsequently fending off Martin Truex in the race’s closest ever finish.
WRC
On paper, three-time reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier is dominating the WRC season, with his current tally of 132 points doubling that of his nearest rival.
The Frenchman has far from had it all his own way, however, with five different winners from the first six rallies.
Others to taste success have been Ogier’s VV team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, Hayden Paddon (Hyundai), Kris Meeke (Citroen) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).
WEC
Honours are split between Porsche and Audi after the opening two rounds of the World Endurance Championship, providing a tasty equation heading into this weekend’s showpiece at Le Mans.
The latter made the most of technical troubles for Porsche at Spa, scoring a surprise victory with its line-up of Oliver Jarvis/Lucas di Grassi/Loic Duval.
It’s been a disaster for Porsche’s reigning champions Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley, who through a crash and car issues have scored only 1.5 points.
World Rallycross
DTM star Mattias Ekstrom is providing two-time reigning champion Petter Solberg some stiff competition in this year’s World Rallycross Championship.
The Swede leads Solberg in the standings by just five points after five rounds after winning three on the bounce in Germany, Belgium and Great Britain.
Rallycross has continued its reemergence as a world class motorsport act, with strong fields of spectacular machinery from Audi, Citroen, Ford, Mini, Peugeot, Seat and VW.
WTCC
Citroen remains the dominant force in the WTCC this season, with two-time reigning champion Jose Maria Lopez blitzing the field.
Lopez has won six from 12 races and holds a whopping 105 point lead over fellow Citroen driver Mehdi Bennani.
Drivers from Honda, Chevrolet and Lada have however also won races, with a total of seven drivers sharing the spoils.
Blancpain Endurance Series
Packed grids of exotic GT3 cars and a diverse range of factory stars and amateurs has again made the Blancpain Endurance Series one to watch in 2016.
Just two races have been held to date, with the Shane van Gisbergen-led Garage 59 McLaren and HTP Motorsport’s #84 Mercedes sharing the spoils.
Seven manufacturers are represented in the top seven in the current points standings, with Mercedes and McLaren leading the top entries from Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, BMW and Nissan.
Which major international category have you enjoyed most during the 2016 season to date?
Cast your vote on this weekend’s Pirtek Poll.
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