British Formula 4
Oscar Piastri proved the class of the field in Round 6 of the British Formula 4 Championship at Snetterton, taking two race wins from two pole positions.
The 16-year-old Australian blitzed practice and then set the two fastest laps in qualifying, earning pole for Races 1 and 3.
He won both in lights-to-flag fashion, the first an easy victory but the second far more challenging when Piastri (TRS Arden) had to deal with intense pressure from Logan Sargeant (Carlin).
“I had to work so hard for that win,” said Piastri.
“Logan kept me on my toes the whole time. I picked up my pace, but Logan was able to keep up with me so I’m glad to have held on to that win.
“With Caroline finishing seventh I’ve managed to make up ground on him in the championship, so hopefully we can continue that at Knockhill and get even more wins.”
Jamie Caroline (Carlin) won the reverse grid race in which Piastri finished seventh, his climb hampered by a Safety Car period.
Caroline leads the championship by 238 points to second-placed Piastri’s 170.5, with Round 7 of 10 at Knockhill on August 12-13.
Pro Mazda Championship
Perth native Anthony Martin is back in the lead of the Pro Mazda Championship having won two of the three races at Mid-Ohio.
Martin (Cape Motorsports) won Race 1 on the Friday after quickly passing pole-sitter Carlos Cunha (Team Pelfrey) and held out then-championship leader Victor Franzoni (Juncos Racing) for the rest of the 22-lap race.
Martin lead for the first 22 laps of Race 2 before being baulked by Franzoni’s team-mate Jeff Green, who he was trying to lap, and losing the lead to Franzoni.
Green and Martin then made contact, which saw the former spin and cause a Caution, but Franzoni survived the restart to beat Martin home.
Martin hit back on the Sunday, blazing to a near-14-second win.
Franzoni finished second, with Cunha in his mirrors the whole way.
There are just three races left this season, the next at Gateway Motorsports Park on August 25-26.
Indy Lights
Kyle Kaiser still has a strong hold on the Indy Lights series with just two races remaining, despite a poor weekend at Mid-Ohio.
Santi Urrutia (Belardi Auto Racing) took an all-the-way win in Race 1, despite Colton Herta (Andretti Steinbrenner Racing) running close behind for the most part.
Kaiser (Juncos Racing) finished only 12th, one position behind fellow title aspirant Matheus Leist (Carlin Racing).
Herta led early in Race 2 but threw it away when he spun on his own on Lap 3, with Nico Jamin (Andretti Autosport) taking over top spot and not letting it go.
Kaiser finished 12th again after he attempted a move on Juan Piedrahita (Team Pelfrey) on Lap 13 which only caused both to spin.
Urrutia finished second and Herta salvaged sixth to tie them up in the series, 42 points behind Kaiser.
The second-last race of the season takes place at Gateway Motorsports Park on August 25-26.
USF2000 Championship
Oliver Askew holds a slightly reduced USF2000 championship lead with just a race remaining after a win and a points penalty at Mid-Ohio.
The Cape Motorsports driver led every lap from pole position in Race 1 but copped a 10-point penalty for jumping the start.
Parker Thompson did likewise in Race 2, save for the start, while Askew finished fourth.
Rinus VeeKay finished third and second across the two races to trail Askew by 13 points with a race remaining at Watkins Glen on September 1-3.
A win is worth 30 points, with a bonus point for each of pole position, most laps led and fastest race lap.
European Formula 3
Lando Norris had a weekend of fluctuating fortunes at Spa with two race wins book-ending a Lap 1 DNF in Round 6 of the championship.
Norris led all the way in Race 1 but a coming-together with Guanyu Zhou at the end of the Kemmel Straight brought an early end to his second race.
The Brit was handed a three-position grid penalty for Race 3 but still won from fourth on the grid, closing the gap to Maximilian Günther at the top of the table.
Günther was third in each of the first two races but crashed out of the third.
Ferdinand Habsburg won Race 2.
Australian Joey Mawson picked up three points finishes of fifth, 10th, and 10th, to run 13th in the championship.
Round 7 is at Zandvoort on August 19-20.
Formula 2
Oliver Rowland has taken a first ever Formula 2 Feature Race win despite facing a post-race inquiry into a heavy crash for Artem Markelov, who had been challenging for the lead in Hungary.
Markelov had been applying pressure to Rowland in the latter stages when he used DRS to try and make a move up the main straight.
However, Rowland moved over to protect the position and Markelov took to the grass, losing control and spearing off backwards into the wall at Turn 1.
Rowland was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing and kept the victory, while championship leader Charles Leclerc salvaged fourth, the fastest qualifier having been sent to the rear of grid for use of an illegal part.
In the Sprint Race, Nobuharu Matsushita made an excellent start from fourth on the grid to skip into the lead and was not headed thereafter.
Leclerc still holds a significant lead in the title race, which resumes at Spa on August 25-27.
GP3 Series
Jack Aitken and Giuliano Alesi have scored race wins in a dramatic weekend in the championship context at the Hungaroring.
Aitken scored victory in lights-to-flag fashion in Race 1, while championship leader George Russell didn’t make it past the warm up lap due to mechanical problems.
Giuliano Alesi won Race 2 from the third on the grid after the top two opened up a hole when they battled at the first corner.
While Alesi won, moving up to fifth in the standings, three big contenders failed to score points.
Nirei Fukuzumi lasted only a lap after being spun by Leonardo Pulcini at Turn 3, while Aitken also failed to finish after picking up a puncture.
Russell scored no points for the second day in a row as he needed a wing change.
However, the Brit still leads as the field heads to Spa for Round 5 on August 25-27.
Pirelli World Challenge
Alvaro Parente was almost untouchable as he won both Rounds 6 and 7 of GT class in the Pirelli World Challenge at Mid-Ohio.
The Portuguese behind the wheel of the #9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S qualified on pole and gapped the field before and after a Lap 26 Caution period to win by 6.8s in the 50-minute Round 6 race, which spanned 36 laps.
Cadillac Racing team-mates Michael Cooper and Johnny O’Connell finished second and third in their Cadillac ATS-V.Rs.
Patrick Long earned pole for Round 7 in his #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, but led for barely a lap before Parente found a way past at Turn 1.
Parente went on to win by 6.6s from Long and Alec Udell (GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R).
GT-X headlines the next race meeting at Utah Motorsports Campus on August 11-13.
British Touring Car Championship
Ashley Sutton took two victories before Gordon Shedden won the final race of the weekend in British Touring Cars at Snetterton.
In Race 1, Colin Turkington (BMW 125i) won the start but he spun and handed the lead to pole-sitter Hack Goff (Honda Civic), who would fade at the end and give Sutton (Subaru Levorg) the opportunity to pass.
Sutton staved off an early challenge in Race 2 to build a lead which peaked around six seconds, before easing to victory.
Shedden won Race 3 when long time race leader Andrew Jordan’s BMW 125i began to slow, and leaves Snetterton with a two-point championship lead over Colin Turkington (BMW 125i).
The seventh event of the season will be held at Knockhill on August 12-13.
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