Get ready to say goodbye to your barbeques and Hawaiian shorts for another year because autumn is on its way, but to help you get over the post-summer blues, here at the High Speed Television Channel we’ve prepared a cracking weekend packed with action from all corners of the globe.
We start with the pinnacle of endurance racing as the FIA World Endurance Championship heads to Mexico for the first time. At almost 2,230 metres above sea level, the thin air at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez could wreak havoc with cooling systems and is due to be as stern a test for the engineers as for the drivers. Porsche were victorious last time out at the Nürburgring, but all bets are off for this newest round on the calendar. Can Audi and Toyota steal a march on their rivals?
A little closer to home, there’s yet more live endurance racing coming your way from sunny Spain and the 24H Barcelona, which boasts a whopping 65-car grid. No matter whether it’s the latest GT3 machinery from Audi, Mercedes, Lamborghini or Porsche competing for outright honours, or the Ginetta GT4, Seat TCR and plucky 1600cc A2 class Renault Clio Cup, the challenge of surviving the full 24 hours is the same for everybody. Who will come out on top?
The FIM MXGP season may be nearing its conclusion, but there will be no letting up in the action at Charlotte, North Carolina. The last few rounds have been nothing if not unpredictable, with Briton’s Shaun Simpson taking a first win in 12 months last time out in Holland and Clement Desalle becoming the fourth different round winner in as many events. Championship leader Tim Gajser suffered his worst weekend of the season in Assen, so will be eager to prove that it was a one-off by sealing the crown in his rookie year.
Jeffrey Herlings will be coming to join them in MXGP next year, but first has the task of wrapping up the MX2 title to attend to. Herlings returned from missing three rounds through injury to score a popular home victory in Assen and will be hoping that there are no more bumps in the road ahead.
Next it’s a trip across the Pacific to Motegi, for the fourth round of Japan’s Super Formula championship. Joao Paolo de Oliviera turned his season around with a victory last time out at Fuji and the 2010 champion will be hoping to continue his momentum at the circuit where he made his one and only IndyCar start in 2012, but will face stiff competition from defending champion Hiroaki Ishiura and McLaren F1 reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne.
As the final round before the all-important endurance season kicks off in earnest, round nine of the Supercars championship from Sydney Motorsports Park would be a priceless opportunity to stake a claim in the title battle. All the usual suspects from Red Bull Racing Australia and Ford Performance Racing would be on the pulse as ever, but how would Walkinshaw Racing respond to the recent news that they would be losing Holden’s factory support?
To finish, there’s highlights from the new-for-2016 GT3 Le Mans Cup at Paul Ricard, as well as a replay of last week’s European Truck Racing Championship action from the Hungaroring, plus all the VAG Trophy antics from Oulton Park.
Saturday 3rd September10:00 – GT3 Le Mans Cup, Rd 4, Paul Ricard11:35 – LIVE 24H SERIES, Rd 6, Barcelona19:15 – LIVE Mexico 6 Hours, Rd 5, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez01:45 – LIVE 24H SERIES, Rd 6, Barcelona
Sunday 4th September06:00 – LIVE 24H SERIES, Rd 6, Barcelona12:30 – Delayed-as-Live FIM MX2, Rd 17, Charlotte, USA13:30 – Delayed-as-Live FIM MXGP, Rd 17, Charlotte, USA15:30 – Delayed-as-Live FIM MX2, Rd 17, Charlotte, USA16:30 – Delayed-as-Live FIM MXGP, Rd 17, Charlotte, USA20:00 – VAG Trophy, Oulton Park20:30 – Supercars Australia, Rd 9, Sydney22:30 – Super Formula, Rd 4, Motegi00:10 – FIA European Truck Racing Championship, Rd 5, Hungaroring
