Following some wild and loose racing on Finland’s gravel, the FIA World Rally Championship returns to tarmac this weekend for the 35th Rallye Deutschland, with daily highlights on Motorsport.tv to keep you up to date. Held in the Saarland region of western Germany, the route offers a challenging variety of tight vineyard roads and open military training ground tracks lined with unforgiving hinkelsteins that will catch out the unwary – as Petter Solberg famously discovered in 2004. With the scores tied at the top of the standings after Finland, make sure you don’t miss a beat with Motorsport.tv.
Sebastien Ogier has led the points since winning the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally, but the Frenchman endured a torrid Finland that ended after coming off worse in a collision with a tree, which left co-driver Julien Ingrassia concussed. Having won in Germany for the last two years with VW, the reigning champion will be hoping to re-affirm his position at the head of the standings, but will have to be wary of title challenger Thierry Neuville, the Belgian drawing level in the points with a conservative run to sixth in Finland. Hyundai’s top man won in Germany in 2014, but he and Ogier aren't the only two with success in Germnay on their resume. The WRC’s newest winner Esapekka Lappi, whose breakthrough victory for Toyota in Finland came in just his fourth start in a top-spec WRC car, won the WRC2 class in Germany last year and finished an impressive seventh overall in an R5 Skoda, so he too could be one to watch out for. Throw in the high chance of changeable weather, and this rally has the potential to be a cracker.
The third round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in as many weeks sees the series return to Sweden after a year’s hiatus, with LIVE coverage on Motorsport.tv. Jeffrey Herlings’ second round win in succession last time out in Switzerland cemented the KTM riders’ grip on second over Gautier Paulin and Clement Desalle, but another consistent weekend for his team-mate Tony Cairoli means the Italian still holds a commanding 97 point lead. Uddevalla tends to see a single rider dominate – in fact, you have to go back to 2009 when Cairoli and Max Nagl took a win apiece for the last time two competitors shared wins at the track. 2015 event winner Romain Febvre will hope that proves to be a good omen, as the former series champion seeks his first victory since France in 2016. Will this be the weekend that his lengthy drought comes to an end?
Alongside the MXGP action, the FIM MX2 World Championship also heads north to Sweden for round 16 of the season. Jeremy Seewer gained a single point on Pauls Jonass’ title advantage at his home event, despite carving through the field to fifth following a first lap fall in the second race. Benoit Paturel earned his first round win of the year in Switzerland, and will hope to carry momentum in his battle for third in the standings with Thomas Kjer Olsen, who heralds from just across the border in Denmark. Follow the MX2 races by tuning in to the LIVE broadcast on Sunday.
Over in the USA, the NASCAR Xfinity Series visits its second successive classic American road-course, with round 21 coming from Mid-Ohio. As the intra-team battle between Elliot Sadler and William Byron continues at the head of the standings, the chase for the playoffs is coming to the forefront of the drivers’ minds, meaning close racing is to be expected from Lexington.
Meanwhile, the short but undulating Brands Hatch Indy circuit plays host to the fourth round of the Britcar Endurance Championship. The season has so far been dominated by the MJR Ferrari pairing of Witt Gamski and Ross Wylie, though their GTE spec 458 could struggle more on the shorter, less power dependant Indy layout. Could this favour the FF Corse and Team Hard squads?
Three examples of fine British club racing are also coming your way from Brands Hatch, with the hotly contested Ginetta GRDC and Mini Challenge JCW one-make series providing close racing on the GP circuit. Highlights of the VW Racing Cup UK also come from the Kent track, with race prepared Golf and Scirocco machinery battling it out with the German manufacturer’s small Caddy van in a spectacle you’re unlikely to see anywhere else!
Rounding out the weekend off the beaten track, catch highlights from the MSA British Rallycross Championship’s trip to Mondello Park in Ireland, plus more motorcycle-based lunacy from the Latvian round of the FIM Sidecarcross World Championship.
Friday 18th August
22:05 - Tyrone Stages Rally
22:35 – FIA World Rally Championship, Rd 10, Germany (Day 1)
Saturday 19th August
10:40 – MSA British Rallycross, Rd 5, Mondello Park
11:40 – Britcar Endurance Championship, Rd 4, Brands Hatch Indy
12:40 – NASCAR Xfinity Series, Rd 21, Mid-Ohio
16:50 – Ginetta GRDC, Rd 4, Brands Hatch GP
17:20 – VW Racing Cup UK, Rd 4, Brands Hatch GP
17:50 – Mini Challenge JCW Championship, Rd 6, Brands Hatch GP
18:25 – FIM Sidecarcross World Championship, Rd 10, Latvia
22:35 – FIA World Rally Championship, Rd 10, Germany (Day 2)
Sunday 20th August
12:00 – LIVE FIM MX2 World Championship, Rd 16, Sweden (Race 1)
13:00 – LIVE FIM MXGP World Championship, Rd 16, Sweden (Race 1)
15:00 – LIVE FIM MX2 World Championship, Rd 16, Sweden (Race 2)
16:00 – LIVE FIM MXGP World Championship, Rd 16, Sweden (Race 2)
22:35 – FIA World Rally Championship, Rd 10, Germany (Day 3)
