Albuquerque takes shock RoC win
Filipe Albuquerque defeated three-time winner and World Rally legend Sebastien Loeb to take a shock victory in the Race of Champions in Dusseldorf
Sometime Red Bull protege and GP2 driver Albuquerque - now a GT racer - breezed through the qualifying rounds to take on Loeb in the final, and a win each in the first two races of the three-round showdown, including a 0.02-second photo-finish triumph for Loeb in the second one, set up a decider in RoC buggies.
Loeb appeared to hold the early edge, but Albuquerque had a superb second lap and the 25-year-old Portuguese driver came through to pip Loeb at the line.
Albuquerque had won all of his heats, then defeated countryman Alvaro Parente in the quarter finals before taking on Sebastian Vettel in the semis. Vettel looked set for a narrow win after the first lap, but Albuquerque fought back to overturn Vettel's 0.4-second advantage and snatch victory by a tenth, silencing the home fans.
Vettel had already eliminated the crowd's other hero Michael Schumacher when the results of the heats pitched the two Germans against each other in the quarter finals.
Loeb saw off Tom Kristensen in the quarter finals and Andy Priaulx in the semis - winning the latter contest before locking up his Audi R8 and nudging the barriers after the chequered flag. Priaulx had earlier beaten Bertrand Baguette in the quarter finals.
Heikki Kovalainen's return to the event he famously won in 2004 proved to be an unhappy experience. After his Team Nordic pairing with Kristenen was knocked out early in the Nations' Cup, today he crashed heavily in the afternoon's very first heat.
During a narrow defeat to Loeb, Kovalainen clipped the barriers at the final corner and broke his Audi R8's rear suspension. This pitched the car into a spin as he tried to brake on the slowing-down lap, and after demolishing the inside barriers, Kovalainen had a heavy impact with the outside wall. Both Kovalainen and his passenger - his girlfriend Catherine Hyde! - were unhurt but the Lotus driver withdrew from the event to get precautionary checks in hospital, having been briefly knocked unconscious.
Spins in heats helped Alain Prost, Travis Pastrana, Mick Doohan and Tanner Foust to early exits. Also eliminated before the quarter finals were Jason Plato, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Carl Edwards.
Magazine: F1 Hungarian GP review, FE London and BTCC Knockhill
Last weekend's Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, featuring another Ferrari clanger and Max Verstappen victory, is our focus on the cover of this week’s Autosport magazine, out today (4 August).
MotorsportDays LIVE reveals date of 2022 show at Silverstone
Motorsport Network is excited to announce that MotorsportDays LIVE will be held at Silverstone on 4-5 November 2022.
Red Bull F1 driver Perez to enter team in Agag's E1 powerboat series
Red Bull Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez is to enter a squad in the electric powerboat series being established by Formula E co-founder Alejandro Agag.
McLaughlin laments "inevitable" demise of Pukekohe Supercars track
Three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin says the impending closure of the famous Pukekohe Park circuit in his native New Zealand is sad but inevitable.
Why romanticism isn't the key factor in Lola’s racing return
The iconic Lola name is being relaunched after it was taken over by new ownership. Part of that reboot is a planned return to racing, though the exact details of this are still to be finalised - though its new owner does have a desire to bring the brand back to the Le Mans 24 Hours. But romanticism doesn't appear to be the driving force behind this renewed project...
Rating the best drivers of the century so far
Autosport's Top 50 feature has been a staple of the magazine for the past two decades since its first appearance in 2002. Here are the drivers that have featured most prevalently during that time
The best motorsport moments of 2021
Motorsport produced one of its greatest years of all-time in 2021 despite a backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 challenges and an ever-changing racing landscape. Through the non-stop action Autosport has collected the finest moments from the past 12 months to highlight the incredible drama and joy motorsport generates
The racing comeback artists who resurrected long-dormant careers
Making it in motorsport can be tough, and sometimes drivers move elsewhere before their best chance arrives. Here are some of those who made it back
The hidden racing gem attracting ex-F1 heroes
It’s rarely mentioned when it comes to assessing the best national contests, but the Brazilian Stock Car series that reaches its climax this weekend has an ever-growing appeal. Its expanding roster of ex-Formula 1 names has helped to draw in new fans, but it's the closeness of competition that keeps them watching
The one-time Schumacher rival rebooting his career Down Under
Joey Mawson made waves in the middle of the last decade, beating future Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher - among other highly-rated talents - to the 2016 German F4 title. A run in F1's feeder GP3 category only caused his career to stall, but now back in Australia Mawson's S5000 title success has set that to rights
The lesson football’s would-be wreckers could learn from racing
OPINION: The greed-driven push for a European Super League that threatened to tear football apart is collapsing at the seams. Motor racing's equivalent, the football-themed Superleague Formula series of 2008-11, was everything that the proposed ESL never could be
The F1 and Indy 'nearly man' that found contentment in Japan
Having had the door to F1 slammed in his face and come within three laps of winning the Indianapolis 500, the collapse of a Peugeot LMP1 shot meant Japan was Bertrand Baguette's last chance of a career. But it's one which he has grasped with both hands