Welcome to week 43 – three races this weekend, and just three weekends left including this one. F1 moves south within the Americas to San Paulo in Brazil; WRC has their finale in the forests of Wales; and NASCAR has their penultimate race at Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona, in which the final four will be decided for the Chase for the Cup in the finale the following week. Picks can be made at: http://www.roadracetracks.com/motorracinggame.shtml.
Scores from week 42:
Moto GP Spain, NASCAR Texas:
As expected the harsh penalty given to Valentino Rossi two weeks ago for aggressive riding against Mark Marquez, was too much for the Italian to overcome at the Moto GP race in Spain. He made a go at it, starting at the back of the field and passing all but the top three by the finish. But with Jorge Lorenzo leading the race from start to finish, fourth for Rossi wasn’t enough, and Lorenzo was essentially given the championship by the officials and their penalty decision with Rossi. Behind Lorenzo the two Honda riders were the other two podium finishers, with Marquez taking second ahead of his teammate Daniel Pedrosa in third. Behind Rossi the two Tech 3 Yamahas of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith took fifth and sixth. Next was the first of the Ducatis with Andrea Dovizioso taking seventh. Andrea Iannone crashed early in the race while ninth, and was classified 26th and last at the end.
Eight drivers are left in the NASCAR Chase for the Cup, with seven of them battling for the win at Texas and a ticket into the final four. Jeff Gordon already is in that final four with a win last week, and so he only needed to cruise in Texas, and indeed stayed out of trouble and came home 9th. Six others finished in the top 10, but none of them could beat winner Jimmie Johnson, who is not a Chase contender. Brad Keselowski had the best shot at victory, and in leading 312 of 334 laps he looked mighty tough to beat. But Johnson came strong at the right time – at the end of the race – and with Keselowski hampered by having to hold the car in gear, he could not hold off Johnson, and so had to settle for second. With most of the rest of the contenders doing well, Keselowski is still in a hole and either needs to win next week, or see two other drivers perform badly for him to make it into the final four. For the same reason, despite Kurt Busch finishing seventh, he too will need a win next week, or lots of help from three drivers. Joey Logano is in the deepest hole after having a tire let go early in the race, and could do no better than a 40th place finish. After being crashed out of the race lead last week by Matt Kenseth, he now has no choice but to win next week in Phoenix to keep his title hopes alive. Beside Gordon, the other three at the top of the order are Kevin Harvick who finished third, Kyle Busch who finished fourth, and Martin Truex Jr. who finished eighth. Carl Edwards finished fifth and is fifth in points, so needs a good race himself next week, and one of those three to have a bad race in Phoenix (and not see Keselowski, Kurt Busch or Logano win) to get into the final four. Sandwiched among the Chase contenders was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who had a great race to come back from a lap down after a spin, and finish sixth.
Congratulations to Drewe and his sixth outright win of the year with one tie, and the highest score (335) for a two-race weekend so far this year. Getting a NASCAR one-two was what squeezed him ahead of Sebastian for the week win. With Moto GP over, congratulations to Sebastian who wound up the series pick-winner. No changes in the standings …
The Motor Racing Game 
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