JUNE 8, 2016

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet Turbo V6) pulls into pit lane after winning Race 2 of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Presented by Quicken Loans at Belle Isle Park. It was Power's 26th win in IndyCar. “It just gives the whole crew some confidence," Power commented. "I think we’ve all kind of been stumbling a little bit, the whole group of us. It’s been a tough start to the year. I missed the first race and just had a few mishaps, you know, and now we’re there.” Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Team Penske Hewlett Packard Enterprise Chevrolet Turbo V6) finished second to make it a Team Penske 1-2 and Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda Turbo V6) was third.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Team Penske Hewlett Packard Enterprise Chevrolet Turbo V6) leads Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda Turbo V6) late in Sunday's IndyCar race on Belle Isle in Detroit.

(Photo by Bret Kelley/INDYCAR)
Sebastien Bourdais (No. 11 KVSH Racing Team Hydroxycut Chevrolet Turbo V6) started thirteenth, dropped to as low as nineteenth but persevered to win Race 1 of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans. Bourdais, the four-time Indy car season champion, won by 2.0401 seconds over Conor Daly (No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Jonathan Byrd's Hospitality Honda Turbo V6) in the 70-lap race on the 2.35-mile temporary street course at Belle Isle Park. It was the 37-year-old Frenchman's 35th career victory, tying him with Bobby Unser for sixth on the all-time list. Bourdais didn't take the race lead until Lap 55 when reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Target Chevrolet Turbo V6) made his final pit stop. "It's like playing poker," Bourdais said. "You know what hand you have right now at the moment, but every bet you make is going to work or not work based on what's going to happen later on. You just have to make decisions and today we just got the lucky hand. The guys in the pits made the right call. Thankfully I didn't make any mistakes, ran pretty well and pretty strong." Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 2 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet Turbo V6) finished third.

(Photo by Bret Kelley/INDYCAR)
Conor Daly's excellent second-place run in Race 1 on Belle Isle was a big deal. "I am a happy human," the 24-year-old American and Verizon IndyCar Series rookie said. "I have to continue to remember this is my first year, right? Everything has been all over the place up until this. To be on the podium my first year, it's a really rewarding experience. I just hope I can do more, obviously."

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Jordan and Ricky Taylor (No. 10 WTR Konica Minolta Corvette DP) won Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Classic Presented by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers on Belle Isle Park in Detroit. It was the second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory at the circuit for the Taylor brothers. Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP) finished second, 1.740 seconds behind. Jonathan Bomarito and Tristan Nunez (No. 55 Castrol/ModSpace Mazda Prototype) finished third, giving Mazda Motorsports its first podium finish in IMSA WeatherTech Championship competition. Renger van der Zande (No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA FLM09, started by Alex Popow) pressured Colin Braun (No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09, started by Jon Bennett) into making a rare mistake with less than five minutes remaining to win in the Prototype Challenge (PC) class at Detroit for the second consecutive year. Check out more of John Thawley's scintillating images from Belle Isle here.

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen (No. 33 ViperExchange.com/Gas Monkey Garage Dodge Viper GT3-R) won the GTD class in Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race. Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Lindsey (No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911) finished second and Alessandro Balzan/Christina Nielsen (No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3) finished third.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
The start of the Chevrolet Sports Classic Presented by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Saturday.

(Ford Performance)
Patrik Sandell (No. 18 Bryan Herta Rallysport Kobalt Ford Fiesta ST) gave his Indianapolis 500-winning team owner his second victory in a week at Red Bull Global Rallycross Dallas, the series’ inaugural visit to Fair Park. Sandell became the first driver to break points leader Tanner Foust's dominance by jumping out to the lead from the second row in the final and never looking back. “I wouldn’t say it was easy, but they lined the cars up so I had a straight shot between the two front row cars,” Sandell said. “Mentally, I was just focusing on that spot. I never saw those two Volkswagens for 10 laps, and I’m pretty happy with that!” Steve Arpin (No. 00 Chip Ganassi Racing Eneos Ford Fiesta ST) finished second for a Ford 1-2. Foust (No. 34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle) ended up finishing third.

(Ford Performance)
Steve Arpin made it a Ford 1-2 in Dallas.

(media.crash.net)
Valentino Rossi (No. 46 Movistar Yamaha YZR-M1) won the Catalunya MotoGP after winning a close duel with Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda RC213V). The pair shook hands after the race for the first time since last season. Dani Pedrosa (No. 26 Repsol Honda RC213V) finished third, while Jorge Lorenzo (No. 99 Movistar Yamaha YZR-M1) faded from first to fifth and was then taken out by Andrea Iannone (No. 29 Ducati Team Desmosedici GP), costing Lorenzo the world championship lead to Marquez.

(Audi Motorsport)
The annual Test Day before the 24 Hours of Le Mans took place on Sunday. The incomparable 13.629 kilometer long race track is only closed off for the test day and race week. “For this reason it’s even more important to use this time productively. We started the test day with detailed programs,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. The two Audi R18 completed a total of 138 laps in France. This equates to 1,881 kilometers. Lucas di Grassi (No. 8 Audi Sport Team Joest R18) set a 3m 21.375s lap to record the fastest time of the day, a 0.895 second advantage over the second-place No. 1 Porsche Team Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Timo Bernhard. Romain Dumas (No. 2 Porsche Team Porsche 919 Hybrid) was third quick, followed by Marcel Fässler (No. 7 Audi Sport Team Joest R18). In the hotly-contested LMGTE Pro class Antonio Garcia (No. 63 Corvette Racing Konica Minolta/Mobil 1/Sirius XM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R) was quickest with a lap of 3:55.122 (129.680 mph). Garcia will team with Jan Magnussen and Ricky Taylor for the race. In LMP2 Tristan Gommendy (No. 33 Eurasia Motorsport Oreca 05 Nissan) set a fast time of 3:36.690; and the No. 50 Corvette Z06 of Larbre Competition was quickest in LMGTE Am with a 3:57.999. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the toughest and most prestigious endurance race of the year. The race week begins on June 13th with technical scrutineering in the Le Mans city center, and the 24-hour race starts on June 18th.

(Photo by Andrew Coppley for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Kurt Busch (No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS) celebrates his victory on Monday in the delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It was Busch's first win of the 2016 season and his 28th career Cup Series win. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Axalta Chevrolet SS) was second and Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Miller Lite Ford Fusion) finished third. For more NASCAR info go here.

(BMW)
The 2016 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy has begun, and Michael Dunlop (No. 6 BMW S 1000 RR) set a new race and lap record on the way to victory in the RST Superbike class last Saturday (June 4), becoming the first rider to break the 17-minute barrier around the Mountain Course. Both of Dunlop's first two laps were inside 17 minutes, and he lowered the best overall race time by a mere 1m15.643s. Watch it here.

(McLaren Automotive images)
The 2016 season is a key anniversary for motorsport, and for McLaren in particular. Racing milestones of note include the 50th anniversary of the Can-Am series, the 100th running of the Indy 500, 40 years since British racing legend James Hunt’s dramatic Formula 1 title and 30 years since Alain Prost claimed his second world title. McLaren Automotive will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer, celebrating its race wins and titles spanning more than five decades in a display entitled "Full Throttle – The Endless Pursuit of Power" - with iconic racers displayed alongside the full range of modern-day McLaren models in the Sports Series, Super Series and Ultimate Series. The broad selection of models, spanning more than 50 years of the McLaren name, will be the most extensive display of McLaren models ever showcased, including the new 570GT. Representing 50 years since McLaren entered the Formula 1 championship is the MP4-2C (above) from the championship-winning 1986 season. Driven by Alain Prost and Keke Rosberg, the MP4-2C is the final iteration of the most successful chassis ever raced in Formula 1. During 1986, Prost claimed four race victories on his way to his second Drivers’ Championship title.

The stunning - and brutally fast - McLaren M8D from the 1970 season, finished in iconic McLaren Orange heritage livery, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the famous "unlimited" Can Am series of the 1960s-70s. Revered as the ultimate test of engineering and bravery, the series established McLaren as the team to beat, claiming five back-to-back championships led by New Zealand-born racer and team-founder Bruce McLaren.

McLaren has been victorious in the Indianapolis 500 on three separate occasions. The debut for McLaren at the famous ‘Brickyard’ was with the Gordon Coppuck-designed M15 in 1970. The design used McLaren's single-seater Can-Am sports car experience in chassis layout and conception, winning the prestigious designer’s award for engineering excellence.

Editor-In-Chief's Note: Chris Amon, one of the drivers in the winning Ford GT Mk II at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, reminisces about that historic race 50 years ago in an exclusive interview. -PMD

Editor's Note: Ford has just released "Let's Race" - the third of five chapters in “The Return,” which is a long-form documentary that follows the development of both the street car and race car versions of the Ford GT from the decision to build the cars to the return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Watch chapter one, "The Decision," here and chapter two, "The Cutting Edge," here. (FYI: The Autoextremist makes a cameo appearance in chapter one.) -WG