MAY 8, 2019

(ultimatemotorcycling.com)
Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda Team) bounced back from his Americas GP crash in dominant fashion to take a commanding victory at the Gran Premio Red Bull de España - his home race - beating second place Alex Rins (No. 42 Team Suzuki Ecstar) and third place Maverick Viñales (No. 12 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) to take the Championship lead by a single point. "I am feeling really good, riding how I want," said the 26-year-old Marquez. "We were disappointed in Austin but we must enjoy this race." 
(Michelin Motorsport)
Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron (No. 6 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 DPi/Michelin) won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio on Sunday. Montoya and Cameron turned the tables on the weekend-long battle with Mazda Team Joest in Sunday’s race at the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – showing speed when it mattered most, both on the racetrack and on pit road. Montoya took the lead with an hour and 18 minutes remaining following the middle pit-stop sequence and the No. 6 Acura out-paced Tristan Nunez in the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 77 Mazda RT24-P DPi/Michelin, pulling away on a restart with 24 minutes remaining to win by 2.022 seconds. “I think we just executed well,” Montoya said. “We had been unlucky with mechanical issues and stuff this year, but we executed today the way it needed to be. “I think the pace was good, but it’s tough because if you push hard you go quicker, and you open up a bit of a gap. But you can catch the cars in the wrong place and the seven-second gap you had becomes a two-second gap. So you want to run at an easy pace and just see how the traffic comes. The big difference was I did a good job on the restart with cold tires, and I did a good opening lap. We have races and race tracks that suit our car are coming up and we should be able to get some good results. The key here is not to make mistakes and give in to pressures and stuff like that. Last year we had a lot of races where we would finish second and third, but could never get it done. If you had told me last year when I made the deal it was going to take me this long to win my first race, I would have said no way. So it’s nice to finally put it together, it’s a pretty big day.” Mazda Team Joest swept the final two spots on the podium led by Nunez and co-driver Oliver Jarvis in second aboard the No. 77. Jonathan Bomarito and past IndyCar champion, and Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay – standing in for regular driver Harry Tincknell – came home third in the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P DPi/Michelin.
(Michelin Motorsport)
Porsche continued its dominant stretch in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class this season with its third consecutive victory in the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. Points leaders Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor co-drove to their second consecutive win in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR/Michelin, beating the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R/Michelin of Antonio Garcia and co-driver Jan Magnussen to the checkered flag by 2.340 seconds. “I think we need to keep pushing forward,” said Bamber. “We’ve found a good rhythm, especially on our car. We’ve got a new engineer this year, so every race we’ve been getting stronger and stronger as a crew. Last year was a tough year, so we had to bring a bit of tools to get ourselves into the game, and this year we’ve been executing well.” Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet (No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR/Michelin) finished third. With the win, Bamber and Vanthoor have opened up a seven-point lead in the championship standings, 126-119, over Garcia and Magnussen – the defending GTLM champions – and nine points on their teammates Tandy and Pilet. 

(Lexus)

Jack Hawksworth (No. 14 AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Lexus RC F GT3/Michelin) proved to be calm under intense pressure on Sunday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to capture the GTD class victory, the first time for the team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Hawksworth kept a hard-charging Mario Farnbacher (No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3/Michelin) in his rearview mirror after stealing the lead from him on a restart with 30 minutes remaining in the two-hour, 40-minute Acura Sports Car Challenge. Farnbacher was able to pull along the driver side of the Lexus on the final lap but couldn’t complete the pass on the outside line. Hawksworth described his battle with Farnbacher as a cat-and-mouse game, seeing the Lexus and Acura having strengths at different sectors of the track. Richard Heistand was quick to give credit to his co-driver following the race for holding off the Acura. “Jack did an unbelievable job,” said Heistand, who earned his first IMSA victory. “That pass on the restart, it was just incredible. His pace at the end, people don’t realize this Lexus at the end of the stint is hard compared to the other cars with the tires. What he does at the end of the stint is remarkable. Just look at the pace of the other cars at the end of the race there. What he did was incredible. I’m thrilled.” Farnbacher and co-driver Trent Hindman led a class-high 85 laps after starting from the ninth position. Hindman and Farnbacher, however, now hold a seven-point lead over the other AIM VASSER SULLIVAN entry, the No. 12 of Townsend Bell and Frank Montecalvo. The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R/Michelin of Scott Hargrove and Zach Robichon was poised for its first podium finish of the season until bad luck struck the team again. With under seven minutes remaining, and running third at the time, Hargrove’s Porsche slid off the track into the gravel and was unable to continue. The team ultimately finished 12th. Bryan Sellers and Ryan Hardwick (No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3/Michelin) capitalized on the Porsche’s bad luck to finish third. It is the team’s first top-10 finish of the season. A television re-air of the Acura Sports Car Challenge will be shown on NBCSN on Wednesday, May 8 at 3 p.m. ET.

(BMW)
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM) won the opening race of the 2019 DTM season at the Hockenheimring on Saturday, the first race of the new turbo era in the DTM. The two-time champion started from the pole position in wet conditions and went on to win. This was the 12th victory of Wittmann’s career and also marked the 82nd win for BMW in the DTM.

(Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli)
Twenty-one-year-old Ernie Francis Jr. (No. 98 Frameless Shower Doors Ford Mustang) dominated the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, delivering a 28.854-second win over teammates Lawrence Loshak (No. 3 Burtin Racing Penzoil/Elavon/GoShare Chevrolet Camaro) and Tomy Drissi (Burtin Racing Godzilla: King of The Monsters Chevrolet Camaro). 

(Hyundai)
Mark Wilkins and Michael Lewis (No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb Agajanian/Hyundai Veloster N TCR) fought cold temperatures and intermittent rain to win the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series race in the TCR class at Mid-Ohio on Saturday, delivering Hyundai’s first IMSA victory. The television broadcast of the Pilot Challenge race from Mid-Ohio will air on Saturday, May 11 at 11 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Next up for the IMSA MICHELIN Pilot Challenge Series is Watkins Glen International on Saturday, June 29. 

(Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
Martin Truex (No. 19 Joe Gibbs RacinG SIRIUSXM Toyota Camry) won the rain-delayed Gander RV 400 at Dover, beating runner-up Alex Bowman (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports NATIONWIDE Chevrolet Camaro) to the finish line by 9.501 seconds. It was the second victory of the season for Truex Jr. and 21st Cup win of his career after starting at the rear of the field after two pre-race inspection failures. Truex had remarked before the race that coming through the field wouldn’t be easy. “I promise it wasn’t easy,” Truex said. “It was a lot of work. It was tough. This race car, man, it was just incredible.” Kyle Larson (No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing CREDIT ONE BANK Chevrolet Camaro) ran third, scoring his first top five of the season.