Weekend Motorsports Preview: A Great Weekend for Touring Cars

It is a fantastic weekend if you are a fan of touring car racing. Nearly every major regional touring car series is holding a race this weekend. So whether you are in the United States, Japan, Australia or Europe, there will be a race to watch. 

Grand-Am Series

The Grand-Am Rolex Series holds its third race of its calendar this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. The 250-lap race begins at 5:30pm EDT (9:30pm GMT) on Saturday, April 6. Chip Ganassi racing is leading the championship in its Riley-BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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with 65 points and are trailed by GAINSCO in its Riley-ChevroletChevroletUnited States of America, 1911 > present82 models
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with 59 points. 

IndyCar Series

The IndyCar Series moves onto its second race of the year and is sharing the 2.38-mile (3.83 km), 15-corner Barber Motorsports park with the Grand-Am Series. Grand-Am races on Saturday, and IndyCar takes the track on Sunday, April 7, at 3:00pm (7:00pm GMT). After one race, James Hinchcliffe is leading the championship with 51 points, and Helio Castroneves is in second place with 43 points.  

NASCAR Sprint Cup

The NASCAR Sprint Cup enters its sixth race of the year at Martinsville Speedway, a .526-mile (.847km) oval in Virginia. The race begins at 1:00pm (5:00pm GMT) on Sunday, April 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is leading the championship with 199 points, and Brad Kaselowski is in second place with 187 points. 

Super GT

The Super GT Japanese touring car series starts its season this weekend with an 82-lap race at Okayama. The race begins at 2:00pm local time (1:00am EDT or 5am GMT) on Sunday. The series keeps the same rules as last season, but next year there will be new cars when Super GT and DTM unify their rules. The GT300 class cars will also race in the Asian Le Mans Series at the race at Fuji Speedway on September 22. It is meant as a test for full participation of the cars for 2014.  

V8 Supercars

The V8 Supercars series hops away from Australia to Tasmania this weekend for four sprint races at Symmons Plains Raceway. There are two 25-lap races on Saturday, and two 42-lap races on Sunday. It is the second official race of the series' calendar. The Red Bull Racing Australia Holden CommodoresHolden Commodore Gen.4Australia, 2006 > present9 versions
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are dominating the championship with the drivers in first and second in the points standings.

World Touring Car Championship

The World Touring Car Championship moves onto its second race of the season at Circuit Moulay El Hassan in Marrakech, Morocco. There will be two, 11-lap races over the 4.545km street circuit on the outskirts of Marrakech. Both races will be held on Sunday - one at 3:20pm GMT (11:20am) and the second at 4:20 GMT (12:20 pm). Yvan Muller dominated the first race at Monza by scoring maximum points in qualifying and winning both races. He has 55 points in the championship, and Tom Chilton is in second with 32 points.