Weekend Motorsports Review: Surprise and Easy Victories

The opening for the international racing season brought exciting races at Sebring and in Australia. If things stay like this, we will be looking forward to a great season of racing ahead. 

Formula 1

Who would have ever expected that Kimi Raikkonen would win in Australia? He had impressive return to F1 last year and finished third in last year's drivers' championship, but it really proves the Lotus E21Lotus E21United Kingdom, 2013 > 20136 photos
to have him won.

The other big news from the race is the collapse at McLarenMcLaren MP4-28United Kingdom, 2013 > 20136 photos
. Neither car qualified well with Button in tenth and Perez in 15th. They improved slightly in the race, but Button still finished in ninth and Perez in eleventh. 

Let's hope that the racing stays as aggressive and sporting as it was in Australia. We will not have to wait long to see if Raikkonen can challenge at the front again or if his win was a fluke; the next race is next weekend at the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. 

12 Hours of Sebring

From a race with some big surprises to a race with a foregone conclusion at least in the top class, cruised to victory up front. Both Audi's finished on the lead lap and had over 20 lead changes in the 12-hour races. The third place Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60Lola B12/60 CoupeUnited Kingdom, 2011 > present2 photos
1 video
-ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
4570 photos
10 videos
was five laps down, which shows the difference between factory and privateer teams at this level of racing. 

In the P2 class, Level 5 Motorsport won its fourth consecutive 12 Hours of Sebring in the HPD ARX-03bHonda HPD ARX 03bJapan, 2012 > present2 photos
1 video
. The team's other car came in second place, a lap down from their teammates. The Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SNZytek Z11SNUnited Kingdom, 2012 > present1 photo
-NissanNissanJapan, 1932 > present159 models
6957 photos
12 videos
took third.

As is the norm in the last years at Sebring, much of the action came in the GT class. CorvetteChevrolet Corvette C6.RUnited States of America, 2012 > present3 photos
, ViperSRT Viper GTS-RUnited States of America, 2013 > present7 photos
, BMWBMW Z4 GTEGermany, 2013 > 2000 and FerrariFerrari 458 Italia GTCItaly, 2011 > present5 photos
1 video
all led at some point in the race. The Corvette eventually took the win in just the last 15 minutes of the race by passing the Risi Competizone Ferrari F458. The Team Falken Tire’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSRPorsche 911 GT3 RSRGermany, 2012 > present6 photos
came third. The newest cars on the grid- the BMW Z4 and SRT Viper - managed fourth and fifth respectively.

The DeltawingNissan DeltaWingJapan, 2012 > present19 photos
3 videos
had a very poor race with an engine failure in the first two hours that took it out of the race very early. 

You can view the full results here. 

The World Endurance Championship season will begin on April 14 at Silverstone, and American Le Mans Series fans will have to wait until April 20 for the series' next race at Long Beach. 

V8 Supercars

Fabian Coulthard won three of the four, 12-lap sprint races held between sessions of the F1 race in Australia. However, the event in Australia was not counted as part of the series' point’s standings. That means that Coulthard who is in 22nd place in points does not get anything for his wins. 

Scott McLaughlin won the fourth race in Melbourne. 

The next V8 Supercars race is the Tasmania 360 on April 7.

NASCAR

Kasey Kahne took the lead at the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway took the lead after a restart on lap 461 of the 500 lap race. He held the front for the final portion of the race to take the win. 

The series' next race is at Auto Club Speedway on March 24.