After a short break to recover from a typically chaotic Le Mans 24 Hours, the FIA World Endurance Championship returns this weekend with the final round of the championship’s European leg at the Nurburgring in Germany. With 29 cars across four classes to keep an eye on there will be no shortage of action, so don’t miss a moment with LIVE coverage on Motorsport.tv!
Thanks to the heavy rate of attrition at Le Mans, Porsche trio Brendon Hartley, Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard have ascended to the championship lead ahead of their home round. Having won on both of the championship’s previous visits to the ‘Ring, Porsche will be hoping the first outing of the 919 Hybrid’s high-downforce aero package will justify the decision to spend an extra three months on development, which opened the door for Toyota to win the opening two rounds at Silverstone and Spa. For their part, the Japanese marque will hope to bounce back from their disastrous Le Mans, with title-chasing trio Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima only able to recover to sixth after an early hybrid problem. Could they right the wrongs of La Sarthe and stop the Porsches from running away to a hattrick of drivers and manufacturers titles? With a raft of driver changes in the LMP2 ranks resulting in the return of ex-F1 racer Roberto Merhi, Filipe Albuquerque and Pipo Derani, plus all the usual GTE-Pro fun, there are plenty more storylines to be written before the season is out…
Onto another classic European track next, as the British GT Championship makes its annual trip across the channel to the world-famous Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. A field of 34 cars, including a season-high 14 GT3 entries would make the trip to the Ardennes, with Jon Barnes and Mark Farmer hoping to recreate their stunning victory last season for TF Sport. Meanwhile, championship leaders Phil Keen and Jon Minshaw looked to extend their slim points margin in the Barwell Lamborghini, but with Silverstone 500 winners Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt Jr. on their tail in the Team Parker Bentley and a guest entry from reigning Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup champions Team WRT, it would be anyone’s guess as to who would come out on top…
The triple-bill of GT racing concludes with the third round of the Porsche Supercup, which follows the Formula One circus to the Red Bull Ring. Michael Ammermuller will be looking to continue his undefeated start to the season for the Lechner MSG Racing Team, with the carrot of becoming the first driver since Rene Rast in 2011 to win more than three consecutive Supercup races on offer if he could better Porsche junior Matt Campbell and multiple British champion Dan Cammish. Get ready for the sound of flat 6s rumbling through the Austrian countryside!
If your tastes involve a little more mud and dirt, then make sure to follow coverage of the epic Silk Way Rally. From the starting point in Moscow’s Red Square, the hardy competitors will have reached the end of the Kazakhstan leg by Friday, with this weekend’s stages taking the competitors into China, as they head towards the finishing point in Xi’an. Can nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb follow in the footsteps of double-winner Carlos Sainz and add yet another honour to his glittering collection?
For even more off-road action, be sure to catch highlights from the MSA British Rallycross Championship’s visit to Lydden Hill in Kent, as Fiesta man Ollie O’Donovan and multiple-champion Julian Godfrey continued their running battle, followed by a double bill of the FIM World Sidecarcross Championship as these intrepid competitors head to the Netherlands and Ukraine.
Finally, the weekend wouldn’t be complete without some American brawn provided by the NASCAR Xfinity Series, as the Cup stars of the future head to Kentucky Speedway for round 16, the halfway point of the year. With JR Motorsports’ rookie sensation William Byron coming off the back of two consecutive wins in Iowa and Daytona, would veteran Elliott Sadler find his points lead under threat, or could the returning Kyle Busch show them how it’s done on his first Xfinity outing since Michigan?
Friday 14th July
18:55 – The Flying Lap, Episode 16
Saturday 15th July
09:10 – British Rallycross Championship, Rd 7, Lydden Hill (Race 1)
10:40 – French Tractor Pulling, Bernay Part 2
12:10 – Scottish Legends, Rd 4, Knockhill
13:15 – Britcar Endurance Championship, Rd 3, Silverstone
13:45 – French Superbike Championship, Rd 5, Magny-Cours
15:25 – Porsche Supercup, Rd 3, Red Bull Ring
17:20 – FIM World Sidecarcross Championship, Rd 1, Netherlands
18:25 – FIM World Sidecarcross Championship, Rd 2, Ukraine
20:00 – NASCAR Xfinity Series, Rd 16, Kentucky
21:00 – British GT Championship, Rd 5, Spa-Francorchamps
22:05 – Silk Way Rally, Day 7, Karamey-Urumqi
Sunday 16th July
11:45 – LIVE FIA World Endurance Championship, Rd 4, 6 Hours of Nurburgring
18:55 – P1 Powerboat Superstock World Finals
22:05 – Silk Way Rally, Weekly Review
