Motorsport.tv UK Monthly Highlights: November

Motorsport.tv UK Monthly Highlights: November

FIA World Endurance Championship

Just two races remain in Porsche’s swansong season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, however the battle for the title rages on. Four victories on the bounce, including the Le Mans 24 Hours for Brendon Hartley, Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard has them with a good margin over Toyota Gazoo Racing’s #8 car, however with 12 hours of racing still to come, and three other classes of car on-track, a lot can still change. The Shanghai Grand Prix circuit plays host to round eight, whilst the finale sees the series’ now traditional trip to the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Sakhir Circuit. Toyota will be hoping to find similar form to the end of their 2014 campaign, where the Japanese marquee won both races. The battle in LMP2 has been all about Jackie Chan DC Racing and Vaillante Rebellion in the new 2017 era of the class. Following their sensational second place overall at Le Mans, the Chinese team struggled with issues in Mexico allowing the Anglo-Swiss team to close up the margin. In the production-based classes, the intriguing balance from race-to-race of which cars characteristics suit a track has closed the standings up in both the teams’ and manufacturers’ standings, whilst the drivers battle it out to get their names engraved on the new GT World Endurance Drivers’ Championship.

• LIVE Rd 8, 6 Hours of Shanghai – Sunday 5 November at 02:45 GMT
• LIVE Rd 9, 6 Hours of Bahrain – Saturday 18 November at 12:45 GMT


FIA World Rallycross Championship

Representing the first visit of an FIA World Championship to South Africa since 1992, the FIA World Rallycross Championship makes its inaugural visit to the continent for its finale. The Killarney circuit played host to a non-championship Formula 1 race in the 1960s, won by Stirling Moss in a Porsche 718. Despite having wrapped up the title in Latvia, Johan Kristofferson will be hoping to emulate Moss, by continuing his dominant run of form that has not seen the Swede off the podium since the second round of the championship. PSRX team-mate and owner Petter Solberg will be in a race against time to be fit following his accident in Riga, with both Mattias Ekstrom and Sebastien Loeb looking to pounce on second in the standings, with or without the Norwegian’s participation. With a new track to learn, the race could spring a surprise or two, making competition for bragging rights of being the first WRX winner in South Africa sure to be fierce.

• LIVE Rd 12, RX of South Africa – Sunday 12 November at 14:00 GMT


FIA World Rally Championship

The FIA World Rally Championship goes to the wire down-under, with the final round coming from the Coffs Coast in Australia. Sebastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville have been locked in battle throughout the season, chopping and changing position by the meeting. A suspension failure in Germany cost Neuville, handing Ogier the advantage heading into the final part of the season. The Frenchman will be happy to be heading to New South Wales, a rally which has been kind of him since it replaced the Kingscliff round in 2011, taking three wins in the Sydney territory. Neuville will be looking to go one better than his second place in 2013 in order to push Ogier right to the end of the season. 2016 Rally Australia winner Andreas Mikkelsen will be looking to impress his new Hyundai team, ahead of a prospective full-season campaign with the Korean manufacturer in 2018.

• Daily Highlights Rd 13, Rally Australia – Friday 17 November at 12:10 GMT, Saturday 18 November at 12:15 GMT and Sunday 19 November at 13:45 GMT


Australian Supercars

After eight visits to the Sydney Street Circuit as the Australian Supercars finale, the event has a new home for 2017, heading to the unraced Newcastle Street Circuit. The new 11-turn, 2.6 km track promises to be challenging for drivers, in a double-header that will decide the series. The battle for the championship has been headed for the majority of the season by Scott McLaughlin, as his DJR Team Penske, running the Ford Falcon, look for their first title since 2010. Their nearest competition has come from the Holden corner, with Triple Eight Race Engineering’s six-time champion Jamie Whincup looking to add to that number. Having started the season off with a double win in Adelaide, Shane Van Gisbergen will be looking to finish his year with a win, as the New Zealander has done every year since 2013.

• LIVE Rd 14, Newcastle Street Circuit – Saturday 25 November at 04:30 GMT (Race 1)
• LIVE Rd 14, Newcastle Street Circuit – Sunday 26 November at 04:30 GMT (Race 2)

TCR International Series

The last round of the 2017 TCR International Series sees the championship head to Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, supporting the Formula 1 finale in the desert. This year has seen a closely fought affair, with three drivers in the race for the title going into the season-closing race. Since taking a double-win in his native Hungary, Attila Tassi has held sway at the head of the standings, the 18-year-old absorbing pressure from more experienced rivals, despite being disqualified from the first race at Oschersleben. 2010 Indy Lights champion Jean-Karl Vernay leads the charge behind Tassi, though the Frenchman has only won a single race this season. The final protagonist is 2015 and 2016 champion Stefano Comini, who hasn’t won a race since round four and will be hoping to finish the season as strongly as he did the past two occasions. Two touring-car veterans bolster the field in Abu Dhabi, as Gabriele Tarquini and Alain Menu are set to debut the new Hyundai i30 N TCR in the world championship.

• LIVE Rd 10, Yas Marina Circuit – Saturday 25 November at TBC (Race 1)
• LIVE Rd 10, Yas Marina Circuit – Sunday 26 November at TBC (Race 2)


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