Costa Wins the Race, Wickens Takes the Championship

Canadian Robert Wickens may not have finished the race in Barcelona on Sunday, but he nevertheless won the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship on points. Starting the last race of the season with a nine-point lead over Jean Eric Vergne of France, it initially appeared that Wickens may have lost the title due to an accident on the first lap with his Carlin Motorsports teammate. Vergne had tried to pass Wickens on the inside of the track, but his car’s front left wheel made contact with Wickens’ side pod. This incident was followed up at the next corner with the right front of Wickens’ car hitting the left rear of Vergne, breaking Wickens’ steering and putting him out of the race as he collided with Nathanel Berthon.

Vergne tried to continue, but damage to his car’s steering and rear suspension, along with contact by Mofaz racer Fairuz Fauzy, eventually put him out of the race. Vergne would have had to finish fifth or higher in order to take the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship from Wickens, but with both drivers out of the race, the victory went to Wickens.

In an interview following the race, Wickens noted that while it was not how he had wanted to end the day, nor how he expected to be crowned champion, but was nevertheless pleased with the result. He pointed out that he and Vergne had enjoyed being teammates, they had raced hard and fair all year and it was a pity the last race of the season ended with contact at the first corner. He also thanked the Carlin team, describing them as being flawless all year, and thanked Marussia for making his championship win possible.

One of the rewards for winning the Formula Renault 3.5 championship is a half-day of test-driving a Lotus Renault on a full F1 track in Abu Dhabi next month, which Wickens describes as a “fantastic” prize. Having finished second in the 2009 F2 series and second in the GP3 series in 2010, and now claiming the Renault 3.5 championship, as well as being named Marussia Virgin F1 team reserve driver this year, Wickens appears to be well on his way to fulfilling his hopes of becoming the first Canadian driver to achieve in auto racing’s top series since Jacques Villeneuve – the 1997 F1 World Champion.

While the championship results may have outshone the actual victory of the day, it should not be overlooked that Albert Costa of Epic Racing took the checkered flag in Barcelona, having started in pole position, with Wickens second on the grid and Vergne starting from fifth.

Kurt Busch Takes Victory at AAA400

Auto racing fans like nothing better than nail-biting rivalry right through to the checkered flag, and the AAA400 at Dover International Speedway on Sunday October 2nd provided plenty of action and excitement as Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson battled for first place. The race ended with Busch taking first place by 0.908 of a second, and Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards coming in at second and third. As the third event in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, this was the 24th Cup victory of Busch’s career, and his first at Dover International Speedway.

In chilly, overcast weather loyal NASCAR fans at Dover watched as drivers competed for victory. As reigning Cup champion, a position he has held for five years, Jimmie Johnson held the lead for most of the laps of the race, until a double-file restart with 42 laps to go, and a second restart seven laps later, saw Busch move into first place and stay there. Although Johnson never did close the gap between himself and Busch after the restarts, his efforts to do so made for some exciting on-track action.

Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch have quite a history on the race track, with close rivalry on the track spilling over into some controversial post-race verbal sparring. However, in a post-race interview on Sunday, Johnson acknowledged that Busch had done a better job than him on the restarts, thereby giving him the advantage. In turn Busch is reported as stating that beating his arch-nemesis was “icing on the cake”, but pointed out that there is still a long way to go in the series and they would be focusing on future events. Both drivers played down the aspect of personal rivalry, with Johnson noting that they had raced “hard and clean”.

Following Sunday’s race the 2011 Sprint Cup standings have Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards in first place with 2122 points each, while Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch follow with 2113 points each. Jimmie Johnson is in fifth place with 2109 points, followed by Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth, both with 2108 points. Eighth place goes to Kyle Busch (2107 points), ninth to Jeff Gordon (2103 points) and tenth spot to Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2088 points). The next event in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 9, 2011.

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