MotoGP 2020: Franco Morbidelli wins Teruel MotoGP

Franco Morbidelli won the Teruel MotoGP for his second win of the season after pole-sitter Takaaki Nakagami crashed on the first lap. Morbidelli crossed the finish line more than two seconds ahead of Alex Rins, with Joan Mir coming in third place after starting 12th.

Mir extended his championship lead to 14 points over Fabio Quartararo, who finished eighth. Maverick Vinales was five points further back after finishing seventh. Morbidelli moved to fourth in the standings with the victory, staying 25 points off the lead. He had won his maiden career MotoGP race at the San Marino GP in September.

Rins was the winner last weekend at the same MotorLand track. Mir was coming off a third-place finish last weekend. Nakagami, the 28-year-old Japanese rider looking for his first MotoGP win, lost control of his bike shortly after the start while leading the race. Brad Binder and Jack Miller also crashed on the first lap.

Alex Marquez, who was second in the last two races, crashed with 10 laps to go while in fourth place. Veteran Italian rider Valentino Rossi did not race again because of a recent COVID-19 positive test result. He had already missed last weekend’s race. Defending champion Marc Márquez also hasn't been racing because of an injury.

 

MotoGP 2020: Alex Rins wins Aragon MotoGP

Suzuki’s GSX-RR may be down on top speed at Aragon but the bike is the current master of Michelin’s MotoGP tyres. Plus Fabio Quartararo’s pressure disaster and Alex Marquez’s insight into the mysteries of Honda’s RC213V.

Suzuki's Rins became the eighth winner in this season's ten races as the vacuum created by the early season injury to reigning champion Marc Marquez has created a volatile and unpredictable title race. This is the third victory for the 24-year-old Rins who won twice last year but was injured at the beginning of this season.

The other Suzuki factory rider Mir takes over the championship lead even though he has not won a MotoGP race. He has 121 points in the championship ahead of Quartararo (115), Spaniard Maverick Vinales (109), and Italian Andrea Dovizioso (106).

Frenchman Quartararo, who started from pole, struggled and finished down in 18th place. One of the riders attempting to fill the void left by Marquez is his younger brother and Honda teammate Alex Marquez who, after a slow start to his rookie season, has finished second in two straight races. Six-time champion Marc Marquez was overjoyed.

Meanwhile, seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi's quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 means he will also have to miss next weekend's Grand Prix of Teruel at the same Aragon circuit.

MotoGP 2020: Danilo Petrucci wins French MotoGP

 A wet race at Le Mans saw Danilo Petrucci take the top spot. He finished 2.1 seconds ahead of Moto2 World Champion Alex Marquez, who delivered a wonderful ride to finish P2 having started from P18 on the grid. The final podium spot was taken by Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), followed by Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), and Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) finished P9 and lower.

The race was delayed due to the thick grey clouds over the track and tensions climbed in the time between the sighting lap and the race being declared wet, which made it a completely unfamiliar territory for two top riders – Quartararo and Mir. The riders could come at any time to swap to their dry-weather bikes. Miller and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) had a lightning start but it was an early end for Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) as he crashed at Turn 3. The front was soon a Ducati 1-2-3.

Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was battling with Quartararo and eventually found a way past, with the Frenchman dropping back down the order at a rate of knots. Crutchlow and Bradley Smith maneuvered their way past Quartararo before Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) was through at Turn 13. Oliveira and Quartararo were wide though and shooting through was Alex Marquez, the Repsol Honda Team rider producing a stunning first opening few laps in his first wet MotoGP race to get into P8. 

A quick Championship check with 18 laps to go saw Quartararo in P11 and Mir sitting P19, with Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) also outside the points – a golden opportunity for Dovizioso and Miller, as well as the rest to get themselves right back in the 2020 title hunt.

F1 2020: Lewis Hamilton wins Portugal Grand Prix

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton has become the most successful driver in terms of victories in Formula 1 history, after a dominant display at the Portuguese Grand prix saw him claim his 92nd victory from teammate Valtteri Bottas and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Having started from pole position, Hamilton’s victory looked in serious doubt after a dramatic opening lap that saw him get passed by both Bottas and the McLaren of Carlos Sainz – Sainz then taking the lead from Bottas a lap later, as the Mercedes pair struggled to get their medium tyres fired up.

Verstappen had had his own dramatic first lap, connecting with Sergio Perez and sending the Mexican spinning, forcing Racing Point into an early pit stop. Both drivers had a strong recovery though, Verstappen eventually climbing back into a comfortable third, while Perez made it up to P7 – the Mexican passed in the latter stages by Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc backed up his stunning P4 in qualifying with the same position in the race, Ferrari appearing to have cracked their recent race pace issues with a strong performance from the Monegasque. He finished ahead of the AlphaTauri of Gasly – the Frenchman driving an excellent race to take fifth – and one-time race leader Sainz in sixth.

Despite all that, the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix will be remembered most of all for the moment where Lewis Hamilton became Formula 1’s most successful driver of all time in terms of victories – a mighty record that came after yet another mighty drive from the six-time World Champion.

 

NBA 2020: Los Angeles Lakers beat Miami Heat to win title

The Los Angeles Lakers, fueled by superstar LeBron James triple-double, dominated the Miami Heat 106-93 to win a record-equaling 17th NBA Championship but their first in a decade.

James added another chapter to an epic career, delivering 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists as he captured his fourth NBA title with a third different team as well as earning NBA Finals Most Valuable Player honors for the fourth time.

Anthony Davis, playing in his first title series after years of frustration in New Orleans, added 19 points and 15 rebounds as the Lakers completed a four-games-to-two triumph in the best-of-seven championship series more than eight months after the death in a helicopter crash of team legend Kobe Bryant – who led the Lakers to their last title in 2010.

The series in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida, capped not only an emotional season for the Lakers with the loss of talisman Bryant but a season of uncertainty and upheaval for the NBA as players grappled with the coronavirus pandemic and the demands for social and racial justice sweeping across the United States. 

The Heat, who had stunned the Lakers on Friday on the back of Jimmy Butler’s gritty triple-double, couldn’t produce another miracle in the face of Los Angeles’ stifling defense. Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 25 points and 10 rebounds and Butler and Jae Crowder added 12 apiece, but Miami simply had no answer for the knockout blow Los Angeles delivered in the first half.

 

F1 2020: Lewis Hamilton wins Germany Grand Prix

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton has matched the career win record of Michael Schumacher with this 91st F1 Victory at the Eifel GP, triumphing over the Red Bull of Max Verstappen at the Nürburgring, as Daniel Ricciardo secured his first podium for the Renault squad.

Hamilton had been outmuscled by his pole-sitting teammate Valtteri Bottas at the start of the race but passed the Finn on Lap 13 of 60 after Bottas locked up at Turn 1 – before a loss of power forced Bottas into retirement six laps later, Mercedes’s first DNF of 2020.

From there, Hamilton then had a relatively comfortable run to his record-equalling win #91, overcoming a Safety Car restart – coming after McLaren’s Lando Norris had retired on Lap 44 – to win from Verstappen by 4s, Hamilton’s victory poignantly coming in front of Schumacher’s son Mick, who was due to drive in Friday practice for Alfa Romeo this weekend, and on Schumacher’s home turf to boot.

Ricciardo headed off the Racing Point of Sergio Perez, who came home P4, ahead of the sole remaining McLaren of Carlos Sainz – while a stealthily brilliant race from AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly saw him take P6 after a late pass on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque just managed to hold off the second Racing Point of super-sub Nico Hulkenberg, who did a fine cameo job in place of Lance Stroll to jump from P20 to P8. 

The top 10 was rounded out by the Haas of Romain Grosjean in P9, taking his first points of the season, while Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi claimed the final points-paying position, just holding off the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.

Rafael Nadal won French Open 2020

Rafael Nadal tied Roger Federer with 20 Grand Slam titles by producing a nearly perfect performance against Novak Djokovic in the French Open Final. Nadal is the oldest French Open champion since 1972 and the more than 15 years between his first and most recent Grand Slam titles is the longest such span for a man.

Nadal equaled long-time rival Federer for the most major singles tennis championships won by a man and added to his own record at Roland Garros with No. 13 on the red clay, courtesy of a surprisingly dominant 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory over the No. 1-ranked Djokovic. 

When Nadal ended it with an ace, he dropped to his knees, smiled widely and pumped his arms. Nadal, No. 2 in the rankings, improved to 100-2 at the French Open, including a combined 26-0 in semi-finals and finals, and picked up his fourth consecutive title in Paris. The 34-year-old left-hander from Spain previously put together streaks of four French Open championships from 2005-08, then five in a row from 2010-14, to go alongside his four trophies at the US Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the Australian Open.

Nadal is now even with Federer for the first time since each man had zero Slams to his name in 2003. Federer's first arrived at Wimbledon that year; Nadal, naturally, earned his first in France in 2005, by which point he trailed 4-0. Djokovic's loss left him at 17 majors; had he won, the trio's standings would have read 20-19-18. Djokovic had won 14 of the last 18 matchups against Nadal, and led 29-26 overall, including a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win at the 2019 Australian Open final.

MotoGP 2020: Fabio Quartararo wins Catalan MotoGP

France’s Fabio Quartararo produced a thrilling and perfect ride to claim a resounding victory at the Catalan MotoGP, his third of the season which sends him top of the World Championships standings. Joan Mir came through to take second and is now eight points behind Quartararo in the standings while Alex Rins completed the podium.

The race began in dramatic fashion with Andrea Dovizioso, who led the title race by a single point from the Frenchman and Maverick Vinales, taken out in the opening lap after tangling with Johann Zarcho.

Quartararo, on a Yamaha, won the opening two races of the season but has struggled since then, failing to reach the podium in the last five races. But the Frenchman, who showed signs of a return to form in the last race at Emilia Romagna when he came fourth, was back to his best in Barcelona.

Starting from pole, alongside the fellow Yamahas of Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi, he set a fierce pace which put the pressure on the field, especially those trying to close him down. One who suffered was Rossi who had taken advantage of a wobble by Morbidelli with 11 laps to go to move into second spot. Two laps later, however, trying to make up ground on the flying Quartararo, the 41-year-old slid into the gravel on turn two, his race over.

Morbidelli, who won in San Marino two races ago, looked good to take second but could not hold off Mir who swept past him with two laps to go. He then lost a place on the podium as Rins, who started down in 13th, put the gloss on an excellent race. Quartararo heads the standings with 108 points, eight clear of Mir.

F1 2020: Valtteri Bottas wins Russian Grand Prix

Mercedes Valtteri Bottas scored his second win of 2020 at the Russian Grand Prix, benefitting from a penalty for his pole-sitting teammate Lewis Hamilton that left the six-time champion third at the flag, as Max Verstappen claimed Red Bull’s first-ever podium at Sochi.

Hamilton began the race on the back foot, after a pair of practice start infringements on his laps to the grid led to him being handed a 10s penalty mid-race, ruling him out of contention for the win, as he came home in P3.

Bottas, meanwhile, had passed Verstappen for second at the race start, before benefitting from Hamilton’s penalty to enjoy an untroubled run to the chequered flag for the ninth win of his career, at the venue where he scored his first back in 2017. It would have been an important confidence booster for Bottas, too, with Finn’s previous victory having come at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix back in July.

Behind the podium positions, a quiet but effective race for Racing Point’s Sergio Perez saw him come home fourth, while despite having a five-second penalty hanging over him for not running through the Turn 3 rejoining bollards after going off the track, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo had enough pace in hand to maintain P5 at the flag, ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in sixth. 

Esteban Ocon passed his Renault teammate at the start for P4 but eventually fell back to the seventh place he started the race in at the chequered flag, ahead of home hero Daniil Kvyat. Rounding out the top 10, a late stop from the second AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly allowed him to battle through to P9, the Frenchman passing the Red Bull of Alex Albon, who came home P10, having started P15 after receiving a five-race penalty for changing his gearbox.