Currently reading: Motorsport wrap: Tanak takes Rally Germany victory

Ford Fiesta man uses strong wet run to take second career win. Plus IndyCar, Formula 3 and DTM latest

Estonian Ott Tänak claimed his second FIA World Rally Championship victory on Rally Germany, while woes for Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville allowed fellow M-Sport Ford driver Sébastien Ogier to increase his lead in the title race.

Tänak claimed the lead of the rally on Friday’s opening leg with a major push in wet conditions in his Ford Fiesta WRC. He then controlled the rally for the final two days, finishing 16.4sec clear of Citroën driver Andreas Mikkelsen.

“Everything was done on Friday with a perfect tyre choice and perfect run in tricky conditions,” said Tänak.

05 Tanak podium wrc

Title rivals Neuville and Ogier were involved in a major battle for third place until Neuville’s Hyundai i20 WRC suffered a suspension breakage. Ogier now leads Neuville by 17 points, with three rallies remaining.

Insight: The exciting future of the M-Sport rally team

Ireland’s Craig Breen was fifth in his Citroën C3 WRC, with Elfyn Evans sixth in his Fiesta.

Northern Irishman Kris Meeke was forced out of the event after crashing his C3 WRC on Thursday evening’s short opening stage.

Behind the scenes for Toyota's WRC return

IndyCar Series: Pocono Raceway

Will Power recovered from an early problem that put him a lap behind the field to take victory in the 500-mile race at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania last weekend.

The Penske driver lost ground after being forced due to a front wing problem, but he then used an alternate strategy to battle his way back to the front. He later held off teammate and points leader Josef Newgarden in the closing stages to secure victory on the 2.5-mile speedway.

Alexander Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner, finished third. There was also a strong drive from Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was hospitalised after a heavy crash in qualifying. Having been cleared to race, he charged from 21st on the grid to eighth.

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04 Power indy

FIA Formula 3 Championship: Zandvoort

British racer Lando Norris, who is backed by McLaren-Honda, claimed two victories from the three races at Zandvoort in the Netherlands to move into the FIA Formula 3 Championship points lead.

Norris claimed pole for all three encounters and won the first and third with ease. But he was handed a ten-place grid penalty for the second race after being judged to have ignored yellow flags. Callum Ilott was pole for that race and led from start to finish, with Norris taking third behind Jake Hughes. Harrison Newey, the son of F1 designer Adrian, completed a British sweep of the top four places.

03 Norris f3

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Round-up: DTM and Supercars

  • Ex-Formula 1 racer Timo Glock claimed his first win of the season in Saturday’s first DTM race at Zandvoort, leading a BMW sweep of the podium.
  • BMW’s Marco Wittmann crossed the line first in the second DTM race, but was excluded when officials were unable to take a fuel sample from his car. Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller inherited the win.
  • Jamie Whincup broke the record for most wins in the Australian Supercars championship at Sydney Motorsports Park. The Holden driver claimed the 106th victory of his career, giving him one more win than teammate Craig Lowndes.

02 Whincup supercars

Motorsport wrap: Formula 1 mid-season review

James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Acting magazine editor

James is Autocar's acting magazine editor. Having served in that role since June 2023, he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the world's oldest car magazine, and regularly interviews some of the biggest names in the industry to secure news and features, such as his world exclusive look into production of Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

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