Motorsport Roundup: A Historic MotoGP Win For Aprilia, GT World Challenge Europe Season Opener, And F1 Heading To Las Vegas In 2023

While this past week may not have been as action-packed as the week before, there was enough racing to satiate that motorsport thirst. We had the third round of the 2022 MotoGP season at Argentina and the season opener of the GT World Challenge series at Imola. Off the track, Formula One will be heading to Las Vegas in 2023, and nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb is expanding his motorsport exploits beyond off-road racing. Here’s everything that went down over the last seven days:

MotoGP 

The 2022 Argentina Grand Prix could be best described as a fairytale weekend for Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia. The former finally scored his long-awaited maiden win in the premier class on his 200th MotoGP start, while Aprilia scored their first win since their return to MotoGP in 2015. But it certainly didn’t come easy, as Aleix Espargaro, who was starting on pole position, was beaten off the line by Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin. 

It was an extremely close battle for the race win for most of the race, with Espargaro finally making the race-winning move stick with four laps to go. Suzuki’s Alex Rinz rounded off the top three finishers. With this win, Aleix Espargaro leads the riders standings by seven points to KTM’s Brad Binder.

GT World Challenge Europe

 

Arjun Maini couldn’t have begun the 2022 GT World Challenge Europe on a better note, with the Indian driver scoring a podium in third place on his debut. Piloting the Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside co-drivers Hubert Haupt and Florian Scholze, the trio drove a strong race to finish third in the Gold Cup class for the Haupt Racing Team.

Formula One

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The Formula One calendar is set to expand even further in the USA, as the sport will be heading to Las Vegas in 2023. But unlike racing in a car park 40 years ago, this circuit will be the third longest in the calendar at 6.12km. Featuring 14 turns and three long straights, the street circuit will pass through plenty of iconic Las Vegas attractions like Caesars Palace, the Bellagio as well as casinos along the famous Strip. Also, the race will be held on a Saturday night instead of the usual Sunday timeslot. While a specific date hasn’t been revealed, it’ll be held in November.

DTM

We all know nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb is well known for his success in off-road motorsports. But, the rally legend will be making his DTM debut with AF Corse at the DTM season-opener in Portimao. He’ll be joined by Felipe Fraga in the sister AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 machine.  The 2022 DTM season opener is scheduled to run from April 30 to May 1.

The coming week will serve us the third round of the 2022 Formula One season at Australia, with MotoGP heading to Austin Texas. Formula E will head to Rome for the fourth round of the season.