Motorsports
Sardinia Slam Dunk for Ogier
Sebastien Ogier claimed his third win of the 2024 World Rally Championship (WRC) season after a gritty performance at the Rally of Sardinia, held over the weekend in Olbia, Italy.
The eight-time world champion, driving for Toyota, led the rally going into Sunday with a 17-second advantage over Hyundai’s Ott Tanak. Despite a tense moment on the final stage where he failed to make a tight corner and had to reverse, Ogier held on to take the win.
“In the ruts, I just couldn’t turn the car,” Ogier explained. “There was no speed at all, so I didn’t try to force it. I preferred to stop and reverse. Not ideal. Still, it was enough to win.”
This marks Ogier’s fifth career win in Sardinia and his 64th WRC victory overall. The result pushes him to second place in the drivers’ standings, just 19 points behind leader and teammate Elfyn Evans.
Evans, who encountered a delay due to a wheel change on Saturday, finished fourth. Despite missing the podium, he remained upbeat: “We have to be satisfied with this weekend. We’re in the championship battle with these guys. They were very fast.”
Ott Tanak closed the gap on Ogier to just 8 seconds but had to settle for second, while Finland’s Kalle Rovanpera finished third, about 50 seconds behind the leader. Rovanpera now trails Ogier by a single point in the overall standings.
Toyota’s dominance continues with six wins in six rounds this season. The team also repeated its podium lineup from the previous rally in Portugal.
Takamoto Katsuta, also driving for Toyota, rounded out the top five. Meanwhile, reigning champion Thierry Neuville of Hyundai went off-road on Stage 5 and struggled to recover, ending the rally in 19th place and out of the points.
Next up for the WRC is the Acropolis Rally in Greece, scheduled for late June.
Spielberg, Austria | Marc Marquez returned from MotoGP’s mid-season break showing no signs of slowing down, setting the pace in Friday’s practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring.
The six-time MotoGP champion, who has already racked up five straight victories this season, is chasing more than just another win. Marquez has never triumphed in Austria, a rare blank spot in his decorated career.
“I’ve been super close here many years,” Marquez said. “I always lose against the red bikes—but now I’m on the red bike, so let’s see if we can finally do it.”
Now riding for Ducati’s factory team, Marquez has looked nearly untouchable, completing five consecutive weekends with both sprint and race wins. He leads the championship by a commanding 120 points over his younger brother Alex Marquez, who races with Ducati’s Gresini satellite outfit.
Alex sits second in the standings, holding a 48-point cushion over Francesco Bagnaia, last year’s champion and a specialist in Austria with three consecutive wins at Spielberg. But the younger Marquez faces an uphill task this Sunday after being handed a long-lap penalty for his collision with Honda’s Joan Mir in Brno.
“The challenge will be to do a perfect weekend and lose the least time on the long lap,” Alex admitted. “We need to qualify well and try to make up ground before the penalty.”
Friday’s action confirmed Marc’s dominance, topping the morning session by three-tenths of a second over Bagnaia, and edging KTM’s Pedro Acosta by two-tenths in the afternoon. Qualifying takes place Saturday, followed by a 14-lap sprint. The main 28-lap race happens Sunday.
Meanwhile, Honda LCR’s Somkiat Chantra will sit out both Austria and Hungary. The Thai rider underwent surgery for ligament damage in his right knee, an injury sustained during training after the Dutch round. He has already missed races in Germany and Brno.
“Imagine a scooter faster than your car—160 km/h on EDSA. Would you ride it, or would you run from it?”
If this hits our roads, it’s either the coolest thing you’ll see this year… or the quickest way to trend on Facebook for all the wrong reasons.
UK-based Bo is building the Bo M Turbo, an electric scooter aiming to break the world speed record at over 160 km/h. That’s faster than most cars in Metro Manila traffic—if you can even reach full throttle before hitting a jeepney.
The Turbo packs a 24kW dual-motor system, a 1.8kWh battery, Formula 1-inspired cooling, and quad-piston disc brakes. It even has a power-to-weight ratio higher than a Bugatti Veyron.
Bo’s team includes former Formula 1 and Bloodhound Land Speed Record engineers. They’re taking the Turbo to Bonneville Speed Week in Utah to prove it’s the fastest scooter in the world.
Built for Speed, Priced for the Rich
- Top speed: 160+ km/h
- Range: Up to 241 km at cruising speed (28 km/h)
- Price: Around $29,500 (~₱1.7M)
Not exactly a GrabBike replacement—this is for someone with a Mercedes-AMG in the garage who wants a smaller toy.
The Cheaper Option
Bo also sells the Model M for about ₱94,000, with a 35 km/h top speed and 48 km range. Good for city commutes without scaring pedestrians.
Would you ride a 160 km/h scooter in Manila, or should it stay on the race track?
Spain’s Alex Palou clinched his third consecutive IndyCar season title — and fourth in five years — after finishing third at the Portland Grand Prix on Sunday. The race win went to Australia’s Will Power, with Denmark’s Christian Lundgaard in second.
Palou joins Ted Horn, Sébastien Bourdais, and Dario Franchitti as the only drivers in series history to win three straight championships. The 28-year-old now sits third on the all-time title list, behind A.J. Foyt’s 10 and Scott Dixon’s six.
“This has been an amazing season, an amazing five years with Chip Ganassi Racing,” Palou said. “I couldn’t be happier. I tried everything to overtake Lundgaard but couldn’t make it today.”
With 626 points — 151 clear of Pato O’Ward — Palou secured the title with two races left. O’Ward’s hopes ended early after an electrical failure on lap 21 left him eight laps down, forcing him to settle for 25th place, his worst finish of the season.
Palou’s 2025 campaign has delivered eight wins, including the Indianapolis 500, and he still has a chance to match the single-season record of 10 victories with Milwaukee and Nashville remaining.
Power’s triumph was his second straight and 45th career win. “It’s a big win for the team. We’ve had a rough year, but this one was hard-fought,” he said.
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