Thursday, June 16, 2016

What to watch this 24 Hours of Le Mans Weekend (June 16th - June 22nd)

  • Isle of Man TT. Insane action from the infamous Isle. Thursday @ 11pm - 12pm (VelocityHD) new
  • Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Europe; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice. Friday @ 9am - 11am (NBCSN(HD)) live 
  • Isle of Man TT. Insane action from the infamous Isle. Friday @ 11pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new  
  • Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Europe; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Qualifying. Saturday @ 9am - 11am (NBCSN(HD)) live
  • 24 Hours of Le Mans - 84th running of the legendary race for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Live from Le Mans, France. Saturday @ 8:30am - 2pm (FS1(HD)), 2pm - 4:30pm (FS2(HD)), 6pm - 6:30pm (FS2(HD)), 7pm - 7:30pm (FS2(HD)), 10:30pm - 12am (FS2(HD), and Sunday @ 12am - 2:30am (FS2(HD)) and 2:30am - 9:30am {Race Finish} (FS1(HD)) live - streaming on en.lemanslive.com
  • Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Europe; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Race. Sunday @ 8am - 11am (NBCSN(HD)) live
  • Top Gear (UK). Season 23 - Episode 3. Monday @ 9pm - 11pm (BBCAmerica(HD)) new
  • Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD)
  • Top Gear America. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (HistoryChannel(HD)) new
  • Wheeler Dealers. Tuesday @ 8pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) replays
  • Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
Great weekend ahead with the 84th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race through Circuit de Sarthe. We have all of the usual suspects along side Ford Racing and the all new Ford GT LM car, which I've been wanting to get a better look at all year. Porsche is coming off a strong 1-2 finish in 2015 and Audi wasn't to reclaim the throne. Toyota ran into some reliability issues late and they to want another good showing. Nissan is waiting in the wings too, with the GTR-LM. LMP1 has got story lines out the wazoo. Fox has expanded their coverage over last year, but FS2 is still barely available in the mid-atlantic. Thankfully the FS1 coverage is solid on the start and finish side of things.

We also have another F1 race, coming right off the Canadian Grand Prix at Gilles Villeneuve Circuit. Last week Ham took a second win in a row after taking pole, but the race start wasn't ideal. The wall of champions sucked a few more cars in over the weekend. Sainz makes up for hitting the wall with a good showing on race day. Verstappen is back to form, making Nico look desperate. Vettel (2nd) is looking strong yet again, while the Mercedes boys may need to revisit the clutch mechanism for starts. Watch out for those seagulls, man. Bottas hit the podium in 3rd for the first time in a while; the Williams benefiting from its suitability to the power track of Canada. With the checkered flag dropped the Driver's standings are as follows: Rosberg, Hamilton (-9), Vettel (-38), Ricciardo (-44), Raikkonen (-47), Verstappen (-66).

This time we'll be in controversial Azerbaijan, where protests have taken place regarding existing human rights issues. Reminiscent of Bahrain 2014, this is nothing new to F1 as Bernie is in the money making business. The story lines for F1 abound as Nico's once strong start is beginning to level out with the remaining field coming to form. While this circuit hasn't been run before the typical street track is hard to pass and rough when it comes to lack of runoff and barriers. However the initial look seems like it'll be much more friendly than say a Monaco; it should be interesting to see who adapts to this boxy new street track first. And with every new circuit is an opportunity to be the first to claim victory. It should be another great one.

Enjoy your weekends.
  
Video courtesy of Formula1.