The 2024 World Rally Championship continues with the Vodafone Rally de Portugal as drivers are going all-out to beat the scorcher of a gravel fest, especially a heated rivalry between Kalle Rovanpera and Sebastien Ogier, who just recently received the Legion of Honour medal from French President Emmanuel Macron last week.
Having proved that Dani Sordo is not out of the game following his Shakedown performance, Thierry Neuville claims early advantage while Takamotor Katsuta tops mid-way, Elfyin Evan's co-driver relying on a cellphone for call notes, and Kalle Rovanpera leads after Friday stages. As disaster hit the leading Toyota drivers, it became an opportunity for Sebastien Ogier to storm his way to the lead.
Screengrab from WRC
After a dramatic weekend in Portugal, Sebastien Ogier became the first to achieve six Vodafone Rally de Portugal victories after winning at the rate of 3:41:32.3, 7.9 seconds ahead of Hyundai driver Ott Tanak. Thierry Neuville completes the podium with a third-place finish.
The next event is the Rally Italia Sardegna this May 30th.
May is the biggest month of the year for IndyCar racing. That's because it's the month of the Indy 500. Before that, the drivers get warmed up on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the Indy 500 is held, for the Sonsio Grand Prix.
The 85-lap road course action in IMS begins with the chaos that sent five cars going off-course followed by heavy contact between Colton Herta and Marcus Ericsson. A lap later, Romain Grosjean went off-track during his attack on Santino Ferucci. Lap 20 saw Will Power performing a decent attack on Alex Palou for P10.
Halfway through the race, Alexander Rossi is leading with Fittipaldi and McLaughlin hunting him down. As numerous drivers pitted themselves on Lap 63, Lap 65 saw a caution triggered when Luca Ghiotto spun. With the race having 17 laps to go, Alex Palou tried to fend Will Power and Christian Lundgaard off while in the lead but a lap later saw Josef Newgarden and Jack Harvey colliding while Rasmussen went off track.
Screengrab from IndyCar
The Sonsio Grand Prix in IMS Road Course ends with Alex Palou nailing his 10th career victory after beating the likes of Will Power and Christian Lundgaard.
Post-race, Palou leads with 152 points, 12 points ahead of Will Power, while Scott Dixon is in 3rd with 127 points.
The next race is the biggest IndyCar race of all, the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500. It's happening this May 26th, 2024. Don't miss it!
The 12th season of the FIA World Endurance Championship continues with the most grueling take on Spa Day, the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. From intense clashes to horrifying crashes, this endurance race brought an extremely new meaning to Spa Day.
Screengrab from WEC
For the first time ever since the beginning of the Hypercar era of WEC, a privateer Hypercar-class team took the checkered flag as the #12 Hertz Team JOTA 963 brought down the #6 Porsche Penske 963 and the #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P to win the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. In the LMGT3 class, meanwhile, the #91 Manthey EMA 911 GT3R is the winner, beating the likes of the #92 Manthey PureRXCing 911 GT3R and the #60 Iron Lynx Huracan LMGT3 Evo2.
After Spa, Porsche leads the Hypercar class with 38 points, 15 points ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing. In the LMGT3 class, meanwhile, the #91 Manthey PureRXCing leads with 38 points.
The next event is the greatest endurance race of all, the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. It's happening this June 12th. Don't miss it!
Atlanta was the next stop for the 2024 Formula DRIFT Pro Championship for Round 2, known as the Road to the Championship event.
Screengrab from Formula Drift
Frederic Aasbo won his first event of the season behind the wheel of his GR Supra drift car when he defeated Simen Olsen in the finals. James Deane was able to clinch third place.
The next event on the circuit is SCORCHED, which will take place from May 31 to June 1 in Orlando, Florida.
So it begins. The Ncuti Gatwa era of BBC's megahit TV series, Doctor Who, the first of the bi-generation era, kicked off with a two-episode worldwide premiere. It's an honor to have Russell T Davies returned as the showrunner of this show as Gatwa's time as The 15th Doctor has officially begun.
Doctor Who Season 1 Episode 2
HOLD IT! Ensure you have already watched the episode before my quick review. Come back here when you have already watched it.
- The National Security Council supports the call to investigate the Chinese Embassy of Manila for its possible violation of Philippine law.
- The Bureau of Correction Director General Gregorio Catapang ordered all operating prisons and penal farms to stop the conduct of "strip searches" on those visiting the PDLs.
- The self-styled "eunuch maker" who mutilated paying customers and streamed it online was jailed for a minimum of 22 years.
- Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu expressed defiance over the US threat to stop weapons shipments. The US has already paused shipments of munitions over fears of civilian casualties in Rafah.
- Israel heads to the Eurovision finals despite protests,
- Apple faces backlash over damages on musical instruments and books in an iPad commercial.
- The Yu-Gi-Oh! card games set two Guinness World Records.
- The horror game franchise Poppy Playtime is getting a movie adaptation.
- Former NBA player Glen 'Big Baby' Davis is sentenced to 40 months in prison over fraud scheme.
- A new Lord of the Rings movie is coming this 2026 and it will be directed by Andy Serkis.
- Marvel's Fantastic Four movie casts Ralph Ineson as the villain Galactus as well as John Malkovich.
Since its inception in 2013, the Vision Gran Turismo project has invited the world's best carmakers to create concept cars that fit the theme of the Gran Turismo franchise. As a general rule, since the Gran Turismo series is purely Japanese, they only allow carmakers, foreign or domestic, that are available in Japan. However, there's one carmaker that broke the general Vision Gran Turismo rule.
Can you guess what this is? I can tell you, it's not what you think it is. It's a car that broke the general Vision Gran Turismo rule.
This is the Genesis X Gran Berlinetta Vision Gran Turismo Concept. It's Genesis' entry to the Vision Gran Turismo concept and a real rulebreaker. Genesis, the luxury arm of the Hyundai Motor Group, is not available on Japanese roads, yet it managed to slip into the world of Gran Turismo under the radar.
So, what's it all about the Genesis X Gran Berlinetta Gran Turismo? This concept is the byproduct of Genesis' near-decade history since the brand emerged at the end of 2015. Unveiled at the Gran Turismo World Series 2023 World Finals, this concept features the ultimate expression of Genesis' signature design elements that debuted on the GV80 crossover in January 2020 such as the quad lights and the grille inspired by the Genesis logo.
It even sports a Magma exterior color that first appeared in the GV80 Coupe Concept, the exterior color no production Genesis model has, as of now.
Powering this concept is a twin-charged Lambda II V6 engine that produces 870HP of power and with the electric motor synchronizing the petrol engine, it produces a total output of 1071HP.
I'm going to take the Genesis X Gran Berlinetta Vision Gran Turismo Concept for a one-lap time attack around Watkins Glen. I know because this is the only place I can let it loose because the USA is a huge market for the Genesis brand, therefore, it's ideal. Anyway, let's roll the tape.
Having pushed this 4WD Korean cuisine around New York's finest race track, I did it in 1m52.075s. Not too shabby but a lot of effort is needed. Still, I did my best to get my first dibs on this Genesis Vision Gran Turismo concept.
For a concept that defied the general Vision Gran Turismo rule, because Genesis is not available in the Japanese market, the Genesis X Gran Berlinetta Vision Gran Turismo Concept demonstrates the Korean luxury brand's near-decade dedication to disrupting the rules of luxury cars. This is the template and the sign of things to come from Genesis. The more you know.
