MOTORSPORT: Ricciardo takes bull by the horns

Max Verstappen was the centre of attention at the latest Formula 1 race, but his Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo was the quiet achiever, splitting the Mercedes men as Nico Rosberg chalked up the three-pointed star's 12th win in 13 rounds of the world championship.

While Ricciardo's drive was disciplined and without fuss, he brought frivolity to the podium at Spa in Belgium, insisting interviewer and fellow Aussie Mark Webber drink bubbly from one of his racing boots – perhaps a 40th birthday present for the nine-time grand prix winner turned sports car world champion.

Will Power lost a little ground on his teammate Simon Pagenaud in the battle for the IndyCar title after one of the closest races in American open-wheeler racing, with three cars in a photo finish at Texas Motor Speedway.

And Chris Atkinson was impressive in his rallycross debut in Atlantic City, although a puncture wrecked his chances in the final.

Only one man can take it to the Mercs
The Belgian Grand Prix drew a bumper crowd and Daniel Ricciardo reckoned 99 per cent of the fans were supporting Max Verstappen, his teenage Red Bull teammate.

Verstappen's mother is Belgian and he has spent much of his life there, and most of the rest of it in the neighbouring Netherlands.

The only driver to win a GP this year other than Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, although Ricciardo has been robbed by his team of one and perhaps two victories, Verstappen qualified on the front row at Spa but was in the wars throughout the race.

He came under fire, particularly from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, for his aggressive tactics but the 18-year-old stood his ground. "If somebody doesn't like it it's his own problem," he said.

However, Verstappen ended up only 11th while Ricciardo motored from fifth on the grid, and losing places as the field left the start line, to second place – and his third consecutive podium – in what Red Bull team principal Christian Horner praised as "a great disciplined drive ... and amazing result".

Ricciardo knew his Renault-powered car did not have the pace to match top-qualifier Rosberg but said it had been "a good achievement" to keep Hamilton behind him after the triple world champion (and points leader again this season) had charged through the field from the rear of the grid, where the Mercedes driver had started due to penalties for engine changes.

"Three podiums in a row ... we're definitely making inroads [on Mercedes]," Ricciardo said.

"It's the second race that we've at least finished in front of one of them.

"The real start of the race was after the red flag [after Renault driver Kevin Magnussen's huge crash, from which he escaped with only a sore ankle].

"The only time I wasn't happy with the car was the first few laps.

"Some debris from the incident at turn one [involving Verstappen and the Ferraris of Raikkonen and Sebastien Vettel] hit the front wing and I had some damage up until we could change it during the red flag.

"Then the car was good. Nico just had a bit more pace than us [to finish 14.1 seconds clear], but I don't think we could have done too much more.

"To keep Lewis behind was great."

Hamilton got within striking distance of Ricciardo briefly but, after his last tyre change, wound up 13.5 seconds down on him.

Rosberg's victory was his 20th in F1 – all with Mercedes. He and Hamilton have each won six GPs this season, with Hamilton's championship lead trimmed by 10 points at Spa to just nine, with eight races remaining – the next at Italy's Monza next weekend.

Ferrari heads to its home event having gone four races now without either of its drivers on the rostrum. As the pressure for success mounts from chairman Sergio Marchionne, the signs are that Vettel as well as Raikkonen are not the racers they once were.

Formula 1 World Championship driver standings after 13 of 21 rounds – 1. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, Mercedes) 232 points; 2. Nico Rosberg (Germany, Mercedes) 223; 3. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia, Red Bull-Renault) 151; 4. Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Ferrari) 128; 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Ferrari) 124; 6. Max Verstappen (Netherlands, Red Bull-Renault) 115; 7. Valtteri Bottas (Finland, Williams) 62; 8. Sergio Perez (Mexico, Force India-Mercedes) 58; 9. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany, Force India-Mercedes) 45; 10. Felipe Massa (Brazil, Williams-Mercedes) 39; 11. Fernando Alonso (Spain, McLaren-Honda) 30; 12. Carlos Sainz Junior (Spain, Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 30; 13. Romain Grosjean (France, Haas-Ferrari) 28; 14. Daniil Kvyat (Russia, Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 23; 15. Jenson Button (GB, McLaren-Honda) 17; 16. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark, Renault) 6; 17. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany, Manor-Mercedes) 1; 18. Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium, McLaren-Honda) 1.

F1 constructor standings – 1. Mercedes 455 points: 2. Red Bull-Renault 274; 3. Ferrari 252; 4. Force India-Mercedes 103; 5. Williams-Mercedes 101; 6. McLaren-Honda 48; 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 45; 8. Haas-Ferrari 28; 9. Renault 6; 10. Manor-Mercedes 1.

Three-way photo finish in IndyCar
Will Power finished eighth in the IndyCar race that resumed at Texas Motor Speedway after having been postponed because of rain in June, while his championship rival and Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud was fourth.

But the excitement on the 2.4-kilometre high-banked oval was among the first three finishers.

Graham Rahal stole victory at the very end from James Hinchcliffe, who had dominated – leading 188 of 248 laps (177 of which were run at the weekend). The margin at the chequered flag was just 0.0080 seconds. Tony Kanaan was only 0.093 seconds from victory in third, with Pagenaud within half a second after backing out of four-wide racing to ensure he finished and retained his series lead.

Two races ago, after Power had won four of six races, the gap between the Frenchman and the Aussie was 58 points. A week ago it came down to 20 points, but now it's back out to 28 points.

The only remaining races are at Watkins Glen in New York State and Sonoma in California, the latter 'paying' double points.

If Pagenaud takes the title he will do it without an oval track win to his name yet.

While nine drivers are mathematical chances, realistically the fight is between Pagenaud on 529 points and Power with 501.

New Zealand's reigning champion Scott Dixon has slipped from fourth to sixth, on 397 points, after a crash at the weekend.

Texas marked the first success for Honda power against Chevrolet since the Indianapolis 500 in May and only its second of the season.

Both Rahal and Hinchcliffe have Honda engines.

Despite the quality of the racing, the crowd at Texas was estimated to have been 10,000 at best – further evidence of declining attendances at American motorsport after just 50,000 attended the recent Brickyard 400 NASCAR race at Indianapolis.

Atkinson sparks Subaru's rallycross program
Chris Atkinson breathed life into Subaru's campaign in America's Global Rallycross Championship, making his debut in the competition that combines gravel and tarmac surfaces on short courses.

The Queenslander, who was a full-time World Rally Championship driver for four years until Subaru folded its team in the global financial crisis, had talked of a move to rallycross for a couple of years.

It finally came after Subaru Rally Team USA contacted him about driving a third WRX STI entry for it because it hadn't won in Global Rallycross for two years.

In first practice at Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey, he was fourth; in final practice he was in the top five; then he qualified sixth – Subaru's best result of the year.

Then he was third in his semi-final before a puncture denied him a finish in the final.

"That sucks!" Atkinson tweeted. "Were running well in the top 6. Showed the car has some speed."

Subaru's regular participants in the series, Sverre Isachsen and Bucky Lasek, finished ninth and 10th, behind Nelson Piquet Junior in a Ford Fiesta.

Defending series champion Scott Speed, once a Red Bull F1 driver, took his third straight win in a Volkswagen Beetle for the Andretti family's team.

Atkinson said his arrangement had been a one-off but he would now talk to the Vermont Sports Car-run Subaru team about further outings.

The next Global Rallycross round is in Seattle on September 17.

Variety the spice of GT enduro
Four makes filled the top four places, with five in the top six, at the second round of the Australian GT Endurance Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Father and son Andrew and George Miedecke took victory in the 101-lap race in an Aston Martin Vantage that crossed the line 17 seconds ahead of the Walkinshaw Porsche 911 GT3-R of John Martin and Duvashen Padayachee.

The margin was reduced to 12 seconds because of a five-second penalty imposed on Andrew Miedecke for exceeding track limits.

The final podium position was claimed by the Audi R8 of Nathan Antunes and Greg Taylor.

Nathan Morcom and Grant Denyer were fourth in the McLaren 650S they drove to victory in the earlier enduro at Victoria's Phillip Island.

Another McLaren 650S was fifth in the hands of Warren Luff and Tony Walls, with Mercedes the fifth make in the top six, the Eggleston Motorsport entry driven by Peter Hackett and Dom Storey.

The Australian debut of the Lamborghini Huracan, driven by Jim Manolios and Ryan Millier for Trofeo Motorsport, ended five laps down and 20th of the 21 finishers – with three non-finishers, including two other Lambos, an R-EX and a Gallardo.

The remaining two rounds of the endurance championship are in New Zealand.

In the US at the weekend, Ryan Briscoe and Brit Richard Westbrook finished fourth in the latest round of the IMSA GT championship at Virginia International Raceway in their Ford GT – behind the victorious Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, another Ford and a Porsche 911 RSR in which New Zealander Earl Bamber was one of the drivers.