F1 Japanese GP on NBCSN, NBC Sports app - MotorSportsTalk

One of the classic races on the Formula 1 schedule occurs this weekend, with the Japanese Grand Prix from the Suzuka International Circuit. It’s the second race of a back-to-back after Malaysia and third race in the Singapore-Malaysia-Japan early fall Asian swing on the calendar.

Additionally, the Formula 2 series has a standalone race weekend in Jerez, Spain as it closes on the end of its season.

You can see all the action of both races this weekend on NBCSN and the NBC Sports App from Suzuka and Jerez.

F1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX

Live coverage of Sunday’s race begins at midnight ET with an hour of pre-race in F1 Countdown, with lights out at 1 a.m. ET. Additional live TV coverage occurs for qualifying at 2 a.m. ET on Saturday, October 7 and free practice two at 1 a.m. ET on Friday, October 6 – all these on NBCSN. Free practices one and three will air on the NBC Sports App.

Since the Japanese Grand Prix returned to Suzuka in 2009 after a two-year detour to Fuji Speedway in 2007 and 2008, Mercedes AMG Petronas and Red Bull Racing have won seven of the eight races – the lone exception being Jenson Button in a McLaren Mercedes in 2011.

Sebastian Vettel won four times for Red Bull in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013, winning the World Championship in each of the last three years.

Meanwhile at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton won in 2014 and 2015 and Nico Rosberg here last year, and each has gone onto win the championship that year.

That means it’s been five years on the trot that the winner in Suzuka has gone on to win the World Championship.

With Hamilton on a 34-point lead with five races remaining, he can move even closer to his fourth title – which would match Vettel – if he can win this weekend.

Vettel and Scuderia Ferrari will be looking to stop the bleeding after two brutal races in Singapore and Malaysia for the team. The start line crash at Singapore saw Vettel’s deficit in the championship increase from three points to 28, while it grew a further six points last weekend after engine issues in qualifying and a rally back to fourth place from last on the grid. Kimi Raikkonen didn’t even get that far, unable to start, and after two races where he hasn’t completed a single race lap the Finn will be keen to get back on the board this weekend.

Ferrari hasn’t won here since Michael Schumacher did so in 2004. Raikkonen won a year later, one of his most famous victories in 2005, from 17th on the grid and after a last lap pass of Giancarlo Fisichella.

Malaysia Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen was second here last year to Rosberg, Hamilton third after a brutal start saw him drop back. Verstappen made his Grand Prix weekend debut here as a Friday driver in 2014. Somewhat surprisingly, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo has never stood on a podium in Suzuka, his best finish here only fourth in 2014.

As ever, Fernando Alonso is the only other active Japanese Grand Prix winner in the field, having won for Renault at both Suzuka (2006) and Fuji (2008). But for Alonso and McLaren Honda together, Suzuka’s been a site of agony the last two years, and the site of Alonso’s infamous “GP2 engine” radio transmission on the manufacturer’s home soil. Teammate Stoffel Vandoorne has been on excellent form of late with back-to-back seventh place finishes, and has experience in Japan from his time racing in Super Formula.

Here’s the F1 schedule, with stream links and TV network if applicable:

Practice 1: Thursday, Oct. 5, 9 p.m.-10:30 p.m. ET (Streaming)
Practice 2: Friday, Oct. 6, 1 a.m.-2:30 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
Practice 3: Friday, Oct. 6, 11 p.m.-12 a.m. ET (Streaming)
Qualifying: Saturday, Oct. 7, 2 a.m.-3:30 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
Pre-Race: Sunday, Oct. 8, 12 a.m.-1 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
Race: Sunday, Oct. 8, 1 a.m.-3 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
Post-Race: Sunday, Oct. 8, 3 a.m.-3:30 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
Race (Replay): Sunday, Oct. 8, 9 p.m.-11 p.m. ET (NBCSN)

The next race is the United States Grand Prix, on October 22.

The 2017 #JapaneseGP is upon us. Here's your times for this weekend's race from Suzuka. #F1onNBC pic.twitter.com/wVZtucMTwg

— F1 on NBC Sports (@F1onNBCSports) October 3, 2017

F2 AT JEREZ

Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria.
Saturday 8 July 2017
Charles Leclerc (MCO, PREMA Racing)
Photo: Mauger/FIA Formula 2
ref: Digital Image _56I3213

Formula 2’s lone standalone round of the season comes this weekend from Jerez in Spain, nearly 20 years on exactly from when the 1997 Formula 1 World Championship was decided in dramatic fashion after Michael Schumacher contacted Jacques Villeneuve at the Dry Sac corner, and Villeneuve won his first and only title on October 26, 1997.

A driver who could one day become an F1 World Champion, Monegasque star Charles Leclerc of Prema Racing, is poised to wrap the F2 title this weekend in Jerez, as he enters with a 59-point lead over Oliver Rowland.

Leclerc has won five times this season although hasn’t done so since Silverstone in July. He was disqualified at the Spa feature race after winning, following a technical infringement found in post-race inspection.

Both races will be streamed live via the NBC Sports App, with TV coverage occurring Saturday night, October 7 at 11 p.m. ET on NBCSN. This will be the lead-in to live Japanese Grand Prix race coverage on NBCSN at midnight ET.

F2 has this doubleheader race in Jerez, and then is off until the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend November 25-26, concluding its season along with F1.

Here’s the F2 schedule, with stream links and TV network if applicable:

Race 1: Saturday, Oct. 7, 8 a.m.-9:05 a.m. ET (Streaming)
Race 2: Sunday, Oct. 8, 8 a.m.-8:50 a.m. ET (Streaming)
TV coverage: Saturday, Oct. 7, 11 p.m.-12 a.m. ET (NBCSN)

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For the fifth time in 10 rounds of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season, the three riders at the top of the championship standings shared a podium and while those points tell one story, the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Detroit tell a slightly different tale.

SuperMotocross Power Rankings Detroit — *Cooper Webb is peaking at the right time. – Feld Motor Sports*

Chase Sexton has been all but perfect during the past 45 days with podium finishes in each of his heats and Triple Crown features. His only stumble during this period was a 10th-place finish in the Indianapolis Main. Last week, Sexton was perfect with wins in both his heat and the feature, although he needed a little help from an Aaron Plessinger mistake to take the top spot on the podium at the end of the night.

Cooper Webb finished fifth at Houston and was beginning to worry ever so slightly about his position in the points. Prior to the race in Tampa, he told NBC Sports that it was time to win and like Babe Ruth pointing to the outfield fence, Webb went out and captured it. Following that race, Webb has swept the podium and earned the red plate two weeks ago in Indianapolis. At Detroit, he added two more points on Eli Tomac as the season begins to wind down.

Tomac struggled with a stiff neck at Indianapolis and after a modest third-place showing in Detroit, he revealed he was still suffering a little. Webb and Sexton have been able to close the gap on Tomac in the past 45 days, but one of the main reasons he is so close in the points was a pair of wins that started the year. Seattle is going to be important for the defending champion because Tomac cannot afford to lose any more momentum with seven rounds remaining.

MORE: Chase Sexton inherits the win in Detroit

It appeared Jason Anderson was turning things around. He earned his fifth heat win at Detroit, which was also his sixth consecutive race (including features) in which he scored a top-five. A fall in the Detroit Main dropped him a lap off the pace and sent him home with a season-worst finish of ninth, causing a ripple effect in the SuperMotocross Power Rankings.

Justin Barcia was a huge part of the show last week in Detroit. He swapped positions with both Webb and Tomac in the middle stage of the race, which allowed Sexton to close the gap. Barcia finished fourth in that race to earn his third consecutive top-five. He’s been outside the top 10 only once in the first 10 rounds.

Adam Cianciarulo had a great start to the Main. He led a couple of laps before losing a lap and slipping back to eighth in the final rundown. That run was strong enough to elevate him three positions in the SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Detroit.

450 Rankings

This Week	Driver	Percentage Points	Last Week	Diff.
1.	Chase Sexton [2 Main, 6 Heat wins]	87.00	1	0
2.	Cooper Webb [2 Main, 1 Heat win]	86.71	2	0
3.	Eli Tomac [5 Main, 6 Heat wins]	84.57	3	0
4.	Jason Anderson [5 Heat wins]	80.71	4	0
5.	Ken Roczen [1 Main, 1 Heat win]	80.50	5	0
6.	Justin Barcia [1 Heat win]	79.07	7	1
7.	Aaron Plessinger	77.14	6	-1
8.	Adam Cianciarulo	69.75	11	3
9.	Christian Craig	68.86	10	1
10.	Justin Cooper	63.90	9	-1
11.	Justin Hill	58.57	15	4
12.	Dean Wilson	51.50	12	0
13.	Colt Nichols	51.25	13	0
14.	Shane McElrath	46.86	17	3
15.	Josh Hill	46.79	16	1
16.	Benny Bloss	45.31	18	2
17.	Jared Lesher	39.00		NA
18.	Joey Savatgy	38.63	14	-4
19.	Cade Clason	37.50	21	2
20.	Grant Harlan	35.54	23	3

Supercross 450 Points

The NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings look at the past 90 days in the 250 class in order to have a balanced comparison between the East and West divisions and Hunter Lawrence has been all but perfect this year. At Detroit, he earned his fifth win of the season and kept alive a streak of podium finishes in six rounds. He tied his brother Jett Lawrence with 10 250 wins one week before the West riders take to the track for back-to-back races at Seattle, Washington and Glendale, Arizona.

The Lawrence brothers are dominating the points in each of their respective divisions, which means the remainder of the field is battling to be best in class.

In the East, that rider is Nate Thrasher, who beat Hunter in a head-to-head matchup in their heat only to finish second in the main when the majority of points were awarded. Thrasher seems to have accepted his position in the championship standings, but that doesn’t mean he won’t keep trying for wins.

Haiden Deegan showed a lot of aggression in his heat last week. He threw a couple of block passes at his teammate Jordon Smith and set up a series of events that kept Smith from making the big show while Deegan settled into second in the preliminary. Deegan was unconcerned about how he raced his teammate and would not let a little controversy keep him from celebrating his second career podium in Detroit.

Supercross 250 Points

Jeremy Martin just keeps clicking off solid results. He won his heat last week by making a pass on Deegan and Smith while they were in the heat of their battle. Martin finished fourth in the Main, which means he continues to have only one finish worse than sixth in any of the features or mains.

Smith fell one position in the points standings, but the damage was even worse in SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Detroit. Crash damage in his heat contributed to a last-place finish in that race, for which he earned minimal points. He was not able to advance from the Last Chance Qualifier after stalling his bike in heavy traffic.

250 Rankings

This Week	Rider	Power Avg.	Last Week	Diff.
1.	Hunter Lawrence – E [5 Main, 5 Heat wins]	90.43	1	0
2.	Jett Lawrence – W [3 Main, 3 Heat wins]	90.30	2	0
3.	Nate Thrasher – E [1 Main, 3 Heat wins]	84.00	5	2
4.	Cameron McAdoo – W [1 Heat win]	79.80	9	5
5.	Haiden Deegan – E [1 Heat win]	78.21	7	2
6.	Jeremy Martin – E [2 Heat wins]	78.00	8	2
7.	Jordon Smith – E [3 Heat Wins]	76.77	4	-3
8.	Levi Kitchen – W [1 Main]	75.30	3	-5
9.	Mitchell Oldenburg – W	75.20	11	2
10.	RJ Hampshire – W [4 Heat wins]	74.50	17	7
11.	Max Anstie – E	74.43	6	-5
12.	Tom Vialle – E	72.07	12	0
13.	Max Vohland – W	71.56	10	-3
14.	Stilez Robertson – W [1 Heat win]	69.22	14	0
15.	Chris Blose – E	67.43	18	3
16.	Chance Hymas – E	67.10	15	-1
17.	Enzo Lopes – W	66.00	20	3
18.	Michael Mosiman – E	65.80	16	-2
19.	Pierce Brown – W	65.78	13	-6
20.	Phil Nicoletti – W	59.25	21	1

* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner and 90 points for each Heat and Triple Crown win, (Triple Crown wins are included with heat wins below the rider’s name). The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days for the 450 class and last 90 days for 250s (because of the split nature of their season).

POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 8 AT DAYTONA: Chase Sexton unseats Eli Tomac
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 7 AT ARLINGTON: Jason Anderson narrowly trails Tomac
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 6 AT OAKLAND: Perfect night keeps Tomac first
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 5 AT TAMPA: Sexton, Cooper Webb close in
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 4 AT HOUSTON: Tomac rebounds from A2 crash, retakes lead
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 3 AT ANAHEIM 2: Consistency makes Ken Roczen king
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 2 AT SAN DIEGO: Roczen moves up, Sexton falls
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 1 AT ANAHEIM 1: Tomac, Jett Lawrence gain an early advantage

Read more about SuperMotocross