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SPORTS
YOUNGEST
DRIVER TO WIN
A FORMULA 1 RACE
On 15 May 2016,
Max Verstappen
(NLD) won the
Spanish Grand Prix
at Montmeló in
Spain aged 18 years
228 days. The Red
Bull tyro – son of
former F1 driver Jos
Verstappen – became
the first Dutch driver
to register a victory.
He had switched from
Toro Rosso to Red
Bull Racing just days
before the event.MOST POLE POSITIONS IN A
GRAND PRIX MOTORCYCLE CAREER
From 17 May 2009 to 23 Oct 2016, Marc Márquez
(ESP) racked up 65 pole positions. This total
comprised 37 MotoGP poles, 14 Moto2 poles and
14 in the 125 cc class. The record changed hands
throughout the 2016 season, with Jorge Lorenzo
(ESP) eventually matching Márquez’s feat by
taking pole for the final race in Valencia on 13 Nov.YOUNGEST DRIVER TO 100 FORMULA 1 PODIUM FINISHES
Three-time world Formula 1 (F1) champion Lewis Hamilton (UK) was 31 years
276 days old when he finished third at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Mie
Prefecture, Japan, on 9 Oct 2016. He became only the third F1 driver to reach
the mark, behind legends Alain Prost (FRA, in 1983) and Michael Schumacher
(DEU, in 2002). Only Schumacher made 100 podium finishes from fewer starts.On 27 Nov 2016, Nico Rosberg (DEU) won his first Formula 1
world title – only to retire just five days afterwards!Fastest speed in an
NHRA drag racing funny car
In the world of drag racing, “funny cars” are
notable for their forward-mounted engine and
tilt-up fibreglass or carbon-fibre automative
body. At a National Hot Rod Association (NHRA)
event in Topeka, Kansas, USA, on 20 May 2016,
Matt Hagan (USA) took advantage of a fast track
and cool weather to reach a terminal velocity
of 335.57 mph (540.04 km/h) from a standing
start over 0.25 mi (402.3 m). “When you get
conditions like this on a track that’s this fast,
these cars will really fly,” two-time champion
Hagan said afterwards.Most miles led in a NASCAR race
Martin Truex Jr (USA) led the 2016 Coca-
Cola 600 for 588 mi (946 km), or 392 of
the 400 laps. Truex Jr took the chequered
flag for the win, his first of 2016 and his
fourth in NASCAR (National Association for
Stock Car Auto Racing). The race was held
at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord,
North Carolina, USA, on 29 May.Most MotoGP race winners
in a single season
The 2016 MotoGP season featured an
unprecedented nine different winners. They
were: Marc Márquez, Jorge Lorenzo, Maverick
Viñales, Dani Pedrosa (all ESP), Andrea Iannone,
Andrea Dovisioso, Valentino Rossi (all ITA), Jack
Miller (AUS) and Cal Crutchlow (UK). Remarkably,
rounds 6–13 of the championship featured eight
consecutive different winners.Most points by a driver in a Formula 1 career
By the close of the 2016 season, Mercedes
driver Lewis Hamilton had amassed 2,247 world
championship points over the course of his
career. His nearest rival was four-time world
champion Sebastian Vettel (DEU), with 2,108.MOST DAKAR RALLY QUAD BIKE
CATEGORY WINS BY AN INDIVIDUAL
Marcos Patronelli (ARG) won his third Dakar Rally
quad bike race in 2016; he had previously won
the event in 2010 and 2013. The 2016 race took
place in Argentina and Bolivia over 13 gruelling
stages. Quad biking is a family affair for the
Patronellis – Marcos’s brother Alejandro has won
the Dakar Rally twice and came second in 2016.Most consecutive World Rally Championship
points finishes by a constructor
At the 2002 Monte Carlo Rally on 20 Jan,
Ford drivers came third and fourth. It was the
start of an incredible 212 consecutive points
finishes for the constructor, stretching to the
2017 Monte Carlo Rally on 22 Jan.Most World Rally Championship
race wins by a country
Between 26 Jan 1973 and 22 Jan 2017, France
secured 184 race wins at the World Rally
Championships. The victories were achieved
by 18 different drivers, including two
speedy Sébastiens: Loeb (78 wins)
and Ogier (39 wins).Stéphane
Peterhansel and
Jean-Paul Cottret
could have won eight
Dakar Rallies. In^
2014,
they received team
orders not to challenge
leader Nani Roma amid
fears the two cars
might crash.MOST DAKAR RALLY WINS
An off-road endurance race open to
both amateur and pro drivers, the Dakar
Rally originally ran from Paris, France,
to Dakar in Senegal, although the race
has also been staged in South Africa
and South America. The driver-navigator
team of Stéphane Peterhansel and
Jean-Paul Cottret (both FRA) has won
the rally seven times: in 2004–05, 2007,
2012–13 and 2016–17. Not content with
victory on four wheels, Peterhansel
has also won six times on a motorcycle.