June is now in the rearview mirror and with it, half the 2019 calendar is complete for Michelin Motorsport’s global championships.

The FIM MotoGP^TM World Championship had the busiest month of June, with three races in Italy, Catalunya and the Netherlands. After the Netherlands, the motorcycles raced in Germany to complete a stretch of four races in six weekends.

Meanwhile the FIA World Rally Championship raced twice in Portugal and Italy, and the ABB FIA Formula E Championship took to the streets of Bern, Switzerland.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans capped off the 2018-’19 FIA World Endurance Championship “SuperSeason.” The Prologue test for the 2019-’20 season is later this month.

IMSA kicked off June at Detroit with two of its classes. It then completed a back-to-back run at Watkins Glen and CTMP.

For past Michelin Motorsport check-ins from earlier 2019 races, see these links (May 28, April 30, April 1, March 11).

ABB FIA Formula E Championship

With a win from pole, DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne scored his series-high third win of the season as he looks to retain his ABB FIA Formula E Championship title.

The Bern track was fairly tight and made passing opportunities limited. Vergne held off Mitch Evans in one of the Panasonic Jaguar Racing entries. Sebastien Buemi in one of the Nissan e.dams cars finished third (recap here).

Vergne’s win coupled with a number of challenging races for his competitors has opened the title a bit, to where he’s now 32 points clear of the field heading to the New York City E-Prix doubleheader finale this weekend.

Provided he stays 30 or more ahead after the first race, he’ll clinch the title. Just 35 points cover second placed Lucas di Grassi to 11th place Oliver Rowland. DS Techeetah holds a 43-point lead over Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler in the team’s standings.

MotoGP^TM

Italian rider Danilo Petrucci (Ducati, Mugello, recap), Marc Marquez (Honda, Catalunya, recap and Germany, recap) and Maverick Viñales (Yamaha, Netherlands, recap) claimed the last four MotoGP^TM race wins.

Petrucci used the MICHELIN Power Slicks medium tires for front and rear to claim his first top level motorcycle win.

Marquez returned to the top a race later in Barcelona, at the notoriously abrasive Circuit de Catalunya. He used the hard and soft MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear there.

At Assen, Viñales raced on the medium and hard MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear. After starting second he briefly dropped to fourth, then recovered back to the lead.

Marquez won again in Germany a week later, his seventh in a row at the
Sachsenring, running hard and medium MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear.

After Germany, Marquez holds a 58-point lead in the championship.

WRC

Toyota’s Ott Tanak scored the FIA World Rally Championship win in Portugal in high heat (recap). This is his third win of the season, the first to that mark this year. Championship rivals Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and Sebastien Ogier (Citroen) were second and third.

An entirely different podium emerged in Sardinia, Italy, for Round 8 of the season (recap). Hyundai’s Dani Sordo claimed his second FIA WRC win of his career, first since 2013. He capitalized on Tanak’s demise when the Toyota driver incurred power steering problems. Ford’s Teemu Suninen and Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen completed the podium.

Just seven points cover the top three as WRC has only six rallies remaining and the summer break ahead. Tanak leads with 150 points, Ogier 146 and Neuville 143.

What’s Next

• Formula E: July 13-14, New York City, N.Y.
• IMSA: July 20, Lime Rock Park
• FIA WEC: July 23-24, Barcelona, Prologue Test
• FIA WRC: August 1-4, Rally Finland
• MotoGP^TM : August 4, Brno, Czech Republic