DANVILLE, Va. – It was another unpredictable, one-lap shootout for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge on Saturday, but this time at Virginia Int’l Raceway during the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix.

With mixed weather conditions throughout the race and a series of full-course cautions in the final 30 minutes, the field took the green flag for one last sprint around the 3.27-mile circuit with just over two minutes remaining in the two-hour race.

Jesse Lazare in the No. 69 Motorsports In Action McLaren GT4 led the way and was trying to fend off a hard-charging Trent Hindman in the No. 7 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport for Park Place Motorsports, who had jumped from seventh to second in the final half-hour.

The two drove into turn four, but Hindman inched the nose of his Porsche a bit too deep on the inside, making contact with Lazare’s McLaren and causing him to spin.

While the No. 7 Porsche went on to cross the finish line first, a post-race penalty was assessed for incident responsibility, and the win was awarded to second place, the No. 60 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 of Kyle Marcelli and Nate Stacy.

“I was a bit surprised to see it go green, to be honest with you,” said Marcelli, who had an intense battle of his own with Lazare for the lead before the final caution. “I knew it was going to be high risk. You’re either going to come out a big winner or a big loser, so I was kind of in survival mode. I just wanted to bring it home and get a respectful result.

“At the end of the day, we crossed the line second. Sometimes you’ve just got to be there, that’s racing they say. You’ve got to go to the end until the checkered flag.”

The win is the first of the season for Marcelli and Stacy and the duo’s second podium after a runner-up finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July.

“It really came down to letting me know we were going to switch to rain tires and just kind of tough it out until we could get to a point where we could change and get to the pit stop,” added Stacy. “It was super tricky and one of those things where you have to tiptoe around and make the best of it.

“It was a crazy end of the race, but it couldn’t have gone any better, it was super awesome. Thanks to everyone at KohR and Ford Performance, it was great racing.”

After starting from the pole position following Friday’s canceled qualifying session due to weather, championship leaders Tyler McQuarrie and Jeff Westphal expanded their points lead with a second-place finish. They now lead Fergus and Lazare by 24 points, 230-206.

Sneaking onto the podium in third place was the No. 80 BimmerWorld Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Ari Balogh and Mike Skeen. The pair started sixth on the final restart but moved up to give Skeen his best finish to date, while Balogh matched his own previous best.

In the TCR class, FAST MD Racing drivers Nick Galante and James Vance secured their first victory of the season.

“We’ve been fast all year, but little mistakes just kept popping up, and I think we just ran out of mistakes to make,” Galante said. “The first four laps, I thought we made a wrong choice but then it slowly started to dry out and I started clicking off laps and started catching the leaders.”

Vance sat second behind Jonathan Morley in the No. 61 Roadshagger Racing Audi ahead of a final-lap sprint to the checkered flag. Vance ultimately made the move midway through the final lap to the inside of Morley who, with his co-driver Gavin Ernstone, was also seeking a first win in the series.

“At that point, I think my nerves were fried,” said Vance. “I thought, ‘Might as well go for it, we have a green-white checkered coming up.’”

The win was Galante’s ninth in the Pilot Challenge and was the first for Vance and the rookie IMSA team, FAST MD Racing.

“It feels great,” said Vance of his first Pilot Challenge win. “The series does an amazing job putting these events on. Racing with FAST MD, Speed Syndicate and Racing to End Alzheimer’s has been an absolute pleasure this year and I’m glad we could bring this to them. But I feel like we earned this. We should’ve been here a few times this year. We’ve just had some bad luck and I think today, everything that could go right went right and the little things that could go wrong didn’t.”

Relegated to second place, Morley found himself in the middle of a three-wide battle between the No. 21 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai of Mason Filippi and the No. 54 JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi of Stephen Simpson. Contact between the three would force Morley off track and into the tire barrier, finishing eighth.

Filippi and co-driver Harry Gottsacker finished second – one race after their first win at Road America earlier this month – and closed the gap to just five points, 224-219, over teammates and championship leaders Michael Lewis and Mark Wilkins in the No. 98 Hyundai. Simpson and Michael Johnson finished third for their second podium finish of the season.

ALTON, Va. – Cedric Sbirrazzuoli and Paolo Ruberti came out on top of a wet and wild Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America event Saturday at Virginia Int’l Raceway.

The race started under yellow due to wet conditions, and the 16-car field was on slick tires. These conditions were an advantage for the more experienced drivers in the field to navigate the 17-turn, 3.27-mile circuit.

A seven-minute caution period started the 50-minute race, before former Super Trofeo champion Shinya Michimi led the field to the green flag. He assumed the lead for the first few laps of the race.

He held the overall and Pro class lead for three laps before Richy Antinucci cut to the inside and passed him in turn one. The four-car Pro class was tightly spaced for the next few minutes of the race until Andrea Amici made contact with Michimi around turn 11. That allowed Cedric Sbirrazzouli, in the No. 27 Dream Racing/Lamborghini Dallas entry to move into second place.

As the mandatory pit window opened with 30 minutes remaining, Antinucci still held the lead as he pulled in to turn his car over to Corey Lewis with 28 minutes to go. The No. 27 stayed out and ended up pitting late in the window as Paolo Ruberti took over the wheel.

After that cycle was complete, Ruberti was in the lead and worked hard over the last 20 minutes to hold off Lewis. The lead was less than a second for most of the next 10-12 minutes, and then Lewis made a bold move at the end of the back straightaway with seven minutes to go. Ruberti pushed him out of the way though as they moved through traffic and held onto the lead and he drove the car to their first victory of the season. Michimi and his teammate Brandon Gdovic finished in third.

“That was a good battle with Corey,” Ruberti said. “We had some touching together and we can be proud to be the winners today.”

“The start was quite tricky. I didn’t want to make any mistakes and risk it in the first few laps,” Sbirrazzuoli said. “I knew the car was strong in the dry and I was waiting for the conditions to improve. I saw an opportunity as the cars ahead of me were battling and I was waiting to take advantage of that situation. I managed to pass both and was able to catch the leader. At that point, it was too risky to overtake right before the pit window opened, so we were able to give Paolo a clear track to take the lead.”

Early in the race in the Pro-Am Class, Patrick Liddy held an early lead in the No. 24 US RaceTronics/Lamborghini La Jolla entry. As the pit window opened, the season’s class leader – the No. 09 entry from US RaceTronics and Lamborghini Vancouver – was the first to pit and Damon Ockey turned over to Jacob Eidson. He took no time in assuming the lead and slowly pulled ahead for their sixth win in seven races.

Liddy and Ron Atapattu finished second while William Hubbell and Bruno Junqueria in the No. 69 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing entry was third.

The Am Class once again featured a battle between two young drivers in Steven Aghakhani and Madison Snow. Aghakhani, 16, held the early lead and was first to pit with 27 minutes to remaining.

Following the pit window, Snow assumed a slim class lead until Aghakhani spun in turn 11 with 18 minutes remaining. From there, Snow held a comfortable lead for the remainder of the race to earn his fourth class win of the season. Sheena Monk in the No. 7 Dream Racing, Lamborghini Palmyra finished in third.

The LB Cup perhaps provided the most drama of the race, as Chad Reed enjoyed an early class lead before Thomas Lovelady overtook him in the class-leading No. 08 entry from GMG Racing/Lamborghini Newport Beach, shortly before both cars stopped in the mandatory pit window.

Lovelady turned the car over to class leader Mel Johnson, and he remained in the lead for most of the second half of the race – until the end.

Justin Price took over for Reed and had stayed close to Johnson. On the last lap, he made a late move to overtake the No. 08 and go on to earn the second victory for he and his partner, the Supercross star who is in his first year of Super Trofeo.

Ashton Harrison and Stephanie Cemo in the No. 43 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing/Lamborghini Paramus continued their strong season with a third-place finish.

Real Madrid's early optimism was punctured by an 88th-minute equaliser from Real Valladolid's Sergi Guardiola as Zinedine Zidane's side stumbled to a 1-1 draw in their first home game of the La Liga season on Saturday.

Karim Benzema looked to have fired Madrid to a second straight win after last week's confidence-boosting 3-1 victory at Celta Vigo when he scored in the 82nd minute with a splendid piece of skill.

The Frenchman, Madrid's top scorer last campaign, controlled a pass with his back to goal and swivelled before striking his finish into the far corner to give the home side a deserved lead.

- ESPN fantasy: Sign up now!

Serbian striker Luka Jovic had gone close to breaking the deadlock earlier in the game when he headed against the crossbar barely a minute after coming off the bench, while Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez also spurned chances.

Valladolid had offered little in attack but grabbed a shock equaliser with only their second shot on target when Guardiola struck through the legs of Thibaut Courtois to complete a swift counter-attack after Toni Kroos had surrendered possession.

The goal plunged a happy Santiago Bernabeu crowd into silence and left Madrid with four points after two games.

"I'm left with a bitter taste because we did the hardest thing, which was to score in a second half where we did not produce our best performance," Madrid coach Zidane told a news conference.

"It's a bad feeling when you concede an equaliser so soon after scoring. We played well in the first half, but we were unable to find the net."

Real were without suspended midfielder Luka Modric but Rodriguez made his first appearance in a Madrid shirt for over two years in a team containing 10 players that were in the squad when Zidane first took charge in January 2016.

After a strong start in the unforgiving summer heat of the Spanish capital, Madrid struggled to maintain their intensity after the interval but found a breakthrough when it looked least likely due to the quick thinking of Benzema.

They were powerless to deal with the speed of Valladolid's counterattack which saw Guardiola level six minutes later, however, although Zidane said the draw was not down to his side's waning energy levels.

"We were less convinced of ourselves in the second half," he added.

"We did not play with fluidity and when we lack that we run into problems. But we cannot blame our result on the heat, our problems today were not physical ones."

Lionel Messi has been ruled out of Barcelona's game against Real Betis on Sunday after suffering a setback in his return from a calf injury.

Messi originally sustained the knock earlier this month and missed Barca's tour of the United States and their 1-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the league last Friday.

He returned to full training earlier this week and was expected to be in the squad for Betis' visit this weekend, but felt some discomfort when training on Friday. Barca then took the decision for the Argentina forward to train alone on Saturday.

- When does the transfer window close?
- Transfer grades: Tracking every big club's deals
- All major completed transfer deals

Coach Ernesto Valverde has said he will not take unnecessary risks by rushing Messi back, despite the fact that Barca are already missing Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele due to injuries.

"We can't take a step back with his recovery," Valverde said in a news conference. "If Messi is not 100 percent, he will not play."

Messi has not played a competitive game since Argentina beat Chile in the third-place playoff at the Copa America in July.

Suarez and Dembele, meanwhile, were both injured in Barca's surprise opening day defeat at San Mames last Friday. The Uruguay striker will be out until after September's international break and Dembele is set to be sidelined for five weeks.

Dembele angered the club by not revealing the extent of his pain after last Friday's game, with the severity of his injury only being established at training on Monday.

Sporting director Eric Abidal met with the France forward's agent on Friday to translate Barca's disappointment in the player, whose professionalism away from the pitch also threw up questions last year.

Valverde refused to be drawn on events, saying that "a big deal" is made of everything Dembele does and that he would not comment on the issue.

Antoine Griezmann, therefore, is the only fit forward in the first team. B team attackers Carles Perez and Ansu Fati have been training with the squad this week and could feature against Betis after included in Valverde's 18-man squad.

Barca's shortage in attack shows why they are still attempting to bring Neymar back to the club, with a third and possibly final offer expected to be made to Paris Saint-Germain in the coming days.

"Neymar's a PSG player and we have to focus on Sunday's game, which we're obliged to win after losing our opener," Valverde said.

"It's not something which affects us. If we were affected by all the rumours out there, we wouldn't be able to play.

"We're used to it and you have to be able to deal with these things."

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praised his side's intensity as they took control at the top of the Premier League with their third consecutive win of the campaign in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Arsenal.

After wins over Norwich City and Southampton, the European champions, who were league runners-up last term, needed to step up their game for the visit of Unai Emery's Gunners who were also unbeaten -- and that is exactly what they did.

- Ratings: Salah 9/10, Matip 8/10 as Liverpool dominate Arsenal

"It was a brilliant game from my side so early in the season. It was outstanding. It was a performance full of power, energy, greed and passion, which I think you need to have against a team like Arsenal," said Klopp.

"We are still really early in the season and throwing such energy on the pitch is exceptional. The work rate of the whole team was exceptional. Tactical discipline was exceptional apart from maybe 10-15 minutes," he said.

Although Liverpool eased off in the latter stages and allowed Arsenal to score a consolation goal, Klopp was still well satisfied with what he witnessed.

"For 80 minutes we were completely in charge of the game. We are not Disneyland, we do not need to excite everyone in every second," said the German.

Mohamed Salah was the decisive figure -- turning David Luiz to gain a penalty which he blasted home in the 49th minute and then beating Arsenal's former Chelsea defender out wide before scoring an outstanding solo goal.

"The decision about the penalty I think was absolutely obvious. Mo's third goal was absolutely amazing, but the pedigree of the boys is sensational. Our identity is intensity, and we showed that today," said Klopp, who also had praise for his two Brazilians on the field.

"Roberto Firmino what a player he is, unbelievable. I am really happy with the performance. I did not see a bad player tonight or a player that played under his level. Fabinho played sensational," he said.

Liverpool have a five-point advantage over champions Manchester City, who pipped them to the title by a solitary point last season.

City play their third match of the league campaign at Bournemouth on Sunday.

LIVERPOOL, England -- The clock struck 57 minutes and for Arsenal, already 2-0 down against Liverpool, the nadir was still to come.

Mohamed Salah received possession on the right flank and beat David Luiz with such ruthlessness that social media was awash with obituaries for the defender's career. The Egyptian forward sped goalward, with Nacho Monreal's presence proving to be no impediment either, before planting the surest of finishes into the bottom left corner of Bernd Leno's goal.

The home side had a third goal through a piece of wondrous football, and despite Unai Emery's side following a different tactical script on this latest visit to Liverpool's red side, their all-too-familiar inferiority on this ground had been extended: this 3-1 reverse means that Arsenal have conceded 25 times in the last seven league games at Anfield, of which they have drawn two and lost five.

"We are the champions, champions of Europe" had been the opening chant from the home support after kickoff and what followed on an atypically sunny Merseyside evening served as a reminder of how wide the gulf is between these two sides, something a late Lucas Torreira consolation strike could not disguise.

Having begun the season with back-to-back wins, Arsenal arrived with confidence and a plan to starve Liverpool of space centrally. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola once remarked that Jurgen Klopp's men "especially like to attack from inside, through the middle. I don't think there is another team in the world attacking in this way with so many players capable of launching moves in an instant" and Emery wanted to stifle that strength with a narrow midfield.

Klopp admitted later that he "didn't expect the system they played," and the tactic encouraged Liverpool to use the twin threat of full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the flanks, with the visitors backing themselves to deal with crosses and fire the ball quickly upfield to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe, isolating them against Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip.

It was partly successful for 40 minutes, with Arsenal coping with aerial bombardment and sustained pressure. But while the best chances for the north Londoners came via their front men, they were created by Liverpool's mistakes. The standout statistic of the first half was that Klopp's charges made 128 passes in the attacking third, while Arsenal only managed 18.

- Klopp pleased by Liverpool "greed, passion"
- Ratings: Super Salah | Pepe good, Luiz very bad
- Luck Index 2019: Man City unlucky? Man United worse than sixth?
- ESPN Premier League fantasy: Sign up now!

Liverpool's superiority would eventually be reflected on the scoreboard, beginning when Joel Matip headed in Alexander-Arnold's corner four minutes before half-time. During a 10-minute spell after the interval, Salah got the better of Luiz twice -- first winning a penalty as the centre-back tugged on his shirt, then leaving him in his shadow for his second and Liverpool's third -- to leave Arsenal on the canvas.

"I think now we have reduced the difference with Liverpool over the 90 minutes," Emery said post-match. "We've reduced the difference from last year (Arsenal lost 5-1 at Anfield in December 2018), but at the moment it's not enough."

That last line summed up matters succinctly. Arsenal were not so awful as they have been here -- they were organised, they had a blueprint and they created chances in the first half -- but that was nevertheless not enough against the champions of Europe.