Driving in his distinctive pink BWT Lechner Racing Porsche 911 GT3, Luxembourg’s Dylan Pereira did his best to catch Dutch driver Larry ten Voorde on the Monza circuit in Italy on Sunday, but could not make up the ground of starting fourth on the grid. Ten Voorde had started in pole position, although Pereira did manage to get up to third at one stage. However, with the finish in sight and the Dutchman unassailable in first place, Pereira allowed his team mate, Leon Koehler, who needed points for his junior championship title battle, to overtake him.

The result meant that Pereira finished as runner-up in the championship, which is nevertheless a fine achievement. Sports minister Dan Kersch even sent him a message of congratulations and fans gathered at Luxembourg airport on Sunday evening to welcome Pereira home. In a fortnight he will compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Allemagne 2020, a race that is part of the famous 24 hours of Le Mans.

Luxembourg win Nations League opener

Luxembourg’s national football team beat Azerbaijan 2-1 in Baku. The Red Lions had to come back from going a goal down on 43 minutes, when Sheydaev headed home a cross for the hosts. But just three minutes after half time, following concerted pressure form Luxembourg, Azerbaijan’s Krivotyuk put the ball past his own keeper to level the scores. Then on 72 minutes Azerbaijan defender Nagiev handled in the area and Rodrigues stepped up to convert the resulting penalty and give Luxembourg the win.

Hoffmann sets new 1500-metres record

Luxembourg athlete Vera Hoffmann has set a new national record for the women’s 1500 metres. Running in Heusden in Belgium, Hoffmann finished with a time of 4:11:44, beating Charline Mathias’ record set in 2017 by 13 one-hundredth of a second. It is the third national record Hoffmann has set this year following best times in the 3,000 metres and the mile.