LAKEVILLE, Conn. – As they did one year ago, Team TGM had reason to celebrate following the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Lime Rock Park.

In 2018, co-drivers Owen Trinkler and Hugh Plumb delivered the first victory for the team and owner Ted Giovanis in the No. 46 Mercedes-AMG GT4 at Lime Rock. The win was seemingly inevitable, as they collected top-10 finishes in each race before the event.

However, heading to Lime Rock this year, the No. 46 team had yet to score a top-10 result halfway through the season.

It was a disappointing start, especially as Trinkler and Plumb looked to defend their 2018 Grand Sport class title. Returning to Lime Rock provided the perfect opportunity to turn their misfortunes around, and that’s exactly what they did after two hours of racing on Saturday.

Trinkler kicked off the weekend in perfect style on Friday, earning his third Motul Pole Award of the year to start the race from the No. 1 spot and that’s where they wound up with the help of a timely caution and lapped traffic.

“Really it’s all about the Team TGM guys,” said Plumb. “It’s the team. I do a very small part of this. I was given a car by Owen Trinkler, the best in the business, and really just had to go out and do my job. My hat’s off to all the TCR guys. All of them stand on the gas and they’re absolute professionals. It really went our way today. I’m so happy for Mercedes, obviously Ted Giovanis, everything he provides to us, and the Michelin tire, what a great tire through and through.”

“It’s just the strategy Joe Varde, the engineer, did over this weekend,” Trinkler added. “We worked on long run pace. I’m just so happy for my guys. We’ve struggled a lot this year and we kept fighting together as a team. In those moments, things might kind of start separating, but we got stronger during that period and it shows now. We’re going to be a contender for the rest of the season. I knew that going in we had the keys to win and it’s good to come back to a place where we got two in a row.”

It was a narrow victory – just .377 seconds – over the No. 39 Carbahn Motorsports Audi R8 GT4 of Jeff Westphal. After a restart with 45 minutes remaining in the two-hour race, Westphal found himself seven seconds behind Plumb with several lapped cars between them.

Although he was able to close the gap on Plumb, Westphal had to defend his own position against Eric Foss in the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. The podium would remain as is, with Westphal sharing driving duties with Tyler McQuarrie and Foss co-driving with Jeff Mosing.

With the runner-up result, Westphal and McQuarrie – who won at Sebring International Raceway in March – jumped into the GS championship lead with four races remaining. They’re just three points, 170-167, ahead of Devin Jones and James Clay in the No. 82 BimmerWorld Racing BMW M4 GT4, who finished fourth.

Meanwhile in the TCR class, Hyundai is making its presence felt following its best performance yet.

Co-driving the No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Veloster N TCR, Michael Lewis and Mark Wilkins scored a near-perfect victory on Saturday after starting from the pole position.

Leading the beginning of the race, Lewis gave way to fellow rookie Alex Papadopulos in the No. 3 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR – albeit for 16 laps – but by design to put the team in a better position later in the race.

“It’s always nice to put it on pole,” said Lewis, who earned his second Motul Pole Award of the season on Friday. “For the first stint before handing off to Mark, the Veloster N built by Hyundai was solid. It was just taking care of the tires because I didn’t really know what the pace was going to be like. I saw the Alfa behind me pushing hard, so I was wanting to let them go. I let him set the pace and then I could manage it from there.

“Thank you to all the fans for coming out to Lime Rock. It’s such a pleasure to race in front of such a passionate group of fans here.”

For Wilkins, it was last year’s winner Stephen Simpson looming large in his mirror, eager for another victory with co-driver Michael Johnson. In fact, Simpson momentarily took the lead in his No. 54 JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS3 LMS with 12 minutes remaining, but Wilkins quickly relegated him to second place where he and Johnson would ultimately finish for their best result of the season.

“We had a battle with some GS cars and I must say the competitors raced really hard and fair today,” said Wilkins. “Even that GS car, I had to stove it into (Turn) 2 and he could’ve turned in on me and it’s game over. But we had to take that risk to try and beat the Audi and it paid off. And he raced the Audi hard, so he gave the same to our competitors.

“I think all of our competitors raced us really fair and it was a lot of fun battling. This Lime Rock track was good to us today after a tough Canadian Tire Motorsport Park race and Michael did a really great job.”

Making it two Hyundai Veloster N TCRs on the podium for the first time this season was their Bryan Herta Autosport teammates Mason Filippi and Harry Gottsacker in the No. 21 machine. Both rookies in the series, the third-place finish was a career best for both drivers.

Lewis and Wilkins now lead the driver TCR championship standings with 168 points, jumping from third to first after the top two teams – the No. 37 L.A. Honda World Racing Honda Civic TCR of Shelby Blackstock and Tom O’Gorman (now 158 points), and the No. 61 Audi of Jonathan Morley and Gavin Ernstone for Roadshagger Racing by eEuroparts.com (154 points) finished 11th and 12th, respectively.

Neymar and his entourage are confident Barcelona will soon put together a strong cash-plus-players offer to entice Paris Saint-Germain into a sale, sources have told ESPN FC.

The Brazil international has been back with the French champions and training this week after returning late from his homeland. However, the 27-year-old has not featured in either preseason friendly in Germany against Dynamo Dresden or FC Nurnberg after he remained insistent on leaving this summer.

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Despite the confidence on Neymar's side, sporting director Leonardo confirmed on Saturday that PSG haven't yet received any formal offers from Barca for their €222 million man. However, that could only be a matter of time, with super-agent Pini Zahavi -- heavily involved in discussions -- confident that the Spanish giants will soon find the money to make the deal happen.

Sources add that Barca are remaining hopeful that Neymar's relationship with the Ligue 1 giants remains frosty and that PSG will ultimately lower their demands and make an agreement more feasible.

Leonardo recently told Le Parisien the club are aware that Barcelona are not in a strong position as buyers, and that they do not have enough money to purchase the South American without including multiple players in any potential deal.

Neymar has not travelled to Germany for either one of PSG's friendly fixtures this week, but sources say the club have made the necessary arrangements for their No. 10 to be part of their travelling party to China next week -- barring any dramatic developments.

PSG will face Inter Milan and Sydney FC in China before Rennes in the Trophee des Champions -- a match for which Neymar is suspended, although he is awaiting the results of an appeal.

ESPN's Jonathan Johnson, Julien Laurens, Sam Marsden and Joao Castelo-Branco all contributed to this report.

Former Zimbabwe batsman Grant Flower believes Zimbabwe Cricket's perpetually crisis-ridden state might have contributed to the ICC's decision to suspend them. The drastic decision, which immediately froze all payment to Zimbabwe Cricket and barred the nation from participating in ICC events, took many by surprise, particularly since this was the first time a Full Member had been sanctioned in this manner.

Flower, however, believes their lamentable track record, as well as the glacial rate of progress despite the ICC ploughing bail-out cash into the board over the years, had counted against them.

"I can understand the player's frustrations, but unfortunately with Zimbabwe cricket, it sounds like the ICC have just had enough," Flower told ESPNcricinfo. "Regarding money owed and money lent, and money the ICC gave Zimbabwe that they're probably never going to see again, it sounds like maybe they've run out of patience.

"I think over time, the ICC have just been worn down by all the corruption, the fraud, and the problems with Zimbabwe cricket not being able to get its house in order. Maybe they thought a jolt to their system would make some people realise what was expected of them. They would have reasoned Zimbabwe needed to understand that at some stage, you've got to put your house in order, and we can't keep propping you up like we have been doing over the years.

"We can go back so many years to when things were very badly run. It's pretty obvious what was happening at the time and the people responsible who were involved. And I think the current crop of players and the interim board, who are really good people, are being punished because the ICC felt they needed to take a stand."

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The most ironic, and from a Zimbabwean point of view, frustrating, point in this state of affairs is the timing of the suspension. In September 2018, former Olympic swimmer and Zimbabwe's most famous sportsperson Kirsty Coventry was appointed minister of Sports and Recreation Committee (SRC). Under her stewardship, there was a belief that a corner had been turned, and that Zimbabwe Cricket would benefit from the increased accountability the revamped SRC was expected to deliver. It was a point Flower accepted and said both the timing of the decision, as well as the consistency with which it was applied across the cricketing world, didn't quite add up for him.

"My understanding is the SRC is a public body and not exactly government," he said. "I think there's quite a big difference there and I'm surprised the media hasn't picked up on that. The SRC now is slightly more transparent. I don't know all the members, but I do know Kirsty Coventry and she's a good lady, a good person. And a few other people that are involved in it you could say the same of. So if you got someone at the top like Kirsty there, her hands might be tied in a lot of places, but there should be more good things happening than bad.

"Regarding government intervention, it's curious how the ICC have decided to interpret that. There are other countries where it's publicly stated that some of the times that certain things will be discussed and decided at government level. So I think there's quite a big contradiction there from the ICC."

"It is a sad day, and maybe some of the players are going to move on. Most of the players are still quite young, like Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis, who left their county to return to Zimbabwe."

Zimbabwe cricket isn't a stranger to deep crises. Flower played a part in arguably the gravest one of all, when in 2004, he, along with 14 other white cricketers, walked out on Zimbabwe cricket after captain Heath Streak was dismissed following a disagreement over the squad's re-selection based on what Streak interpreted as unofficial racial quotas. It saw 21-year old Tatenda Taibu become captain, and an inexperienced side suffer a drastic downturn in results. One year later, they would withdraw from Test cricket for over half a decade.

Flower believed this particular bind was even graver, especially because it effectively prevented Zimbabwe from playing cricket altogether. "Even when we were leaving, there were a good bunch of youngsters coming through that could get the country's cricket going. But that's not the case anymore, with even the domestic competitions unable to take place. For it to be stopped until October at the very least, the guys are probably going to go and play in the leagues, seek a future elsewhere to try and look after their families, So yeah, I certainly think this is far worse."

An impending exodus threatens to plunge Zimbabwe cricket into further turmoil. Solomon Mire has already announced his retirement, while Sikandar Raza hinted at it in a post on Twitter and interview with ESPNcricinfo. Kyle Jarvis wryly noted that "we are not far behind you" in response to Mire's decision to quit, while, with no money to pay players, administrators and groundstaff, a secure future with the international side looks next to impossible. Flower said it was a harsh lesson Zimbabwe were learning, and hoped there could be a favourable resolution to the dispute in October.

Been a pleasure playing alongside this man over the last couple years . Enjoy retirement @kingsoly21 seems we are not too far behind you pic.twitter.com/TucyYeWwnd

— Kyle Jarvis (@KyleJarv89) July 20, 2019

"Unfortunately in Zimbabwe corruption is rife. When you live there, you get used to it. It's quite an unhealthy state of life and affairs which has become the norm. It's quite frightening, but until you live there, you don't quite actually realise that.

"The scapegoats are the players and some of the good administrators. I saw this thing on Twitter about Harare Sports club, it's a beautiful ground and at the moment it's just going to waste because no one is being paid and the staff have left. It's publicly owned by Harare Sports Club and the upkeep is paid for by Zimbabwe Cricket so unfortunately those sorts of things may just go to ruin.

"It is a sad day, and maybe some of the players are going to move on. Most of the players are still quite young, like Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis, who left their county to return to Zimbabwe. They could still ply their trade elsewhere; it'd be a pity it won't be for their country of birth.

"But life goes on eh?"

For those players with no offers abroad and the hundreds of non-cricketing staff that ZC employ, even that's barely a guarantee.

Derbyshire 166 for 5 (Godleman 70*) beat Yorkshire 164 for 8 (Thompson 50, Watt 4-19) by five wickets

Yorkshire's David Willey runs in to bowl to Billy Godleman. The ball is speared down leg side and races away for five wides. On the instant a deep-throated cheer comes up from most of the supporters who ring Queen's Park. Chesterfield's festival, once threatened, always cherished, has ended in a five-wicket victory for the home side over one of their traditional rivals.

The atmosphere is festal; the air, almost tropical earlier in the day, has freshened towards evening. A jazz band will play in the beer tent later and you can be assured plenty of ale will be supped to celebrate Derbyshire beginning their Vitality Blast campaign with a win. Godleman, whose unbeaten 70 has anchored his side's innings, is applauded back to the pavilion. Home supporters are grateful their side had five balls to spare. English cricket has had enough of ties.

Visiting supporters rightly bemoan the absence of Matthew Fisher who has had to leave the field in the third over of Derbyshire's innings with a dislocated right shoulder. Fisher's left-arm pace bowling might have made 164 an even more competitive total. As it is, Yorkshire have had to bowl 11 overs of spin, not necessarily a problem on a used pitch, but a limitation on Tom Kohler-Cadmore's options. None of which worries the children who are playing games on other used wickets or the supporters enjoying the sun and wondering if Dominic Cork's arrival as T20 coach will help their side reach their first T20 Finals Day.

Yet Cork is not the first man to be interviewed when the players emerge from the pavilion and nor does Godleman win the man of the match award. That honour falls to Mark Watt, a 22-year-old slow left-armer from Edinburgh, whose four wickets for 19 runs ensured Yorkshire's array of T20 hitters never launched an uninhibited assault on the shorter boundaries around the tree-lined ground.

"Meet George Stephenson" suggested one flyer outside the restaurant at Queen's Park this lunchtime. "Meet a medieval surgeon," urged another as the custodians of Chesterfield's museum placed even greater faith in the power of time travel or the credulousness of the town's tourists. We will never know how many of the five-and-a-half thousand souls who crammed into one of England most famous outgrounds took the tourist board up on their offers. But to judge from the folk queueing up for the post-match signing session quite a few people were interested in meeting Watt.

One could see their point. Victories over Yorkshire are treasured occasions in these parts and Watt's wickets on his Derbyshire debut did more than anything to set up his side's triumph. Nor were Watt's victims death-over donations. Brought into the attack in the sixth over from the Pavilion End, he removed Willey, Harry Brook, Gary Ballance and Nicholas Pooran to leave Yorkshire on 77 for 6 after 11.3 overs of their innings.

At that point Watt's accuracy and subtle changes of length and pace looked to have done enough to ensure his team would be chasing a low total. Ballance, bowled when reverse-sweeping, and Pooran, hitting the seventh ball of his Yorkshire career straight to long-off, had given him all the assistance he needed.

But the visitors were rescued by Jordan Thompson, whose maiden first-team fifty included five crowd-scattering sixes. Thompson put on 66 in less than seven overs with Jonny Tattersall before he skied Logan van Beek to wicketkeeper Daryn Smit in the penultimate over. Tattersall's canny 39 off 31 balls and Fisher's big six in the final over saw Yorkshire to 164, a plainly defendable total on a used pitch. Fisher's day, however, was about to get very much worse when he dived to prevent a boundary and stood up clutching his shoulder.

In time, of course, so did Yorkshire's, although Dom Bess's removal of Luis Reece and Wayne Madsen, both leg before wicket, kept the result in doubt. Yet at no point in Derbyshire's innings did they lose control of their pursuit and scoring eight runs an over is a familiar task for batsmen as experienced as Godleman. Leus du Plooy helped when he got inside the line of Bess's final over and whacked two sixes to the right of the Norway maple. Du Plooy was caught at short third man off Thompson for 30 but Matthew Critchley maintained the momentum towards what is Derbyshire's fifth successive T20 win over Yorkshire.

And maybe visiting supporters sporting their Leeds and Sheffield United shirts should not have been too surprised. Yorkshire have not won a T20 game at Chesterfield since 2014 and home fans clearly arrived ready to drink deeply whatever the outcome. Even the school bus was a bar. Well, it is the end of term.