Jorge Martin continued his great form from this morning with a dominant win in this afternoon’s Tissot Sprint race. Championship rival Marco Bezzecchi finished 2nd and reigning world champ Pecco Bagnaia finished in 3rd.
Both Bezzecchi and Pecco carrying injuries into this weekend from last weekend in Barcelona, both using all of the painkillers and adrenaline they could get a hold of to get through the sprint race today. Heroic performances from both riders.
Pecco fended off legend Dani Pedrosa and late charging Brad Binder at the end of the sprint, both KTM riders tried all they could to get by Pecco in the closing laps of the race. With his title rivals not at 100%, can Martin capitalise on this and win the main grand prix tomorrow? When Martin is in this kind of form, its hard to imagine any rider being able to stop The Martinator.
Image Credit: MotoGP
AS IT HAPPENED
Martin got off the line and off to a great start leading into turn 1. Pecco close in behind Martin through turns 2 and 3 with a gap already to Bezzecchi 3rd who was leading the rest of the group behind.
Pedrosa managing to get up the inside of Maverick Viñales into4th with Pol Espargaro up 6 places on the opening lap. A great start given the KTM GASGAS rider crashed twice this morning.
Onto the second lap the stand out overtake of the race happened as Binder went up the inside of both Luca Marini and Aleix Espargaro in one corner, up into 6th place. Binder was determined to catch those in front before its too late. The lead group of 4 already pulling away from the rest of the field now forming a gap at the front. Martin leading from Bezzecchi now up to 2nd pulling away from Pecco and Pedrosa 3rd and 4th.
Over the next few laps, the VR46 star Bezzecchi tried all he could to catch Martin ahead, losing it at one point at turn 16, gifting half a second back to Martin who controlled the race at the front throughout.
Binder eager to carry on the charge to the front was in a great battle for 5th place with Viñales and Marini. Eventually Binder coming out on top and keen to press on to catch the wildcard Pedrosa and Pecco battling for 3rd ahead of him.
Aleix Espargaro at this point was unable to keep pace with the battle in front eventually settling in 8th place. Aleix will be hoping for better tomorrow given he won the race last time out in Catalunya.
Moving into the final stages of the Tissot Sprint and Martin maintained his gap to Bezzecchi controlling the race from the front. Pedrosa was closing up behind the injured Pecco , ever keen to try and get onto the podium with only a few laps to go.
Just as Pedrosa was closing onto the back wheel of Pecco, Pecco responded putting his personal best lap time of the race so far. An incredible performance here with the pain he must be suffering after the horrific crash last weekend in Barcelona. Its nothing short of a miracle that Pecco is here competing this weekend.
Lap 11 of 13 now and as Pecco runs wide Pedrosa is right up behind Pecco with 2 laps to go. The first two places were sown up at this point, as Martin was over a second ahead of Bezzecchi in 2nd. Almost every rider in the field was on the brink of a long lap penalty, as Binder closed in on the Pedrosa and Pecco battle for 3rd.
Last lap now and the KTMs of Pedrosa and Binder are right up behind Pecco as Pecco is still resisting this charge hanging onto 3rd.
Into turns 11, 12 and 13 the factory Ducati just glides through with ease as Pecco creates just enough of a gap to keep 3rd place.
Jorge Martin takes the chequered flag and wins the Tissot Sprint with a commanding and faultless performance. VR46 star man Bezzecchi takes a well deserved 2nd and a superb performance given the pain Bezzecchi must be in with the carrying hand injury.
The first full day of action would see the crews tackle some really tricky sectors in the stages today. There were a couple of complex matters as well for the first day with no service and also only one of the five stages run twice, with the three other stages only being run one time, plus the final stage of the day almost 30km’s.
Into SS2 Loutraki 1 – 10.37 km and Thierry was fastest from Seb and Ott. These three were now the top three, with the Belgian leading the way from Ott and Seb. Kalle held fourth overall at this point, just 5.1 from the lead. Sadly, for Pierre-Louis he was out for the day after suffering a technical problem on the way to the stage. In WRC2 Sami was fastest from Adrien and Yohan. These three were the top three as well, with Adrien leading the way from Yohan and Sami.
The second stage of the day then, SS3 Pissia – 16.43 km, with the tyre fitting zone to follow and the conditions in the stage with some damp sections suited the Finn being first into the stage and he was fastest from Thierry and Seb. The Finns time saw him jump two positions up the leaderboard and into second overall, just two seconds behind Thierry. In WRC2, Adrien was quickest again from Yohan by a huge 8.1 seconds, whilst Kajetan made his way into third overall. Erstwhile third placed Sami dropped two places as well.
After the tyre fitting zone back to SS4 Loutraki 2 – 10.37 km and Seb was fastest from Thierry and EP. The final car to come through was Jourdan in his Puma. Sadly, the WRC2 runners would not get the opportunity to have a second run through the stage with some idiots standing in the ruts on the inside of a corner. The remaining runners were given a notional time.
Next up was SS5 Livadia – 21.03 km and Ott was fastest from Thierry and Seb. The Belgian continued to hold the lead and had actually increased the gap to Seb by five seconds. Sadly, Elfyn dropped two places to sixth overall with Esapekka and Dani gaining a place ahead of the Welshman. In WRC2 Lauri was fastest from Sami and Marco, whilst Adrien remained in the lead from Yohan and Sami who had just moved into third place in the category.
The final stage then of the day, SS6 Elatia – 28.32 km and a great run from Ott and Seb who were fastest from Elfyn. The Welshman regained two positions and was back into fourth overall. Dani suffered a small, short stop and lost a lot of time. In WRC2 Andreas was fastest from Marco and Robert. Sadly, Adrien fell from the lead to tenth in the category after having to stop to change a wheel.
Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.
Classification after Day One
1
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
55:10.4
2
S. Ogier
V. Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
+2.8
3
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
+25.5
4
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
+31.0
5
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
+32.1
6
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
+41.7
7
D. Sordo
C. Carrera
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
+48.6
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“That last stage was stressful; not only was it a challenging one at 28km, but from the very start I could hear a noise coming from the rear differential. I was having a problem with the transmission on previous stages but just on the start line until SS6 Elatia. I couldn’t go full throttle for the first three gears, which was costing me a lot of time. I was a bit worried we wouldn’t make it to the end; thankfully we did. The difficult part now for us is to make our tyre choice tomorrow – we have no opportunity to react in the morning, so we need to make that decision tonight. I’m convinced we made the right call today to be fastest; whether it was a good choice to help us win the rally, we will only know at the end of the weekend.”
2023 FIA World Rally Championship Round 10, Acropolis Rally, 7-10 September 2023 Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 1 of WRC Acropolis Rally 2023 Photographer: Vincent Thuillier Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Esapekka Lappi
“When we came to the stop line on SS4, we saw the low water pressure alarm and then found the leak. I think it’s both sides of the radiator which got damaged; we managed to fix the front, but the rear we couldn’t. We have been adding water at the stage finishes as well as some other locations – we saw a tap outside a restaurant, so we got some from there as well! Regardless, today’s main struggle was not this problem with the car, but more the conditions on the stages. I never felt really satisfied. We tried something new, but I think we need to go back to my normal set-up. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow; today we tried to maximise the grip, but we compromised elsewhere, and I didn’t feel comfortable. I’d like to take a more cautious approach that allows me to push.”
Dani Sordo
“It was so difficult to know where the muddy places are, the stages have changed a lot between the recce and now. I stalled the engine under braking on the final stage, however it was not an amazing day for me overall. Of course, the conditions were tricky, but I did not have good pace. In normal conditions the road cleaning effect is quite high, which might have benefitted us, but it isn’t noticeable this year. We don’t know what tomorrow will be like, but if the stages are anything like what we saw in the recce, it could be really bad. It will be a challenging day if the surface hasn’t dried out quickly.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Kalle Rovanperä
“It was quite a big challenge today. The stages were drying up much more than we expected, so there was actually quite a lot of cleaning for us to do. When it was a bit damp and muddy, we could do some good times, like in SS3 this morning. Then this afternoon we were suffering a bit more with the road position with a lot of loose gravel, and I felt I left a bit of time on the last one. But at least the starting place is now better for tomorrow although there could still be some surprises with the conditions after so much rain.”
2023 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 10 / Acropolis Rally Greece 2023 / 6th-10th September, 2023 // Worldwide Copyright: Oliver Solberg / McKlein
Sébastien Ogier
“It’s been a good start to the rally for us. I was happy to be back in the car at racing speed, although I maybe had to drive a couple of kilometres first before I could be at 100 per cent. Some sections were challenging but luckily the sun was there and helped the roads to dry very quickly. It’s good to be so close to the lead, which is where we want to be, in the fight for the win. But we need to carry on like this tomorrow, which is the biggest part of the rally with long stages and rough conditions.”
Elfyn Evans
“The conditions were pretty tough at points today, but they were probably a lot better overall than what we had expected. The sun came out and the mud dried up quite a lot during the afternoon. We were probably a bit too much on the cautious side for most of the day, but it was a bit better on that last one and we managed to come back up the leaderboard. It was quite difficult to strike the balance, and some of the stages were cleaning quite a bit. There’s still a lot of driving left to do this weekend in some difficult conditions, so we need to use our head.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Ott Tanak
“The day was not too bad, just the one tyre fitting zone, we had some changes. After that the water pump didn’t start. We had quite a busy time there, somehow the mechanics managed to solve it.”
Saturday
The second full day of this rally will see the crews face six stages and 141km’s. Can Thierry hold onto his lead, or will the Toyota drivers be able to pass the Belgian?
After the summer break for the teams, which I might add that all the teams have been testing throughout the month or so since the last round in Finland, the championship moves to the one of the iconic rallies of all.
Elfyn and Scott come to this event as the winners of the last round and with their teammates Kalle and Jonne not scoring last time out the Finnish champions saw their lead in the title race cut to twenty-five points.
Of course, Thierry and Martijn took a great result in Finland, the best for the Belgian in the rally for ten years. Coming to this event, will they be able to make the most of their road position? Time for them to put together a good run and take some points from the top two? They will want to finish ahead of the top two crews. Let’s wait and see how that goes.
Ott and Martin in their Puma will hope for a better run than in Finland. The team will have been working hard to get the car to a better position for the 2019 champions to take another victory this year. Certainly, the crew and team deserve a very good result.
This year sees the crews tackle 15 stages over the three days. The original total competitive stood at 307km’s but there have been some changes announced today, 6th of September with the removal of 20km’s from Sunday’s three stages.
After shakedown on Thursday morning, Acropolis Rally starts that evening with the brand-new 1.48km EKO Super Special Stage. Now cancelled!
Friday will open with the scenic SS2 Loutraki 1 (18.10km), a stage set amongst Greek mountains and dirt tracks followed by SS3 Pissia (16.43km), a second loop of Loutraki, SS5 Livadia (21.03km) and SS6 Elatia (28.32km) to close the day.
Saturday’s running will consist of six stages, including two passes of the weekend’s longest challenge: Karoutes (28.49km)
Three final tests on Sunday, including the 19.77km SS15 Grammeni 2 Power Stage, will bring the event to a close. 20km’s have been removed from the final day’s full running.
Let’s hear from the drivers.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Kalle Rovanperä
“It’s been good to have a small break after Rally Finland and a chance to rest and recover before Greece. The Acropolis is a classic event and we have had some real highs and lows there in the past two years: to win on our first time there in 2021 was really nice, and then last year it was a tough weekend for us. I’m sure that it won’t be easy this time either as we will be opening the road again on Friday. But together with the team we have been working to improve for these conditions and we will definitely try our best to score some good points.”
Elfyn Evans
“It was very nice to win in Finland, but we know that Greece is a very different rally. After the smooth and fast roads of Estonia and Finland, the Acropolis is one of the roughest gravel events we face during the year. It therefore requires something rather different in terms of car setup, something closer to the other rough rallies we’ve done earlier this year. We haven’t had a lot of luck in Greece the past two years, and if it’s dry then it could be a challenge on Friday running second on the road, but we’ll look to do the best job we can like always.”
Sébastien Ogier
“I’ve had some nice time off over the summer but I’m excited to get back in the GR YARIS and to compete in Greece. I really like the country and also the rally too. For most of my career, it was unfortunately not on the calendar, but now it’s back and I have motivation to do well there. I managed to win it once, and like always the plan will be to try and fight for another victory. Usually on this kind of rally with dry gravel, my road position should help me. But two years ago we actually had quite a wet and muddy rally, so let’s see. On this kind of event you need to be fast but also get through without trouble; the roads are very rocky, and it’s hard for the tyres and the cars.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“I would rate Acropolis Rally as one of the harder events on the WRC calendar. It’s a bit of an endurance race across three days, three different areas, three different types of stages, which all feature rough conditions and hot temperatures. You need reliability, a strong car and the right setup for every challenge; if you can be comfortable in the car in every circumstance, it’s easier to go fast. Last year, we were much stronger than our competitors, so we were able to secure a 1-2-3. It was a great achievement for the whole team, for the brand, and for us drivers as well; being a part of the 1-2-3 for Hyundai Motorsport – our first – was an amazing feeling. Hopefully it is something we can repeat.”
2022 FIA World Rally Championship Round 10, Acropolis Rally 8-11 September 2022 Thierry Neuville Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Esapekka Lappi
After Safari Rally Kenya, Acropolis Rally is the toughest event of the season. It hasn’t been too gruelling in previous years as they have made a lot of repairs to the roads. However, it is either really tough or very hot, and sometimes it’s even both, and that is what makes this rally special. It’s very demanding for the tyres and brakes, and the drivers as well, as we have to keep hydrated. You need to stay out of trouble and try to keep the car on the clean lines to get maximum grip all the time. The goal is to make it onto the podium. That’s where I want to be on Sunday, so this needs to be what we push for.”
Dani Sordo
“Acropolis Rally is really rough, which is becoming more typical for these types of gravel rallies. In general, there is a lot of grip because the surface is quite hard on the tyres. Usually, we run the car a little higher in Greece than at other events because of the surface and the stones. It’s not a big change, but it just gives a little more protection to the car. We are expecting hot weather which will also add to the challenge. However, we don’t have any particular preparations for this, we just need to drink a little bit more water and battle through it. It would be amazing this year to repeat our 1-2-3 finish from last season, but our goal is to just get the best out of the car, keep it clean and score as many points as we can.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Ott Tänak
“It’s been nice to have a few weeks off training and to get my mind fresh and ready for the last four events. Greece will be tough for us and the car as well, but I’m looking forward to push there. We will put all in to finish the year with great emotions!”
Pierre-Louis Loubet
“Going back to Greece after what happened last year is a fantastic feeling; after leading the rally and getting my first stage wins there in 2022. It was a great souvenir and a really strong event for us. So I hope we can do the same again and this time make the podium! So, let’s see, the feeling was very good in the car during the test which is a very positive thing.”
Jourdan Serderidis
“Obviously I can’t wait to be in the Puma’s seat for my home WRC event with so many Greek fans! I will try to be at the level the event demands, I believe we have prepared this event even better than the other ones. So, I am reasonably confident to get a nice result and fight for the Greek cup, even though there are some very good Greek drivers in Rally2!”
Adrien Fourmaux
“I last did Greece in 2021 with the Fiesta WRC and I can’t wait for next week. I really like this rally; it’s tough when it’s dry but sometimes you can get some rain in the mountains which makes it very interesting! There are a lot of spectators, it’s a really famous rally because it’s so tough, but I had a really nice feeling two years ago. With the long stages and the heat inside the car, it’s a big challenge for everybody. But I want to enjoy this one and hope to get a good result in a very competitive field of Rally2s.”
Grégoire Munster
“I’m excited to go back to Greece, we competed there last year too. We’ve done a few events on gravel in the Fiesta now, and the confidence is always getting better. I’m really looking forward to the rally, but not so much the temperatures! It can get really hot inside the cars, but that’s just how it is!”
Robert Virves
“I’m really looking forward to getting behind the wheel again after the accident in Finland. My season so far has been a bit disappointing, in terms of my performance and results. Greece might be the last rally for me this year, so I must get myself together and deliver a proper result.”
Oliver Solberg
“We know we have to win and that’s what we’re pushing for,” said Oliver. “Of course, we’re always chasing the win – it’s why we are doing this sport. But right now, with the championship coming towards the end, we know we need the maximum score on these events and that’s what we’ll be looking for.”
“Acropolis is definitely one of the classics,” he said. “Last time out it was Finland, and this was one of the big rallies of the year and Greece is the same, but for different reasons. It’s iconic because of how tough it is – to win this rally you have to take the speed and the sensible approach at the same time.
“The competition is going to be tough here, a lot of the guys around me were here last year and they have more of an idea for the roads. There are some new stages which will help but maybe it’s the weather which is going to make this week even harder.
“There’s a lot of talk about the storms coming and bringing a lot of rain. If that happens, it could have a big impact on the road – it will certainly make an already interesting rally even more complicated!
“I tested on Saturday and the conditions were good. The road was rough, so it’s always hard to judge the speed in places like this. The car felt good and now we’re ready to get going.”
Summary
The weather has been really challenging over the start of this week with torrential rain on the stages as the crews carried out recce. There are concerns over the conditions with very heavy rain and some flooding as well. News broke on Wednesday afternoon that shakedown which was due to be run on Thursday morning is cancelled. In addition, the double running of the Grammeni stage has been shorted to 9km’s with the removal of 10km’s from the stage.
With the conditions being really challenging, anyone just having a clean weekend could win this rally and predictions are hard to make.
This will likely be a really classic event. Enjoy!
After last year’s counting error that saw Aleix Espargaro celebrate too early and lose the victory, it was redemption day for the Aprilia rider as he finally claimed victory at his home race. Espargaro was riding high from victory in Saturday’s sprint race and pulled off nearly the exact same move to take the lead of the race with only 3 laps remaining.
Despite leading the first 20 laps of the race, Maverick Vinales came home in 2nd. However, it wasn’t a difficult result as he celebrated giving Aprilia their first ever 1-2 finish.
Jorge Martin rounded out the podium finishers, coming home in 3rd, after a positive day for the Pramac team.
The day was not without drama – an early red flag was waved after multiple riders crashed at turn 1. The domino-effect incident saw Enea Bastianini, Johann Zarco, Alex Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio all in the gravel before completing a single corner.
Image Credit: MotoGP
Moments later, our reigning champion and current championship leader, Pecco Bagnaia faced a huge highside which left him stranded in the middle of the track. Brad Binder, unable to avoid him, scarily ran over the Italian’s legs and left him writhing around in pain.
Both Bagnaia and Bastianini were taken to hospital and post-race statements followed. Bagnaia has luckily escaped with very minor injuries and Bastianini suffered a fracture to his ankle and hand.
Enea Bastianini enjoyed a positive start but, as he made his way up the inside of turn 1, he crashed in to the side of Johann Zarco and caused a domino effect. Zarco then crashed in to Alex Marquez, who crashed in to Marco Bezzecchi, who crashed in to Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Whilst those riders were in the gravel at the outside of turn 1, Bagnaia faced an enormous highside and landed in the middle of the track. Brad Binder was unable to avoid the stranded champion and, in a scary moment, ran over Bagnaia’s legs.
The red flag was quickly waved and the amazing medical team were instantly on the scene. Bagnaia spent some time receiving treatment on the track, before being taken to the medical centre and then the local hospital. Bastianini was also injured and took a trip to the hospital for further checks.
Now, with just 23 laps to race, the riders made their way back on to the grid. Luckily, all other riders were able to make it back to the garages under their own steam which allowed them to rejoin the race when it restarted 20 minutes later. Only Bagnaia and Bastianini were missing.
As the lights went out for the second time, Espargaro had a much better start this time away and managed to lead the pack through a clean, drama-free first corner. It was also a positive start for Jorge Martin, who leapt from 5th to 3rd, and Jack Miller, who leapt from 12th to 5th.
However, but turn 2, his Aprilia teammate snatched away the lead and Vinales took over at the front of the pack. Martin’s positive race start continued as he made his way past Espargaro and in to 2nd.
Before lap 1 ended, Pol Espargaro was forced to retire with mechanical failure.
Meanwhile, his brother was trying to make moves to regain 2nd place from Martin. He was right on the tail of the Pramac rider but wasn’t able to make anything stick. That was until lap 3 when he pulled up the inside of Martin at turn 10. By turn 12, he had made his way past and was in 2nd place, chasing down his teammate in the lead. It wouldn’t be an easy task as Vinales set the fastest lap in response.
On lap 4, Miguel Oliveira made his way past Martin for 3rd, making in an Aprilia 1-2-3!
On the same lap, Binder was forced to retire with technical problems. It was suspected that he had laid down a lot of oil prior to the red flag so it seemed to be a persistent issue for his KTM.
Riders up and down the grid were now settling in to their race and Vinales was slowly pulling our a lead ahead of the chasing pack. By lap 5, he was 0.3 seconds ahead for Espargaro, who was in turn a further 0.5 seconds ahead of Oliveira.
There was action further down the grid with Augusto Fernandez battling with Marc Marquez for 10th place, and Alex Marquez battling with Jack Miller for 6th.
On lap 10, Oliveira lost out on a podium place to Martin, but was able to stay close on his tail. He clearly wasn’t giving up easily, having worked so hard in the early stages.
On the same lap, we had our third rieder retire with mechanical problems – this time is was Raul Fernandez who was limping to the pits after just enjoying a battle with Marc Marquez for 11th.
At the halfway point, with 12 laps completed, Vinales now had a 1.2 second lead over Espargaro, who then had a 2 second gap over Martin. It was at this point that Espargaro seemed to wake up and was suddenly chasing down his teammate at a rapid pace.
Image Credit: MotoGP
By lap 15, thanks to lapping faster than his teammate, Espargaro had now cut the gap down to 0.5 seconds. On lap 18, with just 6 laps to go, Espargaro was finally on his tail.
Espargaro waited patiently and, on lap 20, he came up alongside Vinales on the start-finish straight. The Aprilia pair almost came together at turn 1 and Vinales went wide. That instantly gave Espargaro the space he needed to check out at the front of the field. With only 3 laps left, there was nothing Vinales could do to close the gap.
It ended up being a comfortable victory for Espargaro who was already on a high from winning Saturday’s sprint race!
Max Verstappen takes the win at the Italian Grand Prix, which means he has taken the record for 10 consecutive wins in a season. It wasn’t plain sailing for him and his teammate, but they came home with a 1-2, while Sainz rounded out the podium after starting on pole.
The camera showed the stricken Alpha Tauri of Tsunoda as the front row began to line up on the grid after the formation lap. Unfortunately for him and the team, there was an immediate engine failure, which left the car in gear and therefore led to a second formation lap.
However, an aborted start meant that confusion ensued as the cars were parked on the grid with engines off while the teams were waiting at the gate to be let back onto the grid. The red flag was never brought out, but there was a delay of a few minutes before the engineers could be let onto the grid.
Despite this, after a 23-minute delay, we could get going with another formation lap.
The eventual race start. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
Lights out, and Sainz got off to a great start by cutting off Verstappen into turn one and holding on to the lead. Just behind them, Leclerc had tried to dive up the inside of Verstappen, but the door closed, and the attempt left room for Russell to put pressure on the Ferrari. Russell couldn’t make a move stick.
Both McLarens had a good start, with Piastri making up a place on Albon into turn one as the Williams driver got boxed in. Although the Willams in a straight line is very slippery, just one lap later, Albon was back up into P6.
It didn’t take long for Verstappen to become a hunter with Sainz the hunted. Leclerc couldn’t keep up with the leading pair as the Red Bull pushed the Ferrari all the way. Verstappen was always within the DRS zone and tried to make a move around the outside of turn one on lap six, but it didn’t pay off with Sainz defending well.
Slightly further back, on lap eight, Verstappen’s teammate was mounting a charge on the Mercedes of Russell as he tried a move that didn’t pay off. He built up pressure until lap 14 when Perez tried a move around the outside, outbraked himself, and went straight on which meant he had to give back the place he gained. Two laps later though, the Mexican took the inside line into turn one and this time the move stuck.
Sainz locked up before losing the lead to Verstappen. Image courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool
Meanwhile, the Dutch Red Bull driver was closer to Sainz by a couple of tenths heading into the main straight. He tried around the outside of the Ferrari, and even though the move didn’t work, Sainz locked up, which meant Verstappen had better traction coming out of the corner. On lap 15, the inevitable happened into the chicane as the Red Bull had more speed than the Ferrari.
With the world champion unleashed, he gained a 1.5-second lead within one lap. The race began to settle as the pit stops started.
Struggling with tyres after locking up, Sainz was the first of the Ferrari drivers to come in. One lap later, the team pitted Leclerc; however, it was tight between the teammates, and they nearly touched as Leclerc came out of the pit lane. The Monegasque ended up staying behind his teammate, with Perez coming out behind them after his stop.
A similar story was unfolding with the two McLaren’s on lap 24. Norris was the first to pit, with Piastri changing his tyres the lap after. However, Piastri was on the inside of Norris into turn one as he came out from his stop, but unlike the Ferraris, the McLarens made contact. Luckily for both drivers, they were able to carry on, and the stewards decided to take no further action.
Hamilton was the last driver to stop, as he started on the hard tyres so he could go for a longer stint. Coming out from his stop, it didn’t take too long before his new mediums warmed up and he began to gain places on those now on hard tyres. He started with Alonso into turn one on lap 29.
The Mercedes wasn’t the only one on a charge. Norris had been chasing down Albon for several laps, when on lap 38, Norris made a move around the outside but went off the track and gained an advantage. He managed to give the place back and unfortunately for the Brit, this is where he would stay.
A few laps later, Hamilton could smell the chance to make a move on Piastri but couldn’t make it stick. Towards the end of the lap, Hamilton was within the DRS zone of the McLaren and looked for a move on the inside but opted for the switch back, getting better traction out of the corner. Hamilton was mostly in font heading towards the chicane but, crucially, not completely past.
As Hamilton moved towards the racing line, his back wheel made contact with the front of Piastri’s car, damaging the McLaren’s front wing. Both drivers were able to carry on, but Piastri did need to pit for a new front wing, and Hamilton got a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.
LAP 41/51
Hamilton hunts down Piastri for eighth but they make contact!
While this was happening, Perez had gained a place on Leclerc to put him on the podium and was chasing down P2. It wasn’t long before Perez was within the DRS zone of Sainz, and he used that to his advantage on lap 46, where he made it past Sainz.
This meant the final five laps were all about which Ferrari would be in P3. The radio call came saying, ‘Still race, but no risk’, However, the teammates knew what was at stake. Leclerc kept the pressure on right until the final lap, where he had a huge lockup and nearly took out both cars, Luckily, he avoided an accident, and Sainz finished in P3 with Leclerc in P4.
However, no one had an answer for Verstappen’s performance, as he crossed the line with a substantial lead over his teammate. A new record was broken, and the speed of the Red Bulls continues to be unmatched.
Next up is Singapore, which Verstappen has never won. Is that an omen or another record to extend?
Jake Dixon takes his second win of the season following a number of battles with second place finisher Aron Canet and championship leader Pedro Acosta. The podium was completed by the local racer, Albert Arenas. Acosta’s closest rival, Tony Arbolino, finished down the order in 17th place.
Both Dixon and Ai Ogura made good starts when the lights went out, but it was the Brit who retained the lead into the first corner. Manuel Gonzalez improved to second place at turn two and immediately began looking to make a move on the race leader. Acosta gained one position on the first lap to sit in eighth place.
Gonzalez was able to make a move on Dixon during the second lap, but the pair swapped back and forth and by the third lap Gonzalez, Dixon and third placed rider Canet began to break away from the main pack.
A successful move for the lead was made by Gonzalez on the fifth lap into turn one. Dixon continued to drop down the order following a move from Canet on the Asterius GASGAS Aspar Team rider. Acosta continued his charge up the field and by lap 9 he was on the tail of Dixon.
The lead changed hands on lap 10 when Canet made a move into the first corner on his fellow countryman and Acosta made the same move but on Dixon. The following lap, Acosta was able to take second place from Gonzalez but this fighting behind Canet allowed the Pons Wegow Los40 rider to start to extend his lead at the front of the field.
Fermin Aldeguer was having a strong race in the chasing pack before he was given a long lap penalty on lap 12 for exceeding track limits. He took the penalty, but race control determined that he did not take it correctly, so he had to do it again. This dropped him down the order and took him out of contention for the higher points.
Gonzalez began to struggle around lap thirteen and Dixon was able to take the inside line at turn one and get past him. The British rider was able to join Acosta and Canet to form a small breakaway from the fourth placed rider.
It only took a few laps for Acosta to begin to shape up a move on Canet and the move was completed at turn 12 on lap 14. Canet immediately began looking to take the lead back and as Acosta had a wobble on lap fifteen, he hoped he could make a move.
But Dixon was able to make the move on Canet down the start-finish straight on lap 16 and took the inside line into turn one. Canet immediately repaid the favour by making a block pass at turn three and retook the lead at turn thirteen.
Acosta made the move on Canet on lap 17 to regain the lead and Dixon almost followed him through but was unable to. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider made a mistake following that overtake and dropped down the order to fifth place after being passed by Dixon, Canet, Arenas, and Gonzalez.
The lead swapped hands once again with Dixon taking the lead at turn ten on lap 18. But the drama began slightly further down the field with Acosta having contact with Alonso Lopez and both went off the track, dropping them down to sixth and seventh respectively.
Canet continued to look at making a move on Dixon into the final lap at turns one, three and twelve but could not do so allowing Dixon to come across the line in first place, taking his second win of the season.
Arenas took his first podium of the season by finishing in third place. He was followed by Sergio Garcia, Gonzalez and Acosta who extended his championship lead. Ogura finished the race in seventh followed by Lopez who may be on the receiving end of a penalty due to cutting a corner when he rejoined the racetrack. Sam Lowes finished the race in ninth place with Celestino Vietti following just behind in tenth.
Feature image credit: MotoGP on TNT Sports on X (https://twitter.com/motogpontnt/status/1698257387352678879/photo/1)
CATALUNYA MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BARCELONA – RACE RESULTS
With overcast skies, a tail wind on the start straight and swaying riders slipstreaming all over the place, the race in Barcelona was another Moto3 classic.
In a race that quite literally had everything, it was GASGAS Aspar Team’s David Alonso who took a bonkers Moto3 victory today at the Barcelona circuit. Starting from 12th on the grid and winding his way through the pack, Alonso took his 2nd victory in the Moto3 class.
Image Credit: GASGAS Aspar Team
AT IT HAPPENED
Ivan Ortola started on pole position for the first time, alongside Deniz Öncü 2nd and Joel Kelso in 3rd completing the front row.
Öncü made a perfect start leading the group out of turn 1 and taking the lead of the race. Jaume Masia tried to go around the outside of Kelso at turn 1, but had to settle for 4th as Kelso shut the door into turn 2. A poor start from Holgado as the championship leader dropped back to 14th in the opening stages of the first lap. Not the start Holgado would of dreamt of last night in the paddock.
Öncü was keen to get going here and pull a gap to the rest of the field on the opening lap as Holgado dropped back to 15th place. As the field came round the final corner and onto the start straight to complete lap 1, the weaving pack all diced with each other into turn 1, with Öncü clinging onto the lead. Masia moved up into 2nd getting by pole sitter Ortola after dispatching Kelso in the stadium section a few corners back.
As we’re used to seeing now in Moto3, Alonso is up 7 places and David Munoz up 6 places, both with great starts in the early stages of this Grand Prix. It makes you wonder why Alonso and Munoz even turn up for qualifying sometimes, as both riders are so good on a Sunday.
The fastest lap of the race at the end of lap 2 was set by Holgado with a good recovery from 15th to 11th at the end of lap 2.
Masia took the lead from Öncü at the start of lap 3 going up the inside into turn 1. Alonso was remarkably up to 3rd place on lap 3 going up the inside of Kelso. A fantastic start to the race from the teenage Colombian.
A common theme developed here as the snaking pack of riders winding down the start straight had all of the slipstream they needed to cause havoc and pass each other at will into turn 1. The start straight wasn’t the only place for a pile of overtakes as turn 4 and 5 are favourite spots amongst the riders.
Starting lap 5 now and over a quarter of the way through, Alonso hits the front of the field for the first time – The last of the late breakers going from 3rd to 1st into turn 1. Masia led over the line but pushed back to 4th place.
Sector 2 lit up in yellow flags as Filippo Farioli crashed out at turn 4. Just over a quarter of the way through the race and Alonso led the pack completing lap 5 and held the lead fending off Masia into turn 1. We have a lead group of up to a dozen riders who are all still in the fight for victory.
As Ortola dived up the inside of Öncü at turn 10 and back up to 3rd place, Holgado was sat in 5th place, a great comeback from the championship leader. From 5th to 1st for Holgado as slipstream drags the championship leader to the front of the pack into turn 1 at the start of lap 7.
Side by side the Red Bull KTMs down into turn 1 onto lap 8. Öncü took the lead from Holgado. Kelso ran wide at turn 1 and fell all of the way back to 18th place. At this stage of the race, it was so close between all of the riders, it was anyone’s guess as to who would win this one.
Swaying from side to side at the start of lap 9 down the start straight, Öncü started to put the hammer down setting his fastest lap of the race and managed to get a gap to Masia in 2nd of 0.334 tenths of second.
At half race distance, we had a lead group from Öncü in 1st to Ayumu Sasaki in 9th. The riders all continued to dice with each other and battle for positions constantly. Öncü lead another lap of the race completing lap 10.
Lap 11 and pole-sitter Ortola dropped back to 11th place, things going all wrong for the Angeluss MTA Team.
With a short run to the finish line here at the Barcelona circuit, if you are leading the race coming out of the last corner you’re likely to take victory it seems. Unlike in Mugello when Öncü was pipped at the line thanks to the slipstream.
Lap 13 and with 6 laps to go we had a lead group of 14 riders and any of the 14 had the chance of taking victory. Holgado in the lead of the race with Öncü on his back wheel and pounced to take the lead into turn 1. Masia 3rd with both Alonso and Munoz fighting with each other for 4th.
3 laps to go and Öncü gets swallowed up by the pack dropping from the lead to 4th place. Masia now leading from Munoz and Alonso, 2nd and 3rd place. Contact between Öncü and Holgado as Holgado drops back to 5th.
As we started lap 17, it was Masia from Munoz as they all came snaking down the start straight. 6 riders into turn 1 all gunning for the lead. Munoz briefly led but ran it too hot into turn 1. Holgado coming round the last corner on lap 16 in 6th now leads the Grand Prix coming out of turn 1. The leading 3 all replaced now out of turn 1 with Holgado leading, from Alonso 2nd and Öncü in 3rd. The top two riders of Holgado and Alonso both up 10 places in the race, Munoz in 4th up 15 places in the Grand Prix with 2 laps to go.
Into the stadium section for the penultimate time the front 3 still Holgado leading from Alonso in 2nd and Öncü 3rd. All are desperate to hang onto their places as they fan out and brake as late as possible into turn 1 to start the last lap of the race.
THE LAST LAP
Masia went by Öncü into turn 1, quickly passed Alonso into turn 4 and then takes the lead of the race up the inside of Holgado into turn 5.
Into turn 7 and arguably the overtake of the race as Munoz took 2 into 1 getting by both KTM riders Holgado and Öncü.
Coming up to the all important final sector of the race now and Munoz was side by side with Alonso as they headed into turn 10. Öncü with a wild effort dive bombed up the inside of Masia to try and take the lead only to run too hot into the corner.
Just as Munoz took the lead, championship leader Holgado went down. The KTM garage in sheer disbelief with only a few corners of the race to go. Unbelievable scenes in a bananas Barcelona Moto3 Grand Prix.
Last couple of corners now and the drama wasn’t finished. Masia now trying to go up the inside of both Alonso and Munoz. Just as Masia made his move so did Öncü. Öncü wiped out Munoz coming round the last corner resulting in a 6 second penalty for the Turkish teenager. Alonso crossed the line to take a crazy Catalunya victory.
Next weekend we head to Italy in Misano, with Holgado looking to improve on the 5th place finish last season on Italian soil. With the championship lead halved to just 13 points this weekend. The Moto3 championship is heating up nicely for the rest of the season.
Carlos Sainz has made the Tifosi’s dreams come true and secured pole position for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Celebrating on the track in front of the Ferrari fans the Spaniard who has been very quick all weekend put in one of the laps of his life to beat Max Verstappen by the smallest of margins.
Q1 began with everyone on the Hard Pirelli compound as this qualifying session was being used for the new mandatory tyre allocation strategy trial of hards being used for Q1, mediums for Q2 the softs for Q3.
Max Verstappen’s first lap of qualifying was deleted for exceeding track limits, He immediately pitted, came back out and went quickest by 0.338 from team mate Sergio Perez. They were followed by Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin and then the Williams of Alex Albon.
The track was getting quicker as the session went on meaning the final runs would be crucial.
Ocon out after damage in Q1. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
As the final runs ended Albon moved up to P2 with Leclerc also up to P3. At the other end Zhou, Gasly, Ocon, Magnussen, and Stroll were all out of qualifying.
Q2 started with both Ferrari drivers under investigation for not being under the new maximum time to get round for a lap to prevent everyone going slowly on their outlaws, This would be investigated after the session so the result of qualifying might be decided in the stewards room.
Once again Verstappen was first on track and immediately went to the top of the time sheets, Shortly after that Sainz in the Ferrari sent the Tifosi wild and went quickest by 0.044, Behind them was Leclerc and Albon in the flying Williams.
Surprisingly the Mercedes pair went out to the track later than everyone else, Even with the clear track they could only manage 6th and 12th.
All 15 cars left the garages at the same time leaving the pitlane looking like the worlds most expensive car park.
When the last runs finally began the Williams of Sargeant was at the front of the pack, he didn’t improve though and stayed 14th. Joining him in not making it trough were Tsunoda, Lawson, Hulkenberg and Bottas.
Hamilton making his way into Q3. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
The top of the timesheet had a familiar look about it with Verstappen fastest with a 1.20.937 ahead of Leclerc, Sainz and Perez. Albon was next up continuing to impress in the Williams, Hamilton improved to 6th ahead of his team mate Russell. Completing the top 10 and making it to Q3 were Piastri, Alonso and Norris.
Q3 brought the inevitable excitement with Verstappen dipping a wheel into the gravel on his first lap but still managing to make the top 3, At the front it was Sainz from Leclerc, then Verstappen and Russell, Behind them were Albon, Perez, Norris , Piastri Hamilton and then Alonso.
The final runs of the session would be the ones to determine the grid for Sundays race.
Charles Leclerc went first and moved to provisional pole, then came Verstappen who beat him but he was then beaten by Sainz in the Ferrari with a scintillating lap time of 1.20.294, the top three separated by just 0.067
4th was George Russell, then came Perez, Albon, Piastri, Hamilton and Norris and Alonso closing out the top 10.
Sainz gets a pole at the home of Ferrari. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
Almost immediately after the session was completed it was confirmed no further action was necessary for the Ferrari’s earlier transgression meaning Sainz had pole in a Ferrari at Monza.
Can the Tifosi get their dream result tomorrow or will Max Verstappen continue his run and win a 10th successive race.
Jake Dixon takes his first pole of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from Aron Canet and Ai Ogura. Championship leader Pedro Acosta was only able to manage ninth place for tomorrow’s grid and his closest challenger in Tony Arbolino was unable to get himself out of the first qualifying session.
The first qualifying session was uneventful with Somkiat Chantra, Sergio Garcia, Filip Salac and Barry Baltus occupying the top four positions for at the end of the session. The early pace setter in this session was Bo Bendsneyder but dropped down to fifth, meaning he will start tomorrow’s race from 19th.
Arbolino was unable to set a time fast enough to progress due to the bike looking unstable on his last lap, meaning he needed to come into the pits and bail out of the lap.
The four riders who came up through Q1 set the initial pace at the start of the second qualifying session with Salac topping the times after the first runs. Following the second set of fast laps Ogura had set the fastest time followed by Albert Arenas and rookie Sergio Garcia.
With over half the session to go, Joe Roberts and Alonso Lopez had not set a representative lap time.
Acosta and Dixon circulated around the track together towards the end of the session, offering each other a tow on alternating fast laps. With the Brit following the Spaniard, Dixon set the fastest time during the qualifying session, a 1:43.983. After swapping places, Acosta was being led around by Dixon, but the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider exceeded track limits, meaning that his lap was deleted.
Canet was also riding around the circuit with a partner, Manuel Gonzalez. This pair helped each other to achieve second and fourth place respectively. On the other hand, Ogura spent most of his time on the track alone but was still able to achieve third place.
That quick time from Arenas set earlier in the session was the quickest time he was able to achieve, and this was good enough to place him in fifth place on tomorrow’s grid.
The highest-placed non-Kalex rider was Fermin Aldeguer in sixth place, followed by his teammate Lopez. Garcia was the highest qualifying rookie in eighth place, being the only rookie to make it through to the second round of qualifying,
Due to having a fast time deleted due to track limits, Acosta only starts in ninth place on the grid tomorrow. Baltus rounds out the top ten on the grid tomorrow.
Sam Lowes was unable to set a lap time fast enough to break into the top ten and is joined by Chantra on the fourth row of the grid. The fifth row of the grid contains Salac, Roberts and Celestino Vietti, who struggled to set fast times around the Spanish circuit.
Tomorrow’s race is shaping up to be an exciting 21 laps with Acosta having to work his way through the field to continue extending his championship lead.
Feature Image Credit: @AsparTeam on X (https://twitter.com/AsparTeam)
2023 CATALUNYA MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BARCELONA – QUALIFYING RESULTS
Ivan Ortola for the Angeluss MTA Team takes his first career pole position today in Moto3 at the Catalunya circuit. Ortola takes pole position right at the end of the session with Deniz Öncü in 2nd and Joel Kelso rounding off the front row in 3rd.
It's a first-ever POLE position for @IvanOrtola48! 🔥
There were some big names in the first round of qualifying, including championship leader Daniel Holgado along with Xavi Artigas and Diogo Moreira. Holgado will be keen to make the top 4 to progress into Qualifying 2.
Both CFMOTO Racing riders, Artigas and Kelso, were posting the quickest times early on in the session.
The rest of the field were now coming across the line but it was still Holgado topping the timesheets with Moreira in 2nd, David Salvador in 3rd and David Munoz making up the top 4 heading to Q2.
There was lots of gesturing and head shaking from riders in this Q1 session – they were clearly frustrated as every rider is keen to be bunched up, looking for any extra tenth of a second getting by finding a tow around this circuit. There was a common theme of just follow Holgado around the circuit emerging in Q1, with everyone hoping to be dragged into Q2.
Moreira was the surprise rider to be knocked out at the end of the session, as he was beaten by Scott Ogden. Moreira thought he’d done enough to get through at the end of the session but that wasn’t the case. This weekend, Moreira is sporting an Ayrton Senna themed helmet but I don’t think this is a qualifying session Ayrton Senna would have written home about.
Holgado eventually topped the session with Kelso, Taiyo Furusato and Ogden also progressing into Q2.
Qualifying 2
Into Q2 we go – Can Collin Veijer take back-to-back pole positions in Barcelona, with the Dutchman on a superb run of form lately? Veijer had set the fastest time in FP3 this morning.
Holgado took the pace he found in Q1 quickly into Q2, setting the fastest time for the rest of the field to chase early in the session. Masia ran into traffic and had to bail on his first flying lap.
Usual suspects of Ayumu Sasaki and Öncü topped the leader board as the session progressed, with 9 minutes remaining. Öncü with the quickest time set of 1:49.326, and on provisional pole.
Sector 2 then lit up in yellow flags as Veijer suffered a high side crash on the exit of turn 5. Veijer seems ok though and was thankfully quickly back up onto the bike, as Öncü manages to avoid the crash.
Masia then got his first flying lap in and took over at the top of the leader board. Masia was frustrated by the riders behind who were hounding him to get a tow.
With 6 minutes left of the session, there was still time for a few flying laps and pole position was still very much up for grabs. The riders were now heading back to the pits to make any last minute adjustments before heading back out to fight to pole position.
Less than 3 minutes were on the clock when all of the riders were heading out for their 2nd run. As the chequered flag fell, all of the riders on track just had one last shot at taking pole position. Championship leader Holgado leads the pack into turn 1.
With fastest sectors lighting up for several riders, the pack made their way round on the final flying lap. Coming into sector 3 we had Holgado, Ortola, Öncü and Masia all on flying laps and chasing pole position.
As the bunch came round the final two corners the lap times came thick and fast, with Ivan Ortola taking pole position from Öncü and Kelso also managing to get onto the front row by taking 3rd.
It’s the third time in the last four Grand Prix we’ve seen maiden pole positions in Moto3. I’m sure Öncü will be looking for back-to-back victories when he starts on the front row tomorrow. Holgado also will be looking to make up as much ground as possible, starting from the middle of row 4 tomorrow. Can Masia bring himself back into the championship fight with a win? With the starting grid as it is for tomorrow, Moto3 is all set for another crazy Grand Prix.
