Blog

Posted on

Mir Takes Controversial Win in Moto3

A delayed and shortened Moto3 race was controversially won by championship leader, Joan Mir, taking his 8th victory of the season. He beat Italians Fabio Di Giannantonio and Enea Bastianini, thwarting both of them of their first wins of the season. Mir now leads the championship by a staggering 80 points, meaning he could win the championship at Motegi if he finishes inside the top two, no matter what 2nd placed Romano Fenati does.

The race eventually got underway and it was Jorge Martin who hit the front from Bastianini and Dennis Foggia, the VR46 KTM wildcard – who displayed talent in bundles throughout the GP. Aron Canet took 4th. Bastianini passed Martin towards the end of the opening lap but Martin re-passed him, searching for his first ever GP win. Both riders had a gap over Aron Canet in third.

The battling continued at the front and due to the passes, the pace slowed. This brought Aron Canet, Joan Mir, Dennis Foggia and everyone else back into play as a typical Moto3 gaggle formed. A disaster soon ensued for Italian Romano Fenati, who languished dejectedly down in 15th for some time, costing him valuable championship points.

Slipstreaming was the word of the day and Joan Mir definitely perfected that particular art. He went from 4th to 2nd in one fell swoop on lap six, before taking the lead a lap later. Jorge Martin soon took the lead back but then the Estrella Galicia Marc VDS bikes hit the front; Enea Bastianini looking for his first victory of the season.

Going into the final lap, Mir went from 4th to 1st at turn one, passing Di Giannantonio, Jorge Martin and Bastianini. The champion elect held off the chasing pack, letting those behind scrap it out. Young Dennis Foggia was put back to 8th in the end but had learnt a lot by running with the leaders.

Going down the back straight to the final two corners for the last time, Mir weaved across the track a total of four times, almost causing a major accident with the chasing Di Giannantonio. Mir held on, beating Digia and The Beast, with just 0.051 covering the top 3. Pole-man Jorge Martin finished 4th, whilst Aron Canet pipped John McPhee to 5th. Ramirez and Foggia were 7th and 8th respectively, within three quarters of a second of victory.

After the race, it was announced that Joan Mir would be getting a 6-place grid penalty in Japan for his irresponsible riding.

Top 5 Championship Standings

1.) Joan Mir                                     271

2.) Romano Fenati                      191

3.) Aron Canet                             173

4.) Fabio Di Giannantonio      137

5.) Jorge Martin                         134

Posted on

Morbidelli takes on Pasini in Thrilling Moto2 Race

Franco Morbidelli took a scintillating victory in front of a capacity Aragon crowd during the Moto2 race, beating Mattia Pasini in one of the closest races of the season. Portuguese rider and pole-sitter, Miguel Oliveira completed the podium and had there been another lap, he may have even gone better. 2nd place man in the championship, Tom Luthi, took 4th ahead of a courageous Brad Binder, to keep his championship hopes alive.

The race got underway and initially, Oliveira took the lead but Morbidelli wasted no time in making his way to the front. Tom Luthi, who started 7th, was up to third by turn 5, whilst Mattia Pasini headed a returning Alex Marquez.

Morbidelli escaped as Oliveira and Pasini battled, with the Italian getting the upper-hand on this occasion. Alex Marquez also made his way passed the KTM rider, whilst Tom Luthi was only 5th, as he dropped back despite challenging early on. Luthi hadn’t looked like a serious front-runner all weekend.

Talking of dropping back, Alex Marquez was now in 8th place and involved in a tight scrap with German, Sandro Cortese and Japanese rider, Takaaki Nakagami. After Cortese negotiated his way passed the fading Marc VDS rider, Nakagami had a go. Takaaki and Alex clashed at the final corner, both very lucky to stay aboard their Kalex bikes.

Jorge Navarro was having a mega ride, as he duelled with Moto2 hard-man, Simone Corsi. On the ninth lap, he was promoted to top Spanish rider, as Marquez faded back. Alex retired a lap later, complaining of hip pains, stemming from his monster crash during Misano FP1.

At the front, the lead that Morbidelli had built up was being whittled away and soon, Pasini had savaged the 1.9s he had to make up. An audacious move at the end of the straight on lap 13 – after a two failed attempts previously – saw Morbidelli cut back under him but the elder statesman couldn’t fend off the young pretender, who gapped him within the first few corners.

Despite Pasini briefly getting away, Morbidelli reeled him back in and before long, the two Italians were scrapping once more. Championship leader Morbidelli retook the lead on lap 17 and led across the line for the remainder of the race – although Mattia Pasini made it a lot harder than it sounds!

On the final lap, Pasini dived up the inside at turn 5, holding onto the position as Morbidelli tried to cut back and get the drive up the short straight, through turn 6 and into the tight turn 7. Morbidelli set up a pass at the Corkscrew. He set the move up in turn 8 and executed it at turn 9, sitting Pasini up in the process. Despite Pasini’s best efforts, he couldn’t topple Morbidelli, who took his 8th victory of the season. Pasini was a sporting 2nd as the two shook hands – it was Pasini’s third podium of the year.

Miguel Oliveira closed in rapidly on the final lap but couldn’t quite reach the leading two, finishing third to take his sixth podium of the season. Luthi’s race was more damage limitation, as he took 4th ahead of a sensational Brad Binder, who came from 20th on the grid to finish 5th. This was the first time that KTM had both of their Moto2 bikes inside the top 5.

Jorge Navarro remained top Spaniard, taking his joint best finish of the season in 6th, ahead of Simone Corsi, who was again, top Speed Up. Nakagami finished 8th, with Sandro Cortese finishing 9th. Francesco Bagnaia completed the top 10 – the first time that he has finished inside the top 10 across all classes at Aragon.

Quartararo beat Aegerter and Baldassarri, with Vierge and Manzi completing the point scorers. Stefano Manzi finished in a point-scoring placing for a 3rd race in 2017. The Italian has started to come good, as he was 10th when he crashed out at Misano – although he won’t be riding at the VR46 outfit in 2018. Aegerter and Baldassarri could be considered disappointments of the day, as the Swiss won the previous race in Misano and Baldassarri was 7th in the event last year.

The championship now heads to Japan in the Far East and the Motegi circuit. Tom Luthi won the Moto2 race at Motegi in 2014 and 2016, so he has good form at the track, whereas Morbidelli has just the one podium from last season. Alex Marquez also won at the circuit – twice in Moto2, firstly in 2013 but also a year later, in 2014.

Top 5 Championship Standings

1.) Franco Morbidelli     248

2.) Thomas Luthi            227

3.) Miguel Oliveira          157

4.) Alex Marquez            155

5.) Francesco Bagnaia 130

Image by: MotoGP

Posted on

Marquez Leads Repsol Honda 1-2 at Aragon

Marc Marquez took victory at Aragon for the MotoGP race, ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa and Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo, in an action packed race – which also saw the return of Valentino Rossi from injury.

The race got underway and immediately, Jorge Lorenzo took the lead, with Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi in behind. Quickly, Rossi got passed his teammate and set off after the Ducati rider, who had an 0.8s lead by the end of the first lap. Marc Marquez had a difficult start and was in 5th place, behind the second factory Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso.

Maverick Vinales dropped back in the early stages, becoming mired in a battle for 5th with Dani Pedrosa, Aleix Espargaro, Mika Kallio, Cal Crutchlow, Johann Zarco, Pol Espargaro and Andrea Iannone. The front four escaped and were all within a second of each other.

On lap nine, Marquez tried an outrageous manoeuvre on Valentino Rossi at the turn 12 bus-stop, however, he narrowly missed colliding with the Italian and had to let the brakes off, running up the inside of Jorge Lorenzo before going off track and rejoining back in fourth. It was a very close call!

Karel Abraham was the first crasher of the race, at turn eight – similar to his teammate Alvaro Bautista yesterday. Karel was up and OK. This marked the Czech’s first retirement since the French Grand Prix at Le Mans in May. It also highlighted that Karel and Aragon don’t get on, as he only has one points-scoring finish to his name, with 9th in 2012.

Marquez hit 2nd place on the 12th lap, taking Rossi in the final bend, keeping a tight inside line whereas Valentino opted for a fast, sweeping run up over the hill and down the start/finish straight. Marquez held on. It was at this point where we realised two things: Marquez’ pace wasn’t an issue after his 2nd row qualifying and that Valentino Rossi’s valiant effort was coming to an end, as he start to fatigue, now that the second half of the race was underway.

Cal Crutchlow crashed on lap 16, seven laps from home. He had just been passed by a struggling Johann Zarco. Crutchlow started fourth on the grid and was 10th when he crashed out of proceedings. It was Crutchlow’s fourth retirement of the year and also meant that he didn’t capitalise on taking Danilo Petrucci’s 7th in the championship, as the Italian failed to score a point.

On the same lap, we saw our first change of leader. Marquez dive-bombed Lorenzo into the turn 12 bus-stop, going wide initially but cutting back to retain the advantage. Going into turn 16, Lorenzo used the power of the Ducati and took the lead back momentarily, before Marquez cut underneath him and got the inside line through turn 17 and across the line. The cheers of the Spanish fans told us that Aragon really is Marc Marquez territory.

Also on the 16th lap, Dani Pedrosa passed Valentino Rossi, after passing Dovizioso and Vinales in previous laps. Pedrosa now had around a second of clear track ahead of him before he would be able to mount a challenge on 5-time champion, Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa had preserved his tyre and whilst Marquez was too far ahead he did catch Jorge, setting the fastest lap in the process.

Pedrosa passed Lorenzo at the bus-stop, replicating his teammate’s move on the Ducati ace a few laps previous. Pedrosa held his line and romped away from Lorenzo. It was now a Repsol Honda 1-2. That is how it remained until the end, with Marquez holding off Pedrosa’s late surge and Jorge Lorenzo’s Ducati. It was the first 1-2 for Honda at the Aragon Grand Prix since Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa in 2011, as well as Ducati’s first podium at Aragon since Cal Crutchlow in 2014.

Valentino Rossi, despite his most determined efforts, was pipped by teammate Maverick Vinales, as the two factory Yamahas finished 4th and 5th. Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia took 6th, highlighting once more that the Aprilia’s is very user-friendly with tyres. Andrea Dovizioso was pummelled back to 7th and now trails Marquez by 16 points in the championship going to Japan, whilst Alvaro Bautista was the best privateer Ducati, finishing in 8th. Johann Zarco salvaged 9th and Pol Espargaro emerged from the shadow of test-rider and wildcard, Mika Kallio, to complete the top 10.

Kallio in turn finished 11th, whilst Iannone struggled to 12th – although he finished as top Suzuki. Jack Miller was 13th and top independent Honda, with Britain’s Scott Redding behind him in 14th. Esteve Rabat made it a double point-scoring finish for the Marc VDS squad, taking 15th and the final point of the day.

The championship now takes a two weekend sabbatical before returning to the Land of the Rising Sun – Japan. Motegi beckons next on the calendar but unlike last year, Marc Marquez can’t wrap the series up at this meeting. The top five are the only riders that have a mathematical chance of the championship going into the closing stages of a phenomenal season of Grand Prix racing.

Top 5 Championship Standings

1.) Marc Marquez        224

2.) Andrea Dovizioso 208

3.) Maverick Vinales  196

4.) Dani Pedrosa          170

5.) Valentino Rossi     168

Image by: MotoGP

Posted on

Discipline is the Key to the Success

Marina Bay Circuit, Marina Bay, Singapore.
Sunday 17 September 2017.
World Copyright: Steven Tee/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _R3I1034

Discipline is the key to the success, is what every athlete must have, even if we are talking about a team sport like football and basketball or even if we are talking about a one man show sport like tennis.

In Formula One if a driver is willing to win a world title must be able to control himself and his reactions, must be able to know when he must attack and when to hold off in order to secure his position and score points and must have the luck to his side.

A few days ago, in Singapore, Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap in the Saturday’s qualification session and took the pole-position, but the next day he ruined everything. Kimi Raikkonen had a good start, squeezed Max Verstappen they collided with Sebastian Vettel, who moved aggressively left, and a few seconds later, Raikkonen, tagged Alonso’s car, who retired a few laps later due to heavy damage on his McLaren.

Marina Bay Circuit, Marina Bay, Singapore.
Saturday 16 September 2017.
World Copyright: Steven Tee/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _R3I9943

Four of the best drivers on the grid retired in the first meters of the race, Lewis Hamilton, as a smart and an experienced driver, took advantage of that incident, lead the race from the start to the end and won the Singapore GP. A victory which even Mercedes’ most ambition fan couldn’t imagine. Now Hamilton is enjoying his loneliness at the top of the drivers’ standings, 28 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

I am not willing to blame some of the three drivers (Verstappen, Raikkonen, and Vettel), but my question is why Vettel had to close Raikkonen and Verstappen instead of letting them go or even let them pass him and catch up later in the race. Here comes today’s key word, discipline. The German has won four world titles in his Formula One career, this year has the chance to win his fifth title, but decided to ruin everything in a few meters.

Let’s assume that Vettel couldn’t think clearly, not an easy thing to do especially under this conditions, Ferrari’s team principal Maurizio Arrivabene had to inform and advice his driver to take it easy, as it was a very good chance for Vettel to re-take the lead on the drivers’ championship and put some pressure on Hamilton for the following races. When Lewis took the lead of the race, Mercedes said to the Brit, through the team-radio, to deliver the car home in one piece, that is what Ferrari had to say to Vettel before the race.

Marina Bay Street Circuit, Marina Bay, Singapore.
Sunday 17 September 2017.
World Copyright: Zak Mauger/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _X0W5640

Both Vettel and Arrivabene are on pressure now, Ferrari had/have the chance to return to trophies after nine years, but now the chances to achieve that is very low. Six races are remaining to complete this season, and most of these races suit more to Mercedes’ car set-up, that means that Ferrari must make the ‘break’ and Sebastian Vettel must win more than two races, hoping that at the same time Hamilton will finish third or even a lower position.

The next race will take place in Malaysia, Ferrari must win at least once in the two following races if they want to close the gap or even pass Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ championship. The ‘second’ drivers will play a crucial in this year’s title.

Victor Archakis

Twitter @FP_Passion

Posted on

Project CARS 2 Review

————-
 Slightly Mad, Beautifully Authentic
 ————-
Project CARS 2 is a sequel to the original game released in May 2015. Once more developed and published by Slightly Mad Studios, the game doubles in car size, now boasting 182 cars from 38 different manufacturers with additions from Ferrari and Porsche. Electronic Arts lost their exclusive contract with Porsche recently, the manufacturer now appearing on all new driving releases, Slightly Mad used RUF in 2015.
__________
 ————-
It now holds the record, taking it from the first edition for most tracks, 46 locations and 121 different formats, Knockhill in Scotland, Long Beach in America and historic tracks such as the high speed Hockenheim in Germany which you can see above.
 ————-
It is the first game in recent years to have secured a contract with Verizon who own Indycar, boasting the full 2016 car roster and liveries with the Indy 500 as an official event. This is a tier 1 category in career mode. All cars and tracks are available on single player and online from the start so no need to do any unlocking if you are a casual gamer.
 ————-
The weather/physics system they use, Livetrack, is in its third form a truly dynamic approach to rain, and especially to dirt and snow taking a leaf from Codemasters’ critically acclaimed DiRT series with Rallycross entering the fray.
 ————-
Because of such unique situations, where puddles form and dry out individually, the track never seems static, always evolving in the process throughout the race. A true challenge especially in the lower categories. As you can see below the spray in the Formula rookie series around Watkins Glen. You can also see from this the lovely graphics the game has and graphical interface of position on track, track map and speedometer.
The career mode which was such a success on the first game is just polished further, having the tiers of category, starting low down in tier 6 with Go-Karts or Formula Rookie, heading towards the heights of Indycar and the World Endurance series.
————-
Depending on your success, you will be invited to a series of invitationals, so much so you might do a Nico Hulkenburg or Fernando Alonso and attempt the historic events of the Le Mans 24 Hours and Indy 500, of which if you fancy can be the full duration, but shortened down to a smaller time if you wish.
 ————-
The most fine tuned cars on the gaming market. The noise and handing of them are so realistic, the way you could tune the setups for the cars is amazing. There are probably thousands of different setups, where a 0.1psi change on a tyre makes a huge difference.
 ————-
They have also got eSport interest and will be streaming events on the internet. Qualification for these events will begin shortly. For all you gamer nerds the achievements on Xbox and trophies on Playstation are a slight challenge, but doing these give you the full appreciation of the game.
 ————-
Project CARS 2 is everything you wish for a sequel to be, bigger, better and amazing. One of, if not the best driving simulator I have ever driven on! Further DLC is announced, so more tracks and cars to get aswell! Gaming at its highest level.
 ————-
Chris Lord
 ————-
Pictures are captures on a Playstation 4, from @C_Lordy91 twitter.  This game is out on PC, PS4 and Xbox One from 22/09/2017.
Posted on

Moto2: Aragon Preview – Morbidelli and Luthi are Head to Head

Moto2 arrives in Spain for the third time this season, at the MotorLand Aragon circuit for the 14th round of 18 in the championship. Franco Morbidelli had his lead in the championship well and truly savaged by Tom Luthi last time at Misano, after he crashed and the former 125cc champion finished 2nd. We head into Aragon – a circuit that neither rider has won at before – full of expectation of a fiery dual in the middle of the Spanish desert.

Franco Morbidelli looked like he was starting to inch closer to Italy’s first intermediate class championship win since Marco Simoncelli in 2008 before throwing it all away early on at Misano. The rider with seven victories so far in the championship now only leads Tom Luthi by nine points. Morbidelli was on the podium at Aragon in 2016 – the result kickstarted a run of form that would see the 22-year-old feature on the podium in every race up until Jerez this season. Another win for Morbidelli would see him go just one away from Marco Melandri’s nine intermediate class victories achieved, back in 2002. Will Morbidelli become the first Italian to win at Aragon in Moto2 since Andrea Iannone, in 2010?

Tom Luthi will be trying to stop him. The Swiss rider has just one DNF to his name and is proving that consistently finishing in the top four pays dividends. Luthi was 4th at Aragon last season, his best result at the circuit. Luthi’s last win in Spain was at Valencia in 2014 but he has never scored a podium in the race straight after the San Marino GP. Will Aragon break that chain? Luthi won at two of the remaining races last season so it may not be essential for him to take victory this weekend. Will a cool head be best in this high-pressure situation?

Alex Marquez missed the San Marino GP after a huge crash on the Friday free practice day. The Spaniard will be making a return to action this weekend and although a shot at the championship seems to have faded away, he now needs to keep hold of this place. Marquez was 2nd at Aragon last season and also 2nd in 2014 on a Moto3 bike. Along with that, the former Moto3 champion has won both races that have already been held in Spain this year and will be hoping to become the first Spanish rider since Dani Pedrosa in 2005 to win three Spanish races in an intermediate class year.

Miguel Oliveria has been nothing short of outstanding in 2017 onboard a brand new KTM. Five podiums place him 4th in the championship, just 14 points behind Alex Marquez. A first win in the intermediate class still eludes him however. Oliveira missed the race last year due to injury but he won the Moto3 race at the track in 2015. A win for Oliveira would see him become the fourth rider to win in two classes at the circuit – Pol Espargaro, Nicolas Terol and Marc Marquez are the current three.

Francesco Bagnaia has the luxury of being top rookie in the Moto2 class this year. He is the only rider to finish every race since Catalunya in the points, an impressive achievement for the Italian. Unfortunately for Pecco, Aragon has proven not to be his most favoured circuit, as he is yet to break into the top 10 in a race there. Bagnaia is only 17 points behind Oliveira in the championship, meaning he is keeping the pressure on as we near the season’s end. Could the VR46 rider crack the top 10 at Aragon for the first time this weekend?

Takaaki Nakagami completes the all-important top six. 15 points behind a rookie is not what we would’ve expected from Taka but he isn’t a million miles away from the top five. Nakagami has scored points in every Moto2 outing at the circuit since 2013 and achieved his best finish last year of 5th. The former Suzuka 8 Hour winner will be desperate to take his second win of the season, which would make him the first Japanese rider since Hiroshi Aoyama to win more than one race in the intermediate class in a season.

Image by Honda Pro Racing

Posted on

MotoGP Aragon Preview: Wetting your Appetite in the Spanish Desert

Round 14 of the MotoGP championship beckons this weekend and the venue for the occasion is the MotorLand Aragon circuit, in Alcaniz, Spain. The third of four Spanish rounds, Aragon has become a Marc Marquez heartland since he stepped up to the premier class in 2013 and the capacity crowd will want to witness their man take victory, for what would be a fourth time. Keeping the Spaniard honest is Andrea Dovizioso – joint championship leader, Maverick Vinales – just 16 points back and also Dani Pedrosa, who is a distant fifth in the championship.

Marc Marquez is at the head of the championship, courtesy of having more 2nd places than Andrea Dovizioso, as both have four wins. The Spaniard has taken three wins at Aragon – two in the premier class and one in Moto2. The five-time champion won at the circuit last season and in 2013 but when Marc hasn’t been winner, he’s been a crasher. The 24-year-old has never won back to back races at same Spanish circuit in consecutive seasons so that will be yet another record he will want to smash. Honda have won at Aragon a total of four times and will also hope to become the first manufacturer to make it five at the track.

Andrea Dovizioso took a steady 3rd at Misano, his sixth podium of the season. The last time Dovizioso took six podiums in a season was 2012 on the Tech 3 Yamaha and if he manages to make the podium this weekend, it’ll be the first time since 2011 that he has had seven in a year. Dovi has just one podium to his name at Aragon, back in 2012 and his best result for Ducati at the track is a 5th in 2015. Ducati in turn haven’t won at Aragon since 2010 and their last podium at the circuit was with Cal Crutchlow in 2014. 31-year-old Dovizioso has shattered records this year for Ducati and will hope to continue doing so into the forthcoming weekend.

Maverick Vinales has had a slightly subdued season since his wins in Qatar and Argentina. Vinales was off the podium yet again at Misano, where he finished 4th, limiting the damage that Marquez and Dovizioso have done to him. Vinales was fourth at Aragon on the Suzuki last year and won at the circuit in 2014 for the Pons Kalex team in Moto2. He has two other podiums in Moto3 too. Yamaha have won at the circuit twice – in 2014 and 2015. Vinales needs points and must take some off either Marquez or Dovizioso this weekend. If he is behind them for another meeting, one would have to think it’d take a monumental effort to get to the head of the championship again. Having said that, as hard as it may be, it is far from impossible.

The man stealing all the headlines into Aragon is 4th placed Valentino Rossi, who announced that he will attempt to ride during FP1 on Friday morning this weekend. That will make it just 22 days after initially breaking his leg. The Doctor has made the decision to come back at a circuit where he has struggled at in the past. He has been third on three occasions – 2013, 2015 and 2016 – but they are his best finish. Rossi has never qualified on the front row at Aragon either so in a normal, healthy condition, this circuit was never going to be his favourite. If we dare talk about a win for Valentino, then he would be the second oldest rider to win two GPs in a premier class season, after Leslie Graham. Will Valentino show one his most determined rides ever to salvage something out of this weekend?

Dani Pedrosa occupies 5th in the championship, seven points behind the Italian veteran. Pedrosa won at the circuit back in 2012 and had a strong ride to 2nd at the circuit in 2015, battling with Valentino Rossi on the final lap. A podium for Dani would see it be his seventh of the season, the first time since 2014 that he has achieved that many. Pedrosa has taken pole at the previous two Spanish rounds this season and won at Jerez so he clearly has no issues about performing in front of a home crowd. With five races to go, Pedrosa needs to slash the 49-point gap to the leaders to be in with a chance of the championship and that must start at Aragon. Like Vinales, it is far from over but it’s going to be tough.

Sixth place in the championship belongs to top rookie, Johann Zarco. The Tech 3 Yamaha rider has been a revelation this season but he has never won at Aragon – one of the few circuits he looked despondent with in his Moto2 championship years. His only podiums at the circuit come from 2011 in Moto3 when he finished 2nd and in 2014 on the Caterham-Suter in Moto2, where he finished 3rd. There has never been a French winner at Aragon across all three classes and in dodgy weather, I wouldn’t put it passed Zarco to atleast threaten that particular statistic. Tech 3’s best premier class result at Aragon is a third place by Andrea Dovizioso in 2012.

Danilo Petrucci in 7th will be looking for his first ever back-to-back podiums and Pramac Ducati’s first back-to-back podiums since 2008, with Toni Elias at Brno and Misano. Petrucci has only had one point scoring ride at Aragon, with 11th place back in 2014. He is 15 points behind Johann Zarco.

Cal Crutchlow is top Brit in 8th. The double GP winner has one podium to his name in GP racing at the circuit, on a Ducati in 2014. His best result for Honda was 5th last year. Crutchlow will be looking to finish his 8th consecutive race this season in the points.

9th place is Jorge Lorenzo, who still seeks his first win for Ducati after crashing out in Misano. Having led his first laps, Jorge can now progress further with the bike at a circuit he loves. He is the only rider to win at Aragon from outside of the front row in 2014 and dominated proceedings in 2015 too. A 2nd last year fires him up for what should be a successful weekend.

Jonas Folger is 10th in the championship, making Yamaha the only manufacturer with four bikes in the top 10. Folger never achieved a Moto2 podium at Aragon but he did manage a third place back in 2012 in Moto3. He will be looking to become the first ever German to win at the Aragon venue.

Image: Honda Pro Racing

Posted on

Haslam Takes Honours and Series Lead after Stellar Oulton Park

Leon Haslam was the major beneficiary in the opening British Superbike Showdown round at Oulton Park in Cheshire. Last year’s runner-up took his first win since Cadwell Park in the opening race before finishing a close 2nd in race two, just 0.060 behind the race winner, Dan Linfoot. This moves him and his JG Speedfit Bournemouth Kawasaki Team back to the top of the standings.

In contrast to the earlier meeting at Oulton Park in May, Haslam scored the most points out of the Showdown contenders, with 45 points marked up over the weekend. This was 18 more than Josh Brookes, 29 more than Shane Byrne, 22 more than Jake Dixon, 24 more than Peter Hickman and 31 more than Jason O’Halloran.

“I had to keep telling myself to keep pushing, especially when Brad Ray was nipping at my heels for the last few laps!”, said Leon Haslam, the new series leader.

“Even though the conditions weren’t great in race one or race two because of the wet patches, I felt like I rode really well”.

Haslam turned his attentions to Assen, a circuit which he achieved a double victory at last season. “I’m looking forward to Assen; it can be very weather dependent and it’s cold this time of year but we managed a double win there last year so we know that the potential of the bike is good”.

“However, there are so many people in the Showdown challenging for a place on the podium that anything can happen, but that’s what makes it so exciting this year!”

An announcement on the rider line-up at the team is expected in under ten days, as Pete Extance revealed in an interview on Saturday evening. You can read the full interview tomorrow (Wednesday 20th September).

Image by David Watson

Posted on

Can Mercedes start celebrating, Well, can they?

2017 Singapore Grand Prix, Sunday – Wolfgang Wilhelm
Ferrari has ruined their best chance at winning a driver’s title since 2013 and their first constructor’s title since 2008, it was always going to be a bit of a stretch due to Raikkonen being fourth best out of the two teams, he even finds himself behind Ricciardo in the championship.

Since the hybrid era began, Singapore has been a track on which Mercedes had never  been able to adapt, other teams were able to be much closer to them than they are at other circuits. Nico Rosberg did break the trend last year, but if the race was slightly longer then Ricciardo may have got him on fresh rubber. It seemed a case of deja vu for the silver arrows team once more with them locking out the third row and Vettel producing probably the best lap of his life to beat the two Red Bulls who had looked mighty around the floodlit streets. Raikkonen was once again in fourth, looking like a rear gunner.

The weather had been temperamental all weekend, with heavy showers duringthe day and even an almighty monsoon during Saturday afternoon. This was officially the first ever wet night race, as the rain came and went in the build-up to the race It was pretty much decided that with 10-15 minutes to go that the track was wet enough for intermediates, some decided to go on full wets, even in the dry this is a track that keeps you on your toes, especially as it continues to have a very high chance of a safety car.

The calm before the storm came as they lined up in their grid positions, the lights  went out and away they went. Raikkonen and Hamilton made the best start of the top teams, Vettel and Ricciardo were rather tardy. Raikkonen went down the inside of Verstappen generally the safer route, whilst Hamilton went on the outside. Vettel much like his hero Schumacher decided to close the gap, very risky on a wet track, closing the door to where Verstappen could go. Vettel didn’t see what an amazing start Raikonnen made, so he was actually squeezing two cars which never would have worked. Verstappen was not in a bad position with only some front wing damage, but Raikkonen got damaged and was a passenger as he careered into Verstappen also collecting Alonso, and in the end, retiring the three. Vettel has also managed to continue, but not for long, his car was severely damaged, spewing out its fluids, spinning and hitting the wall. Hamilton must have thought all his Christmas’ had come at once at once, to find himself leading the race and realistically the only challenger forvictory would be Ricciardo. Hamilton was, as always, good in the changing conditions and was easily gaining time on the Aussie, radio messages weren’t broadcast but it seems early on he had a gearbox problem, more woe for Red Bull. He managed to get the car home but all Hamilton had to do was to keep it out of the wall.

Due to three safety car periods, the race lasted two hours rather than the full distance being completed, but full points were awarded. Hamilton won his 60th Grand Prix, and now has his eyes firmly set on a fourth world title, while Vettel still has it all to do. Vettel, Raikkonen and Verstappen were called individually to the stewards to investigate the first corner drama, The stewards could not point the finger at anyone but from the public response, Vettel was the catalyst in the situation. It was placed as a racing incident, many expecting a penalty for Vettel, but losing further points to Hamilton is punishment enough for the German.

Has the Championship already been decided? As the legendary Murray Walker would say ‘Anything can happen in Formula 1 and it usually does!’ Just look at Malaysia last year, Hamilton’s ‘No, No, No’ moment, when he was clear of the field. Singapore was a major turning point but is there one last twist in the 2017 season?

By Chris Lord 18/9/17

Posted on

Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel could soon need snookers to win the F1 World Championship

The polite way to sum up Ferrari’s Singapore Grand Prix is “total disaster.”

Sebastian Vettel moved across to block Max Verstappen at the start and the two combined to spear Kimi Raikkonen across the track and into teammate Vettel’s sidepod.

Meanwhile, Raikkonen and Verstappen continued, without much control, on to the first corner where McLaren’s Fernando Alonso played the role of innocent victim as he was catapulted into the air and out of the race.

It had all started so well, too.

Vettel took a mesmerising pole position on Saturday and managed to put Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Raikkonen between himself and title rival Lewis Hamilton.

This was therefore supposed to be the weekend that he marched back to the top of the World Championship standings at a circuit that clearly favoured Ferrari.

Instead, the four-time World Champion now has it all to do and is 28 points behind Hamilton in the standings. Crucially, that is more than a race victory.

This is because while other lost their heads in a race that saw only 12 cars see the chequered flag, Hamilton cruised to victory with a poised, elegant if slightly fortunate drive.

The Brit has come alive since the summer break and has reeled off three successive wins.

That has left Vettel needing snookers in order to regain a Championship lead that before the Italian Grand Prix he had held all season.

Ferrari will now have to hope that there remains further twists in this so-far delightful tale.

The last time they won a World Drivers’ Championship in 2007, Kimi Raikkonen trailed Hamilton by 17 points.

Hamilton retired at the penultimate race in China before mechanical gremlins limited him to seventh at the final round in Brazil ten years ago.

The Scuderia could soon have to hope for a turnaround of that ilk if they are to return to the top.

©2014-2024 ThePitCrewOnline