Round 6 WorldSBK, Donington Park, Race 1

We’re back with race action after the long break, and no doubt all the riders would be keen to get straight back into the thick of it.

Donington Park was recently resurfaced, how would the riders fair on a track with less bumps and more grip?

The earlier Superpole saw Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), make a return to pole position with a top time of 1:26.041, followed by Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), and first time on the front row, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing).

For race 1 the rain showers of Friday had cleared, although it was still gusty, with track temperatures of mid 20 degrees.

Lights out then for race 1 and it was Alvaro Bautista with the holeshot into turn 1, followed in hot pursuit by Rea 2^nd, Petrucci 3^rd, Toprak (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK) 4^th, and Tom Sykes (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) 5^th. Drama for both Brad Ray (YamahaxRacing), and Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) who make contact into turn 1 sending both riders into the gravel. Ray comes off worse with his bike upside down, his race over. Gerloff rejoins at the back of the field.

Alvaro Bautista winner of R06 Donington WSBK 2023. Image courtesy of Ducati

Next lap and Rea had the bit between his teeth, keen not to let Alavaro get any headway. Rea seized the opportunity into the Foggy Esses as Bautista ran slightly off line, Rea cleanly through into the lead. Team mate Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was also making ground and was up into 4th, Toprak into 3^rd, while Sykes had dropped down to 6th.

Rea then put in the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:27.384.

With 20 laps of 23 remaining, positions were as follows; 1. Rea 2. Toprak 3. Bautista 4. Lowes 5. Petrucci 6. Sykes 7. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) 8. Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK) 9. Aegerter (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) 10. Lecuona (Honda HRC). Locatelli then got through on Bassani up into 7^th.

Another new fastest lap and this time its Toprak with a 1:27.043. Both Rea and Toprak were pulling away from Bautista in 3^rd.

With 18 laps to go, Toprak had now clawed his way right onto the back of Rea and was looking for the pass. Meanwhile further back it was Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) 11^th, Lecuona 12^th, and Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) 13^th. At the front Toprak out brakes Rea down into the Melbourne loop, diving up the inside and passing the Six time champion easily to take the lead. Meanwhile it had now become the leading trio, with Alvaro having rejoined the group in 3rd.

Next lap and Rea looked to be back to his best, taking back the lead as the track fell down into the Craner Curves, a lovely pass taking Toprak by surprise. Then Toprak snapped back into the Melbourne loop once again, cutting inside into the hard braking corner to retake the lead. This was turning into a blow for blow battle for the lead, all the while you sensed Bautista was biding his time in 3rd.

It was turning into a bad day for Bonovo Action BMW, with Loris Baz now having to retire due to a mechanical issue. Meanwhile at the front the leading trio would now be a quartet, as Lowes snagged onto the back of the group, and looked to have good pace. Bautista made his move on Rea into the chicane, taking the position he moved up to 2^nd.

With 15 laps remaining, positions were as follows; 1. Toprak 2. Bautista 3. Rea 4. Lowes 5. Petrucci 6. Bassani 7. Locatelli 8. Sykes 9. Aegerter 10. Oettl (Team GoEleven).

Bautista now got through on Toprak and took the lead, setting a new fastest lap of 1:26.913 in the process.

With 13 laps to go Bautista put in another new fastest lap a 1:26.8, and ominously looked to be getting into his grove. Rea was trying to maintain contact in 3rd but was getting distanced.

Next lap and Bautista put in yet another fastest lap, a 1:26.615, and was now distancing Toprak who was winding the life out of his Yamaha R1, trying to keep in contact.

Over half race distance and Alvaro was showing no signs of slowing down, setting a new all time race lap record, a 1:26.610, increasing the gap to Toprak to 1.2s, while Toprak held a gap of 1.6s to Rea.

With 8 laps to go, Rea was drifting back with the gap to Toprak increasing to 1.9s, while Bautista held a gap of 1.7s over Toprak. Meanwhile further back Redding was up to 10^th getting past Aegerter. Petrucci had made some what of a resurgence and was finding some late race pace, and got through on Lowes into the chicane to move into 4^th, and was now hunting down the other Kawasaki of Rea. Further back Locatelli moved into 6th, getting through on Bassani.

With the track temperature rising it was working to Bautista’s advantage, and he was finding the extra grip ripping up lap time records one by one. It was another new all time fastest lap a 1:26.550, 0.5s slower then Rea’s pole position time.

Alvaro Bautista – R06 Donington WBSK 2023. Image courtesy of Ducati

With 6 laps to go Petrucci was slowly reeling in Rea with the gap down to 0.4s.

With only 4 laps remaining, Petrucci was now right on Rea with the gap down to 0.2s. Meanwhile out in front Bautista was looking in cruise control, a not unfamiliar scene. Further back Locatelli had caught Lowes and was looking for the pass.

Next lap and Locatelli finally made the pass on Lowes into the chicane moving into 5th.

Penultimate lap and Petrucci had eased off with the gap increasing to 0.5s to Rea. Bautista held a comfortable lead of 3.7s over Toprak.

Last lap and there was drama for both Lecuona, and Oettl who had been having a good race, the former crashing out into turn 4, with Oettl going down into one of the final corners. However no mistake for Bautista who crossed the line to take yet another win, that made it 11 wins in a row equalling his tally of 2019. Toprak 2^nd, Rea 3^rd, Petrucci 4^th, Locatelli 5^th, Lowes 6^th, Bassani 7^th, Redding 8^th, Sykes 9^th, Gardner 10^th.

Result top 5:

Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK)
Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing)
Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK)

Championship top 3:

Bautista – 323
Razgatlioglu – 232
Locatelli – 161

Featured image courtesy of Yamaha

25th June 2023

Formula E: Title Fight Heats Up In Portland As Dennis Takes The Championship Lead

The very first Portland E-Prix for Formula E saw drama in both qualifying and the race.

Qualifying:

Groups:

This session kicked off with Group A going out. 2 of the 4 chamionship contenders participating in this session: Pascal Wehrlein and Nick Cassidy. Gunther, Fenestraz, Ticktum and Vergne were quickest in the early parts of the session. As the timer ticked down, drivers kept on going faster and faster. Fenestraz, Vergne, Nato and Gunther were the top 4 as we entered the latter staged of the first group session. Mitch Evans, although he was not in this session, was under investigation for pit land procedures. 2 championship contenders Cassidy and Wehrlein both did NOT improve and were due to start on the 6th and 10th rows of the grid. Fenestraz, Vergne, Nato and Gunther(who made an error on his final lap) managed to make it through to the duels. Group A was finished and Group B was just getting underway.

As the light went green for Group B, another championship contender Mitch Evans was out of his car before the session even got underway. It appeared he had an issue with his car so he was unable to even participate in the session which was big for his championship hopes. It emerged that both DS Penskes were under investigation for a technical infringement which then meant both drivers of Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne would be forced to do a pitlane start. Roberto Mehri had a big lockup going into turn 1 but he managed to go into the run off area and rejoin the track. Mortara did something similar to his teammate and went onto the grass. He then pitted while Jake Dennis went fastest with a 1:09:856. It was then understood that a DC fault was the reason for the Mitch Evans not taking part in qualifying. Mortara managed to jump up to P2 which dropped Andre Lotterer out of the top 4. Both Sam Bird and Antonio Felix Da Costa managed to finish laps but only got up to P7 and P8 respectfully. The top 4 then went from Dennis, Mortara, Lotterer and Rast to Rast, Dennis, Hughes and Da Costa. They all went through to the duels.

Duels:
It was Nato and Vergne up first with Nato managing to beat the 2 time champion.

Fenestraz and Gunther were up next with Fenestraz having an advantage over the Maserati driver. Fenestraz then has a moment after the final corner and he managed to tap the wall and have a wiggle. He manages to beat Gunther by 0.100.

Hughes and Dennis went up against eachother for the third qualifying. Hughes first ahead by 0.056 but then Dennis managed to get a jump by 0.126. Dennis managed to keep that lead and beat the McLaren driver.

The final quarter final saw Rene Rast and Antonio Felix DaCosta go against eachother. Rast was 3 tenths down on the 2020 champion and it didn’t seem to go well. But then as they crossed the line, Rast managed to get through by other 1 tenth!

It was an all Nissan semi final 1 with Nato against Fenestraz. Nato managed to go a bit wide in turn 1 while Fenestraz managed to keep it tighter and be over 3 tenths up. Fenestraz then managed to get through to the final.

Rast and Dennis went uo against eachother with Dennis maintaining an early lead as they crossed the line to go into the final.

Dennis and Fenestraz went against eachother for the final with Dennis first being up by 0.011 tenths and then Fenestraz being up by 0.022 tenths. Fenestraz then tapped the wall at the final corner which costs him pole position. Jake Dennis took pole position and the championship lead.

Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E
Pole Position-Image Credit to Sam Bloxham

Race:
The lights went out in Portland and the McLarens managed to make a good start as well as Nick Cassidy who already made his way up to P5. Many moves happened in the early parts of this race with Mehri up to P15 and the Nissans still in 2nd and 3rd. Da Costa also managed to overtake Cassidy for P5. Muller managed to have broken front nose on his car. Cassidy then managed to get up to the lead from Dennis and Rast. A yellow flag then came out due to Mehri having a loss of power and stopping on track which brought out a safety car. At the safety car restart, Nato lead from Da Costa and Dennis. At that point, Da Costa managed to make 12 overtakes in the race so far. When the safety car came in, Fenestraz had to pit for a new front nose. The top 3 remained the same after the restart until Nato and Gunther managed to jump Cassidy with Mortara and Da Costa in P4 and P5.

The Safety Car was then deployed for a second time as the Abt Cupra of Nico Muller crashed at the walls of turn 9 and 10. His wing came off and went under the car. Thankfully, he is safe and got out of the car. The DS Penskes of Vergne and Vandoorne managed to get up to P13 and P15 after starting from the pitlane. Wehrlein also managed to get up to P1. The Safety Car remained out for many laps as we passed lap 15 out of 28. Then, Nato passed Cassidy while under the safety car. This was more than likely due to the race stewards reviewing the footage when the safety car came out.

Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E, Porsche 99 X Electric Gen3-Image Credit: Simon Galloway

We then went green again and MANY drivers decided to go for attack mode including Nato, Gunther, Mortara, Rast, Frijns, Hughes and Bird. While having attack mode, Gunther goes for an overtake on Dennis and managed to hold onto it. Every car was still stuck together on lap 18/28 while Vandoorne and Lotterer went through attack mode. Vergne then had a moment on the grass at the same place Muller went off but he managed to keep it on track. Wehrlein was then under investigation for a turn 1 incident. Both Vergne and Wehrlein then fell down the order as they took attack mode. Muller then got a 5 second penalty for leaving the track but he already retired from the race. Da Costa managed to overtake Cassidy for the lead of the race!

The race then became a matter of energy saving to get them to the end. This involved a lot of weaving from many drivers. Vergne managed to get his way up to P4 after a pit lane start but he was overusing on power and had to drop back to conserve in order to get to the end. As we entered the letter staged of the race, Evans, Wehrlein, Buemi and Sette Camara all had 1 attac mode remaining. 4 additional laps were then added due to the amount of laps we spent behind the safety car. In terms of energy at this point, Vergne has 24% while Cassidy had 28% and Da Costa 29%. Dennis then goes for a move around the outside and he gets Da Costa but not Cassidy as Da Costa fights back. Gunther manages to touch the grass and drop down to P8. With 3 laps remaining, Da Costa takes the lead of the E-Prix! Dennis lines up a move into turn 1 on Da Costa but he stays behind the Porsche driver.

Cassidy manages to hold onto the lead and he wins the Portland E-Prix! Jake Dennis finishes P2 and Antonio Felix Da Costa finished the podium positions in P3. Mitch Evans managed to go from P20 to P4, Sebastian Buemi finished in P5 with Maximilian Gunther in P6. Sam Bird crossed the line in P7 but he got a penalty for a collision and dropped down to P17. Lucas DiGrassi, Pascal Wehrlein and Normal Nato crossed the line P8, P9 and P10 but got points for P7, P8 and P9. Robin Frijns managed to get P10.

Formula E returns in a few weeks with the Rome E-Prix on the 15th and 16th of July with the season finale a few weeks after that in London for the London E-Prix on the 29th and 30th of July.

Who is your favourite to win the title?

25th June 2023

Safari Rally Kenya 2023, Day Three Report. Sunday

The final day then of this epic round of the championship and we had 75km’s over six stages to bring the event to a close. EP re-joined the action and would open the road throughout the day’s stages.

Into SS14 Malewa 1 – 8.33 km and when Esapekka got to the finish it emerged that he had another propshaft had failed. What, again?! Unbelievable for the Finn. Meanwhile Kalle took the stage win from Seb and Takamoto. Elfyn suffered a spin in the stage and with his Japanese teammate setting such a good time the gap between them came down to 11.4 seconds. Another gap that reduced was that between Kalle and Seb. Just 8.6 seconds was now separating them. The top three in WRC2 remained Kajetan, Martin and Carl.

Next up was SS15 Oserian 1 – 18.33 km and Seb won the stage from Kalle and Ott. The Frenchman doubled his lead as well over his younger teammate to 17.2 seconds. Their teammate Elfyn also increased the gap to Takamoto by 10 seconds.

The final stage before service then, SS16 Hell’s Gate 1 – 10.53 km and the first look at the power stage. EP struggled through with what he thought was front wheel-drive. His Spanish teammate also had technical problems after his powersteering failed. The Toyota’s had their problems, with Takamoto getting a problem with his hybrid system. There was a bigger problem for Seb though as he went wide and removed his rear wing and hatch completely. However, he only lost around four seconds of his lead. He was lucky that this happened on the stage before service. The top three were Ott, Thierry and Kalle.

After service SS17 Malewa 2 – 8.33 km was won by Kalle by just 6 tenths of a second from Seb and Takamoto third. Further back, Thierry was closing on eighth place overall which had been kept by Kajetan for most of the rally, the gap was just 13 seconds now.

Time then for the penultimate stage, SS18 Oserian 2 – 18.33 km and Takamoto took his second stage win of the weekend, beating Elfyn to the top spot, whilst Kalle was third. Once again, the gap reduced to just 9.2 seconds between the top two. Thierry made it past Kajetan and into eighth overall.

The final stage then SS19 Hell’s Gate 2[Power Stage] – 10.53 km and early pace setter EP’s time was eclipsed by first Thierry then Ott went second fastest and Kalle third. Rounding out the top five were Seb whose car crossed the line with a smashed windscreen, courtesy of a rock that flicked up near the end of the stage and Esapekka.

Let’s check out the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification –Safari Rally Kenya

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	3:30:42.5
2	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+6.7
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:58.5
4	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+3:23.8
5	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+5:05.4
6	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+9:14.4
7	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+16:15.7
8	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+24:47.0
9	K. Kajetanowicz	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia Evo	+ 26:33.4
10	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Škoda Fabia Evo	+ 27:04.0

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier (1^st)

“This was a hell of a rally and a hell of a fight. I really enjoyed it but I would have liked to have a few less incidents because it could have been a much more comfortable race: the pace was really good, the car was great to drive, I had a good feeling and it seemed that we had everything under control. But we were hit by some little things here and there, including today when we lost the tailgate, and we had some overheating in the fesh-fesh sand. But I’m happy that we could bring it home. I think it’s a deserved victory and result for the whole team and we need to enjoy it.”

Kalle Rovanperä (2^nd)

“The battle with Seb got quite tight at the end, and when you miss out on the win by a small margin like this then it’s not always the best feeling for a driver. But at the end we still scored good points for the championship. I stuck to my plan for the whole weekend, driving with quite good pace but not taking huge risks. So to still finish like this is quite nice. The final day was really tough for the cars: the penultimate stage especially with a lot of deep sand and ruts. It’s good that our cars were so strong and made it through, because to have the 1-2-3-4 finish for the team again here in Kenya is amazing.”

Elfyn Evans (3^rd)

“It’s been quite a rally with a lot of challenges, so I think the team can be very proud to again get four cars in the top four. It shows both the speed and the strength of the GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID and I’m proud to be a part of that and of this team. Of course, from a personal perspective I can’t be totally satisfied to be third in the order at the finish, but I’m very pleased for the team and of course to be on the podium in third means we take some reasonable points for the championship as well.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Dani Sordo (5^th)

“Safari Rally Kenya was a really tough event, but at least we took home some points. In the end it was not as bad as it could have been, but we did expect a little bit more. Today was quite ok, quite rough in some places but the car was really strong – it is amazing how much you can put these cars through. We were running well and trying not to make any mistakes to bring car the home in fifth, which we achieved.”

Thierry Neuville (8^th)

“A tough and challenging weekend. Obviously, we tried what we could but unfortunately, another time in Kenya where it didn’t work out for us. There’s a lot of frustration to be honest, because it is not good for our championship aspirations, but it is what it is. We did our best in the car, took the five points in the Power Stage and fought back to eighth place, which was the maximum we could do today.”

2023 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 07, Safari Rally Kenya, 22-25 June 2023
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 3 of WRC Safari Rally Kenya 2023
Photographer: Vincent Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Esapekka Lappi (13^th)

“It was an interesting week in many perspectives. The result is not what we all wanted but that’s a different story; I need to be pleased with the pace that we had and that we were really fighting for the podium positions until our technical problem yesterday. At least in the Power Stage I could try to drive more normally, but overall, I have to say it has been a good experience.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tänak (6^th)

“Altogether a great safari with a lot of passionate fans a people who clearly love rally. So far it’s been a bit tricky this year, so we need to find a bit of speed for the next rally as it is all about the speed now.”

Pierre-Louis Loubet (7^th)

“A lot of things happened! A couple of punctures on Friday unfortunately meant we missed the opportunity to do good things, and after that we were missing a bit of confidence and pace. We struggled to find good balance. It was a bit disappointing with the power stage, I wasn’t able to do a good run because I had an issue with the turbo pressure. So, I’m a bit disappointed about that, but it’s part of the game.”

Oliver Solberg (10^th)

“What a fantastic rally. Before I say anything else, to Daniel [Chwist], thank you my friend for helping us this week – and to all of the Eurosol team. We couldn’t have managed to do this rally without you guys.

“And I’m so glad we came here. The roads have changed a lot from last year to this and it’s so important to keep up the knowledge base for next year.

“For the performance, I’m really happy. We weren’t pushing near the limit, that wasn’t what this rally was about for us. Of course, it would have been nice to win [RC2 class] but maybe that would have made the story too perfect.”

“Like I said, it would have been nice,” said Solberg, “but winning so many stages and even making fifth fastest time overall in the second run at that crazy Sleeping Warrior stage on Saturday afternoon was cool for me.

“I’m sure there will be time and chase a bigger Safari Rally Kenya trophy in the years to come. For me, this is really mission accomplished. It only remains to say congratulations to all of the organisers and thank you to the beautiful people of Kenya.”

2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 7

1	K. Rovanperä	139
2	T. Neuville	102
3	E. Evans	98
4	O. Tänak	97
5	S. Ogier	97
6	E. Lappi	68
7	D. Sordo	46
8	T. Katsuta	35
9	P.L Loubet	20

2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 7

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	283
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	241
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	174

Summary

Well, what an epic rally we were treated to and another victory for the eight-time champion, his fifty-eighth as well! Just amazing. His decision to run throughout Friday with just one spare showed his intent that he wanted a second victory in Kenya. It was a brilliant drive.

Kalle had a great run and deserved a podium which he got. Not only that, but he increased his lead over Thierry and in fact all his challengers for the championship.

Elfyn took third of course and although he didn’t take a stage win, should be happy as the championship heads for two very fast rallies. He will have a good road position indeed.

Takamoto rounded out the top four with a very good drive which included two stage wins. Third place slipped away after some spins in the tricky conditions yesterday, plus the hybrid issues on the final day.

The next round is Rally Estonia on the weekend of the 20^th to 23^rd of July. Look out for my preview in the days ahead. The teams will enjoy something of a summer break till then.

25th June 202325th June 2023

MotoGP: Bagnaia Takes Dominant Win as Podium Changes After Flag for DutchGP

In the last race before the 5-week summer break, the iconic Assen TT circuit has given us another brilliant race with difficult conditions and a close field to overcome.

Pecco Bagnaia has mastered the tricky, hot track conditions at the DutchGP to take a truly dominant victory. He led almost every lap of the race on his way to extending his championship lead.

After his brilliant pole positions and sprint race win, Marco Bezzecchi was thrilled with another podium today as he came home in 2nd place. He dropped back to 3rd at the race start, giving himself the challenge of fighting with Brad Binder for 2nd.

It was Binder who crossed the line in 3rd but, after a dramatic post-flag penalty for exceeding track limits, he was demoted to 4th. Replays showed that the South African touched the green part of the kerb with a fraction of his front tire – however, this was enough to set off the sensors and land him a penalty. He will feel very hard done by after facing the same fate in yesterday’s sprint race – It was the same kerb at the same part of the race that saw him miss out on a podium.

This meant that Aleix Espargraro was promoted to the 3rd place after a really positive race for the Aprilia rider. This is his first podium of the year – a surprise to many after his very strong showing at pre-season testing. He will be hoping to carry this momentum through the summer break and on to Silverstone in 5 weeks time. It was an impressive run for Espgararo who was nursing an injured bike after contact with Luca Marini’s rear tire at the start of the race.

It was a much more difficult day for Jack Miller, celebrating his 200th race, and Johann Zarco, celebrating his 250th race. Miller was the first rider to go down on lap 2, followed by Zarco, who was taken out by Fabio Quartararo on lap 3.

In the end, we only had 14 riders complete the full 26 lap race thanks to a number of riders falling victim to the 50-degree track temperatures and the numerous issues this caused.

As It Happened

As the riders made their way on to the grid, we were able to see their tire choices and how the riders were aiming to tackle the undoubtedly hot and greasy track conditions – tires were always going to prove crucial today. All riders, except two, were on the hard front tires. Half the grid then opted for a soft rear tire, the other half opting for a medium rear. Most notably were Brad Binder and Jack Miller who had opted for that soft rear – it looked as though they were aimed for a strong start to the race with that choice.

The lights went out and, as anticipated, there was quickly a lot of action up and down the grid. Polesitter, Marco Bezzecchi was swallowed by the chasing pack and quickly dropped down to 3rd. Binder, in typical Binder fashion, had a flying start. He saw a small gap on the inside of turn 1 and made a very late move, throwing his bike up and into the lead.

Further back, Jack Miller was sitting in 8th and hunting down Maverick Vinales in 7th. He then made a move on the start-finish straight at the start of lap 2. However, as Vinales tried to retake the position, Miller lost the bike under him slid out into the gravel at turn 1. Thanks to this clear air, Vinales was able to then take fastest lap.

It wasn’t long before the next incident and on lap 3, Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco went down at turn 7- the fastest part of the track. The replays showed that the front of Quartararo’s bike folded underneath him and he collected Zarco as he went down. It was clearly a huge impact for both riders, who looked battered and bruised. Quartararo was then helped out of the gravel as he limped away.

The French duo are OUT! 😱

Friendly fire between @FabioQ20 and @JohannZarco1! 🥺#DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/n8ni4ODR7j

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 25, 2023

It was on the same lap that Pecco Bagnaia stole the lead away from Binder.

One more lap later, it was Vinales’ turn to go down. He was making moves up the field but sadly went down at turn 8. That’s four riders going down across 3 laps!

All these incidents helped to promote Jorge Martin, Miguel Oliveira and Alex Marquez who were running in 6th, 7th and 8th respectively. There was now a huge battle for 5th place, with 6 riders all in the fight. On lap 6, Luca Marini, who had been leading this pack, fell back from 5th to 10th in the space on one corner. This meant that Aleix Espargaro, running in a comfortable 4th, was gifted a 2.5s gap over this fighting group.

Sunday traffic! ⚠️

Look at this group battling it out! ⚔️#DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/pDcmrsPLod

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 25, 2023

On lap 7, Enea Bastianini crashed out at turn 5 whilst running in 8th – he tried to get the bike back up and running again but it was a lost cause as the flames started to appear at the back of the Ducati machine.

At the midpoint of the race, we still had Bagnaia leading the field, with Binder hot on his tail in 2nd. Binder was able to gain a huge amount on the leader in every breaking zone, but wasn’t able to convert this into a move for the lead.

Everything across the field seemed to calm down as we drew ever closer to the chequered flag. The biggest drama came when Oliveira, running in 10th, made a mistake at turn 15. He then retired a lap later, suggesting it was a mechanical issue. A few laps later, we then had Iker Lecuona drop to the back of the field before also retiring with a mechanical issue. Lecuona is here this weekend to stand in for the injured Joan Mir.

With the laps ticking down now, Bezzecchi decided now was the time to make a move and lay down his intentions to win. On lap 17 of 26, he made a move on Binder, who tried hard to counter this. This battle then gave a 1.2s lead for Bagnaia.

Bezzecchi, now in 2nd and with some clean air in front of him, was gaining between 0.3s and 0.4s per lap on Bagnaia and looked like he might be making a late move for the victory.

After losing 2nd place, Binder was now in 3rd and falling back in to the clutches of Espargaro who was desperately seeking his first podium of the year.

There were gaps forming between most riders on the grid now and it appeared that the hot track conditions were hampering everyone from making late moves.

This meant that nothing changed on the track and Bagnaia took the chequered flag, ahead of Bezzcchi and Binder. Espargaro came home in 4th, but would soon be promoted to 3rd after Binder’s last lap penalty for track limits.

Just like yesterday! 🫢@BradBinder_33 exceeded track limits on the last lap and loses third place! 👀#DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/lzQaRfZOz7

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 25, 2023

Jorge Martin, despite a difficult weekend where he seemed to be quite off the pace, came home in 5th. He was just ahead of Alex Marquez in 6th, Luca Marini in 7th and Takaaki Nakagami in 8th. Rounding out the top 10 were Franco Morbidelli in 9th and Augusto Fernandez in 10th.

Full Results

1	Pecco Bagnaia	Ducati Lenovo
2	Marco Bezzecchi	Mooney VR46
3	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia
4	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM
5	Jorge Martin	Prima Pramac
6	Alex Marquez	Gresini Racing
7	Luca Marini	Mooney VR46
8	Takaaki Nakagami	LCR Honda
9	Franco Morbidelli	Monster Energy Yamaha
10	Augusto Fernandez	GASGAS Tech3
11	Lorenzo Savadori	Aprilia
12	Raul Fernandez	CryptoDATA RNF
13	Stefan Bradl	LCR Honda
14	Jonas Folger	GASGAS Tech3

Championship Standings

1	Pecco Bagnaia	194 points
2	Jorge Martin	159 points
3	Marco Bezzecchi	158 points
4	Brad Binder	114 points
5	Johann Zarco	109 points

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

25th June 202325th June 2023

Moto2: Dixon Races to First Grand Prix Win

Jake Dixon takes his first-ever Grand Prix win at Assen after an incredible race. He was joined by Ai Ogura and Pedro Acosta on the podium.

Both Alonso Lopez and Ogura had a good start off the line, but Lopez was able to hold onto the lead from pole position. Sam Lowes and Dixon lost places off the start with Lowes dropping to tenth. Tony Arbolino capitalised on the bad starts and moved himself up from tenth on the grid to sixth place.

Into the final chicane, Acosta was able to get past the championship leader Arbolino. The Spaniard continued to ride fast as he set the fastest time on the second tour of the circuit.

Lopez began to extend his lead out from Ogura to over half a second. Fermin Aldeguer was riding in fourth place but continued to lose time to the riders ahead of him, dropping over one second behind Dixon on the third lap.

Arbolino was unable to continue his move up the field and started falling down the grid from lap five.

Acosta started to close the gap to Dixon, who in turn was attempting to get past Ogura but failed.

Dixon and Ogura started to catch up to then race leader Lopez by lap six and worked together to bring the gap down.

Aldeguer cut the chicane on lap seven and was given a long lap penalty as the stewards determined that he did not lose enough time when returning to the track. The Beta Tools SpeedUp rider was in fourth place when it was given.

Dixon finally got past Ogura into turn one on lap nine and Arbolino was able to get past Albert Arenas on the same lap. After dispatching Ogura, Dixon continued to close in on Lopez.

On lap ten, Dixon looked for a move past Lopez at turn one but was unable to get past. Somkiat Chantra crashed at turn one on the same lap, causing a yellow flag in sector one.

The long lap loop had been catching some riders out, but Aldeguer completed it without an issue. He went into it fast but was still able to brake when he needed to and did not venture onto the green. Due to this, Arbolino made a mistake allowing Aron Canet to get past.

The battle for fourth place between Acosta and Ogura continued through lap eleven with the Spaniard trying to move on the Japanese rider but it could not stick. Dixon was also looking for a space around Lopez to try and take the lead.

Dixon got a good run out of the final corner and was able to overtake Lopez into turn one to lead the race. After this overtake, Lopez began to drop down the order as Ogura was able to pass him into the final chicane and Acosta passed him on the next lap.

Ogura and Acosta were both faster than Dixon on lap fourteen, eating slightly into his lead and the Brit lost the lead of the race on lap fifteen by running wide at turn five. But into the final chicane, Acosta lost front grip and had to make an amazing save to keep himself in the race, dropping himself to third. The stewards gave Acosta a long lap penalty for this due to him not losing one second in the sector.

After these mistakes, Ogura was able to extend the lead at the front of the race to just over one second, but Dixon was able to save some tyre and started to catch up to the Japanese rider. He began setting personal best laps, slowly reducing the gap between himself and first place.

Acosta took his long lap penalty on the nineteenth lap but did make a mistake by running onto the green paint. This would usually mean that the rider would need to retake the loop, but the stewards were happy with the penalty, even though he did not lose any places.

Dixon was able to close the gap up to less than two-tenths of a second on lap nineteen and got a brilliant drive out of the final chicane on the following lap. The slipstream was on the side of Dixon who sped past Ogura across the start-finish straight, but they touched into the first corner. Ogura ran wide but did not drop any places.

The lead into the final lap for Dixon was over one second and he comfortably completed the final tour of the circuit to cross the line in first place to win his first-ever Grand Prix race.

Aldeguer improved up to fourth place and was looking to make a move on Acosta but was unable to.

Lopez finished the race in sixth place ahead of Arbolino, Manuel Gonzalez, Arenas and Vietti who closed out the top ten.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

DUTCH MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, ASSEN – RACE RESULTS
POS	RIDER	NAT	TEAM	BIKE	TIME
1	Jake Dixon	GBR	Inde GASGAS Aspar Team	(Kalex)	35m 43.411s
2	Ai Ogura	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	(Kalex)	35m 44.745s
3	Pedro Acosta	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	(Kalex)	35m 47.859s
4	Fermín Aldeguer	SPA	Beta Tools SpeedUp	(Boscoscuro)	35m 47.898s
5	Aron Canet	SPA	Pons Wegow Los40	(Kalex)	35m 48.295s
6	Alonso Lopez	SPA	Beta Tools SpeedUp	(Boscoscuro)	35m 52.966s
7	Tony Arbolino	ITA	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	(Kalex)	35m 53.036s
8	Manuel Gonzalez	SPA	Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46	(Kalex)	35m 53.958s
9	Albert Arenas	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	(Kalex)	35m 54.026s
10	Celestino Vietti	ITA	Fantic Racing	(Kalex)	35m 54.172s
11	Sam Lowes	GBR	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	(Kalex)	35m 59.375s
12	Barry Baltus	BEL	Fieten Olie Racing GP	(Kalex)	36m 1.645s
13	Sergio Garcia	SPA	Pons Wegow Los40	(Kalex)	36m 3.819s
14	Darryn Binder	RSA	Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	(Kalex)	36m 4.050s
15	Jeremy Alcoba	SPA	QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2	(Kalex)	36m 7.903s
16	Lukas Tulovic	GER	Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	(Kalex)	36m 12.827s
17	Carlos Tatay	SPA	OnlyFans American Racing	(Kalex)	36m 15.851s
18	Joe Roberts	USA	Italtrans Racing Team	(Kalex)	36m 18.428s
19	Dennis Foggia	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	(Kalex)	36m 18.646s
20	Zonta Vd Goorbergh	NED	Fieten Olie Racing GP	(Kalex)	36m 33.805s
21	Taiga Hada	JPN	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	(Kalex)	36m 53.179s
22	Yeray Ruiz	SPA	Forward Team	(Forward)	+3 laps
	Filip Salac	CZE	QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2	(Kalex)	DNF
	Borja Gomez	SPA	Fantic Racing	(Kalex)	DNF
	Alex Escrig	SPA	Forward Team	(Forward)	DNF
	Izan Guevara	SPA	Inde GASGAS Aspar Team	(Kalex)	DNF
	Sean Dylan Kelly	USA	OnlyFans American Racing	(Kalex)	DNF
	Somkiat Chantra	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	(Kalex)	DNF

25th June 2023

Irwin takes two wins, Bridewell extends BSB lead at Knockhill

Tommy Bridewell left Knockhill after the fourth round of the British Superbikes season with a slightly bigger championship advantage than he arrived with.

Heading into the weekend he held a slender three-point lead over teammate Glenn Irwin in the standings, but following a strong outing on the Fife-based circuit with two fourth-placed finishes and a second-place finish to his name gave him an eight-point lead going to Snetterton at the beginning of July.

But it’s no longer Irwin that follows him – Kyle Ryde is the man now settled in behind the current championship leader, and that’s thanks to an Irwin crash on the second race of the weekend.

Leading the pack with just three laps to go, Irwin looked set to take his second victory of the weekend following a victory on Saturday’s sprint race.

But that all unravelled in the blink of an eye when the Northern Irishman crashed at the Hairpin, promoting Ryde into first to take his fourth victory of the year.

However, Irwin bounced back in fine form come the final race of the weekend to take victory and wrap up BSB’s visit to Scotland.

The BeerMonster Ducati rider had to work for it however and benefitted from a Jason O’Halloran crash – the Yamaha rider had been locked in a battle with Christian Iddon from the beginning of the race, but it was a disappointing end to the weekend for the Australian whose final race of the weekend ended prematurely.

Irwin – promoted up a position thanks to O’Halloran’s crash – eventually made his way past Ryde on lap 10 of the race and quickly set about catching teammate Bridewell for the lead.

He had to remain patient, and eight laps later he pulled the trigger into the first corner, which was all he needed to do as he held off any pressure from behind there on to take the win.

🥇🥇 Round 4 in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 was a good one! Now time to chill in Tenerife with my family! Thanks team yous are the best. Thanks Ducati for the v4r and thanks to my friends, family and sponsors for allowing me the time to do what we do. 🫶 pic.twitter.com/2pZMMO2jN1
— Glenn Irwin (@GIrwinRacing) June 18, 2023

With a second victory wrapped up from the weekend’s action, it was a question of what could have been for Irwin had he not suffered his race two crash.”

It’s a shame what happened in today’s first race as I could have been coming away with a hat-trick but I’m happy with the two wins we had, and I really enjoyed the final race,” he told Paul Bird Motorsport.

“I could see Tommy in the lead and knew when it was time to up the pace as whilst he was strong in some areas, I felt strong all around the circuit.

“He’s improved his braking into the Hairpin all weekend, but the BeerMonster Ducati was strong out of the Hairpin, and I was able to make my move along the straight and into the first corner.

“Two wins out of three means it’s been a pretty good weekend.”

Find the standings after Round 4 here.

Feature Image Credit: @OfficialBSB on Twitter

24th June 2023

Safari Rally Kenya 2023, Day Two Report.

Coming into the second full day of competition and there was 150km’s over six stages for the crews to tackle. Thierry returned to the action after his early retirement on Friday’s second loop and would open the road.

Into the first stage, SS8 Soysambu 1 – 29.32 km and Seb hit the top of the timesheets going 7.6 faster than Kalle, thus increasing his lead to over 30 seconds, whilst EP was third fastest. The Finns pace took him ahead of Elfyn and into third overall. This came about because Elfyn’s GR Yaris engine cut out after the water splash, and he lost 40 seconds. Gregoire continued to lead WRC2 from Kajetan, but the fastest WRC2 runner was Oliver.

The shorter SS9 Elmenteita 1 – 15.08 km was taken by Kalle with Seb just six tenths slower and Elfyn was third. However, EP was just 2 tenths slower and holding the Welshman at bay at around 20 seconds ahead. In WRC2 things were pretty static in terms of positions.

The final stage then before lunchtime service, SS10 Sleeping Warrior 1 – 31.04 km, so called due to the rising hill that the road ran almost and alongside. Kalle took a good stage win from Esapekka with Seb setting the third best time. Elfyn suffered a puncture in this one giving EP an even more secure position in third. There was a change in the WRC2 lead though as long-time leader Gregoire losing the lead to Kajetan. Meanwhile further back Thierry was on the climb back up the leader board, moving into fourteenth place.

After the lunch break the second run of SS11 Soysambu 2 – 29.32 km and the top three was Seb, Kalle and Takamoto. Unfortunately, EP dropped out on this one. After he drove through the water splash there was a loud noise from the underside of his car. The problem was terminal, and he pulled his car off the stage and was out for the rest of the day. This meant that Elfyn was back into third overall. In WRC2 Gregoire retook the lead from Kajetan.

We had a new stage winner in SS12 Elmenteita 2 – 15.08 km, with Takamoto going fastest from Seb and Thierry. The pace from the Japanese star took him ahead of his teammate Elfyn and into third place. Meanwhile Thierry had made his way into the top ten at the end of this stage. In WRC2 Gregoire fell from the lead again with Kajetan benefitting from a problem for the M-Sport driver. A mechanical problem put him out for the day.

The final stage of the day, SS13 Sleeping Warrior 2 – 31.04 km had a sting in its tail as the rain that was promised finally arrived. Takamoto set the early pace even though he went off the road and also damaged his rear wing. The rain was in the middle of the stage, but by the time the crews made it to the end it was dry. Of course, Kalle won the stage and with Seb taking it easy the gap and lead was reduced to just 16.7 seconds. The other news was that Elfyn moved back ahead of Takamoto and into third overall, the gap being the same, 16.7 seconds! Kajetan was firmly in the lead of WRC2, the gap between the top two was 10 minutes with Martin Prokop holding second and Carl Tundo now third in the category.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	2:43:49.2
2	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+16.7
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:23.3
4	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:40.0
5	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+3:52.3
6	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+8:38.9
7	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+13:56.6
8	K. Kajetanowicz	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia Evo	+19:53.1
9	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+24:06.2

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“We had a good morning with really good speed in the first stage, even though we lost a bit towards the end with a puncture. Then I was a bit more careful for the rest of the morning, especially in the last stage which was the roughest part of the rally, and it was so easy to damage something there. In the afternoon I think we did a good job and did everything we could in the first two stages. Then the last one was challenging for everyone with heavy rain and a lot of water on the road. I took it easy in those sections and just tried to manage. The most important thing is we’re still in the lead tonight. It’s not a big gap to Kalle now but hopefully we can have a smooth finish tomorrow and another result like this in Kenya for the team would be amazing.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“The whole of today was a big battle and it’s not easy to find the balance between trying to fight for the win here while also being on for really good points at the moment compared to our championship rivals. Seb was pushing really hard, but our plan was to drive smooth and not push too much in the rough places. I was maybe not so brave in the first stage this morning but after that I think we managed to stay on the pace and out of trouble. When the rain came in the last one it was a proper challenge just to stay on the road, but we could again take some time there so it was a good day overall. It’s pretty special for the team to be in this position going into tomorrow. It will be quite a long and tough day, but we’ll try to make it a clean one because the points are important for us.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a challenging day and we had a difficult start this morning. The feeling in the car was fine initially in the first stage but then we took on some water in the watersplash; maybe I didn’t take the best line into it. Then we unfortunately got a puncture in the Sleeping Warrior stage, so we had quite a lot of time loss this morning. In the afternoon, the first two stages were clean for me, but Taka was on a big push: he was driving well and driving quickly. The conditions in the last stage were extreme and sometimes there was no grip at all, but we got through it with an OK time. There’s still a big task ahead of us tomorrow but hopefully all goes well and we can bring this result home for the team.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Dani Sordo

Honestly, it was really tricky conditions out there. I was hoping to have a good time on that final stage as we didn’t make many mistakes. We were trying to push in the heavy rain, but it was as slippery as ice. I was trying to get through this rally with no problems. We’ve had some bad luck as a team, but we hope that is the end of our issues. The speed of the cars in front of us is a step up from where we are, and it is difficult to match their pace. Tomorrow’s stages will be a little bit faster, with different profiles from today. We might not be able to do much about our position, we just have to survive like we have today.”

Thierry Neuville

“It was a wild day in general. We had some muddy sections this morning and then some big rain and standing water this afternoon. I have to say it is what we were hoping for today; to be able to have some fun. My motivation wasn’t very high this morning, but we followed the target of driving through and keeping up our speed. We were hoping the rain would come later on that final stage, but it came five minutes too early, and we struggled a lot, yet we had some smiles in the car. We still have eighth place in our sights, so we are going to chase that tomorrow. It’s a four-minute gap with six stages to go and we are going to push hard.”

Esapekka Lappi

“It was very frustrating to retire on the first stage of the afternoon. I pushed the throttle to accelerate and there was a big bang. It seems the prop shaft cracked somewhere underneath the car, so we pulled over into the junction in front of us. I haven’t had this problem before this week, clearly something is wrong, and we need to investigate very carefully. I’m sure we have a chance to return tomorrow to try to gain experience and fight for some Power Stage points. I think we were doing a really good job and prepared very well for this rally to have a good weekend, but it wasn’t to be.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“Every stage closer to the end is a relief. The short stage tomorrow is quite rough, and the others are bit more sandy.”

Summary

Well, what an amazing day, with an incredible ending. It was a big shame to lose Esapekka from the top positions. Considering that this was his debut at this event, he was really on the pace. Having said that the Finns have always gone really well at this event, so he will certainly be looking to coming back to this event in the coming years.

Now, will we see more drama tomorrow, or can Toyota take another win with Seb and all four Toyota’s take the top four positions again? There is just a little under 75km’s over four stages to complete this year’s edition of Safari Rally Kenya and find out!

24th June 202325th June 2023

Moto2: Lopez Takes Pole by Nine Thousandths of a Second

Alonso Lopez stormed to pole position with a pole position record ahead of Jake Dixon and Ai Ogura who join him on the front row for tomorrow’s race.

In Q1, all eyes were on Barry Baltus, Celestino Vietti and Sergio Garcia as they fought for the four spots available to progress through to Q2. After the first set of laps, the spots were filled by Baltus, Vietti, Garcia and Jeremy Alcoba.

After setting a good lap time, Garcia crashed at turn one causing a yellow flag with two minutes to go. Lukas Tulovic crossed the start-finish line but was only able to set the fifth fastest time. Even with the yellow flag, he still had time to complete another fast lap.

However, due to the yellow flag, no rider was able to set a faster lap time and Baltus, Alcoba, Vietti and Garcia were the riders who went through to the second round of qualifying.

The next fifteen minutes were dedicated to finding the riders who would set the top eighteen places for the grid tomorrow. All the riders came out as soon as the green flag was flown except Ai Ogura, Aron Canet and Somkiat Chantra.

After the first set of runs, Dixon set a 1:36.304 – the all-time pole record around the TT Circuit Assen. He was followed by Acosta, Fermin Aldeguer, Sam Lowes and Manuel Gonzalez.

Dixon almost set a faster lap time, as he was up on his own time in the first two sectors but was met with traffic in the third sector, meaning he was unable to improve. Acosta had his second flying lap deleted due to exceeding track limits. Vietti jumped up to second place ahead of Albert Arenas.

Ogura jumped to the top of the timesheets with a lap 0.003 seconds faster than Dixon who had just gone into the pits to change his tyres and headed out for a second set of lap times. Pedro Acosta was able to improve on his lap time to set the third fastest lap time but was still a quarter of a second down on the lap time from Ogura.

With four minutes left, Vietti crashed in sector one causing a yellow flag for the riders behind, but Dixon was lucky in that he was coming to the end of his lap when the caution came out and set a faster lap once again and Sam Lowes also improved to fourth place.

Arenas had the potential to set a quick time after setting the fastest first two sectors but was unable to put the rest of the lap together and set the seventh fastest lap time.

Aron Canet crashed at turn one with two minutes left in the session causing a yellow flag. Lopez was incredibly lucky to have passed through sector one before the Pons Wegow Los40 rider went down and was able to set a 1:36.247, which is a pole position record and only nine thousandths of a second faster than Dixon just behind him. Ogura joins the Spaniard and Brit on the front row tomorrow.

Aldeguer leads the second row ahead of Lowes and Acosta in front of the third row which consists of Chantra, Arenas and Vietti.

Championship leader Tony Arbolino was only able to set a time fast enough for tenth place on the grid tomorrow.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

2023 DUTCH MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, ASSEN – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS	RIDER	NAT	TEAM	BIKE	TIME
1	Alonso Lopez	SPA	Beta Tools SpeedUp	(Boscoscuro)	1m 36.247s
2	Jake Dixon	GBR	Inde GASGAS Aspar Team	(Kalex)	1m 36.256s
3	Ai Ogura	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	(Kalex)	1m 36.301s
4	Fermín Aldeguer	SPA	Beta Tools SpeedUp	(Boscoscuro)	1m 36.481s
5	Sam Lowes	GBR	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	(Kalex)	1m 36.528s
6	Pedro Acosta	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	(Kalex)	1m 36.560s
7	Somkiat Chantra	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	(Kalex)	1m 36.564s
8	Albert Arenas	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	(Kalex)	1m 36.603s
9	Celestino Vietti	ITA	Fantic Racing	(Kalex)	1m 36.663s
10	Tony Arbolino	ITA	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	(Kalex)	1m 36.738s
11	Aron Canet	SPA	Pons Wegow Los40	(Kalex)	1m 36.763s
12	Manuel Gonzalez	SPA	Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46	(Kalex)	1m 36.827s
13	Filip Salac	CZE	QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2	(Kalex)	1m 36.850s
14	Joe Roberts	USA	Italtrans Racing Team	(Kalex)	1m 37.045s
15	Darryn Binder	RSA	Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	(Kalex)	1m 37.133s
16	Barry Baltus	BEL	Fieten Olie Racing GP	(Kalex)	1m 37.136s
17	Sergio Garcia	SPA	Pons Wegow Los40	(Kalex)	1m 37.512s
18	Jeremy Alcoba	SPA	QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2	(Kalex)	1m 37.691s
19	Lukas Tulovic	GER	Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP	(Kalex)	1m 37.223s
20	Carlos Tatay	SPA	OnlyFans American Racing	(Kalex)	1m 37.384s
21	Izan Guevara	SPA	Inde GASGAS Aspar Team	(Kalex)	1m 37.407s
22	Sean Dylan Kelly	USA	OnlyFans American Racing	(Kalex)	1m 37.517s
23	Zonta Vd Goorbergh	NED	Fieten Olie Racing GP	(Kalex)	1m 37.518s
24	Borja Gomez	SPA	Fantic Racing	(Kalex)	1m 37.551s
25	Dennis Foggia	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	(Kalex)	1m 37.738s
26	Yeray Ruiz	SPA	Forward Team	(Forward)	1m 37.742s
27	Taiga Hada	JPN	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	(Kalex)	1m 38.113s
28	Alex Escrig	SPA	Forward Team	(Forward)	1m 38.134s

23rd June 2023

Safari Rally Kenya 2023, Day One Report

The first full day of action saw the crews tackle 130km’s over six stages. Kalle would be opening the road due to being the championship leader. Of course, he won this rally last year from first on the road but did have heavy rain giving him the best conditions. After the super special on Thursday Ott lead from Seb and Kalle.

First stage of the day, SS2 Loldia 1 – 19.17 km and Seb was fastest from Kalle and Elfyn. The Frenchman moved into the lead and his teammates also all gained a position moving into second and fourth places respectively. Thierry moved into third overall as well, showing similar pace to Elfyn. In WRC2 Oliver was the fastest, but as he decided to run with no nomination for points, Kajetan was leading the category from Gregoire and Martin Prokop.

Into the spectacular SS3 Geothermal 1 – 13.12 km and EP was fastest from Seb and Takamoto. Elfyn moved into third overall as Thierry suffered a puncture and fell to sixth place. Also going the wrong way down was Ott who was not on the pace, and he fell to seventh. EP jumped two places and into fifth overall. In WRC2 and whilst Oliver remained the fastest in the category, Kajetan remained the category leader from Gregoire and Martin.

The longest stage of the day, SS4 Kedong 1 – 30.62 km and it was a really fast stage again. Kalle was fastest from Thierry and Seb. The Belgian moved ahead of Takamoto and Esapekka into fourth overall. There was a change in the WRC2 lead with Gregoire moving into the lead.

After the lunchtime service and Seb was fastest in SS5 Loldia 2 – 19.17 km and Seb was fastest again from Esapekka and Ott. Pierre-Louis lost a position falling behind Oliver after breaking a wheel. Gregoire remained in the lead of WRC2 from Kajetan.

The next one, SS6 Geothermal 2 – 13.12 km saw Seb fastest again from EP and Kalle. There was drama though for Thierry whose suspension on the front left broke. He pulled off the stage and was out for the rest of the day. It was a good stage for EP though who gained two places, jumping ahead of Takamoto and back into fourth overall.

The final stage then of the day, SS7 Kedong 2 – 30.62 km and Seb was again fastest from Kalle and Esapekka. The Frenchman had built a lead of nearly 30 seconds. Unfortunately, Oliver broke his suspension and stopped in the stage. Gregoire held the lead of WRC2 from Kajetan and Martin.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day One

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	1:14:38.7
2	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+22.8
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+43.5
4	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+54.0
5	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:19.4
6	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+1:28.4
7	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+3:03.3
8	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+7:04.9

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a pretty good day for us, almost perfect in fact. We had very good pace and I’m happy to be in the lead tonight. This morning I tried to push on the first two stages, and I had good fun in the car. On the third one there’s always a bit of fear with a lot of rocks coming out of the sand, and we lost the hybrid after a few kilometres which cost some performance. This afternoon I felt it was possible to go with just one spare tyre, and that if I drive very clean and smooth, I can still be fast with the advantage of being lighter. It paid off and I’m happy with that. It’s the first time I’ve got through Friday in Kenya without major time loss, so let’s hope we can carry on like this tomorrow, which is the biggest day of the rally with very difficult stages to get through.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“I’m quite happy with today. The first stage of the loop was the trickiest for us with a lot of cleaning and loose gravel in places. Then the next stages were much faster, and I felt I could push harder, and the time on the last one this morning was really good; I think we did some clever driving there. This afternoon I lost more time than I wanted on the first one: it was drying up and getting loose and my setup didn’t work so well for that. After that I tried to keep up a good pace and we didn’t lose too much time. Of course, I would like to be a bit closer to the lead, but tomorrow is still such a long day and will be much rougher than today, so we will try to stay out of trouble.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a bit of a steady day for us, but we got through it without issues. Of course, it would have been nice to have been a bit faster and, looking back, maybe we could have taken a few more risks this morning when the conditions were not so rough. But it’s a very difficult balance to find here, with a lot of rocks beinng pulled out by the cars in front. The afternoon was generally better, but the long Kedong stage had a lot of big holes and stones, and it was difficult to judge how hard to attack. There’s still a long way to go and tomorrow’s probably going to be a tough day, so let’s wait and see what happens.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“If you take our puncture out of the equation, today has been quite a decent day. We started carefully and then improved quite quickly; our afternoon was really consistent. The conditions are interesting, but I found them really fun. It’s a different kind of roughness we are facing, unlike anything I’ve seen before. On the soft fesh-fesh, you don’t know what to expect and it is so fast, so you have no time to react – you just have to drive and hope for the best. I need to keep improving on what we did today; I think the pace was brilliant this afternoon. We will concentrate on our own performance and the podium will be there if it is meant to be.”

Dani Sordo

“Thankfully we had no real issues on the car today, which is good. It was a bit difficult on some of the stages, particularly on Kedong. It was really soft, and the car was moving a lot in the fast sections, so I didn’t have a good pace there. With so many rocks, it is easy to make a small mistake. We also had a unique situation in one of the hairpins on the final stage, where we had to stop to allow dust inside the cockpit to clear. It is difficult to calculate the speed of the corners as you need to be aggressive, but you could easily move off the line onto the really soft surface and struggle to find traction.”

Thierry Neuville

“I’m very disappointed to be honest. Unfortunately, we had to retire in the second stage of the afternoon, which isn’t good for our championship fight. There was no warning at all; just before a left junction, the damper came out of its position and the top mount came loose under braking, which was the end of the rally for us. It was a shame as we hoped our puncture in the morning was the end of our bad luck for the weekend. With the conditions here, anything can happen, and now we have to analyse if there is an opportunity to return tomorrow and get back into the points.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“The conditions have not been too bad, the last one had some soft place but overall, not too bad. Tomorrow will be more tough than today.”

Saturday

Day two sees the crews tackle 150km’s over six stages and there are two stages run as usual twice that are just under or just over 30km’s! What will happen?!

Pop back tomorrow and check out my day two report.

21st June 2023

Formula E: Season 10 Provisional Calendar Announced with Tokyo Occupying a Slot

Tokyo has been confirmed to be hosting the 7th round of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2024. It will be the first time the capital of Japan will have hosted an official FIA World Championship round.

The race will be held on March 30th and the track will feature the Tokyo Big Bay convention centre in the city.

Confirming the news today, the Governer of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike said “I am delighted by the official decision that Tokyo will host a Formula E race in March 2024.” They later went onto say “This race will be held around Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo’s bay area, where developments are underway to become a sustainable next generaction city.”

Provisional Calendar

The provisional calendar is similar the season 9 calandar with pre season testing later this year in October with the cars hitting the track in Valencia from October 23rd to October 27th. There is then a 2 and a half month wait until we official get racing in January where the first race of the season will be in Mexico City on 13th January followed by a double header in Diriyah on January 26th and 27th. There will be a race on the February 10th and February 24th but these are locations have not been confirmed yet.

We return to Sao Paulo in Brazil for the season Sao Paulo E-Prix on March 16th with the teams then flying to Tokyo on March 30th. We then have a 2 week break before a double header in Rome on April 13th and April 14th before returning to Monaco on April 27th. We return to Berlin for a double header on May 11th and May 12th. Round 13 takes place on May 25th but a location is still to be determined.

Jakarta and Portland are rounds 14 and 15 and taking place on June 8th nd June 29th respectfully. We then round off Season 10 of Formula E with a double header in London taking place on July 20th and Jult 21st.

Speaking about Tokyo and the Season 10 Calendar, the Co Founder and Chief Championship Officer of Formula E Alberto Longo said “We are excited to take Formula E to the streets of Tokyo next season.” “The Season 10 Calendar represents our ongoing mission to create a dynamic schedule of new cities hosting eces for the first or second time like Tokyo, Sao Paulo and Portland alongside established hosts like Berlin, Rome, London, Monaco, Diriyah and now Jakarta.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Formula E Jeff Dodds said “Tokyo will be a highlight of our historic 10th season.” “We are also in advanced discussions with many more iconic world cities who are keen to host a Formula E race and create blocker world championship motorsport events with us.” Mr. Dodds confirms that he expects the new calendar to be updated later this year.

The Director of FIA Circuit Sport Department Marek Nawarecki said “This calendar is an illustration of Formula E’s continuing growth and promises to treat fans to another season of superb racing with the new GEN3 car, which has already produced countless crowd-pleasing battles.”