Le Mans has given us another action-packed sprint race, with breathtaking battles from start to finish. Our winner, Jorge Martin was simply peerless today, whilst Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, who is back to his old ways after 3 races away, jostled for the majority of the race.
Jorge Martin was in a league of his own on his way to win the sprint race at the French GP in Le Mans. Having started the race in 5th, he enjoyed a brilliant start and was up to 2nd before the exit of turn 1. It was then lap 4 when he finally took the lead and he never looked back, quickly building a gap between himself and his nearest competitors. As the chequered flag fell, he wheelied across the line to take a dominant victory.
Brad Binder took a well-deserved 2nd place today, taking advantage of a race-long battle between Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia. As the pair were fighting, he snuck up the inside to claim second place and, much like our race winner, was able to quickly put clear air behind him. However, that gap ahead was always just slightly too big and he couldn’t find a way to take the fight to Martin.
Championship leader and today’s pole sitter, Bagnaia, came home in 3rd after that race-long battle with Marquez. The pair were jostling for most of the race, closely on each other’s tail and making aggressive moves to try and best each other. It looked as though it might end in disaster multiple times but, eventually, it was the Italian who eventually came out on top.
After 7 breathtaking laps of fighting and overtaking, it was on lap 10 of 13 that he finally made his way past Marquez and made sure to quickly shut the door to avoid any counter-attacks. The nail-biting fight was then quickly over as Bagnaia pulled ahead of Marquez to put clean air between the pair.
Marquez, who is back on the grid after missing the previous 3 races, eventually ended the day in 5th. It seemed that he may have started to fatigue at the same time as Bagnaia’s tyres came into their sweet spot – a bad combination but he will have plenty of positives to take away from his performance today, ahead of tomorrow’s main race.
It looked like this potential fatiguing then made Marquez a bit of a sitting duck for Luca Marini, who was able to make his way up to 4th on lap 11. Marini has enjoyed a fantastic day, progressing from Q1 to then secure 3rd in Q2. He lost a few places at the start of the spring race but more than made up for this with his performance towards the end of the race.
It was a tougher day for Jack Miller and home hero Fabio Quatararo, who both failed to meet the chequered flag.
Miller enjoyed a brilliant start, flying off the line to steal 3rd from Marini early on. The Aussie, who has previously enjoyed a lot of success in sprint races, couldn’t emulate that success today as he went down in the middle of Museum Corner on the second lap. He was visibly frustrated to make an error that ended his race so prematurely.
Then, on lap 10, Quartararo went down at the same corner. The bike just folded underneath him as he helplessly slid into the gravel. The home crowd were clearly disappointed as a stunned silence fell over the grandstands. Today has been a difficult day for the Frenchman – a day that has gone from bad to worse after his inability to progress out of Q1.
The final points-scoring positions were filled by Johann Zarco, Marco Bezzecchi, Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales in 6th to 9th respectively. Vinales had a terrible qualifying session where a bike issue hampered his second run whilst he was sat in provisional pole – it is certainly a day of “what if’s” for the Spaniard.
The main race will take place at 2pm local time on Sunday. If the sprint race is anything to go by, it should be a race filled with action and drama!
After leading the way yesterday, Sam Lowes set the fastest-ever lap around the Le Mans circuit on a Moto2 bike on his way to claiming pole position. He will be joined on the front row of the grid tomorrow by Alonso Lopez and Tony Arbolino.
As expected in Q1, no rider was certain to make it through to the second round of qualifying, but Jeremy Alcoba, Dennis Foggia and Fermin Aldeguer hoped they could secure a top-four position in Q1 to get them onto the front six rows of the grid. Few riders were able to test out the track with slick tyres this morning due to the track conditions.
Lukas Tulovic set the early pace with a 1.36.539 and this remained the top time until the final moments of the session when Fermin Aldeguer went 0.1s faster around the Le Mans circuit. Along with the Speed Up Racing and Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP riders, Barry Baltus and Bo Bendsneyder made it through the second round of qualifying.
In the second part of qualifying, Filip Salac and Celestino Vietti were topping the time sheets early on with a 1:36.135 and 1:36.178 respectively. Pedro Acosta struggled with the bike towards the start of the session, slotting into sixth place just over two-tenths off the pace set by Salac.
With just under eight minutes to go, Bendsneyder went down in the fourth sector. This cancelled the laps of multiple riders but also allowed them to regroup and plan their attacks for the rest of the session.
Arbolino, Jake Dixon and Lowes were following each other on the track with five and a half minutes to go, setting fastest sector after fastest sector. The tow provided by the two riders in front of Lowes, allowed the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team rider to set the fastest lap around the circuit on a Moto2 bike with a 1:35.791.
Tulovic and Dixon went down at the same time at turns nine and seven respectively causing yellow flags in sectors two, three and four with just over two minutes left on the clock. Luckily, these flags were cleared quickly.
With five seconds left, Lopez crossed the line to go second fastest with a 1:36.036. He was about to start his final flying lap before Aron Canet crashed and caused a red flag. The red flag was due to Canet’s bike being in the middle of the track.
Following the red flag, the session did not restart as there were only a few seconds left on the clock. This means that, for the second race in a row, Lowes will start with no other rider in front of him. Championship leader Acosta starts the race from the middle of the second row with Salac ahead of him and Vietti behind.
2023 FRENCH MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, LE MANS – QUALIFYING RESULTS
It was a session full of surprises today that included highs for our leading championing as well as a returning favourite but also heartache and disaster for a home hero.
After a challenging weekend in which he hasn’t shown a huge amount of pace, reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia came from nowhere to steal pole position in the dying moments of the session. He crossed the line and instantly punched the air, showing he knew just how good his lap time of 1:30.705.
— MotoGP on BT Sport (@btsportmotogp) May 13, 2023
He will be joined on the front row by Marc Marquez, who is returning to the action after missing the last 3 races thanks to breaking a metacarpal at the Portuguese GP. He took provisional pole with 1 minute remaining on the clock, setting, at that time, the fastest lap of the weekend so far. He clearly gave this lap everything he had as he ran out of fuel shortly after, delaying his return to the paddock to meet the media!
Having fought his way through from Q1, Luca Marini was able to snatch 3rd place away from Jack Miller shortly after the chequered flag fell, bumping the Australian down to 4th. On his final lap, Miller was following Augusto Fernandez as a marker but was sadly too close to him and this ended up slowing him down. He was unable to improve on his time and was forced to settle for 4th – a disappointing result given his impressive ride in Friday’s P1 and P2.
Maverick Vinales was an early leader in Q2 and spent time in provisional pole. This was until he left the garage for his second run, with 6 minutes remaining on the clock. He faced issues on the pit exit – the onboard shot seemed to suggest the bike was stuck on the pit limiter. He was twisting the throttle but nothing happened. He was met in the pit lane by Moto3 rider, Riccardo Rossi, who gave him a helpful push back to the garage whilst the team rushed to prepare the spare bike for him. He will line up in 7th for the sprint and main races.
What's happened here?! 😱
Provisional pole man Maverick runs into trouble at the end of pit lane! 🤯
As Vinales waited for his second bike to be readied, his teammate Aleix Espargaro had a huge off at the high-speed turn 1. He lost the front of the bike and slid, which some speed, out into the gravel trap. Thankfully, he was able to walk away and he will line up 11th on the grid.
Home hero, Fabio Quartararo had a disastrous session as he was unable to progress up from Q1. This means he will line up in gut-wrenching 13th place for his home sprint race later today and the main race tomorrow. The record-breaking crowds will undoubtedly be willing him on as the lights go out later today.
The first full day of action from Portugal had lots of drama. Here’s the report of what happened throughout Friday’s eight stages. The crews started in championship order, and this is how the start list looked – Evans, Rovanperä, Tänak, Neuville, Lappi, Katsuta, Sordo, Loubet.
First up was SS1 Lousã 1 – 12.03 km and clearly the conditions suited the later runners as Pierre-Louis came through fastest from Dani, with Ott also right there, making the best of his position as third into the stage. Championship leader, Elfyn was almost eight seconds slower, just because on having to sweep the road. In the WRC2 category, Teemu led Adrien with Yohan third. Great to see three different makes of car holding those positions.
Into SS2 Góis 1 – 19.33 km, and Ott hit the mark with his fastest time, jumping two places into the lead, with Dani remaining in second and Pierre-Louis dropping to third overall, as the Frenchman could only manage the fifth best time. It was all change also in WRC2 as Adrien took the top spot in the category from Oliver who leapt up three places and Teemu fell to third.
The final stage of the morning loop saw Kalle go fastest from Ott and Elfyn. At this point only 3.6 seconds covered the top three as well, those drivers being Ott, Kalle and Dani. Elfyn’s time was really good to see, the Welshman jumping three positions and into fifth overall, just 18 seconds from the leader. There was some drama for Takamoto, who sadly retired with a mechanical problem. There was some drama for Pierre-Louis though who went past the stop line as there was smoke in his Puma. Meanwhile in WRC2, Adrien continued to set the pace leading new second placed Andreas who gained four positions and was now ahead of Oliver who was now third in the category.
A tyre fitting zone followed the morning stages and after that it was straight back into the action with SS4 Lousã 2 – 12.03 km. Esapekka set a great time to go fastest, from Dani and Pierre-Louis. Dani now led, after Ott suffered a puncture and lost almost a minute. The Estonian was now in seventh place. In WRC2 Andreas also had a puncture, dropping out of second place, which meant that Oliver and Teemu were now into second and third from category leader Adrien.
Next up was SS5 Góis 2 – 19.33 km and Kalle was revelling in the better handling of his Yaris GR, going fastest from Thierry and Dani. The Finnish world champion moved into the lead from Dani, who remained really close, just eight tenths of a second between them. There was a change for the WRC2 lead as well as Adrien was the next to suffer a puncture and Oliver benefitted, moving into the lead from Teemu and Yohan.
Kalle was on a roll now, winning SS6 Arganil 2 – 18.72 km from Dani and Pierre-Louis. The young Frenchman was certainly going well in his Puma, but Kalle was the one now building a lead, the gap now almost three seconds to Dani. Showing how much opening the road does to hurt your pace, Elfyn was now 46 seconds from the lead, but holding sixth place. There was more change in WRC2 with Oliver still in the lead, but now Yohan was in second from Marco third. Teemu sadly suffered a puncture and dropped out of second in the category.
The last proper stage of the day then, SS7 Mortágua – 18.15 km with just the super special to come, and unfortunately Elfyn rolled his Yaris GR out at 13.8km’s. The car briefly caught fire, but this was extinguished quickly. Meanwhile Esapekka was fastest from Kalle and Ott, whilst Kalle maintained his lead from Dani, despite the Spaniard going straight on at a junction. Esapekka’s pace brought him up two places and into third overall, whilst Pierre-Louis remained ahead of Thierry, the Belgian dropping from third to fifth place. In WRC2 Oliver was still leading and now Gus was now second, Yohan in third.
The final stage then, SS8 SSS Figueira da Foz – 2.94 km which was two circuits on full tarmac roads and a car park, lined with plastic barriers and Dani was fastest from Ott and Thierry third. The Belgian benefitted from EP only going fifth fastest swapping places around Pierre-Louis who remained fourth.
Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.
Classification after Day One
1
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
1:22:27.7
2
D. Sordo
C. Carrera
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
+10.8
3
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
+26.0
4
P. L. Loubet
N. Gilsoul
Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid
+26.9
5
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
+27.3
6
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid
+1:04.7
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Kalle Rovanperä
“It has been a really good day for us. This morning was not perfect, but we changed a few things on the car to give ourselves a bit more precision on the fast roads, and after this the feeling got better and the afternoon went well. I think the stages were even rougher than expected; it has clearly been very dry here in the lead up to the rally so there were a lot of stones and rough places. But we managed it quite well, I think we did a clever drive. It’s nice to be leading after starting second on the road today and to be in the fight for the win. Tomorrow our starting place should be much better and hopefully we can keep it up.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“This morning the car felt good, and I was enjoying the driving. We had to manage an issue from the end of the first stage but still the times were good even though I wasn’t pushing at all, as I was feeling very happy with the setup and the balance. We tried to continue as best as we could but going to the third stage, everything shut down and we could not restart again, so we had to end our day there. This was a pity but we still have the chance to drive the remaining two days on these great stages. It will be difficult starting first on the road tomorrow, but we will try to enjoy it and learn something for the future.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo
“Today was a really nice day – a long one, but I felt very comfortable the car. I made a small mistake in the hairpin of the final stage and locked my tyres, but I just tried to do my best as I have done all day and enjoy it. I am really happy; Kalle is the world champion, and we are up there fighting with him at the front. It’s nice to be able to do that, so let’s see what we can achieve tomorrow. All in all, we have had a good day. The plan is to try to maintain second place and to continue the fight.”
2023 FIA World Rally Championship Round 5, Rally de Portugal 11 – 14 Mai 2023 Dani Sordo Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry Neuville
“A really tough, long day. I couldn’t find the confidence to go full attack. I was quite happy with the car, but something was missing, so tomorrow we will make some small changes which will hopefully help us to push a bit more. I had two very worn tyres, so I had to finish the loop with what I had left, which wasn’t easy. A lot of small things came together to make the day really challenging. The result isn’t so satisfying, we expected better, and now we have to find the confidence to do, or we won’t be in the fight. It is a different profile of stages tomorrow; we’re expecting it to be smoother, so hopefully everything is working a bit better tomorrow.”
Esapekka Lappi
“This morning was a struggle and clearly, we made a mistake with my tyres, but on the other hand we only have a limited amount, of hard tyres so it is not an easy decision to make. The afternoon was strong; we had the right tyres, and the attack was good. Our puncture on SS6 slowed us down a little bit, but then we did a good job on SS7. We pushed hard and we managed to gain two places, which was really important for securing a good road order for tomorrow. It was so rough on some of the stages, but you still have to drive as fast as you can. If you try to minimise the speed then you will hit every rock, so you have to keep going.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Ott Tanak
“More less how we expected it, not so bad. The first loop was quite nice and the second loop we got the puncture, we didn’t expect too much roughness on that one, it came out of the blue, and in the same stage we got some other damage on another tyre, so went the whole afternoon without any spare. It was difficult to survive, and somehow, we managed to bring the car home with tyre wear and punctures. Roads tomorrow should have more hard base.”
Saturday
The second full day of competition will see the crews tackle the longest day with 148km’s over seven stages including the longest stage of the rally, Amarante. It’s a long day, with the action starting before eight am UK time and the final stage starting at just after seven pm. We’ll have to wait and see if Elfyn and Scott return tomorrow.
Extreme E will take to an old Scottish coal mine for the Hydro XPrix this weekend. This is only the second time the series has raced in the UK, with the UK’s last event coming at the end of the first season in Dorset.
New Driver Line-Up:
With the long gap between rounds, Extreme E is known for its constant adjustments. But with the series now in its third season, it appears that the championship has become more stable – with just one change from the last round in Neom, Saudi Arabia.
It appeared that Jensen Button’s team, JBXE, had pulled off a major coup when they signed former Formula One driver Heikki Kovalainen at the start of this campaign. But, after a less than impressive debut, the team have opted for experienced rally driver Andreas Bakkerud.
Bakkerud has won two Super1600’s and has seven wins in the World Rallycross Championship.
Carlos Sainz Sr remains side-lined by a back injury he sustained at the 2023 Dakar Rally. Mattias Ekstrom will continue to partner Laia Sanz in his stead.
Format:
If you missed the last round, you may not be aware of the new format for this season.
Now, both the Saturday and Sunday are their own separate events with two rounds of qualifying, a redemption race, and a final each.
Timed qualifying has been ditched for this season, with teams now competing in two five-car heats, in which teams are awarded classification points based on finishing position.
After qualifying is completed, the five teams with the most classification points progress to the final. The other five teams compete in the Redemption Race. In the event that multiple teams are tied for classification points, the team that has the fastest combined male-female time in the Continental Traction Challenge will be classified ahead.
Championship Standings:
After a tough first two seasons, the surprise of the last round were Veloce, who currently tied Acciona Sainz for the lead of the championship.
The team has an all new driver-pairing for this year (Kevin Hansen and inaugural Extreme E champion Molly Taylor) which looks to have turned their fortunes around.
A difficult opening weekend for Andretti sees them prop up the table with a 10th and an 8th placed finish.
Veloce – 46 Points
Acciona Sainz – 46 Points
Rosberg X Racing – 31 Points
X44 – 23 Points
Chip Ganassi – 21 Points
ABT Cupra – 15 Points
McLaren – 14 Points
Carl Cox Motorsport – 8 Points
JBXE – 5 Points
Andretti – 5 Points
Legacy Programme:
As viewers of the series will be aware, one of the main aims of Extreme E is to raise awareness of different environmental issues, and leave a positive impact on their race locations.
This weekend, the focus is on energy, with the track being held at a former coal mine. The mine was closed in 2012 but will soon become a Pumped Storage Hydropower plant and wind farm.
For its legacy programme, the series will work with various organisations to help restore and protect salmon stocks on the River Nith.
When and Where to Watch:
UK viewers will be able to watch qualifying on YouTube at 7am, with the race broadcast being on ITV1 at 1pm both days.
After Veloce’s shock win last round, make sure you tune in this weekend for guaranteed racing excitement!
It’s time for the championship to return to gravel for the first time this season. As championship leaders, Elfyn and Scott will be hoping for rain throughout Friday’s stages. This season’s event has 325km’s over 19 stages. The longest day is Saturday with almost 150km’s of stages and also has the longest stage at 37km in length. This is rallying, not those silly mickey mouse stages. There are a couple of those stages on Friday and Saturday, but at least they are only run once each.
Let’s take a look at the stages then.
Rally de Portugal begins with shakedown on Thursday before a ceremonial start that evening in Coimbra.
Friday’s itinerary covers a competitive distance of 121.25km, featuring two runs of Lousã (12.03km), Góis (19.33km), Arganil (18.72km) followed by Mortágua (18.15km) and Figueira da Foz (2.94km).
Saturday is the longest day of the rally in length and duration, with crews taking on Vieira do Minho (26.61km), Amarante (37.24km), Felgueiras (8.81km) and Lousada (3.36km).
Sunday contains four stages – Paredes (11.05km), Cabeceiras de Basto (22.01km) and two runs of Fafe (11.18km), the latter of which acts as the event’s Power Stage.
Let’s also hear from the drivers.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Elfyn Evans
“Portugal is a nice rally but in recent years it has also become quite a rough one. There are sections which are really fast and flowing and fun to drive, and others where it’s a challenge to look after the tyres and the car. It’s definitely a mixed rally in that sense, but it’s one that I enjoy. We’re into a busy period now with rallies coming thick and fast, and Portugal is the start of a string of gravel events. Now that we were successful in Croatia, we will have the job of opening the road, but I’m sure that is something that is going to swing back and forth between the drivers a few times over the next rallies. We will just have to try and maximise our performance in the loose conditions we will face on Friday and see what’s possible.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“I’m really happy to be going back to Portugal. It has always been an event that I have liked quite a lot, and last year we were able to win it even though we were starting as the first car on the road. It’s a rally that as drivers we all know fairly well with some legendary stages, so the pace is always high and it should be quite an equal fight. The start of our year has not been perfect – I was aiming for bigger results – but we are still very much in this close championship fight: I don’t think it has been so tight after four rounds for a very long time. This series of gravel events will not be easy but we’re going to continue to push hard and hopefully get good results.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“I’m really looking forward to Portugal. In the last two years I finished fourth there, and last year especially I was very close to the podium. In the end, I wasn’t able to take it – we missed out by just two seconds – so this year I will try to achieve that. It will be a big challenge, but I think it’s possible. The beginning of this year has not been what I wanted, but I have always had a good feeling with the car. It’s developing every single time and we had a good test, so hopefully our hard work pays off for these next rallies. In Portugal I like the stages and I feel very comfortable there, so I just need to push myself and I’m sure we can have a good weekend.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“It is easier to prepare for a rally where you know what is coming, especially with years of experience – we’ve had dry and very hot conditions, but also faced cold and rain there too. Often you have done most of the stages both ways and many times. However even the rallies we know well always have new elements, which requires a lot of preparation and work ahead of the event. We need to know what awaits us, exactly where we are going and most of the time, we need to have this before the pre-event test to make it as efficient as possible. I do expect Portugal to be one of the easier gravel, rallies we will go to this year. The atmosphere first and foremost really stands out, there is always a huge amount, of spectators. We have the iconic Fafe jump, some really sandy roads, hard-based stages around Amarante, and it’s great to have so many enthusiastic fans there with us.”
Esapekka Lappi
“Whenever you think of Portugal, you might think it’s not that difficult or such a challenge for the car, but you always end up in a situation on the second pass where it is really, really rough. You fall into the mindset that it is a smooth rally, and it isn’t and it can catch you out. On the second run of a stage there are a lot of loose rocks and big ruts in some places. It’s definitely an event that I enjoy – it is what I would call ‘medium fast’, so not as slow as Sardinia for example. There is also some tarmac sections in this rally that are quite fast, and of course Sunday in Fafe is always a highlight with the gravel banks next to you. It’s a unique rally. It was emotional to finish on the podium in Croatia, but it was special to do it for Craig. We hope we can carry that momentum forward with us into Portugal.”
Dani Sordo
“Rally de Portugal is always special. The roads have always been really nice, and the spectators travel from all over Portugal and Spain; they make the event really special. Last year we saw that the roads had become a little bit more rough and we were suffering a lot with the temperatures, it was really hot in the rally. The rally is known for a good evolution of the stages between the first and second pass, you have more grip, but they are more rough, which was risky for the cars, tyres and even the rims last year. It would be amazing to finish on the podium again next weekend; we felt we had the pace and potential in Mexico, so we want to be back in the fight for the top-three in Portugal.”
2022 FIA World Rally Championship Round 04, Rally de Portugal 19-22 May 2022 Dani Sordo, Candido Carrera, Hyundai i20 N Rally 1 Photographer: Dufour Fabien Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
M-Sport Ford WRT
Ott Tänak
“We are going now into gravel season where things are starting to get more serious in terms of championship competition. After our pre-event test we are still a bit behind in a few places, but guys are working hard to find ways for improvements, and we still have shakedown to test the final details.
We did see in Mexico that our competitors are strong on gravel, and we have some areas where we need to improve over the next few races. Portugal is generally a fast event with quite a sandy surface. Some of the second loops of stages can be very rough and demanding. We are looking to reduce our gap to the fastest guys and let’s give it a go to stay in the championship fight!”
Pierre-Louis Loubet
“I’m very happy to be going to Portugal, it’s my favourite rally where I have better experience, I’ve already done it quite a few times! The target will be to get a good result there, last year this was my first rally on gravel with the team and the speed was there without the experience. I’m sure we can do some great things this year.”
WRC2 Category
Hyundai
Teemu Suninen
“I am really looking forward to getting back to behind wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally2. It has been a long time since Rally Sweden and a lot has happened during that time, but I feel even more that when we have chance to drive, I want to do it well. Rally de Portugal has always been one of my favourite events. It was where I got my first podium in only my sixth WRC event. It is the first gravel rally where we can start to see our performance compared to others. The stages are well known, conditions are normally really good, and we can push to the absolute limit and enjoy rallying. The top of the WRC2 championship is very tight, and there are so many good drivers. It will be a fight for tenths of seconds and tyre choices will be extremely important; there is no room to give away any time. I hope we can deliver a win for me and the team.”
Fabrizio Zaldivar
“I think Rally de Portugal and I have some unfinished business. The Hyundai i20 N Rally2 was very strong at this event last year, so we know we have a competitive car heading into the event. My mission is to pull everything together in Portugal and demonstrate the potential we have and bring home a strong result. We are up against some very talented competitors, and it won’t be easy, but we are determined to fight and bring home important championship points.”
M-Sport
Adrien Fourmaux, WRC2 driver
“This will be my third time in Portugal, but my first in a Rally2 car. It’s a really nice rally, very famous with a lot of spectators coming to watch; I really love the atmosphere of this rally. We will be back out on gravel, which is a good thing because I like the surface and I hope we will see some good pace like we did in Mexico. We’re hoping for a good result and we’re working very hard to achieve it.”
Grégoire Munster, WRC2 driver
“We are heading into a series of events that Louis and I have never done before, Portugal followed by Sardinia and Kenya. So, it’ll be a period of discovery and quite interesting. Portugal will be our first WRC2 event on gravel with the Fiesta Rally2, so we’re looking forward to it. We will do a small event in the south of France to prepare this weekend. I’m looking forward to making our first proper outing on gravel, and we hope to enjoy it.”
Robert Virves, WRC2 driver
“I’m excited to do my second rally with M-Sport in the Fiesta Rally2 this season, we set some good groundwork in Sweden and hope to do the same in Portugal. We have some experience here already, competing in the ERC round back in March, so we have the opportunity to set competitive times and develop our learning with the car.”
Toksport Skoda
Oliver Solberg
“I love this place, the spectators are just incredible, there are always so many of them and they bring such a nice atmosphere. The place where we are competing, around Porto and in the north of the country, rallying is such a big thing. Everywhere we go, everybody is waving and cheering us on. It’s super-cool.
“Winning in Sweden was a great way to start our WRC2 season in our Toksport Škoda,” said Oliver. “And that’s what we have to be aiming for in Portugal, but it’s going to be tough. I think the entry for next week is probably the strongest I’ve ever seen for a WRC2 round. There are so many big names around!
“The fight for the championship is already really tight with Yohan [Rossel] and my Toksport team-mates, but then we have Andreas [Mikkelsen], Kris [Meeke] and Nasser [Al-Attiyah] coming as well. I think there’s more than 40 cars on the entry list in WRC2 – that’s amazing!”
The route for the event includes the usual classic stages like Lousã, Amarante and, of course, the final day challenge that is Fafe.
“Fafe is special, to come over those famous jumps and see so many people is crazy. It’s one of the most special sections we drive in the season. The stages in Portugal are tough though. The road’s usually quite soft, which means they can get a little bit rutted – but we also get some rocks being pulled out into the road. You have to take care, that’s for sure.
Summary
If the stages are dry, then a good result for Elfyn will be to score a podium. It’s fair to say that opening the road on Friday will be a huge challenge, but the Welshman has the experience to know when to push and when to get through the stages. His teammate and the world champion knows how to win this rally and will definitely be on the pace as well.
Ott Tanak will also be right there I suspect, and it will be interesting to see if his younger teammate can set some good pace and stage times.
Thierry is a former winner as well and has taken a number of podiums over the years. He will hope to be on the pace from the start and if that is the case, then he will definitely be in the top positions. His teammate, Dani took third last year behind the two Toyota’s as well and will definitely be on the pace if he is comfortable. Their Finnish teammate has also gone well in Portugal in the past and of course was leading in Mexico before the crash that took them out of the fight.
Max Verstappen took victory at the Miami Grand Prix despite starting down in ninth.
Verstappen made his way up to second after a series of overtakes in the opening 17 laps of the race, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc did battle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.
One of the Dutchman’s moves was a neat double overtake on Leclerc and Magnussen as they diced into Turn One. The world champion was on a charge.
A mega stint on hard tyres saw him re-join right behind polesitter and team-mate Sergio Perez, before passing the Mexican for the win in the closing stages.
Fernando Alonso comfortably held on to take third, while George Russell passed Carlos Sainz for fourth. The Spaniard picked up a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, but stayed ahead of Sir Lewis Hamilton, who recovered from 13th to sixth.
Charles Leclerc stayed seventh ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, whose team-mate Esteban Ocon and Haas’ Magnussen rounded out the points after a fourth-placed start.
Yuki Tsunoda took 11th, and he was followed by Lance Stroll – the Canadian failing to make the points after a difficult qualifying on Saturday.
Alex Albon came home 14th, with Nico Hulkenberg and Zhou Guanyu following the Williams across the line.
A horrible day for McLaren saw Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finish 17th and 19th respectively, either side of Nyck De Vries. Logan Sargeant, at his home race, endured a miserable day as he finished 20th and last having taken front wing damage on the opening lap.
The earlier Superpole race saw Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) claim yet another win, and make it 2/3 wins across the weekend so far. Could anyone break this Ducati dominance?
WorldSBK Catalunya, Spain, Round 4, Race 2. Picture courtesy of Honda Racing Corporation.
During the sighting lap rain began to fall, playing on the minds of the riders. Although it wasn’t enough to be declared a wet race.
Lights out then for race 2, and once again you guessed correct, it was Bautista with the holeshot into turn 1. Toprak (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK) was in no mood to witness the Ducatis clear off into the distance again, and quickly launched an attack on both of them, getting through on Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), before passing Bautista into turn 5 to briefly take the lead. It was now the factory Ducatis 2nd and 3rd, with Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) in 4th, and Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK) in 5th.
Next lap of the 20 lap race, and Bautista blasted past Toprak down the long straight and back into the lead. The Yamaha R1 had no answer to the power of the Ducati V4. Next was Rinaldi to pass Toprak and retake 2nd. Positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Rinaldi 3. Lowes 4. Toprak 5. Locatelli 6. Vierge (Honda HRC) 7. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) 8. Lecuona (Honda HRC) 9. Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) 10. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati). Drama for a deflated Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) yet again, who crashed out of the race alongside Malaysian rider Syahrin (Petronas MIE Racing Honda Team). Both their races were over.
Next lap and Alex Lowes, who had an impressive start to the race made a great pass on Rinaldi to take 2nd. Meanwhile Kawasaki team mate Jonny Rea, who had only started in 10th after a DNF in the Superpole race, moved through on Vierge to take 6th. The light rain had cleared off, and the race was perfectly dry.
With 17 laps remaining Bautista had a gap of 0.3s to Lowes in 2nd. Rinaldi was in 3rd. Swiss rider Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was up to 10th after getting through on Bassani, who had opted for a harder SC0 front tyre which did not seem to be paying off. Further back Scott Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) was also struggling and was down in 13th.
Next lap and Rinaldi blasted past Lowes down the straight to retake 2nd. Both Lowes and Rinaldi were having much better rides compared to race 1. Meanwhile Bautista extended his lead to 1.2s. Further back Rea was looking to catch the leaders, and was sizing up Locatelli ahead of him for a pass.
With 14 laps to go Toprak out braked Lowes into turn 1 to move into 3rd. Both of the Ducatis were now clearing off into the distance, with Bautista holding a gap of 1.5s to his team mate. Positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Rinaldi 3. Toprak 4. Lowes 5. Locatelli 6. Rea 7. Vierge 8. Lecuona 9. Gerloff 10. Aegerter.
With 12 laps remaining Bautista had now extended his lead to 2.3s. Rinaldi held a gap of 2.5s to Toprak in 3rd. Meanwhile Isaac Vinales (Team Perdercini) retires due to a mechanical issue. BSB current champion, Brad Ray (MotoxRacing Yamaha), was in 17th.
At half race distance there was a 4 way battle for 8th between Lecuona 8th, Aegerter 9th, Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) 10th, and Gerloff 11th. Meanwhile at the front Bautista had extended his lead to 3.9s, while Rinaldi had a gap of 3.5s. Lowes held a gap of 1.0s to Locatelli in 5th.
With 7 laps remaining, Bautista was once again clear into the distance, out in front with an unassailable lead. Rea finally made his move on Locatelli to move into 5th. The day got worse for Scott Redding, as he was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue. Locatelli hadn’t given up his place lying down, and the young Italian was trying to put pressure back on Rea.
Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Rinaldi 3. Toprak 4. Lowes 5. Rea 6. Locatelli 7. Vierge 8. Lecuona 9. Aegerter 10. Gerloff.
With 4 laps left Bautista now had a commanding lead of 6.7s, while Rinaldi in 2nd had a gap of 3.2s.
WorldSBK Catalunya, Spain, Round 4, Race 2. Picture courtesy of Honda Racing Corporation.
Penultimate lap and Aegerter was all over the back of Vierge, and looking for a pass into 7th place. Further back Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was in a disappointing 13th, after a good race 1 yesterday.
Last lap and it was Vierge who got through on Locatelli into 6th. Meanwhile Bautista crossed the line to make it 3/3 wins across the weekend, as well as his second clean sweep of wins in Catalunya. Toprak pipped Rinaldi to the line to take 2nd, driving up the inside of the last corner with much better traction, Rinaldi had lost massive time on the last lap, and his tyres were cooked. The race finished: 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Rinaldi 4. Lowes 5. Rea 6. Vierge 7. Locatelli 8. Aegerter 9. Lecuona 10. Gerloff.
Sergio Perez took his second pole position of the season ahead of the Miami Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Mexican set the fastest lap in the early part of the third and final qualifying session, before a late crash for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc left him and Max Verstappen seventh and ninth respectively.
Leclerc lost control in the first sector of the lap on the final run in qualifying. It follows a collision with the barrier earlier in the weekend, and one last weekend in Baku during sprint qualifying.
Perez will be joined on the front row by Fernando Alonso, with Carlos Sainz third ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. The Dane will be investigated later on for an impeding incident with Sir Lewis Hamilton in the first phase.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly will start fifth ahead of George Russell, and Leclerc had to settle for eighth after his crash on his second run in Q3. Max Verstappen had made what turned out to be a costly error on his initial run in the third session, and the red flag induced by Leclerc means that the reigning champion will start ninth. Valtteri Bottas rounded off the top 10.
Alex Albon got his Williams up to 11th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, and a hugely disappointing day for Hamilton saw him eliminated in the second part of qualifying in 13th. Zhou Guanyu will start Sunday’s race 14th, with Nyck de Vries and Lando Norris behind on the eighth row.
Yuki Tsunoda was out-qualified by de Vries for the first time this season as he qualified 17th, and another surprise exit arrived in the form of Lance Stroll down in 18th.
Oscar Piastri’s elimination in 19th spelled McLaren’s first double Q1 exit this season, while home hero Logan Sargeant starts at the base of the grid.
Perez heads into the race in search of his third win of the season, which could send him to the top of the championship.
Qualifying was first up and Group A saw Nato, Fenestraz, Ticktum and Evans all through to the duels. The DS Penske duo of Vandoorne and Vergne both lost their lap times due to a technical infraction which dropped them to the back of the grid.
Gunther, Hughes, Mortara and Sette Camara all went through to the final from Group B. Fenestraz appeared victorious over Dan Ticktum for the first session of quarter finals, Nato beat Evans in the second quarter final, Hughes beat Mortara and Sette Camara beat Gunther in the 3rd and 4th quarter finals respectfully. However, Sette Camara got his best lap time deleted so Gunther took his place in the duel. Before their duel however, it was a nissan quarter final with Nato vs Fenestraz and Fenestraz won that battle. Hughes took victory over Gunther in the second semi final so it was Hughes against Fenestraz for the battle for pole.
It was a tight battle which saw Fenestraz snatch the position from Hughes after Hughes made an error. Fenestraz, however, used more power than he was meant to and got the pole snatched away!
Race:
The 29 lap race started by Hughes leading the race with Cassidy trying to make a lot of places up. Cassidy went up to P7 by the end of lap 1. Jake Hughes held the lead from the two Nissans and from Ticktum and Gunther in P5. Dennis managed to get Cassidy on lap 2. Rowland who started P13 is up to P7. By lap 3 rowland managed to make up to P6. A yellow flag then came out on lap 3 due to lotterer and retiring. Rowland took his first attack mode on lap 3. Evans and Gunther were battling on the final sector of lap 3 which Gunther managed to win. Nick Cassidy made a big move on lap 5 to make up 2 places at once. Cassidy made HUGE moves to go up to P2 after Hughes took attack mode! Hughes went down to P4 just ahead of Ticktum. Evans managed to make his way up to P5 after a lunge in the hairpin. Cassidy and Nato took their attack mode together which allowed Ticktum to make his way up to P1. ahead of Evans and Fenestraz. Fenestraz and Cassidy attack their way up the hull after turn 1 and Fenestraz manages to keep the position over the New Zealander.
An image from the ABB FIA Formula E Monaco EPrix. Credit to Formula E.
Lap 13 saw Cassidy lead the race from Evans and Fenestraz who are 2nd and 3rd. Lap 14 saw a titanic battle between Evans and Dennis coming out of the tunnel to battle for position. Gunther had a big moment in the swimming pool section of the track on lap 15but he managed to keep it goether. Evans took the lead of the race at the start of lap 16 . While ths was going on, Vergne and Vandoorne managed to make their way up to P13 and P14 after starting at the back of the grid. Bird and Nato collided after the tunnel and Da Costa suffered a puncture and fell to the back of the grid. Both Maseratis took attack mode on lap 17 and fell to P7 and P8 with Gunther leading the way. Cassidy managed to get the lead of the race on lap 18. Dennis tried to get ahead of Evans into the hairpin but he didn’t manage to make it stick. Hughes and Ricktum Kept switching positions on lap 18 too with Ticktum taking the position. Fenestraz tried to get Dennis into the hairpin but didn’t manage to get him. Ticktum tried to squeeze Vergne into the wall down into the hairpin but Vergne managed to make it out. Mortara appeared to lose his front wing. Ticktum had an issue after he collided with another driver. Nato had to slow down and Gunther stopped on track which resulted on a safety car on lap 22/29.
The safety car came in on lap 25 and Cassidy and Evans went battling for the win with Dennis not far behind. Bird went for attack mode but he managed to miss it! There was no added laps to the race. Muller collided with Bird on lap 28 which resulted in Muller stopping on lap and the safety car being deployed which ended this race. Nick Cassidy won the Monaco EPrix and takes the lead of the championship. Mitch Evans finished P2 and Jake Dennis finished P3. The front row finished P4 and P5 with Fenestraz finishing ahead of Hughes. Ticktum managed to hold onto P6 with Vergne going from p22 to P7. Buemi finished P8 with Vandoorne finishing P9 and Evan’s teammate Sam Bird collecting the final point position. Sam Bird later received a penalty so Pascal Wehrlein picked up P10.
The concludes Formula E for 1 month where we head to Jakara for a double header!
Extreme E will take to an old Scottish coal mine for the Hydro XPrix this weekend. This is only the second time the series has raced in the UK, with the UK’s last event coming at the end of the first season in Dorset.
