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  • Moto2: Lopez Takes Pole by Nine Thousandths of a Second

    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

     

  • Safari Rally Kenya 2023, Day One Report

    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.”

    2023 FIA World Rally Championship
    Round 7, Safari Rally Kenya
    21 – 25 June 2023
    Esapekka Lappi
    Photographer: Austral
    Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

    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.

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

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

    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

    Formula E Season 10’s Provisional Calendar
    Credit: Formula E’s Announcement of Tokyo

    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.”

  • Safari Rally Kenya 2023 Preview

    Safari Rally Kenya 2023 Preview

    The championship moves to the wilds of Kenya, and we are set for a challenging event. This year there are 355km’s over the twenty-two stages. Kalle and Jonne come to the event as championship leaders and of course that means they will open the road throughout Friday’s stages. Now of course they did that last year and still went onto win the rally. Can they repeat this? We shall see!

    Let’s take a look at the stages ahead for the crews.

    Safari Rally Kenya begins on Thursday 22 June with a super special stage in Nairobi.

    Friday features six stages, with two runs of Loldia (19.17km), Geothermal (13.12km), and Kedong (30.62km) for crews to contend with.

    The honour of the longest day goes to Saturday, in both time and competitive distance.

    Teams have an early start to take on Soysambu (29.32km), Elmenteita (15.08km) and Sleeping Warrior (31.04km).

    Three further stages are run on Sunday; Malewa (8.33km), Oserian (18.33km) and Hell’s Gate (10.53km) to bring the total competitive distance to 355.92km.

    Let’s hear from the drivers!

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

    Kalle Rovanperä

    “I’m looking forward to going back to Kenya. I have really enjoyed the event both times we have been there. Already in 2021, we were going quite well until we got stuck in the sand. Then, last year, it was of course very special to win with a perfect result for the team. It’s a rally that can depend a lot on the weather, because the conditions can change completely from one year to another. That makes it a really big challenge, but it’s one that suits us quite well, I think. Let’s see what the conditions will be like this year and hopefully we can have another strong weekend and score more good points for the championship.”

    Elfyn Evans

    “It’s always difficult to know what we can expect on the Safari Rally, which is what makes it such a challenge for the teams and the crews. Most of the route will be the same as last year, but we know that the conditions can vary massively: not only from one year to the next, but also from one section of stage to another. We’ve already experienced a lot of different conditions there over the past couple of years, so we have been looking back through those events to prepare as best as we can, but we also need to be ready to adapt to whatever we face during the week. As a team we had a fantastic rally last year and hopefully we can be strong again.”

    Sébastien Ogier

    “I have really enjoyed the experience of going to Kenya these past two years and this is the main reason why I wanted to return again. It’s something very different from what we are used to, and the country and its people are amazing. The rally is very tough, and we know that luck can be a big factor: in 2021 it was possible for me to come back from more than two minutes behind to win, as almost everybody had an issue at some point. Every rally I start, I try to win, and we will give it everything like always. I hope we got all our bad luck out of the way in Sardinia and that fortune will be on our side this time.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Thierry Neuville

    “Kenya is an adventure. It is a tough event and very challenging because we are driving through the middle of the parks and the countryside, where there are some very rough sections with sand and fesh-fesh. Each stage has its own unique characteristics, but the changing conditions and different surfaces is what we enjoy so much about this rally. The goal is definitely to win, so we will keep fighting all the way through; as we know very well, the rally isn’t over until it’s over. We saw that two years ago when we were leading, and then unfortunately had an issue just before the end. Hopefully, we get the victory this year.”

    2022 FIA World Rally Championship
    Round 06, Safari Rally Kenya
    21-26 June 2022
    Thierry Neuville
    Photographer: Austral
    Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

    Esapekka Lappi

    “It’s harder work than normal to prepare for Safari Rally Kenya. I’ve watched as many onboards as possible to understand how you should drive on each of the specific areas. It’s another gravel rally, and we know the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid performs well on this surface, but we may just need to go higher on the ride height. I’ve also heard there are a lot of zebras here and they might venture onto the road, so it will be a unique experience for me with the conditions and the animals as well! Every rally we need to set the target of the podium now: we know the speed is there, so that has to be our goal.”

    Dani Sordo

    “Safari Rally Kenya is a nice experience; I have only done it once before, but the stages are quite different – especially with the animals around and the fesh-fesh sand, which we know can be tricky. The weather can also play a big part, as the stages can become slippery if it rains. The goal for the weekend is to fight for the podium and hopefully for another team victory. Kenya will not just be about the speed, but also getting through the challenges that lie ahead.”

    M-Sport Ford WRT

    Ott Tänak

    “I wish we had more time to enjoy life around the rally in Kenya, but it’s of course the wildlife that is so special compared to our lives in Europe. We have more challenges to face in terms of keeping the car in one piece in Kenya! Sections in fesh fesh mean it’s easy to get stuck and difficult to understand where the track goes.

    “I haven’t really succeeded there yet so that’s something to discover for myself. We need to make sure we won’t incur any mechanical setbacks with the tough conditions and then it’s up to us to give our best performance!”

    Pierre-Louis Loubet

    “I feel very lucky to be able to drive in Kenya, it’s a really magical event. I’m so happy to be able to drive there and I hope to enjoy this crazy adventure a lot! I hope we can do something good there, the car is fast in tricky conditions, so I hope we’ll be able to bring a good performance.”

    WRC2 Category

    Oliver Solberg

    ““I love the Safari Rally,” said Oliver. “For us, in our sport of rallying, this kind of adventure is really what we’re about. The Safari is part of the DNA of our sport and the world championship. You talk to people in the street about rallying and they talk about Monte Carlo and this one.

    “Before I go further, I want to say a very big thank you to my friend Daniel Chwist for allowing me to use his car on this event. Without him, I wouldn’t be able to be here to compete.”

    “We have done this rally both times it’s been back in the World Rally Championship [in 2021 and 2022] and I just love the event and the people here.

    “We’re using the Škoda Fabia Evo Daniel used in Mexico and it will be run by Eurosol. We will push, make some strong times and have some fun.”

    Grégoire Munster

    “We’re really looking forward to Kenya, it’s a dream to be able to participate in this rally. We learned a lot in Portugal and Sardinia; there has definitely been a learning curve, but this is encouraging, and we set some good times on Sunday in Sardinia. We’re used to the car on gravel, but Kenya is always a really tricky rally. It’s hard to judge what speed you should be driving at to get to the finish and avoid any problems. With the weather forecast, which seems to be pretty rainy, it might become really interesting! The goal will be to complete the first stage and see where our pace is; be smart, be fast and be cautious as well.”

    Summary

    Shakedown is on Thursday morning and then the action gets underway with the first stage on Thursday evening. Who will win this year?

  • Canadian Grand Prix: Verstappen Dominates in Montreal

    Canadian Grand Prix: Verstappen Dominates in Montreal

    Max Verstappen took a lights-to-flag victory in Montreal to complete another dominant weekend for Red Bull Racing.

    The win is Red Bull’s 100th in Formula One since the energy drinks company bought Ford out in 2005, and also puts Max Verstappen level on wins with Ayrton Senna at 41.

    Triumph at the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve sees the Dutchman extend his championship lead over teammate Sergio Perez to 69 points, as Red Bull now head Mercedes in the Conctructors’ Championship by a whopping 154 points.

    Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin held on for second ahead of a charging Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes, while the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz recovered to fourth and fifth respectively.

    Perez ended a disappointing sixth from 12th on the grid, a point for fastest lap scant consolation for the Mexican who suffered a third disappointing weekend in a row.

    As has been the norm in 2023, Verstappen led away from the start and controlled the race from the outset, briefly interrupted by a Safety Car brought out after 12 laps following George Russell’s collision with the barriers.

    From there, the two-time World Champion controlled the race, with Verstappen even able to laugh at nearly crashing at Turn Nine in the same way Russell did, such was his comfort five laps from the end.

    The big fight was for second, as Hamilton passed Alonso off at the start and held station until shortly after the Safety Car returned to the pits, when Alonso outbraked his old nemesis into the final chicane and gently broke away.

    In truth from there on, the Spaniard’s main annoyance after surviving an early race brush with the Turn 4 barrier was having to lift and coast despite that Safety Car, owing to a brake wear problem.

    Those two were closely followed by Russell until lap 12, the Norfolk driver clouting the wall after taking too much kerb at Turn 9.

    He was able to carry on until 20 laps from the end, when a brake issue that was a legacy of that crash damage sustained from that early race shunt, having fought up to 8th from there.

    Driver of the Day Alexander Albon was an excellent seventh in his much upgraded Williams, six points lifting the Grove team off the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship.

    That came courtesy of Williams’ straight line speed, with Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly all within five seconds of the Thai driver at race end. A penalty dropped Norris to 13th at race end.

    Aston Martin and Mercedes begin to close the gap?

    In Alonso and Hamilton, Aston Martin and Mercedes have two world class drivers reinvigorated of late.

    Alonso has been the closest thing to a challenge Red Bull has had all season, while Hamilton was in the fight for second all the way until the end, a huge upgrade package from Mercedes a introduced a month ago paying dividends.

    This weekend it was Aston Martin’s turn to bring upgrades, and in finishing eight seconds behind Verstappen the Silverstone squad will feel those improvements have worked, irrespective of whether Red Bull weren’t exactly going flat out.

    Further back, Stroll fought his way up to ninth after a poor qualifying session, a penalty and a compromised race strategy as Mercedes’ George Russell was running well before his incident on lap 12.

    More punishment for Perez

    For Sergio Perez it was another lacklustre weekend as for a third straight race, the man second in the standings was punished for a poor qualifying performance.

    It was another disappointing weekend for Sergio Perez

    Starting 12th, he failed to make much of an impact on those ahead barring a first lap scrap with Sainz until the Safety Car saw him jump to sixth on the alternative strategy.

    He failed to use the advantage of softer medium tyres against the Ferraris ahead later in the race having originally started on hard tyres, and was dropped by the Scuderia pair to a point where Red Bull elected to pit him for a go at the fastest lap, an extra point that will provide scant consolation.

    The gap between he and teammate Verstappen is almost three full races, and it is now a question of when the two-time World Champion wins the 2023 Drivers’ crown.

    Any notion of a title challenge has long since disappeared.

    Improvements from Ferrari.

    Ferrari have been much maligned for their race management and strategy over the last two seasons, but they deserve credit for turning a poor Saturday into a good Sunday.

    It looked as if old problems would rear their head again when Leclerc went out of qualifying early, and a penalty for Sainz drop the Spaniard to 11th on the grid.

    The call to stay out on medium tyres looked bold when the Safety Car came out on lap 12, but both Sainz and Leclerc managed used mediums well until laps 39 and 40 before fitting fresh hards.

    Sainz may have been a driver behind that decision after appearing to resist a call to pit on lap 32, but operationally this was much better for the Prancing Horse.

    Awesome Albon 

    The final word must be saved for Williams and Alex Albon.

    It was a shock to see the Thai driver top Q2 on Saturday and he was expected to fall back from 10th on the grid.

    It didn’t play out that way and good strategy, good straight line speed coupled with a litany of upgrades on Albon’s car this weekend saw him lead home a train two-stoppers for seventh place, which marks the best result for Williams since Spa’s 2021 “race” when George Russell stood on the podium.

    That lifts Williams off the bottom of the Constructors’ Standings.

     

    Images courtesy of Pirelli Sport

  • MotoGP: Martin Takes Breathtaking Win In Germany

    MotoGP: Martin Takes Breathtaking Win In Germany

    Sachensring has gifted us a remarkable race this weekend between our two championship contenders. The battle lasted for the entirety of the race, culminated in last-lap contact, and ended with our 4 different race winner across 7 races,

    For the first time in over 2 years, Jorge Martin can enjoy the view from the top step of the podium after winning the German GP. It might be only his second victory in the premier class but he laid down a stunning performance to hold off the attack from reigning champion, Pecco Bagnaia. He eventually crossed the line a mere 0.6s ahead of Bagnaia to add 25 points to his championship hopes.

    Despite starting in pole position, Bagnaia was forced to settle for 2nd today. He sat at the front of the field for much of the early stages of the race but soon found himself in a fierce battle with Martin.

    When Martin took the lead for the first time on lap 3, he was setting blisteringly fast lap times that matched the pace we saw in Saturday’s qualifying. This allowed him to pull out a comfortable lead of 0.5s, after leading for just one lap. He then continued to lead until lap 21 when Bagnaia was able to sneak past him. However, he wasn’t able to pull away by much and Martin stayed hot on his tail before regaining the lead at the final sector of lap 24.

    With the lap counter rapidly ticking down, thanks to the shortest track of the year, Bagnaia was achingly close to Martin’s rear wheel. He didn’t let the Spanish rider out of his side and stayed hot on his tail. That was until the penultimate lap when Bagnaia made an uncharacteristic mistake and bumped Martin’s rear wheel. The impact of this contact saw Bagnaia drop back and almost ended his hopes of a race win. He had just one final lap to close the gain and regain the lead – he fought as hard as he could but simply couldn’t get close enough. He made a run on Martin over the finish line but Martin managed to stay 0.064s ahead to take the win.

    Image Credit: @DucatiCorse on Twitter

    Joining them on the podium was Johan Zarco on the Prima Pramac machine. The Frenchman is becoming quite accustomed to finishing races in 3rd place. This is the third time in a row he has crossed the line in 3rd and tasted champagne on the podium.

    Zarco wasn’t able to fight for 1st or 2nd today as he simply wasn’t able to catch the leading pair. This was despite setting a number of fastest laps in the middle of the race.

    Brad Binder was on track to take 3rd after fighting his way up to that position and passing Luca Marini. However, on turn 8 of lap 19, one of the fastest corners on the track, Binder lost control of the bike at the corner entry and went wide. When he tried to save it, he was already in the gravel and he came off the bike with a hard hit. Shortly after he limped off the circuit, he was taken to the medical centre for a check.

    After his battle with Binder for that final podium spot, Marini then entered a hot battle with his VR46 teammate, Marco Bezzecchi. In the end, it was Bezzecchi who came out on top and the pair finished in 4th and 5th.

    Just behind them, finishing the day in 6th, was Jack Miller. In typical Miller fashion, he started the race incredibly well and quickly got the holeshot on Bagnaia. He lead the first lap before, on lap 2, facing a tank slapper at turn 11. This let the rest of the field catch up to the Aussie and we almost had 4 abreast in to turn 12. In the space of two corners, Miller was shuffled back from 1st to 4th.

    It was an enough harder day for Maverick Vinales who was unable to finish the race after his engine went bang on lap 8. He went back to the garage shaking his head – it was a weekend that capped off a recent run of poor performance for Aprilia.

    Fabio Quartararo, who won here last year, finished way down in 13th, with his teammate Franco Morbidelli just ahead of him in 12th. But this year, 8 of the top 9 bikes were Ducati, showing just how much progress they have made in the last 12 months.

    Overall, the pace was so incredibly fast today that the whole race was 20 seconds faster than last year’s German GP – an astonishing race all round.

    Full Standings
    1 Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
    2 Pecco Bagnaia Lenovo Ducati
    3 Johann Zarco Prima Pramac
    4 Marco Bexxecchi Mooney VR46
    5 Luca Marini Mooney VR46
    6 Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
    7 Alex Marquez Gresini
    8 Enea Bastianini Ducati Lenovo
    9 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini
    10 Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF
    11 Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
    12 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha
    13 Fabio Quarataro Monster Energy Yamaha
    14 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
    15 Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF
    16 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
    17 Jonas Folger GASGAS Tech3

    DNFs: Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), Maverick Vinales (Aprilia)

    Championship Standings
    1 Pecco Bagnaia 160 points
    2 Jorge Martin 144 points
    3 Marco Bezzecchi 126 points
    4 Johann Zarco 109 points
    5 Brad Binder 96 points

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

  • Moto2: Acosta Controls German GP to Take Win

    Moto2: Acosta Controls German GP to Take Win

    Pedro Acosta stormed to victory after a poor start and had to pass Tony Arbolino for the lead on lap one into the Sachsencurve. Arbolino was able to hold off a late charge from Jake Dixon for second place.

    Off the line, Aron Canet did not get a good start and dropped down a place behind Alonso Lopez. Arbolino got a brilliant start and was able to take the lead into turn one, ahead of Acosta. Further down in the pack, Darryn Binder and Bo Bendsneyder were taken out by Jeremy Alcoba, who received a long lap penalty for this incident.

    Arbolino was able to hold onto the lead until turn 12, where Acosta snuck past the Italian rider to take the lead.

    Dixon made a mistake on lap two, allowing Lopez and Canet to get past, dropping him to fifth place on the road.

    By the third lap, Acosta and Arbolino were beginning to break away from the rest of the pack, pulling the gap out to one second. Sam Lowes made a mistake dropping him down to ninth place.

    After dropping down earlier in the race, Dixon was able to get back past Lopez into turn one, restoring his place towards the front of the field.

    Lukas Tulovic was unfortunate to receive a track limits warning on lap 5 but he crashed at the penultimate corner on the next lap, causing a yellow flag in sector four. He was taken to the medical centre following this incident.

    Acosta began to increase the gap to Arbolino behind him, which was 1 second at the end of six and the Italian continued to stay ahead of Canet. One lap later, Canet crashed at the final corner causing another yellow flag in the final sector.

    Celestino Vietti made a place up on Manuel Gonzales and Somkiat Chantra tried to overtake Lopez but was unsuccessful on lap 8. However, on the next lap Chantra was able to get past on the start finish straight, taking fourth place away from the Spaniard.

    Another crasher at the final corner was Izan Guevara, causing another yellow flag.

    Acosta continued to increase the gap to Arbolino to 2.5 seconds and continued to lead the race at the front. Gonzalez was able to get past Vietti at the Sachencurve and then Lowes was also able to get past.

    Dixon started to close the gap down to Arbolino on lap 14 by setting lap times comparable with the race leader, Acosta. By lap 16, Dixon was only 0.6 seconds behind the Italian. The rider behind Dixon was Chantra who was over 3 seconds behind, so the Brit did not need to worry about being caught from behind.

    Fermin Aldeguer and Vietti were able to get past Albert Arenas who made a mistake. On the same lap, Joe Roberts also made a mistake and crashed at turn 16.

    Arbolino continued to open out the gap to Dixon for a few laps but the Polar Cube GASGAS Aspar Team rider was able to find fast times once again and by lap 23, he was incredibly close to Arbolino and attempted to get past.

    Acosta could not afford to make any mistakes on the final few laps, especially as the riders behind him were battling it out. He continued to make his way around the circuit without any incident and was able to come across the line with a three second gap to take his fourth win of the season and close up Arbolino’s lead in the championship.

    Dixon and Acosta continued to battle during the final laps of the race but Arbolino was able to make his bike the widest on the track and was able to hold onto second place.

    Chantra had his best finish of the season in fourth place. Lopez, Gonzales, Lowes, Aldeguer, Arenas and Vietti completed the top ten. Filip Salac was only able to finish in thirteenth place, adding a handful of points to his tally.

    Lorenzo Dalla Porta had to retire his bike early in the race.

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

    GERMAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, SACHSENRING – RACE RESULTS
    POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
    1 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 15.315s
    2 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 18.045s
    3 Jake Dixon GBR Polar Cube GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 18.140s
    4 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 24.328s
    5 Alonso Lopez SPA MB Conveyors SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 27.589s
    6 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 35m 28.855s
    7 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 29.772s
    8 Fermín Aldeguer SPA MB Conveyors SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 30.368s
    9 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 30.534s
    10 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 35m 30.712s
    11 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 35m 37.519s
    12 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 38.793s
    13 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 38.901s
    14 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 39.194s
    15 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 40.262s
    16 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 43.763s
    17 Sean Dylan Kelly USA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 35m 47.889s
    18 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 50.556s
    19 Carlos Tatay SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 35m 51.945s
    20 Marcos Ramirez SPA Forward Team (Forward) 36m 4.105s
    21 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 36m 27.081s
    22 Kasma Daniel MAL Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 36m 38.746s
    Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
    Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA Forward Team (Forward) DNF
    Izan Guevara SPA Polar Cube GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
    Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
    Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF
    Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) DNF
    Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF
  • Moto3: Öncü wins Sachsenring Stunner

    Moto3: Öncü wins Sachsenring Stunner

    Deniz Öncü takes his first career win in style today in Germany. He waited until the final moment of the race to pounce on Ayumu Sasaki as both riders were in a league of their own today at Sachsenring. 

    After a long time coming for Deniz Öncü, he has finally taken his first win with victory today at the GermanGP. Can we see a challenge for the title now for the rest of the season? Daniel Holgado took the final podium place today, extending his championship lead to 41 points before heading into Assen next weekend.

    HOW IT HAPPENED

    Collin Veijer flew off the line, going from 4th to 1st down into turn 1 in an interchanging first lap.  There was a brief 1-2 for the Husqvarna riders until Öncü passed both in one move. Öncü is always with creative overtakes. Sasaki was then back into 1st ahead of Öncü, and with Veijer dropping back into 4th, normal order resumed at the front. It was a great battle to start us off in the blazing sunshine.

    David Alonso on the 1st lap went from 14th to 7th with an amazing start from the Sunday man. On lap 2, Holgado gets by Ivan Ortola just as Veijer goes down and out after a great start for the Dutchman. Holgado was posting the fastest lap times and was now up into 3rd place.

    Midway through lap 3 and the top 6 in the championship were the top 6 in the race. They were led by Sasaki and with clear air at the front. He managed to push over half a second clear of Öncü, in 2nd, by the end of the lap.

    Out of turn 13, as we begin lap 5 with Ortola now dicing with Öncü, the battle for 2nd place is only helping Sasaki keep his lead and build momentum. He is now pulling away from the chasing pack behind.

    A third of the way through the race now and we have Sasaki leading to Öncü by 1.433 seconds. There was a trio of Öncü, Holgado and Ortola, and then a gap of 3.224 seconds to Masia in 5th. Öncü, with 16 laps to go, was trying to pull away from Holgado and Ortola, to catch Sasaki before it was too late.

    Öncü determined to catch Sasaki now, reducing the gap by half a second on lap 9. A great lap for Öncü and Sasaki will want to respond. Öncü quicker again on lap 10 but only slightly with Sasaki maintaining that 1 second gap.

    At the halfway mark the fight is on for the win. Öncü was likely still reeling from last weekend’s heartache in Mugello, but is now catching Sasaki and is just half a second behind. Öncü and Sasaki are clearly in a league of their own today, with a gap of 3.635 seconds to Holgado and Ortola in 3rd and 4th place respectively.

    On lap 15 Öncü was seen whacking his leg, clearly struggling with some sort of injury, possibly cramp. Öncü was now multi-tasking and massaging a leg at the same time as keeping pace with Sasaki as they cross the line. Sasaki was only a few tenths of a second clear of the Turkish wonderkid, Öncü.  The front two are now 7.766 seconds clear of the rest of the field, with Holgado holding station in 3rd place ahead of Ortola in 4th.

    With 7 podiums and 6 pole positions for Öncü, can we finally see a first career win for Öncü as we head into the final third of the race? Sasaki is without a win since Austria last year and both riders are desperate to get the victory here at Sachsenring.

    Attacking up the hill in the short run to the line, Öncü was along the straight and still waiting to pounce. He was sitting patiently on the back wheel of Sasaki. Further back on the lap, Holgado was doing a great defensive job holding off Ortola for 3rd as their battle continued.

    3 laps to go and a battle for 5th place has 8 riders gunning for it with David Alonso currently heading that group of riders.

    Lap 22 of 23, we have Sasaki and Öncü battling for first with a gap to Holgado and Ortola behind of 11.955 seconds, who in turn are battling for 3rd. Ortola to the melee for 5th place behind with a gap of 4.750 seconds.

    3.6 km left now, with one final lap remaining – everyone was wondering if Öncü can get ahead of Sasaki. Sasaki was leading out of turn 1 and Öncü nearly ran into Sasaki into turn 3.  It’s neck and neck with two more corners to go. Through turn 11, down the hill into turn 12, Öncü is on the wheel of Sasaki into turn 13 and makes the move on Sasaki.  A divebomb up the inside of Sasaki is what it takes to secure his first career win.

    What a win for Deniz Öncü and what a fight for victory, leaving it until the last corner of the last lap to get the job done. It’s been a long time coming the first win for Öncü and I’m sure the joy of victory has healed that cramping leg pain.

    Daniel Holgado rounded off the podium places, in 3rd, and extends his championship lead to a mighty 41 points ahead of Jaume Masia 2nd. Can Öncü, Sasaki, Masia and Ortola keep chipping away at Holgado’s lead next weekend in Assen?

    Race Result
    Image Credit: MotoGP
    Moto3 Championship Standings After Round 7 
    Image Credit: MotoGP

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

  • MotoGP: Martin Sprints to Sachsenring Glory

    MotoGP: Martin Sprints to Sachsenring Glory

    Jorge Martin was on another level in a superb sprint race victory here at the Sachsenring. Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller rounding off the top three in 2nd and 3rd as the Martinator marched on in his 2023 title challenge.

    The crowd were witness to a fantastic battle in the early stages between the front 3 riders and a great fight for 4th place which was taken, in the end, by Luca Marini.  More disappointment for both Yamaha and Aprilia with only Aleix Espargaro managing to finish in the top 10.

    Image Credit: MotoGP

    AS IT HAPPENED

    Jack Miller, after a great start, lead into turn 1 on the first lap only for Pecco Bagnaia to come back past Miller into turn 2.

    At the end of lap 1,  Bagnaia ran too hot into turn 1 as Miller moved back past into 1st and created a bit of a gap at the front. Jorge Martin  wasup 3 places in the race by the start of lap 2.

    As the front three were battling, it was Brad Binder setting the fastest lap of the race at the end of lap 2 with Marc Marquez running wide. Marquez is constantly on the limit with his Honda this weekend, which has resulted in a lot of crashes so far. Halfway through lap 3, Bagnaia made his way back to the front down the hill of turn 11, back past Miller, only for the lead to quickly switch back to Miller down into turn 1 at the start of lap 4. A fantastic battle between last year’s teammates.

    The overtake and key moment of the race has to go to the Martinator, Jorge Martin, as he blasted up the inside of both Bagnaia and Miller into the lead. An outstanding move from Martin!

    On lap 6, Martin set the fastest lap of the sprint whilst building a gap to Bagnaia in the chasing group of 4 behind. Martin was pushing the gap above 1 second for the first time and trying to stretch out a lead at the front. Martin posted fastest lap after fastest lap and was on another level here at the Sachsenring.

    It was a story of Ducati vs KTM in the top 5 with Yamaha nowhere, down in 14th and 15th. Aprilia were also outside of the top ten. With 9 laps to go in the sprint race, Martin is now 1.327s ahead of Bagnaia in second and despite Bagnaia doing his best lap of the race, he’s still unable to respond to the blistering pace of Martin out at the front.

    Starting lap 10 of 15, Martin was well ahead now with a gap of 1.696s to Bagnaia in 2nd. Bagnaia was also half a second clear of Miller in 3rd.

    Coming into the final phase of the sprint race, the top 3 seemed to have the positions locked in. The battle for 4th intensified with Binder battling with Marini. Binder was unable to outbreak the VR46 team rider into turn 1 as the battle for 4th place continued with 4 laps to go.

    At the start of lap 14 and Binder was trying all he can to get by Marin, again into turn 1, however he was unable to make the move stick. Marini was holding station in 4th and showing superb defensive skills and was shutting the door whenever he could on Binder.

    On the last lap of the sprint, Zarco managed to barge his way by Binder to take 5th but this then forced an investigation by the stewards. In the end, Marini managed to hold off everyone to take a great 4th place.

    Martin crossed the line +2.468s clear of Bagnaia in 2nd and is now just 21 points shy of Bagnaia’s lead in the championship. Martin is mounting a serious challenge to our reigning champion and proved to be just too quick today for Bagnaia and Miller. Miller said, post race, that there is still more to come from the KTM rider and we’re all set for a great race tomorrow.

    How it finished
    Image Credit: MotoGP

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

  • MotoGP: Bagnaia takes pole in Sachsenring

    MotoGP: Bagnaia takes pole in Sachsenring

    Pecco Bagnaia reigns supreme at the Sachsenring with his 15th career pole position in MotoGP.  Back-to-back pole positions for the world champion as the incredible run of form continued here in Germany. 

    A Sachsenring stunner here and a qualifying session full of drama. After a sea of yellow flags and laps cancelled, it was the Bologna bullet holding out at the end of Q2 to take pole position. 

    Image Credit: Ducati Corse

    QUALIFYING 1

    Nicknamed the SachsenKING, Marc Marquez lead the pack of riders into Q1 on an ever changing track and set the benchmark time for the rest of the riders to chase posting the fastest time early on in the session.

    With eight minutes left of the session, Marquez headed back out on the medium rain tyres to see if the track was ready for slicks, only to end up sprinting back to the pits for the spare bike, after the first of what turned into many falls throughout qualifying session for Marquez.

    With time ticking away and riders in the pits looking on, they all had a tough call to make on what tyres to head back out on for the rest of Q1. After advice from his KTM teammate Jack Miller, Brad Binder was the first to gamble and head out onto the track on slick tyres.

    With 30 seconds remaining of Q1, only two riders had the slick tyres on and this proved to be the right call with Binder and Marquez moving into Q2.

    QUALIFYING 2

    The battle for pole was on and with the sunshine now beating down onto the circuit, all of the riders headed out onto the track with slick tyres.

    With ten minutes of the session remaining, Marquez was on course to posting the fastest time only to go over the handlebars coming out of turn 13. Marquez yet again seen sprinting back to the pits determined to get back out in Q2.

    With Luca Marini now crossing the line going quickest, we then saw teammate Marco Bezzecchi crash out at turn 13. A copy cat like crash to the one we saw only moments earlier with Marquez.  With yellow flags now waving in sector 4 and with Bezzecchi now sprinting back to the pits, we were set for a hectic battle for pole in the second half of the session.

    With just two minutes left to go in Q2, Johann Zarco goes quickest only to be topped a few seconds later by Miller. Fastest lap times just kept coming as we were shaping up for a thrilling finish to Q2.

    Then just as all of the sectors lit up in yellow flags, Marini posted the quickest time only to be fractionally topped by Bagnaia, which would turn out to be pole position with a lap time of 1’21.4090 seconds. Just 0.078th of a second quicker to Marini in second place.

    With Zarco going down and another fall from Marquez forcing the yellow flags, it caused a bunch of riders lap times to be cancelled and in doing so kept Bagnaia on top to take pole position.

    Starting grid for the 2023 Saschenring MotoGP race. Image courtesy of MotoGP

     

    Feature Image Credit:  courtesy of Ducati