RXR are in with a chance of claiming their second Extreme E title this weekend as the off-road series heads to Chile for the penultimate round of the year.
RXR, who won the first Extreme E teams’ title last year, go into the weekend with a 32 point gap between them and closest rivals Chip Ganassi.
There are six other teams who are still mathematically able to win the title: Acciona Sainz, X44, Xite Energy, Andretti United, JBXE, and McLaren.
Credit: Extreme E
To win the title this weekend regardless of where their rivals finish, RXR need to finish the weekend on the top step of the podium – something they’ve done five out of the eight races in Extreme E’s history.
Here’s the minimum each team needs to stay in the title battle:
If RXR finish
Chip Ganassi Need
AccionaSainz Need
X44 Need
Xite EnergyNeed
AndrettiUnited Need
JBXE need
McLaren need
1st*
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
1st
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
2nd*
1st
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
2nd
1st or 3rd*
1st or 2nd*
1st or 2nd*
Out
Out
Out
Out
3rd*
1st
1st
1st
Out
Out
Out
Out
3rd
2nd or 4th*
2nd or 3rd*
1st or 3rd*
Out
Out
Out
Out
4th*
1st
1st
1st
Out
Out
Out
Out
4th
3rd or 5th*
3rd or 5th*
3rd or 4th*
1st*
1st*
Out
Out
5th*
2nd
2nd
1st
Out
Out
Out
Out
5th
4th or 6th*
3rd or 6th*
3rd or 5th*
1st*
1st*
Out
Out
6th*
3rd
2nd
2nd
Out
Out
Out
Out
6th
5th or 7th*
4th or 7th*
4th or 6th*
1st*
1st*
Out
Out
7th*
3rd
3rd
3rd
Out
Out
Out
Out
7th
6th or 8th*
5th or 8th*
5th or 7th*
1st
1st
1st*
Out
8th*
4th
4th
3rd
Out
Out
Out
Out
8th
7th or 10th*
6th or 9th*
6th or 8th*
1st or 2nd*
1st or 2nd*
1st*
1st*
9th*
5th
5th
6th
1st
1st
Out
Out
9th
8th or *
7th or *
7th or 10th*
1st or 3rd*
1st or 3rd*
1st*
1st*
10th*
6th
5th
5th
1st
1st
Out
Out
10th
8th or *
8th or *
7th or *
1st or 3rd*
1st or 3rd*
1st
1st*
DSQ
9th or *
8th or *
8th or *
2nd or 3rd*
2nd or 3rd*
1st
1st*
*Additional five points for fastest time through the Continental Traction Challenge
Legacy Programme:
In every location Extreme E visits a legacy programme is set up to help local communities who are impacted by climate change.
This weekend is no different, with the focus of the legacy programme for Chile being on tackling biodiversity loss.
Extreme E is set to work with National Santiago Zoo to prepare habitats and reintroduce the Loa Frog in Calama.
“Showdown – NOUN. A final confrontation intended to settle a dispute.” Oxford Dictionary. The dispute? Who will lift the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Crown?
Picture courtesy of Official BSB
This weekend Oulton Park in Cheshire plays host to the travelling Circus that is the British Superbike paddock. Despite the tents and food vendors and merchandise stalls, it’s not Clowns we are here to see, it’s Gladiators!
A motor racing venue for 2 and 4 wheels since the 50’s, the former parkland/come formal gardens were converted to the racing circuit we know and love (although it has changed a little over the years) it has been the home of many adored racing series over the year such as BSB, British Touring Cars, Formula 3 and Porsche Carrera Cup etc. Oulton Park is also a favorite venue for track day enthusiasts of many different disciplines and track day experience providers.
This weekend is the first round where all eyes are now on the championship rather than qualifying for a position in the Showdown. The podium credits have been applied and the final game of musical chairs has finished. Everyone is now fully aware of their overall position within the points standings table. There are 9 races left in the 2022 season and the overall standings have the top 8 riders separated by just 53 points. With 3 races per weekend over the next 3 rounds, there are 225 points available between Race 1 at Oulton Park and the final race of the season at Brands Hatch on the 16th of October. So as of this moment, it really is anyone’s guess who will lift the trophy at the end of the season and put their name on the plaque under the words ‘British Superbike Champion 2022’. A title held by racing greats such as Shane Byrne, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Neil Hodgson, Niall Mackenzie, John Reynolds and more. BSB is seen as the best domestic racing series in the world and winning the grand prize takes a tremendous feat of bravery and skill.
Coming into Oulton Park, the current series leader is Bradley Ray of Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha. Ray has had a stellar second half of the season and really piled the pressure on reigning champion, McAMS Yamaha’s Tarran Mackenzie. Team mate to Mackenzie is Jason O’Halloran who knows all too well the level of pressure any rider faces in the Showdown fight for the championship after slipping off his Yamaha in 2021 while occupying the top of the rider standings going into Oulton Park. Oulton Park in 2021 saw Jason O’Halloran’s title challenge take on water after 2 DNF’s which ultimately cost him the Championship.
It’s no secret that the three Yamaha riders are seen as the favorites to lift the trophy but as we have seen before, anything can happen in the Showdown. The first thing to consider is the great British weather. At the time of writing this it’s looking like the rain will hold off although it will be mild and overcast. As a keen motorcyclist myself, I can guarantee whatever the forecast says in late September, you can assume it’s wrong or just plain lying to you. You never know what the weather is going to do when moving into British Autumn.
The second thing to consider for the Showdown are the other riders on the grid. Although anyone from 9th onwards in the overall standings is not in contention for the championship, there are other things at stake for them. With the end of the season drawing close at an alarming rate, the rumors are starting to circulate. Silly season has started and there are already rumors flying around about who will be riding for who next year. There are riders looking to impress and therefore will not think twice about their position on track and how it would affect anyone else’s placement in the championship. It is a team sport, but it’s well known the only standings the race fans keep an eye on are the individual rider standings. All the riders are battling for a seat for the 2023 season, or to be seen as doing well from spectators in other paddocks around the world. Showdown rounds are usually where you end up with riders who are not racing for the championship taking wins, podiums and top 10 positions. These situations create an unknown for the riders in the Showdown… Imagine a tangle between a couple of riders and suddenly the gap in the standing shrink and we have a new championship leader? 5th place moves to 2nd etc. A situation we have literally just seen over in MotoGP where Pecco Bagnaia has battled to bring a 91-point deficit to Fabio Quartararo down to just 10 points, aided massively by the reigning MotoGP champions DNF at the recent Grand Prix of Aragon where Pecco finished 2nd and collected 20 points.
The pressure is on for sure for 2022 glory.
Bradley Ray – Image Courtesy of Official BSB
Bradley Ray – Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha. Brad’s plan is simply to go out and win. Hoping to keep his title rivals behind him, and on his recent run of form it’s not a bad plan whatsoever. Get your head down and win the championship by winning every race. It’s foolproof, providing he can pull it off.
Jason O’Halloran – Picture courtesy of Official BSB
Jason O’Halloran – McAMS Yamaha. The ever-pragmatic Australian’s plan is to relax into the racing and see what the next few rounds bring. A strong season again for the McAMS rider has seen him once again in a very strong position to challenge for championship glory. Consistency needs to be the key to O’Halloran’s Showdown battle plan. Almost approach the Showdown in a race-by-race situation rather than worrying where his rivals are. O’Halloran has had a dip in form over the last few rounds which has given Brad Ray the overall lead, and I fear Jason has to hit the ground running or no matter what he does, it will all be a little too far to reach.
Tarran Mackenzie – Picture Courtesy of Official BSB
Tarran Mackenzie – McAMS Yamaha. Mackenzie has form at this point of the season after coming from behind in 2021 to dominate the Showdown and take his championship by the scruff of the neck. No doubt last year is something he aims to repeat after a dismal start to his 2022 season after suffering a broken ankle in a training crash. Tarran has great form at Oulton Park, Donington Park and Brands Hatch, although he was involved in a little skirmish with both Christian Iddon and Lee Jackson last year at Outlon, Tarran is still the man everyone is looking to now the Showdown has started.
Glenn Irwin – Picture Courtesy of Official BSB
Glenn Irwin – Honda Racing UK. Glenn has an outside chance of the championship although he will need a little bit of bad luck for his rivals, or a poor showing in terms of finishing positions in their races. The Honda doesn’t generally enjoy the Oulton Park circuit so much and Glenn also wasn’t able to finish all the races held at Oulton in 2021, but recent improvements to the bike and a boost of confidence for Irwin after a strong round at Snetterton (despite podiumgate) should give the popular Northern Irishman a spring in his step for the weekend. I’m sure deep-down Honda think the Yamaha’s will be too strong for them but I for one hope to see the Fireblade and Glenn return to the top step before the end of the year.
Lee Jackson – Image Courtessy of Oficiall BSB
Lee Jackson – Cheshire Mouldings FS3 Kawasaki. Jackson needs a return of the form that saw him claim his maiden win at Oulton Park earlier in the season. With Jackson having re-signed with the FS3 Kawasaki team for 2023, the pressure of next year is off. With Jackson free of the silly season pressure, it will hopefully lift a weight from his shoulders and allow him to attack the weekend with nothing but podiums in every race to try and pull off the underdog story of the year.
Kyle Ryde – Picture Courtesy of Official BSB
Kyle Ryde – Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha. Ryde is appearing in the Showdown this year for the first time. The popular Nottinghamshire rider will have no choice but to buckle in and see how it unfolds. If Ryde can return to the form from the start of 2022 which saw him take podium and race wins, there’s no reason he cannot promote himself into the top 3 positions in the standings overall. It’s fair to say Kyle has a big hill to climb to win the championship this year but nothing is impossible. Good luck to him I say and hopefully he can finish the season with a big smile on his face and plan for a new attack in 2023.
Rory Skinner – Image Courtesy of Official BSB
Rory Skinner – Cheshire Mouldings FS3 Kawasaki. Rory has had a standout season with multiple podium finishes and has done himself a grand service achieving a place inside the Showdown. Especially when you consider the grid he is racing against. He has well and truly put himself in the window for the rumoured move to Moto2 for 2023. A rumour which has gained traction since the announcement that Cameron Baubier will not ride for the American Racing Team in Moto2 for 2023 but return to home soil to race in Moto America. A move which would leave room in the team for Rory Skinner in his stead. Although nothing is yet announced, Skinner’s wild cards this year in the Moto2 paddock have come via the assistance of John Hopkins, former MotoGP and BSB rider, whom also has a lot of pull inside the American Racing team. Could Hopper be able to aid Rory’s step back up onto the world stage after falling through the crack in Red Bull Rookies? Skinner, like Ryde, will have to see how the next few races pan out and would be better concentrating on picking up a win, race by race rather than concerning himself with championship glory. A strong finish to the British Superbike season could well seal the deal / grease the wheels to his future.
Tommy Bridewell – Image Courtesy of Official BSB
Tommy Bridewell – Oxford Products Ducati. Bridewell has had a somewhat up and down season with only 5 visits to the podium so far in 2022. Tommy seems to be in a similar (albeit more successful boat) as rival Ducati riders Josh Brookes and Tom Sykes. It seems the Panigale hasn’t been able to replicate its expected run of form this year and the package has spent most of this season in the mid-pack. Bridewell has a mega battle on his hands now to be in with a shout of championship glory but after a strong end to the Showdown in 2021 saw the Oxford Products Ducati rider pip Jason O’Halloran to 2nd in the championship overall, I for one have no doubts Tommy Bridewell will make waves over the next few weekends, especially at Oulton Park.
Good luck to all the riders this weekend in every category. We are truly in for a great show.
Round 15 at Aragón had huge ramifications for the Moto3 title race. Now it’s Japan’s turn to offer more twists to the championship tale.
The wonderful Mobility Resort Motegi hosts round 16 of the 2022 season this weekend (24/25/26 September). It’s the first time MotoGP has been back to Japan since 2019, and marks the start of four flyaways in the next five weeks.
A lot has changed since the last visit to Motegi, most of the current Moto3 riders have never raced there, including championship leader Izan Guevara. After a sensational weekend in Aragón, the Spaniard has a 33 point advantage over his closest challenger, teammate Sergio Garcia.
Whilst Guevara’s lead looks insurmountable, Garcia does have a slight advantage having raced at Motegi in 2019, where he finished 5th. He wasn’t the only current Moto3 rider to finish that race in the top 10. Tatsuki Suzuki, John McPhee, Jaume Masia, and Andrea Migno also had strong finishes.
The 2019 event was a race to forget for Dennis Foggia. The Italian finished 23rd, almost 33 seconds behind the leader. He does still have a chance to take the Moto3 crown, albeit a slim one. Having shown flashes of excellence this season, the inconsistency of old has resurfaced, and the gap to Guevara now stands at 58 points with just five races remaining.
A rider desperate to impress his home crowd will be Max Racing’s Ayumu Sasaki. The 21-year-old has shown fantastic pace this season, and has established himself as one of the frontrunners in Moto3. Whilst it’s extremely unlikely he’ll win the championship at this stage, he is certainly worth keeping an eye on for the rest of the season.
Eighteen year-old Kanta Hamada is set to make his Grand Prix debut, replacing the the injured Alberto Surra for the Rivacold Snipers Team. The Japanese rider has previously competed in the Asia Talent Cup, and should be familiar with the circuit at Motegi.
There were doubts about whether or not the race would take place last week as Japan was hit by Typhoon Nanmadol. Millions were told to evacuate, but fortunately the storm has dissipated, and the Island has begun the recovery process.
Rain is forecast for the entire weekend, adding intrigue to what should be an exciting event. Fans in the UK will need to have their alarm clocks primed as the race is scheduled to start at 12:00pm local time (04:00am GMT).
Big news of the weekend is that Marc Marquez (Honda) is finally back, after his surgery which was a complete success this time around. He had some work to do to try and get through to Q2 but, yellow flags hampered him and he narrowly missed out going through to Q2, meaning he would start 13th on Sunday.
It was also a warm welcome back to British racer Cal Crutchlow, who will be racing for the rest of the season in Andrea Dovisiozo’s place at Yamaha.
Good news for Ducati though as it was a lock-out on the front-row for them. Francesco Bagnaia took pole with an all-time lap record – 1:46.69, from current teammate Jack Miller and next year’s teammate Enea Bastianini.
Pole! Courtesy of: Moto GP website
Race:
Sunshine was beaming and the anticipation was bubbling along nicely.
It was all action from lights out – Bagnaia remained in the lead from Miller and Bastianini. While Marquez had made an impressive start and was up into 6th place by turn 2, when suddenly championship leader Fabio Quartararo rode into the rear wheel of Marquez, propelling him from his Yamaha and flying him across the track, lucky not to get caught up in other riders behind him, he recovered on the side of the track. (A medical update later revealed that he had numerous burns to his chest – we wish him a speedy recovery). With this one sudden moment, the championship was flung wide-open!
Fabio’s crash. Courtesy of: Moto GP footage
A few moments later Marquez was checking his Honda as there was some of Fabio’s Yamaha lodged in the rear of it when Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) nudged him, sending Nakagami also into the line of on-coming bikes and then into the gravel. Quick reactions from the riders behind meant no further collisions were caused. (Medical updates later confirmed Nakagami is doing well but has visited the medical centre, we wish him a speedy recovery also).
Nakagami incident. Courtesy of: Moto GP BT Sport footage
The action wasn’t over yet though as Marquez’s bike started to smoke from the rear, the Yamaha parts that had gotten lodged in the bike must have damaged his rear wheel. He was forced to retire from his first race back in 2022.
Back at the front, Bastianini went backwards to 4th place, but he had also taken fastest lap.
Bagnaia led Miller, Brad Binder (KTM) and Bastianini onto lap 3 of 23. Bastianini wasn’t hanging around though and soon re-took 3rd from Binder. He knew he couldn’t let the factory Ducati’s get away.
Bagnaia leads the way. Courtesy of: Moto GP wesbite
The race pace settled down after the excitement of the opening laps as Bagnaia created a lead of 0.457 seconds ahead of his teammate with 18 laps to go.
Bastianini had plans to thwart Bagnaia’s lead though and soon had passed Miller to take 2nd. The gap between himself and his future teammate was 0.700 seconds, knowing he had to hunt him down – he got to work.
Miller’s race meanwhile, was going from bad to worse as Binder also passed him as did Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) moments after, putting him back to 5th place.
With 16 laps to go Bagnaia was still in control, leading Bastianini, Binder and Espargaro.
The gap between the two front Italians had decreased further to 0.412 seconds. Would Bastianini dare challenge Bagnaia for the lead? Ducati had announced prior to the race that their riders are “free to race” so what would he decide?
By lap 9 the gap between the pair had closed dramatically and Bastianini did indeed pass the Duke to take the lead. It was a short-loved lead though as he soon went wide, meaning Bagnaia could re-take the lead with ease. He then made a small mistake on the next corner, nearly letting Binder also take a place from him, fortunately he remained in second, but all his hard work had come undone. The gap between him and the leader was back to 0.786 seconds. He wasn’t going to be perturbed though.
Bastianini was on a mission, not letting the number 63 get away he started to claw the gap back. Meanwhile, behind him Binder was being hunted down by Espargaro.
By lap 16 of 23, gapping was appearing between the leading four riders: Bagania’s lead was 0.745 seconds ahead of Bastianini, who’s gap between him and Binder was 1.579 seconds, who’s gap between Binder and Espargaro was 0.405 seconds.
In 14th place – British Yamaha test-rider Cal Crutchlow was remaining in the points, currently higher than any place Dovi had managed to collect this year.
Cal Crutchlow. Courtesy of: Moto GP website
Back at the front the action was becoming tense. With only 6 laps until the chequered flag the gap between Bagnaia and “The Beast” had dropped and Bastianini was very close to the rear of Pecco.
With 4 laps till the end: Crutchlow passed Vinales to take 13th, Espargaro closed the gap between himself and Binder (to 0.193 seconds) and Bastianini started getting tempted to pass his future teammate.
Would he actually do it? Could he actually do it? There weren’t many laps left to make a decision.
The gap between the two Ducati’s was 0.193 seconds as Bastianini seemed to be testing a corner to pass Bagnaia on. Deciding against it, audiences had to hold their breath.
Espargaro though, decided enough is enough sitting behind Binder and passed him to take the last podium position.
The next lap Bastianini did another tempting move but again decided against it. Was he going to try a pass on Bagnaia?
Last lap:
Baganaia led Bastianini onto turn 1 –
turn 2 –
turn 3 –
turn 4 –
turn 5 and turn 6 but, turn 7 saw a surprise move from Bastianini which saw him re-take the lead at Aragon. Bagnaia had little response to it. The last corner/ the short start-finish straight was his last chance, but it was not to be.
Bastianini claimed his 4th victory for 2022, with Bagnaia extremely close behind.
Top ten finishers:
1st
E. Bastianini
2nd
F. Bagnaia
3rd
A. Espargaro
4th
B. Binder
5th
J. Miller
6th
J. Martin
7th
L. Marini
8th
J. Zarco
9th
A. Rins
10th
M. Bezzecchi
Surprising turn of events for round 15 sees the championship blow wide-open:
Top four championship standings:
1st
F. Quartararo
211 points
2nd
F. Bagnaia
201 points
3rd
A. Espargaro
194 points
4th
E. Bastianini
163 points
Now only 10 points between Fabio and Pecco and 17 points between Aleix and first place.
With a 1, 2 in the bag for this round, Ducati had more to celebrate as they became the 2022 Constructors World Champions!
Courtesy of: Ducati Course Twitter page
What could possibly happen next time in Motegi, Japan? Be sure to join in with the action on Sunday 25th September.
A dominant ride from Izan Guevara saw the Spaniard extend his championship lead to 33 points while his title rivals struggled at MotorLand Aragón.
Guevara was confident going into the weekend after taking the championship lead from his Aspar teammate Sergio Garcia in the last round at Misano. After wowing the paddock with an acrobatic handstand before securing a comfortable pole position on Saturday, the 18-year-old never looked back en route to his 4th win of the season.
Izan was joined on the front row by Ayumu Sasaki and Dani Holgado. The trio enjoyed good launches and immediately set about pulling away from the rest of the field. British youngster Josh Whatley was taken out at turn 1 in an incident involving Nicola Carraro and Lorenzo Fellon.
Following a disappointing qualifying session, Garcia was desperate to make up places from the 4th row on the grid. It was confirmed yesterday that the Spanish rider would be competing in Moto2 next season with Pons Racing, but he found himself caught in a scrap in the middle of the pack while the leaders pulled away.
After managing to get his championship challenge back on track with a win in Misano, Dennis Foggia struggled from the start at Aragón. The Leopard Honda rider couldn’t seem to find the pace he needed to challenge his rivals and quickly found himself outside the top 10.
The leading trio were in a different league to the rest, increasing the gap behind them by roughly half a second each lap. Deniz Öncü muscled his way up to 4th but despite his best efforts was unable to bridge the gap to the front group.
While the leaders pulled away, it was a typical Moto3 battle for the rest of the field. Sixteen year old rookie David Muñoz practically ran through KTM rider Adrian Fernandez, earning a long-lap penalty for his troubles.
With 3 laps to go Holgado began to drop off from the leading pair as the pace simply became too much for the young Spaniard. Sasaki was the only rider able to stick with the leader who was simply unassailable.
The result was never in question, as Guevara secured his fifth win in Moto3 and probably his best. Sasaki was an admiral runner-up and Holgado secured his first Grand Prix podium. It was a race to forget for Garcia and Foggia who finished in 13th and 14 respectively.
With his rivals struggling, Guevara’s 33 point championship lead makes him the clear favourite for the Moto3 crown, but with 5 rounds remaining, anything can happen.
The Misano Maestro reigned supreme in San Marino, but who will be crowned the King of Spain?
The spectacular MotorLand Aragón circuit, located in Alcañiz, Spain, will host the MotoGP circus for round 15 of the 2022 season this weekend (16/17/18 September).
All eyes will be on the Spanish duo of Izan Guevara and Sergio Garcia. The GASGAS Aspar riders have had some epic battles on track this season and with rumours of a promotion to Moto2 for whoever comes out on top, neither rider needs any more motivation.
Guevara heads to Aragón as the championship leader for the first time this season, having occupied second place in the standings for much of the 2022 campaign. He has capitalised on the misfortune of his title rivals in recent weeks, and is one of the most consistent riders on the grid this year.
On the contrary, Garcia has struggled since returning from the summer break. He was taken out at Silverstone by an over-eager Ayumu Sasaki, and was black-flagged from the Misano GP after a disastrous start to the race. The 19-year-old will be hoping to bounce back and restore his championship lead this weekend.
Elsewhere Dennis Foggia has enjoyed a return to form and is mounting a late charge to take the Moto3 crown. With 2 wins in the last 3 races, the Italian has found his feet after a disappointing start to the season. He’s now just 35 points behind Guevara in the standings. Himself and Leopard Honda teammate Tatsuki Suzuki have shown great pace since the summer break.
British fans will be pleased to learn that VisionTrack Racing Team youngsters Scott Ogden and Josh Whatley have solid records at MotorLand Aragón. Ogden has numerous point finishes in JuniorGP and the Red Bull Rookies Cup whilst Whatley had his best finish in the European Talent Cup at the circuit.
In a historic first for MotoGP, Angeluss MTA racing are entering an all-female team this weekend. María Herrera returns to the class as a wildcard entry and will be backed by a crew of exclusively female mechanics. The project aims to increase the presence of women in motorcycle racing.
The weather forecast for the weekend looks great. Warm temperatures are expected with clear skies on Friday and Saturday and some cloud cover anticipated on Sunday. The race is due to start at 11:00am local time (10:00am GMT).
Who do you think is going to be the 2022 British Superbike Champion?
The Showdown is finalised and now the nail biting starts. Round 8 of the BSB season was an important one for a small group of riders. Some hoping to secure their spot in the showdown, while others hoping to snatch a spot away from their competitors. In with a chance to enter the showdown were Danny Buchan, Peter Hickman and Leon Haslam and hoping to retain their place were Lee Jackson, Glenn Irwin, Tommy Bridewell, Tarran Mackenzie and Kyle Ryde.
BSB Snetterton 11.09.2022 Picture courtesy of Josh Brookes
As is always the case with British Superbikes, there is a trend for riders who have struggled in the earlier part of the season to start hitting the top 10 and Round 8 was no different. A surprise podium for Kyle Ryde after a poor showing in the last few rounds, joined by Christian Iddon in 4th, who has the skillset for this position but perhaps not the backup from him machinery. Leon Haslam fought back into the top 5 again in Race 1, as he seems to be getting the Vision Track Kawasaki dialed in albeit too little, too late. Also a surprise top 10 finish from Danny Kent and Takumi Takahashi in 11th. While regular top 10 finishers Peter Hickman, Glenn Irwin and somewhat regular top 10 finisher, Tom Sykes were in the mix too.
Danny Buchan needed to have a strong round to gain a position in the title Showdown but a lap 1 pileup seemingly caused by yet another Ryan Vickers DNF took him out along with Josh Owens, effectively ending his chance to secure a position in the top 8 positions. Tommy Bridewell was also left looking at the championship standings through gritted teeth after his Race 1 DNF when his Oxford Products Ducati Panigale stopped along the start finish straight causing his retirement from the race. Eurosport’s Steve Day and Jamie Whitham confirmed that Tommy had accidentally hit the kill switch on his bike and with the modern superbikes, it simply is not a case of flicking it back on. The bike needed to stop and reset the whole system, by which point Tommy was at the rear of the field.
Race 1. A dominant victory from Rich Energy OMG Racing’s Bradley Ray has seen him extend his lead in the championship, but more importantly his podium credits too. A very strong 2nd place from Tarran Mackenzie sees him gain a few more points in the chase for retaining his championship, especially with their championship rival Jason O’Halloran continuing a sudden avoidance of the podium positions after a poor Cadwell Park by finishing Race 1 at Snetterton down in 12th place. His position within the Showdown is secure, but with full podium credits going to rival Brad Ray, never has it been more important for the O’Show to turn in a championship winning performance. Congratulations to Kyle Ryde. Ryde ended his recent run of poor form with a 3rd place podium finish secured his place within the Showdown and no doubt gives the young rider a huge sigh of relief, and much needed boost of confidence.
Race 1 Results: – Brad Ray, Taz Mackenzie, Kyle Ryde, Christian Iddon, Leon Haslam, Lee Jackson, Tom Sykes, Peter Hickman, Glenn Irwin, Danny Kent, Takumi Takahashi, Jason O’Halloran, Josh Brookes, Tom Neave, Storm Stacey.
Race 2 started well for Ray, Mackenzie, Ryde and O’Halloran until a wheel-to-wheel collision between Andy Irwin and Jason O’Halloran caused Irwin to crash and dropped O’Halloran down the field to 6th place. Bradley Ray and Tarran Mackenzie continued to gap the field, with Bridewell chasing hard in 3rd. The laps counted down with a steady away race after an overtake from Mackenzie into the lead, with the battles continuing further down the field. Danny Buchan putting a harsh move on Lee Jackson when trying to pass up the inside at the right-hand hairpin, with contact from Buchan’s bike into Lee Jackson. Luckily Jackson was able to take the brunt of it and continue the race while Buchan moved on to attack Sykes on the MCE Ducati, which allowed Jackson to come through with him. Buchan moved on to attack McAMS Jason O’Halloran to further compound the Australian rider’s frustrations, also allowing Lee Jackson past. One lap to go and Bradley Ray has done his research behind Mackenzie. Closing right up on the rear wheel they entered the last lap Bradley Ray timed his slipstream to perfection, putting his move on Mackenzie in the chicane at the midpoint leaving no way back for Taz.
Race 2 victory cemented for Ray followed by Mackenzie, Bridewell, Glenn Irwin, Hickman, Ryde, Buchan, Jackson, O’Halloran, Sykes, Skinner, Brookes, Stacey, Neave, Mizuno.
Race 3. Started in much of the same way as Race 2. Not a slugfest, no wild moves. Plenty of tyre saving going on after Taz took the lead from Ray. Storm Stacey’s stricken Kawasaki brought out the safety car at the midpoint of the race. Upon resuming the race, when rounding the last corner, it seems Mackenzie had misjudged his distance to the safety car and closing speed, as by the time Tarran made his jump for rolling race restart, Mackenzie, Ray and Glenn Irwin overtook the safety car while it was still on the track, albeit just slowing down while entering the pit lane. Each rider was handed a 2 second time penalty which affected the finish positions of Race 3. Bradley Ray had enough of a gap to maintain 1st place. Glenn Irwin finished in 2nd on the track but was demoted to 4th after the penalty which put Peter Hickman in 2nd place and Tarran Mackenzie just managed to pickup 3rd on time after his penalty. A bit of a mess really and it took some time to explain to the riders what happened, but Stuart Higgs of British Superbike explained that the result stands and the rules must be applied. Tarran was later hit with 2 penalty points on his racing license as he lead the field into the early race restart.
BSB Snetterton 11.09.2022 Brad Ray Picture courtesy of Official BSB
The Showdown positions have been finalised, and the podium credits have been applied and this is how the championship now looks moving forward to Oulton Park in 2 weeks’ time.
1 – Brad Ray – 1061
2 – Jason O’Halloran – 1048
3 – Tarran Mackenzie – 1031
4 – Glenn Irwin – 1016
5 – Lee Jackson – 1014
6 – Kyle Ryde – 1013
7 – Rory Skinner – 1009
8 – Tommy Bridewell – 1008
Who do you think will win the 2022 British Superbike Championship?
Feature image courtesy of Oxford Products Moto Rapido BSB
Will Power ran an intelligent race allowing title rival and teammate Josef Newgarden past on lap 46, settling for third place in the race to ensure locking up the championship by 16 points while Álex Palou stormed out to a 30 second lead over Newgarden by the end to win the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.
Will Power managing his race (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)
Will Power led the opening 14 laps before a roulette of strategies began playing out on pit road. Palou took the lead away from Power on lap 27 while Newgarden squeezed past Power for second heading into the corkscrew on lap 46.
In the closing stages a train of cars threatened to undo Power’s championship hopes with Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist leading it but Power held on and created enough distance to ward off any threat and take the last spot on the podium and earn his second IndyCar championship.
Will Power (front) running 2nd trying to hold off Felix Rosenqvist, Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden in the corkscrew (Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
Power post-race said: “I just knew I had to absolutely get the most out of those stints and not lose any more positions.”
The 41-year-old Australian won just one race this season, that being the final Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle compared with championship runner up Josef Newgarden’s five wins but his 12 top-five finishes, being three more than any other driver, bolstered him to his second NTT IndyCar Series championship, giving Team Penske their 17th IndyCar championship.
Roger Penske (left) and Will Power (right) celebrating Team Penske’s 17th IndyCar Championship and Power’s 2nd (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
Power speaking to NBC said: “I had to drive the thing today. It was on the edge, very loose. Man, what a relief. What a relief to get that done.”
Will Power won his first championship in 2014 also with Team Penske.
Will Power celebrating his second NTT IndyCar Series Championship with the Astor Cup trophy (Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
Newgarden did nearly all he could to steal the championship away from Power on the final weekend but a crash in qualifying saw him start 25th compared to Power taking his 68th pole position, gaining a bonus championship point, and surpassing Mario Andretti’s record for all-time poles.
Newgarden started off aggressive gaining five positions on the opening lap before going long and switching to the softer red tyre that saw him move all the way up to seventh by lap 34. On pit strategy, Newgarden briefly took the lead for a few laps on lap 69 when Palou pitted but could not match Palou’s overall pace.
Post-race Newgarden said: “Even yesterday, with the heartache there, we came back, we fought, and we nearly got there. I’m proud of the effort. We’re going to come back stronger next year.”
Josef Newgarden racing in the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca (Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
Palou had blistering pace all race long but narrowly escaped trouble when leaving his pit box on his second stop as he scraped the rear of Rosenqvist’s car as he left his pit box.
IndyCar, despite it appearing to be an unsafe release, declared no action would be taken. This otherwise would have led to a penalty that could have unraveled Palou’s race. He had already overcome a six-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change that saw him start the race 11th.
Apart from making contact with Rosenqvist on pit road, Palou seem unfazed that he was still being sued by his own team owner, unsure where he will be racing next year.
Palou had a 20 second lead over Newgarden with 20 laps to go and led 67 of the 95 laps in total to earn his fourth career win and first win of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Álex Palou out front in the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)
Palou said: “Today was awesome. Strategy was on point. It’s good to finish a season with a win. We had some power there and good fuel mileage.”
Álex Palou celebrating in victory lane with his team (Photo by Travis Hinkle/Penske Entertainment)
Palou’s and Power’s teammates and remaining championship contenders did not appear to have anything for them and Newgarden.
Dixon and Ericsson struggled to keep from dropping out of the top 15 and attempted to work their way up the order by going off strategy but Dixon found himself down in 23rd after pitting while Ericsson came out 15th just past the 30 lap mark.
Scott Dixon racing in the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
The same can be said for Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin as he found himself in 20th after pitting on lap 53 while Dixon was 24th.
Their strategy and pace did come to some fruition as McLaughlin, Ericsson, and Dixon found themselves nose to tail by lap 63 with McLaughlin playing defence for his Penske teammates up front.
Scott McLaughlin (left) keeping Scott Dixon (right) at bay (Photo by Travis Hinkle/Penske Entertainment)
By the end, McLaughlin impressively worked all his way up to finish sixth but not before having multiple scraps with Ericsson that saw the Swede take to the sand on multiple occasions. Ericsson also made an incredible save in the corkscrew after contact with Colton Herta. Ericsson finished ninth while Dixon finished 13th.
Dixon, McLaughlin, and Ericsson would finish third, fourth, and sixth respectively in the championship.
Dixon will have to wait to another year to attempt to become a seven-time IndyCar champion tying A.J. Foyt for the most championships, while McLaughlin has excelled in just his second season with three wins this year while Marcus Ericsson won this year’s Indianapolis 500, an outstanding achievement that has changed his life forever.
Scott McLaughlin travelling down the hill at the corkscrew (Photo by Travis Hinkle/Penske Entertainment)
Away from the championship battle, it was a bittersweet day for British rookie Callum Ilott who had qualified second for the race and for the opening laps held his position. He was still running inside the top 10 after the first stint but as he was leaving the pit exit he a mechanical failure and stopped just past the Andretti hairpin, ending his day and brought out the only full course yellow of the race on lap 39.
Will Power (front) and Callum Ilott (left behind Power) lead the field to green for the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca
It would be Denmark’s Christian Lundgaard who would be the highest finishing rookie in fifth. Lundgaard also wins the Rookie Of The Year competition finishing on 323 points, beating David Malukas by 18 points who finished 13th in the race.
Christian Lundgaard entering the corkscrew during the Firestone Grand Prix (Photo by Travis Hinkle/Penske Entertainment)
Jimmie Johnson had a breakout day for his IndyCar road course programme being competitive all race-long, including making aggressive passes in the corkscrew and would finish 16th.
Jimmie Johnson racing in the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
Full race results: 1st Álex Palou, 2nd Josef Newgarden, 3rd Will Power, 4th Felix Rosenqvist, 5th Christian Lundgaard, 6th Scott McLaughlin, 7th Romain Grosjean, 8th Pato O’Ward, 9th Marcus Ericsson, 10th Alexander Rossi, 11th Colton Herta, 12th Scott Dixon, 13th David Malukas, 14th Rinus VeeKay, 15th Devlin DeFrancesco, 16th Jimmie Johnson, 17th Simon Pagenaud, 18th Graham Rahal, 19th Helio Castroneves, 20th Jack Harvey, 21st Kyle Kirkwood, 22nd Simona de Silvestro, 23rd Takuma Sato, 24th Conor Daly, 25th Dalton Kellett, 26th Callum Ilott.
Top 10 in championship standings: 1st Will Power (560), 2nd Josef Newgarden (544), 3rd Scott Dixon (521), 4th Scott McLaughlin (510), 5th Álex Palou (510), 6th Marcus Ericsson (506), 7th Pato O’Ward (480), 8th Felix Rosenqvist (393), 9th Alexander Rossi (381), 10th Colton Herta (381).
Featured Image: Will Power and his No. 12 Team Penske celebrating the championship title with the Astor Cup trophy (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
MONZA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 11: Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 11, 2022 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202209110582 // Usage for editorial use only //
Max Verstappen secured his fifth victory in a row and his eleventh this season to spoil the Ferrari party at Monza, despite starting in seventh after receiving an engine penalty.
The Red Bull driver and reigning champion was able to make his strategy work superbly, finishing ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell, with the race finishing behind the safety car after Daniel Ricciardo’s late retirement.
But once again the story at the front of the race was about the dominance of Red Bull and Max Verstappen. He was over 15 seconds ahead of Leclerc before the safety car was deployed, and now moves level with Nigel Mansell in joint-seventh on the all-time winners list with 31 victories. Verstappen is now 116 points ahead of Leclerc, and can now secure the championship at the next race in Singapore.
Verstappen started moving up the field straight away, getting a good start to take fifth into turn one, later overtaking Gasly into Ascari, and Ricciardo on the run down the start-finish straight to take third on lap two. George Russell tried to take the lead around the outside into the first chicane, but was never far enough alongside to make it work and had to take to the escape road.
It was clear Russell wouldn’t be able to hold onto second for long, and by lap five Verstappen had made his way up into second place. Things stayed that way until lap twelve, when a retirement for Sebastian Vettel caused a virtual safety car, and Ferrari gambled on bringing Leclerc in from the lead, putting him on to a new set of medium tyres.
The original plan was to keep him on these until the end of the race, but it became clear after Verstappen’s stop on lap 25 that Leclerc would not have the pace to take the victory on this strategy. Ferrari brought Leclerc in for fresh softs on lap 33, but had barely gained any time on Verstappen by the time the safety car was deployed for Ricciardo’s retirement.
The Australian had spent most of the race at the head of a DRS train, with the overtaking aid being relatively ineffective here due to the low-drag setups used by the teams. The only driver who seemed to be able to make any moves in the train in the opening stages was Carlos Sainz, overtaking cars lap after lap into the Rettifilo chicane to move into fourth by lap 20. Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton, who also started further back, didn’t have as much luck at moving through the field in the early stages. Mercedes’ lack of straight line speed meant Lewis spent many laps behind Yuki Tsunoda, whereas Perez pitted on lap seven for fresh hard tyres, with the Mexican’s brakes catching fire as he exited the pits. Thankfully though, he was able to continue.
Hamilton had much more luck overtaking in his second stint, with the Brit able to move onto the soft tyres rather than the hards after superbly looking after the mediums in the first half of the race. One particular highlight was a switchback on Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly out of the Rettifilo as the two cars focused on each other – a situation that Norris wouldn’t have found himself in if it wasn’t for a slow pitstop. Hamilton ended up fifth after Perez pitted late on for soft tyres, with the Red Bull coming home sixth with the fastest lap.
Norris ended up recovering to finish best of the rest once again in seventh place, as McLaren look to close in on Alpine for fourth in the championship. It was a bad day for the French outfit, with Esteban Ocon failing to score, and Fernando Alonso retiring on the day he equaled Kimi Raikkonen as the most experienced Formula One driver of all time. Haas and Aston Martin also failed to score points, with Stroll joining Vettel in retirement, whereas Haas once again struggled with pace on a low downforce circuit.
Pierre Gasly came home in eighth, with Nyck de Vries superbly holding on to tenth (which became ninth after Ricciardo’s retirement). The former F2 and FE champion soaked up the pressure that was being applied from Zhou Guanyu throughout the race – and perhaps gave Williams something else to think about as they look to lock in their driver line-up for 2023. It is possible that we will see de Vries again in Singapore, depending on how quickly Albon recovers from his appendectomy. Zhou did take the final point for tenth, scoring his and Alfa Romeo’s first points since the Canadian GP in June.
A season which promised so much in terms of a title battle seems to be ending in a dominant display. Verstappen will surely become a two-time world champion, and with regulations remaining stable until 2026, he could well add many more to that tally. Winning this season is obviously his main goal, but the record of thirteen wins in a season (currently held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel) has never looked more fragile.
The Superpole race saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) claim the win, followed by Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) and Rea (KRT Kawasaki) respectively.
With the track temperature nearing 40 degrees Celsius for race 2, the action on track would surely be heating up too.
Lights out for race 2, and it was Toprak with the hole shot into turn 1, followed closely by Bautista and Rea. As was the case in race 1, Bautista used the power of the Ducati to blast into the lead down the back straight, Toprak didn’t have an answer. Then Rea dived into 2nd place, looking aggressive early on. Lowes (KRT Kawasaki) got pushed out wide, and dropped down into 6th. Then massive drama as Rea took out the championship leader, sending Bautista flailing into the gravel. Rea caught him on the inside into turn 13, and the two bikes bumped into each other. There was nothing Bautista could do about that, and his race was over.
WorldSBK Magny Cours 11.09.2022 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK
Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Toprak 2. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) 3. Rea 4. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) 5. Lowes. Then Bassani takes the lead making a great move on Toprak, and sets the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:37.000. Positions were changing, by numerous riders, every corner in a chaotic start to the race.
With 17 laps remaining, Rea got a long lap penalty for the incident with Bautista. Positions were as follows: 1. Bassani 2. Toprak 3. Rinaldi 4. Lowes 5. Rea 6. Redding (BMW Motorrad) 7. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) 8. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) 9. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) 10. Lecuona (Honda HRC).
With 15 laps left, Bassani was having one of his best races of the season so far, and doing his best at keeping the world champion at bay behind in 2nd. The leading trio of Bassani, Toprak and Rinaldi had now pulled away from the rest. Rea took his penalty, and rejoined in 7th, in front of Baz 8th and Gerloff in 9th. The gap from Rinaldi in 3rd to Lowes in 4th was 1.2s, and Lowes held a gap of 1.4s to Redding behind in 5th. Rinaldi then makes an audacious move and moved from 3rd into the lead, taking both Bassani and Toprak. Toprak snapped back and took 2nd, while Bassani got forced into 3rd.
With 13 laps to go, Lowes had clawed his way back onto the leading group. Rea had moved up to 6th, and was in front of Locatelli in 7th.
Next lap and Vierge (Honda HRC), went down into turn 13, his race was over. Rinaldi was holding his own out in the lead, and so far was managing to keep Toprak at bay. Toprak however, was getting quicker lap by lap, and set a new fastest lap of 1:36.8. Bassani held a gap of 0.4s to Lowes behind in 4th. Meanwhile further back it was Mahias (Puccetti Kawasaki) 12th, and Nozane (GRT Yamaha) 14th.
Just over half race distance, and Redding in 5th held a gap of 1.7s to Rea in 6th. Bassani was struggling to keep contact with Rinaldi and Toprak, both had pulled away.
With 8 laps to go, Toprak eventually made his move, and came through on Rinaldi to retake the lead.
With 6 laps remaining, Toprak had pulled out the gap to 0.4s to Rinaldi, who then ran too hot into turn 11, the Chicane, running straight through, and losing time in the process. The gap to Toprak in the lead was now up to 0.8s.
Next lap and Rea moved up into 5th after Redding ran wide. Further back there was a three way battle for 7th between Locatelli, Gerloff 8th and Baz 9th.
With 3 laps to go, Toprak now held a gap of 0.7s to Rinaldi in 2nd, Bassani was in 3rd, Lowes 4th, and Rea in 5th.
WorldSBK Magny Cours 11.09.2022 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK
Last lap, and Toprak crossed the line to take his 2nd win of the weekend. Rinaldi took 2nd, and Bassani took 3rd, to claim his 2nd podium of the weekend. Lowes 4th, Rea 5th, Redding 6th, Locatelli 7th, Gerloff 8th, Baz 9th, and Lecuona 10th.
Picture courtesy of Official BSB
Bradley Ray – Image Courtesy of Official BSB
Jason O’Hallora
Tarran Mackenzie – Picture Courtesy of Official BSB
Glenn Irwin – Picture Courtesy of Official BSB
Lee Jackson – Imag
Kyle Ryde – Picture Courtesy of Official BSB
Rory Skinner – Image Courtesy of Official BSB
Tommy Bridewell – Image Courtesy of Official BSB
