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All in a days work for Pecco!

Qualifying:

Rainy, damp conditions greeted the riders for their qualifying sessions on Saturday.

But, it was Ducati-man Jack Miller who took full advantage and secured pole, followed by Enea Bastianini and Marco Bezzecchi, making an all Ducati front-row. Second and third place were local-boys, hoping to shine bright at home.

The top two riders in the championship – Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) both qualified on the 3rd row.

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) received a 3 place grid penalty which resulted in him starting in 5th, following on from slowing down on the racing line, after he assumed the chequered flag had been waved to end the session.

Race:

A wonderful tribute to the late Fausto Gresini would be done during the race, in the form of the Gresini Racing bikes having their livery changed to remember the 1987 125cc World Championship winning Garell bike that Gresini used. Whatever their outcome for the race, this was a wonderful surprise.

The livery! Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

The rain/ damp conditions had passed ready for Sunday with partly cloudy weather, the track temperature though had risen significantly to 43 degrees, come race time. Would this prove to be an issue?

It was finally lights out for the Moto GP race: Miller got a great start, as did Bagnaia. Miller led Bastianini and Bagnaia into the first corner. But behind it was  disaster for; Johann Zarco (Ducati), Michele Pirro (Ducati) and Pol Espargaro (Honda), who all toppled out together. Hopefully, none were injured in the collision.

Crashing out. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

After the news this week, that Bastianini had been confirmed he was to be Bagnaia’s teammate next year, there didn’t seem to be any future team orders between the pair. Bastianini soon passed Bagnaia to take 2nd place. But on the second lap Miller unexpectedly fell from first (turn 4), leaving ‘The Beast’ to lead the race.

Bastianini led Marini (VR46) and Bagnaia (Marini had also managed to pass Bagnaia to take 2nd). While one VR46 rider fortunes were in his favour, teammate Bezzecchi’s fortunes were not – crashing out also on lap 2.

The new race leader also almost toppled from first moments later, but managed to recover.

The excitement was far from over though. Lap 3 saw Bagnaia and Vinales both pass Marini, pushing him back to 4th, another yellow flag waved but this time for both Frankie Morbidelli (Yamaha) and Fabio DiGiannantonio (Ducati), Bagnaia passed Bastianini for the lead and ‘Top Gun’ passed ‘The Beast’ for 2nd.

Bagnaia led Vinales, Bastianini and Marini with Quartararo and Espargaro close behind.

Bagnaia took fastest lap (lap 5) but had mounting pressure in the form of Vinales, who was looking menacing behind.

In 5th place on lap 7, Espargaro made a small error, which Quartararo needed no invitation and passed him to gain another place. Meanwhile in 3rd Bastianini was pushing hard and took fastest lap (1:32.560 seconds).

Now in 5th spot, could Quartararo close the gap on the front 4 riders, their gap had increased to 0.826 seconds, with 21 laps still to go? He knew he had to try. Next lap he took fastest lap. Could he be in for a shout of a podium finish?

Fastest lap soon went to Bagnaia, but was beaten seconds later by 6th place rider Espargaro. Fighting for the championship, alongside Fabio, could Aleix catch him to reduce the points between them? He certainly kept the momentum going – with 16 laps till the end, he secured another fastest lap.

Track limits warnings were coming thick and fast: Vinales was the first to receive one, then Martin then Quartararo. But, Vinales didn’t seem perturbed by his warning and soon took 2 fastest laps in a row, all the while, eyeing up a pass on Bagnaia.

With 12 laps to go, Bastianini went slightly wide, letting Marini take 3rd, but Bastianini wasn’t having any of it and re-took the position straight back. The gap between number 23 and 12 was 0.615 seconds. Could Bastianini manage to catch up and if so fight for the win?

Setting fastest lap with only 10 laps to go he had managed to claw the gap down between himself and Maverick to 0.471 seconds. With Vinales still trying to get the perfect spot to pass Bagnaia for the lead. But, he had waited too long to make his move and 2 laps later Bastianini attacked and took 2nd place on turn one. Bagnaia now led Bastianini, Vinales and Marini.

Following closely. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

The next track-limits warning went to Bastianini with 6 laps till the end.

But, more drama was about to unfold going onto the last lap:

Bastianini was all over the back of Bagnaia. Would he make a last lap lunge? Surely not – this would be his teammate next year and a championship contender this year. None of this was on his mind though as he went to make a move but had to abort it, in fear of crashing into Bagnaia, which in turn created a small gap between the pair. The gap was severely shrunk down on the start-finish line though making it a picture-finish. Bagnaia had the edge and claimed the victory (with only 0.034 seconds between them) and in the process made history: Being the first-time Ducati have won 4 races in a row!

Super close end. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

A great ride from Vinales saw him finish on the last spot of the podium.

Top 10 race finishers:

1st

F. Bagnaia

2nd

E. Bastianini

3rd

M. Vinales

4th

L. Marini

5th

F. Quartararo

6th

A. Espargaro

7th

A. Rins

8th

B. Binder

9th

J. Martin

10th

A. Marquez

Top 4 Championship Standings:

1st

F. Quartararo

211 points

2nd

F. Bagnaia

181 points

3rd

A. Espargaro

178 points

4th

E. Bastianini

138 points

As seen above, there are some changes to the championship table.

The race was brilliant and had everyone on the edge of their seats. BUT, we can’t end there.

For the last 21 years there has been a consistent rider, one who we have had the pleasure to watch come through the ranks: winning the 125 championship, coming close to winning the 250 championship and coming runner-up many times in the Moto GP class.

Ever a gentleman off track but with the heart of a lion on track, he gave us many exciting battles and has raced against many big names in the sport. He won his first-ever race at Misano and decided to end his Moto GP career his way, at the very same track. He has won many fans over the years and the paddock will not be the same without him.

Thank you for the memories Andrea Dovizioso and Ciao! We wish you all the best wherever your future takes you.

Feel the love Dovi. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

 

 

Featured image: Courtesy of: Moto GP website. 

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Verstappen victorious in Dutch GP after late drama

Max Verstappen secured his tenth victory of the season and his fourth in a row with victory at the Dutch Grand Prix, to move even closer to his second world championship.

A late Safety Car had the potential to mix up the order, but Lewis Hamilton was powerless to stop the Dutchman overtaking on the restart, with victory at Zandvoort putting Verstappen 109 points ahead in the championship with seven rounds remaining. George Russell took second place to secure his best finish of the season, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc coming home in third.

In the end, it was a fairly straightforward victory for Verstappen, but there was a real possibility that Mercedes could have taken their first win of the season, as Hamilton and Russell looked to make a one-stop work. However, a virtual safety car caused by the Alpha Tauri of Yuki Tsunoda made Verstappen a favourite for the win.

Hamilton leads Verstappen during the safety car period. Image courtesy of RedBull Content Pool

A safety car caused by Valtteri Bottas’ stricken Alfa Romeo looked like it might have brought Mercedes back into the fight for the win, as Hamilton and Russell both initially stayed out on their old mediums. Russell made the call to come in a lap later for a set of soft tyres, and this turned out to be crucial for the Brit. Hamilton stayed out on the mediums, with the seven-time champion fuming at the decision not to pit for fresh rubber.

At the start, Verstappen and Leclerc got away evenly, allowing the Dutchman to keep the lead into Turn One. Things were tighter behind as Carlos Sainz and Hamilton made slight contact at the apex, but both were able to continue. Further down the field, Kevin Magnussen made contact with the barrier on lap two, but the Haas was able to continue, albeit with a lot more paint on the sidewall on his rear-left tyre.

Most people expected the softs and the mediums to be the chosen race tyres, with a two-stop therefore being the only viable option. However, both Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris were able to make the white-walled tyres work to good effect opening up the possibility of a one-stop strategy. Mercedes took this gamble, and it looked as though it was going to be a fascinating end to the race, as Verstappen would have had to work his way past both Hamilton and Russell.

Ferrari not where they wanted to be today. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

Despite showing promising pace on Saturday and at the start of the race, Ferrari were clearly the third fastest car on race day, with Leclerc only taking third at the end thanks to the advantage of fresh soft tyres. His teammate had a much more eventful day, coming home eighth after being given a 5-second penalty for an unsafe release, forcing his compatriot Alonso to slam on the brakes. That wasn’t the only pit lane peril for Sainz, as he dropped back from third after Ferrari only had three tyres ready for his first stop, in yet another calamity for the Scuderia which will only add more pressure to beleaguered team boss Mattia Binotto. The Spaniard also came close to being penalised for overtaking under yellow flags, but it appeared he had already committed to the move on Esteban Ocon into Turn One before reaching the first yellow flag.

The main talking points of the race began on lap 46, as Yuki Tsunoda stopped at the side of the track, claiming his tyres weren’t fitted correctly. He was told to continue on, and the Japanese driver came back to the pits at a severely reduced pace, before having a long pit stop to seemingly refasten his seatbelts, which is certain to be investigated by the FIA. He was released on to the circuit only to stop a few corners later, bringing out the VSC which greatly benefitted Alpha Tauri’s sister team.

Verstappen’s victory was put in doubt by the later full safety car (due to Bottas’ retirement), but the speed and tyre advantage of the Red Bull meant Hamilton had no chance of stopping him. A furious Hamilton managed to hold on to finish in fourth place ahead of Sergio Perez, with whom he had had a fascinating battle in the middle of the race which got interrupted by Sebastian Vettel, who impeded the Brit and earned himself a five-second penalty in what was a weekend to forget for the Aston Martin driver.

Verstappen overtook Hamilton into turn 1 at the safety car restart. Image courtesy of RedBull Content Pool

Fernando Alonso came home in sixth ahead of Lando Norris, who looked for the majority of the race that he would finish best of the rest before losing out in the pitstops. Esteban Ocon was ninth, helping tighten Alpine’s grip on fourth in the championship, with Lance Stroll securing his fifth tenth place of the season to round out the points. Gasly, Albon, Schumacher, Vettel, Magnussen, Zhou, Ricciardo and Latifi were the rest of the finishers.

They say it’s not over until the fat lady sings, but her vocal cords must be warming up by now. It is surely a case of when, not if, Verstappen secures his second world championship, and in much less controversial circumstances than his first. The Italian GP at Monza is taking place next weekend, and you’d be a brave man to bet against the Dutchman spoiling Ferrari’s homecoming party.

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Moto3: Misano Maestro Strikes Again

dennis foggia misano san marino gp

Dennis Foggia celebrated his promotion to Moto2 in style with a confident win at the San Marino Grand Prix, retaining his crown as the King of Misano.

Buoyed by the announcement that he will be moving up to the intermediate class with Italtrans next season, the Leopard Honda rider carved his way through the field from the third row of the grid and never looked back.

It was a typically eventful start to the race, with Deniz Öncü getting a great launch from pole position. Izan Guevara was hot on the leaders tail with a flying start from row 2, but it didn’t take long for the drama to unfold.

After a dominant win in the previous race at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, Japanese rider Ayumu Sasaki was clattered from behind by Nicola Carraro, effectively ending his already slim chance of a title challenge. Elsewhere championship leader Sergio Garcia was forced wide causing him to lose ground on the leaders.

Guevara cemented his good start by snatching the lead from Öncü on lap 2, and quickly set about establishing a gap between himself and the rest of the field.

Desperate to recover from his lap 1 incident, Garcia was the fastest man on track before a 4th lap tangle with Öncü forced him to run wide again, losing more ground in the process. The nightmare continued for the Aspar man, who crashed at turn 4 on the following lap. He was able to continue, but any hope of a points finish was gone.

At the front of the race, Guevara’s lead was diminishing with Foggia, Dani Holgado and Jaume Masiá closing the gap behind him. After reeling in the Spaniard, Foggia made his move to take the lead on lap 10.

After a visit to the pits, Garcia was a lap down, yet continued to battle with the riders in midfield. After slowing down Britain’s John McPhee, the GASGAS rider was shown the black flag, ending a miserable day.

With his teammate out of the race, Guevara had a great chance to boost his title hopes. On lap 17 he briefly took the lead, but Foggia struck back allowing Masiá to snatch 2nd place from the new championship leader.

As the race neared it’s conclusion, Guevara made numerous attempts to take the lead but was unable to get the better of Foggia. He was now under pressure from Masiá and Öncü, who had caught leading trio.

On the final lap of the race Öncü lunged from 4th to 2nd, with himself, Masiá and Guevara all exchanging places. Foggia took advantage of the melee behind him, and hit his marks confidently to take his second victory of the season. Masiá finished 2nd with Guevara 3rd.

Foggia becomes the first rider to win three races at the same track in Moto3, and is just 35 points off the championship lead. It was a weekend to forget for Garcia, he is now 11 points behind teammate Guevara, who tops the championship standings with 204 points.

Feature Image: MotoGP

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Dutch GP 2022 Qualifying

Round 15 of the 2022 F1 World Championship sees the F1 circus return to Zandvoort for the Dutch GP, the home of World Champion and the Orange Army. After the summer break F1 returned to Spa in Belgium and the weekend was dominated by RedBull and Max Verstappen. This weekend is a completely different circuit and the field seems to be a lot closer after practice. Qualifying will be very important this weekend as overtaking is very difficult around the tight, twisty Zandvoort track.

As usual the 2 Haas cars enter the track first, all other teams seem happy to wait a little while before beginning their first runs. Magnussen was the quicker of the 2 Haas cars and they were followed by the 2 Williams of Albon and Latifi.

Russell making the most of the new found pace. Image courtesy of Mercedes Media

With 5 minutes of the session gone Max Verstappen left his garage to huge cheers from the Orange Army. If the crowd inspire him the way the British crowd used to inspire Nigel Mansell he could have pole by about 5 seconds today. His first timed lap is a 1.11.317, a second clear of his team mate in second. The two Ferraris then cross the line with Sainz in P2 nearly half a second behind and then Leclerc third over 0.8 seconds behind the Flying Dutchman. George Russell then puts his Mercedes into P2 with Lewis Hamilton right behind him in P3. The Mercedes seems to like the nature of the Dutch track with both drivers within a quarter of a second of the leading RedBull.

With 5 minutes remaining Leclerc puts the Ferrari into P2 just 0.126 from the fastest time so far. Only 3 cars are left on track as everyone pits for new fresh tyres and waits before they go out for their final run. Everyone crossing the line is improving with Tsunoda moving up to second in the Alpha Tauri just 0.110 behind Verstappen, he is then topped by Lewis Hamilton who is just 0.014 behind the RedBull. Out of Q1 are Bottas, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Vettel who went through the gravel on his quick lap and Latifi in the Williams.

As soon as Q2 begins the session is red flagged as a flare had been thrown onto the track. The race organisers had asked fans not to bring them into the circuit this weekend but obviously the free flowing Heinekken has got the better of one of the Orange Army.

Albon setting quick times again. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

As soon as the session resumes both RedBulls go out on track to get an early banker lap in. Verstappen does a 1.10.927, that’s 0.387 quicker than Perez in the sister RedBull. Lewis Hamilton then goes P2 with a time just 0.148 behind Verstappen. Russell is also in the top 4 with a time 3 tenths slower than his teammate. Alex Albon decides to start his final run earlier than everyone else and make use of a free track, he sets a time good enough for P10 currently.

With 2 and half minutes left everyone else decides now is the time to go out. 13 cars on track with just Albon and Verstappen staying in their garages. Charles Leclerc gets into the one-minute tens and moves to P2, once again most people are improving. Sainz moves to the top of the field with a 1.10.814 ahead of Russell by 0.010, they are followed by Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris, Perez, Stroll, Schumacher, and Tsunoda rounding out the top ten. Out after Q2 are Gasly, Ocon, Alonso who was complaining about traffic on his quick lap, Zhou and Albon.

And so to the shoot-out that is Q3, could we see a new pole sitter for this season, or does Max Verstappen have enough in hand to delight the home crowd? Verstappen is first out onto the circuit no doubt going for an early banker lap in case the session is interrupted by any incidents.

Norris going quickly. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

Verstappen sets a time of 1.10.515, Perez is half a second down on his teammate again but goes to P2. Norris in the McLaren goes P3 1.6 seconds behind the leading RedBull. Hamilton’s first timed lap is good enough for P2, just behind Verstappen, Leclerc then beats this in the Ferrari, 0.059 ahead of the RedBull. The top 10 after the first runs is Leclerc, Verstappen, Hamilton, Sainz, Perez, Russell, Norris, Tsunoda, Schumacher, and Stroll who is yet to set a time. The Canadian seems to have a technical issue with his Aston Martin and won’t be taking part in the rest of the session.

With exactly 3 minutes left the last runs are set to begin, Leclerc in his Ferrari first to the track. Another flare has been thrown onto the track but thankfully ran off the track so no delay to proceedings. As the drivers finish their laps, Verstappen moves to the top of the timings, Hamilton is on a quick lap but Perez has spun at the last corner but one and causes yellow flags meaning anyone behind on track won’t be able to improve. An anti-climax to the session end. The top ten was Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton, Perez, Russell, Norris, Scumacher, Tsunoda and Stroll.

The top 6 are a lot closer than last week so we could be in for a very close race tomorrow. The home crowed will be leaving the circuit tonight very happy and expecting a win from their hero tomorrow.

 

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Ferratum World RX of Riga – Preview

Rounds 2 and 3 of the FIA World Rallycross take place in Riga, Latvia at the Bikernieku Kompleksa Sporta Baze towards the northwest of the capital. At a length of 1.295m and a ratio of 60:40 of asphalt and dirt, this track has become both a fan and driver favourite.

Coming into this doubleheader, Johan Kristoffersson is leading the championship from Timmy Hansen and Ole Christian Veiby. Kristoffersson is the defending champion coming into the first season where the powertrains have changed across from internal combustion to fully electric. The powertrains are all developed by Kreisel Electric.

Johan Kristoffersson, Timmy Hansen, Ole Christian Veiby, Klara Andersson and Niclas Groenholm perform during the World Rallycross Championship in Hell, Norway on August 14, 2022. Image courtesy of WRX

The powertrains deliver 500kW of power to twin motors which is equal to 680bhp and provides 880Nm of instant torque. The acceleration of these RX1e cars is higher than Formula 1 cars. Starting at a standstill, 100km/h can be reached in 1.8 seconds.

The entry list for the two rounds is the same as it was in Hell, Norway meaning that there will be 8 drivers competing during the weekend. René Münnich and Kevin Hansen will be hoping that their fortunes can be turned around from finishing eighth and seventh respectively in the first round.

Compared to the 2021 season, there have been changes not just to the powertrains but also to the format of the weekend. Immediately after the morning practice session, the grid for heat 1 will now be set using a SuperPole format.

As this is a double header weekend, there are two heats. The starting grid for heat 2 will be set using the finishing positions from heat 1 rather than the overall time however positions per heat will be determined using time.

After the heats, there will be a progression race to determine which 10 drivers, if there are more than 10 competing in the event, make it through to the semi-finals. From the semi-finals, the drivers that finish in the top 2 will automatically make it through to the final and the highest placed third placed driver will also make it through.

Image courtesy of WRX

As of this year, there are no more staggered grids, and every race will have a side-by-side grid.

Practice for the event starts at 9:00 local time with SuperPole scheduled to start at 10:25 local time. The event should be exciting as all Rallycross events are and watching the electric cars going around one of the best circuits on the calendar will be a sight to behold.

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Moto3: San Marino GP Preview

Moto3 fans were treated to an Austrian masterclass from Ayumu Sasaki at the Red Bull Ring. With the championship battle edging towards it’s climax, can the Japanese sensation muscle his way into title contention?

The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in the Italian province of Rimini will host round 14 of the 2022 Moto3 season this weekend (02/03/04 September).

After winning both races in Misano last year, Leopard Honda’s Dennis Foggia heads into the weekend buoyed by the fanatical backing of the Italian supporters. The 21-year-old lost ground on his title rivals in Austria, and will be hoping to bounce back after a disappointing 12th place finish.

The duel between Spanish teammates Sergio Garcia and Izan Guevara for the Moto3 crown continues. Top 10 finishes from the GASGAS duo put even more ground between themselves and the rest of the field, with Foggia their closest threat now 49 points off the championship lead.

With just 5 points separating Garcia and Guevara, it’s hard to picture anyone else winning the championship, but after a dominant ride in the Styrian mountains, Sasaki has given himself a chance, albeit a slim one, to mount a late charge for the title.

Sasaki’s Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max teammate John McPhee will once again carry the hopes of British fans. A blunder in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring meant he started towards the back of the grid, but the Scotsman rallied to finish 9th after a strong ride through the field.

Elsewhere, Turkish rider Deniz Öncü has been in good form since returning from the summer break. The Red Bull KTM rider is still searching for his first win in Moto3. There’s no question that he has the pace to compete at the business end of the field, with 4 podium trophies in the class, the 19-year-old will be desperate to get onto the top step.

Whatever happens, the Italian crowds are in for a treat this weekend, though they’ll need to bring their waterproofs. The forecast for the weekend looks ominous, with showers anticipated on Saturday and thunderstorms expected on Sunday. The race is due to start at 11:00am local time (10:00am GMT).

Feature Image: MotoGP

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F1 Weekend Preview: Zandvoort

From Spa to Zandvoort we move to the home Grand Prix of Max Verstappen who won in dominant style at Spa. The fast banking of Zandvoort is unlike any other track on the calendar so it will be a real test to see who can match RedBull’s pace.

Ferrari problems… again

Sainz enjoying P3. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

At Spa, it was not Ferrari’s weekend. The RedBulls were just too fast for them to keep up so could only get a P3 and P6. Whilst the P3 for Carlos Sainz was the best they could have hoped for, Charles Leclerc had a very unlucky weekend.

Having started P15 with various engine penalties, he managed to make his way up to P9 until he was forced to stop when it appeared a tear-off from Verstappen got caught in his brake duct. Having managed to make his way back up to P5 throughout the race, Ferrari pitted him to put on soft tyres and take the fastest lap from Verstappen.

However, another Ferrari strategy didn’t quite work because he came out behind Alonso with only two laps to go. This meant he had to overtake Alonso and didn’t achieve the fastest lap. To add insult to injury he was speeding in the pitlane by 1km/h on his last stop and was given a 5-second time penalty at the end of the race. Putting him back to P6.

Ferrari will want to put that behind them and try to gain points on the RedBulls in Zandvoort. Leclerc may be able to keep up with a new engine at his disposal, however, with the pace of Verstappen, it is difficult to see how Ferrari can bring their way back into this championship fight.

Mercedes crashing back to reality

After a successful outing in Hungary and a competitive run before the summer break, it was expected that the new regulations would help Mercedes be even closer to the top two teams. This was not the way it worked out.

Hamilton fly’s after contact with Alonso. Image courtesy of Mercedes media

They were 1.8 seconds slower than the pole lap in qualifying, struggling to get the cold tyres to work for them. When it came to the race Hamilton had a first-lap clash with Alonso, forcing him to retire from the race early.

George Russell on the other hand had a reasonably solid performance if you ignore the pace of Verstappen. He finished a respectable P4 which showed once again Mercedes’s race pace is better than their qualifying pace.

The last thing Mercedes need now is to go back to the unpredictability of their car before Silverstone, but Zandvoort may not be in their favour with the high-speed banking. The key for them on Saturday will be tyre management to prevent the large deficit they had in Spa.

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Cadwell Park – Round 7 Bennetts British Superbikes 2022

Well, that wasn’t what we were expecting, was it? I for one am a little shocked at the somewhat disappointing round for the insanely dominant McAMS Yamaha team. I expected a Yamaha 1, 2, 3 in every race with Bradley Ray in 3rd but it just goes to show that Cadwell is the Monaco of BSB.

Qualifying is everything and with round 7 trailing the Superpole method (just one flying lap to set your time) it goes to show how your weekend can go to s**t before the lights even go out for Race 1. Seems the season has fallen apart for a few names this weekend too. So where do we start?

BSB Cadwell Park 28.08.2022 O’Halloran and Mackenzie Picture courtesy of McAMS Yamaha

I said on a podcast recently that I thought Bradley Ray wouldn’t be able to turn up the pressure on Yamaha counterparts Jason O’Halloran and Tarran Mackenzie. I (WRONGLY) claimed that Jason and Taz would turn the amplifier up to 11 where Brad would be at 10 due to the pressure of having never fought for a BSB title. How wrong was I? Where Jason and Tarran seemed to let the races slip away from them for one reason and another, Brad Ray was there to pickup a win and a couple of second place finishes to seriously stick it to rival Jason O’Halloran. Even going as far as to swap the positions in the championship standings. Bradley has moved from second in the standings to 1st overall. Ray now also sits on 46 podium credits v O’Halloran on 48 credits meaning not only has Ray taken the lead in the overall points in the build-up to the Showdown, but he has also closed the podium credits to 2 points. Meaning if the Showdown started tomorrow, O’Halloran would be in 1st place on 1048 points to Ray in 2nd place on 1046 points.

It couldn’t be closer if it was engineered. It makes me very nervous for O’Halloran as he also saw his season slip away in 2021 in the Showdown rounds. Fingers crossed this is not a repeat of that. The positive for O’Show to take is Tarran Mackenzie also seemed to have a somewhat disappointing round buy his own high standards. Were it not for Ray’s dominant performance, we would have said Cadwell Park clearly isn’t a Yamaha circuit this year, as surprising as that sounds due to it being a circuit rewarding of the best handling bikes.

Race 1 started with contact between Danny Buchan on his Synetiq BMW and MCE Ducati’s Tom Sykes. Both riders starting further up the grid than they are used to this year and a move by Buchan in the hairpin at the penultimate corner saw him line up for the inside of Sykes, only for Tom to tip in and close the door to Danny meaning a rear wheel to front wheel collision sent both riders on to the grad re-joining much further down the field. However, a lifeline was thrown to both riders in the form of a serious collision on the mountain section involving Dan Jones and Lee Jackson’s stricken FS3 Kawasaki motorcycle. Dan crested the mountain, unsighted to the Kawasaki ZX10 and ultimately collided with the bike. The race was red flagged, Dan was transported to hospital by Air Ambulance. Luckily for Dan a bruised lung, some internal bleeding and a broken collar bone were the worst of it. He considers himself lucky to be alive after a big one.

The race was re-started with everyone in their original positions, barring the riders that were unable to make the restarted race. Ray, Rory Skinner and Danny Buchan were able to lead off from the front of the grid. Cadwell Park doesn’t create the same racing spectacle as we saw, for example at the previous round at Thruxton. Cadwell is a very tricky place to overtake and it can be a bit of a procession. Hence my earlier remark as to it being the Monaco of BSB.

Rory Skinner was able to pull off a strong aggressive move under Ray at Chris curve, a long right-hand corner leading into a right / left flip flop chicane called the Gooseneck. Ray was able to take the position back and tick off the laps down to a race win and a very impressive 2nd place podium finish by Rory by just under a second with Danny Buchan rescuing a podium from the jaws of a top 10 finish that would have been prior to the red flag earlier. The biggest surprise of Race 1 was the lack of pace shown by the reigning British Champion, Tarran Mackenzie. Although not a great weekend for him, he remained positive while bemoaning a lack of rear grip but saying he just needs to look to the next round at Snetterton.

Race 1 Podium: – Bradley Ray, Rory Skinner, Danny Buchan. O’Halloran finished 4th with Mackenzie in 11th.

 

Race 2 on Sunday was slightly different in terms of a great start off the grid saw Buchan lead off with Bradley Ray and Tommy Bridewell chasing. Such was the lead the front three were able to clear, they were the only riders to make it to lap 16 when the race was red flagged due to a DNF for ‘King of the Mountain’ Josh Brookes when he slipped off his MCE Ducati over the mountain section leaving his V4 Panigale in the middle of the track. Race Direction were quick out with the red flags to ensure we didn’t have a repeat of the Dan Jones crash, and fair play to Josh Brookes, he was up on his feet straight to the bike to do his best to remove it from the racing line.

BSB Cadwell Park 28.08.2022 Leon Haslam Lee Hardy Racing Vision Track Kawasaki

Race 2 was somewhat rejuvenating for riders such as Leon Haslam on his Vision Track Kawasaki and Andy Irwin on his Synetiq BMW. In desperate need of some form, Haslam, Buchan, Hickman and Irwin were able to bring their bikes inside the top 10 to a better run of results finishing in front of both 7th and 8th place current holders in the overall championship standings, Tarran Mackenzie and Kyle Ryde. Based on Thruxton and Cadwell Park, suddenly it doesn’t look such a shoe in for Mackenzie to be in the showdown and if I were Kyle Ryde, I would be very nervous indeed. It could be that if Taz and Kyle have a bad weekend at Snetterton, any of Buchan, Hickman or Haslam could find themselves in the Showdown at their expense.

Race 2 Podium: – Danny Buchan, Bradley Ray, Tommy Bridewell. O’Halloran finished 8th with Mackenzie in 11th again.

 

Race 3 was quite simply a belter. Not so much in terms of the win. The front running riders were showing so little signs of being able to put a move on each other that most of the TV time went to covering the fight for 4th downwards. Stars of the show? Leon Haslam and Rory Skinner. They must have swapped positions 10 times. Skinner kept slinging it up the inside of Haslam at Chris Curve, which had quickly become his signature move while Leon kept out-dragging Rory down the Park Straight into Park Corner for Rory to turn a tighter line and cut back in front. It must have been frustrating for both riders to keep putting the manners on the other, only to have them chomping back again at the first opportunity with Haslam ultimately taking the honors again for 4th place over Skinner in 5th. Another strong finish by Peter Hickman and Andy Irwin bringing up the tail end of the top 10 with O’Halloran in 9th and Mackenzie in 10th.

Race 3 Podium: – Buchan, Ray, Bridwell.

BSB Cadwell Park 28.08.2022 Rory Skinner Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Racing

MCE Ducati had another poor weekend with Sykes not finishing Race 1, 10th in Race 2 and 18th in Race 3 while Brookes finished 10th in Race 1, crashed in Race 2 and finished 11th in Race 3.

Neither of Paul Bird’s bikes are in the Showdown this year for the first time since it’s incorporation. A tough season for the Cumbrian team but rumours are circling around whether Paul Bird will continue to run a team with his interests lying elsewhere with his son racing cars and other family members taking up other competitive sports outside of motorcycles. Paul said himself recently on a podcast he cannot do this forever. Only time will tell on this one as Paul Bird has made no secret of the fact he expect his riders to win races and compete for the British Superbike title and there’s no doubt he will be disappointed with how 2022 has gone.

Other riders / teams/ thoughts of note at Cadwell…

A disappointing weekend for Lee Jackson of FS3 Kawasaki after a DNF in Race 1, which meant a poor race qualifying position for race 2 battling back to 13th place, and a 10 second time penalty in race 3 for jumping the start meaning he finished the race in 12th place. Not what Lee needed however due to his strong season so far, he has only lost out to his team mate in the standings and now finds himself in 4th place overall behind Skinner, but we are now at the point where the podium points are more important than ever and finishes outside the top 10 are not going to help this underdog story come to the publishing table.

Crowe Performance BMW’s Chrissy Rouse had 2 crashes in the races and a 21st place finish over the weekend. A tough round for the popular Northeast rider on his privateer bike. Fingers crossed for a strong Snetterton round in 2 weeks.

Buildbase Suzuki’s Christian Iddon picked up a time penalty after wiping out MCE Ducati rider Tom Sykes on the run downhill into the Mansfield corner with a late move for the inside. Christian tried to pick the bike up and get out of the move but unfortunately it collected Tom Sykes causing the Ducati DNF while Christian was able to re-join after quite the excursion on to the grass which looked more like a hare and hounds scramble than a BSB race. These things happen in racing and Cadwell Park is a very difficult circuit to pass on, so any move can end up in such a position when riding on the limit. Luckily for Christian he has a reputation for being one of the safest riders on the grid. Tom didn’t have much to say on the incident and the weekend in general, barring a disappointing result after a positive Superpole session, he’s looking forward to Snetterton.

Shout out to Ryan Vickers of FHO BMW for 3 points finishes. Just what the doctor ordered for re-building confidence after quite the run of race DNF’s. Hopefully Ryan can build on this positivity now and continue this on to Snetterton and beyond.

Special mention to Tito Rabat too. Seems he took one look at Cadwell Park and said ‘no thank you’. I wish I wasn’t correct in my assessment of Tito being another big name to turn up at BSB and do nothing. Thruxton and Cadwell was never going to be the way to do it though. I feel very vindicated in my opinions before the Thruxton round. Shame to see him go though. The ever smiling, popular Spaniard could have brought a lot of publicity to the series on foreign soil. I wonder if he was smiling after doing a lap of the circuit or whether he had turned green?

Finally… Where has Kyle Ryde gone? Can someone please send out a search party? After such a strong start to the year, Ryde’s confidence has taken such a knock which seemed to start at Brands but really kicked in at Thruxton. Ryde has never ridden a Superbike at Cadwell Park and, in fairness, he was only 1 second a lap from the leader’s pace but in superbike racing that is a country mile. Kyle needs a strong round at Snetterton or I fear he will find himself demoted from the showdown positions and that would be a great shame.

So there we have it. Not the most exiting of rounds in terms of the actual racing, but certainly an impressive venue on the calendar and one that has turned the championship on its head in terms of the results. Remember we hand out the points for the finishing positions, not the show or excitement created.

Snetterton in 2 weeks time. The final round before the Showdown positions are locked in. Who will step up to the claim those final positions in the race for 2022’s crown?

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.

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2022 Belgium GP

The summer break is over and F1 returns and where better to start the second half of the season than Spa Francorchamps, possibly the greatest track in the world.

The new technical directive regarding Flexi floors seems to have affected the RedBulls the least and sees them with the biggest advantage anyone has had all season. However, with a host of penalties throughout the field the grid is mixed up and should give us a great race, could we see Max Verstappen use that huge advantage and make his way through the field from 14th, or could we see a new winner this season with both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton on the second row today. The weather looks good, almost the complete opposite from last year’s farcical “race” where not a single racing lap took place.

Hamilton fly’s after contact with Alonso. Image courtesy of Mercedes media

Lights out and Perez makes a poor start, Hamilton makes a move on Alonso into Les Combes and they touch sending the Mercedes into the air, he makes it through another couple of corners before coming to a halt with damage to the car. Into lap 2 and Latifi spins causing Bottas to spin in avoidance bringing out the safety car. Verstappen has already made it up to P8 with Leclerc right behind him. Sainz leads from Perez, Russell, and Alonso.

Leclerc pits under the safety car and puts on fresh mediums but drops to P17. Pit radio confirms a tear-off was stuck in his brake ducts but was removed at the stop. The safety car pulls in and we begin lap 5, Sainz leads the field away.

Alonso tries to overtake Russell but the Mercedes driver breaks later and keeps P3. Verstappen moves to P7 and has his sights on Ricciardo in the McLaren. At the chicane Verstappen makes it passed and is into P6 already. Albon also makes it passed the McLaren and gets his Williams into P7. Verstappen is flying on his soft tyres and is already up to the gearbox of Vettels Aston Martin. Once again into the chicane, he makes it up to P5, next up is Alonso in the Alpine.

Verstappen making it past the Alpine. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool

The World Champion simply drives passed the Alpine as if it was in reverse. Now up to fourth and only 5.5 seconds behind Sainz in the Ferrari in first position. One lap later he overtakes Russell, the straight-line speed of the RedBull is unstoppable. Meanwhile, Leclerc has made his way up to 14th but is 15 seconds behind Verstappen already. On lap 9 Lando Norris makes his way up to P11 overtaking Magnussen into Les Combes.

Up at the front and Sainz leads Perez by 1.3 seconds who is 0.6 ahead of his teammate. Sainz pits at the end of lap 11, as he pits Verstappen overtakes Perez and takes the lead. Sainz returns to the track in P6 behind the McLaren of Ricciardo, have Ferrari made another strategic error?

At the end of the next lap, Ricciardo and Ocon also pit. The RedBull’s are staying out pulling clear of the field. Russell pits from P3 and returns to the track in P7, he was matching the times of Perez in front of him. Verstappen has now pulled a gap of 3.7 seconds, Perez in second pits at the end of lap 14, he comes out ahead of Leclerc. Perez moves to defend into Les Combes and keeps the position.

Verstappen pits. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool

The leader pits at the end of lap 15, as he comes out Perez is behind him followed by Leclerc and Russel. Sainz now leads by 4.8 seconds. Russell moves ahead of Leclerc and into P4, Leclerc down to P5 ahead of Alonso, Tsunoda, Albon, Vettel, Ocon, Ricciardo, Gasly, Norris, Stroll, Zhou, Magnussen, Schumacher, and Latifi.

Verstappen closes the gap to less than a second at the start of lap 18. He retakes the lead with another move at Les Combes. It looks like he will just check out now as he is putting laps in that are over 2 seconds quicker than the Ferrari can manage.

At half distance Verstappen lead from Perez as the Mexican overtakes Sainz, The lead is 6.5 seconds, Sainz is already 1.5 behind Perez, Russell is a further 7.5 seconds behind the Ferrari and he is 9 seconds ahead of Leclerc who appears to be on the usual Ferrari Plan Z strategy. The field seems to have settled before the inevitable second round of pitstops.

The second round of stops begins with Sainz on lap 26, he is followed by his teammate Leclerc. Sainz on the hards and Leclerc on the mediums, surely Leclerc is going to run out of tyres before the end of the race. Albon and Stroll pit on lap 27, They are now at the back of the field along with Latifi.

Perez stops a lap later and returns still in front of the Ferrari of Sainz. His teammate has made it back up to P6 with a move on Ocon in the Alpine. Next up for Leclerc is Vettel who is 3 seconds up the road.

Russell pits in the Mercedes as we start lap 30. He is still in a comfortable P4 in yet another impressive display from the young British driver. Verstappen ends lap 30 by pitting, a fresh set of mediums fitted and he leads his teammate by 8 seconds. The dominance of the Redbulls this weekend has been scary, They have 13 laps now to cruise to an easy 1-2.

RedBull is clearly in a league of their own. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool

As we begin the last 10 laps Russell is catching the Ferrari of Sainz and the gap is down to 4.2 seconds. Could he keep up the run of Mercedes podiums? Ocon moves up to P7 with a great move on both Vettel and Gasly, using the double slipstream to great effect and then outbraking the Alpha Tauri driver.

The gap between 10th and 15th is now just 4 seconds, the leader of the DRS train is Albon, followed by Stroll, Norris, Zhou, Tsunoda, and Ricciardo.

With just 5 laps to go, back at the front, Verstappen leads by 16.7 seconds ahead of Perez who is a further 9.7 seconds ahead of Sainz who is being followed by Russell a further 2.3 seconds behind.

Leclerc pits on lap 43 to go for the fastest lap point but Alonso makes it passed the Ferrari dropping him down to 6th. If he doesn’t get back past the Alpine, Ferrari has just thrown more points away. The Ferrari driver uses DRS to make it passed the Alpine but will he be able to get the fastest lap? He does a 1.49.984 which is over half a second slower than Max Verstappen’s quickest.

Verstappen wins. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool

Verstappen wins by a huge 17.8 seconds ahead of his teammate who started from the front row, a dominant performance over the driver who is now his closest challenger almost 100 points behind him. Third is Sainz ahead of Russell, Leclerc, Alonso, Ocon, Vettel, Gasly, and Albon collecting the final point of the weekend. Next up was Stroll, Norris, Tsunoda, Zhou, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Schumacher, and Latifi, The only two retirees were Bottas and Hamilton.

As the podium interviews began it was announced that Leclerc had been given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane for the pitstop that wasn’t needed which dropped him behind Alonso and down to P6.

It’s now just a matter of time before Verstappen wraps up the title for this season, after a display like this weekend it wouldn’t be surprising to see RedBull repeat 2013 where they dominated the season after the summer break.

In just 5 days’ time, the F1 circus will return to Holland for the Dutch GP, Verstappen’s home race, who would bet against him once again dominating?

 

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2022 Belgium GP Qualifying

The summer break is over, F1 is back and it returns with one of the greatest circuits in the world, Spa Francorchamps, and the Belgium GP.

This will be the first weekend that the car has to comply with the new technical directive regarding Flexi floors, could this shake up the pecking order? Practice results would suggest not and it even looked as though RedBull had gained quite a big advantage over the rest of the field. Qualifying would be the true test and provide us with a view of how the changes have made difference If any.

Mick Schumacher, is one of many to take grid penalties. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

As usual in the Hybrid era, teams have decided to take engine penalties to introduce new parts into the seasons pool so they have more choice later in the season. This would mean that after today’s qualifying session, at least Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Ocon, Schumacher, Zhou, and Bottas would all receive grid penalties.

With ten minutes to go until the start of the session, the temperature had dropped to just 16 degrees, something that would mean Mercedes might struggle with their season-long battle to try and get temperature into their tyres. The start of qualifying would be delayed due to repairs being needed to some of the armco barriers after a crash in the Porsche Supercup support race.

25 minutes after it was originally scheduled to start, qualifying finally got underway. First out on track was Latifi in the Williams who went straight back into the pits at the end of his first lap. The first driver to set a time was Mick Schumacher. The two Mercedes jumped ahead of the Haas but were immediately beaten by Perez in the RedBull, by almost a second.

After the first runs, the top four were the usual suspects of both RedBull and Ferraris, led by Verstappen and Sainz, they were followed by the two Alpines. The two Mercedes went for a second lap on the softs but still could only make it to 10th and 11th with Russell ahead of Hamilton. Everyone went for another run on fresh tyres apart from the top four. The Mercedes drivers improved to 5th and 7th.

At the other end of the field and out of qualifying were Vettel, Latifi, Magnussen, Tsunoda, and Bottas. At the top of the field was Max Verstappen with a time of 1.44.581.

Vettel out in Q1 again. Image courtesy of Aston Martin F1 Media

Q2 began, and the first driver to set a time was Lewis Hamilton. He was beaten by his teammate George Russell by 3 tenths of a second. Then came Max Verstappen beating the two Mercedes by a massive 1.5 seconds. The two Redbulls led the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz by almost three-quarters of a second. The Redbulls seemed to be in a league of their own this weekend. They were followed by Ocon, Norris, and Leclerc who had a scruffy lap and was complaining of handling issues. Then came Alonso, Russell, Gasly, and Hamilton rounding out the top ten. The final runs began with the two Alpines at the front of the queue.

Neither RedBull needed to go out again such was their dominance.  Leclerc had a better run and topped the times with a 1.44.551 ahead of the two Redbulls, behind them was Sainz, Hamilton, Russell, Ocon, Alonso, Norris, and Albon. The outward-bound McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo was the first to be illuminated in 11th along with Gasly, Zhou, Stroll, and Schumacher.

Albon joined the top teams in Q3. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

A strange start to Q3 knowing 3 of the drivers taking part would have grid penalties applied at the end of the session. Halfway around Leclerc’s first lap he realised he had the wrong tyres on the car, yet another Ferrari error. The team ended up telling him to do the lap anyway. At the end of the first runs Verstappen was again top of the times ahead of Sainz in the Ferrari, next came Perez, Leclerc, Ocon, Norris, Russell, Albon, Hamilton, and Alonso who chose to abort his lap.

Verstappen with his grid penalty decided not to do a final run, the same went for Norris, and Leclerc, however, he reappeared on track and gave his team mate a tow down the long straight. It didn’t really seem to help as the Spaniard had a scruffy lap, however thanks to Verstappen’s penalty, he would still be on pole for the race tomorrow. Third was Perez, with Leclerc next up, then came Ocon and Alonso. Next up was Hamilton and Russell ahead of Albon and Norris.

Once all the penalties have been given out the grid will look very different at the start of tomorrow’s race.

Will the weather gods play games like last year or could we get a dry race with a very mixed-up grid providing us with a great race at a great race track?

Whatever happens, the Belgium GP should be a classic.

 

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