Blog

Posted on

Round 1 WorldSBK Aragon, Spain, Race 2

The first Superpole race of the new season saw Bautista (aruba.it Ducati) exact revenge for getting pipped in race 1 and claim the win, followed by 2nd Rea (Kawasaki KRT), and 3rd Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha).

Alvaro Bautista & Michael Rinaldi – WorldSBK Aragon 10.04.2022 Picture courtesy of Aruba.it Racing

The track temperature was slightly higher for race 2, compared to race 1, with most of the riders again opting for the softer tyre option. Lights out, and its Rea with the hole shot into turn 1, pursued by the Ducati team mates of Bautista and Rinaldi (aruba.it Ducati, with Razgatlioglu closely behind in 4th. This group of 4 was already gaining an advantage on the rest of the field, pulling out a slight gap.

With 16 laps to go, the two aruba.it Ducatis were looking quick and Rea was going to have his hands full shortly in trying to keep them at bay. Positions were: 1st Rea, 2nd Bautista, 3rd Rinaldi, 4th, Razgatlioglu and 5th Lowes (Kawasaki KRT).

Next lap and with Rea feeling the pressure from the Ducatis behind, makes a mistake by running too hot into turn 1, allowing both Bautista and Rinaldi through. Rea now anxious to get back to the front, had to first deal with the immediate problem of getting past the reigning world champion in 3rd. Further back there was a four way battle for 7th between the Honda team mates of Lecuona (Honda HRC), Vierge, Loris Baz (Bonovo action BMW) and Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorlsSBK Team).

With 13 laps to go Rea manages to out break Toprak into turn 1 taking back 3rd. Meanwhile the two Ducatis at the front were looking quick, most notably Bautista who was pulling away. Would the Spaniard be able to claim his 2nd win of the day? Further back Redding (BMW Motorrad) was still having a miserable weekend, and now found himself dead last in 23rd place. Seemingly unable to get the BMW into corners. What is happening in that garage?

With 11 laps to go Rea had the head down and was desperate to regain contact with the Ducatis at the front, both of whom were having a cracking race. Behind Rea it was; 4th Razgatlioglu, 5th Lowes, 6th Baz, 7th Lecuona, 8th Vierge and 9th Gerloff.

Next lap and Rea had now closed the gap to 2nd place Rinaldi to 0.8s. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) was having an incredible race and had now moved all the way up to 6th. Meanwhile further back both Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, and Laverty (Bonovo action BMW) were struggling, and found themselves in 14th and 15th respectively.

With 8 laps to go the increasing pressure on Rinaldi told, and he was forced into a mistake running wide into turn 1, allowing Rea to come past for an easy 2nd place. Rea was now running 0.3s a lap faster than Bautista at the front, but would he have enough laps left to catch the Spaniard?

Next lap and with Rea pushing as hard as he dared, he over shot turn 1, running wide and losing precious time. The gap to Bautista was now pushed out to 1.8s with more work left for Rea. Meanwhile Redding retired, giving up on a shockingly dreadful weekend.

With 6 laps to go it was Rinaldi in 3rd who now set the fastest lap of 1:51.377, although the race pace was faster yesterday, even although the track temperature was colder. Further back Gerloff in 10th, was all over the back of Vierge in 9th, and looking for the pass.

With 5 laps to go Razgatlioglu had found a bit of late race pace, and was closing in on 3rd place Rinaldi cutting the gap down to 0.3s. Could the Turkish rider claim a podium postion? Nozane had a nasty crash into turn 7, sending his Yamaha down the road in a shower of sparks. He was able to walk away, but his race was over.

WorldSBK Aragon 10.04.2022 Picture courtesy of Honda Racing Corporation

Next lap and Toprak set the new fastest lap of 1:51.177, quicker than both the riders ahead of him. Bautista looked to have the win sealed up and was comfortable in the lead, with Rea too far behind to cause any trouble. Second and 3rd were all still to play for however.

With 3 laps to go Razgatlioglu out brakes Rinaldi into turn 2, and takes 3rd. Meanwhile Rea was far enough ahead in 2nd to be comfortable, without having to look over his shoulder.

Last lap and Bautista crosses the line in 1st to take his 2nd win of the day, putting himself at the top of the championship in the process. Second Rea, 3rd Razgatlioglu, 4th Rinaldi, 5th Lowes, 6th Bassani, 7th Baz, 8th Vierge, 9th Gerloff, 10th Lecuona.

Result top 5:

  1. Bautista (aruba.it Ducati)
  2. Rea (Kawasaki KRT)
  3. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
  4. Rinaldi (aruba.it Ducati)
  5. Lowes (Kawasaki KRT)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista 57 pts
  2. Rea 54
  3. Razgatlioglu 39

 

 

Posted on

Dominant Leclerc extends championship lead with Australian GP victory

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc converted pole position into his second victory of the season at Albert Park, as Max Verstappen failed to finish with hydraulic issues.

The only time the victory looked in doubt for the Monegasque driver was after the second safety car, when a slow restart gave Verstappen an opportunity to attack into turn one, but Leclerc held on to extend his championship lead to thirty-four points over Mercedes’ George Russell.

In the end, even if Verstappen had made the overtake it would have been inconsequential, as Red Bull’s reliability issues reared their ugly head once again, with the Dutchman’s car failing at the start of lap 39, just seconds after he had set the fastest lap of the race.

Sergio Perez secured his first podium of the season in second place, as Mercedes matched their best result of the season from Bahrain, with George Russell leading Lewis Hamilton home in third and fourth.

It was Hamilton who had the best start out of the front runners, jumping from fifth to third on the run towards the first corner, overtaking Perez and Lando Norris. One man who did not have a good start was Carlos Sainz, dropping five places as he struggled with the hard tyres. Tyre warmup was the least of his concerns on lap two however, as the Spaniard went deep into turn nine, losing the car over the grass and ending beached in the gravel. This is the first time Sainz has failed to score points since the French GP last year.

Into turn 1 at the start of the GP. Image courtesy of Red Bull content Pool

Perez was able to work his way back past Hamilton in the first stint, but the Mercedes driver looked to be managing his tyres better, and was briefly able to make the overcut work on the Mexican driver, before Perez struck back with a bold move around the outside of turn ten.

Lewis may feel aggrieved that it was his teammate who scored the podium, and not him. Russell admitted afterwards he had been fortunate with the timing of the second safety car, which was brought out by Sebastian Vettel’s miserable weekend coming to an end in the barrier at turn four. This allowed Russell to take advantage of a cheap pit stop to come out ahead of Perez in third, but the Mexican was soon able to make his way past the Briton.

It was a much more promising race for Mercedes, who looked to be matching the Red Bulls on pace at times throughout the race. McLaren also had their best result of 2022, with Norris just finishing ahead of home hero Daniel Ricciardo, as they finished fifth and sixth. Esteban Ocon secured seventh for Alpine, in what was a very quiet race for the Frenchman.

The McLarens solid performance all weekend. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Room

This was the first race at the Albert Park circuit since 2019, and since then changes had been made to the track, most noticeably the removal of the chicane at what was turns eight and nine, in an attempt to improve the racing. There was no doubting the effectiveness of this in the midfield, with the different strategies leading to some brilliant battling.

Lance Stroll pitted twice early on, and this allowed him to climb as high as ninth at one stage. However, worn tyres combined with a five-second penalty for weaving on the straight meant points were always going to be a difficult task, and the Aston Martin dropped down the field in the later stages.

The Stroll train in full affect during the GP. Image courtesy of Aston Martin Media

Valtteri Bottas and Pierre Gasly finished eighth and ninth respectively, with Alexander Albon securing a shock point for Williams in tenth. After starting on the hards from last, the Thai driver was forced on to a different strategy by the safety cars. Whereas Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen took advantage of the virtual safety car caused by Verstappen’s retirement to change onto the medium tyres, Albon stayed out on the hards.

He eventually pitted on the penultimate lap (the latest allowed by the regulations), coming out on a fresh set of softs to secure the Grove-based team’s first point of the season. Alonso and Magnussen struggled with the graining that dogged many of the front runners in the early stages, finishing comfortably outside the points.

Although Leclerc took victory in Bahrain, this was the first time this season where the Ferrari looked comfortably clear of the Red Bull in race pace. The Formula One calendar heads to Imola in two weeks time for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which will also host the first ‘sprint race’ of the season.

Posted on

Colton Herta smashes track record and claims pole at Long Beach

Hometown driver Colton Herta smashed the track record this afternoon, held by Hélio Castroneves, by nearly a second with a 1:05.3095 securing pole position for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Long Beach. Herta is starting where he finished off last year’s event, where he won the 2021 Grand Prix of Long Beach and is now set to go back to back.

Herta had been flying for all of qualifying. The Andretti Autosport driver, born just 60 miles away from the track, topped the round one, group one session with a 1:05.73, and then replicated this in round two with a 1:05.41. Talking to NBC, Herta said “The car was so fast. Honda have been spectacular.”

Colton Herta racing around the fountain (Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar Media)

Herta’s teammates were also blisteringly fast. In both of Herta’s sessions, Alexander Rossi had finished second while Romain Grosjean had topped the round 1, group 2 session with a 1:05.75.

Alexander Rossi racing around the fountain (Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar Media)

Going into the Firestone Fast Six, it looked like it was Andretti Autosport’s destiny to lock out the top three positions for tomorrow’s race but while Grosjean was on a flying lap and on course to go quicker than Herta, he tagged the wall coming out of turn four, broke a suspension tow link, and with a loss in steering crashed the Honda into the turn five tyre wall, bringing out the red flag.

After the red flag was lifted with just two seconds of the session left, IndyCar followed the rulebook and allowed the drivers to complete one flying lap but Rossi did not go out again and would settle for fifth after Grosjean got demoted to sixth for having brought out the red flag. Talking to NBC regarding the incident, Grosjean said “Worst case scenario is sixth so just send it right?” Grosjean had been fastest in practice two earlier in the day.

Through all the chaos towards the end of the Firestone Fast Six, Josef Newgarden found himself having qualifying second. Álex Palou qualified third, and Felix Rosenqvist fourth. Palou won the IndyCar championship last year at Long Beach who hosted the final race of the season, after finishing fourth.

Josef Newgarden out qualifying (Photo by Joe Skibinski/IndyCar Media)

Team Penske had been the challenger to Andretti Autosport over the race weekend, but it had appeared that championship leader Scott McLaughlin had the edge over teammate Newgarden, going third fastest in practice one and eigth fastest in practice two however he was affected by a build up of traffic at the turn 11 hairpin where drivers had been backing up the field somewhat throughout qualifying.

During the round two session, McLaughlin had let Marcus Ericsson past but Ericsson felt his lap was compromised and backed off before going side by side with McLaughlin around turn 10 heading to the hairpin compromising McLaughlin’s next flying lap. McLaughlin would qualify ninth.

Scott McLaughlin out qualifying (Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar Media)

A similar incident occurred for Will Power where he felt he had also been impeded and missed out on the fast six and instead will have to start seventh for tomorrow’s race. It was even more painful for Pato O’Ward who was more than on course for making the fast six before going wide at the turn 11 hairpin and missed out by 0.005 of a second.

A big name of the weekend missing from the top six was Simon Pagenaud, who had been fastest in practice one and fifth in practice two. He had gone second fastest in round one, group two with a 1:05.89 but in round two, Pagenaud would only manage 10th.

Scott Dixon would only manage 16th while Kyle Kirkwood was the highest qualifying rookie in 12th and had been mixing it up in the top 10 during practice and qualifying.

The two round one group sessions some saw some close shaves as well as crashes. Jimmie Johnson, who was nursing a broken bone in his right hand from yesterday’s practice crash, crashed into the turn one tyre wall after missing the apex of the corner. The frustrated Californian yelled “Dammit, dammit, dammit!” on the radio. Before this, Johnson had been penalized for interference with Graham Rahal in turn one and would not advance to the next session.

Jimmie Johnson in the turn one tyre wall (Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar Media)

Rookie David Malukas would slide into the tyre wall opposite the fountain bringing out the red flag, but would continue and qualify 19th.

David Malukas sliding into the tyre wall opposite the fountain (Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar Media)

Conor Daly’s car was damaged after tagging the turn eight wall and would have to come down pit road.

Rosenqvist locked up over the bump heading into turn nine and had to take the escape road while Ericsson nearly flung his Huski Chocolate Honda into the turn five tyre wall while on his flying lap.

The green flag for the Grand Prix of Long Beach flies at 3pm ET on Sunday.

The full qualifying results are as follows: Colton Herta (1st), Josef Newgarden (2nd), Álex Palou (3rd), Felix Rosenqvist (4th), Alexander Rossi (5th), Romain Grosjean (6th), Will Power (7th), Marcus Ericsson (8th), Scott McLaughlin (9th), Simon Pagenaud (10th), Pato O’Ward (11th), Kyle Kirkwood (12th), Graham Rahal (13th), Hélio Castroneves (14th), Rinus VeeKay (15th), Scott Dixon (16th), Devlin DeFrancesco (17th), Conor Daly (18th), David Malukas (19th), Christian Lundgaard (20th), Jack Harvey (21st), Callum Ilott (22nd), Takuma Sato (23rd), Dalton Kellett (24th), Jimmie Johnson (25th), Tatiana Calderón (26th).

Posted on

Moto3: Migno Claims Pole for the Grand Prix of the Americas

Andrea Migno has claimed pole position for tomorrow’s race in COTA. He will be joined on the front row by fellow-Italian, Dennis Foggia, and Xavier Artigas. Our championship leader, Sergio Garcia, had to settle for 11th.

Today’s qualifying session was dominated by Italian riders, Dennis Foggia and Andrea Migno – the latter rider was able to come out on top as he set a time of 2:15.814 to secure pole position ahead of tomorrow’s race.

Foggia was bested by only 0.067s, forcing him to settle for second for tomorrow’s race start. The front row will be rounded out by Xavier Artigas, who made his way through Q1 before posting an impressive time that was just 0.242s off pole.

The early pace setter was Izan Guevara, who eventually settled for 10th, before Migno jumped to the top of the timing sheets. Despite not opting for fresh tires part way through the session, Foggia was next to top the timing sheets.

It wasn’t until the final flying lap when Migno was able to lay down his pole-clinching lap – a time which simply couldn’t be bested by Foggia or Artigas.

Image Credit: MotoGP

Deniz Oncu, on the KTM Tech3 machine, and Jaume Masia, on the KTM Ajo machine, took fourth and fifth respectively. Rookie Diogo Moreira claimed sixth, ahead of Daniel Holgado who is returning from injury. The top ten is rounded out by Kaito Toba, Ayumu Sasaki and Izan Guevara in eighth, ninth and tenth respectively.

Three riders who made their way through from Q1 line up just outside the top 10 – Stefano Nepa, Scott Ogden, and Elia Bartolini took 11th, 12th and 13th respectively. This is Ogden’s best qualifying result in his rookie Moto3 year.

Our championship leader, Sergio Garcia, had a shocking day and was only able to claim 15th. He certainly seems to be off the pace after winning the last race in Argentina.

The grid will be in action at 2.30pm local time, and Crew on Two will have all the action for you.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

Posted on

Moto2: Beaubier Takes Maiden Pole at Home Circuit

Cameron Beaubier stuns home crowds to take his maiden pole position in Moto2. He will be joined on the front row by championship leader, Celestino Vietti in second and Aron Canet in third.

American track, American rider and American team – today’s qualifying ticked all the boxes for the fans in the grandstands. Cameron Beaubier is the first American rider to secure a pole position at home since 2010.

He will be joined on the front row for tomorrow’s race by Celestino Vietti who, despite leading the championship after a strong start to the season, was forced to make his way through Q1. It was Vietti who set the early pace in Q2 but was eventually forced to settle for second.

Aron Canet was able to take third, despite a late crash for the Spanish rider. He fell at turn 17 as the front end folded underneath him and left him in the kitty litter.

Image Credit: MotoGP

Canet wasn’t the only rider to crash as the riders seemed to fight with the COTA track – Augusto Fernandez crashed at turn 17 and, as a result, wasn’t able to set a lap time in Q2. Tony Arbolino crashed at turn 8 but was able to get back up, dust himself down, and set a time that was good enough for fourth. Similarly, Ai Ogura crashed at turn 11 whilst sitting in third. He was eventually shuffled down to 11th.

The various yellow flags caused by these crashes left a lot of riders needing to abandon their laps. However, no one was able to get close to Beaubier’s time of 2:08.751.

Albert Arenas and his GASGAS Aspar teammate, Jake Dixon, set the fifth and sixth fastest times respectively. Jorge Navarro, who has already been slapped with a long lap penalty for tomorrow’s race after crashing under yellow flags during FP3, will start tomorrow’s race in seventh.

Fermin Aldeguer has looked incredibly quick all weekend and set the eighth fastest time ahead of tomorrow’s race. The top ten was rounded out by Sam Lowes and rookie Pedro Acosta.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

Posted on

Round 1 WorldSBK Aragon, Spain, Race 1

Jonathan Rea winner of Race 1, Aragon 2022 WSBK. Image courtesy of @KRT_WorldSBK / Twitter

The first Superpole of the season saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) claim top spot with a time of 1:48.267 (an all time lap record), followed by Bautista (aruba.it Ducati), and Rea (Kawasaki KRT) in 2nd, and 3rd respectively.

Conditions for race 1 were dry, if not slightly on the cool side, with track temperatures struggling to reach 28 degrees. As a result most of the riders would opt for the softer SC X tyre.

Lights out and its Bautista who grabs the hole shot, although Toprak was having none of it and barges through, with Rea barrelling past both of them ultimately. The start of this season seems to be carrying off from where we left it last season, in terms of the all out action, white knuckle racing.

Onto lap 3 then, and Razgatlioglu takes over the lead out braking Rea into turn 1 after the straight. Rea strikes back immediately driving under the no.1 bike. The ZX-10RR looking to have received a much needed boost in power over the winter break.

With 16 laps to go, 4 riders had pulled out a gap to the rest of the field. It was; 1st Rea, 2nd Razgatlioglu, 3rd Bautista, and 4th Rinaldi (aruba.it Ducati). Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) was a further 1.2 behind in 5th, a solid ride from the ex-MotoGP rider. Futher back Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad) was all the way down in 19th, a nightmare for the 3rd placed rider in the championship last season. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was also struggling after slipping back to 13th.

With 14 laps to go the group of 4 at the front was now cut to 3, as Rinaldi had slipped back to 1.1 behind Bautista in 3rd. Razgatlioglu had managed to retake the lead, and the leading 3 riders were having a ding-dong battle, with postions changing every lap.

Alvaro Bautista at Aragon 2022 WSBK. Image courtesy of Ducati

Next lap and both Rea, and Bautista out break Razgatlioglu down the straight into turn 1. The Spaniard was now at the front, with the Ducati looking to have kept all of the top end speed it had last season. Lowes (Kawasaki KRT) was now in 5th, and trying to bridge a gap of 2.3 to Rinaldi in 4th.

With 12 laps to go Rea dives up the inside of Bautista to retake the lead. The stability of the Kawasaki was already showing a massive improvement on where it was last season, and Rea was looking a lot more comfortable then he had last season. Lowes goes down, it wasn’t a high speed crash, but his race is over. The Honda team mates of Lecuona, and Vierge now find themselves in 5th, and 6th respectively, a very decent ride from both the ex-MotoGP, and Moto2 riders.

Next lap and its Bautista who repays the favour, diving up the inside of Rea  into turn 1. The Kawasaki had no answer to the shear top end speed of the Ducati, as was the case last season. The world champion was still in 3rd, and keeping in touch with the two at the front. Further back it was now Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) in 5th, followed by the Honda team mates behind in 6th, and 7th. Rea puts in a nice block pass to retake the lead, although Bautista was currently the fastest rider on track with a lap time of 1:50.207.

With 7 laps to go Redding had moved up to 15th, and was at least now in the points. Gerloff too, had also moved up places and was now in 11th. Other notable positions were the Bonovo action BMW team mates of Baz 9th, and Laverty 12th.

With 5 laps to go Rea had edged out a gap of 0.3 to Bautista. Toprak was now losing contact with the two ahead of him, possibly suffering from tyre wear issues. It would surely come down to either Rea, or Bautista for the race win.

With 3 laps to go Rea now had the bit between his teeth, and had extended his gap to Bautista to 0.5. The Spaniard had work to do if he was going to claim the first win of the season. Toprak was now 1.9 behind in 3rd, and out of contention. The Ducati had the advantage in terms of top end speed, but the ZX-10RR had the better turning of the two. This would surely come down to the wire, who had the better grip?

Last lap now and Bautista pulls the trigger, slip streaming Rea down the back straight, then pulling around to out break Rea. Jonny snaps right back, and drives the Kawasaki under the Ducati using the better turning of his bike to full effect, looking so smooth in the process, nice move. Bautista powers out the last corner, but its Rea who edges ahead to claim the first win of the new season. Bautista crosses just behind for 2nd, 3rd Razgatlioglu, 4th Rinaldi, 5th Locatelli, 6th Lecuona, 7th Vierge, 10th Laverty, 15th Redding.

What an action packed start to the new season.

Result top 5:

  1. Rea (Kawasaki KRT)
  2. Bautista (aruba.it Ducati)
  3. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
  4. Rinaldi (aruba.it Ducati)
  5. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha)

Championship top 3:

  1. Rea 25 pts
  2. Bautista 20
  3. Razgatlioglu 16
Posted on

Australian GP Qualifying Report

For round 3 of the 2022 F1 World Championship the F1 circus rolls into Australia for the first time since the beginning of 2020 when the pandemic struck. After 2 great opening races and the 3 practice sessions of the weekend it looked as though it was going to be another battle between RedBull and Ferrari with maybe a McLaren and an Alpine thrown into the mix.

Charles Leclerc at Albert Park, image courtesy Pirelli media

Q1 began with doubts over whether the Aston Martins would be involved after their crashes in FP3. The first drama of the session was brought to us by Nicholas Latifi who went for his now customary spin (who needs Mazepin), he recovered and continued on his way. With just over 10 minutes into the session and with everyone apart from the Astons having set a time Stroll exited the pitlane after some excellent work from his mechanics. Unfortunately he decided to drive into Latifi before he could set a time wiping both out of the session. This caused a red flag which ironically helped out his team mate who’s car was now repaired.  There was now a crazy race to get to the front of the queue for a one lap qualifying dash. The track seemed to have got a little slower after the red flag as no real improvements were made.

The session ended with Verstappen fastest with a 1.18.580, just 0.254 ahead of his team mate Perez. Out in Q1 were Albon in the Williams, Magnussen in his Haas, Vettel after getting just one lap in the whole session in his repaired Aston Martin, Latifi and Stroll.

Q2 was delayed further by another Williams of Alex Albon stopping on the track at the end of Q1. Once the session got up and running it was Verstappen who led the cars out. He immediately went quickest again from his team mate Perez. A few minutes into the session and Fernando Alonso joined the party pipping the second RedBull. Perez however had stayed out and went quickest just a few minutes later. The Mercedes cars were still having issues and were at least three quarters of a second off of the quickest time, however Lewis Hamilton seemed to find some time to set the quickest first sector of the session so far, unfortunately for him the rest of the lap wasn’t so good. With 5 minutes remaining the Ferraris bolted on some fresh soft tyres, it seemed that even the Ferraris were suffering from porpoising this weekend and it looked to be slowing them down a little, Sainz went P3 on his first lap on fresh rubber, He was immediately  beaten by his team mate Leclerc who moved up to P2. The session came to a close with Perez fastest with a time of 1.18.340, just 0.129s ahead of Carlos Sainz in second.

Out in Q2 were Mick Schumacher who impressively outqualified his more experienced team mate, Zhou in the Alfa Romeo, Tsunoda, Valteri Bottas in the Alfa who failed to reach Q3 for the first time since he left Williams and Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri.

And so we moved to the Q3 shoot out for pole position. The sun was setting and was causing most of the drivers issues with both Leclerc and Hamilton asking for new helmets with darker visors for the session. Once again the World Champion was first on track.

He set a blistering pace with a 1.18.3 however had a lock up on the very final corner, giving him quite a bit of time to be found in the second run, again Perez then went quicker as he looked to have had the upper hand this weekend just like in Saudi a few weekends ago. Leclerc then took the top spot just as Fernando Alonso looked to be on a scintillating lap before he ended up in the wall with a suspected hydraulic issue preventing him from downshifting. The session was red flagged to have Alonso’s stricken Alpine removed from the gravel trap. Unfortunately for Sainz this meant his time wouldn’t count as the red flag appeared just as he was about to cross the line.

The session restarted with 7 minutes remaining on the clock. The two Mercedes were first out, as they seemed to need to do 2 warm up laps to get any performance from the soft tyres. Hamilton moved up to P5 and was then beaten by Russell who moved to P4. Verstappen then improved to go P1 but was then beaten by Leclerc with a sublime lap in the Ferrari, once again the Monagasque had secured pole position with a time of 1.17.868 just 0.286s ahead of the Dutchman..The top 3 was rounded out by Perez in the second RedBull who will be joined by Lando Norris on the second row.

Next up were the 2 Mercedes locking out row 3 with Lewis Hamilton in front of George Russell, then came Ricciardo in the second McLaren alongside Ocon in the Alpine, ninth and tenth were the 2 Spaniards, Carlos Sainz who’s best time was lost due to the red flag and then Fernando Alonso in tenth.

Tomorrows race should be another tactical bout between RedBull and Ferrari but with the changes made to the circuit this year hopefully the battle will be on the track, something which hasn’t happened in the recent years at Albert Park. Round 3 looks like it could live up to the hype of the first 2 rounds of the season.

Posted on

Virginia native Denny Hamlin captures fourth Richmond victory

Denny Hamlin took the lead with five laps to go and held off Kevin Harvick to win his fourth Richmond Cup race in his native state of Virginia.

NASCAR’s Toyota Owners 400 race came down to a split strategy showdown in the closing laps. Third place Denny Hamlin and fourth place Kevin Harvick were on a two stop strategy for the final stage of the race while leaders William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. had split the final stage in half.

As sun began to set and the laps got down to single digits, Hamlin was catching Byron by a second a lap, with Byron being on much older tyres. Byron had held a four second gap over Truex Jr with 25 to go but this began shrinking significantly inside 15 to go. Hamlin flew by Truex with six to go and sped by Byron on the inside on lap 396 of 400 to take the lead away. Harvick did appear to be catching Hamlin with two to go but after Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola got out of the way on the back straightaway on the final lap, Hamlin set sail for the checkered flag.

Denny Hamlin passes William Byron for the lead inside of five to go (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

After a roller-coaster start to the season, this was not just Hamlin’s first win of the year but his first top-10 finish of the season after seven races. This was also Toyota’s first Cup win of the season and was rather appropriate being the title sponsor of the race.

Denny Hamlin celebrating in victory lane (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

There were nearly more green flag pit stop cycles completed today than the first six races combined. Long green flag runs is often the way with Richmond and Sunday’s race was no exception. This gave extra weight to the two stop versus one stop strategies that played out during stage two and the final stage of the race but ultimately fresher tyres came out on top; partly due to Truex Jr. and Byron wearing each other out and faster lap down cars on fresher tyres taking away the inside lane that they wanted to run, allowing Hamlin and Harvick to gain more time on them.

It was a stellar day for the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota’s overall with all four running in the top seven at one point. Truex Jr. had worked his way to the front from the drop of the green flag and won stage two on the one stop strategy, the same strategy that arguably cost him the win in addition to getting stuck behind the wake of Byron’s Hendrick Chevrolet for the last 100 laps. This is despite being on 10 lap fresher tyres.

Martin Truex Jr. leading at Richmond (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Kyle Busch had worked his way to fourth but was black flagged with 50 laps to go for having tape over his grille that cost him a top-5 finish. Kyle Busch’s crew chief claimed the tape had been on there for 200 laps and were frustrated with NASCAR’s call in forcing them down pit road to remove it. Christopher Bell had led the field in the second quarter of the race and came home sixth.

The first quarter of the race was the Ryan Blaney show however. After securing the pole he led the first 100 laps and won stage one with Byron finishing second, before losing the lead in stage two. Last week’s winner Ross Chastain did not make friends with Blaney during the race. While fighting inside the top five towards the end of stage two, Blaney drove up alongside Chastain and pushed the watermelon man up the race track in turns three and four. Chastain returned the favour and pushed Blaney into turn one before Blaney veered to the right to a loss of grip and Chastain retook the position. Blaney had the final laugh as he gave Chastain a little shot into turn three late on in the race in and got by.

Ryan Blaney leading the field at the start of the race (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Team Penske teammate Joey Logano had made it up to second halfway through the race but the team’s jack became jammed underneath his car and would lose track position and only manage to recover to a top-20 finish.

The Roush Fenway Keselowski racing car’s of Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher had a good outing and were fighting for a top-10 spot for much of the race.

There would be a couple of crashes during the race. Lap 245 would see an caution a few laps after the start of the final stage due to a crash between Cody Ware, Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr that left all parties upset. On lap 260 there would be another caution after contact between Austin Cindric and Cole Custer, causing Cindric to spin out. This was triggered after Ty Dillon had washed up into Custer in turn two as he came slightly down.

Part two of the Virginia tour takes place at Martinsville Speedway under the lights this Saturday night; another track that Hamlin has had great success at, winning five Cup series races at the half mile paperclip.

Top 10 finishing order of the Toyota Owners 400 

  1. Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
  2. Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing Ford)
  3. William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
  4. Martin Truex Jr (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
  5. Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
  6. Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
  7. Ryan Blaney (Team Penske Ford)
  8. Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
  9. Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
  10. Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet)  

Featured Image: Denny Hamlin celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Posted on

F1 Race Preview: We are finally back!

We are finally back in Australia to go racing for the first time since 2019. When we arrived in Albert park for the beginning of the 2020 season we saw a press conference before FP1 on the Friday announcing that the weekend was cancelled after a paddock member tested positive for COVID 19.

Albert Park has undergone significant changes in a bid to make the racing more interesting and to enhance the new regulations which so far have proven to add excitement. Turns 1, 3, 6 and 13 have been widened to allow for harder attacking and defending.

The most significant change comes between turn 6 and 11. The old chicane at turn 9/10 is gone so its now flat out from turn 6, through turns 7 and 8 to what used to be turns 11/12 which is now 9/10. The back straight will now be used as the new DRS zone.

The front of the grid

Red Bull and Ferrari have now taken one win each with Ferrari seemingly having the upper hand with both cars on the podium in the first two rounds. They are providing us with the battle at the front which we needed after an epic season-long fight last year.

Melbourne is a typical street circuit which means qualifying is very important. But with these two teams and specifically Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen made it very clear in Jeddah that this isn’t a problem for them.

Leclerc and Verstappen battling it out under the lights. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Room

The best of the rest

Mercedes have dominated Melbourne since 2014, but with their recent issues keeping up they don’t look like they can get past 5th and 6th. They will very much be hoping that the changes at the circuit will benefit them.

Haas and Kevin Magnussen seem to be their closest competitor. The last time out in Melbourne Magnussen had his best finish of 2019 in P6. He has already past that by getting P5 in Bahrain. He is currently the main competitor for Mercedes and will be looking to continue the momentum.

Good news for Aston Martin as Vettel has been cleared to race at Albert Park after having COVID and missing the first two rounds. Hulkenberg has done a great job for the team as a super sub putting in solid drives with no time in the car before the season.

Hulkenberg in Jeddah. Image courtesy of Aston Martin Media

The race starts live at 6am GMT. Make sure you tune in to our commentary on Twitter spaces for qualifying and the race.

Posted on

One for the history books!

Qualifying:

After issues with freight delays, qualifying finally got underway at Argentina and it was a surprise front row finish.

Aleix Espargaro with the Aprilia took pole, the first ever in the Moto GP era with 1:37.688. Jorge Martin (Ducati) was second and Luca Marini (Ducati) took his second front row in Moto GP.

(Sad news once again for Marc Marquez as he couldn’t participate in this weeks race either. Wishing him a speedy recovery)!

Race:

With the energy buzzing and all eyes on Aprilia, could we finally witness history? Could Aleix Espargaro finally win his first race?

Lights out and Martin quickly took the lead ahead of A. Espargaro and Marini.

Honda rider, P. Espargaro powered past Marini, knowing he had to get to the front and fast, if he was going to be in for a shot of the podium. On the same lap Andrea Dovizioso retired his Yamaha and Aleix put in the fastest lap.

Lap 5 of 25 – current World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) was struggling in 13th position and his teammate (Franco Morbidelli) was having an even worse time in 19th. Franco later retired from the race with a mechanical failure.

Lap 6 – Johann Zarco (Ducati) crashed, turn 2 from 12th position, but his teammate was having a great time, setting a fastest lap from the lead.

Both Spanish riders were fighting hard for first place, each taking fastest lap away from each other. They managed to gap the third and fourth place men and break away with 1.749 seconds between them. Alex Rins (Suzuki) passed P. Espargaro to claim third, knowing this was his chance to get close to the leaders and try to also fight for the win.

Although starting off well, Marini had gone backwards and was fighting for 6th place alongside Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia).

With 14 laps to go A. Espargaro took another fastest lap, he clearly had more pace than Martin and continued to chase him down. But, ‘metronomic Martin’ just kept putting in the perfect laps, keeping Espargaro at bay.

Hunting Martin down. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

By lap 13 Bagnaia had gotten the better of Marini and took 7th place. Brad Binder (KTM) also seized the advantage and passed the Italian.

Meanwhile from 4th position, P. Espargaro fell in the gravel. A bad weekend for Honda just got worse.

Having gotten the better of Marini earlier in the race, Bagnaia made a small mistake which took him wide and forced him to re-join the race ahead of teammate Jack Miller, in 12th.

Back at the front and the Aprilia continued it’s hunt for the Ducati. Could he pass Martin for that elusive win? Could he make the dream a reality?

8 laps until the chequered flag and everyone was willing Espargaro on. He managed to finally make a move on Martin but couldn’t hold onto it and Martin took the advantage and went back in front. With the two Suzuki’s biding their time just behind.

The second attempt from Espargaro came with 6 laps to go, but once again the Ducati passed him back. Rins was now closer and looking ready to strike.

Third time lucky! With only 5 laps to go, Espargaro took attempt number three and this time made it stick. Almost immediately he created a small gap from Martin (0.249 seconds). Which then became 0.381 seconds. The pace was most definitely there.

The final pass. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

However, Martin was not going to give up without a fight and stayed with Aleix. Unlike Aleix, Jorge knows the sweet taste of victory and the rush of adrenaline, but was Aleix about to also know the elation?

All Espargaro had to do was ride the perfect few laps. Just hold on!

The pressure was rising and audiences had their hearts in their mouths whist biting their nails. Just willing Aleix to the finish line. With just two laps to go.

It felt like forever for the last lap. A. Espargaro still led from J. Martin and A. Rins. The gap between Espargaro and Martin was now too large to shrink. The dream was edging even closer!

And just like that, history was made! Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia won the Argentine Moto GP 2022 race. With only his 4th ever podium and Aprilia’s first ever Premier Class win. After all the years of hard-work. There wasn’t a single person who didn’t feel joy for both rider and the team. 200 (premier Moto GP starts) must have been Aleix’s lucky number. The longest wait in Moto GP history for a maiden win, had finally ended.

All press can wait. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Not only did he win the race and the hearts of many viewers, he also leads the championship:

Championship Standings:

1st

A. Espargaro

45 points

2nd

B. Binder

38 points

3rd

E. Bastianini

36 points

4th

A. Rins

36 points

Top Ten Race Finishers:

1st

A. Espargaro

2nd

J. Martin

3rd

A. Rins

4th

J. Mir

5th

F. Bagnaia

6th

B. Binder

7th

M. Vinales

8th

F. Quartararo

9th

M. Bezzecchi

10th

E. Bastianini

Overcome with emotion A. Espargaro said “… this is just a dream…”. No Aleix, this really happened and everyone was 100% behind you.

With nine different podium finishers in the first three races this year, Moto GP has never been so unpredictable. What will happen this weekend in Austin?

 

 

Featured image. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

©2014-2024 ThePitCrewOnline