Category: Moto2

After two straight wins for Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40), the Moto2 World Championship heads back to the Americas for round three of the 2019 season, at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas.

Unfortunately for Baldassarri, COTA has been one of his worst tracks in Moto2. He crashed in his first Moto2 outing at the Austin circuit in 2014; finished twenty-sixth and second-last in 2015; in 2016 he was second-last and twenty-third; he crashed again in 2017; and last year he took his best result in Texas, with a tenth place. This weekend could prove to be a big damage limitation job for the championship leader, but his form in the first two races would suggest he is up to that task.

Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) has a last name with mixed connotations. Of course, there are benefits to being the younger brother of a seven-times motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion, but the name also brings with it a lot of expectation and pressure, the justification of which is subjective. Arguably, the Marquez name brings the most pressure in Texas, where older brother Marc has never been beaten, and won his first MotoGP race back in 2013. Alex Marquez looked the nailed on winner ahead of last year’s race, before tyre woes in the latter stages saw him finish second to eventual series winner, Francesco Bagnaia. Marquez currently sits sixth in the championship, twenty-five points behind double-winner Baldassarri, after going 7-3 in the first two rounds of the season. With Baldassarri seeming destined to struggle this weekend, the Grand Prix of the Americas could be the chance Marquez needs to announce himself as a championship contender.

However, it will not just be Marquez who will be looking to break Baldassarri’s 100% record this weekend.

Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) has been one of the surprise packages of 2019 so far, just missing out on his debut podium in Qatar, before finally achieving it last time out in Argentina. He looked to be able to win in Termas, but when Baldassarri made his move on the Aussie, he was forced wide, and after that the Italian was able to extend the gap. Such a strong start to the season makes Gardner an outside championship contender at this stage, and he will look to confirm that this weekend.

Contrarily, almost, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) – who were probably the three outstanding championship favourites coming into this season – will be looking to establish themselves in this, the third round of the championship.

Brad Binder was given a one-place penalty in Argentina for irresponsible riding. The penalty was probably fair, as many of the moves Binder put on his rivals, especially in the closing stages of the race, were past the limit. The penalty meant he finished sixth which, combined with a difficult Qatar, means the South African lies seventh in the championship, thirty-six points off Baldassarri.

Sam Lowes had an even more disappointing time in Argentina, crashing out early on. He now sits eleventh and forty points off Baldassarri in the championship. Fortunately for Lowes, he has good memories of Texas, as it is where he took, in fine style, his first Grand Prix win back in 2015 on the Speed Up, a result he will be hoping to match this weekend as he looks to recover points to the championship leaders.

Luca Marini lies just ahead of Binder in the championship, by three points. The Italian has been recovering from a shoulder surgery from last year in the first part of this year. Whether the fitness of the Italian will be improved this weekend is unsure, but the physicality of COTA means that it will be important for Marini to be in a good condition for this weekend, if he is to make a good result.

What is for certain is that Marini’s Sky Racing Team VR46 teammate, Nicolo Bulega, will not be in COTA at all, due to his physical condition. Bulega pulled out of the Argentina race because of arm pump, and surgery this week will see him miss round three of the series, in the hopes of being close to full fitness in Jerez at the beginning of May.

Bulega is not the only Moto2 rider absent this weekend, as Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) is out after his monster crash in free practice two weeks ago. The Spaniard will be replaced for the American round of the World Championship by Mattia Pasini.

Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

The 2019 Argentinian Moto2 Grand Prix saw Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) take his second win of the season with a controlled ride, but comparative chaos amongst the other riders.

In that sense, the race started as it was to go on, with Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) having a big lunge up the inside of turn one, only to run wide and drop back to sixth.

That meant that it was Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt IntactGP) who took the early lead, essentially from pole position since Xavi Vierge’s Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex expired on the warm up lap, meaning the pole setter was unable to start the race.

Along with Schrotter, Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team), Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) and Lorenzo Baldassarri formed a group of four which detached itself slightly from the chasing pack.

This, however, changed when Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) caught onto the back of the four and brought Iker Lecuona (American Racing) with him.

Before Binder was able to bridge the gap, however, he was hit from behind by Tom Luthi (Dynavolt IntactGP) which caused the Swiss to crash, and moments later Sam Lowes followed him down in sympathy.

Upon Binder’s arrival on the back of the front group, Lorenzo Baldassarri decided it was time to go. This would prove to be a smart decision, as Binder’s passes from this point in the race left a lot to be desired.

Whilst one of his earlier passes within the front group, made on Alex Marquez in turn thirteen, was a well-calculated affair, the ones which followed almost invariably involved contact on the apex, and running his rival wide, unnecessarily. This came to a head on the final lap, after he had punted Schrotter wide in turn two on the previous lap, and now hit Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) on the apex of turn seven. He then sat up Schrotter again (the German had passed both Marini and Binder when Binder made his move in turn seven) in turn thirteen to take fifth place.

Whilst this was going on, Lorenzo Baldassarri had taken the lead from Remy Gardner, forcing the Australian wide in turn five as he moved over slightly in the braking zone whilst he tried to tough it out round the outside. The move gave Baldassarri the lead and a one second advantage to second place which, at the time, was occupied by Alex Marquez.

This changed at the end of the lap when Gardner came back through on Marquez and then on after Baldassarri. However, it was to no avail, as the Italian’s pace was simply superior, and allowed the #7 to take his second win from two races. With the crash for Luthi, the Italian saw his championship advantage stretch to seventeen points.

Remy Gardner inherited second place in the championship courtesy of taking second place in Argentina to back up his fourth in Qatar. The win was available for Gardner, but Baldassarri’s forceful move prevented that. However, the Australian rode well, making several fantastic passes, as well as looking at home in the front group. His time will come, and for now a first World Championship podium should sit well with the Australian who was so upset with having missed out in Qatar.

Third place in the end went to Alex Marquez, a prediction he will have likely laughed off had you told him that on Friday, which was something of a disaster for both him and his teammate, Vierge. Unlike in the past, in this race Marquez fought back after being shuffled back in the pack, and whilst he didn’t have the pace of Baldassarri or Gardner in front, he maximised his points score from what was looking like a difficult weekend. With a view to the championship, this has been a good result for Marquez, and one he will look to build on in Texas before his home race in Jerez.

Iker Lecuona took a career-best result of fourth place from Termas, and finished as top KTM thanks to Binder’s antics, which saw him finish fifth and two seconds behind Lecuona.

Sixth place went to Schrotter, although he had the pace to fight for the podium, and Luca Marini ended up seventh after his battle with Binder in the final lap.

Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) took eighth place, ahead of top rookie Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) who took that honour for the second round in succession, despite a difficult weekend. Perhaps the surprise of the day, though, was Bastianini’s fellow rookie, Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), who took the first top ten of his Moto2 and Grand Prix career in just his second World Championship race.

Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) took eleventh, ahead of Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team), Khairul Idham Pawi (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) and Jesko Raffin who was the final points scorer.

Featured image courtesy of David Goldman/MarcVDS

The Argentinian Moto3 Grand Prix was typically maniacal, with the general order of the day being ‘pass or be passed’. Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) took his debut win, from Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) and Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) who completed the podium.

The race took the form of a typical Moto3 race, a large group with many lead changes, riders not spending a great deal of consecutive time at the front, some arriving at the front before dropping back, others remaining in the very top positions for the majority of the race, and others able to make little progress with so many riders around.

It soon became clear, though, that Darryn Binder was out on the attack, making big, bold moves at every opportunity. He was slow on the straight, but had a few yards on is competitors on the brakes, an area where he is almost always at an advantage compared to his rivals.

Also making his presence known in the front group was Gabriel Rodrigo (Kommerling Gresini Racing) who, in his home Grand Prix, was prepared to accept nothing other than a win, which in the end cost him a podium.

The final lap began with Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) in the lead, but by turn five he was out of contention, having been pushed wide by the melee going on around him. It was unfortunate for Dalla Porta. He did nothing wrong, but that’s Moto3.

Whilst Dalla Porta was out of contention, Rodrigo had taken the lead, only for it to be snatched away from him in turn seven by Masia with a nice out-braking move. Masia had been pushed back in the pack earlier in the race but fought hard to arrive back in victory contention by the final lap.

Once Masia had the lead, he just had to hang onto it. He out-braked everyone in the final corner, and there was the chequered flag, waiting for him, as he took his first career victory. Following the disappointment of a DNF in Qatar, the young Spaniard proved he is a force to be reckoned with, and will look to back this performance up in the coming rounds, and identify himself as a championship contender.

Darryn Binder had looked slightly over-aggressive all weekend, but he harnessed that in the race to give himself second place. Once he arrived in the top positions, he didn’t leave them, something which is difficult to do in Moto3, but his prowess on the brakes meant it was difficult for anyone do to anything about him.

Since this race last year Tony Arbolino has been awaiting a podium. He was leading comfortably in Valencia last year before he crashed, and he led in Qatar, but finally the Italian has his first podium in Grand Prix racing, something which he will be hoping to build on in the coming races, especially in Jerez, a circuit in which he has gone well in the past.

Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) started the race incredibly well, leading for periods and spending a lot of time in the front positions. He got forced back in the group mid-way through the race but fought back well to finish fourth, his best result since his podium in Motegi back in 2017.

Missing direct access to Q2 yesterday put a dampener on Ayumu Sasaki’s (Petronas SRT) weekend, but fifth place in a chaotic race represents perhaps his best performance since he arrived on the GP scene in 2017. As with the podium finishers, this is a result which the Japanese will be hoping to build on.
Gabriel Rodrigo entered turn thirteen on the final lap in second place but he exited it sixth, having spun the rear tyre on the exit, allowing four riders past. It was a shame for the home rider, who finally put together a good weekend in Termas at his sixth attempt.

Despite leading into turn one on the final lap, Lorenzo Dalla Porta managed only seventh, ahead of Dennis Foggia (Sky Racing Team VR46) who made a good recovery after a difficult qualifying to finish in the top ten, ahead of Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) and round one victor Kaito Toba (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), who was sent out of the group for being caught up in an incident with John McPhee (Petronas SRT) and Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) which saw the Spaniard retire.

Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai) had a strong race, especially in the middle portion, but finished only eleventh in the end, ahead of Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) who spent most of the race at the front but disappointingly fell back at the end. Thirteenth went to Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse), who was ahead of Celestini Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) and Raul Fernandez who completed the points finishers.

Featured Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

The 2019 Moto2 World Championship began under the lights in Qatar to the soundtrack of 765cc Triumph three-cylinder motors, and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) came out on top in a last lap duel with Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP).

Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) made the holeshot from Baldassarri, but it took the Italian only one lap before he assumed the lead.

After a few laps, Vierge dropped another spot to Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) – the polesitter – and the attack from the German was enough to destabilise the #97 rider to the extent that Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) and Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) soon found their way through as well.

From this point, Baldassarri and Schrotter engaged in a cold war, trading lap times but Schrotter was never able to get within range of Baldassarri.

As the race settled down, Tom Luthi started to make his charge from the back half the top ten. He had a lot of pace, but took his time in passing people. By the halfway point, though, Luthi had passed Alex Marquez for fourth place, and was setting on after Gardner for the final podium spot. With three laps to go, the Swiss veteran of the Moto2 class had seized second place from teammate Schrotter and by the end of the penultimate lap he had caught Baldassarri.

It was clear that Luthi had a large advantage in edge grip, able to carry significantly more corner speed than Baldassarri, and this was especially noticeable through the three fast right-handers towards the end of the lap.

However, despite showing a nose in turns fourteen and fifteen, Luthi was unable to make a pass stick on Baldassarri, and the Italians snaking on the run to the line was enough to keep the 2005 125cc World Champion at bay, as Balda took the first win of the Triumph era of Moto2, a year on from being beaten to the Qatar victory by Pecco Bagnaia.

It was a stunningly metronomic ride from Baldassarri, consistently lapping in the mid-1’59s, dipping into the low-‘59s when he needed to. Against a more aggressive rider, maybe he would have lost out on the final lap, but the Italian did what he needed to do to go to Argentina leading the Moto2 World Championship for the first time in his career.

Tom Luthi’s return to Moto2 was last than half a tenth of a second away from being precisely perfect. If he hadn’t been considered already, Luthi has, with this ride, announced his intentions of winning his first world title in fourteen years. The Swiss held on impeccably to his tyre, something which his rivals were unable to replicate. This could prove to be a critical advantage throughout this season.

Marcel Schrotter hung on to the last podium position on the final lap from Remy Gardner, the German just running out of pace at the end. It has deserted him so far but Schrotter seems to be edging closer to that first Moto2 win.

Having stolen third place from Schrotter in turn one on the final lap, Gardner lost it again towards the end. He arrived in Qatar as one of the favourites for the win, so disappointment from the Aussie would be understandable. However, it was perhaps the best dry performance of the #87 in his entire grand prix career, and a fourth place is a good beginning.

Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) had a quiet but impressive first ride of the season in fifth place, easily clear of those behind and closing in on the podium battle towards the end.

Behind Fernandez was Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2). If Remy Gardner arrived in Qatar as one of the favourites, Sam Lowes arrived as the absolute favourite, and by a chunk. However, several mistakes when overtaking people hampered his progress from the second row, and it is difficult to avoid the fact that the Brit missed out on a lot of points at the season opener. Luckily for Lowes, the season consists of nineteen races, not just one.

Seventh place went to Alex Marquez, who like Lowes will be disappointed with his result, having felt he had a strong race pace for the season opener.

Equally disappointed will be Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46). He had not looked to have the pace to fight at the front for the whole weekend, or even in the test.  Luca who is both expected and expecting to fight for the title this season, when his supposed main rivals Lowes and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) were struggling he would have hoped to take advantage, especially at a track where he has gone well in the past.

But, for Binder, the race was even worse. He started by climbing four places to fourth place, but slowly slipped back from there, and appeared to run completely out of tyre at the end, haemorrhaging positions in the last couple of laps to: Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team), Xavi Vierge – who suffered massively mid-race – and Fabio Di Giannantonio (+Ego Speed Up). Whilst it was a disaster for Binder, to beat such a recognised championship favourite in their first race would have been something to smile about for the rookies, Bastianini (finished ninth) and Di Giannantonio (finished eleventh).

Despite starting the weekend in a good way and with some good speed, Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) could only manage thirteenth in the race, ahead of Jesko Raffin (NTS RW Racing Team) who replaced Steven Odendaal and reigning Moto3 World Champion Jorge Martin who was the final points scorer.

Most of the retirements came on the first lap, as Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) collected Iker Lecuona (American Racing Team) on the way into the first corner, and Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up) got caught up in the melee as well. Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech3) had a disappointing start to his Moto2 career as he crashed at turn six on the first lap after some contact with Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), who crashed at turn four early in the race as well.

Featured image  courtesy of Dynavolt Intact GP

For the first time in the history of the intermediate class of grand prix motorcycle racing, the qualifying session in Qatar for the opening round of the 2019 Moto2 World Championship was split into two parts. In the same way as Moto3, the fastest fourteen riders from the combined free practice times would be joined in the pole position shoot-out of Q2 by the four fastest riders in Q1.

The four advancing riders from Q1 were: the Sky Racing Team VR46 duo of Luca Marini and class rookie Nicolo Bulega; Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) and Iker Lecuona (American Racing KTM), the Spaniard the beneficiary of Fabio Di Giannantonio (+Ego Speed Up) having his fastest lap cancelled.

As in the preceding Moto3 Q2, there was some bunching out on track as riders looked to get a tow. However, the rider who took pole made his lap time on his own, and he did it over and over. Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) took his first Moto2 pole position as a result of a 1’58.585, which followed a series of laps from the German which would have been good enough or pole.

In the end, Schrotter’s advantage over second place was 0.146 seconds, and it was over Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who put himself in almost the perfect position for his debut with his new squad tomorrow.

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) ensured it was three different nationalities on the front row of the first Moto2 round of the 2019 season, but also that it was a Kalex front row lockout for the first GP of the Triumph-powered era of the Moto2 World Championship. Baldassarri finished second in Qatar last season, and will hope that this good grid position will allow him to go one better this time round.

Fourth place went to Luca Marini after he made it through from Q1. The Italian could have been on the front row but a crash at turn two in the closing stages of the session put him out of contention.

Marini will be joined on the front row tomorrow by the two riders who arguably came into this season as the favourites for the race win: Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) in fifth and Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) in sixth. Whilst both Lowes and Gardner would have perhaps hoped for more, the second row gives them a good position from which they can fight for the top positions.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was the top non-Kalex rider as he put his KTM eighth place, between the two Kalex’s of Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) – seventh on his Moto2 return – and Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who begins his fifth season in Moto2 from ninth on the grid.

Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) will start tomorrow’s GP from tenth, ahead of Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in eleventh. Martin had a crash midway through Q2, which limited his chances. Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up) completed the fourth row.

Enea Bastianini has looked to have top ten pace all weekend, but could only manage thirteenth on his debut for the Italtrans squad. He will be joined by Tetsuta Nagashima and fellow rookie Nicolo Bulega on row five tomorrow.

After passing through Q1, Iker Lecuona qualified sixteenth, ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) – who like his teammate has shown better than his qualifying result throughout the weekend – and Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP).

The Losail International Circuit plays host to the first round of the 2019 Moto2 World Championship this weekend.

After three days of testing for the Moto2 field last weekend, Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) has emerged as the favourite for the win – dominating the three days and ending 0.2 seconds clear of the field.  With two difficult years it seems Lowes is ready to return to the front with the team in which he made his most successful season in Grand Prix racing back in 2016. The Brit has always been competitive in Qatar, even in his Grand Prix debut in 2014. Where he finished inside the top ten with the Speed Up team, and it seems as though this year could be his best opportunity to finally take the win in Qatar – a win which would somewhat fittingly see, a British rider win the first race of the Triumph-powered era of Moto2.

From the test it seems that Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) could be Lowes’ closest challenger for the season opener, the Australian finishing third in the combined times of the test, and showing a good rhythm. Back on a Kalex for 2019, Gardner looks set for what could possibly be his best season in the Moto2 World Championship – a podium to open the year would be a good way to start that for the #87.

Between Lowes and Gardner in the Qatar test on the combined times was Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) who returns to the intermediate class after a year with the Marc VDS team in MotoGP. Interestingly, this will be Luthi’s first season in Moto2 outside of the Interwetten team with whom he enjoyed so much success previously. He has, though, joined a very strong team in the Dynavolt outfit, who has won races in the past with Jonas Folger, and scored many podiums last season with Xavi Vierge and Marcel Schrotter.
Vierge, who has now joined the EG 0,0 Marc VDS squad is certainly a dark horse for the championship after some strong performances last season for Dynavolt. He looked strong in testing too, and goes to Qatar with hopes of a podium, no doubt.

The same could be said for his EG 0,0 Marc VDS teammate, Alex Marquez, who ended the three days in Qatar just under a tenth behind Vierge and has looked strong throughout preseason. The critical thing for Marquez this season is to stop crashing. Hitting the deck last year cost him the championship – it cost him points and cost him his confidence. The regulation change for Moto2 this season could provide the mental refreshment necessary for the Spaniard to make an assault for the championship.

But, aside from Lowes, the championship favourites are almost universally agreed to be Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo). Both were over half a second off Lowes’ time in the Qatar test, but have also looked strong since preseason testing resumed after the winter ban.

Interestingly, neither one of the three main championship contenders have achieved a victory in Qatar and, as such, there is a good possibility for the likes of Vierge, Luthi and Marquez to take an early advantage. As well as those three,  Lorenzo Baldassarri and his Flexbox HP40 Pons teammate Augusto Fernandez could be in the battle this weekend, although Baldassarri was not particularly spectacular in testing at the weekend. Fernandez, on the other hand, was fourth fastest at the end of the three days, only three tenths off Lowes.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this weekend, though, as far as the intermediate class is concerned is the beginning of a new era. The powerless, screaming Honda CBR600RR engines will have officially been replaced on Friday by the torquey Triumph 765 three-cylinder motor. As well as change in sound, these engines have also produced changes in riding style. The torque of the new engine means that corner speed is not as vital as before to lap time; now it is possible to square corners off and still make lap times. This should result in better racing, as riders can send more risky passes knowing they aren’t going to be so slow on the straight as a result. On Sunday we will find out if this is the reality.

Featured Image courtesy of Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool