Category: Crew On Two

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Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 1

The earlier Superpole saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) claim top spot with an unbeaten time of 1:45.959, followed by team mate Andrea Locatelli, and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Scorching temperatures were already taking hold across Southern Europe, and the mercury was hitting 34 degrees Celsius for race 1, with a track temperature of nearly 60 degrees.

Lights out then for race 1 and it was Andrea Locatelli with the hole shot into turn 1, followed by Bassani 2nd, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 3rd, Toprak 4th, and Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 5th.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 1 – Picture courtesy of KRT WorldSBK

Next lap of the 19 lap race and positions were as follows: 1. Locatelli 2. Bassani 3. Bautista 4. Toprak 5. Rea 6. Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK)  7. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 8. Brad Ray (MotoxRacing Yamaha) 9. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) 10. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW)

With 18 laps to go, Bassani who had been looking aggressive from the off, dived up the inside of Locatelli to take the lead. Further back Rea held a gap of 0.7s to Redding, while Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was up to 10th. At the front Locatelli responded to retake the lead, Bautista moved into 2nd, while Bassani dropped down into 3rd. Drama then for Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) who crashed out, his race over.

Next lap and Toprak got through on Bautista up into 2nd. Pata Prometeon Yamahas were now 1 and 2.

With 16 laps of 19 remaining, Bassani continued to fall back and this time Rea got through and into 4th.

Next lap and Toprak got through on his team mate and took the lead. Meanwhile further back it was Redding 7th, Petrucci 8th, Baz 9th, Lowes 10th, and Ray 11th. Bautista then got through on Locatelli and up into 2nd, Rea too seized the opportunity and dived up the Italian into 3rd. Locatelli had now dropped to 4th.

With 13 laps to go, Bautista was slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Toprak. Rea put in a new fastest lap a 1:47.554 and was right on the back of Bautista. The leading trio were edging away from the rest of the field. Meanwhile further back Petrucci was up to 7th, Redding 8th. The factory Hondas were struggling again with Vierge 14th, and Lecuona 15th, although Vierge had to start from the back of the grid due to a last minute issue, so his position was well deserved. Leon Haslam (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) was in 13th and riding for the injured Tom Sykes.

Next lap and it was Locatelli with the new fastest lap a 1:48.353, he had clearly not given up and was trying to make contact with the leading trio. Bautista then had a massive tank slapper down the back straight and it allowed Rea to come through. Bautista was lucky to get away with what could have been a nasty crash. It didn’t deter Alvaro however, and he snapped back to take 2nd.

With 11 laps remaining Locatelli held a gap of 1.6s to Bassani in 5th, Rinaldi 6th.

Next lap and it was Petrucci who got through on Bassani up into 6th, Rinaldi was ahead of him in 5th, and Bassani had now dropped down to 7th.

Just over half race distance and Bautista had shrugged off his earlier moment, and was now right on Toprak. Rea was struggling to keep contact with the pace being set by the leading duo, and was falling behind.

With 8 laps to go Bautista had been lining up a pass and used the power of the Ducati to once again blast past Toprak down the back straight, and into the lead. It was a perfectly clean pass and Toprak could not respond. The 250 revs docked from the Ducati by the organisers, seemingly making no difference to the performance what so ever.

And if to reiterate the point, Bautista put in a new fastest lap a 1:47.065 with now only 6 laps remaining. Drama for Eric Granado (Petronas MIE Racing Honda Team) who crashed out.

With only 5 laps remaining the positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Rea 4. Locatelli 5. Rinaldi.

Next lap and drama for Lecuona who had to retire due to a mechanical issue. Meanwhile further back Bassani continued to slide down the positions, and was now getting reeled in by Loris Baz. Lowes was 9th, Redding 10th, Haslam 11th. Vierge then got through on Leon to take 11th. Meanwhile drama for the Swiss rider Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who retired back to the pits due to a mechanical.

Penultimate lap and Bautista now held a gap of 3.4s over Toprak, while Toprak held a similar gap over Rea in 3rd.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 1 – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Last lap and Bautista secured yet another win followed by Toprak 2nd, Rea 3rd, Locatelli 4th, Rinaldi 5th, Petrucci 6th, Bassani 7th, Baz 8th, Lowes 9th, and Redding 10th.

Result top 5:

  1. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK)
  3. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  4. Locatelli (Pata Prometeon WorldSBK)
  5. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 382
  2. Razgatlioglu – 284
  3. Locatelli – 188

 

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Round 6 WorldSBK, Donington Park, Race 2

The earlier Superpole race saw a new winner crowned, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK) claiming only his 2nd win of the season so far, with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) in 2nd, and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in 3rd.

Toprak Razgatlioglu WorldSBK Donington 02.07.2023 Race 2 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Lights out then for race 2 and both Toprak and Bautista were in contention, before Toprak took the early lead. Then before the first lap could be completed, a massive crash involving 3 riders into turn 8 Coppice, brought the red flag out and the race was stopped. The riders involved were, Tom Sykes (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW). Seemingly it was Sykes who had a massive highside, and the others were collected in the process.

The race would be restarted with a total of 22 laps.

Lights out for the restart and this time Bautista gets the hole shot, followed by Rea, Toprak 3rd, Locatelli (Pata Prometeon WorldSBK) 4th, and Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 5th. Toprak dived up the inside of Rea into his favourite corner, Melbourne Loop, to take 2nd.

Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Rea 4. Locatelli 5. Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) 6. Lowes 7. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) 8. Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 9. Aegerter (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) 10. Oettl (TeamGoEleven).

Toprak then once again, and in his favourite corner, stuck it up the inside of Bautista to move into the lead. The Spaniard had to pick the bike up, and it allowed Rea to come through into 2nd. Bautista got mugged in that corner and found himself in 3rd.

Next lap and Rea put in the new fastest lap with a 1:26.4, and increased the gap to Bautista to 0.3s. Meanwhile in 5th, the Texan, Gerloff, was having one of the best rides for a BMW rider in some time.

With 18 laps of 22 remaining, at the front it was still Toprak leading Rea, with Bautista in 3rd, Locatelli 4th, and Gerloff 5th. Bautista had reduced the gap to Rea to 0.2s.

Next lap and further back it was Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) 10th, Oettl 11th, and Remi Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK)  12th. Meanwhile at the front there was now a group of 7 riders forming, and Alex Lowes was showing good pace and passed Gerloff into 5th.

With 15 laps to go, the lap times between the leading trio of Toprak, Rea, and Bautista was similar. Further back Locatelli was struggling to keep in contact. Lowes then carried on his charge and moved past Locatelli into the chicane to take 4th.

Next lap and both Hondas were having a disaster of a weekend, with Vierge 13th, and Lecuona 15th. The Brit, Brad Ray (MotoxRacing Yamaha), was sandwiched in between in 14th.

With 13 laps to go, Bautista, who had been closing the gap made his move on Rea into the chicane and into 2nd. Meanwhile Toprak was looking to take his 2nd win of the weekend.

Next lap and Bautista put in the new fastest lap with a 1:26.4, and was now slowly reeling in the Turkish rider ahead. Meanwhile Rea couldn’t match the pace and was now losing contact with the two ahead the gap increasing to 1.6s.

Just over half race distance and Bautista seized the moment, and blasted past Toprak and into the lead in turn 1. Toprak however had the pace down the Craner Curves, and snapped straight back at Bautista into turn 4 to retake the lead.

Next lap and Bautista knew he had the speed to take Toprak down the straight, which he did to retake the lead. Toprak again responded using the agility of the R1 to close the gap through the twisty parts of the track. Meanwhile further back it was still Rea leading his team mate, followed by Locatelli 5th, Petrucci 6th, Redding 7th, and Gerloff down to 9th.

With 8 laps remaining, the weekend was going from bad to worse for Honda, and Xavi Vierge retired to the garage. Meanwhile as he had shown in race 1, Petrucci was capable of late race pace, and he was again gaining on the riders ahead. He caught Locatelli and made a clean pass into 5th.

Next lap and Scott Redding was having the best race of his season so far, and got through on Locatelli into 6th. He had only started from 9th on the grid. Meanwhile at the front the gap between Bautista, and Toprak, increased to 0.7s.

With 6 laps to go, Petrucci had now caught Lowes, and dived through into the Foggy Esses to take 4th. He now had Rea in his sights, and got through into 3rd with what would be his first podium of his WorldSBK career to date. Both Kawasakis were now dropping back, and Redding was reeling them in, he caught Lowes first and cut under him into the Melbourne loop to take 5th.

With 4 laps to go Redding had now caught Rea, and made a clean pass again into the Melbourne loop. The BMW had much better acceleration, and Rea was unable to respond. Meanwhile at the front Bautista increased the gap to 1.3s. Toprak was winding the life out of his R1 but was unable to make up any ground.

Penultimate lap and Petrucci had now increased the gap over Redding to 1.2s. Meanwhile Rea launched an attack on Redding into the chicane, but Redding was able to defend his position.

Petrucci WorldSBK Donington 02.07.2023 Race 2 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Last lap and Bautista crossed the line to take another win, followed by Toprak 2nd, Petrucci 3rd, Redding 4th, Rea 5th, Lowes 6th, Bassani 7th, Locatelli 8th, Gerloff 9th, Oettl 10th, Brad Ray 13th.

Results top 5:

  1. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK)
  3. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing)
  4. Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
  5. Rea (Kawaski Racing Team WorldSBK)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 357
  2. Razgatlioglu – 264
  3. Locatelli – 175

 

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Round 6 WorldSBK, Donington Park, Race 1

We’re back with race action after the long break, and no doubt all the riders would be keen to get straight back into the thick of it.

Donington Park was recently resurfaced, how would the riders fair on a track with less bumps and more grip?

The earlier Superpole saw Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), make a return to pole position with a top time of 1:26.041, followed by Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), and first time on the front row, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing).

For race 1 the rain showers of Friday had cleared, although it was still gusty, with track temperatures of mid 20 degrees.

Lights out then for race 1 and it was Alvaro Bautista with the holeshot into turn 1, followed in hot pursuit by Rea 2nd, Petrucci 3rd, Toprak (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK) 4th, and Tom Sykes (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) 5th. Drama for both Brad Ray (YamahaxRacing), and Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) who make contact into turn 1 sending both riders into the gravel. Ray comes off worse with his bike upside down, his race over. Gerloff rejoins at the back of the field.

Alvaro Bautista winner of R06 Donington WSBK 2023. Image courtesy of Ducati

Next lap and Rea had the bit between his teeth, keen not to let Alavaro get any headway. Rea seized the opportunity into the Foggy Esses as Bautista ran slightly off line, Rea cleanly through into the lead. Team mate Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was also making ground and was up into 4th, Toprak into 3rd, while Sykes had dropped down to 6th.

Rea then put in the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:27.384.

With 20 laps of 23 remaining, positions were as follows; 1. Rea 2. Toprak 3. Bautista 4. Lowes 5. Petrucci 6. Sykes 7. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) 8. Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK) 9. Aegerter (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) 10. Lecuona (Honda HRC). Locatelli then got through on Bassani up into 7th.

Another new fastest lap and this time its Toprak with a 1:27.043. Both Rea and Toprak were pulling away from Bautista in 3rd.

With 18 laps to go, Toprak had now clawed his way right onto the back of Rea and was looking for the pass. Meanwhile further back it was Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) 11th, Lecuona 12th, and Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) 13th. At the front Toprak out brakes Rea down into the Melbourne loop, diving up the inside and passing the Six time champion easily to take the lead. Meanwhile it had now become the leading trio, with Alvaro having rejoined the group in 3rd.

Next lap and Rea looked to be back to his best, taking back the lead as the track fell down into the Craner Curves, a lovely pass taking Toprak by surprise. Then Toprak snapped back into the Melbourne loop once again, cutting inside into the hard braking corner to retake the lead. This was turning into a blow for blow battle for the lead, all the while you sensed Bautista was biding his time in 3rd.

It was turning into a bad day for Bonovo Action BMW, with Loris Baz now having to retire due to a mechanical issue. Meanwhile at the front the leading trio would now be a quartet, as Lowes snagged onto the back of the group, and looked to have good pace. Bautista made his move on Rea into the chicane, taking the position he moved up to 2nd.

With 15 laps remaining, positions were as follows; 1. Toprak 2. Bautista 3. Rea 4. Lowes 5. Petrucci 6. Bassani 7. Locatelli 8. Sykes 9. Aegerter 10. Oettl (Team GoEleven).

Bautista now got through on Toprak and took the lead, setting a new fastest lap of 1:26.913 in the process.

With 13 laps to go Bautista put in another new fastest lap a 1:26.8, and ominously looked to be getting into his grove. Rea was trying to maintain contact in 3rd but was getting distanced.

Next lap and Bautista put in yet another fastest lap, a 1:26.615, and was now distancing Toprak who was winding the life out of his Yamaha R1, trying to keep in contact.

Over half race distance and Alvaro was showing no signs of slowing down, setting a new all time race lap record, a 1:26.610, increasing the gap to Toprak to 1.2s, while Toprak held a gap of 1.6s to Rea.

With 8 laps to go, Rea was drifting back with the gap to Toprak increasing to 1.9s, while Bautista held a gap of 1.7s over Toprak. Meanwhile further back Redding was up to 10th getting past Aegerter. Petrucci had made some what of a resurgence and was finding some late race pace, and got through on Lowes into the chicane to move into 4th, and was now hunting down the other Kawasaki of Rea. Further back Locatelli moved into 6th, getting through on Bassani.

With the track temperature rising it was working to Bautista’s advantage, and he was finding the extra grip ripping up lap time records one by one. It was another new all time fastest lap a 1:26.550, 0.5s slower then Rea’s pole position time.

Alvaro Bautista – R06 Donington WBSK 2023. Image courtesy of Ducati

With 6 laps to go Petrucci was slowly reeling in Rea with the gap down to 0.4s.

With only 4 laps remaining, Petrucci was now right on Rea with the gap down to 0.2s. Meanwhile out in front Bautista was looking in cruise control, a not unfamiliar scene. Further back Locatelli had caught Lowes and was looking for the pass.

Next lap and Locatelli finally made the pass on Lowes into the chicane moving into 5th.

Penultimate lap and Petrucci had eased off with the gap increasing to 0.5s to Rea. Bautista held a comfortable lead of 3.7s over Toprak.

Last lap and there was drama for both Lecuona, and Oettl who had been having a good race, the former crashing out into turn 4, with Oettl going down into one of the final corners. However no mistake for Bautista who crossed the line to take yet another win, that made it 11 wins in a row equalling his tally of 2019. Toprak 2nd, Rea 3rd, Petrucci 4th, Locatelli 5th, Lowes 6th, Bassani 7th, Redding 8th, Sykes 9th, Gardner 10th.

Result top 5:

  1. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK)
  3. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  4. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing)
  5. Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK)

 

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 323
  2. Razgatlioglu – 232
  3. Locatelli – 161

Featured image courtesy of Yamaha

 

 

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MotoGP: Bagnaia Takes Dominant Win as Podium Changes After Flag for DutchGP

In the last race before the 5-week summer break, the iconic Assen TT circuit has given us another brilliant race with difficult conditions and a close field to overcome.

Pecco Bagnaia has mastered the tricky, hot track conditions at the DutchGP to take a truly dominant victory. He led almost every lap of the race on his way to extending his championship lead.

After his brilliant pole positions and sprint race win, Marco Bezzecchi was thrilled with another podium today as he came home in 2nd place. He dropped back to 3rd at the race start, giving himself the challenge of fighting with Brad Binder for 2nd.

It was Binder who crossed the line in 3rd but, after a dramatic post-flag penalty for exceeding track limits, he was demoted to 4th. Replays showed that the South African touched the green part of the kerb with a fraction of his front tire – however, this was enough to set off the sensors and land him a penalty. He will feel very hard done by after facing the same fate in yesterday’s sprint race – It was the same kerb at the same part of the race that saw him miss out on a podium.

This meant that Aleix Espargraro was promoted to the 3rd place after a really positive race for the Aprilia rider. This is his first podium of the year – a surprise to many after his very strong showing at pre-season testing. He will be hoping to carry this momentum through the summer break and on to Silverstone in 5 weeks time. It was an impressive run for Espgararo who was nursing an injured bike after contact with Luca Marini’s rear tire at the start of the race.

Image Credit: MotoGP

It was a much more difficult day for Jack Miller, celebrating his 200th race, and Johann Zarco, celebrating his 250th race. Miller was the first rider to go down on lap 2, followed by Zarco, who was taken out by Fabio Quartararo on lap 3.

In the end, we only had 14 riders complete the full 26 lap race thanks to a number of riders falling victim to the 50-degree track temperatures and the numerous issues this caused.

As It Happened

As the riders made their way on to the grid, we were able to see their tire choices and how the riders were aiming to tackle the undoubtedly hot and greasy track conditions – tires were always going to prove crucial today. All riders, except two, were on the hard front tires. Half the grid then opted for a soft rear tire, the other half opting for a medium rear. Most notably were Brad Binder and Jack Miller who had opted for that soft rear – it looked as though they were aimed for a strong start to the race with that choice.

The lights went out and, as anticipated, there was quickly a lot of action up and down the grid. Polesitter, Marco Bezzecchi was swallowed by the chasing pack and quickly dropped down to 3rd. Binder, in typical Binder fashion, had a flying start. He saw a small gap on the inside of turn 1 and made a very late move, throwing his bike up and into the lead.

Further back, Jack Miller was sitting in 8th and hunting down Maverick Vinales in 7th. He then made a move on the start-finish straight at the start of lap 2. However, as Vinales tried to retake the position, Miller lost the bike under him slid out into the gravel at turn 1. Thanks to this clear air, Vinales was able to then take fastest lap.

It wasn’t long before the next incident and on lap 3, Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco went down at turn 7- the fastest part of the track. The replays showed that the front of Quartararo’s bike folded underneath him and he collected Zarco as he went down. It was clearly a huge impact for both riders, who looked battered and bruised. Quartararo was then helped out of the gravel as he limped away.

It was on the same lap that Pecco Bagnaia stole the lead away from Binder.

One more lap later, it was Vinales’ turn to go down. He was making moves up the field but sadly went down at turn 8. That’s four riders going down across 3 laps!

All these incidents helped to promote Jorge Martin, Miguel Oliveira and Alex Marquez who were running in 6th, 7th and 8th respectively. There was now a huge battle for 5th place, with 6 riders all in the fight. On lap 6, Luca Marini, who had been leading this pack, fell back from 5th to 10th in the space on one corner. This meant that Aleix Espargaro, running in a comfortable 4th, was gifted a 2.5s gap over this fighting group.

On lap 7, Enea Bastianini crashed out at turn 5 whilst running in 8th – he tried to get the bike back up and running again but it was a lost cause as the flames started to appear at the back of the Ducati machine.

At the midpoint of the race, we still had Bagnaia leading the field, with Binder hot on his tail in 2nd. Binder was able to gain a huge amount on the leader in every breaking zone, but wasn’t able to convert this into a move for the lead.

Everything across the field seemed to calm down as we drew ever closer to the chequered flag. The biggest drama came when Oliveira, running in 10th, made a mistake at turn 15. He then retired a lap later, suggesting it was a mechanical issue. A few laps later, we then had Iker Lecuona drop to the back of the field before also retiring with a mechanical issue. Lecuona is here this weekend to stand in for the injured Joan Mir.

With the laps ticking down now, Bezzecchi decided now was the time to make a move and lay down his intentions to win. On lap 17 of 26, he made a move on Binder, who tried hard to counter this. This battle then gave a 1.2s lead for Bagnaia.

Bezzecchi, now in 2nd and with some clean air in front of him, was gaining between 0.3s and 0.4s per lap on Bagnaia and looked like he might be making a late move for the victory.

After losing 2nd place, Binder was now in 3rd and falling back in to the clutches of Espargaro who was desperately seeking his first podium of the year.

There were gaps forming between most riders on the grid now and it appeared that the hot track conditions were hampering everyone from making late moves.

This meant that nothing changed on the track and Bagnaia took the chequered flag, ahead of Bezzcchi and Binder. Espargaro came home in 4th, but would soon be promoted to 3rd after Binder’s last lap penalty for track limits.

Jorge Martin, despite a difficult weekend where he seemed to be quite off the pace, came home in 5th. He was just ahead of Alex Marquez in 6th, Luca Marini in 7th and Takaaki Nakagami in 8th. Rounding out the top 10 were Franco Morbidelli in 9th and Augusto Fernandez in 10th.

Full Results
1 Pecco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo
2 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
3 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
4 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
5 Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
6 Alex Marquez Gresini Racing
7 Luca Marini Mooney VR46
8 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
9 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha
10 Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
11 Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia
12 Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF
13 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda
14 Jonas Folger GASGAS Tech3
Championship Standings
1 Pecco Bagnaia 194 points
2 Jorge Martin 159 points
3 Marco Bezzecchi 158 points
4 Brad Binder 114 points
5 Johann Zarco 109 points

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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Moto2: Dixon Races to First Grand Prix Win

Jake Dixon takes his first-ever Grand Prix win at Assen after an incredible race. He was joined by Ai Ogura and Pedro Acosta on the podium.

Both Alonso Lopez and Ogura had a good start off the line, but Lopez was able to hold onto the lead from pole position. Sam Lowes and Dixon lost places off the start with Lowes dropping to tenth. Tony Arbolino capitalised on the bad starts and moved himself up from tenth on the grid to sixth place.

Into the final chicane, Acosta was able to get past the championship leader Arbolino. The Spaniard continued to ride fast as he set the fastest time on the second tour of the circuit.

Lopez began to extend his lead out from Ogura to over half a second. Fermin Aldeguer was riding in fourth place but continued to lose time to the riders ahead of him, dropping over one second behind Dixon on the third lap.

Arbolino was unable to continue his move up the field and started falling down the grid from lap five.

Acosta started to close the gap to Dixon, who in turn was attempting to get past Ogura but failed.

Dixon and Ogura started to catch up to then race leader Lopez by lap six and worked together to bring the gap down.

Aldeguer cut the chicane on lap seven and was given a long lap penalty as the stewards determined that he did not lose enough time when returning to the track. The Beta Tools SpeedUp rider was in fourth place when it was given.

Dixon finally got past Ogura into turn one on lap nine and Arbolino was able to get past Albert Arenas on the same lap. After dispatching Ogura, Dixon continued to close in on Lopez.

On lap ten, Dixon looked for a move past Lopez at turn one but was unable to get past. Somkiat Chantra crashed at turn one on the same lap, causing a yellow flag in sector one.

The long lap loop had been catching some riders out, but Aldeguer completed it without an issue. He went into it fast but was still able to brake when he needed to and did not venture onto the green. Due to this, Arbolino made a mistake allowing Aron Canet to get past.

The battle for fourth place between Acosta and Ogura continued through lap eleven with the Spaniard trying to move on the Japanese rider but it could not stick. Dixon was also looking for a space around Lopez to try and take the lead.

Dixon got a good run out of the final corner and was able to overtake Lopez into turn one to lead the race. After this overtake, Lopez began to drop down the order as Ogura was able to pass him into the final chicane and Acosta passed him on the next lap.

Ogura and Acosta were both faster than Dixon on lap fourteen, eating slightly into his lead and the Brit lost the lead of the race on lap fifteen by running wide at turn five. But into the final chicane, Acosta lost front grip and had to make an amazing save to keep himself in the race, dropping himself to third. The stewards gave Acosta a long lap penalty for this due to him not losing one second in the sector.

After these mistakes, Ogura was able to extend the lead at the front of the race to just over one second, but Dixon was able to save some tyre and started to catch up to the Japanese rider. He began setting personal best laps, slowly reducing the gap between himself and first place.

Acosta took his long lap penalty on the nineteenth lap but did make a mistake by running onto the green paint. This would usually mean that the rider would need to retake the loop, but the stewards were happy with the penalty, even though he did not lose any places.

Dixon was able to close the gap up to less than two-tenths of a second on lap nineteen and got a brilliant drive out of the final chicane on the following lap. The slipstream was on the side of Dixon who sped past Ogura across the start-finish straight, but they touched into the first corner. Ogura ran wide but did not drop any places.

The lead into the final lap for Dixon was over one second and he comfortably completed the final tour of the circuit to cross the line in first place to win his first-ever Grand Prix race.

Aldeguer improved up to fourth place and was looking to make a move on Acosta but was unable to.

Lopez finished the race in sixth place ahead of Arbolino, Manuel Gonzalez, Arenas and Vietti who closed out the top ten.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

DUTCH MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, ASSEN – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 43.411s
2 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 44.745s
3 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 47.859s
4 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 47.898s
5 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 35m 48.295s
6 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 52.966s
7 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 53.036s
8 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 35m 53.958s
9 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 54.026s
10 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 35m 54.172s
11 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 59.375s
12 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 36m 1.645s
13 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 36m 3.819s
14 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 36m 4.050s
15 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 36m 7.903s
16 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 36m 12.827s
17 Carlos Tatay SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 36m 15.851s
18 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 36m 18.428s
19 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 36m 18.646s
20 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 36m 33.805s
21 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 36m 53.179s
22 Yeray Ruiz SPA Forward Team (Forward) +3 laps
  Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) DNF
  Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) DNF
  Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
  Sean Dylan Kelly USA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) DNF

 

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Irwin takes two wins, Bridewell extends BSB lead at Knockhill

Tommy Bridewell left Knockhill after the fourth round of the British Superbikes season with a slightly bigger championship advantage than he arrived with.

Heading into the weekend he held a slender three-point lead over teammate Glenn Irwin in the standings, but following a strong outing on the Fife-based circuit with two fourth-placed finishes and a second-place finish to his name gave him an eight-point lead going to Snetterton at the beginning of July.

But it’s no longer Irwin that follows him – Kyle Ryde is the man now settled in behind the current championship leader, and that’s thanks to an Irwin crash on the second race of the weekend.

Leading the pack with just three laps to go, Irwin looked set to take his second victory of the weekend following a victory on Saturday’s sprint race.

But that all unravelled in the blink of an eye when the Northern Irishman crashed at the Hairpin, promoting Ryde into first to take his fourth victory of the year.

However, Irwin bounced back in fine form come the final race of the weekend to take victory and wrap up BSB’s visit to Scotland.

The BeerMonster Ducati rider had to work for it however and benefitted from a Jason O’Halloran crash – the Yamaha rider had been locked in a battle with Christian Iddon from the beginning of the race, but it was a disappointing end to the weekend for the Australian whose final race of the weekend ended prematurely.

Irwin – promoted up a position thanks to O’Halloran’s crash – eventually made his way past Ryde on lap 10 of the race and quickly set about catching teammate Bridewell for the lead.

He had to remain patient, and eight laps later he pulled the trigger into the first corner, which was all he needed to do as he held off any pressure from behind there on to take the win.

With a second victory wrapped up from the weekend’s action, it was a question of what could have been for Irwin had he not suffered his race two crash.”

It’s a shame what happened in today’s first race as I could have been coming away with a hat-trick but I’m happy with the two wins we had, and I really enjoyed the final race,” he told Paul Bird Motorsport.

“I could see Tommy in the lead and knew when it was time to up the pace as whilst he was strong in some areas, I felt strong all around the circuit.

“He’s improved his braking into the Hairpin all weekend, but the BeerMonster Ducati was strong out of the Hairpin, and I was able to make my move along the straight and into the first corner.

“Two wins out of three means it’s been a pretty good weekend.”

Find the standings after Round 4 here.

Feature Image Credit: @OfficialBSB on Twitter 

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Moto2: Lopez Takes Pole by Nine Thousandths of a Second

Alonso Lopez stormed to pole position with a pole position record ahead of Jake Dixon and Ai Ogura who join him on the front row for tomorrow’s race.

In Q1, all eyes were on Barry Baltus, Celestino Vietti and Sergio Garcia as they fought for the four spots available to progress through to Q2. After the first set of laps, the spots were filled by Baltus, Vietti, Garcia and Jeremy Alcoba.

After setting a good lap time, Garcia crashed at turn one causing a yellow flag with two minutes to go. Lukas Tulovic crossed the start-finish line but was only able to set the fifth fastest time. Even with the yellow flag, he still had time to complete another fast lap.

However, due to the yellow flag, no rider was able to set a faster lap time and Baltus, Alcoba, Vietti and Garcia were the riders who went through to the second round of qualifying.

The next fifteen minutes were dedicated to finding the riders who would set the top eighteen places for the grid tomorrow. All the riders came out as soon as the green flag was flown except Ai Ogura, Aron Canet and Somkiat Chantra.

After the first set of runs, Dixon set a 1:36.304 – the all-time pole record around the TT Circuit Assen. He was followed by Acosta, Fermin Aldeguer, Sam Lowes and Manuel Gonzalez.

Dixon almost set a faster lap time, as he was up on his own time in the first two sectors but was met with traffic in the third sector, meaning he was unable to improve. Acosta had his second flying lap deleted due to exceeding track limits. Vietti jumped up to second place ahead of Albert Arenas.

Ogura jumped to the top of the timesheets with a lap 0.003 seconds faster than Dixon who had just gone into the pits to change his tyres and headed out for a second set of lap times. Pedro Acosta was able to improve on his lap time to set the third fastest lap time but was still a quarter of a second down on the lap time from Ogura.

With four minutes left, Vietti crashed in sector one causing a yellow flag for the riders behind, but Dixon was lucky in that he was coming to the end of his lap when the caution came out and set a faster lap once again and Sam Lowes also improved to fourth place.

Arenas had the potential to set a quick time after setting the fastest first two sectors but was unable to put the rest of the lap together and set the seventh fastest lap time.

Aron Canet crashed at turn one with two minutes left in the session causing a yellow flag. Lopez was incredibly lucky to have passed through sector one before the Pons Wegow Los40 rider went down and was able to set a 1:36.247, which is a pole position record and only nine thousandths of a second faster than Dixon just behind him. Ogura joins the Spaniard and Brit on the front row tomorrow.

Aldeguer leads the second row ahead of Lowes and Acosta in front of the third row which consists of Chantra, Arenas and Vietti.

Championship leader Tony Arbolino was only able to set a time fast enough for tenth place on the grid tomorrow.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

2023 DUTCH MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, ASSEN – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 36.247s
2 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 36.256s
3 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 36.301s
4 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 36.481s
5 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 36.528s
6 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 36.560s
7 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 36.564s
8 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 36.603s
9 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 36.663s
10 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 36.738s
11 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 36.763s
12 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 36.827s
13 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 36.850s
14 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 37.045s
15 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 37.133s
16 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 37.136s
17 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 37.512s
18 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 37.691s
19 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 37.223s
20 Carlos Tatay SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.384s
21 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 1m 37.407s
22 Sean Dylan Kelly USA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.517s
23 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 37.518s
24 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.551s
25 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 37.738s
26 Yeray Ruiz SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 37.742s
27 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 38.113s
28 Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 38.134s

 

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MotoGP: Martin Takes Breathtaking Win In Germany

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

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

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

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

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

Image Credit: @DucatiCorse on Twitter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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Moto2: Acosta Controls German GP to Take Win

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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

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

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

HOW IT HAPPENED

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Race Result

Image Credit: MotoGP

Moto3 Championship Standings After Round 7 

Image Credit: MotoGP

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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