Crew On Two

15th August 2021

Round two at Austria – Sensational!

Qualifying:

Jorge Martin (Ducati) and Miguel Oliveira (KTM) made the top ten and went through to FP2.

It looked like Quartararo had secured pole but Martin put in an all-time lap record (1:22.643) and stole pole in the last few seconds. Pushing Fabio to 2^nd, Franceso Bagnaia (Ducati) went to 3^rd and Johann Zarco (Ducati) 4^th.

The big news that was announced was: Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) had been suspended from racing, due to last weekends antics on track. It was discovered that he had tried to blow up his Yamaha M1 engine, possibly causing serious danger to both himself and others. It is believed that he will not compete in any further races this year.

Race:

The weather was hot and humid in Austria, with massive black rain clouds looming above the track. The race was declared dry and would be a flag-to-flag affair. But, if hopes for a repeat of last weekend’s Austria race were anywhere near, they were soon to be dashed.

Martin sat in pole and got a fantastic launch, quickly leading Bagnaia, Zarco and Quartararo. Immediately, as all four riders went into turn one, the white flags started to wave signifying that bikes could then be swapped.

Bagnaia soon took the lead and Martin and Quartararo tussled for 2^nd. Marc Marquez (Honda) was also battling at the front, gaining 4^th and then 3^rd place by lap 3. By lap 4, he had made it into 2nd. He was the only rider to have a soft (rear) tyre.

By lap 6 all top five riders kept swapping positions, none of them wanting to give an inch.

With the black clouds heavy with rain above them, a few rain drops suddenly started to appear and thunder rumbled in the distance. It was then the time for white and red flags to be waved on turn 2, meaning there was rain in that sector.

Rain clouds above. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Lap 8 of 28, saw Quartararo take the lead, but it was quickly taken back by Bagnaia on the start-finish line. Bagnaia took his chance and soon started to gap from the pack. By the half-way point in the race, there were more gaps appearing between the riders.

Meanwhile the black clouds continued to gather and then drama ensued:

The start of the second part of the incredible entertainment came from Enea Bastianini’s Ducati. The fairing suddenly broke free and flew off onto the side of the track, causing him to have to retire.

Bastianini’s side exposed. Courtesy of: BT Sport Moto GP replay.

Zarco then crashed out of the race on turn 9. Marquez and Quartararo continued to fight with each-other for 2^nd place, behind Bagnaia and in-front of last weekends winner in 4^th. But an unusual mistake from Fabio meant Marquez was suddenly on the back of Pecco. On lap 22 he took the lead with a sensational maneuver, but Bagnaia was quick to respond and re-took first within seconds. That of course brought Quartararo back into play.

7 laps to go, the rain became heavier, causing Oliveira to crash on turn one. Everyone was becoming more and more tentative into the corners. Jack Miller (Ducati) and Alex Rins (Suzuki) decided that was their moment to enter the pits and swap their bikes. Would this prove to be effective, with very little race left?

Racing like they were on ice, all front five riders continued to circulate on slick tyres and not only that, they continued to fight for positions!

Marquez led Quartararo, Bagnaia, Martin and Binder. Incredible passes upon passes continued. Hands were being thrown in the air, regarding the poor weather conditions but the race was not going to be stopped as it was a flag-to-flag event.

Bagnaia leading Martin. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Then with no hesitation all 5 front leading riders went straight into the pits to change to their wet weather bikes, leaving the KTM rider, Brad Binder alone to lead the race from Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha). Only nine riders remained on slick tyres, on a very wet track.

It was hard to believe that then there was only three laps remaining until the end. Binder was riding an incredibly brave race, skidding and sliding in ever-increasing hazardous conditions.

Marc Marquez crashed out on lap 26, turn 1. He had been riding all-in and unfortunately couldn’t quite pull it off. He managed to get back on the bike and later said “this is my best Sunday of the year”… “it’s only one championship point but I really enjoyed getting it”. Meanwhile, Binder was doing the unthinkable and started to break away from the rest of the riders, with only 2.6miles of track to the line. Could he hold on? Could he bring KTM’s first win at their home track in Moto GP?

The riders behind Binder were racing incredibly slowly – most of them having stayed out on slick tyres. A. Espagaro and Iker Lecuona (KTM) battled for 2^nd. Luca Marini (Ducati) passed his brother (46) and Espargaro. But it was the ‘Bagnaia Bullet’ that came from no-where and passed everyone to gain 2^nd place! Following close behind were Martin and Mir. Leaving Binder to get his second victory in the premier class. He was given a 3-second penalty for exceeding track limits on the last lap, but he had hardly any control over his bike in the treacherous conditions. The penalty didn’t effect the result though, in the end he managed to gain 12 seconds from his nearest rival, even with Bagania racing through to gain 2^nd. Brad’s gamble had indeed paid off!

Podium finishers. Courtesy of: Moto GP (Twitter Account).

The number 33 became the 7^th different winner in 2021 and the rookie Martin secured not only his 2^nd pole in a row but his 2^nd race podium as well.

Top Ten Race Results:

1	Binder
2	Bagnaia
3	Martin
4	Mir
5	Marini
6	Lecuona
7	Quartararo
8	Rossi
9	A. Marquez
10	A. Espargaro

Updated Championship Reults:

1st	Quartararo	181 points
2nd	Bagnaia	134 points
3rd	Mir	134 points
4th	Zarco	132 points

What a race?! The championship hunt is hotting up once again, with Quartararo’s lead now less and Zarco unfortunately dropping to fourth. Bagnaia and Mir are now on equal points. Could we see Mr. Consistency rise in the ranks once again and fight to remain World Number One?

What will we witness next round at Silverstone in two weeks time?

(Featured image: Courtesy of Moto GP website).

10th August 202117th August 2021

Moto2: Dark clouds loom over the Austrian Alps

And so Moto2 returns after the five week summer break with Round 10, the Styrian Grand Prix, high in the Austrian Alps, and Sunday’s race certainly brought plenty of ups and downs.

All eyes were on the weather over the weekend, with dark clouds looming over practice and qualifying. The rain stayed away and the race was declared dry, but away from the racing line the track remained damp and greasy.

Before Sunday’s race Australia’s Remy Gardner led the championship on 184 points, his Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Raul Fernandez 2nd with 153, Bezzecchi 3rd on 128, Britain’s Sam Lowes 4th on 99, and Fabio Di Giannantonio 5th with 73.

During free practice news broke that Raul Fernandez will be moving up to MotoGP next season, to join his current teammate Remy Gardner at KTM, but did the unfortunate timing of the announcement impact on Fernandez’s performance?

For only the second time this season, neither of Red Bull KTM Ajo teammates made an appearance on the podium. Remy Gardner started from pole, and his teammate Raul Fernandez on the 2nd row in 4th after a frustrating qualifying.

It looked as though Sunday would be Japanese rookie Ai Ogura’s time to shine, as he briefly held pole position during qualifying. He was pipped at the post by Gardner, but claimed his first front row start of the season in second, with Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi making up the front row in 3^rd. Alongside Raul Fernandez on the second row were Aron Canet in 5^th and Augusto Fernandez 6^th. On the third row, Britain’s Sam Lowes started 7^th, Lorenzo dalla Porta 8^th, and Somkiat Chandra 9^th.

Gardner briefly led the opening lap before being passed by Bezzecchi, and his attempt to reclaim the lead was foiled by running wide, also allowing teammate Raul Fernandez through. Ogura dropped back to 5^th, and the next few laps saw Gardner retaking the lead, Aron Canet up into second, the pair of them pulling ahead of Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez who were battling for 3^rd. On lap 6 Fernandez ran very wide into turn 9, dropping down to 7^th place, Ai Ogura moving back up into 4^th, and Gardner and Canet stretching out to almost a second ahead of 3^rd place Bezzecchi.

On lap 11 Ogura posted the fastest lap of the race and looked set for the first podium finish of his rookie Moto2 season, but after incurring a late penalty for exceeding track limits ended up by crossing the line in 5th. After completing the race it was announced that Ogura had been penalised a further 3 seconds for exceeding track limits during the long lap penalty. Despite this he finished far enough ahead of 6th place Celestino Vietti to hold on to the position.

Lap 20 saw an uncharacteristic error from Gardner, late on the brakes into turn 1 and running into the gravel to avoid the back wheel of Bezzecchi. He managed to keep the bike upright and rejoined in 5th.

Marco Bezzecchi of SKY Racing Team VR46 held onto the lead to claim his first win of the season, despite pressure from Spain’s Aron Canet who finished second, and the 3^rd podium spot was claimed by Augusto Fernandez, celebrating his second podium in as many races. Remy Gardner crossed the line in 4^th, and Raul Fernandez finished 7^th, the worst finish of his rookie Moto2 season. Despite moving up to 5^th on lap 4, Britain’s Sam Lowes had a difficult race, but still managed to finish within the points in 14^th.

The top five positions in the championship remain the same – Gardner increases his lead from 31 to 35 points ahead of second place Raul Fernandez. Bezzecchi, in third, closes the gap on Fernandez from 25 to 9 points, with fourth place Lowes trailing by 52 points, and Italy’s Fabio Di Giannantonio in 5^th, 25 points behind Lowes.

Sunday 15^th August sees the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. Can Ai Ogura make up for his disappointment and claim a podium spot? Will the Ajo Red Bull team return to form? And can Bezzecchi leapfrog Raul Fernandez on the championship table?

First fifteen riders:

1 Marco Bezzecchi ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 25 points

2 Aron Canet SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 20

3 Augusto Fernandez SPA – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 16

4 Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 13

5 Ai Ogura JPN – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 11

6 Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 10

7 Raul Fernandez SPA – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 9 points

8 Somkiat Chantra THA – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 8

9 Xavi Vierge SPA – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 7

10 Marcel Schrotter GER – Liqui Moly Intact GP – 6

11 Jake Dixon GBR – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 5

12 Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA – Italtrans Racing Team – 4

13 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 3

14 Sam Lowes GBR – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 2

15 Albert Arenas SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 1

9th August 2021

Rookie reigns in Austria

Qualifying:

With the five week break finally at an end, the qualifying saw Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) snatch pole from Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), in the closing minutes. Only seconds later to find that he transgressed track limits on turn nine, which resulted in him ending in third.

Marc Marquez (Honda), was on a hot-lap but crashed out and finished in eighth.

But it was the rookie Jorge Martin (Ducati) who claimed pole, for the second time this season. Riding a sensational lap of 1:22.994, bagging pole and a new all-time lap record along with it.

The front row was now: J. Martin, F. Bagnaia and F. Quartararo. The Ducati’s looked dominant in Austria, with all four bikes on the front two rows. Jack Miller (Ducati), Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Johann Zarco (Ducati) rounded off the front.

Grey clouds over-head. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

If fans were getting withdrawal symptoms from bike racing then this race was sure looking like it was going to quench that.

Race One:

All eyes may have been on Jorge Martin, in pole but all hearts were with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who, on just Thursday, had announced this was going to be his final season racing.

With rain clouds looming large overhead, the Styrian Grand Prix was about to be on its way, after being declared a dry race.

Bagnaia got a great start from Martin, but Martin was quickly leading the race. Marc Marquez (Honda) chose a more aggressive tactic, after having a poor start and trying to gather positions quickly, he made a move past Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), nudging him in the process, causing him to go wide and also pushed past Quartararo to go into fourth place. This caused an on-track argument between the two Spanish riders later, on track.

Mir reacted well and quickly went from fourth to second as Bagnaia re-claimed first. Marquez seemed to be in all-out attack-mode but fell back to sixth place after his fiery start.

The championship leader, Quartararo picked up the pace and soon had fastest lap moments before red flags began to wave.

Flash back to 2020, Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco collided, causing their bikes to hurtle through the air, across the track and land cartwheeling in-front of the path of then team-mates Rossi and Vinales, understandably shaking both riders up before they re-started the race, after a red flag.

Since then, the track has been slightly modified. That should have been the only an odd occurrence however, this track seems to entice odd occurrences, only this time, lap 3 of 28 saw the wildcard and ex-Moto GP race winner Dani Pedrosa (KTM) fall leaving his bike stranded in the way of on-coming riders. Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) rode straight into the KTM, causing both bikes to immediately erupt into flames. The race was red-flagged, signaling an end to proceedings. The marshals were quick to respond and fortunately neither rider nor marshal were hurt.

Just another freak accident in Austria, has made some question the suitability of this track for racing.

All bikes returned to the pits as fire extinguishers, brushes and man-power set about cleaning up the mess caused on track.

Race officials check the track is okay for the re-start. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

As the race was only on lap 3, it was re-started with just one lap being removed. The stewards allowed Pedrosa to start again but unfortunately for Aprilia, Savadori could not re-join.

A quick-start procedure took place during the second attempt, which meant pit lane re-opened for 60 seconds ahead of a sighting lap where all riders took their original grid positions and one mechanic met them at their lines. They then went out for their warm-up lap and the race continued thereafter.

Although, it was a disaster for Maverick Vinales (Yamaha), who stalled prior to the sighting lap on the grid and had to start his race from the pit lane, going from ninth to last.

Race Two:

The dark grey clouds still overhead had refrained from raining and continued to watch alongside the few spectators at trackside for take-two of the Styrian Grand Prix.

It was the Ducati power both times, this time Martin got another great start but Miller soon took the lead.

Quartararo nudged past M. Marquez, who in-turn nudged into none-other than Aleix Espargaro again and again he went wide.

Mir looked like he was on a mission, wanting to break up the Ducati rule. He was soon on the back of Martin and took second place on lap 2.

Mir hunts Martin. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Lap 3 saw Martin re-take second and Bagnaia went backwards into eighth place. The re-start did not go the same way for him.

With 24 laps to go, Martin re-took the lead from Miller, Mir and Quartararo.

Things went from bad to worse for A. Espargaro, on lap 6 he pulled to the side of the track and had to retire due to a mechanical failure.

Miller and Quartararo had a mini battle between themselves. And soon all five front riders took fastest lap within quick succession of each other.

Martin and Mir broke away from the pack as did Quartararo, Miller and Zarco, creating their own group. The gap between the two groups quickly extended to over 3 seconds.

Vinales also couldn’t turn his luck around and ended up getting a long-lap penalty, putting him back to last place again, in 21^st, due to exceeding track limits. Track limit warnings were thrown about to all sorts of riders, including the race leader Martin, who was still leading with 11 laps to go.

With 10 laps to go, Miller looked set to strike on Quartararo, closing him down on every corner. But then, he crashed out on turn 7. He returned to the track but had to end his race sooner than expected and pulled into the pits, leaving Fabio in third position, to race alone.

Another long-lap penalty was handed out to the other Espargaro brother – Pol, for also exceeding track limits.

Having led for most of the race, Jorge Martin, the rookie reigned supreme and took victory for the first time for himself and Pramac Ducati in the Moto GP class. Having come from a hospital bed earlier on in the season, due to an accident which left him with numerous broken bones he was now on the top step of the podium. Securing both the pole and the win! He is now the 6^th different winner in 2021.

Take a bow – Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Brad Binder (KTM) rode a sensational last lap and finished an incredible fourth place, passing Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) on the way to the line.

Bagnaia however was given a 3 second penalty on the last lap, for also exceeding track limits and was demoted out of the top ten, promoting Dani Pedrosa into tenth.

Top ten finishers:

1st	J. Martin
2nd	J. Mir
3rd	F. Quartararo
4th	B. Binder
5th	T. Nakagami
6th	J. Zarco
7th	A. Rins
8th	M. Marquez
9th	A. Marquez
10th	D. Pedrosa

Current Championship Standings:

1st	Quartararo	172 points
2nd	Zarco	132 points
3rd	Mir	121 points
4th	Bagnaia	116 points

Moto GP will be returning to Austria again next weekend, as will British rider Cal Crutchlow (Petronas), who even though didn’t produce a spectacular race result this weekend after stepping in for injured rider Franco Morbidelli, he will do so again for the next two races. Will we see a top ten or podium finish for fan favourite Cal?

(Featured image: courtesy of Moto GP website).

8th August 202117th August 2021

Round 6 WorldSBK Most, Czech Republic, Race 1

Most Autodrom welcomed WorldSBK for the first time for round 6 of the championship.

wsbk — Race 1 Podium @ Most Autodrom 08.08.2021
Pic courtesy of Aruiba.it Ducati

Superpole saw Jonathan Rea (KRT Kawasaki) claim his 6th consecutive pole, leaving 2nd and 3rd places for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) respectively.

Track conditions looked excellent for race 1 with most of the Yamaha and both Honda riders opting for the super soft X rear tyre. The rest of the riders going for the slightly harder SC0 compound rear tyre.

Lights out and its Rea with a great start, Razgatlioglu gets the hole shot into turn 1 and Redding in 3rd. Rinaldi (Ducati) also has a great start from 8th on grid into 4th. Sykes (BMW) runs off into turn 1, but manages to rejoin in 5th.

The leading group of Razgatlioglu, Rea and Redding were beginning to pull out a gap from the rest of the field. Meanwhile further down were the two Honda riders, Bautista and Haslam, with Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in 8th, 9th and 10th respectively.

With 20 laps remaining, positions in the front were starting to shake up, with Redding first going through on Rea, then out braking Razgatlioglu into turn 1 to take over the lead. Rea then retakes 2nd as Razgatlioglu goes wide into turn 10. Meanwhile Redding was putting the hammer down, trying to distance his chasers by posting a new fastest lap of 1:33.076.

With 18 laps to go, bizarrely both Lowes (KRT Kawasaki), and Davies (Aruba.it Ducati) both went down into turn 1 separately, Lowes losing the front end. Both riders were able to rejoin.

Meanwhile back with the leading group, Rea’s Kawasaki was looking increasingly unstable through corners and Razgatlioglu would take advantage of this going through on Rea into turn 20 after Rea goes wide. The response from the world champion was immediate, as he powered around the outside of the Yamaha rider to retake 2nd.

Out in the lead Redding was taking advantage of this scrap behind him to further increase his lead out to Rea in 2nd to 1.8. Razgatlioglu showing his skill on the brakes by out braking Rea at the end of the straight into turn 1 to retake 2nd. As it has all season, this battle between the Turk and the Brit was showing no sign of let up.

With 9 laps remaining, Redding now had a 0.9 gap to Razgatlioglu in 2nd. Then disaster for Rea who loses the front going into turn 1, sending his Kawasaki unceremoniously ploughing into the gravel. He rejoins in 11th place, but his race is effectively over in terms of challenging the lead group.

This new racetrack was proving tricky for some, with 5 riders now having crashed out so far.

Razgatlioglu was now hunting down Redding in 1st, with 4 laps to go the gap was now down to 0.4. Then unbelievably into the fast turn 20, for the 2nd time Rea loses the front end of the Kawasaki, sending both the bike and himself catapulting into the gravel. It was a high speed crash, and looked nasty, but thankfully he was able to walk away.

With 4 laps to go, Razgatlioglu has now caught up to Redding and makes the pass on him into turn 14, after Redding goes wide. Redding responds by using the top end speed of the Ducati to power past Razgatlioglu down the straight, and retakes the lead into turn 1. Neither rider was backing down and this battle would go down to the wire.

Meanwhile further down the field the Texan – Gerloff, Haslam and Sykes had all moved up to 6th, 7th and 8th respectively.

Last lap now, and Redding knew Razgatlioglu would be planning to make a move on him, but where would it come? Into the last few corners and Razgatlioglu makes the perfect block pass up the inside of Redding. It’s a tough move, but Redding can’t complain as there is no contact between them. Razgatlioglu cranks the throttle of the Yamaha wide open to cross the line in 1st. Redding stays in his slipstream trying to use the power of the Ducati to try to get by, but is unable and has to settle for 2nd, a very close finish by both riders.

The top 5:

Toprak Razgatlioglu ( Pata Yamaha )
Scott Redding ( Aruba.it Ducati )
Andrea Locatelli ( Pata Yamaha )
Michael Ruben Rinaldi ( Ducati )
Axel Bassani ( Ducati )

The top 3 of championship:

Jonathan Rea ( KRT Kawasaki ) 243 pts
Toprak Razgatlioglu ( Pata Yamaha ) 231
Scott Redding ( Aruba.it Ducati ) 182

4th August 2021

Moto GP season update

The massive five week gap is finally at it’s end. Moto GP is soon to return to our TV screens this Friday 6^th August, with the qualifying on Saturday 7th and race on Sunday 8^th.

Even though racing was on a break, news stories kept on coming in.

Since the fantastic Assen weekend with the two Yamaha teammates finishing first and second, one of them decided to pull out of his contract with Yamaha earlier than expected. Maverick Vinales will be parting ways with the factory team at the end of the 2021 season. Unfortunately, this may not come as much of a surprise as Vinales has been quite open about his feelings within the team recently and has been seen to be dejected many times in interviews. It has been rumoured that he will be joining Aprilia in 2022, as of yet, nothing has been confirmed or denied.

More news from Yamaha, but this time from Petronas Yamaha. It was announced that Franco Morbidelli will not be competing in the next three rounds due to a knee injury, sustained in a training accident, prior to the Assen race. Morbidelli has had knee trouble in the past, hopefully this time the injury can be corrected for good. Wishing him all the best of luck in his recovery.

Morbidelli is not expected to return to racing until September at Aragon

With Morbidelli out for three races, Petronas Yamaha have recruited British racer Cal Crutchlow. Having retired from Moto GP last year in 2020, Cal has been a test rider for Yamaha, so it did seem like the obvious choice. Crutchlow is a massive fan favourite and an all-round good guy and rider. He will be racing in Styria, Austria and his home track at Silverstone. So be sure to show your support for him.

When Franko returns to the paddock there will be some changes to the 2021 calendar:

For the second time in a row Australia and Thailand will not feature in the Moto GP season. Due to the on-going Covid 19 pandemic and travel restrictions, creating difficult decisions to be made. As a result of this the Malaysian Grand Prix has been brought forward a week, Portimao replaces Phillip Island and the Algarve GP has been added in November, for a second year in a row.

Updated 2021 Season Calendar (courtesy of Moto GP website).

This weekend though also sees the return of the Spaniard Dani Pedrosa. After, retiring back in 2018 from Repsol Honda, Dani has been a test rider for KTM ever since. He has been hailed as a massive part of their recent success in 2020 and 2021. He will be stepping in as a wildcard rider for the one-off race. Could this be the first of many appearances from the number 26?

From retirements to returns there has been one consistent in the whole of Moto GP for the past 25 years. The nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi will be celebrating this amazing anniversary.

Young Rossi on the podium in 1996 (courtesy of Gazetta).

Sunday 15^th August will be the Austrian GP and in 1996 Rossi took his first ever podium, in third place, competing in the 125 class. His 200^th podium is still eluding him though, will we finally witness history being made in the second part of this season?

Reminder of the current championship standings as of the last race weekend at Assen:

First	Quartararo	156 Points
Second	Zarco	122 Points
Third	Bagnaia	109 Points
Fourth	Mir (Current Champion)	101 Points

All information is current and correct on date of publication – 04-08-21

Featured imaged (courtesy of Moto GP website).

27th July 2021

Mackenzie – King of Brands 2021

It was an action-packed return to the home of British motorcycle racing that is Brands Hatch, however it was also a weekend overshadowed by the harsh reality that faces our sport every time we strap our helmets on and pull on our gloves.

Before I go any further, everyone at CrewOnTwo would like to send their well wishes to/and to the family of Mr. Brad Jones of iForce Lloyd & Jones BMW – who unfortunately after a crash in lap 1 of the first race of the weekend, was evacuated by air ambulance to Kings College Hospital in London for further treatment. Our thoughts remain with the family, the team, and Brad at this difficult time.

Image courtesy of @bradjones12, @Instagram

Race One

The weekend started with VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon leading the championship, however following his team-mate’s success in 2020, the eyes were on the prize for Josh Brookes for this year’s King of Brands trophy. With this year’s competition, it most certainly was not going to be a victory handed on a silver platter.

We saw the 4th different winner in the opening race when victory was clinched by McAMS Yamaha’s Tarran Mackenzie. Taz was able to lead from pole when the race was restarted and was able to hold the pack for the remaining 12 laps. His teammate wasn’t far behind in 5th overall. It was a chase to the finish between Bridewell and Mackenzie! Bridewell commented after the race that “had to get my elbows out and be a bit tough” which is all that racing is about! Oh how we’ve missed it. Danny Kent completed the top 10 for Buildbase Suzuki, narrowly pushing Glenn Irwin out into 11th for Honda Racing.

The podium of race one saw a strong presence of red as the Yamaha was accompanied by the two Ducati’s of Tommy Bridewell and Christian Iddon. Everyone of course with only one person on their mind and all were thankful they were able to finish the restarted race safely.

Race one podium, image courtesy of @OfficialBSB, @Instagram

Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha)
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.225s
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.802s
Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +3.589s
Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +6.838s
Lee Jackson (FS-3 Kawasaki) +7.036s
Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +8.664s
Rory Skinner (FS-3 Kawasaki) +10.447s
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +13.494s
Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) +13.856s

Race Two

The action continued into race two of the weekend as Synetiq BMW’s Danny Buchan pushed into the lead from Paddock Hill Bend, however, it was short and sweet as the VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon was instantly on the attack to claim the lead. Mackenzie was put under pressure which caused him to drop back a few spaces, only opening the gap for his team-mate Jason O’Halloran – who sat comfortably in the podium fight for the remainder of the race. It was a tight fight that saw switched positions after each corner, Iddon came through on Buchan only piling the pressure on more – whilst Bridewell sat immediately behind ready to pounce as he’d fought his way up the order.

By the time the final laps had arrived there was still no clear winner, Buchan refusing to give up while Mackenzie reappeared wishing to make amends to the title following his earlier mistake. O’Halloran took another sweet victory for McAMS Yamaha, followed closely by a Bridewell in second and Mackenzie in third position. Rory Skinner maintains his spectacular maiden season in BSB by scooping a 6th, while the man just outside the top 10 in race one, Glenn Irwin of Honda Racing was this time able to take 8th.

Race Two winner Jason O’Halloran, image courtesy of @ohalloran22, @Instagram

It was a devastating race for defending King of Brands Josh Brookes, as he finished outside the points in 18th position while trying to harmonize again with his Ducati.

Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha)
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +2.188s
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +5.845s
Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) +5.758s
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +6.503s
Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +8.658s
Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +9.865s
Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +18.410s
Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +18.823s
Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +19.093s

Race Three

It was the third and final race, the pressure was on and although an overclouded atmosphere of overwhelming togetherness following the accident involving Brad Jones in race one, the grid was battling hard but never so close together as a family united.

Christian Iddon of VisionTrack Ducati was finally able to claim a victory after fighting hard across the whole weekend at Brands Hatch. In the 7-lap restarted sprint race he was just able to hold off 2021’s new King of Brands, Tarran Mackenzie of McAMS Yamaha. Declared initially as a wet race, it was looking like a positive for the likes of riders who are in their prime in these conditions – however, with a rainbow of various tyre choices unable to keep up with the changing track, there was bound to be some riders slip through the net.

Image courtesy of @officialbsb, @Instagram

Brookes, who opted for wet front and rear, launched from his 16th starting position to the front end of the field. However, he was only keeping the seat warm for Danny Buchan who by lap 5 and its changing weather conditions was leading the pack. Like many others, Buchan had gone with a slick front and intermediate rear – which enabled him to make pace on Brookes.

Buildbase goes BOOM! Image courtesy of @ginorea, @Instagram

As laps went on it was an unfortunate blowout for Gino Rea which brought the race to a red flag, he was not injured in the blow and the race was soon restarted. The restart sprint saw no hanging about from Buchan and Irwin, followed closely by Iddon who didn’t let Buchan take the lead for long. It’s been a slow burn start for Buchan onboard his Synetiq BMW but with every race, he’s looking even more comfortable!

King of Brands Mackenzie was following the front pack, after the first four laps, he secured a podium spot fighting inside the top 5. O’Halloran was yet to give up, after he was able to pass a motion on Brookes and Buchan to secure third position.

All hail the King! Image courtesy of @officialbsb, @Instagram

Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati)
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.075s
Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.761s
Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) +1.268s
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.647s
Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +3.014s
Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +3.169s
Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +3.220s
Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +6.471s
Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) +6.538s

It was a weekend of mixed emotions at Brands Hatch. McAMS Yamaha and Tarran Mackenzie walked away with this year’s trophy, while the championship standings left him 3rd overall – just behind team-mate O’Halloran and Christian Iddon.

Approx 48 hours onwards there is still little update on the condition of Brad Jones – other than that he will be kept in an induced coma whilst he receives treatment for serious head, chest and pelvic injuries. Our thoughts remain with him, the family and team at this time.

4th July 20215th July 2021

WorldSBK UK Round: Race 2

Weather was again a factor in the Superpole race earlier in the day, giving the riders a lot of doubt when it came to tyre choice, some going for an intermediate option, and others preferring slicks. Jonathan Rea ( Kawasaki Racing Team KRT) finished the 10 lap shoot out fastest, with the BMW teammates of Tom Sykes, and Michael van der Mark finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.

By the time race 2 started the weather had cleared up, with the sun back out. As in race 1, Rea was again with the hole shot into turn 1 followed by Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) who had moved up from 6th place on grid, and Sykes (BMW) in 3rd. Garrat Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) again was having an impressive weekend, in a solid 4th place.

Rea was trying to put the hammer down early on, but Razgatlioglu was responding with a series of fastest laps 1:28.452 and 1:28.418. With 20 laps to go Toprak Razgatlioglu made the same move, and in the same place on Rea as he had done in race 1. Rea now using the soft X tyre choice was finding better traction, and was able to stay with the Pata Yamaha rider, not letting him clear away as was the case in race 1, and keeping the gap to 0.2.

Further down the field, Lowes (KRT), and Van der Mark (BMW) were resuming the tussle they had in race 1, coming into contact again with each other, in the battle for 6th and 7th places. Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) was making steady progress from a grid position of 11th and now found himself in 8th.

Nearing the halfway point in the race, and Razgatlioglu goes wide into a corner, Rea accepting the open invitation, goes through to retake the lead. Jonas Folgers’ weekend goes from bad to worse, as he adds another DNF to it.

Gerloff now within striking distance of Sykes, gets by on him. Then with 13 laps remaining, absolute disaster for Rea who ran into turn 8 too hot, lost the front end and unceremoniously dumped his KRT machine into the gravel. He had looked comfortable in front, but the pressure from the Turkish rider behind was telling. Incredibly he picked up his bike, and rejoined the track in last place, with a mountain of work to do if he was to take any points away.

It was now Razgatlioglu clearing away out front, followed by Gerloff 2nd, Sykes 3rd, Redding 4th, and Lowes in 5th. Redding was making good time, and had closed right down on Sykes in 3rd. Further back, Lowes and Van der Mark were still battling it out for 5th place.

Inside the final 3 laps now and the gap between Sykes 3rd, and Redding 4th, was now down to 0.563. Would there be enough laps left for Redding to make the pass? Rea had not been able to make up any time, and was still languishing at the back of the field, no doubt frustrated at how his final race of the weekend was turning out.

Final lap now, and with a gap of 2.9 back to the Texan in 2nd place, Razgatlioglu would not be caught, unless something major happened. Redding now right on Sykes, and looking for a way past, runs out wide into the Melbourne Loop and with it his chance for a podium place.

With enough fuel left in the tank this time, Razgatlioglu crosses the finish line to become the new championship leader, with it becoming the first ever Turkish rider to lead a WorldSBK championship. Gerloff gets his best ever finish in 2nd, and Sykes takes 3rd. Rea completes his miserable race in 20th.

Top 10 result:

Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Sykes (BMW)
Redding (Aruba.it Ducati)
van der Mark (BMW)
Lowes (Kawasaki)
Davies (Ducati)
Rinaldi (Ducati)
Haslam (Honda)
Bautista (Honda)

Top 5 Championship

Razgatlioglu 183 points
Rea 181
Redding 117
Lowes 114
Rinaldi 94

See you for round 5 of the WorldSBK championship in two weeks from Assen.

4th July 202117th August 2021

Round 4 WorldSBK Donington Park Race 1

World Super Bikes makes a welcome return to Donington Park after missing out last year due to the Covid 19 restrictions. The historic track, being the place where it all began back in 1988, hosting the first ever WorldSBK race. Would we see history in the making this weekend?

Dramatic scenes at Donington. (Courtesy of: WorldSBK website).

Championship leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) was looking in scintillating form, setting the fastest time in FP 1, as well as in a wet FP3. With the heavens opening to make for a wet Superpole, it wouldn’t dampen Rea’s pace, topping the grid in an unbeaten time of 1:40.101. Completing the front row would be the BMW teammates, Michael van der Mark 1:40.626, and Tom Sykes in 1:40.763.

The weather for Race 1 was looking typically mixed for a British summers day. With a massive downpour earlier in the morning, the race was declared wet, even although by start time the track was dry in most places. Tyre choice would be crucial, and it seemed most of the grid was going for slicks.

Lights out, and it was Jonathan Rea who got the hole shot into turn 1, closely followed by the two BMWs of van der Mark, and Sykes. It was Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) with a wonder start who was grabbing all the headlines early on, scything through the field from a lowly qualifying position of 13th, by turn 1 he was already up to 5th place. Winner last time around in Misano race 2, Razgatlioglu (TR) wasn’t hanging about, getting past both BMWs by the end of the first lap.

T.R was now hunting down Rea, who nearly went down after his rear tyre hit a damp patch. Further back in the field it was still very close, Gerloff (Yamaha) was passed in the Melbourne Loop by Redding (Ducati) who subsequently went down at the top of Craner Curves. The damp track was causing havoc, who was going to be able to hold their nerve? Another crash through the Craner Curves and its Christophe Ponsson (Yamaha) who went down.

T.R was now caught up to Rea and made his pass on lap 2. Across the start/finish line to begin lap 3, Rea again slides at the top of Craner Curves, this time running off the track and down across the wet grass, somehow managing to avoid a massive crash, rejoins the track to remain in 2nd place. Razgatlioglu lays down the first marker by putting in a fastest lap of 1:33.292.

Spectators get a fantastic race. (Courtesy of WorldSBK website).

Van Der Mark (BMW) was now right behind Rea after his excursion, and looking for a way past. Further back it was Leon Haslam (Honda) in 5th place clawing his way up to Sykes in 4th, while Gerloff in 7th was closing up to Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) in 6th. Both Razgatlioglu and Gerloff were using the slick soft X-tyre, and it was noticeable in their times.

With 20 laps to go, Razgatlioglu already held a gap of 3.1 to Rea, and was slowly applying more pressure, putting in another fastest lap of 1:32.706. The world champion would respond the next lap setting a new fastest lap of 1:31.441. It was turning out to be ‘anything you can do, I can do better.’

Again, with 18 laps to go Rea puts in another fastest lap of 1:30.648, reducing the gap to T.R to 1.948. He wouldn’t be giving up any time soon. With the track mostly dry now, faster times were being set. Razgatlioglu responded with 17 laps to go, setting a new fastest lap of 1:30.126. The drying track was still catching some riders out, with Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha) crashing hard, but he managed to walk away unhurt.

Another big moment for Rea at Redgate turn 1 with 15 laps to go, the rear stepped out, the slide is saved, but Rea lost valuable time to T.R. With the sun now shining down onto the track, the fans were being treated to absolutely sublime racing. Donington we missed you!

With 13 laps to go, van der Mark was getting closed down quickly by his team mate in 4th, and Lowes in 5th. Gerloff got through on Haslam with 12 laps to go. In a ding-dong battle, Sykes decides to make a move on his teammate, opening the door for Lowes, van der Mark now going from 3rd to 5th. All the while Gerloff was gaining on the trio. Into the Melbourne Loop van der Mark runs in hot, and bumps shoulders with Lowes, somehow both riders managed to stay on, but this allowed Gerloff to gain a place – moving up to 5th.

Meanwhile at the front with 11 laps remaining, Rea puts in a new fastest lap of 1:28.908, hoping to claw his way back to T.R. The gap now at 3.4. Immediately the next lap T.R responds with a 1:28.815, not allowing Rea to have any momentum. Tito Rabat (Ducati) retires due to a mechanical problem.

With 9 laps to go Lowes makes a move on Sykes, out-braking him into the Melbourne Loop – pushing him wide, this in turn leaves Gerloff space to dive inside Sykes, going from 3rd to 5th in one corner. Last corner, turn 12 (Goddards) and Gerloff drives up the inside of Lowes, aggressive riding by the Texan – now on for a podium.

Razgatlioglu now lapping Jonas Folger (BMW) with 8 laps to go, showing no signs of slowing down. The gap to Rea now at 3.9. Drama for Gerloff going into turn 12 with 7 laps to go, he loses the front end and goes down, managing to get back on track now in 8th position, no doubt seething under his helmet after all the work he did earlier.

Lap 18 of 23 and the gap between Razgatlioglu to Rea now at 4.2, with Rea seemingly having accepted his 2nd place, or possibly not able to respond anymore to Razgatlioglu’s lap times – tyre wear almost certainly an issue for both riders now.

With 5 laps remaining Alvaro Bautista (Honda) had steadily moved up to 7th from a grid position of 16th, although he had Gerloff looking to make a pass on him, which he did, pushing him back a position. Gerloff was now hunting down Haslam in 6th place with only 4 laps remaining. Meanwhile at the head the gap between Razgatlioglu and Rea was now up to 5.0.

Last lap – late drama, Razgatlioglu’s bike looks to be spluttering from low fuel, he managed to cross the line, but lost the gap he made to Rea, who crossed in 2nd place. Lowes the local lad, gets 3rd place for his 200th WSBK start.

Sportsmanship between first and second place. (Courtesy of: WorldSBK website).

There is a star on the Turkish flag, and Razgatlioglu no doubt surely is one, with a bright future ahead of him. After an action packed race 1, what will the Superpole race, and race 2 bring?

Race Results:

Toprak Razgatlioglu – Yamaha
Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki
Alex Lowes – Kawasaki
Tom Sykes – BMW
Michael van der Mark – BMW
Leon Haslam – Honda
Garrett Gerloff – Yamaha
Alvaro Bautista – Honda
Lucas Mahias – Kawasaki
Axel Bassani – Ducati

Out – Jonas Folger – BMW, Tito Rabat – Ducati, Andrea Locatelli – Yamaha, Scott Redding – Ducati, Christophe Ponsson – Yamaha.

Championship Standings:

Rea – 169 pts
Raz – 154
Red – 104
Low – 104
Rin – 86

(Featured image – courtesy of: BBC)

30th June 20214th July 2021

Battle rages at the Cathedral of Speed

Going into the weekend Remy Gardner leads the Moto2 championship by 36 points from his teammate Raul Fernandez, but the rookie earns his fourth pole of the season, as an eventful race sees him dropping back to ninth then clawing his way back to emerge victorious in the 9^th round of Moto2 2021.

Image courtesy of KTM/Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)

Fernandez’s teammate Remy Gardner starts from 2nd place and Sam Lowes completes the front row, ahead of Aron Canet in 4th, Ai Ogura 5th and Jorge Navarro starting 6th.

Off the line it is Canet who gets the best start, forcing Raul out wide into the first bend, causing him to drop back to 4th. Della Porta who started 8th gets caught in the middle of the group into turn 2 – catches the rear wheel of Navarro and is spat off, fortunately avoiding the other machines as his bike is launched into the air from the centre of the pack.

Canet leads, Gardner in second is closely followed by Lowes in third. Tony Arbolino crashes out uninjured shortly after at turn 7, his bike flipping across the gravel.

Lowes moves up past Gardner, then takes Canet to lead at the end of the first lap – Lowes leads briefly before Canet reclaims the lead.

Ai Ogura and Augusto Fernandez pass Raul Fernandez. Raul runs wide through turns 6 & 7 and drops back to ninth as Schrotter passes him.

Gardner passes Lowes out of the chicane, and Lowes gets back past Canet to move back into 2nd

Joe Roberts crashes out at turn 9, meaning that both Italtrans bikes are out of the race.

Augusto Fernandez moves up into 3^rd, as Raul battles for 7^th, then gradually works himself back up to 6^th.

With 20 laps to go Lowes starts to close the gap on Gardner. Approaching the start/finish line Lowes slots past, the two almost swapping paint, but Augusto Fernandez spots his opportunity and passes both of them, taking the lead, making it a 1-2 for Elf Marc VDS Racing Team, Gardner in 3^rd and Aron Canet in 4^th. Meanwhile Raul Fernandez is back up to 5^th, and DiGiannantonio moves up past Ai Ogura into 6^th.

On lap 7 Raul passes Canet to move up to 4^th, as Lowes, who is all over the back of Augusto, passes him to take the lead. A gap of just over a second separates Gardner in 3^rd and Raul in 4^th, giving Raul a clear space to push on.

Gardner slots past Augusto into 2^nd, and 3 laps later Raul catches Augusto, but Augusto takes Gardner to move back into 2^nd.

On lap 14 Augusto Fernandez increases the pressure on Sam Lowes, passing him to take the lead, as Raul gets past his teammate Gardner to move up into 3^rd.

Gardner starts to drop back slightly from the top 3, and shortly after Raul takes Lowes to move up into 2^nd place. The leading 4 start to spread out as Lowes struggles to match Raul Fernandez’s pace, as DiGiannantonio crashes out at turn 9 from 6^th.

Raul pursues Augusto, edging ever closer until he makes the move along the start/finish straight at the end of lap 17, with Augusto unable to come back at him.

Augusto runs wide, giving Lowes the opportunity to move up into 2^nd. Raul is starting to stretch out his lead with a 0.8 second lead over Lowes.

Lap 20 sees Aron Canet crashes out of 7^th place, sliding into the gravel at turn 3.

Raul leads by over a second, breaking away from Lowes, Augusto and Gardner. Into lap 22 at the end of the start/finish straight Augusto gets the drive past Lowes to move up into second. Lowes checks over his left shoulder into turn 1, as Gardner slips past on his right, dropping Lowes down into 4^th.

At the end of lap 23 Gardner passes Augusto, who pushes hard but is unable to come back at Gardner.

Raul Fernandez takes his third win of the season, ahead of his teammate Remy Gardner, with Augusto Fernandez claiming the 3^rd podium spot.

Gardner’s lead at the top of the championship narrows slightly to 31 points ahead of Raul Fernandez going into the summer break, Fernandez extends his lead over 3^rd place Bezzecchi from 11 points to 25, and Lowes holds onto 4^th place overall. With ten rounds still to go can Gardner hold onto the lead or will rookie Raul Fernandez spring yet more surprises?

First fifteen riders:

1 Raul Fernandez SPA – Red Bull Ajo KTM – 25 points

2 Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull Ajo KTM – 20

3 Augusto Fernandez SPA – – 16

4 Sam Lowes BRI – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 13

5 Marco Bezzecchi ITA – Sky Racing Team VR46 – 11

6 Ai Ogura JPN – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 10

7 Jorge Navarro SPA – MB Conveyors Speed Up – 9

8 Xavi Vierge SPA – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 8

9 Marcel Schrotter GER – Liqui Moly Intact – 7

10 Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 6

11 Somkiat Chantra THA – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 5

12 Albert Arenas SPA – Inde Aspar Team – 4

13 Stefano Manzi ITA – Flexbox HP40 – 3

14 Thomas Luthi SWI – Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team – 2

15 Bo Bendsneyer NED – Pertamina SAG – 1

27th June 20214th July 2021

Yamaha Whitewash at the Dutch GP

Qualifying:

At the newly resurfaced Assen track the Yamahas were flying high. Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) claimed pole position and took the new lap record (1:31.814) in the process.

Both Vinales and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) were on the front row in first and second. With a surprise 3^rd from Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) taking fourth.

Smiles for the pole man. Courtesy of: Moto GP website

While the factory boys were settled on the front row Franko Morbidelli (Yamaha) was not to compete in the qualifying or the race as he had again injured his knee and would need to undergo surgery for it. Stepping into his shoes was Garrett Gerloff from World Superbikes.

During Friday’s practice, last weekend’s race winner – Marc Marquez had a mechanical failure which saw him propelled from his Repsol Honda. The Spaniard succumbed to no further injuries and was cleared to race on Sunday. But, his qualifying result would make it hard to compete, starting from 20^th on the grid.

Race:

With 26 laps at the Dutch circuit and clear conditions, it looked like it would be a Yamaha victory for sure. But which Yamaha rider was going to step onto the top step of the podium?

Vinales took an interesting approach, being the only rider who chose to have a soft front tyre. All the other riders lined up on the grid with either medium or hard. As the lights went out Vinales was swamped. He had gone from pole to 5th, whilst his teammate went to first from 2^nd.

Vinales knew he needed to make a good start to fight for the win. He soon passed Alex Rins (Suzuki) for 4^th place, putting him behind Nakagami and Bagnaia. A tussle soon broke out between Fabio and Pecco for 1^st. Bagnaia eventually took the lead.

The Ducati lead the race, all the while with Quartararo watching, waiting for the right time to pounce – taking fastest lap in the process.

The fastest lap and the new lap record soon were beaten by Johann Zarco (Ducati), in 5^th place.

Bagnaia struggled to get any gap from Quartararo and on lap 6, turn 11 – Quartararo took the lead. Straight away he broke away from the pack with 20 laps to go. The space was soon 0.575 seconds. He then gained fastest lap and with the clean air in front of him furthered his lead to 0.900 seconds.

Quartararo out in the lead. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

It was unfortunately an early race finish for Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who crashed out turn 7, lap 8.

Beating his own fastest lap, Quartararo kept pushing himself and pumped out quicker and quicker laps. Trying to gain an advantage over Bagnaia, who was now in a race of his own too with a gap of 1.336 seconds to Quartararo and 0.506 seconds to Nakagami behind him.

Starting from 20^th on the grid Marc Marquez rode a very impressive race and by lap 10 he had secured 10^th place. Due to it’s many right-hand corners, Assen was never going to be a track that would favour the Honda or Marc’s injured arm.

Assen race track. Courtesy of: Asphaltandrubber.com

Nakagami’s Honda soon caught up to Bagnaia’s Ducati, they tussled for 2^nd place and during this Bagnaia received a track limit warning. The gap increased between them and Quartararo to 2.941 seconds. They continued to fight for the podium place, letting Fabio increase his lead further to 3.272 seconds, just over the half-way point in the race.

On lap 14 Bagnaia’s warning turned into a long-lap penalty for continuing to exceed track limits. He decided to take this on the next lap, rejoining the race in 7^th place.

Meanwhile, Nakagami had a terrible time and suddenly ended up in 6^th place, getting passed by 3 riders. His luck went from bad to worse and soon he was in 9^th place, behind Marquez and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia). To further add to his torment he also received a track limit warning.

Jack Miller’s weekend wasn’t going well for him either and he crashed, turn 15. He managed to rejoin the race, but later his Ducati had mechanical issues and was told to retire.

Miller having to retire due to mechanical faults. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

The gap between the top two Yamaha’s had reached over 4 seconds and there was no chance that Vinales could catch Quartararo. There was however battles behind them, between Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Zarco for 3^rd place and M.Marquez and A.Espargaro for 7^th.

Lap 20 saw Iker Lecuona (KTM) crash in the final chicane, leaving his bike floundering on the track. The marshals were quick to respond though.

The few fans present at the track were seeing a masterclass race by the young championship leader. Even though the gap between him and Vinales had reduced, with 7 laps to go Fabio was on for his fourth race win of the season. The reigning world champion was in 3^rd place having started from 10^th on the grid.

Mir, Zarco and Miguel Oliveira (KTM) had created their own group and fought for that last podium spot with Bagnaia, Marquez and Espargaro behind them. Marquez looked set to pass Bagnaia but it was a surprise pass by Aleix that took him to 7^th in-front of Marc.

The final lap: Quartararo comfortably secured 25 more precious championship points, ahead of a dejected Vinales and an elated Mir (who took his third podium this year).

Mir takes the third place trophy. Courtesy of: Team Suzuki Ecstar.

Top Ten Race Results:

First	F. Quartararo
Second	M. Vinales
Third	J. Mir
Fourth	J. Zarco
Fifth	M. Oliveira
Sixth	F. Bagnaia
Seventh	M. Marquez
Eigth	A. Espargaro
Ninth	T. Nakagami
Tenth	P. Espargaro

Top Four Championship Positions:

First	Quartararo	156 points
Second	Zarco	122 points
Third	Bagnaia	109 points
Fourth	Mir	101 points

Going into a 5 week summer break, the Yamaha’s seem unbeatable and yet there is speculation within the Vinales team that he may choose to leave them. Can this break re-kindle their relationship? Or will there be a breaking news story in the meantime? Join Moto GP for more action on Sunday 8^th August.

(Featured image, courtesy of: Moto GP)