Round 6 of the 2020 MotoGP Championship took place on the 17-18 October at Aragon, Spain.
The Championship leader, Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) claimed his 10th pole position for Sunday’s race ahead by just 0.046 seconds of second fastest Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and claiming his first front row position since the 2019 Americas GP, is Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol).
The starting grid for the race looked like this:
Row 1 : Quartararo : Vinales : Crutchlow Row 2 : Morbidelli : Miller : Mir
An empty Valentino Rossi garage due to him testing positive for covid-19 and will miss the Aragon GP and the Teruel GP (Aragon Circuit). Image courtesy of Yamaha RacingStart of the AragonGP MotoGP 2020 Race. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing
With 23 laps of racing, the red lights go out and the racing begins with the pole sitter, Quartararo not getting off to a great start and is beaten to Turn 1 by Vinales with Morbidelli in 3rd place. Rins had a fantastic start and moved from 10th place up to 4th whilst Crutchlow had a terrible start and moved down 8 places to 12th on the grid.
By lap 3 Vinales has pulled out a 0.5 second lead. Bagnaia’s race ends early after he enters the gravel and A.Marquez moves up into 7th place. By the following lap, Rins has passed Morbidelli up into 3rd and is now pushing Quartararo and manages to take the championship leader on lap 6 up the inside.
The battle for 6th place is hotting up as Miller is looking to pass A.Marquez and by lap 8, Quartararo is passed by both Morbidelli and Mir and pushed down to 5th place.
Lap 9, Rins passes the leader, Vinales, on the inside into Turn 1 and now A.Marquez overtakes Quartararo and has his sights set on Mir. Surely Quartararo has an issue with his bike as Nakagami takes him on lap 11 and two laps later its the turn of Morbidelli and Miller and a lap later by Crutchlow pushing him down to 14th on the grid and nearly out of the points.
Lap 14, A.Marquez brakes very late to pass Vinales, and he is now up to 3rd place with his sights very firmly set on Mir. With 8 laps to go, is Rins going to be able to hold off Mir and A.Marquez who have pulled out a 2.1 second gap ahead of 4th place Vinales.
A.Marquez is looking to pass Mir and has a couple of attempts at passing and at the start of lap 19 he takes Mir on the inside and now has his sights set on Rins. Will A.Marquez be able to get his first MotoGP win at Aragon?
Battle of the Alexes, with Rins beating Marquez in the 2020 Aragon GP MotoGP race. Image courtesy of Suzuki Racing
By lap 20 A.Marquez has closed the gap on Rins to 0.17 seconds, is Rins going to be able to hold off the rookie for the last couple of laps? Lap 22 A.Marquez is right on the heels of Rins but suffers a huge wobble and thus losing valuable time allowing Rins to take a very well deserved first MotoGP win very closely followed by A.Marquez and then Mir in 3rd place.
What a brilliant weekend of racing from Aragon. Don’t forget to set your alarms for the next round at Aragon on the 24/25 October.
Round 8 of the WorldSBK took place at Estoril and in order to keep the championship alive and stop Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) from claiming his 6th consecutive World Title, Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) needs to win here this weekend.
It was an incident packed Superpole where we saw both Rea and Redding crash out with both bikes badly damaged. Fortunately for Rea, he had set a lap time before his crash which meant that although he was unable to get back out on track to set any further lap times, he started from 15th on the grid unlike Redding who started at the back of the grid having not set a time.
Claiming his first ever pole was Toprak Razgatlioglu for the (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) ahead of Leon Haslam (Team HRC) and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team).
Race One
The starting grid for Race 1 looked like this:
Row 1 : Razgatlioglu : Haslam : Gerloff Row 2 : Davies : Rinaldi : van der Mark
With 21 laps of racing, Race 1 got underway with Razgatlioglu getting off to a great start and in the lead at the first corner with Rinaldi up to 2nd and Gerloff in 3rd. Rea had moved from 15th place to 7th and Redding into 15th.
By Lap 2 Rea has moved up to 5th place having taken Lowes and van der Mark and passing Haslam into 4th place the following lap. Turns 9 and 10 sees Rea pass Rinaldi up into 3rd.
Razgatlioglu is pulling out a lead on 2nd place Gerloff by lap 4, van der Mark and Davies both take Haslam pushing the Honda rider down to 7th. Redding is now up into 12th place but unfortunately on the next lap we see him slow and pull over at the side with what looks like mechanical issues. Rea just needs to finish the race now in a points position to become world champion.
Van der Mark is hot on the heels of Rea but lap 8 sees van der Mark go down into the gravel at turn 7 and out of the race. Rea takes Gerloff on lap 9 and now has his sights firmly set on the leader. Haslam takes Lowes on the inside closely followed by Bautista and Davies passes Gerloff and starts to chase down Rea.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu winner of Race One Estoril, WSBK 2020, Chaz Davis second, and Garrett Gerloff Third. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing
The start of lap 12 sees Davies pass Rea up into 2nd place and a few corners later Rea runs wide allowing Gerloff to slide past on the inside. Lap 14, Razgatlioglu has a 4.3 second lead over Davies in 2nd place and at Turn 1 Rea takes 3rd place back from Gerloff but Gerloff is not giving up and is glued to Rea’s rear and the following lap takes the place back.
On lap 17 Haslam takes Lowes at Turn 1 but a few corners later runs wide allowing Lowes to take the place back. Razgatlioglu has the race under control and is riding a superb race. Bautista goes down and into the gravel at Turn 6 on the following lap thus putting an early end to his race for the 5th time this year.
We see Haslam and Lowes switch places on the next two laps in their fight for 5th place but it is Razgatlioglu who is the comfortable winner today with over a 4 second lead ahead of 2nd place Davies, Gerloff in 3rd and Rea in 4th.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) has now secured his 6th consecutive WorldSBK World Title and is a very deserved Champion indeed.
Race Two
After a brilliant race one, Race 2 is set to be as nail biting too and with 21 laps to go the starting grid looks like this:
Row 1 : Razgatlioglu : Gerloff : van der Mark Row 2 : Davies : Rea : Redding
A fantastic start by Razgatlioglu who is first into Turn 1 with Davies up into 2nd and van der Mark in 3rd. 4th place Rea makes contact with van der Mark going into Turn 10 but both riders manage to keep hold of their bikes. By the end of the lap Davies has taken the lead from Razgatlioglu.
Lowes is on the heels of van der Mark on the following lap and Redding is looking to get past Rea. At Turn 4 on lap 3, 3rd place Gerloff goes into the gravel at Turn 4 putting an early end to his race.
By lap 7 Davies is pulling out a comfortable lead. Rea is now closing down Razgatlioglu and lap 8 sees Rea take the place on the start/finish line only for Razgatlioglu to take it back again. Lap 9 we see Rea repeat the overtake on the start/finish line but going into Turn 1 he loses it going up the inside of Razgatlioglu and sliding across the track. Rea manages to rejoin the race but is now in 16th place.
Van der Mark is up into 4th place by lap 10 with Lowes 5th. Bautista and his teammate, Haslam, are fighting for 6th position. Lap 13 is unlucky for Baz and Folgar who both clearly have mechanical issues and are both slowing down and then pull off the track.
Redding is reducing the gap on Razgatlioglu and Turn 7 on lap 14 Lowes goes into the gravel, he tries to rejoin the race but is unable to. What is this going to mean for the manufacturers championship now that both Rea and Lowes are out of the race? Fores has to finish the race in order for Kawasaki to win.
Lap 17 sees Redding take 2nd place from Razgatlioglu, Razgatlioglu is in fighting form and nearly gets the place back but in the end is unable to. With two laps to go, Ducati are 1st and 2nd and the battle for 6th place is hotting up between Rinaldi, Haslam, Fores and Caricasulo.
Chaz Davis, Winner of Race Two, Scott Redding second and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu third at the 2020 Estoril WSBK round. Image courtesy of Ducati
The final lap finally comes and Davies has a 3 second lead over 2nd place Redding and he takes a very comfortable and well deserved win.
Kawasaki win the manufacturers title over Ducati by 1 point. An extremely close and well fought championship battle.
Another brilliant race and a fantastic final weekend of racing to end the 2020 WorldSBK Championship.
Standings
The Driver’s / Team Standings at the end of Round 8 at Estoril on the 17/18 October looked like this:
The end of an exciting, albeit very strange, MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season is upon us with one round left in Estoril, Portugal on the 16-18 October.
Chaz Davis at Magny-Cours, WSbK 2020. Image courtesy of Ducati
Round 7 held at Magny-Cours, France on the 2-4 October proved to be full of thrills and spills with Championship leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) winning the Superpole Race and Race 1 on the Saturday further extending his championship lead and then Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) winning Race 2 on the Sunday bringing him back into contention for this year’s title.
The conditions were wet on the Saturday and after a tense Superpole Race it was Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) who topped the charts with Jonathan Rea in third position.
Both the BMW’s riders got off to a great start in Race 1 but unfortunately at Turn 1 Laverty was taken out by a falling Sykes after being hit by Garrett Gerloff thus ending what could have been a fantastic race for the BMW riders. Gerloff was able to continue riding but crashed a few laps later thus ending his race also.
Jonathan Rea went on to win the race followed by Loris Baz in second, Alex Lowes third, Chaz Davies fourth, Scott Redding fifth and Toprak Razgatlioglu in sixth.
Race 2 saw Scott Redding fight back to claim a superb victory after an exciting race with Loris Baz claiming his second 2nd place podium of the weekend and after a nail biting duel to the end of the race, Chaz Davies claimed the last podium place just ahead of Jonathan Rea.
Redding is still in contention for the championship title but he will need to win all three races at Estoril in order to stop Jonathan Rea claiming his 6th consecutive world championship title.
With Loris Baz’s double podium, it means that he is still in with a shout of the title in the Independent Riders’ Championship. Baz is 31 points behind Michael Ruben Rinaldi and with three races to gain points from at Estoril, the title could go either way.
As we head to Estoril for what will arguably be a thrilling end to a fantastic season of racing, changes are afoot in the paddock.
After four years at PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team, Michael van der Mark is heading to the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team alongside existing rider Tom Sykes. As yet no replacement for van der Mark’s seat has been announced by the Yamaha team.
Michael van der Mark at the 2020 WSBK Magny-Cours round. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing
There is also the potential of an independent BMW Team making it’s way onto the grid which could open up the opportunity for new riders to enter the World Superbike paddock.
Replacing Xavi Fores in the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Team is Lucas Mahias who is moving from WorldSSP where he won the Championship in 2017 and finishes 2nd in this year’s championship for the Kawasaki team.
Making his debut appearance at Estoril, a circuit he has not competed at before, will be Belgian rider Loris Cresson for the (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR) team riding a Kawasaki ZX-10RR. The 22 year has competed in WorldSSP for the last three years.
Make sure you set your alarms for next weekend’s racing at Estoril.
The end is near for what has arguably been a fantastic, although highly unusual, 2020 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season which still has three rounds remaining to be held at Brands Hatch on 17/18 October.
Andrew Irwin at Donington Park BSB 2020. Image courtesy of Honda Racing UK
In what was a decidedly wet weekend at Donnington Park on the 3 /4 October, Saturday’s racing turned out to be a washout. After the second aborted start, racing was cancelled for the day with all three rounds of the BSB racing scheduled to take place on the Sunday.
Round 13 saw Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) take victory after riding a near perfect race with both the VisionTrack Ducati’s of Christian Iddon and Josh Brookes coming in behind in second and third place respectively.
Losing the lead in the championship standings for the first time this season, was Glenn Irwin after crashing out on the opening lap at Goddards, thankfully he was unhurt. Irwin is now on equal points with Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) who did not fair well in this race, finishing in 14th place ahead of Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati).
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) took fourth place in the closing stages of the race from Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) who had his best result of the season with 5th place. Teammate, Jack Kennedy, moved up to 7th position in the closing stages of the race and will start on pole position for Round 14.
Round 14 saw Josh Brookes on the top step of the podium having worked his way from 6th to the front of the grid by lap 5 thus taking the championship lead. Despite his best efforts to close in on Brookes, Jason O’Halloran finished a very respectable second place taking him up to 2nd in the championship standings. Teammate, Tarran Mackenzie, finished third putting both the McAMS Yamaha’s on the podium.
The race ended early for Ryan Vickers and Andrew Irwin after crashing together at the Melbourne Loop swiftly followed by Peter Hickman and Danny Buchan.
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati #25) winner of Race Two at Donington Park 2020 BSB. Image courtesy of Ducati
Claiming his best result of the season for the Buildbase Suzuki team, Gino Rea finished in 4th place ahead of Tommy Bridewell and Christian Iddon. The race was not going well for Glenn Irwin either and we saw him drop down to 7th position ahead of Jack Kennedy and Luke Mossey. Finishing the top ten line up was Joe Francis for the (Lloyd & Bowker BMW Motorrad) team.
Round 15 saw a third different rider to top the championship charts with Tarran Mackenzie taking the race lead with four laps to to for the McAMS Yamaha team.
Josh Brookes had a great start by taking the lead followed by Jason O’Halloran and Tommy Bridewell, with Bridewell quickly moving up to 2nd. Glenn Irwin was moving up the order and it was not long before he grabbed 2nd place from Bridewell. Unfortunately Lap 7 saw a technical problem put an early end to Bridewell’s race.
Lap 9 saw O’Halloran collide with Iddon during a battle for fourth place causing O’Halloran’s brake lever guard to jam ultimately dropping him down to 8th place by the end of the race.
Glenn Irwin was in the lead by lap 10 with Mackenzie behind him and Brookes in third. The McAMS rider made his move on Glenn Irwin at the Fogarty Esses and was able to hold onto the lead and claim victory. Christian Iddon came in fourth moving him into 2nd place in the championship standings going into the final round at Brands Hatch.
Gino Rea finished 5th place with his best result for the Buildbase Suzuki team followed by Lee Jackson for the Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki team.
Round 13 winner, Andrew Irwin, came in 7th place followed by O’Halloran with Luke Mossey and Joe Francis completing the top ten.
Make sure you don’t miss any action that will be coming our way from Brands Hatch on the 17/18 October.
Round 10 of the 2020 MotoGP Championship took place on the 9-11 October at Le Mans, France.
The Championship leader, Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) claimed pole position for Sunday’s race having snatched the lead on the final lap of qualifying from Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) with Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) making up the front row of the grid.
With 26 laps of racing, the red lights go out and the racing begins with the pole sitter, Quartararo not getting off to a great start and by Turn 1 he is in third place behind the Ducati’s of Miller and Dovizioso with Petrucci in 4th place but then Petrucci takes Quartararo pushing him down into 5th place. At Turn 3 Rossi goes down and that is the end of what was an extremely short race for him.
A drizzly chaotic start to the 2020 Le Mans MotoGP round. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing
By the end of a very busy lap 1, three Ducati’s are leading the race with Petrucci now in the lead. As we go into lap 2, P.Espargaro takes Quartararo but he manages to grab the place straight back.
Lap 3 sees Rins take Crutchlow and P.Espargaro has another go at taking Quartararo and this time he manages to make the place stick despite nearly taking Quartararo out in the process. Rins follows P.Esparagaro too and the following lap Crutchlow passes and another place is lost for Quartararo with Smith now having a look to get past and he makes his move down the inside and the pole sitter is now down in 8th position.
Just at the end of lap 4, Marquez goes down the outside of both Quartararo and Oliveira taking him up to 8th place and he is hunting down Smith and on lap 6 he makes a smooth pass up into 7th place.
Rins has put in the fastest lap and is closing the gap on the Ducati’s. Smith goes down in the gravel on lap 10 and we can see him crawling away from his bike.
By lap 12 the gap between Rins and third place Miller is now down to 0.5 seconds and the following lap Rins goes up the inside of Miller into 3rd but Miller fights back and takes the place back but Rins is not giving up and is right on the heels of Miller.
The following lap we see Rabat crash out thus ending his race and Marquez zips past Crutchlow into 6th place. On lap 15 Rins has another go at passing Miller and this time he makes the place stick but not for long as by the end of the lap Miller has the place back again. Marquez has put in the fastest lap and is closing the gap on P.Espargaro and by lap 17 he is right on his tail. Morbidelli crashes into the dirt at turn 4.
At the end of the start/finish straight on lap 18 Dovizioso makes his move on Petrucci and takes the lead and Rins takes Miller but Miller fights straight back and keeps hold of his 3rd place. Crutchlow crashes out ending his race. Just before the end of the lap, Dovizioso, Miller, Rins and Petrucci enter the corner pretty much all together, Dovizioso runs wide allowing Petrucci into 1st place with Rins 2nd and Miller 3rd.
Lap 19 Miller passes Rins into 2nd place but then something lets go on his bike and he pulls over to the side and retires from the race. Marquez has now taken P.Espargaro and is up in 4th place but the following lap Rins crashes at Turn 3 and Marquez is now up to 3rd place.
Alex Marquez at the 2020 Le Mans MotoGP round. Image courtesy of Honda Racing Corporation
By lap 22 Petrucci has a 1.6 second lead over the Dovizioso in 2nd place and seems to have the race under control. Rins has managed to rejoin the race with the help of the marshals but he appears to have a marshals strap caught on the tail of his bike. He is flagged to pull over, he removes the strap and rejoins the race again.
On lap 24 Dovizioso runs wide allowing Marquez to go through into 2nd place, Dovizioso is desperately looking to regain the place but Marquez is holding him off for now. The penultimate lap P.Espargaro takes Dovizioso into 3rd place and Oliveria is having a look too and manages to get past but doesn’t keep the place and goes back down to 5th.
The final lap sees P.Espargaro closing the gap on Marquez but Marquez just needs to hold him for the remainder of the lap. Petrucci has control of the race and takes the chequered flag followed by a very jubilant Marquez in 2nd and P.Espargaro in 3rd.
Phew! That was an exciting and very busy race which unfortunately saw race retirements from Miller, Morbidelli, Crutchlow, Rabat, Smith and Rossi.
Makes sure you set your alarms for the next race which takes place in Aragon on the 16-18 October.
It was a dramatic weekend of action in the Cheshire countryside as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visited Oulton Park. Here’s how the action unfolded over the course of a pulsating weekend.
Polesitter Jason O’Halloran became the eighth different rider to claim a BSB victory in 2020 with his victory in Saturday’s race one. The Australian McAms Yamaha man took the victory at the end of a pulsating contest that saw the lead change hands on a number of occasions. Championship leader Glenn Irwin and VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon both led the pack on separate occasions during the race but O’Halloran (who had also earlier led) fought back and claimed the victory after successfully making his move by breaking down Iddon’s stern defence on the final lap and crossing the finish line just 0.358s ahead of the Mancunian rider. FS-3 Racing’s Danny Buchan rounded out the podium with his first top three finish of the season.
Jason O’Halloran winner at BSB Oulton Park 2020. Image courtesy of Impact Images/Mcams Yamaha
Andrew Irwin finished fourth ahead of brother Glenn with Lee Jackson on the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki ending in sixth. Synetiq BMW’s Brad Ray came seventh ahead of Iddon’s team-mate Josh Brookes and Tarran Mackenzie (McAms Yamaha) and Gino Rea on the Buildbase Suzuki rounding out the top 10. Rea’s Suzuki team-mate Kyle Ryde, a double winner during the previous round at Silverstone, crashed out of the race on the first lap.
It was more of the same for O’Halloran in Sunday’s first race as he claimed his second win of the season with a near-perfect display aboard the R1 to lead the race from the opening lap, holding off the challenges of Christian Iddon and Danny Buchan.
Thirty-five year old O’Halloran’s victory eventually held more gravitas than anyone would have expected prior to the race when Glenn Irwin was forced to withdraw from the race following technical problems with his Honda FireBlade. The win for O’Halloran combined with Irwin’s DNF catapulted the Australian Yamaha rider well and truly into the title race, slashing Irwin’s lead to just five points.
A determined ride from Josh Brookes saw him finish fourth after being as low as seventh at one point while a fine move from Lincolnshire rider Lee Jackson on Andrew Irwin saw him nab fifth place. Tarran Mackenzie finished in sixth ahead of Irwin. Luke Mossey, aboard the Rich Energy OMG Kawasaki finished in ninth place as the filling in a BMW sandwich with Brad Ray in eighth and TT winner Peter Hickman on the Global Robots Smith’s BMW closing out the top 10.
The result of race three made it Australia Day in Cheshire as VisionTrack Ducati’s Josh Brookes reminded the championship leaders that he was still well and truly in the hunt for the prize by taking the victory. 2015 BSB champion Brookes was made to work hard for his second win of the season as his team-mate Christian Iddon provided a spirited challenge. Iddon had a number of chances to make a move on his PBM partner but Brookes’ experience came to the fore as he continually held Iddon at bay.
Josh Brookes and Christian Iddon at BSB Oulton Park 2020. Image courtesy of Ducati
Lee Jackson capped off a fine weekend for FS-3 Racing as he pinched a spot on the podium at the expense of Jason O’Halloran after making his move at Lodge and cross the line 0.096s ahead of the Yamaha rider. Jackson’s team-mate Danny Buchan ended the race in fifth position ahead of Glenn Irwin, the Honda man’s sixth place result means he ends the weekend still on top of the standings but only by a tight margin of two points from man of the weekend O’Halloran. Peter Hickman enjoyed his best finish of the season in eighth place behind Brad Ray. Tarran Mackenzie and Luke Mossey rounded out the top 10.
As previously mentioned, the events of the thrilling weekend at Oulton leaves Glenn Irwin just two points clear of Jason O’Halloran at the top of the standings with Josh Brookes in third, himself just ten points behind Honda Racing’s irwin. Christian Iddon can still harbour designs on the title just two points behind VisionTrack Ducati team-mate Brookes on 166. There’s then a gap of 32 points between Iddon and nearest challenger, Oxford Products Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell.
It may be an over-used clichè in sports but it really is all to play for now as there are just six races remaining of the 2020 BSB season with the attention shifting to the Grand Prix layout of Donington Park over the weekend of 2-4 October.
Featured Image courtesy of Impact Images/McAMS Yamaha.
As the Bennetts British Superbike Championship heads to the Cheshire countryside for it’s fourth meeting of the season at Oulton Park, let’s recall what took place during the first half of the truncated 2020 season.
Tarran Mackenzie winner of Race 1 at Silverstone BSB 2020. Image courtesy of Impact Image/McAMS Yamaha
The action got underway at Donington Park with Honda Racing’s Andrew Irwin making the headlines for both the right and wrong reasons.
Northern Irishman Irwin took the first two races of the season ahead of brother Glenn before controversy reigned in the final race of the weekend when Andrew collided with VisionTrack Ducati’s Josh Brookes, which led to the Australian rider crashing out of the race at Hollywood.
While replays showed that there was a gap that many believed Irwin was right to attempt to exploit, the BSB officials took a rather dim view on the incident, claiming that the Honda rider had made ‘unfair and avoidable’ contact and disqualified Irwin from the race and ordered him to start the next race from the back of the grid. The incident had no effect on the race winner as Oxford Products Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell took the spoils.
After a decade of trying, Christian Iddon finally claimed his maiden BSB in race one of the second meetings at Snetterton. The Mancunian rider was embroiled in a tough battle with VisionTrack Ducati team-mate Josh Brookes before taking the lead with five laps remaining and then sprinting clear of the Australian to claim a comfortable victory.
Brookes took his first victory of 2020 in the second Snetterton race after an intriguing tussle with championship leader Glenn Irwin. The two men battled hard and traded the lead until a mistake by Irwin allowed Brookes to build a decisive lead. The Honda rider attempted to snatch the lead back at Agostini’s but ran wide thus shutting the door on his hopes of victory.
Irwin responded with a win of his own in the third race of the meeting to prevent a Ducati hat-trick and extend his lead in the standings by 23 points. Despite being as low as seventh at the end of the first lap, Irwin showed great determination to fight his way through the pack and eventually take the lead during lap 10. The Honda man wouldn’t surrender his position and finished 1.138s ahead of nearest challenger Tommy Bridewell.
The championship front runners had their noses bloodied at the third meeting of the season at Silverstone as two more riders took the spoils to take the tally of BSB competitors taking victories in 2020 to a magnificent seven.
Tarran Mackenzie on the McAms Yamaha took an emotional win one tenth of a second ahead of Buildbase Suzuki’s Kyle Ryde with Yamaha team-mate Jason O’Halloran taking third place. Mackenzie showed tremendous pace to fight his way through the pack from twelfth position to take the second victory of his BSB career, his first coming at the same venue in 2019.
Buoyed by his maiden BSB podium in the first Silverstone race, reigning British GP2 Champion Kyle Ryde backed up his impressive form in the early rounds to claim victory in races two and three in Northamptonshire. In the second race, Ryde perched himself behind long-time race leader Josh Brookes before opening up the taps and making his move on the Australian on lap 27. Ryde soon pulled the pin and scorched clear, eventually coming home a comfortable 1.686s ahead of the Ducati rider.
Kyle Ryde, winner; Tarran Mackenzie, second place and Jason O’Halloran third in Race 2 at the 2020 BSB Silverstone round. Image courtesy of Impact Image/McAMS Yamaha
In the third race of the weekend, Ryde put in a dominant performance and controlled the pace of the race to romp home 1.549s ahead of race one winner Mackenzie.
Going into the Oulton Park round, it’s Glenn Irwin who heads the championship some 35 points clear of VisionTrack Ducati’s Josh Brookes and Oxford Products Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell. Ryde’s brace of victories at Silverstone catapulted him into fourth place ahead of McAms Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran (the only rider in the top seven to have not yet won a race in 2020). Christian Iddon sits in sixth place, five points clear of Tarran Mackenzie.
It’s all to play for now as we enter the business end of the season with race one of the weekend at Oulton Park getting underway at 16.15 on Saturday (September 18th).
Round 5 of the 2020 MotoGP Championship took place on the 11-13 September at the San Marino Circuit, Italy.
Qualifying was dominated by Yamaha who took the first four places on the grid with a second pole position of this season for Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) who was just 0.3 seconds ahead of Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT). The championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) starts the race in 3rd followed by Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) who takes 4th spot on the grid. This is the first time in MotoGP that Yamaha have had a 1-2-3-4 qualifying.
Unfortunately Cal Crutchlow has been declared unfit for the race. Cal has not recovered from his recent operation as well as he would have hoped but does plan to be back on the track at Barcelona.
With 27 laps of racing, the red lights go out and the racing begins with Rossi getting off to a great start but Morbidelli getting off to an even better start and is first into Turn 1 followed by Rossi, Miller, Vinales and Quartararo.
Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi at the 2020 MotoGP Misano GP. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing
By lap 2 Rins and Mir are closing in on Quartararo. Rossi is right on the tail of Morbidelli looking for his chance to slip past and the gap is building between 3rd place Miller and Vinales in 4th.
Bradley Smith crashes out at Turn 14 of lap 4 putting an early end to his race and a long lap penalty is issued to Lecuona who stalled on the grid of the warm up but instead of starting from the back of the grid he took his grid place, hence the penalty.
The pace of the front runners is good with Morbidelli still out in front followed by Rossi and Miller by lap 7. Vinales has passed Quartararo and although Quartararo tried to get the place back, Vinales made the overtake stick and kept the place but at Turn 4 of the following lap, Quartararo goes down and although he manages to pick the bike up and get back on the track, he is now down in last place.
Lap 9 sees Rins make a move on the inside of Vinales followed by Bagnaia who is now up into 5th place. The gap at the front of the grid between Morbidelli and Rossi is 0.3 seconds on lap 10 but two laps later it has increased to 0.7 seconds. Rins is on the back of Miller looking to get past and manages to take the place at the beginning of lap 14. Bagnaia is also having a look to see if he can get past Miller and goes up on the inside to cleanly take the place and is now up to 4th. Miller has lost 2 places in the space of 2 laps.
Lap 15 and the gap between Morbidelli and Rossi is now 1.1 seconds but by the following lap it is 1.7 seconds. Morbidelli seems to have this race under control and is setting a good even pace. Mir is now up into 6th place and although he has a big wobble on lap 17, he manages to hold onto the bike and place.
Bagnaia is right on the heels of Rins and lap 18 sees Mir pass Miller up on the inside into 5th place. Rins and Bagnaia are now hot on the heels of Rossi. Quartararo goes into the pits on lap 19, comes out again on the following lap and goes down at turn 6 – cold tyres perhaps?
Morbidelli has extended his lead to 2.7 seconds by lap 20 and we see Bagnaia go up the inside of Rins into 3rd place and then the following lap straight up the inside of Rossi into 2nd with Rins also having a look to see if he can get past too. Despite a late braking manoeuvre in which it looks like Rins is going to make the move past Rossi, Rossi is not giving up the place and holds onto his place for the moment.
Franco Morbidelli winner at the 2020 Misano MotoGP race. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing
Turn 9 on lap 24 sees Rabat crash out and although he is walking away he does look to be in some discomfort whilst doing so. Mir is right up with Rins and now Rossi is back up with Bagnaia looking to get his 2nd place back. Bagnaia seems to be having a problem with the bike especially in the corners.
On the final lap Mir makes a move past Rins up into 4th place and now has his sights on Rossi’s 3rd place. Mir is definitely on it and moves on the inside of Rossi to take the last podium spot. Morbidelli comfortably takes the chequered flag for his first win In MotoGP followed by Bagnaia and a closely followed Mir.
What a brilliant end to an action packed race from the San Marino circuit. The action is set to return on the 18-20 September back at the San Marino circuit.
Round 5 of the WorldSBK Race 2 took place on Sunday 6th September from MotorLand Aragon with Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) in pole position followed by the reigning Champion, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and then Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN) taking the last place on the front row of the grid.
With 18 laps of racing, Race 2 gets underway with Rea getting off to a great start and is first into Turn 1 followed by Redding, Rinaldi, Bautista, Davies and Razgatlioglu. Lowes has dropped from 6th to 9th, Redding surprises Rea on the inside and takes him. Rea is looking to get the place back but cannot get the move on Redding. Rinaldi is now homing in on Rea.
Scott Redding and Jonathan Rea at Teruel WorldSBK 2020. Image courtesy of Ducati
Sykes retires on lap 2 and the following lap sees Haslam pass Razgatlioglu swiftly followed by Lowes who has now dropped two places. Scheib crashes at Turn 15 on lap 4 putting an early end to his race and Baz has dropped five places to 15th. Redding puts in the fastest lap but Rea is hot on his heels.
Lap 5 sees Bautista go down at Turn 15 and although he has managed to rejoin the track, he is now at the back of the grid. There is less than 3/10ths of second between Redding, Rea and Rinaldi and going into Turn 7 Rea slips up the inside of Redding and they are neck and neck going round the corner, Rea pulls ahead slightly but Redding pulls the lead back and manages to hold on to 1st place.
Whilst Redding and Rea are jostling, Rinaldi takes advantage and pulls down the inside of Rea up into 2nd and then continues up on the inside of Redding into Turn 12 to take the lead. Rea tries to follow Rinaldi through but doesn’t make it but then on the last corner going into lap 6, Rea passes Redding. Redding has lost 2 places in one lap. Haslam has moved up into 5th position followed by Lowes who are both putting pressure on Davies for 4th place.
Lap 9 sees a one second gap between Rinaldi and Rea with Redding dropping back slightly on the front runners. Rea closes the gap on Rinaldi on the corners but the Ducati of Rinaldi has the speed on the straights.
Lowes is hot on the heels of Haslam, van der Mark has moved up into 7th and Barrier crashes out. Rea is glued to the tail of Rinaldi but he is not backing off and is managing to hold off the reigning World Champion, defending his position perfectly.
By lap 13, Redding is just over a second behind Rea, Rea is not giving up on trying to gain first position but can Rinaldi hold him off for the remaining laps? Turn 14 sees Davies go down and out of the race with the fight for 4th position, now between Haslam, Lowes, van der Mark and Razgatlioglu.
Redding has closed the gap to just under a second on Rea by the following lap but the fight between Rinaldi and Rea continues with Rea continually having a look to see if he can make his move on Rinaldi. Going into turn 5, Rea goes down the inside of Rinaldi but then by turns 6 and 7 Rinaldi is back in front again. Rea has a huge wobble and gets totally out of shape but somehow manages to save the bike and the place but he’s now got to make up the gap between him and Rinaldi again.
On turns 6 and 7 on the following lap, Rea goes down the inside of Rinaldi again and this time he makes the pass stick and by the end of the lap has pulled out a .3 second gap. Haslam is holding off Lowes in the fight for 4th position and by the last lap the gap is now .6 seconds between Rea and Rinaldi.
@jonathanrea scored second place in the Tissot-Superpole race today before taking his 96th career race win at the Teruel WorldSBK round extending his championship lead in the process. @alexlowes22 continued to ride through illness and posted 6th and then 5t place finishes today. pic.twitter.com/qRnu8M4gG8
Rea is looking good for the win and he passes the chequered flag first for his 96th WorldSBK win in such a closely fought battle followed by Rinaldi and Redding.
Rea now has a 36 point lead over Redding in the Championship.
The next race is at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain on the 18-20 September.
BK
The Driver’s / Team Standings so far at the end of Round 5 at MotorLand Aragon on the 5/6 September August looked like this:
Round 5 of the WorldSBK Superpole and Race 1 took place on Saturday from MotorLand Aragon with the reigning Champion, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) taking back to back pole positions at Aragon and beating his own lap record in the process. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN) had his best ever WorldSBK Superpole race by securing 2nd on the grid followed by Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) in third position.
With 18 laps of racing, Race 1 got underway with Rea getting off to a great start and is in the lead by Turn 1 followed by Redding and Rinaldi. Fores runs wide at Turn 2 and rejoins the grid in last place, Rinaldi, who is running the soft tyre, passes Redding going out of Turn 2 and Razgatlioglu has dropped from 4th to 7th place.
Just as Rea and Rinaldi are at the end of lap 1, Rinaldi makes a move on Rea on the inside and passes him, taking the lead into lap 2. Rea is on Rinaldi’s tail looking to get past but Rinaldi is not letting go of that place. Redding meanwhile is now on the tail of Rea and is waiting for the opportunity to pass. Barrier crashes out putting an abrupt end to his now very short race.
Scott Redding at Teruel round 2020 WSBK. Image courtesy of Ducati
By lap 3, Rinaldi has a half second gap on Rea, Bautista takes Razgatlioglu in a very nice move on the inside and Scheib crashes at Turn 3 coming up the hill and is out of the race. Davies is next up to attack Razgatlioglu and he goes cleanly up on the outside, Razgatlioglu is looking to get back past but so far he is not able to and Davies is holding the place.
Lowes, who has not been well all week, is all over Haslam in 8th place on lap 4 and is looking for a chance to get past and manages to do so on the following lap. This is the first race for Matteo Ferrari on the Ducati who has just passed Melandri up into 16th place.
By lap 6 the gap between Rinaldi and Rea is now 2 seconds, Redding runs wide and Bautista who is right up with him looks for a chance to get past but Redding manages to hold Bautista back but as we come out of Turn 4 on the following lap, Redding loses it and goes down sliding into the gravel and out of the race.
Rinaldi has now pulled out a lead of 4.1 seconds on Rea coming into lap 9 and the battle for 11th place is heating up between Gerloff and Baz. Lowes runs wide at Turn 1 just at the start of lap 10 and is now down in 10th place.
Bautista is closing in on Rea and the battle for 7th is between Sykes and Haslam, Lowes has passed Caricusulo into 9th but then Sykes runs wide allowing Haslam, Lowes and Caricusulo to go through and dropping from 7th to 10th place in a few short moments.
Lap 13 sees Lowes pass Haslam in a very smooth move up the inside and into 7th spot. The following lap Bautista passes Davies up into 3rd position, Davies is looking to get the place back but can’t manage it but then at Turn 14, Bautista goes down and out of the race. Judging by his body language, that is one very unhappy Bautista, his second retirement of the year having retired from Race 1 last weekend at Aragon too!
Going into lap 15, Rinaldi’s lead increases to 6.9 seconds on Rea and by lap 18 Rinaldi, Rea and Davies are all riding their own races and have a good lead against the rest of the pack. They just need to keep it steady and not make any mistakes for the next couple of laps. Lowes is in 6th position followed by Haslam and Caricusulo who are hot on his heels.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CExAQfWHCS8/
The chequered flag sees 24 year old Rinaldi first past the line making him the 78th different winner in the WorldSBK Championship. Rinaldi, riding for Ducati Team GOELEVEN, has secured the first independent team victory since 2012. Rea follows through in 2nd place followed by Davies in 3rd.
What an incredible win for Rinaldi and Ducati Team GOELEVEN, you can see his obvious elation at his victory and his team go wild in the pits.
