Category: Crew On Two

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Moto2: Who Can Stop the Balda Attack?

The Moto2 World Championship heads to France this weekend, for round five of the 2019 series from Le Mans.

Although famed mostly for cars, Le Mans also has a good history with motorcycles. Indeed, the 24 Heures Motos this year (just a few of weeks ago) was a classic endurance race, and one that people will speak about for a years to come with the battle for the win between SRC Kawasaki and Honda Endurance Racing going down to the last minutes. In comparison to this, though, the Moto2 class has never produced a race with a winning margin of less than one second at Le Mans, but with the Triumph engines of 2019, compared to the Hondas of the past, that could change this year.

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) has – mostly – dominated the Moto2 World Championship so far this season. Despite a DNF in Texas which was only partly his fault the Italian has not lost the lead of the championship since he claimed it when he won in Qatar at round one and, with his win last time out in Jerez, he has done similarly as Jorge Prado in the MX2 World Championship this season, and won every race which he has finished.

The #7 was fortunate in Jerez, though. Although Baldassarri and his side of the Pons team did well to bounce back from a difficult Friday when he suffered two breakdowns and a couple of crashes, it is no secret that Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up) was poised to win his home Grand Prix had it been run to its full length.

A crash at the start involving several riders caused a red flag and cut several laps off the race distance. Navarro was on Baldassarri’s tail on the final lap of the fifteen-lap restarted race and, had he had the full allocation of laps, there is little doubt the Spaniard would have overcome his Italian rival. The biggest lesson, though, for Navarro was that he had to improve his starts. Going from pole position he dropped a lot of positions at the start and, whilst Baldassarri was escaping at the front along with Flexbox HP 40 teammate Augusto Fernandez, Navarro was fighting his way back through the pack. If Navarro can introduce a strong start into his already impressive mix of race pace and qualifying speed, he could be on for a first career Moto2 win this weekend.

Despite still suffering with his wrist in Le Mans after his practice crash in Argentina at round two, Augusto Fernandez was able to secure a first career Moto2 podium in his home GP. This weekend, though, will be the Spaniard’s first time at Le Mans, so the first sessions will be revelatory ones for the #40.

Finishing fourth in Jerez, it is Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) who is second in the championship going into this weekend. Luthi’s history in Le Mans is good, with two wins in the Moto2 class – coming in 2012 and 2015, as well as two wins in the 125cc race back in 2005, on his way to the World Championship that year, and 2006. Additionally, Luthi has podiums at Le Mans in 2016 and 2017, finishing third on both occasions. Perhaps this weekend, the Swiss can add to his COTA win back at round three, and make some in-roads into the lead of Baldassarri to take the momentum of the Italian away two weeks before the Italian GP in Mugello.

When Alex Rins took pole position for the Pons team back in 2015, Sam Lowes set an equal time to the Spaniard when he was riding for Speed Up. Now on the Kalex, and with the Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 squad, the Brit will be hoping to get onto the podium for the first time this season, after a tough start to the season.

Brad Binder, Spanish MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

In similar situations to Lowes are Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46). Like Lowes, both Binder and Marini came into this season with expectations of winning the championship, but none of the three have so far lived up to these expectations. Whilst Lowes has struggled thus far to translate what has often been decent pace in practice into race results, Binder has been let down by his KTM machinery. Whilst the Austrian manufacturer are no doubt working hard to fix the issues with their Moto2 chassis, it would be a surprise to see Binder find a magic bullet this weekend, especially at a circuit which has been so tough for the KTM Moto2 frame in the past. In comparison, Luca Marini’s problem has so far been his recovery from shoulder surgery in the winter. He was improving his results round-on-round in the opening three races, but clearly struggled in Jerez and managed only eighth place. Although it seems unlikely that any of these three riders will be able to fight at the very front this weekend, it will be important for each of them to score good points in France to keep themselves alive in the championship.

Returning from injury this weekend is Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), but that doesn’t mean Mattia Pasini is lost from the grid, as the Italian veteran is now in at Petronas SRT to replace the injured Khairul Idham Pawi. Back on a Kalex, as he was in Texas when he fought for the podium and finished fourth for Sito Pons’ team, it will be interesting to see what impact Pasini can have on the 2019 French Moto2 Grand Prix.

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Moto3: Championship Wide Open Ahead of Le Mans

“Inconsistent” remains the adjective of choice for the Moto3 World Championship as the 2019 season heads to Le Mans for the fifth round of the season at the French Grand Prix.

Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) looked to be making his mark on the series as he led going to Jerez, joint on points with compatriot Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), but a crash at the end of a weekend in which he struggled for pace in Andalusia proved that this season in the lightweight class of motorcycle grand prix racing will continue to be unpredictable.

Jaume Masia, at the Spanish Moto3 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

The crash for Masia, along with a fourth place for Canet, means the #44 arrives in France – a track which he won at in the Junior World Championship in 2015 but is without a podium at in the World Championship – leading the World Championship by one point. The man who is second in the championship is Niccolo Antonelli.

Antonelli was the cause of emotional scenes in Jerez, when he took the Sic58 Squadra Corse’s first victory in the World Championship, fifteen years on from Marco Simoncelli’s first GP win back in 2004 at the same track. In fact, it is possible to say that Antonelli has been the most consistent of the front-running riders this season, with a record of 8-4-5-1 in the first four races of the season and now with his first win since Qatar 2016 under his belt he will hope to be able to build on his Spanish Grand Prix result this weekend, at a circuit where Simoncelli won ten years ago by nearly twenty seconds, in the wet ahead of Hector Faubel in the 250cc class.

Whilst Antonelli will be quite content with a repeat of the result in Jerez this weekend, his teammate, Tatsuki Suzuki, will be keen to reverse the positions, having taken a debut Moto3 World Championship podium at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Celestino Vietti, third in the Spanish Moto3 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

The third podium finisher in Jerez, Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) will be hoping his French Grand Prix weekend goes more in the vein of his Spanish Grand Prix weekend than in that of his CEV outings at Le Mans. In 2017, Vietti was thirtieth in the Junior World Championship race at Le Mans, while last year he DNF’d.

The reigning Moto3 Junior World Champion, Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) has a better record than Vietti in Le Mans, and was second to Aleix Viu at the French track last season on his way to the title. He will certainly want a better result this weekend than he achieved in Spain, when he lost control of his KTM on the entry to the Dani Pedrosa Corner and cleaned out rookie Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0), who took fourth place at Le Mans in the 2017 CEV race.

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MotoGP: Le Mans Awaits, France Expects at Round Five

This weekend the MotoGP World Championship heads to the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans, the home of the 24 Heures Motos and 24 Heures du Mans.

In the last two years, it has been Johann Zarco aboard a satellite Yamaha who has been the poster boy on which the hopes of the French fans have been pinned. However, with the #5’s transfer over the winter to Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, which has yet to yield much other than frustration for both parties, it is Fabio Quartararo on the Petronas Yamaha SRT YZR-M1 who is the home fans’ best hope of a podium this weekend.

Johann Zarco at Jerez 2019. Image courtesy of Philip Platzer/KTM

Indeed, a podium this weekend for the #20 would be his first in the premier class, although it should have arrived two weeks ago. Assuming the Frenchman’s rear tyre was not about to suffer a similar fate to that of his Petronas Yamaha SRT teammate, Franco Morbidelli, Quartararo was on for third place at least in Jerez a fortnight ago. A gear shift problem halted his charge, and forced him to retire. But between taking pole position and seeming to be on for a debut rostrum in just his fourth MotoGP start, it was a stunning weekend for the star Frenchman, who twelve months ago finished eighth in the French Moto2 Grand Prix, nearly fifteen seconds behind dominant winner Francesco Bagnaia. After the devastation of Jerez, Quartararo will be more determined than ever to arrive on the rostrum this weekend, and maybe even climb to the top step.

The Frenchman was certainly more competitive in Jerez than his Yamaha stablemates, especially the ones in the factory Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team: Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi. Whilst Vinales was impressively able to make a rostrum – his first since Australia 2018 – out of a severely messy weekend, Rossi was only able to salvage sixth from thirteenth on the grid. There were several issues for both the factory Yamaha riders throughout the weekend, so Vinales’ third place was a positive sign, especially at a track which has been so tough for the factory M1s since 2016. Compared to Jerez, the Yamaha riders have been strong in Le Mans in the last few years.

In fact, Yamaha’s history in Le Mans is impressive in general. Since 2008, Yamaha have won seven times in France, and have had a rider on the podium at the French GP every year since 2008 with the exception of 2011 when Jorge Lorenzo was the top Yamaha in fourth. Still without a win in 2019, the YZR-M1 riders will be targeting the top step this weekend and, especially for Vinales and Rossi, it will be important to win for their respective championship chances.

Marc Marquez en-route to his 2018 Le Mans win. Image courtesy of Box Repsol

The championship chances of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) are rarely in doubt, and he reclaimed the championship lead he surrendered in Austin last time out in Jerez with a dominant win. When Marquez won in Jerez in 2018, he backed it up with a win in Le Mans, a circuit where it was not expected that he could win. It was Marquez’ second premier class win in France, after he took victory in 2014, and continued the run of Spanish winners at the French track which stretches back to Lorenzo’s wet weather victory in 2012.

Last year’s win for Marquez was easier for him than it perhaps should have been. It was not easy, by any means, hence the widely-shared slow-motion shot of him losing the front through the first part of the Dunlop Chicane, but Andrea Dovizioso was expected to put up more of a fight. The Ducati Team bikes will look a little different this weekend, as they will be without their Mission Winnow sponsorship, but for the first time since Qatar we are arriving at a circuit where the Ducati is expected to be one of the best-suited bikes, if not the best. However, the factory Ducati team has not had a podium in Le Mans since Dovizioso was third behind the two factory Yamahas of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.

On the other hand, Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) was second for the Pramac Racing Ducati team last season, two seconds behind Marquez and three in front of Rossi. Additionally, Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) had the pace for third last year, to be in front of Rossi, but a series of mistakes let the veteran Italian off the hook. Certainly, the signs are good for Ducati this weekend but, as always, the task of defeating Marc Marquez will be a tough one to negotiate.

For Suzuki, Le Mans is a circuit of good memories. In 2007, Chris Vermeulen won in the rain for the Hamamatsu marque’s first MotoGP win. Nine years later, Maverick Vinales scored his first MotoGP podium for Suzuki, which was also the first of the GSX-RR since it was introduced in 2015. Now, as Team Suzuki Ecstar look to be entering into their first championship fight since their return to the World Championship just four years ago. They arrive in Le Mans, two weeks after a second place about which they would have been excused for being disappointed, and will no doubt be targeting the victory with their emerging star, Alex Rins. Le Mans also holds good memories for the Spaniard, who has four podiums;  including a win in the Moto2 race back in 2016, which was one year on from his debut Moto2 pole position in 2015.

Whilst Rins has a good history in Le Mans, Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) has the best history of anyone. No one has seen more success than Lorenzo in Le Mans. Perhaps that seems strange – such a stop-start track should surely suit a hard-braking rider, but Lorenzo’s wide, sweeping, arcing lines combined with his obsessive focus on corner exit means he is able to maximise the straights, and get onto them better than anyone else. Jerez did not go to plan for Lorenzo, he admitted he is still not comfortable with the RC213V, but perhaps Le Mans will be the place where he finally discovers his potential on the Honda.

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WorldSBK: Rea Demolishes Rivals for First 2019 Win

Although rain is expected for the second race on Sunday, there were good conditions for race one in Imola, for the fifth round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship.

Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) took pole position in the twenty-five-minute Superpole session with an out-right lap record, and he took the holeshot in race one, too. His lead did not last long, though, as Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) moved to the front at the entry to the Variante Villeneuve.

In fact, Davies’ race as a whole was over before the first lap, as a mechanical saw him drop out on the run down from Piratella to Acqua Minerale. The Welshman was able to get his Ducati back to the pits but what looked like a certain podium and a possibility to win was taken away before he had even gotten going.

That let Rea off the hook. Mostly, the Northern Irishman had held a pace advantage over the whole field for the whole weekend, but if anyone was going to go with the reigning World Champion it was going to be Davies. With his only potential challenger out, Rea had a comfortable run from lap two to the flag.

His first race win of 2019 was perhaps not how he imagined it, but Rea’s performance was more dominant than any of those he produced in his World Championship years, probably mostly out of his want to prove a point. His point is considered proven, as he took a dominant win by 7.832 seconds, although he slowed over the line on the final lap, and at one point his lead was as large as nine seconds.

The retirement of Davies meant that Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) had a straightforward run to second place. It was his first defeat in WorldSBK, but it came in a track he didn’t know, and where he was struggling with the stability of his bike. It will take some big changes to remain in the top two in sunday’s two races.

Alvaro Bautista finally loosing his winning streak at Imola WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

Third place was the most hard-fought position. Whilst Rea and Bautista were apart from each other as well as the rest of the field, the battle for third was strong. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) held third early on after Davies retired, before a mechanical problem befell his S1000RR. That left Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK), Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK), Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) to fight over the last podium position.

Lowes eventually dropped out of the fight. He did not retire, so it is possible that the illness he has been carrying this weekend led to his drop in pace in the second half of the race. However, between Lowes’ factory Yamaha teammate, van der Mark; Haslam and Razgatlioglu, there was some quite spectacular fighting.

In particular, towards the end van der Mark and Razgatlioglu were throwing some big moves at each other, and one from van der Mark stood out: a big dive in Rivazza 1, similar to the one he tried on Marco Melandri last year which cleaned both riders out of the race.

This time it stayed clean, though, and the battling between the Turk and the Dutchman allowed Haslam, who ran on twice in the Variante Alta, to keep in touch.

On the final lap, Razgatlioglu pulled away, and left van der Mark to fend off Haslam for fourth, a task which the #60 was up to.

It was Razgatlioglu’s first podium of the season and, after his call up for the Suzuka 8 Hours, one which came with good timing for the #54 after a difficult first part of the season. It will be interesting to see how the all-action Turk can handle the races tomorrow, scheduled to take place in the rain.

Having come so close to the current model R1’s first podium in Imola there will be some disappointment at fourth place for both van der Mark and Yamaha, but after what has been a tough weekend a fourth place in the opening race of the weekend is at least something to build on for Sunday.

Haslam will have been disappointed to come off worst in the three-way battle for third and end up fifth, especially to be beaten by a satellite Kawasaki, and especially when the pilot of that satellite Kawasaki is heavily rumoured to replace him in the factory team in 2020.

Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was able to pass Alex Lowes late on for sixth place, whilst Lowes came home in seventh, a couple of tenths shy of his Yamaha stablemate.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) had an awful day. He crashed in the morning which meant his team had to rebuild his bike. In Superpole, the Italian had an oil leak on his back tyre, which meant that, when he changed from the left side of the tyre to the right side in the middle of the Variante Villeneuve, the Ducati flicked him and caught fire in the gravel trap. Another rebuild job faced the BARNI Racing Team but it was one they were able to achieve and, despite starting from the back and suffering pain in his neck, Rinaldi was able to fight his way to eighth.

Lorenzo Zanetti (Motocorsa Racing), wildcarding this weekend, took his CIV-spec Ducati to ninth place, ahead of Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) who completed the top ten.

Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) finished eleventh, ahead of Eugene Laverty’s replacement at Team GoEleven, BSB joint-championship leader Tommy Bridewell who impressed with twelfth place and four World Championship points despite not riding in FP3 due to a technical problem.

Ryuichi Kiyonari at Imola WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Honda pro racing

Hector Barbera (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) finished thirteenth, ahead of Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) was fourteenth and Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) was the final finisher and took the final point in fifteenth.

Rinaldi’s oil leak seemed to start in the second part of the Variante Villeneuve in Superpole. When the session was restarted, Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) hit this oil that hadn’t been cleaned up and went down. The German was fine but Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) also went down and was hurt. The Englishman had to go to hospital and missed the race, but it is possible that he can return for Sunday.

After Tom Sykes and Chaz Davies went out, it was only Cortese who retired, with a crash in Acqua Minerale five laps from the flag.

Featured image courtesy of Ducati

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BSB: Brookes Doubles Up in Oulton Race Two

The fastest lap of race one and therefore race two pole position went to Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing) at the second round of the 2019 British Superbike Championship.

As in race one, the race took place in the sun, and as in race one, there were problems at the start. Peter Hickman’s Smiths Racing BMW S1000RR fell foul of the tyre pressure rule, so was wheeled into pit lane before the warm up lap and had to start from the back of the grid.

Tommy Bridewell 2nd in race 2 at Oulton Park 2019 BSB. Image courtesy of Ducati

At the front of the grid, Bridewell did not make the start he needed, and it was Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) who took the holeshot for the second race of the day, this time followed into turn one by fellow Aussie and the man who replaced him in the McAMS Yamaha squad for 2019, Jason O’Halloran. This did not last long, however, as Bridewell made his move on O’Halloran into turn three on the opening lap.

The similarities to race one did not end before the start of the second race, as the two Panigale V4Rs of Brookes and Bridewell stretched away from the rest of the field, as the only man who could get near their pace – Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing) – was fighting through the pack after an average start.

As Buchan was moving forwards, Jason O’Halloran was moving backwards, losing out to Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW Motorrad) early on, and then to Buchan as well on lap four. On the same lap, O’Halloran lost six tenths to Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati), who in turn had Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) – who had made a much better start than in race one where he fell to seventeenth – or company.

Further back, Hickman was charging through, and by the start of lap six he was up inside the points. At the same point, the start of lap six, Scott Redding made a pretty late lunge on O’Halloran – who was by now clearly struggling compared to the first race – in Old Hall, and took fifth place from the Australian.

At Druids on lap seven, Buchan was able to pass Iddon for third. There was a gap of around two seconds between the Ducati of Bridewell in second back to Buchan’s Kawasaki.

By lap eleven, Brookes was creeping away from Bridewell, hundredth by hundredth. This would set the tone for the second half of the race, a race which Brookes would win by 2.686 seconds to take the double. It was noted by Brookes before the weekend that, realistically, his championship started in Oulton Park due to his misfortune in Silverstone and, in that case, it was the perfect start to his championship.

Bridewell sealed his second podium of the weekend and of the season to go 2-2 in Oulton Park, and to be joint points leader as he leaves Cheshire.

Buchan took third to make the race two podium identical to the one of the first race.

Scott Redding took fourth, ahead of Tarran Mackenzie who had a much better second race and leaves Oulton Park as the championship leader on race wins after a fifth in race two.

Christian Iddon got a finish under his belt in the second race and a top six at that, ahead of a no-doubt-disappointed Jason O’Halloran who missed a lot of pace compared to race one in the second outing and finished seventh.

Eighth went to Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW Motorrad) who was quite close to O’Halloran towards the end but was unable to put a move on the Yamaha rider, although his return to BSB thus far has been a positive one.

The weekend was less positive for Honda Racing, although their #18 rider Andrew Irwin was able to take a top ten in race two, ahead of Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki) who once again impressed by rounding out the top ten.

Bradley Ray at Oulton Park.BSB 2019. Image courtesy of Suzuki Racing

After starting last, Peter Hickman was able to recover to eleventh, ahead of Brad Ray (Buildbase Suzuki), Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Racing), Luke Mossey (OMG Racing) and Josh Elliott (OMG Racing) who completed the points.

There were only three retirements in race two, as Shaun Winfield (Santander Salt TAG Racing) crashed out, whilst Dean Hipwell (CDH Racing) and James Ellison (Smiths Racing) retired down pit lane.

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BSB: Brookes Overcomes Bridewell Challenge for Oulton Race One Win

It had rained in the morning, and in fact grip was very low in warm up on Monday morning for the second round of the 2019 British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park.

There were several crashers in that warm up session, including Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducait) who high sided on the exit of Hizzie’s Chicane, and Joe Francis (Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad) who locked the front on the entry of the same chicane. Redding got away fairly unscathed, but both Francis and his #40 S1000RR had come off fairly worse-for-wear from the crash. It was a big rebuild for Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad, and so perhaps the oil leak Francis suffered on the warm up lap for race one was an understandable consequence of the rebuild.

That oil leak postponed the start of the race slightly. Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW Motorrad) informed the safety car when he saw fluid spewing from Francis’ #40 machine, and when the riders got back round to the grid the start was delayed so the track could be checked and the fluid could be cleaned up.

When the race finally got underway, it was under the Cheshire sunshine, shortened to seventeen laps, and Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) made the holeshot from pole position. The Australian had been by far the fastest rider throughout the weekend, so the front was precisely where he wanted to be to be able to use his pace.

Fellow Ducati rider Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing) fended off Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) into turn one to be able to slot in behind Brookes from the beginning.

By the end of the first lap, the two Ducatis were already starting to pack out a bit. O’Halloran was visibly pushing on to try and stay with them. But Bridewell was going with Brookes, and that was something of a surprise after the #25’s dominance of the weekend.

Scott Redding at Oulton Park. BSB 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

Despite the somewhat alarming shapes the #22 R1 of O’Halloran was making, the Australian was still being pulled along by the Ducatis out front, and away from the Tyco BMW Motorrad S1000RR of Christian Iddon behind. In turn, Iddon was extending his advantage to Scott Redding behind, who had Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing) very much for company until the end of lap five, when Buchan moved through, and Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing) took Buchan’s place on the back of Redding.

Almost immediately after passing Redding, Buchan was on the back of Iddon. Buchan, Redding and Hickman were all past Iddon within three corners, and soon after it became clear the #24 BMW had an issue.

After Iddon was out of the way, Buchan set his sights firmly on O’Halloran and the final podium spot, and by lap ten the Kawasaki rider was right on the back wheel of O’Halloran, and in Knickerbrook on that same lap the #83 was through.

By now there were three distinctive pairs in the front six. With seven laps to go Tommy Bridewell was still pressuring race leader Brookes, whilst Buchan was now fending off O’Halloran and Scott Redding was defending from Peter Hickman.

It stayed this way until the end of the race, which Brookes won by two tenths, proving his potential after a round one plagued by reliability problems.

Bridewell’s second place was an impressive one. Although he was unable to launch an attack on Brookes, nobody expected anyone to be able to go with the #25 and, like Brookes, this result was one which showed his potential.

There was frustration for Buchan. He had to fight his way through the pack at the start, and that limited his chances. Once he had passed O’Halloran, Buchan was able to show pace on the same level as the front two. Nonetheless, a third place was a good way for Buchan to open his weekend.

O’Halloran was ultimately missing the pace of the front three, but he maximised his result with what he had, and scored some solid points which was important after a pointless Silverstone. Redding managed to hold on to fifth place in his first race at Oulton Park, from Peter Hickman.

Seventh over the line was Keith Farmer, ahead of Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) who took the championship lead outright with eighth place thanks to beating Josh Elliott (OMG Racing) who was tenth. Between Mackenzie and Elliott over the line was the impressive rookie Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki) in ninth.

Josh Elliott Image courtesy of Ian Hopgood photography/OMG Racing via Suzuki racing

Andrew Irwin was the first CBR1000RR over the line for Honda Racing in eleventh, in front of Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Racing), Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Racing), Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) and David Allingham (EHA Yamaha) who took his first BSB point and the last of the race with fifteenth spot.

Whilst Joe Francis failed to make the start, Luke Mossey (OMG Racing), Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW Motorrad), Matt Truelove (Raceways Yamaha), Dean Hipwell (CDH Racing) and Glenn Irwin (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) all failed to make the finish.

Feature Image courtesy of Ducati

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WorldSBK: A Done Deal for Ducati in Imola?

Three weeks on from a snow-swept Assen, the 2019 Superbike World Championship heads to Imola for round five of the series which has so far been completely dominated by ARUBA.IT – Ducati and Alvaro Bautista.

Bautista was supposed to struggle in Assen. And he did – on Friday. However, by Sunday he was twice making his way to the top step of the podium for the fourth weekend out of four in a display which has made it hard to believe the Spaniard will be stopped this year. Assen was supposed to play against Ducati, and work for their rivals, as the twisty Dutch track largely negated the power advantage of the Panigale V4R. The double of Bautista there really shows what a well-rounded package the Bolognese have designed. Now, in their backyard of Imola, their rivals will once more try to do what seems impossible and beat Bautista.

Alvaro Bautista and the Aruba.it team at Assen. Image courtesy of Ducati

Unlike the tracks that have gone before in WorldSBK this year, Bautista has never raced in Imola. That is not, however, to say that he has not ridden there. A test a couple of weeks ago will have allowed both Bautista to get to know the circuit, and for both the championship leader and his ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati teammate Chaz Davies a chance to a chance to bed the V4R into the glorious Italian track.

In the final years of the 1199 Panigale, Ducati were strong in Imola. Davies doubled up in 2016, and took a further win in 2017. However, it was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who took both wins last season, which added to his double-double of 2014-2015. A similar feat is hard to imagine for this year, but Rea’s hard braking style is suited well to Imola, with the chicanes at Tamburello, Villeneuve and at the top and bottom of the hill. Additionally, Ducati will not have very long to stretch the legs of the V4R in Imola, which has several straights, but all of them are quite short. If Rea can make the time on the brakes, then he could have a chance.

Michael van der Mark and Alex Lows Pata at Assen 2019 WSBK. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing communications

Beyond Rea it is difficult to see anyone challenging Ducati in Imola. For example, whilst Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) was able to become the first rider other than Bautista to beat Rea this season last time out in the second Assen race, Imola has not thus far yielded a rostrum for the current model YZF-R1.

BMW’s new S1000RR also has no podiums in Imola, primarily because it has not raced there in WorldSBK. The new bike has been the opposite of the previous model: one which turns, but is nowhere in a straight line. Assen proved a positive weekend for BMW because the bike favoured the Dutch track’s twisty nature, and Imola could prove a similar story, with a sweet handling bike generally being the preference over outright power, as evidenced by Rea’s 2014 double on the old, slow CBR1000RR. That bike was slow, but it turned well. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) and Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) have a similar situation this weekend, although as evidenced by Reiterberger in Assen, they still need to work on tyre management to be able to fight for a full race distance.

Featured image courtesy of Ducati

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Moto3: Antonelli Secures Sic58 Squadra Corse’s First Win

The clouds of Saturday and Sunday morning had disappeared in time for the Moto3 race in Jerez for round four of the 2019 World Championship.

Tatsuki Suzuki (Sic58 Squadra Corse) took the holeshot from Dennis Foggia (Sky Racing Team VR46) who dropped in ahead of his teammate Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) whilst pole sitter Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) made a poor start and dropped a few positions, although it did not take the #48 long to recover those positions.

Celestino Vietti in the 2019 Moto3 Jerez GP. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

Both Dalla Porta and Suzuki spent a long time at the front of the race, although in short stints, with the pair exchanging the lead between them many times throughout the race.

Initially, the group was of ten, Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) bringing up the rear. Eventually, Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas SRT) was dragged up to the leading group by Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), and then the chasing pack caught the front twelve, making it a twenty-way fight for the win.

The battle was reaching boiling point, as it often does in Moto3, and eventually it boiled over. With four laps to go, Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing), having fought his way up from an average-at-best start to be in the fight for the lead, clipped the bike ahead of him and went down on the exit of turn four. Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers) simultaneously ran wide and into the gravel at turn five.

Raul Fernandez, during the 2019 Jerez Moto3 race. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

Then, on the same lap at turn six, Raul Fernandez lost control of his KTM in the braking zone and ended both his and Sergio Garcia’s (Estrella Galicia 0,0) races, which was unfortunate for the pair of them, but especially for Garcia, as he had no hand in the accident and had fought his way up through the pack quite strongly.

That left ten riders at the front, and Niccolo Antonelli (Sic58 Squadra Corse), having dropped as low as 13th in the mid-race, led onto the final lap from Vietti. Suzuki had come up to third by turn two, but the gap between Vietti in second and the Japanese seemed to big to overcome in one lap. However, a decent slipstream for Suzuki towards turn six, as well as a good run through turns seven and eight allowed him to make a pass on Vietti in turn nine.

This allowed Antonelli off the hook and the Italian took the his first win since Qatar 2016. It was also the first win for Paolo Simoncelli’s Sic58 Squadra Corse, who fittingly took their debut World Championship victory at the same circuit in which Tony Arbolino took their first CEV win back in 2016, and also where Marco Simoncelli won his first Grand Prix back in 2004.

In a similar way as for Petronas Yamaha in MotoGP Qualification, the day was made even better for the Italian squad, as Suzuki was able to hold off Vietti in the final corner to make it a 1-2 for the team. In many ways, Suzuki deserved to win, and would have been desperate to after his mistake cost him in Austin three weeks ago. But the Japanese has proven on two very different circuits now that he has the capabilities to fight for the win, and he will look to continue this in Le Mans.

The second podium of Celestino Vietti’s career was a hard fought one. He spent some time at the front, but mostly Vietti was fighting from third, fourth, fifth positions. He seemed to lose a bit in the mid-race, but in the closing stages was strong and managed to fight his way back to the front. Even without the move from Suzuki on the final lap, it would have been difficult for Vietti to win, because he had been quite weak in turn twelve, the penultimate corner. Nonetheless, it was a very positive result for the young Italian.

Aron Canet finishing fourth at the 2019 Jerez Moto3. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) finished fourth. He had looked strong all race, but didn’t have the track position in the final stages. He was close to taking third from Vietti in the final corner, but the Italian was too far ahead, ultimately. Canet did, though, manage to come away from Jerez with a championship lead, after sharing it with Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) since Austin, and now has something to protect in Le Mans. It will be interesting to see how he manages that in two weeks time.

Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) had quite a quiet race, but made a strong result in his return from injury with fifth place, which is positive as the championship now heads to Le Mans, where last year he took his first GP win.

Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) had a pretty miserable weekend, but turned it around on Sunday through some strong pace, and others’ misfortune, to take sixth place, ahead of Jakub Kornfeil, Lorenzo Dalla Porta who was forced wide in turn six on the penultimate lap. Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) and Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai) were ninth and tenth.

Dennis Foggia (Sky Racing Team VR46) had a strong pace throughout the race but a long lap penalty for track limits close to the end of the race limited him to eleventh. Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) took twelfth, ahead of John McPhee (Petronas SRT) whose gamble on a soft rear tyre didn’t pay off; Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) took fourteenth, ahead of Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) who took the final point.

Whilst Aron Canet finished fourth, the man he shared the points lead with at the start of this weekend, Jaume Masia, suffered a poor weekend and ended it in the gravel, scoring no points. Tom Booth-Amos (CIP Green Power), Gabriel Rodrigo (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) also retired, whilst Filip Salac (Redox PruestelGP) retired with bike problems.

Featured Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

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Moto2: Third Win of the Season for Baldassarri

Having been baked by the Andalusian sun since the start of the Moto3 race, the track temperature was a toasty 37 Celsius ahead of the race for the fourth round of the 2019 Moto2 World Championship.

The start was messy. Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) made the holeshot, then Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) high-sided coming out of turn one, in an incident which then involved Dimas Ekky (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS). Of particular concern was Dimas Ekky, who had fallen from his bike and then slid down the track into the side of Bezzecchi, which is what took the KTM rider out. Both Ekky and Gardner were taken to the medical centre for checks.

The start of the Moto2 Jerez 2019 race. Image courtesy of KF GLAENZEL/Dynavolt Intact GP

The race was then red flagged, shortened to fifteen laps and would restart with the quick restart procedure. This was bad for Alex Marquez, whose team was only able to get his bike fixed in time for him to start from pit lane. His bike was still badly damaged at the restart, and so his pace was slow and he made no real progress, which was a shame for him in his home race as he had looked quite strong through the weekend.

At the front, the holeshot once more went to Augusto Fernandez as Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) made a poor jump. It was poor enough, in fact, for Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) to jump the Spaniard as well from the back of the second row. Even Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) was able to get ahead of Navarro in turn one from fifth on the grid.

It went badly from there, though, for Bulega on the opening lap, as the #11 was shoved wide in turn two and turn six. He dropped to tenth, which proved to be about where his pace was.

Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) during the Jerez 2019 Moto2 race. Image courtesy of KF GLAENZEL/Dynavolt Intact GP

Back to the front and Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) had come through to third place. Navarro had dropped behind Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and was now under pressure from Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who had already made his mark on the race by pushing his way through Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) in the beginning of the race – the German was pretty much sent to the long lap lane at turn thirteen, but the move was fair enough from Binder.

The two Pons riders of Fernandez and Baldassarri were escaping at the front. A mistake from Luthi in turn two solidified this. Now free from the attentions of Luthi, Baldassarri was able to focus completely on his teammate, Fernandez, whilst Luthi had to deal with Navarro behind, who had been able to get past Vierge.

Soon, Baldassarri was able to pass Fernandez in the final corner, and immediately he slowed the pace. Before Baldassarri had gotten in front both he and Fernandez had been lapping in the high-1’41s, but as soon as the Italian hit the front the pace dropped to the low-‘42s. Fernandez was all over his teammate, but his strong point was the mid-corner and could not get through.

As Navarro started homing in on the two Flexbox HP 40 riders, Baldassarri started to check out, and Fernandez made a mistake in turn one. This dropped him into the clutches of Navarro, who slipped past in turn six with just over a lap to go.

There wasn’t much time, but Navarro was closing on Baldassarri. The Italian was forced into one last push on the final lap to keep the Speed Up rider at bay, and it worked. Baldassarri claimed his second successive win at Jerez, his third of the season and the fifth of his career. After his no-score in Austin, it was important for Baldassarri to strike back in Spain, and that he did, opening up a seventeen-point lead in the World Championship.

Jorge Navarro was disappointed with second place because he had the pace to win. Had the race been full-length he almost certainly would have – the shorter race distance worked against him on this occasion. Nonetheless, a second successive podium finish for Navarro represents some good progress, which he will hope to continue in Le Mans.

Third place represented Augusto Fernandez’ first ever Grand Prix podium, having made a name for himself last year when replacing Hector Barbera in the Pons team. After the crash of Argentina which caused the injury that kept him out of Austin – and from which he still suffers – a debut podium is a good way to return to action.

Tom Luthi could only manage fourth place. In fairness, it was better than he had looked through the weekend, but nonetheless he dropped a lot of points to Baldassarri, which he will need to recover – at least in part – in Le Mans.

Brad Binder, Moto2 race, Spanish MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

Brad Binder came home in fifth place, ahead of Xavi Vierge. The problems of KTM were highlighted by Jorge Martin’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo) tweet on Saturday night where he said he would need a “miracle” on Sunday, and also by Mattia Pasini’s (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) weekend, which he spent most of outside the top twenty, after finishing fourth on the third-placed bike of Jerez three weeks ago in Texas. If Binder is to fight for the title, KTM need to make some big progress very soon.

Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) was going to have to start from pit lane in the first race, so benefited from the red flag which allowed him to start from his original grid position, from where he was able to come home in seventh.

Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) had a poor weekend, but made a decent comeback in the race to finish eighth, ahead of teammate Nicolo Bulega who was ninth. Iker Lecuona (American Racing KTM) completed the top ten.

Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) had his worst result of the season with eleventh, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) who had looked better than twelfth for most of the weekend. Dominique Aegerter took (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) back into the points for the second GP in succession, ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) in fourteenth and Marcel Schrotter who was unable to recover from his incident with Binder in the beginning of the race.

Dimas Ekky and Remy Gardner missed the restart having been taken to the medical centre. Khairul Idham Pawi (Petronas SRT) also missed the start, as he was injured and declared unfit in a practice one crash on Friday.

Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) was the first retirement on lap three, before Mattia Pasini, Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Jorge Martin all crashed.

Featured Image courtesy of RACEPIXS.DE/DYNAVOLT INTACT GP

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BSB: Dominant Brookes Storms to First 2019 Pole

Qualifying took place in glorious sunshine for the second round of the 2019 British Superbike Championship, and Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) was the clear favourite for pole position after dominating the test last Thursday and the fry practice sessions on Friday.

Josh Brookes at Oulton Park 2019. Image courtesy of Be Wiser Ducati

Brookes made good on his potential. He took pole by a huge 0.625 seconds on the Panigale V4R. After a disappointing Silverstone round this was just what the Aussie needed ahead of tomorrow’s races, in which he will be hoping to get his first points and podium credits of the season.

Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) made it a Ducati 1-2 on the grid for race one tomorrow, ahead of Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing) who is enjoying much better fortunes in Oulton Park than in Silverstone two weeks ago, and completes the front row.

Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) injured his shoulder at last week’s test, and no doubt a crash in practice this weekend did not help that. However, he was able to put his YZF-R1 on the head of the second row, ahead of Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW Motorrad) and Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing) who has generally been the closest rider to Brookes across the weekend, but goes from sixth in tomorrow’s race one.

Scott Redding on the Be Wiser Ducati at Oulton Park 2019. Image courtesy of Be Wiser Ducati

Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) only had a used tyre for Q3. The ex-GP rider only managed to fit eighteen laps in at the test, thanks to the un-ideal conditions in the afternoon. He managed to get himself on the front of the third row for the first race, ahead of Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW Motorrad) who is also enjoying a better time on the BMW this weekend than in Silverstone, and rookie Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki) who was incredibly impressive in ninth.

Josh Elliott (OMG Racing Suzuki) was the fastest rider to not make Q3, and will start tenth tomorrow. On the back of row four will be the man who shares the championship lead with Elliott, as Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) qualified twelfth. In between the championship-leading pair is Luke Mossey (OMG Racing Suzuki).

Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Racing) qualified thirteenth, ahead of Brad Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) and roads expert Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki); whilst Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing), David Allingham (EHA Racing Yamaha) and Joe Francis (Lloyds & Jones Bauker Motorrad) complete row six.

Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Ducati) heads up row seven, from Claudio Corti (Team WD 40) and Shaun Winfield (Santander Salt TAG Racing); whilst James Ellison (Smiths Racing) is with Matt Truelove (Raceways Yamaha) and Glenn Irwin (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) on row eight; Luke Stapleford (Buildbase Suzuki) heads up row nine after a crash which left him clutching his wrist. Xavi Fores (Honda Racing) and Sam Coventry (Team 64 Motorsports) join Stapleford on the ninth row tomorrow for race one, assuming Stapleford is declared fit. Dean Hipwell (CDH Racing) and James Hillier (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) are the only two riders on row ten, as the third JG Speedfit Kawasaki of Ben Currie is out of the weekend after a crash earlier in the weekend has left him unfit.

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