Following the dramatic season opener at Silverstone two weeks ago, British Superbikes is back this bank holiday weekend at Oulton Park for round two of the 2019 series.
As is usual with the May Day bank holiday round at the Cheshire track, on-track action begins on Saturday with the races taking place on bank holiday Monday.
An official test at Oulton Park has punctuated the gap between rounds one and two, and it was the luckless Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) who dominated last Thursday’s running. Brookes has had some good success at Oulton Park in the past, and will be hoping that the positive signs from the test last week will continue into the weekend and to race day as the Australian looks to make up ground on the championship leaders following on from his non-scoring round in Silverstone, where mechanical problems ended his chances in both races.
Brookes’ teammate Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) expressed his adoration for Oulton Park after the test on social media. He was not especially high on the time sheets, but made some strong progress from the first session to the second. Intermittent rain meant that almost all of the afternoon running was somewhat unrepresentative, and most riders – including Redding – did not even bother to venture out in the final session of the day. Having had a week to digest his first experience of a more typical British track, Redding will need to a strong Friday if he is to fight at the front and add to the single podium credit he picked up in the first race at Silverstone.
Silverstone was full of surprises but perhaps none bigger than Josh Elliott (OMG Racing Suzuki) who – retrospectively – took his first career British Superbike win in the first race of the season, and followed that up with a second place in race two. Despite this, there is still little pressure on Elliott, since he is still so inexperienced in the Superbike class, and is in a team which is still in only its second season of BSB. Nonetheless, Elliott will be aiming for more of the same this weekend, as he looks to firm up his position in the championship – it might not be the expectation, but the Showdown is where they all want to be.
Crossing the line ahead of Elliott in both races two weeks ago was Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha), although a penalty applied after the race took the race one victory from him. Race two, though, saw no such controversy as the first outing, and Mackenzie picked up his first BSB win in just the second race of his second season in Britain’s premier class of motorcycle racing. Oulton Park was a difficult circuit for Mackenzie last year, but he was quite fast in the test, and will be aiming once more for the top three to build his tally of podium credits.
Silverstone was a positive weekend for the McAMS Yamaha team as a whole, not just for the #95 side of the garage. A collision between Mackenzie and his teammate, Jason O’Halloran, cost the team a 1-2 in the first race, and in fact cost them the win, and a mechanical problem early on in the second race for the Australian meant the #22 went away from the first weekend of the season in the same position as Brookes: pointless. However, O’Halloran was the fastest rider all weekend and, after a decent showing in the test, will be keen to turn that pace into results this weekend.
As the Moto2 World Championship arrives in Jerez for the first European round of the 2019 season, it is Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) who leads the title race.
Baldassarri was last year’s dominant victor of the Spanish Grand Prix, taking pole, the fastest lap and the race win. It was a stunning weekend for Baldassarri in Andalusia in 2018, much like the first two rounds of this season, Qatar and Argentina, which he won. Going into Texas, Baldassarri was unbeaten, but a poor qualifying left him in the middle of the pack at the start of the race, and a mistake from Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was enough to bring the #7 into the back wheel of the Spaniard, which ended the championship leader’s race. Baldassarri was able to maintain his championship lead ahead of the first European round, and will be keen to re-assert himself as the main challenger for the title this year at a round he was so convincing at twelve months ago.
In Baldassarri’s absence from the front, the Texan victory was taken by Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP), who was dominant in his return to the top step – somewhere he hadn’t been since Brno 2017. Luthi was strong in Texas and will be hoping for more of the same here, to continue his strong start to the championship, which has him third in the championship, only five points from Baldassarri.
Between Luthi and Baldassarri, second in the championship belongs at the moment to the man who should have won in Texas: Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP). The German was by far the fastest all weekend, at times having half a second on the field. But, once again, Schrotter was unable to put this into the race, and he was not as strong as his teammate. Nonetheless, as the European season gets underway there are only three points separating Schrotter from the top of the standings.
Aside from Baldassarri perhaps the most disappointed rider from COTA was Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) after a mechanical problem ended his race in the early stages. It was unfortunate for the South African, who is still without a podium in 2019. Chatter is still the major problem facing KTM at the moment with their Moto2 frame, and solving that, and solving it soon, will be the key to Binder’s title hopes.
A strong winter tests in Jerez means that Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) is in contention for the top places ahead of this weekend. Like the Qatar preseason tests, Lowes was strong in Andalusia, and will hope to repeat the achievement he managed in 2016, when he dominated the Spanish Grand Prix for Fausto Gresini’s Moto2 outfit in what was one of the strongest and most impressive performances of Lowes’ grand prix career.
Like Binder, though, Lowes is without a podium in 2019, and so is the third of the preseason championship favourites: Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46). Marini has spent the fly away races managing a shoulder which was still not fully recovered from surgery over the winter in Texas. Another three weeks will have helped heal the shoulder further for the #10, and he will be looking to do what he looked capable of in COTA before some gearbox issues, and take his first rostrum of the season.
One place ahead of Marini in the championship is Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who has had a fairly average start to the season. A fall last year at turn two for Marquez ended his victory hopes, hopes that he fulfilled in 2017, a result that will be important to replicate for the Spaniard if he is to identify himself as a serious championship contender.
Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) took his first podium in Argentina, with a second place, but was unable to back that up in Texas. In part, this was down to a crash at turn ten in qualifying which left him towards the back of the grid at the race start. However, a perhaps bigger part of this poor result in America was down to Baldassarri’s crash with Martin, as Gardner had to go wide to avoid the bike of Baldassarri, costing him time which is unaffordable in the intermediate class of grand prix motorcycle racing. Gardner should be back this weekend, fighting for the victory – and at only twelve points deficit to Baldassarri the Australian is still well within championship contention.
‘Inconsistent’ is an adjective which could be used to describe the first three races of almost every rider in the 2019 Moto3 World Championship. Although several riders have been fast in the early stages of this season, not one of them has made the podium in all three GPs of 2019.
So, despite not finishing the first race (through no fault of his own) Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) is the joint-leader of the championship, on forty-five points, going into the first European race of the season: the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. The speed at which the championship will now approach the halfway point, at the close of the German Grand Prix in just over two months’ time, means that consistency for the next six races is potentially the most crucial ingredient in building a championship challenge.
In Moto3, where the races are so unpredictable, hard-fought and contain so many riders and motorcycles in the battle for the lead, it is often only one rider who can identify themselves as a championship challenger. Last year, that should have been Jorge Martin, such was his speed, but his inconsistency allowed the championship to be close, with Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio remaining in touch. Perhaps the best example of the early European season being a critical point of the World Championship is 2015, when Danny Kent took so many victories, with such conviction, and made it seem impossible that anyone could challenge him in the second half of the season. Despite his awful form in the second half of the year, and Miguel Oliveira’s strong push towards the title that took the fight to the final round in Valencia, Kent’s success in motorcycle grand prix racing’s European heartlands meant he was able to clinch the crown.
It is Masia who seems closest at the moment to becoming 2019’s Danny Kent, although he will no doubt hope to avoid the drop off after the summer break. In Qatar, the Spaniard was not at full fitness, an injury sustained after setting the fastest time of the Moto3 Jerez test in the winter still holding him back. Then, he was involved in an accident not of his making. The form shown by Masia in the two following rounds, in Argentina and the United States, are perhaps more representative of his potential. A poor qualifying and a difficult start in America limited his possibilities, but nonetheless the KTM rider came through to finish second, two weeks on from picking up his first grand prix win in Argentina.
The rider who beat Masia to the flag in Austin was also the rider with whom the #5 shares the championship lead: Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team). A disappointing Argentinian round punctuated two top threes in Qatar and America for the #44, and returning to the site of his first grand prix win back in 2017, Canet will have high ambitions for this weekend in Jerez, where he will look to pull clear at the top of the championship.
The two aforementioned Spaniards are the clear standouts in the pack this season so far, as far as the championship is concerned. However, Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) will be aiming to identify himself as a genuine championship contender as the series returns to Europe. A podium in Qatar, where he was second behind Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia), was followed up by a seventh in Argentina and a thirteenth in America. The Argentinian result was largely due to Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power), who has not endeared himself to his competitors so far this season, and on this occasion put a move on Dalla Porta which sent him wide at turn five at the end of the straight. The Texan result, however, is not so easily explained, although the Italian’s history at the Circuit of the Americas is poor. Nonetheless, it will be a priority for the Italian to return to the podium this weekend and to close the gap on the two Spaniards who have jumped ahead of him in the standings since Qatar.
Returning to the championship this weekend, at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, is the Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team rider, Albert Arenas, who is fit again after a nasty cycling accident which saw Aleix Viu stand in for him at the two Americas races. Two times a winner last year, Arenas is without a podium on home soil since he arrived in the World Championship, something he will be looking to change on Sunday.
This weekend, the MotoGP World Championship heads to Jerez, for the first European round of the 2019 season, and the beginning of the ‘ground war’.
The European slog from now until round nine in Sachsenring in July is one of the most important sequences in the entire calendar. Back in 2015, for example, Jorge Lorenzo – then riding for the factory Yamaha squad – took four consecutive wins from Jerez to Barcelona. A further podium in Assen to propel him into contention as then-teammate Valentino Rossi’s main championship rival, despite a below-par opening trio of fly away races for the Spaniard. Of course, Lorenzo went on to win the championship, as is often the way with the victors of the early-season tour through Europe’s classics: Jerez, Le Mans, Mugello, Montmelo, Assen and Sachsenring.
Lorenzo, now riding for the Repsol Honda Team, will have a tough ask to repeat his 2015 feat of victory in Jerez. In fact, his 2015 triumph, on route to his most recent World Championship, is also his most recent success in the Spanish Grand Prix, although he added podiums in 2016 and 2017 when he took his first podium in the red of Ducati. However, as it is at the moment, the improved fitness of Lorenzo (the Spaniard is likely sitting in his best physical condition since the entry to turn one in Aragon on the first lap last September) may not be enough to bring him into the frame for the victory. He is still missing some comfortability with the RC213V, although his recent run of bad luck must come to and end at some point, and Jerez may just be that place.
Of course, perhaps the biggest hurdle standing between Jorge Lorenzo and victory this weekend is the #93 Repsol Honda Team RC213V of reigning World Champion and two-time premier class Spanish Grand Prix winner, including the 2018 edition, Marc Marquez. The seven-times World Champion has been the fastest rider this year in two of the three races: Argentina and Texas. This is expected, as they are two of the Spaniard’s strongest circuits. However, it is almost impossible to ignore the similarities between Marquez’ form coming into this race this year and that of this time last year. With forty-five points and a no-score to his name to this point in 2019, Marquez has almost a complete copy of his form of the opening three races in 2018, although his no-score this year came in Texas, not Argentina. That Texan DNF, though, could be a source of further strength for Marquez, as he looks to bounce back from defeat at a track in which he had previously been invincible. Jerez is a different situation for Marquez, with ‘only’ two premier class wins (2014, 2018), although the #93 has only once finished lower than second at the Grand Prix of his home nation in the MotoGP class, when Valentino Rossi headed a factory Yamaha 1-2 from Jorge Lorenzo in 2016.
A podium of that order in 2019 would be completely unexpected. Marquez has looked incredibly strong so far this season, whilst Lorenzo has struggled to adapt to the Honda and has been hampered by injuries and mechanical faults; and Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) has benefitted from a Yamaha that is improved, but still lacking in horsepower and, crucially, unproven in Jerez.
The Andalusian asphalt has proven tricky to master for the YZR-M1 and its pilots since Rossi’s 2016 victory. Poor traction in low-grip conditions has characterised the performance of the M1 in the past two seasons, but changes over the winter have been well received by Rossi, and there is an air of optimism surrounding Yamaha for this weekend, and a new surface in Jerez could also be of some assistance. However, it will not be proven until Friday whether the 2019 M1 will be able to be competitive at the Spanish Grand Prix, and whether or not Valentino Rossi will be able to fight for the victory.
The issues of Rossi’s Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP teammate, Maverick Vinales, remain the same as ever. Problems in the opening five laps of the race have prevented Vinales from capitalising on his strong late race pace since the middle of 2017 and that has not changed for this year. This came to a head in America, when Vinales jumped the start. He interpreted his penalty to mean a ‘long lap’, but in fact he had a ride through. The criticism Vinales has received as a result of his not knowing the rules is justified, and the reaction of Yamaha to see one of its factory riders being so unprepared must have been quite emphatic. No doubt it will not be a mistake Vinales will make again, but if he is to take this weekend his first premier class podium in the Spanish Grand Prix he will have to find a solution to his early race problems.
It was not only Vinales who jumped the start in COTA, Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) went early, too. Mir claimed a podium or top five was possible. This is arguably an exaggeration, but nonetheless when his teammate is winning the 2017 Moto3 World Champion would not have wanted to ruin his race before it began, and end it outside of the points.
Of course, the teammate doing the winning for the factory Team Suzuki Ecstar was Alex Rins, who took his first victory in the premier class and Suzuki’s first GP win since Vinales won in Silverstone 2016. Having never won a race in Jerez, and with a best result of third (Moto3 2013, Moto2 2016), Rins is perhaps an unlikely candidate to beat Marquez this weekend. However, the characteristics of the Suzuki should match well with those of the long, hanging corners of Jerez, where much time is spent on the side of the tyre and corner speed counts for so much. After all, the most successful riders in Jerez have been Lorenzo, Rossi and Dani Pedrosa – corner speed riders.
That should, in theory, rule Ducati out this weekend. However, Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) was able to fight for the podium last season and, whilst his race was ended in a collision with Lorenzo and Pedrosa at what was Dry Sack and what is now, without any irony at all, Dani Pedrosa Corner. The fight then was between Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Pedrosa for second place, although this year, there seems the possibility that the fight could be for the win, and it could contain many more riders, such as: 2018 pole sitter Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL), Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and perhaps even Dovizioso’s Mission Winnow Ducati teammate Danilo Petrucci.
A few hours on from being handed his first win in British Superbike courtesy of a Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) penalty, Josh Elliott (OMG Suzuki) lined up on the front row as he eyed a dream double.
He did not make the start he would have wanted, though, and his poor launch ensured it was Mackenzie who made the holeshot.
However, running wide at Brooklands meant Mackenzie lost out to Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha) who took the lead, and led the first lap.
Throughout the opening stages of the race, the front group was quite large, despite retirements from Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) who suffered a mechanical problem and Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) who fell after contact with Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing).
By lap nine, though, there was a distinctive front four of Josh Elliott, Dan Linfoot, Danny Buchan (FS-3 Kawasaki) and Tarran Mackenzie.
Another quartet behind was led by Andrew Irwin, from Luke Mossey (OMG Racing Suzuki), Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing) and Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati), with the #18 Fireblade bringing the trio behind up to the front group.
This charge was halted, though, for the Northern Irishman when on lap twelve he was handed a long lap penalty for the previous incident with Redding.
Irwin took the penalty at his first opportunity, on lap thirteen, and the following lap Mackenzie passed Elliott for the lead. Elliott’s pace to that point had not been so electric, and with the trio behind of Bridewell, Mossey and Brookes closing in Mackenzie was seemingly intent on keeping the fight for the win to as few contenders as possible.
The pace dropped when Mackenzie hit the front. Elliott and Buchan were able to go with him, but Linfoot dropped off the back of the leading three, and into the clutches of Bridewell who went past on the Wellington straight on lap eighteen.
On lap twenty, as Mackenzie and Elliott were beginning to stretch away from Buchan behind, Josh Brookes brought the safety car out as his Ducati expired for the third time in the weekend. There was plenty of oil pouring from the Australian’s V4R, and the retirement meant that Brookes left Silverstone with zero points.
The safety car worked to bunch the field up, so on lap twenty-five of what was now a thirty-three-lap race there was all to play for.
Mackenzie held the lead on the restart, although Elliott piled the pressure on through Woodcote and Copse.
Once again, though, it was Mackenzie and Elliott with a small gap behind to Buchan, who in turn had a small lead over Bridewell behind. By the end of lap twenty-seven, Bridewell had caught Buchan, who in turn had caught Elliott, and so there was an eight-wheeled fight for the win.
As the final lap started, though, the clear battle was for second. Mackenzie had worked a bit of a gap for himself out front, and Bridewell had dropped off a little in fourth place. Buchan was close, though, to Elliott in second, but was unable to make a move before the line.
It was Mackenzie who arrived at the flag first, for his first BSB win, and this time he kept it. With Elliott finishing second, the two winners from Silverstone leave round one joint on points at the top of the championship.
Whilst Mackenzie was somewhat expected to fight for wins this season, perhaps not so many believed he would achieve his first victory in the first round. In comparison, few probably thought that Josh Elliott would take a podium this season, but he as come away from the first round with a win and a second. For the pair of them, there are many positives to take from this first weekend of the season.
A similar situation exists for Danny Buchan, who was the only Kawasaki rider to make the top ten in the second race, and one of only two ZX-10RR pilots to finish inside the top ten across both races. It was a Saturday night turnaround which proved pivotal for Buchan’s weekend, after a difficult Saturday with a poor qualifying. A step in warm up allowed him to make a good race in the first outing – despite running on in Brooklands early on – and to set a good lap time allowing him to start further up the grid for the second race, which in turn enabled him to claim his first podium since Knockhill last summer.
Fourth place went to Tommy Bridewell who was the top Ducati, ahead of Luke Stapleford (Buildbase Suzuki) who once more impressed on his first weekend as a full-time BSB rider. Two top tens – including one top five – from the first weekend of the season is a strong return for the 2015 British Supersport Champion.
Sixth place went to Luke Mossey, meaning it was three Suzukis in the top six, making the GSX-R 1000 the most populous bike in the top six in race two.
Andrew Irwin recovered from his long lap penalty just before half distance to take seventh place, a couple of tenths clear of his rookie teammate Xavi Fores (Honda Racing) in eighth; whilst Dan Linfoot and Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) completed the top ten for the second race of the season.
Glenn Irwin ended a difficult debut weekend for Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki with an eleventh place, ahead of Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW Motorrad), Ben Currie (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki), Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing) and Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki) who completed the points in his second career BSB race.
Claudio Corti (Team WD-40) and Fraser Rogers (Gearlink Kawasaki) were the first two retirements, both out on lap one. The aforementioned retirement of Jason O’Halloran came a couple of laps later, and a lap before Scott Redding was out. Conor Cummins (Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles) was the next to go on lap ten, before Shaun Winfield (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha) on lap sixteen. Both Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Racing) and Josh Brookes retired on lap twenty, and James Ellison (Smiths Racing) was the final retirement a lap later.
Featured Image courtesy of Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
After much anticipation ahead of this season, the 2019 British Superbike season got underway under steaming sunshine in Silverstone.
Starting from pole, Tarran Mackenzie had to see his McAMS Yamaha teammate, Jason O’Halloran, take the holeshot. This would set the tone for the rest of the race as far as the battle for the win was concerned.
Behind, Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) maintained the third place with which he started the race, ahead of Josh Elliott (OMG Racing Suzuki).
Can't really put it into words right now. Just thank you to everyone who's supported me and sent me so many lovely messages! My team @OMGRacingUK have been working so hard and gave me a great bike!! To all my sponsors who have stuck with me I appreciate all the support pic.twitter.com/Zx9NI5bxO5
There was a gap appearing behind Elliott back to fifth-placed Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha).
Then the safety car came out after an incident which could have been much worse than it was in reality. Glenn Irwin (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) collided with Dean Harrison’s Silicone Engineering Kawasaki after the TT winner crashed in Becketts. Both riders and their bikes were lying in the middle of the track, but fortunately for both of them, and everyone else, both the bikes and the riders were avoided. Ben Currie (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) also went down at the same moment, but in a separate incident.
This safety car saw the pack bunched back up after the initial laps, but the same pattern arose once the race went green again.
Both McAMS Yamahas once again took off out front, gapping Scott Redding behind quite comfortably. Josh Elliott had soon tired of the view of the Panigale V4R’s bizarre tailpipe, and made his move on Redding before ten laps were up on the change of direction from Copse to Maggots.
Elliott then caught the McAMS Yamahas, who had yet to engage each other. Once on the back of Mackenzie, Elliott looked a few times at passing the 2016 British Supersport Champion in the same place as he passed Redding, but the #95 was strong enough to hold the 2015 National Superstock 1000 Champion at bay, even when he started to drop off his teammate in the mid-race.
In response, Mackenzie made a push in the final third of the race, and started to make a gap to Elliott behind whilst simultaneously closing in on O’Halloran.
Despite being within range of the Australian for a few laps, Mackenzie did not launch an attack until Brooklands on the final lap. Mackenzie dived to the inside, and blocked his teammate’s line, forcing O’Halloran a little wide and compromising the #22’s line into Luffield. O’Halloran ran a little wide in the mid-corner, and Mackenzie emulated Jorge Lorenzo in 2013 when he was up against Marc Marquez in the MotoGP. The #95 cut to the inside, and jammed his R1 on the kerb. He had turned too tight, and had to sit up slightly to avoid touching the kerb and taking both himself and his teammate out of the race. O’Halloran didn’t budge, and the contact between the two riders sent O’Halloran – who had led the race in its entirety – tumbling.
The Australian was enraged. He had dominated the race, after dominating the weekend and preseason, yet still had victory snatched from him on his McAMS Yamaha debut by none other than his teammate.
Certainly, the competitive relationship between Mackenzie and his teammate could have gotten off to a better start, but as far as Tarran is concerned he did what was necessary to win. He had one opportunity in the race to pass his teammate for the victory, and he took it. The outcome was harsh on O’Halloran, who had ridden a fantastic race, and it was unfair on the team, who had done enough to deserve a 1-2. However, Mackenzie should not be condemned – his move was one of the rider he was at the time: one in search of his first BSB win.
O’Halloran’s retirement meant that Josh Elliott, who had dropped a way off the back of the two R1s out front in the last ten laps, took his first BSB podium in his first attempt with OMG Suzuki, who also enjoyed their first BSB top three.
Certainly, whilst the main talking point of the race was what happened between the two McAMS teammates, the most impressive performance was no doubt that of Elliott. A post-race penalty for Mackenze then promoted Elliott to first, giving both him and OMG their first win in the premier class of British motorcycle racing. The win also meant that OMG Racing Suzuki took the lead in both the teams’ championship and the riders’ standings.
The expectations will now be high for Elliott, perhaps unfairly, but nonetheless it will be interesting to see how he will react.
That demoted Mackenzie to second. He will undoubtedly be out for redemption in race two.
Scott Redding benefited from O’Halloran’s fall to claim a podium on his BSB debut. Whilst third was his result, his real position was fourth, and he will be keen to improve on that for the second race.
Luke Mossey rounded out the top four in what turned out to be a stunning race for the OMG Racing Suzuki squad, and one that would have far surpassed all their pre-race expectations. Mossey was able to break away from the battle for sixth behind in the middle of the race, and was closing on Redding ahead by the end.
That battle for sixth became a battle for the top five after O’Halloran’s fall, and it was Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing) who came out on top in that fight ahead of Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) who impressed with sixth on his debut aboard the Fireblade.
Also impressing was Luke Stapleford (Buildbase Suzuki) who took seventh on his full-time debut in BSB, and came home ahead of yet another impresser, this time in the shape of WD40 Racing’s Claudio Corti who was eighth.
Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing) ran wide in Brooklands in the early laps, but recovered to ninth by the end to be the top Kawasaki at the flag, ahead of BSB debutant Xavi Fores (Honda Racing) who rounded out the top ten.
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW Motorrad) seemed to retire at one point in the race as his name dropped down the timing column, but in the end he was the top BMW in eleventh, ahead of impressive rookie Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki) in twelfth, Dan Linfoot in thirteenth, Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing) and Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW Motorrad) who rounded out the points in fifteenth.
As well as the initial wave of retirements in the initial stages of the race, James Ellison (Smiths Racing), Shaun Winfield (Santander Salt TAG Racing) and Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) all retired.
The first British Superbike Championship qualifying session of 2019 got underway in vastly contrasting conditions to the corresponding session of 2018, with glorious sunshine baking the Northamptonshire asphalt.
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) claimed his first ever BSB pole in what was a McAMS Yamaha 1-2, with teammate Jason O’Halloran taking second. Both riders have looked evenly matched throughout the weekend and so it was not a surprise to see the pair heading up the grid, although that no doubt did not detract from the delight of both riders and team.
? NEWS: McAMS Yamaha go 1-2 in qualifying at Silverstone
Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) took his first BSB front row in his first BSB qualifying with his first competitive outing on the brand new Ducati Panigale V4R. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the multiple Grand Prix winner was aiming for pole position, but will be content enough with a front row. We have seen in WorldSBK that the V4R is able to save the tyre quite well, so if Redding can make a good start and have a clean race, the #45 could present a large threat in the closing stages.
Perhaps the star of this first BSB qualifying of the season was Josh Elliott (OMG Racing Suzuki) who set the fourth-fastest time in the first qualifying of his first full season of BSB. The 2015 National Superstock 1000 champion is joined on row two by his OMG Racing Suzuki teammate Luke Mossey and the third Yamaha of Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha).
Heading up row three tomorrow will be Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing). Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW Motorrad) is the top BMW on the grid in eighth, whilst BSB rookie Luke Stapleford impressively starts ninth tomorrow on his debut for Buildbase Suzuki.
The first rider to not make Q2 was Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing), who will start eleventh tomorrow, ahead of his Honda Racing teammate Xavi Fores and the impressive rookie, Claudio Corti (Team WD40) who was the top Kawasaki in twelfth.
Three ZX-10RRs follow Corti and make up row five, with Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki) an impressive thirteenth on his BSB debut, ahead of Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) and Glenn Irwin (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki).
As Buchan and Irwin will be disappointed with their respective fourteenth and fifteenth places, Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) will be disappointed with his sixteenth place. David Allingham (EHA Yamaha) lines up seventeenth tomorrow, whilst Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) was limited to eighteenth thanks to a mechanical problem in Q1.
Ben Currie (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) qualified nineteenth on his BSB debut, missing out on Q2 by just 0.007 seconds. The BMWs of Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW Motorrad) and Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing) complete the seventh row.
Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Ducati), together with Matt Truelove (Raceways Yamaha) and Joe Francis (Lloyd and Jones Bowker Motorrad) make up row eight; Shaun Winfield (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha) heads up James Ellison (Smiths Racing) – who like Brookes suffered a mechanical in Q1 – and Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Racing) on the ninth row.
Fraser Rogers (Gearlink Kawasaki) will start twenty-eighth tomorrow, ahead of Dean Hipwell (CDH Racing) and James Hillier (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) on row ten; and the final two spots on the grid on row eleven will be taken up by Sam Coventry (Team 64 Motorsports) in thirty-first and Conor Cummins (Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles) in thirty-second.
After a long winter break, the British Superbike Championship returns this weekend for the opening round of the 2019 season at Silverstone.
The 2018 round at the Northamptonshire track saw the national layout used, following the MotoGP fiasco a couple of weeks prior. The results were fantastic, as the racing was close and action-packed. Additionally, it is easy for a national championship to make a facility the size of Silverstone seem empty, even with a solid attendance, because certain grandstands will be shut off, and often the races can become quite spread out on a 3.6-mile circuit. The national layout combated both of those issues, although that was not the intention, with the shorter layout seeing big groups fight for the lead for the whole race, and the smaller area making the atmosphere more tangible from the television perspective.
The positive feedback of Silverstone’s round last year prompted the Championship to run the shorter circuit this year as well, and as such the series will likely be off to a thrilling start.
Last year’s races saw Leon Haslam claim both victories, but with both the reigning BSB champion and Jake Dixon, last year’s runner up, having moved on, there is expected to be a shake up this year, with yet more young riders coming through and big names from the World Championship arriving to mix it up with the more established names in the British championship.
Of course, one of the biggest talking points this year in the World Superbike Championship has been the domination of, in the hands of Alvaro Bautista, the new Ducati Panigale V4R. Ahead of the start of the BSB season, there is some anticipation about the performance of the new Ducati in the hands of Scott Redding, his BeWiser Ducati teammate and 2015 BSB champion Josh Brookes, as well as Tommy Bridewell (Oxford MotoRapido). The main advantage of the new Panigale is its motor, and in WorldSBK it seems that Bautista has been able to extract the maximum from the V4R’s strongest point. It will be interesting to see if any of the Ducati riders in the British series are able to do something similar, although with the lack of any real straights in British tracks, the likelihood of that is small.
Nonetheless, it is going to be interesting to see how the bike performs, and also how its pilots perform. Scott Redding is perhaps the most highly anticipated rider in BSB this year, having come from Grand Prix where he was many times a winner, many times a podium finisher and once a championship challenger. From his fairly active social media accounts, it seems Redding is looking forward to this season, and that it probably not something he has felt for a few years. Certainly, the ex-MotoGP star will be both expecting and expected to fight for the championship this year, despite his lack of knowledge of the British tracks, of Pirelli tyres and of derivative racing in general.
His teammate, Josh Brookes, however, has none of the ‘excuses’ – if that’s what you’d like to call them – that Redding has for this year. A veteran of the BSB paddock, and the 2015 champion, Brookes is sure to be a favourite this year, especially with such a strong package. Perhaps it is also worth remembering that Brookes’ title winning year was also the racing debut year of the current model Yamaha R1, much as 2019 is the debut of the Panigale V4R.
For the third Ducati rider this year, Tommy Bridewell, there is a sense of opportunity in 2019. Having gelled so well with the V-twin Panigale in the second half of last season, it was no surprise to see the #46 retained by the MotoRapido squad for 2019, and both he and the team will be hoping that the relationship with the new V4R will be as smooth and fruitful as the short-lived partnership between Bridewell and the V-twin at the end of last year.
In all likelihood, the V4R will not be as dominant in BSB as it has been to this point in the World Championship. The regulations in BSB have so far worked perfectly since their introduction, allowing all makes and models of Superbike to be competitive on the national scene in Britain. It would therefore be a shock to see Ducati make off with this championship as they are doing on the world stage. As well as the Borgo Panigale machines, Yamaha, Honda, BMW, Suzuki and Kawasaki should all be there fighting for race wins as well.
Yamaha, with Tarran Mackenzie and Jason O’Halloran at the McAMS Yamaha outfit, and with Dan Linfoot at the TAG Racing squad, will be hoping to reclaim the championship they last won in 2015 with Brookes. Seeing the R1 so strong in the World Championship so far in 2019 must fill the BSB riders with a lot of confidence about their chances for this season.
Despite being in only his second season of BSB, Mackenzie will be heading to Silverstone this weekend in search of the first win he so nearly clinched at the same track last year, and from there will hope to fight all the way for the title. Similarly, his teammate O’Halloran, and their stablemate Linfoot, are brand new to Yamaha this year, but will be after results from the beginning.
There are also two new faces in Honda for this season, with Andrew Irwin being joined by multiple WSBK podium finisher Xavi Fores in the factory Honda squad. Irwin made a superb adaptation to Superbike last year after his mid-season call up to the PBM Ducati squad to replace the injured Shane Byrne. That earned him the Honda ride, and he will certainly be one to watch out for this year.
Fores, on the other hand, has a similar situation to Redding. The Spaniard has zero knowledge of British tracks ahead of this season, and so will be learning every time he goes out on track. However, unlike Redding, he doesn’t have 240hp.
The new BMW this year has proven a hit on the world stage, both factory BMW riders in WSBK, Tom Sykes and Markus Reiterberger, praising the chassis of the new S1000RR. What it has in the corners, however, it certainly loses in the straights. Whilst that might not be such a problem at most British circuits, at the most wide-open track of the year – which, whilst the Hangar straight is missing, is still very fast – a lack of power is likely to be the biggest hindrance this weekend.
Those riders who were able to make the old S1000RR work so well in the past – mostly Peter Hickman (Smith’s Racing) – will be hoping they can make the new bike work in a similar way, but with such a difference in bike characteristic there will undoubtedly be some adapting to do this year. This adaptation process will carry on through much of the season, too, since neither Smith’s nor TAS Racing received their new BMWs in time for the official BSB tests in Spain, so only had the Silverstone test last week to start work on their new machines.
For the third BMW team, PR Racing, and their rider Joe Francis, this process is delayed even further as their new bike will not be race-ready until round two at Oulton Park, and so the Liverpool-based team will be running the old-spec bike at round one this weekend.
Suzuki once more will be pinning their hopes on Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki). The Milkybar Kid has certainly impressed the factory bosses; two wins and a further podium in the first two rounds of last season were followed by an impressive performance at the Suzuka 8 Hour last summer, and in February Ray got his first taste of MotoGP with the GSX-RR in Sepang.
Whether Ray will be able to return to the form that impressed so much at the start of last season, but faded through the rest of the year, remains to be seen, but should the #28 be able to maintain form like that throughout the thirteen rounds he could be a real problem for his rivals.
Kawasaki won their first BSB crown since Shane Byrne in 2014, last year, but with Leon Haslam having moved up to the World Championship the pressure now lies with, primarily, Glenn Irwin (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) and Danny Buchan (FS-3 Kawasaki) to retain that title. Irwin’s teammate, Ben Currie (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) will also be looking to make his mark this year on the top class as he moves up from Supersport for his first season on a Superbike.
Featured Image courtesy of Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
The Circuit of the Americas is not famed for its fantastic ability to produce fantastic racing, nor is it famous for producing memorable races. In fact, the mood in the MotoGP paddock this weekend has been somewhat negative about COTA, primarily because of its surface. However, everybody forgot about the surface come race time for the MotoGP riders.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) didn’t make a great jump from pole. In fact, the best jump off the front row was that of Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL), but nonetheless the front three on the grid went into turn one in the same order: Marquez from Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Crutchlow.
Marquez bolted, as you would expect, but Rossi went with him. For one lap Valentino Rossi was able to keep Marquez within striking distance, which around COTA is quite an achievement. However, Marquez’ lead soon grew, and went out to one second, then two, then three, and Rossi’s attention switched to those attacking his position from behind: Crutchlow, Jack Miller (Lamborghini Pramac) and Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar).
Crutchlow looked like he had the pace over Rossi, but the Italian had his YZR-M1 set so it was punching well off the bottom gear corners, and Crutchlow was not able to find a way past. The Brit’s frustration grew, and eventually he crashed in turn eleven, and all hopes of a second podium finish from the opening three races was gone.
Soon after, the unthinkable happened. Whilst the world feed visuals went to a replay, the audio remained with the live feed, and the crowd could be heard. They were in shock.
Marc Marquez had never been beaten at the Circuit of the Americas, he had not lost in America since 2009. But, at the 2019 Grand Prix of the Americas, he folded the front of the Honda RC213V in turn twelve on lap nine, and his incredible run was at an end.
Suddenly, the race for second had become the race for the win. Valentino Rossi led, initially, from Jack Miller, but it was not long before Alex Rins passed the Aussie as the Desmosedici ran wide in turn eleven.
That released the Suzuki, and he closed on Rossi. After spending a few laps stalking his prey, Rins made his move on lap seventeen at turn seven – ironically, the same corner where Marquez made his race-winning overtake on Dani Pedrosa for his first ever MotoGP win back in 2013.
Rossi tried to respond, but running wide in turn eleven with two laps to go was a mistake he could have done without, even despite an all-or-nothing final lap which saw him close almost to within striking range.
Rins held firm, and took his first ever MotoGP win, at a track where nobody can win apart from the reigning champion. A completely unexpected result, and one which saw the Spaniard climb to third in the World Championship standings.
Whilst it was a first win for Rins, it was also a first win for Suzuki since 2016, when Maverick Vinales won at Silverstone. This is important for Suzuki, who have been knocking on the door with Rins for well over half a year, and – crucially – they did it without concessions. Now we wait to see whether the floodgates have opened for Rins and Suzuki.
Once more, Valentino Rossi was thwarted in the closing stages of a race, which seems to have happened quite a lot since his last win in Assen 2017. Nonetheless, the effort put in by The Doctor throughout the race was undoubted, and he was gracious enough to congratulate Rins on his debut win, and admit the Suzuki rider was better on the day. The positives for Rossi are that he had, like in Argentina two weeks ago, tyre left at the end of the race with which he could fight back, as well as now being second in the World Championship, three points off the top.
Jack Miller had been without a podium since his memorable win back in Assen 2016 on the Marc VDS Honda, but he put that streak to an end in Texas with a pretty tough, lonely ride to third. He chose soft tyres on both ends of his Ducati, but the front was too soft. In fact, it was front locking which sent him wide in turn eleven that allowed Rins through. Once he realised he didn’t have the grip to fight with Rossi or Rins for the race win, Miller settled into third, but a charge from Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) kept the Aussie on his toes until the end.
It was a difficult race for Dovizioso, which was always going to be the case after qualifying thirteenth. However, it was not the qualifying, in the end, which kept him from the podium, it was a lack of pace in the beginning of the race. He started well, climbing immediately to sixth, but he soon dropped to seventh behind Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT), and he stayed there for much of the race. He was eventually able to pass his compatriot, but it was too late to get near Miller for the podium. Nonetheless, it is Dovizioso who leads the standings heading into the classic European tracks, with Jerez next up in two weeks.
Morbidelli was able to hang onto fifth place which, at a track he finished last at in 2018, is a solid result for the 2017 Moto2 World Champion. He dropped nine seconds behind Dovizioso once the Ducati got past, but he managed to split the factory Ducatis, coming home three seconds ahead of Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati), who will just be glad the weekend is over after a third sixth place in as many races.
Behind Petrucci was Morbidelli’s Petronas Yamaha SRT teammate, Fabio Quartararo who took his best MotoGP finish so far with seventh. Three seconds further back was Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) whose eighth place finish is not as spectacular as his fifth place qualifying, but impressive nonetheless for the Spaniard, who was twelve seconds ahead of his teammate, Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
Francesco Bagnaia (Lamborghini Pramac) took an impressive debut top ten finish with ninth, after his electronics-induced crashes in Q2. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) completed the top ten.
Maverick Vinales’ (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) race was ruined before it began, as he was given a ride through penalty for a jump start. It was more clear than Cal Crutchlow’s in Argentina, and the Spaniard has nothing he can complain about. However, there was some confusion about his penalty, as Vinales took the long lap penalty initially before completing his ride through, so cost himself an extra two or three seconds than he needed. His fight back through the pack had him recover to eleventh, just ahead of Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini).
Johann Zarco came home in thirteenth, just 1.8 seconds ahead of rookie stablemate, Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira who was fourteenth. Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) took the final point in fifteenth.
The first non-points-scorer was Karel Abraham (Reale Avintia Racing) who was sixteenth, ahead of Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) who also had a ride through but could only recover to seventeenth. Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM Tech3) was the final classified finisher in eighteenth.
Before Crutchlow and Marquez went down, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) crashed the factory RSGP. The only other retirement was the third, final-standing factory Honda of Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) whose nightmare top ten drought stretching back to Austria last year will enter its ninth month after a mechanical in Texas put an end to his race.
After taking his second pole position of the season in Texas, and generally dominating the Moto2 weekend in the Lone Star State, Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt IntactGP) was the favourite to take his first Moto2 win in Sunday’s race.
The German made it to turn one first, but ran wide, allowing Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) into the lead and fellow Dynavolt IntactGP rider, Tom Luthi into second place.
There was also a reasonable gap between the two Dynavolt bikes, however when Luthi engaged Marquez in an initial battle for the lead, the German was able to close in.
Luthi’s first attempt to go for the lead was a failure, as Marquez was able to resist the Swiss’ assault. A few laps later, though, and as Schrotter had fallen back once more, Luthi made a second attempt to take the lead away from Marquez, and this time it worked. Luthi passed Marquez on the inside at turn twelve, forced the Spaniard out a little wide and thus prevented him from mounting a counter-attack.
From there, Luthi went unchallenged. Even when Schrotter was finally able to pass Marquez for second, he was unable to close the gap to his teammate.
Instead of for the lead, the main battle that was developing now on track was that for fourth place, as Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) was falling back towards Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) and Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46), and Mattia Pasini (Flexbox HP 40) was not too far behind either, having surpassed fellow Italian veteran Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) for seventh.
The gap between Navarro and Marini behind Lowes swung back and forth throughout the race, as Marini’s strong pace was intervened by series of small mistakes. But, ultimately, the pair of them were closing down on Lowes’ fourth place.
Once Navarro was able to pass Lowes, Marini soon followed suit, recognising the strong pace the Spaniard was showing, and the Speed Up rider was closing on Alex Marquez for third. Marini managed to go with Navarro and join the battle for the final podium position.
Before long, Mattia Pasini had passed Lowes to join in the fight, too, as Navarro and Marini struggled to make a pass stick on Marquez.
Eventually, Navarro was able to pass Marquez, and a few mistakes from Marini – some induced by gearbox issues that had plagued many riders throughout the weekend – allowed the #9 to break away and consolidate his third place.
The mistakes of Marini had allowed Pasini to pass, and set on after Marquez. Soon the Italian was through, and Marquez was back in the clutches of Marini, although the #10 ran out of time to make his move.
All of this was happening nearly five seconds behind the dominant winner, Luthi, who took his first win of his Moto2 return, and became the first rider to win a Moto2 race the year after being dropped from MotoGP since 2010, when Tony Elias, Alex De Angelis and Yuki Takahashi all took wins. Despite his DNF in round two at Argentina, Luthi now lies just five points behind the championship leader.
Second in the Texan race and now second in the World Championship standings is Marcel Schrotter, who will be content enough with his second podium from three races, but the frustration will be there having missed out on what was looking to be a nailed on win for the German.
An impressive first podium in Moto2 for Jorge Navarro came at just the right time for the Spaniard. Two years of relatively poor performances compared to what was expected of the multiple Grand Prix winner mean that this season is somewhat ‘make or break’ for him. To now go into the European season – which begins in two weeks in Jerez – off the back of his first intermediate class rostrum should be a good confidence boost for the Speed Up rider.
Having not ridden a Triumph Moto2 bike before this weekend, the speed Mattia Pasini showed in practice was quite remarkable. Moreover, his late race pace having not ridden a Grand Prix since last November was similarly remarkable, and his emotion at taking this fourth place when he arrived back in the garage after the race was understandable. It is a shame that Pasini is currently ambulance chasing, but hopefully sooner rather than later we will see the #54 back on the grid on a permanent basis.
Fifth place was where Alex Marquez ended up, nearly eight seconds behind the lead he once held. Once more, it was a disappointing late-race performance after a decent start from the Spaniard, a trend which has characterised his races over the past year. Jerez is next up, and he needs to change this trend at his home Grand Prix.
Sixth place went to the sixth-placed rider in the standings, Luca Marini. For a man who is still suffering some after-effects from his shoulder surgery at the end of last year, it is probably quite positive that he can be severely disappointed with a sixth place. He had his first podium of the year in sight at one stage, but the aforementioned mistakes let that get away. Despite being over twenty points behind now in the World Championship, Marini will be confident of a turnaround as the championship heads into its European segment in two weeks.
Sam Lowes ended up seventh. He pushed on hard at the end, the group fighting ahead giving him confidence he could bridge the gap that had grown to the battle for the top five. However, he could not make enough of an impression, and the Brit now lies thirty-one points behind in the championship standings.
Simone Corsi came home in eighth, unable to go with Pasini once the Pons rider went through. Just under two seconds behind Corsi was Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) who once more took top rookie honours in ninth, and finished over six seconds ahead of his Italtrans teammate, Andrea Locatelli, who rounded out the top ten.
A difficult qualifying made for a tough race for Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) who finished eleventh. The Aussie finished three tenths clear of his Stop and Go teammate, Tetsuta Nagashima in twelfth; then came Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP), Dominique Aegerter (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) who scored MV’s first GP points in forty-two years; and finally Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who was the first KTM home and rounded out the points.
Sixteenth went to Jesko Raffin (NTS RW Racing GP), ahead of Khairul Idham Pawi (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing), Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), Stefano Manzi’s replacement at MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward, Gabriele Ruiu, and finally Dimas Ekky (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) who was the twenty-second and final finisher.
There were four retirements on the first lap alone. As usual in COTA, there was some mayhem at turn one, as Joe Roberts (American Racing) got into Fabio Di Giannantonio (Beta Tools Speed Up) with the pair then collecting Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), taking all three of them out of the race. Then, Jorge Martin had a moment on the throttle on the exit of turn nine, and championship leader Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) had nowhere to go but into the back of the Spaniard, and down he went. Such was his performance in the first two races, Baldassarri keeps hold of his championship lead by three points from Schrotter.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was the next to retire with a mechanical, and then Xavi Cardelus (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) dropped out. The best weekend of Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech3) in Moto2 ended with a crash six laps from the flag in turn one. Ike Lecuona (American Racing) was the final retirement, five laps from the end.