Crew On Two

11th May 2019

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

9th May 2019

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

6th May 2019

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

6th May 2019

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

5th May 2019

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.

5th May 2019

MotoGP: Marquez Back On Top at Home in Jerez

Whilst Saturday in Jerez saw the MotoGP riders circulate under clouds, and Sunday morning’s warm up the same, the Andalusian sun was out for the race, and had been cooking the track up since the beginning of the Moto3 race.

Perhaps this is the reason for the subdued pace at the start of the race. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) made the holeshot, and led from Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) at the start. Having been the fastest on pace all weekend, it might have been expected that Marquez would pull away, running the high-1’37s he had been capable of through the weekend. However, Marquez’ first laps were in the mid-1’38s – in fact, the second lap was his slowest of the race.

Marc Marquez, gaining the holeshot at the start of the Jerez GP. Image courtesy of Box Repsol

There seemed to be chance for Morbidelli, who was very close to Marquez in several places, and looked poised to pass him for the lead. However, once Marquez had settled into his rhythm and the pace dropped to low-1’38s and high-1’37s, the gap began to grow. Once Morbidelli had lost touch of Marquez, his rhythm seemed to drop.

Petronas Yamaha SRT teammate, Fabio Quartararo, was soon by Morbidelli. There was already a two second gap to Marquez, but the Frenchman was able to pull clear of his more experienced teammate, who was now under pressure from Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) after the Spaniard had got past Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) a lap or two later than he would have hoped.

It took Rins another lap or two to line up Morbidelli, and as he passed the Italian for third, Quartararo retired simultaneously. It was quite heart-breaking to see the Frenchman put out of contention after such a fantastic weekend, a stunning pole and with such a clear shot at a first-ever MotoGP podium. But a gearbox or gear lever problem forced him out, and Rins inherited his secod place.

Quartararo’s retirement meant that when Rins passed Morbidelli, the Italian retained a provisional podium position, but it was not long before Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was able to pass him in the straight from turn five to turn six. The speed with which Vinales was able to dispatch Morbidelli indicated the satellite Yamaha rider’s tyre woes. They were on equal machinery but Vinales took only half of the 0.3-mile long straight to pass his stablemate.

Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci at the Jerez GP 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

Dovizioso was next to pass Morbidelli, and then Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati). The two factory Ducati riders would then engage Maverick Vinales in the battle for the final podium spot.

In the meantime, Morbidelli fell back to Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL) and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) behind, who were also coming under pressure from Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) who had made almost no progress from the first lap when he was tenth. Quartararo’s retirement had promoted Rossi to ninth, but in the mid-race he appeared to have no answer for the riders ahead of him.

But, as Morbidelli fell behind Crutchlow and then Miller, Rossi arrived, and made quick work of the three of them. It was too late for the Italian to do anything about the factory Ducatis and, anyway, he lacked the pace late in the race.

By now, Alex Rins had given up any hope of closing on the dominant Marquez, and was starting to slip closer to Vinales, who was pushing on to try to keep Dovizioso at bay, whilst Petrucci had been dropped by the pair of them.
In the end, there was no change. Marquez picked up his second successive Jerez victory, his third in the premier class, and received the championship lead with it.

Alex Rins, on the other hand, moved up to second in the championship, one point adrift of Marquez with a solid second place. Once more, it was Rins’ qualifying which prevented him from taking the race win. It seems to be a Suzuki issue more than a Rins issue when it comes to qualifying, since Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) is rarely strong in time attacks either, but in any case it is an issue that Rins and Suzuki need to remedy if they are to achieve the results necessary to challenge for the championship.

Maverick Vinales on the Jerez GP podium. Image courtesy Yamaha Corporation

Maverick Vinales had never achieved a premier class podium in Jerez before this weekend. He arrived at Yamaha at the wrong moment for that, and the Suzuki always struggled in the heat whilst he was a GSX-RR pilot. However, his third place is proof of the progress Yamaha has made over the winter, and that should give him, the team, his teammate and the factory confidence going forward – they are in the right direction.

Vinales’ resolve in the final lap – which was his fastest of the race – of course meant Dovizioso missed the podium, and is still without a podium in a premier class race at Jerez. Nonetheless, the Italian goes to one of Ducati’s strongest tracks in two weeks’ time at Le Mans only three points off Marquez’ championship lead.

Danilo Petrucci took fifth place, his best finish of the season after a trio of sixths to open his factory Ducati career. Like Dovizioso, Petrucci had seemed to have the potential to fight with Marquez in the race, certainly to have a good shot at the podium. However, another poor qualifying limited his chances, and he struggled for pace at the end of the race.

Valentino Rossi at the 2019 Jerez GP. Image courtesy of Yamaha Corporation

Valentino Rossi salvaged a sixth place out of what was quite a bad weekend. If it was cloudy he may have had more, but it was not and he suffered in the mid-race. Like Petrucci, his potential was limited by a poor qualifying position, but ultimately The Doctor lacked pace in Jerez, and will need better in the next races if he is to do as people suggested after Austin, and fight for the championship.

Despite being passed by Crutchlow earlier in the race, Morbidelli was able to re-pass the Briton towards the end. Seventh was perhaps not the result the Italian was hoping for after a stunning qualifying, but it is possible to say that he got sucked in by Marquez. He saw seven world titles in front of him, and who can blame him for wanting to have a go at that? Perhaps it was that which killed his tyres and his late race pace, but either way there is no doubt Morbidelli would have learned a lot in this race.

Cal Crutchlow picked a medium rear tyre. He was in front of Morbidelli when Valentino Rossi went past them, but was nearly two seconds behind at the flag, and only a couple of tenths clear of teammate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU). Crutchlow admitted in the weekend that he was suffering with his foot after the first three races, and for mobility in his injured ankle. His FP4 crash was unlikely to help his physical condition, but after pole position last year the Brit will have been disappointed with his performance this weekend.

Stefan Bradl (Team HRC) had the prettiest bike on the grid, and rounded out the top ten with it, quite impressively.

Five seconds and two places – Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was in between – behind Bradl was Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) who was unexpectedly slow. He dropped to fifteenth in the early stages, and made little progress from there, which was a complete surprise after his strong pace in the weekend, ending the race twelfth.

Pol Espargaro at the 2019 Jerez GP. Image courtesy of Philip Platzer/KTM

Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) assumed his normal position as top KTM in thirteenth place, six seconds ahead of teammate Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) who turned his disastrous weekend into two points. Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) took the final point in fifteenth.

Karel Abraham (Reale Avintia Racing) was eight seconds behind teammate Rabat, and nearly five seconds in front of Aprilia test rider Bradley Smith (Aprilia Racing Team). A couple of tenths further back of Smith was Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) who had his most difficult weekend of MotoGP so far, but still nine seconds ahead of Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM Tech3) who was last of the nineteen finishers.

Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) crashed at turn two, before Quartararo joined him in retirement. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) had spent the majority of the race staring at the backside of Valentino Rossi, but ended it on the floor at turn thirteen. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) was down at turn thirteen, too – Aleix Espargaro ran wide whilst passing the Aussie, Miller cut back underneath him but folded the front, and Espargaro was lucky to stay on – Miller less so.

5th May 2019

Moto3: Dalla Porta Fights Back with Jerez Pole

Qualifying for the fourth round of the 2019 Moto3 World Championship in Jerez took place under clouded skies, which characterised the running on Saturday.

Q1 saw the Bester Capital Dubai KTMs joint championship leader Jaume Masia and teammate Andrea Migno make a last-ditch attempt to get themselves through to Q2, and it paid off. The teammates qualified through in third and fourth places, respectively, whilst Tatsuki Suzuki (Sic58 Squadra Corse) was the fastest of the Q1 runners, and Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) survived late fast laps from several riders to advance to Q2 in fourth place.

Q2 took place in similarly overcast conditions. The early pace was set by the Sky Racing Team VR46 pairing of Vietti and Dennis Foggia who sandwiched fellow VR46 Academy rider, Niccolo Antonelli (Sic58 Squadra Corse) on the provisional front row.

It was not until the final moments of the session that Vietti’s time was bettered, as Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) went to the top. The Italian was not displaced for the remainder of the session, and took his first pole of 2019 – the perfect way to signal his intent after a poor couple of results in the Americas.

Tatsuki Suzuki managed to go from Q1 to the front row as he put the #24 Sic58 Squadra Corse Honda in second place, ahead of fellow Q1 competitor, Vietti, who ended up third, unable to beat his early pace. Whilst he missed out on pole, Vietti did claim the first front row of his World Championship career.

Niccolo Antonelli ended the session fourth, and will be joined on the second row of the grid tomorrow by Dennis Foggia and Gabriel Rodrigo (Kommerling Gresini Moto3).

Dennis Foggia, Moto3, 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

Joint championship leader Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) was limited to seventh place thanks to mechanical problems on his final run. The Spaniard will be joined by compatriot and Andalusian local Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing), and the returning Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), who took his first CEV win at Jerez back in 2015, on the third row.

Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers) heads up row four tomorrow in tenth, with Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas SRT) and Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) completing the fourth row; whilst Andrea Migno, John McPhee (Petronas SRT) and Jaume Masia make up row five.

Stefano Nepa (Fundacion Andres Perez 77), who is wildcarding this weekend, will head up the sixth row, and will be joined on it by Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) and Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) who was the slowest rider in Q2.

Jaume Masia, Jerez 2019. Image courtesy of Chippy Wood/KTM

Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers), who, like Arenas, scored his first CEV win in Jerez, will start tomorrow’s race in nineteenth after being the fastest rider in Q1 to not qualify for Q2. The Italian will be joined on row seven by Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) and Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0).

Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) was only fast enough for twenty-second on the grid, and will be joined on the eighth row by Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and former championship leader Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia).

Row nine will consist of Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power), Can Oncu (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Riccardo Rossi (Kommerling Gresini Moto3); whilst Filip Salac (Redox PruestelGP), Vicente Perez (Reale Avintia Arizona 77) and Tom Booth-Amos (CIP Green Power) will make up row ten.

There will be only one rider on row eleven tomorrow, the wildcard Meikon Kawakami (Fundacion Andres Perez 77).

4th May 2019

Moto2: Navarro Takes First Intermediate Pole

Moto2 qualifying for the fourth round of the 2019 World Championship got underway in cooler conditions than might have been expected, as clouds lay above the track.

Q1 saw Iker Lecuona (American Racing KTM) top the session from Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), with those four riders advancing to Q2.

Brad Binder used the extra track time he had courtesy of his Q1 participation to his advantage to lead early on. However, after a couple of laps it was Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who went to the top. The Spaniard, though, was then replaced by a compatriot, Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) who was not bested before the end of the session, and took his first Moto2 pole.

Jorge Navarro at Jerez Moto2 2019 Qualification. Image courtesy of Speedup Factory

Alex Marquez and the returning Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) will join Navarro on the front row tomorrow in an all-Spanish affair at the front of the Moto2 grid. The Spanish crowd will no doubt be hoping for minimal change at the front of the Moto2 race.

However, there are plenty of riders starting further behind who would like to upset that, including Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) who qualified fourth for Sunday’s race, and is still in search of his first grand prix victory.

Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) impressed with his best Moto2 qualifying to date, as he made a strong return from arm pump surgery, which kept him out of the Americas round of the series three weeks ago.

Bulega’s fellow VR46 Academy rider, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) completes the second row. The championship leader has not had an easy weekend, with two breakdowns in FP1, followed by a crash, and then another crash in FP2. A further fall on Saturday left the Italian even further on the back foot, but using teammate Fernandez as a marker he was able to lift himself onto the second row of the grid.

Fabio Di Giannantonio (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) looked at one point as though he was on for a front row start on his final lap. The time went away from him in the final sector, but the Italian was nonetheless able to secure seventh on the grid. Austin winner, Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP), and Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) will join last year’s Moto3 runner-up on the third row of the grid.

Despite topping the early stages of the session, Brad Binder was only able to qualify tenth has KTM’s Moto2 woes continue. Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Xavi Vierge will join Binder on row four for Sunday’s race.

Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) could only manage the thirteenth-fastest time in Q2, and will start alongside Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) – whose Q2 was interrupted by a stop at the end of his first lap, from which he did not re-emerge until well into the final ten minutes – and Andrea Locatelli on the fifth row of the grid.

Iker Lecuona, Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) and Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) were the slowest of the Q2 runners, and will start tomorrow’s race from the sixth row.

Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) was the fastest of the riders to not make Q2, and will start the Spanish Grand Prix from nineteenth, with Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) and Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) joining him on the seventh row.

Marco Bezzecchi, Moto2 qualification at Jerez 2019

Dominique Aegerter (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) will start directly behind his teammate, Manzi, as the Swiss heads up row eight. Jake Dixon’s replacement at the Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team, Mattia Pasini, along with Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech3) will complete the eighth row.

Steven Odendaal (NTS RW Racing GP) makes his first appearance of the season this weekend having been replaced by Jesko Raffin for the first three races of the year. The South African rider will start the race from the head of the ninth row, in twenty-fifth. Joe Roberts (American Racing KTM) and Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing) complete row nine.

Dimas Ekky (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) will start twenty-eighth, with Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Xavi Cardelus (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) – who is clearly still in pain after his crash in Texas three weeks ago – joining the Indonesian on the back row of the grid.

4th May 2019

MotoGP: Star Rookie Quartararo Seals First MotoGP Pole

The overcast skies of FP3, which were expected to disappear in the afternoon, remained for MotoGP qualifying at the fourth round of the World Championship in Jerez.

The action started early, in Q1. Both factory Yamaha riders had failed to go directly to Q2 from the combined free practice times, and so had to battle it out in Q1. As has become quite ordinary, Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was unable to advance to Q2. Spinning the rear tyre on his final lap cost him three tenths in the second sector, and he dropped three more in sector three. This meant that Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) joined Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), who went faster in Q1 than he had been all weekend, in advancing from Q1 to Q2.

The real surprise, though, came in Q2, when Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) took pole position in just his fourth MotoGP, and the same for the team. In taking pole, Quartararo became the first rookie pole-sitter since Johann Zarco on the satellite Yamaha at Motegi 2017, and the youngest rider to set pole in MotoGP history, taking the record from Marc Marquez who took his first pole at Austin 2013. The Frenchman has had a fantastic start to his premier class career, but even still such a result was completely unexpected. He now has the chance to fight for his first MotoGP podium on Sunday. The same can be said for Quartararo’s Petronas Yamaha SRT teammate, Franco Morbidelli, who completed a quite perfect day for the new team by making it a 1-2 for them on the grid for tomorrow.

Marc Marquez “congratulating” Fabio Quartararo on his first MotoGP pole, and taking Marc’s “youngest MotoGP pole-sitter”. Image courtesy of Box Repsol

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was the favourite for pole coming into this session. The Spaniard did three runs, but the first one was the fastest, when he seemed to be held up by Repsol Honda teammate Jorge Lorenzo in the final corner. He was attacking his last lap in Q2 until turn seven, when he lost the front. That was the moment that gave Quartararo pole. Despite missing the front of the grid, Marquez will still be the strong favourite to take the race win.

However, Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) will have something to say about that. The Italian has shown good pace in a variety of conditions through the weekend, and has put himself in a good position to try and attack tomorrow. From fourth on the grid, his ‘holeshot device’ could be quite useful tomorrow afternoon.

Joining Dovizioso on row two tomorrow will be Maverick Vinales, who perhaps benefited from the cloud coverage but nonetheless made a better qualification than he perhaps thought possible yesterday, and 2018 Jerez pole sitter, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL).

Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) went three tenths slower than his FP3 time – which at the time was an all-time circuit record – before crashing after the chequered flag, and will start from seventh tomorrow. Takaaki

Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) and Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) will join the factory Ducati rider on the third row. Both Petrucci and Rins will have aspirations of the podium tomorrow, so their opening laps will be important.

Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) qualified tenth for Sunday’s race, ahead of Jerez master Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) and fellow rookie Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) who was the slowest rider in Q2 and will start from twelfth tomorrow.

Valentino Rossi was the fastest rider not to make Q2, and so will have to come back from thirteenth tomorrow. If his championship contention – about which so many have spoken since Austin – is serious, the first laps tomorrow will be critical for the Italian, who starts from outside the front four rows for the second time this season. Team HRC’s wildcard, Stefan Bradl, and Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller, who crashed at the end of Q1, will join Rossi on row five.

Pol Espargaro and Franco Morbidelli at Jerez 2019. Image courtesy of Philip Platzer/KTM

The Espargaro brothers fill the front two thirds of the sixth row, with Aleix (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) ahead of Pol (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), whilst the latter’s teammate will start from eighteenth.

Bradley Smith, wildcarding for Aprilia Racing Team, rode despite being hurt form a nasty crash in FP2. He will start nineteenth, ahead of the Reale Avintia Racing duo of Tito Rabat and Karel Abraham who complete the seventh row.

The Red Bull KTM Tech3 pairing of Miguel Oliveira and Hafizh Syahrin were the two slowest riders in Q1 and will start from twenty-second and twenty-third tomorrow. Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) will start from last, depending on his fitness after an FP4 crash saw him taken to hospital. The Italian had a scan which revealed no broken bones.

3rd May 2019

BSB: Oulton Park Gears Up for Round Two

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.

Scott Redding on the Silverstone 2019 BSB podium. Image courtesy of Ducati

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.

Josh Elliott and OMG Racing Suzuki Team. Image courtesy of Suzuki Racing

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.