The second round of the Moto2 World Championship takes place this weekend in Argentina, three weeks on from Lorenzo Baldassarri’s win for Sito Pons’ Flexbox HP 40 squad.
Baldassarri’s win was one which came as a result of a staunch defensive performance in the face of strong late race pace from the returning Tom Luthi, who took second place on his debut for the Dynavolt Intact GP team. The win also means that Baldassarri comes to Argentina leading the World Championship for the first time in his career, and it will be interesting to see how he deals with that this weekend, at a track where he has never made the podium, a best result of fourth coming back in the 2017 edition of the race.
Thomas Lüthi riding for Dynavolt Intact GP. Image courtesy of Dynavolt Intact GP
For Luthi, the goal this weekend will be to prove that Qatar was not a fluke, not a one-off, and that his return to the intermediate class of grand prix motorcycle racing from a season of MotoGP in 2018 has come with a new impetus for the Swiss, who is once more in search of a second world title in 2019, and will know no doubt that a result to support the one of Qatar can be very important for his chances, though not vital. For example, last year’s Moto2 World Champion Francesco Bagnaia suffered his worst weekend of the season in Argentina, finishing only ninth. However, it is worth pointing out that in every year previous to that, the winner of the Argentinian round of the Moto2 World Championship had gone on to win the title.
Something else to keep in mind this weekend is that only Kalex have won intermediate class grands prix in Termas de Rio Hondo. However, several other chassis brands have landed podiums in Argentina since 2014: Suter, Speed Up and KTM have all taken rostrum positions at least once in intermediate class races at Termas. However, seeing past a Kalex whitewash of the podium is difficult, considering how they dominated Qatar.
In Qatar, every bike in the top ten was a Kalex, the first non-Kalex chassis being Fabio Di Giannantonio’s Speed Up frame in eleventh. Additionally, the weekend was a disaster for KTM, with Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) damaging his hand on Saturday, and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) suffering after the initial laps to finish twelfth – not the way he wanted his championship campaign to begin in a season in which he aims to win the title.
JorgeMartin, Qatar Moto2 2019. Image Courtesy of Gold and Goose /KTM
The saving grace for Binder in Losail was that his two main championship rivals, or the two thought to be his main championship rivals before the season got underway, had similarly disappointing races.
Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) managed only eighth place in Qatar, and Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) came home sixth after entering the weekend as the favourite for the win. For these two, and for Binder, Argentina represents a clean slate – three weeks on from disappointing races in Losail they will view this weekend as the true beginning of their respective championship challenges.
There were impressive rides in Qatar for Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) and Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) who finished fourth and fifth respectively. Like Luthi, they will be aiming this weekend to show that they can replicate those performances on a regular basis.
In fact, for Gardner, he will be aiming to go one step further this weekend, after he was narrowly beaten to the line in Qatar by Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) to what would have been his first podium in the World Championship.
The Marc VDS team is the second most successful Moto2 outfit in Termas, having enjoyed two wins there since 2014, with Tito Rabat (2014) and Franco Morbidelli (2017). Both riders went on to win the championship in their respective victorious years in Argentina, so look out for Xavi Vierge – who finished second in Argentina last season – and Alex Marquez this weekend.
The Moto3 World Championship arrives in Argentina this weekend for the second round of the 2019 season at Termas de Rio Hondo, three weeks on from the opening race of the year in Qatar.
That season opener was won by an unlikely name: Kaito Toba (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia). The Japanese rider became the first person from his country to win a race in the lightweight class since the inauguration of Moto3 in 2012. His win came from nowhere, having never previously scored a podium or even a top five in his World Championship career before this year, and that means it will be very interesting to see what the #27 rider can do this weekend, at a track which is as peculiar as Losail, albeit in a different way.
Termas has seen a variety of winners in the Moto3 category ever since it was added to the calendar in 2014. Such as Khairul Idham Pawi who won in 2016 with the Honda Team Asia, with which Toba will be trying to go back-to-back wins this weekend – and Marco Bezzecchi for PruestelGP last season, a win which propelled him towards a title challenge which went almost until the very end of the season.
Additionally, in 2014, Romano Fenati forced his way to the top step with a tough move on Jack Miller in the penultimate corner of the race, a win which makes Fenati – now riding for the Snipers Team – the only rider on this year’s Moto3 grid for the Argentinian round of the championship to have previously won at Termas. However, Fenati has not visited the podium in Argentina since that victory in 2014, something which the Italian will be keen to change this weekend, especially in wake of what he must view as a missed opportunity in Qatar three weeks ago, when he finished ninth.
Aron Canet, Moto3, Qatar 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose /KTM
Along with Fenati, there are two other riders who before Qatar were considered championship contenders: Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing). Unlike Fenati, both Canet and Dalla Porta managed to reach the podium in Losail, kicking off their championship campaigns in almost precisely the ways in which they would have wanted. However, for the pair of them, missing the victory at round one – even if to a rider they perhaps do not consider a direct threat for the championship – will see them with even greater hunger to take the top spot this weekend.
After a difficult weekend in Qatar resulting in retirement from the race, Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) will be hoping to show something closer to his full potential in Argentina after three weeks in which he will have been able to rest somewhat, and allow his injuries to heal.
Whilst Masia’s season is just beginning this weekend, being less limited by injury, the opposite can be said for Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), who finished sixth in Losail after spending the entire race fighting for the podium. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, he suffered a series of injuries, including a lacerated spleen and broken rib. At the moment it is unclear for how long Arenas will be out of action, but in his absence, Arenas’ Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team teammate Raul Fernandez will be joined in the garage by Aleix Viu, who Fernandez knows well from their time spent racing together in the CEV. It will be Viu’s second Moto3 World Championship race this weekend in Argentina, after making his debut in 2017 at the Catalan Grand Prix.
Termas tends to throw up excitement and exceptional unpredictability, and to do so this weekend the rain is due to arrive on three out of the three days the riders will be on track. Bravery could well be the winning ingredient this weekend – the more the better.
The second round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship takes place this weekend in Argentina, at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.
Termas has had a habit of throwing up controversy since it made its debut on the MotoGP calendar back in 2014 – it has seen Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez clash twice, with opposite results, in 2015 and 2018; Scott Redding blow a rear Michelin in 2016 which caused a pit stop in the middle of the race and Michelin to completely change their design philosophy for the rest of the 2016 season and Danilo Petrucci ride unpenalized into the side of Aleix Espargaro last season.
This year, though, the controversy began three weeks ago in Qatar at the opening round. Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) won from Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) in another of their last lap scraps, again being decided in the final corner. Dovizioso had been using Ducati’s new aerodynamic device which attaches to the swing arm, claimed by Ducati to cool the tyre. Aprilia, KTM, Honda and Suzuki all protested the result to the Race Direction on Sunday night after the race, but it was thrown out. They then put it to the MotoGP court of appeal, which made their decision this week, a decision which ruled the Ducati to be legal, and the result to stand. With the result of the previous race being decided so close to this weekend’s round, it is sure to be a big talking point in the paddock, and it shouldn’t be long until the other factories have their own versions of Ducati’s swing arm device.
Andrea Dovizioso 1st, Marc Marquez 2nd and Cal Crutchlow third at the Qatar GP 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati
In fact, for Ducati this weekend promises to be an interesting one, regardless of appeals and protests by their rivals, as a Desmosedici has not visited parc ferme in Termas since Eugene Laverty took fourth place and top ‘independent’ for Aspar in 2016. Furthermore, Ducati haven’t had a podium in Argentina since 2015 with Dovizioso, although they should of course have had a double rostrum in 2016. The last two years have been particularly disappointing for the Italian marque in Argentina. In 2017, Dovizioso struggled for pace all weekend and in the end was taken out by Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia as the Spaniard was avoiding Danilo Petrucci and lost the front; and last year Dovizioso could manage only sixth place in the mixed conditions. Having started once more with a victory, Dovizioso will be keen to back it up with another strong result this weekend in South America.
This will be especially important for Dovizioso’s title ambitions, as Argentina is one of Marc Marquez’ strongest GPs. Of the five races run in Argentina since 2014, Marquez has won two, and taken four poles. His win count would be higher, but for his catalogue of errors last year which resulted in a thirty-second penalty and no points for the Spaniard. Marquez has always shown strongly, though, in Termas, and it is difficult to see past him this weekend, especially with rain expected.
Jorge Lorenzo at an uneventful Losail GP. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu
Whilst Argentina has traditionally been strong for Marquez, the same cannot be said for his Repsol Honda Team teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, who has not found the podium in Argentina since 2014 and hasn’t scored a point there since 2015 when he finished fifth. Still suffering with his scaphoid and likely still feeling some effects from the injuries he picked up from his high side in Qatar FP3, this weekend could be another tough one for the Spaniard.
After Marquez, the most successful MotoGP rider in Termas de Rio Hondo is Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). The Italian took a dramatic win in 2015, and made the podium on two more occasions, in 2016 and 2017. Last year, however, was a disastrous race for the Italian, even before the contact with Marquez he lacked pace and was lapping in eighth place – the fact that Marquez took a ride through penalty in the beginning of the race and still caught Rossi with several laps to go says a lot about both Marquez’ and Rossi’s pace at the 2018 Argentinian GP. Losail was also a disappointment for Rossi. At a track where both he and Yamaha traditionally excel, he qualified fourteenth and finished fifth, leaving him suggesting that in reality nothing much has really changed in the factory Yamaha camp over the winter. Rossi is still without a podium since Sachsenring last season and, despite a disappointing opening round of the season and difficult ace in Termas last year, his record at the Argentinian track suggests this could be his best opportunity to return to the rostrum before the paddock heads back to Europe.
Valentino Rossi, at Qatar 2019. Hoping to regain form. Image courtesy of Yamaha Corporation
With Maverick Vinales alongside Rossi in the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP garage, the factory Yamaha box is the only garage on the pit lane with two winners at Termas in the premier class. Vinales’ 2017 win feels like a long time ago, and whilst practice and qualifying in Losail three weeks ago implied that the Maverick of early 2017 was back, the race proved otherwise, as he slumped to seventh place after qualifying on pole.
Both Rossi and Vinales were hurt in Losail by the YZR-M1’s lack of top speed, and that is likely to hurt them again this weekend, with the long straight down to turn five. What Termas does not have that Losail did, though, is a long run to the (start/finish) line, and that could present an opportunity for the Yamaha riders.
Argentina was the scene of Alex Rins’ (Team Suzuki Ecstar) first MotoGP podium twelve months ago, and after a strong winter and impressive ride in Qatar where he took fourth place, the Spaniard will be after his first win in the premier class this time around.
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL) took a spectacular win in Termas last year, fighting in a four-way scrap with Miller, Rins and Johann Zarco for the duration of the race. It was Crutchlow’s third triumph in the premier class, and after a heroic podium in Qatar – after missing some feeling with the bike through preseason, a preseason hampered by the catastrophic ankle injury he sustained in Australia last October – the Briton will no doubt be after the rostrum once more this weekend, at the circuit which he took his first podium on Honda, when he stuffed Andrea Iannone back in 2015 in the final corner.
The second full length race for the second round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship from the Buriram International Circuit in Thailand was, like the previous five races of the season, completely dominated by ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista.
The Spaniard made the holeshot, and held the lead throughout the first lap, and soon after he had broken Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who settled in for a cold war with Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK). There was nothing anybody can do about Bautista, though, who strolled to his sixth consecutive victory, doubling his championship advantage compared to before the weekend.
Jonathan Rea, though, did what he needed to, in maintaining second place, not over-stretching either himself or the bike, and ultimately he is only one point more than a full-distance race win away from the World Championship lead. He has kept himself in the championship, and finally that was the maximum for the reigning champion and his Kawasaki team.
Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes finishing 2nd and 4rd in Race 2 at Thailand, 2019 WSBK. Image courtesy of Yamaha Corporation
The weekend was a big success for Alex Lowes, and he topped that off with perhaps his best ride of the weekend, as he stayed with Rea for three quarters of the race, before he fell back at the end. A third podium was about as much as the Yamaha rider could have hoped for, and he was by far the best Yamaha rider this weekend.
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) took fourth place for the third time this weekend. He had hoped to be able to fight for the podium with his teammate, but despite starting six places better off than in the first two races – going from fourth – he was unable to match Lowes’ pace. Instead, the Dutchman fought once more with Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) who finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) once again took seventh place, ahead – once again – of fellow rookie Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) who was eighth. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) disappointed once again on his semi-factory ZX-10RR as he battled with Jordi Torres’ privateer Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki for ninth place. Razgatlioglu came out on top in that duel, but it would not be the fight he had been hoping nor expecting to have.
Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) took eleventh place on the S1000RR, ahead of Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) in thirteenth and Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team).
There were four non-starters, as Eugene Laverty’s GoEleven team were unable to get his bike prepared after his brake failure yesterday; Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) entered the pits after the warm-up lap; and Thitipong Warokorn (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team) and Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) were both declared unfit after their crash in the Superpole race earlier in the day.
In the race, there were two retirements, as Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) retired with a drivetrain issue, and Chaz Davies’ ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati Panigale V4R expired after fighting with the Yamaha riders and Haslam’s Kawasaki in the final race of the weekend.
The Superpole for the 2019 Superbike World Championship race in Buriram was ended early, after six laps, due to a red flag for an incident between Thitipong Warokorn (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team) and Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team).
However, the race started as normal, and like yesterday’s race, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) got a better launch than Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) but the power of the Panigale V4R allowed the Spaniard to draw back alongside the reigning World Champion. Nonetheless, Rea made the holeshot, only for Bautista to steam past him on the straight.
When they got to turn three, Bautista ran wide, and Rea cut underneath, only – again – for Bautista to power back by on the straight up to turn four. From there, surprisingly, Rea was unable to make an impression on Bautista, who stretched out a sizeable lead at the front and eventually won by two seconds, keeping his and the new Ducati’s 100% winning record in the championship.
After he was able to keep Bautista within range for over half the race yesterday, Rea would have been disappointed to have seen the #19 creep away after the second lap, but with the size of the straights in Buriram and the power advantage of the Ducati there is, really, only so much the four-times champion can do.
Alex Lowes – Pata Yamaha WorldSBK – 2019 WorldSBK. Image courtesy of Yamaha Corporation
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha) tagged onto the back of the two leaders from the start, and pulled away from his Yamaha stablemates and Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) behind. In the end it was a second podium, and a second third place, of the weekend and the season for the Englishman, and he will no doubt be out to make it three out of three rostrum appearances in Thailand in the final race of the weekend.
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) was next over the line in fourth, after a battle with Leon Haslam (6th) which lasted the shortened race distance. Only two tenths behind Haslam was Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK), who had a messy first couple of laps, making a few mistakes, but was looking good for a strong fightback before the red flag, and he finished 0.3 seconds ahead of his GRT Yamaha teammate, Sandro Cortese who was seventh.
Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) finished eighth on the factory Ducati, ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) who made a good start but dropped back from there. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) rounded out the top ten, but just missed out on the front three rows for the final race of the weekend.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) finished eleventh, ahead of Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing), Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) and Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) who scored the first point of his WorldSBK career, and was the final rider classified.
Eugene Laverty’s (Team GoEleven) race was over before it even started, as his GoEleven team couldn’t get his bike repaired after his brake failure yesterday. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) retired at the end of the second lap, before Camier and Warokorn had their incident. Both were taken to hospital and both were declared unfit for the third and final race of the Thailand event.
The second round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship saw Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) claim his first ever Superpole in qualifying, as the Spaniard looked to continue his 100% winning record in the championship after taking the first ever WorldSBK ‘triple’ in Phillip Island.
Despite an average launch, the world championship leader was able to use the power of his Ducati Panigale V4R to make the holeshot, but he ran wide, and after starting second on the grid, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was able to cut underneath him and get a good enough exit from the first turn to allow him to lead through the kink of turn two and into turn three. The reigning World Champion ran wide in the turn three hairpin, but was able to square off the exit and beat Bautista to turn four at the end of the uphill drag, which was important for the Kawasaki rider, as he would now have the opportunity to pull away in the section of track in which he believed he was faster.
Álvaro Bautista ahead of Jonathan Rea. Round 2 of the 2019 WSBK Season. Image courtesy of Ducati
If anything, though, Bautista closed onto Rea’s rear wheel, and Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) was able to close onto the back of the leading duo through the twisty stuff towards the end of the lap as well.
Rea and Bautista soon engaged in a strong fight for the lead, Bautista of course having the advantage on sheer straight line speed, but Rea was doing everything, to try to counter-act the horsepower of the Panigale, focusing a lot – it seemed – on corner exit to launch down the straight. In parc ferme afterwards, Bautista commented that he felt he was losing out on corner exit, so whatever Rea was doing in this area was working well.
Not only was Rea impressive on corner exit, but he was demonic on the brakes. It became a notable feature of Rea’s riding last year, with the rev limits introduced for the Kawasaki limiting their speed and acceleration. Rea had to make the time on the brakes as a result, and he found himself in the same situation this season, and there was not a single braking zone at the Buriram circuit in which Rea did not appear on the limit.
In the early stages of this battle, Bautista passed Rea on the straight between turns one and three, and knowing he was missing out on braking compared to the reigning World Champion, the Spaniard pushed a little further on the brakes. He lost the rear, ran slightly wide, and Rea cut back on the inside. There was contact, and Bautista completely lost the front. It was a lucky escape for the Spaniard to stay on the bike, and to lose only one position to Alex Lowes was similarly fortuitous.
It took Bautista though, only one lap to re-pass Lowes, and then a few laps to recover the one second gap to Rea.
The Ducati rider was showing scintillating pace in that period of the race, in that one lap taking almost half a second out of his rival. When he caught Rea, and passed him, it was not without a fight that Rea let him go. The Northern Irishman pushed beyond the limit for several laps, locking and folding the front numerous times before his front tyre had finally had enough.
When Rea finally decided to conserve his second place and twenty World Championship points, Bautista was able to open up a large gap, and was still lapping in the low 1’33s as late as lap eighteen, slowing to ’33.7 on the final two laps. In comparison, Rea had dropped to 1’34s since lap sixteen (his final lap was a 1’36, but he slowed on the exit of the final corner).
Despite Jonathan Rea’s best efforts, Alvaro Bautista still came away from his fourth ever WorldSBK race with his fourth ever WorldSBK win, extending his championship advantage over Rea to eighteen points.
Whilst he was beaten again, there are positives to take for the reigning World Champion. Primarily, Rea was able to stay with Bautista for ten laps and more. The Superpole race on Sunday morning is ten laps, and so Rea has a real hope of taking victory in the sprint.
Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes at the Thiland WSBK round One Race 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Corporation
Alex Lowes was finally able to take his first podium of the season, probably one round late than he would have hoped, but to finish as top Yamaha for the second time this season will be a boost to him. Especially as the R1s of himself, his Pata Yamaha WorldSBK teammate Michael van der Mark and GRT Yamaha WorldSBK’s Marco Melandri were all so closely matched in race one at Buriram.
It was Van der Mark’s R1 which crossed the line closest to Lowes, in fourth place, just 0.468 seconds behind his teammate. Whilst Melandri lost time to his stablemate in a battle with Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK’s Leon Haslam, the Italian struggling with the same straight-line stability problems which dogged him last year on the Ducati. It was a sixth place for Melandri, a tenth behind Haslam in fifth, who in the end was three seconds from the Pata Yamaha riders.
Seven seconds back Melandri was his GRT Yamaha WorldSBK teammate and reigning Supersport World Champion Sandro Cortese, the rookie having another strong ride to seventh place, after beating Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) to the line on the final lap. Rinaldi’s ride should not go un-noted, going from sixteenth on the grid it was perhaps his strongest race of the season aboard his “Showa-sprung” Panigale V4R (in comparison to the Ohlins suspension of his factory stablemates).
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) came home in ninth place, struggling again with the lack of power of the S1000RR in the straights of the first two sectors.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) rounded out the top ten, after struggling for setup all weekend.
Eleventh place went to Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing), the Spaniard finishing two tenths ahead of fellow Kawasaki privateer rider Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racin VerdNatura) in twelfth. Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) was thirteenth, struggling – not unlike the BMW riders – with the lack of power in the CBR1000RR, but ahead nonetheless of BMW Motorrad WorldSBK’s Markus Reiterberger, and Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) on the Panigale V4R after crashing mid-race and remounting.
Sixteenth place went to Thitipong Warokorn (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team), the Thai wildcard, and Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) who was the final finisher in seventeenth.
There were two retirements: Eugene Laverty (Team GoEleven) and Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team). Laverty’s was by far the more alarming retirement, as he lost his brakes at 125mph into the final corner. Fortunately, the Irishman was okay after his fourth career brake failure.
Alvaro Bautista winner of race one with Jonathan Rea (2nd) Alex Lowes(3rd). Image courtesy of Ducati
Perhaps the most telling part about of the 2019 WorldSBK season is the gaps. Alvaro Bautista and Ducati have been very impressive so far, but arguably the step Jonathan Rea has made this year to try to challenge them has been even greater. Last year saw the top ten split by eleven seconds, yet Rea this year, had six seconds back to Alex Lowes; after destroying his front tyre and sitting up on the final corner which cost him two seconds. There will probably be people who are at the moment questioning the ability of Jonathan Rea – after four straight world titles with arguably the best bike for all four of those seasons, he is now finding himself incapable of getting anywhere near Bautista for a full race distance. However, to see a more accurate reflection of Jonathan Rea’s ability on a motorcycle, it is more relevant to look at the gap behind him, not the one in front of him.
For the fifth time in its history, The Buriram International Circuit in Thailand will play host to the second round of the Superbike World Championship.
The 2019 season began three weeks ago in Australia, with Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) taking all three race victories in dominant fashion. The Spaniard enjoyed a dream debut in WorldSBK, no doubt aided by the straight line performance of the new Ducati Panigale V4R, which should also be useful in Thailand, with the two long straights in the first sector. Whilst Bautista will undoubtedly arrive in Buriram the favourite for the victory in all three races, the Thai round could prove to be more of a challenge for the 2006 125cc World Champion.
Primarily, that challenge is likely to come from reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who has won six out of the eight WorldSBK races held at the Thai track, including doubles in 2015 and 2017. Last year, the Northern Irishman faced struggles with on the brakes, as they overheated due to the heavy stops of the Buriram International Circuit combined with the extreme Thai heat. However, in response, the championship allowed larger brake ducts in Imola and Donington, which proved a successful remedy for the ZX-10RR’s problems. Still, though, it remains to be seen whether a similar situation will be encountered by Rea in this year’s Thai round of the Superbike World Championship – if he does it could leave Bautista free to take three more comfortable victories.
For the teammates of Rea and Bautista, Thailand is an interesting prospect.
Leon Haslam, (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) has not been to Buriram since 2015 when he rode the Aprilia RSV4 to two second places, meaning he can be fast at this track, but has less experience at the venue compared to his rivals. Haslam was strong in Phillip Island three weeks ago, and were it not for a crash in race one on Saturday, could have had three podiums.
Chaz Davis at Phillip Island 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati
On the side of Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati), however, the weekend is more of an opportunity for him to get closer to finding the feeling he wants from the Panigale V4R, having struggled with the new machinery since he first tried it last November. Davies appeared to make some progress in the second full-length race in Phillip Island, and will hope to continue along a similar path this weekend, on a circuit at which he often struggled with the V-twin Ducati, but was victorious at last season.
The other two Panigale V4R riders of Eugene Laverty (Team GoEleven) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) are looking along similar lines to Davies, trying to find a better feeling from the bike. The task is made more difficult for these satellite riders, though, since they have different suspension manufacturers compared to the factory team, and so what they can learn from Davies and Bautista’s data and settings is limited.
The Pata Yamaha WorldSBK team would have been disappointed with their weekend in Phillip Island, having looked promising with both Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark throughout the weekend, and throughout the preseason – especially with Lowes – yet failed to make the podium in any of the three races in Australia. To add insult to injury, the new Yamaha team, GRT Yamaha WorldSBK, made the podium with Marco Melandri in the first race of the weekend. The battle for top Yamaha promises to be a great one in 2019, and the outcome of this weekend’s races will be interesting in respect to that fight.
It became clear during Phillip Island that strongest point of the new Ducati is its engine, whilst the new BMW S100RR had exactly the opposite issue. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) rode superbly in the first race to take seventh place, but the power deficit of the BMW became more apparent in the two Sunday races, where Sykes made a bad start and could not find his way through the field, riders just powering away or past him on the straight. The situation will remain the same for this weekend, which will likely prove costly for both Sykes and his factory BMW teammate Markus Reiterberger in the first sector of the lap.
The 2019 Moto2 World Championship began under the lights in Qatar to the soundtrack of 765cc Triumph three-cylinder motors, and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) came out on top in a last lap duel with Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP).
Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) made the holeshot from Baldassarri, but it took the Italian only one lap before he assumed the lead.
After a few laps, Vierge dropped another spot to Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) – the polesitter – and the attack from the German was enough to destabilise the #97 rider to the extent that Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) and Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) soon found their way through as well.
From this point, Baldassarri and Schrotter engaged in a cold war, trading lap times but Schrotter was never able to get within range of Baldassarri.
As the race settled down, Tom Luthi started to make his charge from the back half the top ten. He had a lot of pace, but took his time in passing people. By the halfway point, though, Luthi had passed Alex Marquez for fourth place, and was setting on after Gardner for the final podium spot. With three laps to go, the Swiss veteran of the Moto2 class had seized second place from teammate Schrotter and by the end of the penultimate lap he had caught Baldassarri.
Thomas Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP)
It was clear that Luthi had a large advantage in edge grip, able to carry significantly more corner speed than Baldassarri, and this was especially noticeable through the three fast right-handers towards the end of the lap.
However, despite showing a nose in turns fourteen and fifteen, Luthi was unable to make a pass stick on Baldassarri, and the Italians snaking on the run to the line was enough to keep the 2005 125cc World Champion at bay, as Balda took the first win of the Triumph era of Moto2, a year on from being beaten to the Qatar victory by Pecco Bagnaia.
It was a stunningly metronomic ride from Baldassarri, consistently lapping in the mid-1’59s, dipping into the low-‘59s when he needed to. Against a more aggressive rider, maybe he would have lost out on the final lap, but the Italian did what he needed to do to go to Argentina leading the Moto2 World Championship for the first time in his career.
Tom Luthi’s return to Moto2 was last than half a tenth of a second away from being precisely perfect. If he hadn’t been considered already, Luthi has, with this ride, announced his intentions of winning his first world title in fourteen years. The Swiss held on impeccably to his tyre, something which his rivals were unable to replicate. This could prove to be a critical advantage throughout this season.
Marcel Schrotter hung on to the last podium position on the final lap from Remy Gardner, the German just running out of pace at the end. It has deserted him so far but Schrotter seems to be edging closer to that first Moto2 win.
Having stolen third place from Schrotter in turn one on the final lap, Gardner lost it again towards the end. He arrived in Qatar as one of the favourites for the win, so disappointment from the Aussie would be understandable. However, it was perhaps the best dry performance of the #87 in his entire grand prix career, and a fourth place is a good beginning.
Marcel Schrotter in the Qatar Moto3 race. mage courtesy of Dynavolt Intact GP
Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) had a quiet but impressive first ride of the season in fifth place, easily clear of those behind and closing in on the podium battle towards the end.
Behind Fernandez was Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2). If Remy Gardner arrived in Qatar as one of the favourites, Sam Lowes arrived as the absolute favourite, and by a chunk. However, several mistakes when overtaking people hampered his progress from the second row, and it is difficult to avoid the fact that the Brit missed out on a lot of points at the season opener. Luckily for Lowes, the season consists of nineteen races, not just one.
Seventh place went to Alex Marquez, who like Lowes will be disappointed with his result, having felt he had a strong race pace for the season opener.
Equally disappointed will be Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46). He had not looked to have the pace to fight at the front for the whole weekend, or even in the test. Luca who is both expected and expecting to fight for the title this season, when his supposed main rivals Lowes and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) were struggling he would have hoped to take advantage, especially at a track where he has gone well in the past.
Brad Binder, Qatar Moto2 race 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM
But, for Binder, the race was even worse. He started by climbing four places to fourth place, but slowly slipped back from there, and appeared to run completely out of tyre at the end, haemorrhaging positions in the last couple of laps to: Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team), Xavi Vierge – who suffered massively mid-race – and Fabio Di Giannantonio (+Ego Speed Up). Whilst it was a disaster for Binder, to beat such a recognised championship favourite in their first race would have been something to smile about for the rookies, Bastianini (finished ninth) and Di Giannantonio (finished eleventh).
Despite starting the weekend in a good way and with some good speed, Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) could only manage thirteenth in the race, ahead of Jesko Raffin (NTS RW Racing Team) who replaced Steven Odendaal and reigning Moto3 World Champion Jorge Martin who was the final points scorer.
Most of the retirements came on the first lap, as Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) collected Iker Lecuona (American Racing Team) on the way into the first corner, and Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up) got caught up in the melee as well. Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech3) had a disappointing start to his Moto2 career as he crashed at turn six on the first lap after some contact with Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), who crashed at turn four early in the race as well.
The opening round of the Moto3 World Championship in Qatar is the only twilight race of the year, and the 2019 edition of the race was spectacular in vistas, but even more so in on-track action.
Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) made the holeshot, with fellow front row starters Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Kaito Toba (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) close in tow. When Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) made his way into fourth at the end of the first lap, there started to become a gap between the top four and the pack behind. This gap was soon closed, and a nineteen-rider front group proceeded to battle it out for the podium.
Aron Canet, Qatar Moto3 race 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM
Over the course of the race it became clear that the Honda of Lorenzo Dalla Porta was particularly quick, as was that of Kaito Toba. In comparison, Aron Canet’s KTM could not live with the two riders who started alongside him on the front row when it came to the front straight.
As such, Canet’s time was completely made in the corners, his laps spent recovering positions he had lost on the straight, before losing them all again between turn sixteen and turn one.
After a mistake in qualifying that prevented him from having a final push at the end of Q2 for pole position, Romano Fenati (Snipers Team) made quite a poor start from the fourth row, and slipped towards the back of the top fifteen. Eventually, though, he started to make his way through the pack and towards the front, with tremendously adventurous lines, characteristic of his previous season in the lightweight class back in 2017, as he seemed to have the ability to ride around the outside of almost anyone at almost any time. Fenati also had the ability to carry seemingly significantly more corner speed than any of his rivals, especially those riding KTMs, and could turn tighter than even any of his Honda stablemates. He looked nailed on for the win, until he received a track limits warning with three laps to go, and proceeded to, by mistake, take the long lap penalty, putting him out of contention.
With Canet written off from the race win by virtue of his lack of straight line speed, the victory candidates were left at three: Kaito Toba, Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) who had come from twentieth on the grid to fight for the win.
In the end, Dalla Porta entered the final corner first, and looked good for the win – such was his straight line speed – but Toba lined up turn sixteen beautifully to carry substantially more exit speed from the final corner than Dalla Porta. A small dose of slipstream from the Leopard rider ahead was then enough to take Toba into the lead, and despite tucking back into the Japanese’s slipstream, there was nothing Dalla Porta could do to stop Toba taking his first win in grand prix racing, as well as becoming the first Japanese rider to win a Moto3 grand prix.
Whilst it was ultimately defeat for Dalla Porta, second place was a good way for the Italian to begin his campaign, in which he will aim to fight for the championship. From this weekend he can take many positives, and if he can match the speed he showed in the opening race with the consistency of 2018, he is sure to be a formidable title contender.
That will not have gone unnoticed by Aron Canet, neither will his straight line disadvantage. Nonetheless, the Spaniard came home in third place, again a strong way to start his season, and will hope to build on that in the races to come. However, the speed of the Hondas will be a concern for him – when the straights are as long as they are on Moto3 bikes, straight line speed is critical. If you can’t stay in the slipstream of your rivals, you can find yourself defenceless.
Marcos Ramirez’s impressive fightback ended with fourth place – a good way for him to mark his return to the team with which he fought for the Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2016, a title which he ironically lost to his teammate, Dalla Porta.
Celestino Vietti , Qatar Moto3 2019.Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM
Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) looked strong for the whole race, never slipping outside the top ten, and eventually finishing in fifth, where he had spent most of the race. Like Canet, Vietti had to battle with bikes which were faster than him in the straight, but he didn’t have the same speed in the corners to fight back. Nonetheless, fifth place is an impressive ride from Vietti, in his first race as a full-time GP rider.
Albert Arenas, like Vietti, had looked strong all race, and came home in sixth place ahead of his Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team teammate Raul Fernandez, who was also making his debut as a full-time grand prix rider, and impressed with seventh place – again, on an apparently under-powered motorcycle.
Niccolo Antonelli (Sic 58 Squadra Corse) had looked on for a podium for a lot of the race, but fell back towards the end and finally came home in eighth place, ahead of Fenati who only partially recovered after his apparently self-enforced long-lap penalty. Jakub Kornfeil (PruestelGP) rounded out the top ten.
Jakub Kornfeil , Qatar Moto3 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM
Ai Ogura (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) was another impressive full-time debutant in eleventh place, and stayed amongst the leading group for the whole race, coming home just ahead of Alonso Lopez (EG 0,0 Monlau Competition), John McPhee (Petronas SRT), Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai) and Gabriel Rodrigo (Gresini Racing) who completed the points.
There were several fallers. The first came on the first lap, with Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas SRT) and Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) getting caught up with Tom Booth-Amos (CIP Green Power) and Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race). The latter two continued to finish last and second-last respectively.
Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) crashed with seventeen laps to go in the second of the fast rights towards the end of the lap. The South African was joined on the side lines a couple of laps later when Dennis Foggia (Sky Racing Team VR46) was tagged by Rodrigo, fell and collected Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) and Tatsuki Suzuki (Sic 58 Squadra Corse) on the way. Masaki continued to finish nineteenth, but Foggia and Suzuki retired on the spot.
On Sunday, the 2019 MotoGP World Championship began under the lights in Qatar at the Losail International Circuit. There was much anticipation regarding some outstanding rookies and also how Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) would fair from the fifth row of the grid. The other interest circled was around Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) ability to cope with the pressure of pole position. In the end, though, the race boiled down to that contemporary duel: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) versus Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati).
Ducati’s new ‘holeshot device’ had been seen clearly in action for the first time this weekend, with the world feed cameras picking up Ducati GP19s making unusual movements as they prepared for practice starts throughout the free practice sessions. Andrea Dovizioso proved the device works, by making the holeshot ahead of fellow GP19 rider, Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing), who came from the second row to beat both Marc Marquez and polesitter Maverick Vinales to the first corner.
Unfortunately for Miller, his race soon came undone when his seat came loose through the fast right-handers of turns twelve, thirteen and fourteen. The Australian tore his seat away between turns fifteen and sixteen, but the lack of grip he had without an actual seat meant it became impossible to rider quickly and consistently, and so eventually the #43 retired.
Miller left behind a group of around fifteen riders at the front, although that number soon dropped to ten as the field settled, and those incapable of keeping the front pace were dropped.
Andrea Dovizioso 1st, Marc Marquez 2nd and Cal Crutchlow third at the Qatar GP 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati
It was not long until the tactics of Dovizioso became clear. He would try to sit at the front of the race and control the pace, saving the tyre and taking few risks, knowing that he had the power on the straight to keep himself clear of any pursuers, as well as being safe in the knowledge that Marquez – the one rider in the group who could pass him in a straight line bar Dovizioso’ Mission Winnow Ducati teammate Danilo Petrucci – had no intention of leading the race himself.
It was not an easy task for Dovizioso, though, to stay in front. The Suzuki of Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) soon made his presence known, and was able to pass Dovizioso on several occasions throughout the main portion of the lap, but was never able to hold Dovizioso’s Desmosedici at bay once they got to the straight. He did, however, lead three laps in the middle of the race, which showed the improvements Suzuki have made to the power of the GSX-RR over the winter.
Whilst Rins and Dovizioso had been fighting over the lead at the front, the top group had been diminished to nine riders, as Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) started to fall away. That left the three Yamahas of Vinales, Rossi and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) at the back of the front group which, once Dovizioso had dealt with Rins, was still headed by the #04 Ducati.
Dovizioso, surprisingly, was somewhat assisted in his stronghold over the leadership of the race by Marquez, who passed Rins on lap eleven, preventing the Suzuki rider from mounting any further assaults on the Desmosedici. Marquez knew the game of Dovizioso, and he didn’t need Rins escaping at the front to complicate matters.
In the final five laps, things started to heat up. Maverick Vinales made a failed attempt at passing the extremely impressive rookie Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) on he inside at the penultimate corner on lap sixteen. That let Vinales’ teammate Rossi through into seventh place, and the Italian made his way past Mir on the next lap. A small gap had now appeared between Rossi and the front group. Vinales could see that, but again failed in passing Mir, sliding wide at turn four on lap seventeen, costing himself a further second, that he would not recover.
Danilo Petrucci, Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi at the Losail GP 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati
The gap Rossi suffered to the first five riders after passing Mir was overhauled by the Italian between turns five and seven, and with three laps to go he made his move on Petrucci for fifth place, a move which went without response from the factory Ducati debutant.
At the same time as Rossi moved on Petrucci, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL) – who had been quietly sitting in a top six spot all race – made his move for a podium, passing Alex Rins for third, as the Dovizioso and Marquez started to construct a small gap, and gear up for a final lap duel.
Marquez beat Dovizioso to the line on the penultimate lap, but Dovi out-braked him into turn one, and held the line, not allowing Marquez to slide through on the inside mid-corner.
Knowing what happened the previous year when Dovizioso beat him when Marquez left his attack to the final corner, the #93 tried to pass at turn ten, but ran wide and Dovizioso squared him off through the sweeping turn eleven.
Marquez tried to go to the inside of turn twelve, but Dovizioso did not allow the door to open, and after a good run through turn fourteen for the Italian, an attack into turn fifteen was impossible for Marquez. It had to be the last corner, but Dovizioso had a good exit from fifteen, and was exceptionally late on the brakes into sixteen. There was little Marquez could do, but anyway he let the brakes off and block passed Dovizioso. But, as one year ago, Dovizioso squared him off, and even despite the improved Honda engine for 2019 and a slipstream, Marquez could do nothing to stop Dovizioso from taking the win and the initial championship lead.
Cal Crutchlow finishing 3rd behind Marc Marquez. Round One – Losail, Qatar MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu
Cal Crutchlow managed to hold off Alex Rins for what is in essence a second consecutive podium for the Brit, after his rostrum in Japan last year. It was a stunning comeback from a potentially career-ending injury for Crutchlow, one which surprised even him.
Fourth place for Alex Rins was unfortunate, as he had ridden superbly for the whole race, but in the end it was horsepower that cost him. Suzuki have made gains in the top end of their GSX-RR motor over the winter, but they need more if they are to challenge Honda and Ducati on a circuit with a 1.1km front straight, with the finish line way over halfway down it.
The same can be said for Yamaha. They have consistently been the slowest bike this weekend, and that cost Rossi, Vinales and Morbidelli. They all struggled to overtake anything which wasn’t a Yamaha and, to add insult to injury, Rossi was visibly weaker on traction compared to his rivals, especially through turn eleven where the bikes spin the rear tyre the whole way. Nonetheless, fourteenth to fifth was an impressive comeback from The Doctor, who is still without a podium since Sachsenring last year.
Danilo Petrucci was visibly distraught with sixth place, after seeming to have the pace to win throughout the weekend. Maverick Vinales came home in seventh place ahead of Joan Mir, who had fought with Marc Marquez on his MotoGP debut for half the race, and finished ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (9th) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who completed the top ten.
Eleventh place went to Franco Morbidelli whose soft tyre gave up on him in the final part of the race, whilst Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had a decent ride aboard the RC16, finishing twelve seconds off the win after a difficult weekend for the Austrian marque on a circuit which has been traditionally tough for them.
Jorge Lorenzo at an uneventful Losail GP. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu
Jorge Lorenzo’s chances of a dream Honda debut went out of the window on Saturday, when he was hurt by two crashes in FP3 and then Q1. Fortunately for the factory Honda man, there is a three week break in which he can focus on recovering for round two of the season in Argentina. Behind him, Andrea Iannone scored points in fourteenth on his debut for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, as did Johann Zarco in fifteenth on his debut for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. It was also the closest top fifteen in MotoGP history, with just over fifteen seconds covering the points scorers.
Perhaps the most heart-breaking moment of the race was when Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) stalled his M1 on the grid before the warm up lap. The Frenchman had qualified fifth for his debut MotoGP and had been brilliant all weekend. From the start, Quartararo started to set fastest lap after fastest lap, and at one point had passed Jorge Lorenzo, before his tyre gave up and he slipped back to eighteenth. Nonetheless, the debut weekend of Fabio Quartararo in the premier class was exceptional, and the moment when he is racing against the very best in MotoGP at the front of the field is surely not far away.
There were only three retirements from the 2019 season opener, with Francesco Bagnaia (Alma Pramac Racing) joining his teammate Jack Miller back in the garage on his MotoGP debut thanks to having one of the winglets wiped off the GP18. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but unbalanced aero would have made the bike un-rideable. Finally Bradley Smith (Aprilia Factory Racing) crashed in turn one on the penultimate lap.
Although he was running last at the time, Smith’s crash on the RSGP caused some controversy post-race, as Suzuki protested the result of the race on two counts. Firstly, it protested that Cal Crutchlow had overtaken Rins under yellow flags – this protest was rejected.
Secondly, together with Honda, Aprilia and KTM, Suzuki protested the Ducati’s new aerodynamics, in which one piece hangs from the bottom of the fork leg, whilst the other hangs from the swingarm. Dovizioso used this setup for the first time in the warm up session for the Qatar race, but Danilo Petrucci had been using it since the Qatar test two weeks previously. Again, the protest was rejected on a lack of evidence, but it has been referred now to the MotoGP court of appeal, meaning the result could be entirely different for the season opener once the paddock arrives in Argentina for the second round of the season in three weeks’ time.
