Category: Crew On Two

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Whisperings From Portimao

World Superbikes roared back into life over the weekend with Round 10 taking place in Portugal. Another brace of victories for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) means he just needs to score 9 points at Magny-Cours to secure his fourth consecutive world title.

However, there were other stories to emerge this weekend other than Rea’s dominance.

Schedule Success

Before the weekend had started, it was announced that WorldSBK would be trialing a new ‘race day’ schedule for the remaining rounds of the season. The objective of which was to boost attendances on the Sunday, which have been alarmingly sparse for the last few seasons.

The general consensus behind this was that spectators are ‘put off’ by the feature race opening proceedings, with the support classes following. In short, the day is effectively over by 1pm with most paying punters tending not to stay for the ‘junior’ categories.

By reversing the schedule, Sunday felt more like a traditional race day, with the Superbike race being the grand finale to the weekend. The success of this change was in clear evidence at Portimao as the attendance was visibly higher than last year.  Certainly a step in the right direction to bringing back the crowds.

Word in the paddock is that – following a ‘fan survey’ conducted in partnership with the Motorsport Leadership Group – Dorna will be implementing further changes to the race weekend schedule next season. Details of which will be announced during the winter.

Kept Waiting For History

The phrase “History waits for no man” may well be true – however, it is certainly having to wait for Ana Carrasco. The young Spanish rider is on the verge of becoming the first woman to win a solo motorcycle world championship series.

Carrasco (DS Kawasaki Junior Team) has had a tremendous year in the World Supersport 300 class, featuring two devastating race wins at Imola and Donington Park earlier in the season. The former was secured by a colossal margin of 13 seconds. To put that into perspective for an ‘average’ winning time gap, it is normally around 0.5 seconds as competitors slip-stream each other from lights to flag on their small 40bhp machines.

Although she was unable to secure the championship in Portimao, she heads into the French round (the final round for the ‘300 class) with a ten-point lead at the top of the standings. Provided she can finish on the podium, Carrasco will become the world champion – regardless of where her rivals finish.

Ana Carrasco (DS Kawasaki Junior Team) Is on the verge of creating history

Tom Sykes – Where To Next?

Whilst Rea was busy taking the 65th and 66th victories of his superbike career, it was another difficult weekend for his teammate Tom Sykes. The 2013 world champion secured a brace of 5th place finishes. Were it in any other team, this would go down as a very solid weekend. The Yorkshireman cut a gloomy figure this weekend. Despite best pretenses from rider and team, all is not well at his side of the garage.

If ‘silly season’ rumours have any substance to them then it appears likely that Red Bull Honda are making advances for him in 2019. He would almost certainly be partnered alongside Leon Camier, and would no doubt increase Honda’s chances of returning to winning ways next season.

Alternatively, speaking in an interview to Eurosport UK prior to Sunday’s race, Milwaukee Aprilia team principal Shaun Muir openly admitted to be interested in signing Sykes for next year.

Two things are certain: Sykes is still a quality rider, and does have options to remain in WorldSBK for 2019. A change of team could be just what he needs to bring the best out of him again.

All Change For Milwaukee

Finally, as alluded to above, Shaun Muir is openly looking at bringing at least one new rider into his team for next season. However, being the shrewd competitor and businessman that he is, the Milwaukee outfit seem set to change manufacturers for 2019.

Currently running factory supported Aprilia machinery, it the team are discussing options with them, BMW and Suzuki.

From a British fan’s perspective, a potential deal with Suzuki could open the door for Bradley Ray to make his move into world level racing. The 21-year old (currently wowing spectators and TV viewers in British Superbikes) has made no secret of his desire to move up and compete in world championships. With all his BSB experience on Suzuki machinery, it would be a straight forward move for both Mailwaukee and Ray to make.

However, it seems that BMW are in fact the most likely option which Muir will take up. With the S1000RR model being significantly upgraded by the German manufacturer for 2019, the promise of being the most competitive machinery  of the three is likely to be the deal maker.

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Super Six for Jonathan Rea at Portimao

Jonathan Rea stretched his winning streak to six straight races this afternoon at the Autodromo Algarve – also securing his sixth straight victory at the circuit (a run which began back in 2015).

Due to the partial grid reversal system implemented for Sunday’s race, Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) started in ninth place. Such is his extraordinary ability, combined with the strong ZX-10R, he made light work of most of his rivals climbing up to fourth by the end of the opening lap. Unlike yesterday, Rea was made to work for his lead, and was not able to storm clear into the distance even when he had just clear tarmac in front of him. Today was about providing a timely reminder to the (very few) critics he has left, that his racecraft is as razor sharp as ever.

In the closing stages, as his rivals threatened to close him down, Rea managed to raise his own tempo, demonstrating to the others that he still had plenty of rubber left on his tyres should they want to push the limits with him. They were not. The art of subtly controlling a race is yet another area of strength for Rea. No matter what his rivals tried, Rea always had an answer good enough to beat them off. A sixth straight win secured, and the championship lead has now grown to 116 points.

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati) produced another heroic display this afternoon. Starting from pole position, the Welshman once more defied the pain barrier for as long as he could, dueling with Rea throughout the first half of the race for contention of the lead. When fully fit, Davies is the only man who can consistently challenge the triple world champion at the front of a race.

Even when nursing a badly broken collarbone like today, Davies was more than a handful. Wringing the neck of the volatile Panigale-R around the 20 laps of the roller coaster that is the Portimao track. Eventually though not even he could defy his injuries and, having eventually been passed by Rea, dropped back to a more manageable pace. Davies ended up finishing in P4, just ahead of the other KRT machine ridden by Tom Sykes.

Whilst a podium place was ultimately a step too far for Davies, it was not so for his teammate Marco Melandri. With his future in WorldSBK up in the air, the veteran Italian needed a strong showing this weekend. That is precisely what we got. Third place today means that Melandri has now featured on the podium three races on the bounce – equalled only by Rea. Although never really in contention to challenge for victory in either race, the points accumulated this weekend has seen Melandri close down Sykes in the rider standings to just 11 points.

Michael Van der Mark (Pata Yamaha)  produced one of the overtakes of the season to secure his second place finish today, disposing of both Davies and Melandri simultaneously at turn one on lap 14. Since taken his maiden victory in the class – back at Donington in May – the Dutchman has gradually begun establishing himself as the number one rider within the team. Today marked the ninth time this season that the 25-year old had finished on the rostrum.

In contrast, it was a very difficult weekend for Alex Lowes on the other Pata Yamaha machine. As with Saturday’s race, the British rider found himself caught up in the mid-field carnage on the first lap, and found himself bogged, scrapping for minor points places. Lowes finished down in P11 – some 20 seconds behind the front runners, and just fending off American rookie Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda).

After the calamity of race one, today’s outing was far more straightforward for Milwaukee Aprilia. Having fallen off when a podium finish had beckoned, Lorenzo Savadori produced a solid ride to finish in P6, out-dragging his teammate Eugene Laverty to the line on the final lap. For Laverty, P7 draws a line under this weekend where lady luck so cruelly turned away from him.

Just behind the Aprilia riders came Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati Junior Team) and Loris Baz (Gulf Althea BMW) in P8 and P9 respectively. The latter has enjoyed a good weekend on the privately run S1000RR machine, finishing both races inside the top 10.

The 2018 FIM World Superbike Championship resumes with the French Round at Magny-Cours, September 28-30.

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Dixon Holds Off Haslam For The Double

After the monsoon conditions earlier in the day, the circuit was drenched in glorious autumnal sunshine for the second race of the day. The track was still extremely greasy off the racing line, so those needing to make up positions would have to be brave under braking.

As the lights went out, Jake Dixon (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki) hooked up the best start, leading his rivals by several bike lengths by the exit of turn one. The early gap allowed him to settle into his own rhythm without attention from his rivals. By the end of lap three, the 22-year old had over 3 seconds in hand to his nearest pursuers. In such a competitive field, a gap like that is very much “out of sight, out of mind”.

With the track drying lap by lap, and with nothing but empty tarmac in front of him, the Kawasaki man was able to consolidate his lead, and manage his tyres. The latter was certainly crucial in the final few laps. Having threatened to “pull the pin” this weekend, Dixon has duly delivered. A double victory around Oulton Park. The championship challenge is back on!

Falling in behind Dixon was Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing BSB). The Australian shot up through the pack to second place and settled into a rhythm to chase down Dixon. He was followed closely in the early stages by Leon Haslam (JG-Speedfit Kawasaki) who diced with each other in a similar fashion to how they did earlier in the day.

Haslam eventually managed to force his way through and begin to hunt down the race leader. It was a display of relentless pressure as the series leader consistently chipped away at Dixon’s lead until he had closed to within just a few tenths of his rival. Unfortunately for him, he ran out of laps. Nevertheless, a brace of second place finishes means he has lost only 10 points to dixon in the showdown standings. Crucially, he’s extended his lead on all his over rivals. Not a bad day at all when you consider he began today from the back of the grid.

O’Halloran was then joined by Tommy Bridewell (Moto-Rapido Ducati), Tarran MacKenzie (McAms Yamaha) and Luke Mossey (JG-Speedfit Kawasaki). The quintet seemed to be locked in a battle for the final place on the podium. However at the start of lap 12, disaster befell the Honda rider. Under braking into Old Hall corner, he lost the front end of the bike and slid off onto the grass. His crash opened the door for Bridewell to make it a second visit to the podium this weekend, and he duly obliged. MacKenzie finished off another strong weekend in fourth place.

Further down the field, two riders provided a truly grandstand finish for the spectators today. Glenn Irwin (BeWiser Ducati) and Josh Brookes (McAms Yamaha) were locked for much of the race in their own private scrap. The Yamaha man winning the final drag to the line, out of lodge corner and securing fifth place. The result salvaged the weekend for the 2015 champion, having crashed out in race 1.

Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) was the unfortunate recipient of a brutal highside crash, at the bottom of Cascades corner on lap 4. It looked like his front wheel just touched the grass on the apex – the front wheel dug into the soft ground, causing the rear wheel to unload and launch the Ulsterman across the track. Fortunately he was able to walk away (albeit very gingerly). A disappointing end to a difficult weekend for the team.

Showdown Standings (after Race 2)

Leon Haslam – 604

Jake Dixon – 573

Josh Brookes – 530

Glenn Irwin – 530

Bradley Ray – 524

Peter Hickman – 520

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Jake Dixon Lands First Championship Blow

Atrocious weather conditions greeted the riders as the ‘showdown’ officially got under way in earnest at Oulton Park this afternoon.

There was drama just before the lights went out, with Glenn Irwin (BeWiser Ducati) being forced to start the race from the back of the grid, after developing a problem on the grid following the warm up lap. A disastrous start to his showdown campaign.

The subsequent delay meant that the race was reduced in distance from 18 to 16 laps. Riders were additionally allowed two further warm up laps to assess the track conditions.

When the race finally got underway it was Tommy Bridewell (Moto-Rapido Ducati) who made the holeshot from polesitter Jake Dixon (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki). The pair visibly much more comfortable with the conditions, pulled away from the rest of the field. For the first half of the race it was Bridewell who led the way. The 30-year old has looked a very assured presence on board the Panigale-R since joining the team mid-season, and today was the only Ducati rider to look even remotely in control on track.

However it was Dixon who ultimately took the spoils in the rain, calmly sliding his ZX-10R machine underneath the Ducati on the inside of Old Hall corner. From then on, he worked to build a manageable gap to his rival, and controlled the rest of the race. Job done, race win secured and crucially it closes the gap to the top in the showdown standings.

Behind, the battle for the final podium place was frantic. Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing BSB) was joined in the closing laps by Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki). It was an incredible ride by the championship leader just to make it so far up the field, after a disastrous qualifying session on Saturday saw him start the race in P23. Even on a sodden track, the difference in speed between the two motorcycles ws clear. Haslam could afford to sit behind the Australian, and pick his spot to snatch third place.

It was a classy performance from the ‘pocket rocket’, carving his way through the pack which, in a series as competitive as British Superbikes, is no small feat. As damage limitation rides go, this result is about as good as it gets.   

O’Halloran was eventually forced to settle for a sixth place finish, after being passed by a duo of Ulstermen – Andrew Irwin (BeWiser Ducati) and Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) respectively. In the final laps, it looked as though tyre wear was the reason behind the sudden decline in the pace of the Honda rider. Irwin meanwhile muscled his Panigale machine into fourth place – literally clinging on for dear life in places as the Ducati regularly attempted to launch its rider into orbit.

Coming home just behind them was Tarran MacKenzie on his McAms Yamaha. No doubt buoyed by a brilliant showing last time out at Silverstone, the youngster kept the pace of those around him, and brought the bike home in a very solid seventh place. However it was championship disaster for his teammate Josh Brookes, who crashed out of the race. Although he will be fine to ride again later today, his title ambitions are now firmly backed up against the proverbial wall.

Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) was forced into making perhaps the save of the season, on lap 13. On the run down to the famous Lodge corner, the 21-year old was forced to abort his braking as the back end of the bike violently stepped out from underneath him. Fortunately, despite running into the gravel run-off, he was able to rejoin the circuit and score a few points for the showdown.

Showdown Standings (after Race 1)

Leon Haslam – 584

Jake Dixon – 548

Bradley Ray – 524

Glenn Irwin – 520

Josh Brookes – 519

Peter Hickman – 512

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Relentless Rea Demolishes The Field

After a 10-week long summer hiatus, the 2018 FIM Superbike World Championship finally resumed hostilities today, at the Autodromo Algarve, in Portugal.

Jonathan Rea made the holeshot after Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Ducati) ran wide at the first corner. He had company from the Italian for the early laps, but it wasn’t to last. Once he’d settled into his rhythm, Rea did what comes most naturally to him – set a series of blisteringly fast lap times and clear off. The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” could not be more apt to describe this strategy.

Such a plan requires a very good motorcycle (which the Kawasaki ZX10R undoubtedly is) and a rider capable of pushing it to the limit, and making zero errors. Rea is a master at balancing the relentless lap speed with astonishing consistency, and today was the most complete example of this. Once Melandri had been cleared, a fifth straight win around the Portimao circuit for Rea was a formality. It was also his fifth victory in a row this season, extending his championship lead out to a staggering 104 points.

Behind, Melandri was consigned to second place from early on in the race. However, this is not to say his race was uneventful. In truth, it was anything but. The battle for the podium was fierce, and an exclusively all Italian affair as the Ducati man faced his challenge from Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia). The pair diced back and forth throughout the first half of the race until, on lap 11, Savadori lunged up the inside into turn 1 but lost the front end under braking.

Savadori’s crash ended a cruel afternoon for the team. Eugene Laverty who earlier in the day has secured his first pole position start for the first time since 2013. One can only wonder if he may have been able to have offered a challenge to Rea, as he was punted out of the race by Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Ducati) at turn 2 on the opening lap. It was a worrying moment for the team – the Irishman has already suffered serious injuries following an enormous crash earlier this season at Buriram. Fortunately, he walked away safely today. The team will be praying for better fortune tomorrow.

It was a mixed race for Pata Yamaha. Michael Van der Mark brought home yet another podium finish (P3) today. The young Dutchman had looked solid throughout the three practice sessions on Friday, and showed good single-lap pace with a starting position of P5 on the grid. Race pace today proved to be equally consistent. When Savadori unceremoniously dumped his Aprilia in the gravel, the Yamaha rider inherited third place. Another rostrum finish in this thoroughly impressive campaign which the 25 year-old is having.

In contrast Alex Lowes spent the entirety of today’s race in damage limitation mode. Following an unfortunate crash in the dying moments of qualifying, he had to make do with a grid start of P12. Things got worse when he became caught up in the first lap shenanigans and found himself pushed down to the back of the pack. Lowes eventually climbed his way back into P10, securing a handful of points.

With the podium places secured, attention in the closing stages of the race was focused on a fantastic scrap between Jordi Torres (MV Agusta) and Loris Baz (Gulf Athea BMW) over sixth place. Buoyed by the announcement on Friday night that he will be making his MotoGP debut next weekend at the Aragon Grand Prix, Torres did what he could on his out-dated MV-F4 machine to hold his position. Inevitably though, the superiority of the BMW S1000RR could not be denied, with Baz forcing his way through at the hairpin of turn 5.  

Despite visibly struggling all weekend with his collarbone injury, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati) made a super start to the race, making up eight places on the opening lap. The first half of the race was spent keeping Van der Mark within sight, but inevitably fatigue took its toll on the Welshman, and he was forced to drop to a more manageable pace. Nevertheless he still had enough in hand to keep Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) at bay, securing P4 today and ensuring he starts tomorrow’s race from pole position.

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The ‘Showdown’ Awaits

The regular season is complete. We are now left with the six riders who will compete in the ‘Showdown’ to contend for the 2018 British Superbike Championship crown.

Since 2010, the ‘Showdown’ concept has been used by BSB to add extra hype to the season finale – one can only imagine how much is spent by the series organisers promoting the final three rounds of the year in this way. In terms of the championship, the concept has ensured that no rider (no matter how dominant) can secure the title until the final round of the season.

The ‘Showdown’ Explained

To ensure that only the top six riders in the standings can compete for the title, the points table is revised. The ‘showdown’ contenders’ points totals are deleted and reset at 500. To distinguish championship order (and to acknowledge each rider’s success throughout the year), podium credits are added to the totals. They are awarded as follows:

Race Win – 5 points

2nd Place – 3 points

3rd Place – 1 point

With the six championship contenders’ totals now reset and elevated well above the rest of the field, the ‘Showdown’ races use the same points scoring system used during the regular season – 25pts for a win, 20pts for 2nd, 16pts for 3rd and so on. Even if the rider in seventh place in the standings, currently Danny Buchan (FS-3 Kawasaki), wins all seven remaining races, he would still finish well short of any of the title contenders.

The Contenders

Leon Haslam (JG-Speedfit Kawasaki)

Championship Position: 1st – 568 points

Race Wins: 12

Podiums: 4 (2x 2nd place, 2x 3rd place)

The clear championship favourite. The ‘pocket rocket’ has been in scintillating form all season-long, and his 45-point advantage to his closest title rival reflects this. Haslam starts the ‘showdown’ on the back of a 5-race winning streak, after securing the double last month at Cadwell Park and a stunning hat-trick last week at Silverstone. It would take something truly remarkable to prevent the Derbyshireman from lifting his first British title.

Jake Dixon (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki)

Championship Position: 2nd – 523 points

Race Wins: 1

Podiums: 10 (4x 2nd place, 6x 3rd place)

Consistency has defined Dixon’s campaign so far. The best podium record of anyone in the field, the 22-year old. Even when a podium finish has proved impossible, he has secured solid points. With only two DNFs to his name this year (one of those was down to a technical failure), Dixon has ensured he starts the ‘showdown’ as the man most likely to spoil the Haslam party.

Josh Brookes (McAms-Yamaha)

Championship Position: 3rd – 519 points

Race Wins: 3

Podiums: 2 (1x 2nd place, 1x 3rd place)

Brookes is no stranger to challenges – he races every year at the Isle of Man TT after all – and he’s got one here. 49 points adrift of Haslam, but crucially the showdown circuits (Oulton Park, Assen and Brands Hatch GP) have all yielded strong results to the Yamaha man down the years. Brookes is the only rider in the showdown who knows what it takes to be BSB champion, having stormed to the title in 2015 – with a devastating run of 13 wins in the final 16 races. Whilst its a tall order, it takes a very brave punter to write off the wily Australian.

Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki)

Championship Position: 4th – 519 points

Race Wins: 2

Podiums: 3 (3x 2nd place)

What more can be said about the achievements of the 21-year old which haven’t already? Critics will argue that he has failed to replicate the form he showed on the opening weekend of the season (a race win double at a frozen Donington Park). But that would ignore his three subsequent visits to the podium, not to mention the Suzuki GSX-R1000R machine has not exactly been problem free this season. Ray himself is still only in his second season as a BSB rider – so the fact he has made it into the showdown should tell you everything about his character and potential. An outsider for the title this year, but he is only going to get better with every round that goes by.  

Glenn Irwin (BeWiser Ducati)

Championship Position: 5th – 516 points

Race Wins: 0

Podiums: 6 (5x 2nd place, 1x 3rd place)

Despite a successful season for the Ulsterman – qualification for the showdown and two wins at this year’s North West 200 – Irwin is riding to stay in a job for next season. Although he has scored a hatful of podium finishes, it is the lack of race wins in the British championship which has put his place in Paul Bird’s Ducati team under pressure. At more than 50 points behind Haslam, the championship title is almost beyond reach. But a race win this weekend at Oulton Park would go a long way to suring up his place in the team.

Peter Hickman (Smiths-Racing BMW)

Championship Position: 6th – 504 points

Race Wins: 0

Podiums: 2 (1x 2nd place, 1x 3rd place)

At a slightly staggering 64 points behind Haslam, the general consensus is that it would require a divine intervention for Hickman to claim the BSB crown this year. However, you can never write off someone with such a proven track record of upsetting the clear favourites – take his Superstock and Senior TT victories this year as evidence. The Lincolnshireman is certainly not in the showdown to simply make up the numbers. With nothing to lose (he can’t finish lower than where he is now in P6), expect to see Hickman going all out for race wins. Who know what could happen should he win the double this weekend, and his rivals falter…

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WorldSBK Heads To Portugal As Championship Run-In Begins

After a ten-week summer hiatus, the 2018 FIM Superbike World Championship finally resumes this weekend in Portugal, at the spectacular Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.

It will be the twelfth time that the series has visited Portugal. the first two editions were run at the Estoril circuit in 1988 and 1993 respectively. Following a 15 year hiatus, the world championship returned to Portugal in 2008, but the event has been exclusively held at the modern 2.9 mile (4.7km) Algarve circuit.

The circuit was designed and commissioned with the intention of bringing Formula One and MotoGP to the region. F1 teams tested here in the winters prior to the 2009 and 2010 seasons – and plans were in place for an F1 race in 2012 – but financial difficulties scuppered this. Similarly, the circuit was set to take over the running of the MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix from 2013, but plans were abandoned for the same reasons.

To date, World Superbikes has been the only FIM Grade 1 listed event to be held at the circuit.

This weekend sees a slight revision to Sunday’s race schedule, with the second Superbike race moved from its usual 12pm slot to 3.15pm. This makes the headline event the last race of the weekend and it is hoped – by series organiser Dorna – to increase the race day attendance.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) arrives at the Portimao circuit with a commanding lead in the standings, he sits 92 points clear of his nearest challenger, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati). It can be argued that the reigning world champion regards this place as a ‘home-from-home’, having secured victory in all of the last four races that have been staged here. Rea comes into this weekend seeking to equal his 5-race winning streak (achieved last season winning the double in Australia and Thailand, and winning the opening race at Aragon). With such a large lead in the championship, and with such a strong record in Portimao, it is hard to imagine Rea not at least equaling this feat.

Davies will be out to do all he can to prevent his rival’s championship charge. The Welshman is realistically the only other rider who harbours any title-winning hopes for this season. Both he and the Aruba.it Ducati team will be under no illusions about the scale of the task at hand – made even harder with Davies’ collarbone injury sustained in a training accident last month. The Italian outfit has known success around the Portimao circuit, having taken victory four times between 2008 and 2011. Caution must be thrown to the wind as, realistically, Davies needs to win every race between now and the season’s end.

As has been the case for the past three seasons – Chaz Davies (left) is the only rider who can challenge Jonathan Rea (right) for the title.

As this season has proved though, the battle for the front is no longer an exclusive Kawasaki-Ducati affair. The Pata Yamaha team have well and truly closed the gap, and have been an almost guaranteed presence on the rostrums throughout the season. With the circuit abundant in high and medium speed corners – which greatly favours the Yamaha R1 – both Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark will be expecting a strong weekend. Following the official summer test here, Lowes spoke confidently about the team’s progress, stating that “the target is for us (Yamaha) to win another race this season”. Van der Mark concurred with this, announcing to the media that he “will go all out to beat him (Chaz Davies) to second place in the championship”.

The Algarve-Portimao circuit has also been a happy hunting ground over the years for the factory supported Milwaukee-Aprilia team, in particular for their rider Eugene Laverty. As with Ducati, the Noale-based factory outfit have taken four wins at the Portuguese round, with the Irishman claiming their most recent victory back in 2013. In total, the team have an additional ten podium trophies (though none since 2015). With both riders, Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori fighting fit, expectations are high within the team for a good weekend.

Finally, the Red Bull Honda team will be hoping for continued improvements this weekend. The first half of the 2018 season was one trial after another, an inexperienced rookie (Jake Gagne) can only be expected to do so much, whilst main man Leon Camier has had his campaign dogged by injury. The most significant of these troubles included a fracture of his C5 vertebrae whilst testing for the Suzuka 8 hours. However, with Camier now declared fully fit, this weekend will hopefully see the team resume their development program, in preparation for a championship challenge in 2019.

 

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Dalla Porta Takes First Grand Prix Win in Misano Moto3

Dalla Porta (centre) out-drags Jorge Martin (right) to the finish line.

Pole position on Saturday put Jorge Martin in prime position to take a sixth win of the season, and with his main title rival Marco Bezzecchi only qualifying sixth, the Spaniard had a good opportunity to reduce the points deficit he faced going into the 2018 Moto3 San Marino Rimini Riviera Grand Prix.

From the start, though, the race did not go entirely that way. It was a tough opening lap for Martin, who dropped to fourth by the end of it, and then to fifth by the end of lap two. He had dropped as far as sixth in the second lap, but passed Jaume Masia in the final corner to reclaim a top five spot.

Martin’s move caused a chain reaction. Masia reacted to Martin’s attack by opening the throttle harder and earlier to try and not lose another position down the straight or in turn one, but he lost the rear and high-sided. Aron Canet and Ayumu Sasaki got caught up with Masia, also falling, and then, with nowhere to go, both Enea Bastianini and Nicolo Bulega collected Canet and Sasaki and fell themselves. Thankfully, everyone involved was largely okay. Bulega and Bastianini both returned to their garages, whilst Canet and Sasaki went to the medical centre. Canet got away with no major injuries, whilst Sasaki came off the worst of everyone from the crash, suffering a broken arm.

This created a big gap between Martin in fifth and Adam Norrodin behind. The group of five which now convincingly led the race consisted of: Bezzecchi, Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Gabriel Rodrigo and Jorge Martin. The quintet traded places amongst themselves for the remainder of the race, staying as a ten-wheeler almost the whole distance.

For the championship, the word “almost” is quite important. Marco Bezzecchi tipped into turn fifteen on the penultimate lap of the race leading from Jorge Martin, and looked good to win the race, after a strong home GP to that point. However, when he hit the bump in the middle of the corner, he lost the rear, and he fell off the low-side. His race was run, a fantastic ride up to then, but in a twenty-three lap race, you have to complete all twenty-three of them to stand a chance of scoring points, and for one error, Bezzecchi completed only twenty-one.

Jorge Martin contacted Bezzecchi when he fell, and was lucky to stay on himself. Somehow, the Spaniard only dropped to second place after the contact, behind Dalla Porta who led onto the final lap.

Despite all the position changes that had happened up to the final lap of the race, there was little change on the final lap.

Fabio Di Giannantonio, though, he passed Jorge Martin early in the lap to move into second, and made an attempt to pass Dalla Porta in the final corner. The pair ran wide, whilst Martin sat back, and got a good run through T16 to put himself in position to pass them by the line. However, Dalla Porta had enough momentum to fend off the #88, and took his first ever Grand Prix win.

It was the #48’s 48th start, a number chosen by the Italian because his grandmother was born in the year 1948, an aligning of planets that no doubt did not pass the 2016 Moto3 Junior World Champion by, and the numerical links to Shoya Tomizawa have not gone unnoticed, either. And the coincidental numbers did not end there: Dalla Porta won by 0.058 seconds, in the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

But the biggest thing Dalla Porta will take away from this victory is that he can win in Grand Prix. The way he did it, too, was very impressive, as Dalla Porta did not drop out of the top three between lap two and the end of the race. At the beginning of the weekend, Dalla Porta was announced to be remaining with the Leopard Honda team for 2019, and at the end of it he might have just announced himself as a title contender for next year as well.

After Bezzecchi’s penultimate lap crash, Jorge Martin’s second place is invaluable for his championship. Just one month ago he was going to Austria with the idea that a 28-point deficit in the championship to Bezzecchi would be not so bad, and two races later he is leading the title race by eight points, and with a track coming up next which could suit him and the Honda very well indeed. Not only did Martin out-score Bezzecchi by twenty points this weekend, but he also beat Fabio Di Giannantonio, taking four more points out of the Italian who might be the only rider outside of the top two who continues to have realistic hopes of the championship.

Di Giannantonio’s third place was his second podium in three races. This shows that he can be competitive on many tracks, but the problem for his championship is the twelfth place that lies in the middle. Not only that, but the way he arrived at that twelfth place – by being too aggressive. It’s becoming a characteristic of Di Giannantonio’s riding that he makes some arguably ‘over-the-limit’ moves, such as on Martin in Sachsenring which caused Fabio to crash. He got away with one in Misano, too, when he nearly cleaned out two riders in turn fourteen, although in the end he only cost himself positions.

Bezzecchi’s crash detached Gabriel Rodrigo from the group slightly, and he ended up a little bit adrift in fourth place by the end. However, the race itself of Rodrigo shows the step he has made this year. In the past, he would have lost the pace after five or ten laps, or he would have crashed. Perhaps the secret to this step by Rodrigo is found in his training partners for 2018, who are Jorge Martin and Maverick Vinales, two experts of race management.

Six-and-a-half seconds back of the lead was Jakub Kornfeil in fifth place, who had a pretty lonely race after the lap two crash, building a gap to the riders behind, and never really closing on the leaders.

Dennis Foggia was the first of those riders behind, and it was his best result of the season. He had a good weekend, too, and put himself in the right position to take advantage of the lap two crash. He couldn’t quite go with Kornfeil, especially towards the end when his times fell away which is becoming a bit of a trait of his races. But he kept hold of seventh place from Darryn Binder – who came home in eighth – and perhaps this result will start some momentum for the reigning Moto3 Junior World Champion.

Behind Binder in 9th place was Andrea Migno, who came up through the field well from his grid position of 19th, whilst Niccolo Antonelli completed the top ten.

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Impeccable Bagnaia Storms to Misano Moto2 Victory

After scoring yet another pole position on Saturday in Misano for the 2018 Moto2 San Marino Rimini Riviera Grand Prix, Francesco Bagnaia was in a fantastic position to go for his sixth race win of the season.

It was, however, not a completely straightforward beginning to the race for Bagnaia, as he had some small contact with Marcel Schrotter off the line. This came after some minor drama in the morning warm up, when Bagnaia was off the pace due to his leathers (new for this weekend for Sky VR46’s Sky Ocean Rescue one-off livery) being too tight. However, from turn one, Bagnaia was almost untouchable. He stretched the gap tenth-by-tenth for all of the twenty-five laps, also leading every single tour of the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Bar one mistake, Bagnaia’s ride was flawless, giving his competitors no opportunity to challenge him. Whilst the race was not as exciting as, say, Austria, Bagnaia admitted that this win was one of his favourites, primarily because he has never won at home before. Importantly, though, Bagnaia was once again able to extend his gap at the top of the World Championship to eight points over Miguel Oliveira, and with just six rounds to go, every point is going to count.

From lights to flag, Bagnaia (above) was faultless.

It was a good damage limitation from Oliveira, though, who once more regressed to his poor qualifying performances, managing only ninth on the grid, whilst teammate Brad Binder qualified in the middle of the second row. The Portuguese recovered well, though, climbing to fourth place by the end of lap two and third one lap later. Once Mattia Pasini’s pace started to drop, the #44 together with Marcel Schrotter closed up to the back of the home rider and quickly disposed of him.

Oliveira was not left alone by Schrotter, though, the German fighting all the way to the final lap. Marcel’s move in turn fourteen didn’t work, both of them went wide, but Oliveira was able to tighten the line sooner and seal his second place.

It was a valiant effort, though, from Schrotter, and whilst he missed out on second place, he did finally pick up his first ever Grand Prix podium after 105 attempts.

Mattia Pasini finally crossed the line in fourth place, two seconds off the podium. It was the Italian’s second consecutive fourth-place finish, which is important for the #54 as he looks to rediscover some consistency this season.

Fifth place went to Joan Mir, who looked capable of more in the early phases of the race. For a fifth place to be disappointing in a rookie Moto2 season, you have to be quite a talent. Furthermore, thanks to Alex Marquez’s DNF at the hands of Augusto Fernandez (for which the latter apologised and the former accepted), Mir is now ahead of his more experienced teammate in the championship by one point, and only five points of Brad Binder who currently sits third in the standings.

Lorenzo Baldassarri recovered from a poor qualifying to finish in sixth place, although he had quite a quiet race in the end, coming home 2.5 seconds ahead of Fabio Quartararo in seventh. Brad Binder finished eighth ahead of Jorge Navarro who suffered a position drop penalty for track limits and Xavi Vierge who had not completed more than four laps consecutively before the race due to his injury from Austria but impressively managed to take the final top ten spot.

Eleventh place went to Simone Corsi, ahead of Remy Gardner, Dominique Aegerter, Andrea Locatelli and Jesko Raffin who took the final point on his Grand Prix return (replacing Alejandro Medina, who was replacing Isaac Vinales in the Stop And Go team).

Joe Roberts took sixteenth place for NTS after it was announced earlier in the weekend that he would be joining the Swiss Innovative Investors KTM squad to replace Sam Lowes next year. Seven tenths further back was the second NTS chassis of Steven Odendaal, who was one tenth ahead of Alex Marquez (he got back on after the crash with Fernandez), who in turn was 0.9 ahead of Iker Lecuona. Bo Bendsneyder completed the top twenty.

Twenty-first across the line was Niki Tuuli, from Khairul Idham Pawi, Jules Danilo, Federico Fuligni and Xavi Cardelus.

Danny Kent was the first retirement on lap two, before Luca Marini stopped for a bike problem eight laps later. Sam Lowes crashed trying to pass Remy Gardner 14 laps from the flag, and Sheridan Morais went down two laps later. Two laps still further Tetsuta Nagashima bowed out, before the drama really started.

With eight laps to go, Stefano Manzi tried to pass Romano Fenati who ran wide on the entry to turn fourteen. The pair came together, and Fenati gestured his anger towards Manzi. Manzi then passed Fenati again in turn four on the next lap in a strange exchange, where Fenati appeared to let Manzi through, but the Forward Racing rider ran clean off the track and took the Marinelli Snipers Team rider with him. Fenati then got the red mist, and on the straight between turns six and eight, grabbed Manzi’s front brake with twenty bar of pressure (Misano’s average pressure is nine bar). Manzi then crashed at turn eight, Fenati turning to him to once more express his displeasure. That was Manzi out of his home Grand Prix, and Fenati soon followed as the FIM Race Stewards Panel decided to disqualify him.

Augusto Fernandez was the final retirement, four laps from the flag, as he pulled into pit lane following his crash with Marquez much earlier on.

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Dominant Dovizioso Claims Misano MotoGP Victory

Andrea Dovizioso wins the San Marino Grand Prix. Image courtesy of Ducati

The MotoGP San Marino Rimini Riviera Grand Prix was set to get underway in blazing sunshine after a changeable weekend in regards to the weather, and after the washout that was the British Grand Prix race day two weeks previous, the glorious Italian sun was more than welcome (for most).

Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati) was starting from pole position for the second time this season, and looked strong heading into the 27-lap race (shortened by one lap compared to 2017). Meanwhile, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) and the two factory Movistar Yamaha riders – Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales – looked as though they could contend for the podium.

Sure enough, Lorenzo made the holeshot. Misano is in many ways the birthplace of Jorge Lorenzo’s lights-to-flag victories, after he made one of his best ever back in 2013, igniting that stunning championship fightback which led to the title being contested all the way down to the final race in Valencia.

Marquez also made a good start, moving up from fifth on the grid to be third after the opening corners with Jack Miller (Alma-Pramac Ducati) ahead of Dovizioso. Dovi dealt with Marquez almost immediately, on the first approach to turn eight, and then made quick work of Miller to take second place. Marquez also quickly dealt with the Australian, knowing he couldn’t afford to let his rivals escape if he wanted to have a chance at victory.

Dovizioso then studied Lorenzo, with a safe distance to Marquez behind, for the next four laps, finally making his move for the lead in turn eight on lap six, and this move would go without reply. A look at the lap time analysis from the race and you can see the control that Dovizioso had over the race. He passed Lorenzo on lap six, setting the race lap record (1’33.224) in the process.  It was a masterfully controlled race from Dovizioso, managing the time gap to his pursuers. Although Lorenzo began to close the gap down late in the race, the Italian was not flustered and upped his pace to negate any serious inroads. Crucially, this result has elevated him back into contention for the championship.

Andrea Dovizioso celebrates winning the San Marino Grand Prix. Image courtesy of Ducati

In total contrast to Dovizioso, championship leader Marquez was over the limit keeping up with even Lorenzo, let alone the eventual race winner. As has been commonplace throughout the season, the Spaniard elected to run the hard front tyre because the medium was too soft for the Honda riders. However, the left side of the hard front was not giving enough grip, making a race distance difficult to manage. However, if anyone is capable of riding over the limit for forty minutes, it is Marquez. Even though he could not pass Lorenzo outright, he was able to pressure his future teammate into a couple of mistakes.

The first error of Lorenzo came in turn fourteen on lap fourteen, and allowed Marquez through for second place. A decent fight between the pair then erupted, with Lorenzo making several attempts to pass Marquez, especially in turn eight. Finally, the Ducati rider made it stick, but whilst the pair were trying to close back down on Dovizioso, he pushed too hard in turn eight and folded the front. He wasn’t off line, he was simply in too hot, and trailing too much front brake. Lorenzo blamed the medium front tyre for his crash – the same compound which Dovizioso chose – and described it as “rock-like” after the race. Lorenzo would have preferred to use the soft front tyre, just like Marquez would have like to have used the medium, but quite simply the track temperature was too high, they made the only choice they could; for Marquez it cost him the win, for Lorenzo could well have cost him his hopes of being the 2018 world champion.

Lorenzo’s crash let Marquez ease off, knowing he had a safe second place. It also allowed Cal Crutchlow onto the podium for the second time this season, as he gave LCR Honda a trophy in their home race. It was another solid ride from the Briton. Knowing he did not have the pace to challenge for the lead, he consolidated fourth position and ensured he profited from Lorenzo’s misfortune. Crutchlow’s first podium at Misano, continuing his highly impressive season.

Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was first home of the chasing pack in P4. Early on in the race, the Spaniard was told to go to “Mapping 2”, and the lap after he lost his position to Crutchlow. Exactly what this setting is (a traction control setting, engine mapping, engine brake etc.) remains unclear, but Crutchlow commented on his surprise at the ease with which he was able to pass. It is possible that Rins let Crutchlow go, knowing he couldn’t match the Honda rider’s pace, and chose to ride the fastest race he could, with minimal interference. Whatever the tactics were, they worked extremely well, as he took his fourth top five finish of the season and heavily out-performed his out-going teammate, Andrea Iannone, finishing seven seconds ahead of the Italian.

Alex Rins behind Cal Crutchlow. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu

1.4 seconds back of Rins was the first Yamaha, the factory bike of Maverick Vinales, who was 16.016 seconds from the leader after the 27 laps. After Saturday, things looked good for Yamaha, and especially Vinales. They had a strong test in Misano three weeks before the GP, and after a strong Silverstone weekend were hopeful of a good result in San Marino. However, from Saturday to Sunday, something changed for the M1, as both of the Movistar bikes went from being podium contenders to being slumped in the pack. Both Vinales and Rossi – who finished seventh, a further three seconds behind Vinales – were at a loss to explain the loss of pace. The fact that Yamaha do not know what the problem is, why they always seem to struggle more on a Sunday – even with minimal changes in track temperature – is alarming. They are now twenty-two races without a win, and as Rossi pointed out after the race, the Yamaha is likely to struggle more at Aragon next time out.

Sandwiched between the two Yamaha riders was Dani Pedrosa. The retiring Spaniard had seemed to find something over the course of this weekend, posting some decent results, especially in morning warm up. But his usual problems of corner speed and acceleration remained in the race. Spending the race around a pair of M1s is perhaps not the best way to allay fears of corner speed issues, but to feel like you’re missing out on acceleration when you are racing against a motorcycle which – according to its riders – has acceleration as its weakest point is rather alarming. There was positive news for Pedrosa this weekend, though, as he was confirmed to be riding the KTM from next year as a test rider.

Nearly three seconds back of Rossi was Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar), who appeared in Q1 for the first time in 2018 on Saturday, and also missed Q2. His race didn’t go much better, as he was unable to get the speed nor the life out of the soft rear tyre that Rins did on the sister Suzuki. A home weekend to forget for The Maniac.

Alvaro Bautista took yet another top ten in ninth place, further affirming the notion that what is MotoGP’s loss at the end of 2018 is most certainly WorldSBK’s gain.

The top ten was rounded out by Johann Zarco, who suffered similarly to the factory Yamaha riders on Sunday, being unable to get out of corners, nor hold onto the tyre.

Danilo Petrucci’s race was done before it started. His pace was nothing special throughout the weekend, but his race day got worse when mechanical problems on the grid forced him to fall behind he safety car on the warm up lap, and thus he had to start from last. He made a decent race, though, and climbed to eleventh where he finished. But his day became even worse when he got back to the garage and discovered his pushbike had been stolen. He and the team will be praying that the next round at Aragon is less stressful.

Bradley Smith took sixteenth place, but even still it was a positive weekend for the Brit, who announced he will be Aprilia’s test rider next year, in a deal that includes the potential for five wildcard rides throughout the season.  On the subject of Aprilia. It was another difficult weekend for Scott Redding, on his RS-GP18. He said after the race that he was missing the line by “5 or 8 metres” due to the front tyre collapsing whilst under braking.

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