ThePitcrewOnline

Category: Crew On Two

  • MotoGP Aragon Preview – A Desert Storm Awaits

    The MotoGP circus rumbles into the heart of the Spanish desert this weekend, as the championship battle resumes at the breathtaking Motorland Aragon circuit.

    Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) arrives at his home round with a 67-point lead at the top of the standings, and perhaps with one hand already on the world championship crown already. The Spaniard has been formally recognised this week by the Motorland circuit, having had the sweeping left-hand turn 10 named after him. Form at this circuit is good for the four-time premier class champion, having claimed three victories here in 2013, 2016 and 2017.

    That said, Marquez has not taken victory since the German Grand Prix back in July. Failure to win this weekend, would see him equal his longest winless streak in MotoGP (4 races Malaysia, Valencia (both 2017), Qatar and Argentina (both 2018). Whilst this is still a record which most mortals will dream they had, at this stage of the season – and with the world championship at stake – this is the sort of thing that could seriously test his mental resolve.

    This weekend’s grand prix presents Ducati with its ultimate ‘litmus test’. The Desmosedici-GP18 is a missile in a straight line, much like its predecessors. However this year, the Italian team has been very vocal about the performance gains they have made with the stability and cornering ability of their machine. Aragon-Motorland will provide a thorough examination for these claims, with the circuit boasting numerous ‘S’ bend switchbacks, and long medium to high speed corners. It is a test which Ducati riders must not only pass, but completely out-perform their rivals if they are to realistically keep up the fight for the championship.

    Expecting to lead the way for the factory team this weekend is Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian reasserted his position as Marquez’ closest title contender, having taken victory last time out at Misano. Motorland Aragon has not traditionally been a happy hunting ground for Dovi, having not finished on the podium here since 2012 with the satellite Tech3 Yamaha team. Nevertheless, he is confident that he will be able to continue his championship resurgence this weekend having spoken yesterday in the press conference that: “The bike is fine, it is now about setting a good rhythm”.  

    Andrea Dovizioso last featured on the podium at Aragon in 2012, for the Tech3 Yamaha team (above).

    Behind the main battle for the championship, there is the increasingly thrilling on-track scrap for the best of the independent riders. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) currently leads the way on 119 points, after a strong ride in Misano saw him finish on the podium. Johann Zarco (Monster Tech3 Yamaha) and Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Ducati) are both hot on his heels with 110 points each. Petrucci, buoyed by increasing support from the Ducati factory (in preparation for his arrival at the factory team in November), believes this weekend he will have the pace to push the frontrunners all the way: “We have same support as they (Dovizoso and Lorenzo) do. For sure we will have pace to fight for podium. Maybe more.”

    For the Movistar Yamaha factory team however, this weekend is expected to be another painful experience. Although considerable progress has been made with the electronics since the summer break, the Aragon circuit relentlessly targets Yamaha’s other main deficiency – engine power. With three long straights around the course, a bike which is sluggish under acceleration will be severely exposed against the competition.

    Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales know this, and as such will be focusing the M1 to perform as smoothly and efficiently as possible through the track’s 17 corners in order to recover as much lap time as possible. Such is the way the season has unfolded for the team, just having one bike in the top five here will be considered a good result.  

    Finally, there is a newcomer to the championship this weekend. Jordi Torres will be make his MotoGP debut for the Reale Avintia-Racing Ducati team, standing in for the still injured Tito Rabat. Torres will be most familiar to followers of World Superbikes, with the Spaniard riding in the series for MV Agusta. He is no stranger to the grand prix paddock, having ridden for multiple seasons in the old 125cc category and the Moto2 class. In the latter he had considerable success, being a multiple podium finisher and a race winner back in 2014.

  • Moto2 Championship Battle Ready to Resume in Aragon

    Coming into round fourteen of the 2018 Moto2 World Championship, Francesco Bagnaia sits atop the standings, with a points advantage he extended last time out at his home Grand Prix in Misano; as the intermediate class approaches Motorland Aragon this weekend, the Italian’s championship lead stands at eight points over main title rival Miguel Oliveira. In fact, Oliveira is the only rider threatening Bagnaia, as the pair have completely dominated this season so far; Brad Binder sits third in the championship, 87 points behind Oliveira.

    Motorland has proved bipolar for the pair, looking at their past results at the circuit. Oliveira has scored two podiums in Aragon, with a win in the 2015 Moto3 race, and a podium last year in the Moto2 race. Meanwhile, Bagnaia’s best result has been tenth, which also came in last year’s Moto2 race, and he has only one other points-scoring finish here, which came in 2015 when he rode the Aspar Mahindra to eleventh. The relative void between the pair’s records at this circuit could make this race pivotal for the World Championship, especially as it is the final European race before the four fly-away races.

    That said, Bagnaia is in a supreme vein of form at the moment, having won the last two races, and it would be a considerable surprise to see him not in contention this weekend, and no doubt he will be aiming for his seventh win of 2018 come Sunday.

    But, for Oliveira, this race represents a good opportunity to take some points out of Bagnaia, and perhaps reclaim the championship lead, partly thanks to his good form in Aragon compared to Bagnaia, but also because of how the KTM performed in Motorland last year. Oliveira’s late race fightback towards the front two riders of Mattia Pasini and eventual winner Franco Morbidelli was typical of KTM, as he made the most of the Austrian chassis’ impressive tyre management, although he finally ran out of pace to catch the Italian pair with a few laps remaining.

    With this being the second year of the KTM Moto2 chassis, and the improvements that we have seen with it in 2018, the Red Bull KTM Ajo team will be highly anticipating an assault on the victory from the Portuguese rider. Furthermore, with Jeffrey Herlings wrapping up the MXGP world title last weekend in Assen, and Jorge Prado edging closer to the MX2 championship with one Motocross World Championship meeting to go, you would expect that a lot more attention would start to come the way of the championship-contending orange-framed road racers, Oliveira being of course one of those.

    Outside of the two runaway championship combatants, there are riders in the frame for not only the podium, but also the victory this weekend.

    Firstly, Mattia Pasini who – as previously mentioned – fought with Franco Mobidelli until the very end of last year’s Moto2 race in Aragon, will be looking to step back onto the podium for the first time since he won in Argentina. Coming off the back of two consecutive fourth places – which marked something of a return to form for the Italian – the #54 is certainly in a good position to be able to end his rostrum drought.

    As well as Pasini, Luca Marini will be hoping to return to the podium this weekend, after a tough race in Misano where he had to retire because of a problem with the bike early on in the race. Previous to that home GP disaster for Marini, he had scored three podiums in a row in the previous three races, and he will be hoping that he can bounce back from his San Marinese disappointment.

    As Marini did earlier in the year, Marcel Schrotter picked up his first ever Grand Prix podium in Misano last time out, ending a long period of waiting stretching back for most of the season. It took Schrotter 105 GPs to take his first podium, and now the aim for the German will be to make it 106 GPs before his first win.

    It will also be worth keeping an eye out for the two Marc VDS riders this weekend. Alex Marquez took his first Moto2 podium in Aragon back in 2016 when he finished third behind Sam Lowes and his then-teammate Franco Morbidelli. Similarly, Joan Mir won in Aragon last year in the Moto3 class, so will hoping to be fighting at the front again this weekend, especially after something of a dip in form over the last few races.

    That win for Sam Lowes back in 2016 was the last time he stood on the podium of a Grand Prix, and of course also his last victory. On the approach to this weekend, the British rider has pinpointed Motorland as a good opportunity for him to take a good result and you feel that the #22 will not be contented by anything less than a rostrum finish this weekend. Additionally, Sam Lowes has become a father since Misano, and we saw the positive impact that had on Cal Crutchlow back in 2016 as he took two wins in the second half of that season. However, the first of Crutchlow’s races as a father began with a ride-through penalty for a jump start and a fifteenth place. Similarly, Aleix Espargaro was out of the Catalan GP earlier this season after six laps, the Barcelona race being the first Grand Prix after the birth of Max and Mia Espargaro. It’s fair to say that in recent history, new fathers have not done especially well in Grands Prix, but it is entirely possible that Lowes could be the anomaly this weekend.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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

  • Jake Dixon Lands First Championship Blow

    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

  • 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.

  • 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…

  • 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.

     

  • 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.