Crew On Two

10th August 2018

Oliveira and KTM in Front as Moto2 Hits Austria

The Moto2 Pack bunched up at Brno. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing

Brno was probably the best Moto2 race of the season. In fact, it definitely was. For once, Miguel Oliveira qualified and fought at the front for the whole race. And what a fight it was. Between himself, Francesco Bagnaia, Luca Marini and later Lorenzo Baldassarri, there was some stunning action and, whilst it boiled down to what was ultimately a two-way scrap for the win between Miguel and Marini, that two-way scrap proved to be one of the highlights of the year.
Oliveira came out the victor of that battle against the comparatively inexperienced Marini, and with that he took the championship lead heading into this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix – KTM’s home round, as well as that of the title sponsor. A win for Oliveira this weekend would not only strengthen his position atop the championship, it would also be perfectly timed from the point of view of his employer and their backers. Furthermore, KTM are currently on two consecutive wins and the last time they had two wins on the bounce, they went and took a third in succession too. That was in the last three races of last season, where both Oliveira and Brad Binder dominated the 2017 series champion, Franco Morbidelli. A repeat at this stage in the season could put Oliveira well in the driving seat for the 2018 Moto2 World Championship with just under half the season remaining.

That said, last year was not such a great round for the KTM Moto2 squad, and especially for Oliveira. The Portuguese crashed out of turn eight when closing down the leaders, with what was quite a big high side. Meanwhile, Brad Binder could only manage seventh place, nine seconds off the win. It would be a surprise to see them so far away this year, but if Oliveira has a return to his usual 2018 qualifying form, it could spell disaster for the championship hopeful, when you consider the pileup at turn one last year.

Miguel Oliveira at Brno 2018. Image courtesy of Marcin Kin/KTM

Pecco Bagnaia needs to hit back on Sunday. He looked good after Assen, and Sachsenring had shaped up well for him before Sunday, but with bad luck in the German GP and just losing out in the battle at the end of the Czech GP, ending up third, he is now on the back foot in the championship. On the positive side, Bagnaia still looks like one of two strongest riders in the last races, and ultimately it has been circumstance that has seen him lose his championship advantage. Also, the second Sky Racing Team VR46 rider, Luca Marini, has turned up in the last couple of weekends, so if it is needed Bagnaia has a rear gunner.

But Marini is also out for himself, obviously, and as he proved last week he has the potential to fight strongly for the win himself. Marini has come almost from nowhere in the last three races, but the short summer break worked perfectly for him, as he was able to keep the momentum he built in the Dutch and German GPs – taking his first front row in Assen and first podium in Germany – into Brno where he fought for the victory for the first time. Now, he has gone 3-2 in the last two races, leaving the first position as the next logical step, right?

With the improvement in the second side of the Sky VR46 squad, it is even more critical that Brad Binder becomes a consistent podium/victory contender. Other than his win in Sachsenring, Binde hasn’t really featured at the front all season, at least not for a full race. His Germany win proved that he has the potential to be there, he just needs to be there more often, and the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring would be the perfect time for him to return to the podium.

Lorenzo Baldassarri has had a few difficult races. Assen was positive, and he could have won until he suffered the puncture. In Germany he dropped out before it was possible to judge what his potential was. Brno went better, though with a fourth place which could have been a podium, or even a win, but his tyre was destroyed by the end of the race, so he had nothing to fight with for the podium. He has taken some criticism, because he basically cost Bagnaia – a fellow VR46 Riders’ Academy member, and flatmate – the chance to fight for the victory in the last lap by passing him in the middle of the turn 11/12 chicane but ultimately he is out on the track for himself and he thought he would have the chance for the win, but to pass three riders in one lap is almost impossible. For sure, he cost himself and Bagnaia the shot at the victory with the move he made, but he had to try, because if he didn’t try, for the sake of another rider, there is no point in being there – it’s mid-season, you wouldn’t expect team orders at this stage, so why he should be expected to help someone from another team is a little strange. Anyway, this weekend presents a fresh opportunity for Baldassarri, and with Lorenzo, you just don’t know what you are going to get.

The weather looks like it is going to play its part this weekend. Rain is predicted for the whole weekend, and last year, when it rained, the track was a disaster – riders were crashing almost by the second and reaching the barriers with regularity. Safety is definitely a weak point of the Red Bull Ring, and several riders have spoken of their worry ahead of the race weekend about the danger in wet conditions, so hopefully those concerns will be alleviated, either by fair weather or by decent track conditions, although both are unfortunately unlikely.

10th August 2018

Bezzecchi Leads Moto3 to Austria for KTM

For round eleven of the 2018 Moto3 World Championship, Marco Bezzecchi leads the lightweight field to Austria, and the Red Bull Ring (or, A1 Ring if you’re sponsored by another energy drinks company).

Of course, Bezzecchi leading the championship at this stage is important, since it is also KTM’s home race. It means that the 40,000 people populating the KTM stand on Sunday will be able to see one of their chosen factory’s riders fighting to maintain the lead of the championship. However, coming off such a difficult weekend in Brno last week Bezzecchi will be hoping to return to his form of the first half of the year, where he was on the podium in six out of the nine races. And, of course, KTM would love for their sole championship challenger to take the win at their home event.

Marco Bezzecchi at Brno 2018. Image courtesy of Marcin Kin/KTM

The person most likely to deny Bezzecchi the title, Jorge Martin, who is trying to come back this weekend. He broke his radius last weekend in Brno in the first practice session on Friday morning, putting him out of last weekend’s Czech GP. The doctors have allowed Martin to compete, it would really be little surprise to see him fighting at the front – remember last year, when he was in tears in parc ferme after making the podium with his 5-week-old broken leg.

Even if Bezzecchi can’t take full advantage of Martin’s broken radius for the second week running, the Spaniard’s Gresini Racing teammate, Fabio Di Giannantonio, may well make the number 88 pay. He took his first win last week, making up for the disappointment of Le Mans, and the feeling has been that one win would set the Italian up to become a regular Grand Prix winner. We will begin to find out whether Diggia will go the route of Jorge Martin, and become a serial victor, or the route of Enea Bastianini, and wait still for months before another victory.

Speaking of Bastianini; he is without a podium since he was third in Assen, at which point he was looking like someone who could come back into championship contention. Since then, though, he crashed in Germany and could only manage fourth in Brno, which in reality wasn’t such a bad result considering the weekend he had. Nonetheless, he benefited from Martin’s injury last week, and is still in the mix for the championship – if very much on the outside – but this weekend will require a big result for La Bestia if he wants to close more on the top.

Enea Bastianini at Brno 2018. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing

The fifth and final realistic championship contender is Aron Canet, who has been completely under the radar this year, and is the only rider in the fight without a win. In fact, Brno was only Canet’s fourth podium of the year, but it’s been his finishing ratio that has helped Canet’s challenge, only crashing out of one race – Jerez. A win this weekend would make Canet an absolute contender, although he was only fifth last year, 3.5 seconds off the victorious Joan Mir.

This summer, Europe has been in the middle of a heatwave, and it has had a big impact on the World Championship, bringing higher-than-expected track temperatures which have especially affected MotoGP. However, this weekend, it looks like it will be wet throughout, which could have a big impact on the result, with perhaps some unlikely riders finding the podium. Of course, Moto3 is the only category in the World Championship to have had a wet race this year, back in Argentina when Bezzecchi won his one and only race. It could be bad for Martin, though, as he will be conscious of his injury, and may be very cautious so as to not worsen the damage to his wrist. On the other hand, it could be great for Martin, because the riders with nothing to lose – such as a John McPhee, a Jakub Kornfeil, or a Gabriel Rodrigo – could arrive and take points off his rivals, meaning he wouldn’t lose too many points to his competitors should he be ruled out through injury.

7th August 2018

No Martin, But Di Giannantonio’s Brilliant Debut Win Keeps Gresini on the Top Step

After scoring pole position on Saturday, his first in Moto3, Jakub Kornfeil went into Sunday’s Moto3 Czech Grand Prix with hopes of delivering his home crowd a top result.

From the off, it looked as though it would be on the cards, as the most experienced rider in the lightweight class field got to turn one first, and duly scarpered, pulling a second on the field in the first lap. Kornfeil managed to hold that gap, too, for a small while, but after a couple of laps, the pack pulled their respective fingers out, and quickly closed erased the advantage the pole sitter had built in the initial stages of the race.

Jakub Kornfeil falling back into the pack. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing

At this point, it looked like a normal, chaotic, Moto3 race, with all fifteen points scoring positions, plus a few more, locked together in the fight for the win.
This was good for several people, especially the likes of Marco Bezzecchi and Enea Bastianini who were looking to take advantage of Jorge Martin’s absence, but were having to do so from poor grid positions, fourteenth for Bezzecchi and tenth for Bastianini.

On the other hand, Aron Canet appeared at one stage as though he would have the pace to break the pack or at least split the group, setting several fastest laps on his early charge through the field to the front, but once he arrived at the head of the pack, he could do nothing about their attention.

It was a similar story for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who should have been on pole before all of the mistiming occurred on Saturday afternoon. The Italian was at the front for less than half a lap before he started to pull away, along with Gabriel Rodrigo, but a mistake for the number 21 Gresini rider at turn ten made all that work null and void, as he was sucked back into the group.

Further back through the field, but still in the front group, there were many changes of position, riders climbing up the rankings, only to steadily fall back again, whilst some hung around the same spot, unable to advance their standing. It was the most “Moto3” Moto3 race of the season, the group stayed together for almost the whole race, and when it split in the closing stages, there were still ten riders in victory contention.

Di Giannantonio 1st and Canet 2nd in Brno 2018. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing

Especially, though, it was Di Giannantonio, Kornfeil and Canet who were looking likely to take the top step, all looking for firsts of some kind: both Di Giannantonio and Kornfeil were looking for their first Moto3 World Championship victories and Canet was in search of his first of 2018.

This doesn’t always happen – especially in races as frenetic, confusing and chaotic as Moto3 group races – but on this occasion it did, the fastest riders over the course of the race being the ones fighting it out for the victory.

Finally, it was the should-have-been pole sitter, Fabio Di Giannantonio who righted the wrongs of Le Mans – where the Race Direction committed daylight robbery – and took his first (official) Moto3 World Championship victory.

Twenty-two years on from Valentino Rossi’s first Grand Prix victory in Brno, back in 1996 in the 125cc class, there are of course many comparisons to make between the nine-times World Champion and Di Giannantonio – ironically one of the Italians not associated with the VR46 empire. However, on a weekend where the shadow cast by the biggest stars of Grand Prix motorcycle racing is under particular scrutiny, it seems like a bad moment and, after all, this is Fabio’s first win, perhaps he might even deserve all of the attention for this one.

Either way, Di Giannantonio’s ride was sublime, with some stunningly tough moves on both Kornfeil and Oettl in the middle of the stadium section. His confidence was immense, and ultimately undeniable. Furthermore, Di Giannantonio spent a lot of time in the front five positions, a crucial thing if you want to fight for the victory, and a sign of a rider with a good feeling, because it means they are always able to respond, even to their fastest rivals. Now we have to see whether this victory will act like Jorge Martin’s first win, and open the floodgates for Diggia, who moved to second in the championship and just 17 points off the top spot. All of a sudden he is right back in the championship hunt, and could prove to be Martin’s biggest threat for the title.

Aron Canet was second over the line, little over a tenth behind Di Giannantonio. It was a strong ride from the Spaniard, perhaps his best of the year and his strongest challenge for victory since Qatar. Like Diggia, he stayed pretty much in the top positions for the whole race, losing out only through the strength of Di Giannantonio, and no fault of his own, something from which he can take big motivation and confidence into the next races. Also, Canet is now only 21 points back on the championship lead, and like Di Giannantonio is still right in the title fight.

Whilst a dream would have been the dream of Kornfeil going into Sunday, he had to make do with third place, whish is still far beyond what probably anyone expected him to achieve. KTM had a new frame for this weekend, a softer one to try to negate a little bit the problem they have been having in trying to get the bike turned, especially mid-corner. It seemed to work a treat for Kornfeil, as he had his best weekend of the year, and fully deserved the podium position he walked away with, and no doubt he brought a lot of smiles to the faces of the Czech fans who were out in their droves to watch Sunday’s action.

Fourth over the line was Enea Bastianini, who passed Gabriel Rodrigo on the final lap to demote the Argentine to fifth, but was too late to mount an assault on the podium. Again, it was an important points haul for Bastianini who now lies 36 points off the championship lead, and is not entirely out of contention. But if he wants to take the lightweight class crown in what will probably be his final year in Moto3 he will need to have a strong run of races in the coming rounds.

Behind fifth-placed Rodriog was the new championship leader, Marco Bezzecchi, who recovered quite well from a poor weekend to take sixth spot. It was the first race in which Bezzecchi has finished, but not inside the podium places. However, he did perhaps more than was expected after Saturday, when he qualified fourteenth, and gave KTM the championship lead going into the Austrian manufacturer’s home race in a weeks’ time, a round where he will hope to return to the podium, and maybe even win at a track which on paper should suit his bike and style quite well.

Seventh place went to Marcos Ramirez, who continued his good form from Sachsenring; Philipp Oettl was eighth, ahead of Albert Arenas and Lorenzo Dalla Porta who rounded out the top ten.

Niccolo Antonelli had one of his best races in recent times, but in the end could only manage eleventh, ahead of compatriot and fellow VR46 academy rider, Dennis Foggia who was running strongly all race but dropped back in the final two laps. Thirteenth over the line was Kazuki Masaki, ahead of Tatsuki Suzuki and Tony Arbolino who was the final points scorer.

Nakarin Atiratphuvapat took sixteenth spot, whilst Jaume Masia was seventeenth, ahead of Alonso Lopez, Nicolo Bulega and Andrea Migno who completed the top twenty. Vicente Perez took twenty-first place, in front of Ayumu Sasaki, Darryn Binder and Filip Salac.

There were only four retirements: Kaito Toba, John McPhee, Stefano Nepa and Adam Norrodin.

5th August 2018

Glenn Irwin Takes Second Consecutive BSB Pole

In Brands Hatch, two weeks ago, Glenn Irwin took his first British Superbike Championship pole position, and backed it up with two second places, narrowly missing out on both race victories. Coming into this weekend, his intentions were always going to be to right the wrongs of round six, and take his first victory. He provided himself with a good opportunity to do that in race one tomorrow, as in Saturday’s qualifying session he managed to take his second career pole, and second in succession. He couldn’t be in a better position to try to take his first win, but the race is very different to qualifying – especially in Thruxton – and managing the tyre will be the critical element.
Before we discuss that more, it is important to speak about the riders also on the front row: Luke Mossey and Glenn’s brother and teammate Andrew Irwin.

Firstly, Mossey. His 2017 season was ruined by a crash in Thruxton last year, before which he looked like a genuine championship contender and after which he looked like what he was: a rider recovering from a big injury sustained in a big, fast crash. It was a big moment in Mossey’s career and it has affected him until, well, today. Of course, he was not helped by the change in tyre spec for this year, which ruined his preseason, but the after effects of the injury from last year have been a factor, too. So, what does he do when he returns to the scene of the accident that has lingered for the past twelve months? Well, he sticks it on the front row. This, from Mossey, is another one of those insane moments in motorcycle racing that are difficult for us mere mortals to comprehend, in a similar vein to, for example, the feat of Jorge Lorenzo in Assen 2013. Returning to something which has caused so much long term pain is a tough thing to do, for anyone, and what Mossey did in qualifying today deserves tremendous respect.

Now, Andrew Irwin. It’s his fourth British Superbike meeting after returning to the British championship from a half-season in the World Supersport Championship. Superbikes are incredibly complex and, ultimately, alarming. They have more power than they can deal with, and with no electronic assistance the confidence of the rider is critical, and fragile. The McAMS Yamaha pair for this year are good comparisons. Josh Brookes, one of the most experienced riders on the grid, entered this year with no speed, because he had a poor feeling and thus no confidence. The take Tarran Mackenzie. He has been riding the Yamaha R1 since last winter, and only at the last round in Brands Hatch was he able to make the top ten. In comparison, Andy Irwin has come in has immediately been fast. In every circuit he has visited with the superbike, he has been up in the top ten in practice, but in Thruxton there is always a question mark, because if you feel a little bit off it costs you more than usual because the speeds are so high. But he arrived, and he was fast immediately. In Q2, he was the fastest rider, and that time stood as the fastest time of the weekend even after Q3, when he qualified third for his first front row in BSB, in just his fourth round in the championship. Irwin has been incredibly impressive, but I think I echo the feelings of everyone when I say that I hope he doesn’t make a mistake soon, because whilst confidence takes a long time to build, it can be completely destroyed in ten seconds. A mistake now could have career-defining consequences, which Irwin doesn’t deserve to have to endure.

Josh Brookes took fourth place, which he wasn’t overly impressed with, but his race pace is demonic; beating the Aussie over race distance tomorrow will be a challenge for anybody and everybody.

Bradley Ray. Image courtesy of Suzuki racing

Bradley Ray discovered something to fix the front end issues he has suffered with the front end of the Suzuki in the last few rounds. It seems the opening round double winner is back to something like his giant-killing best. The podium has to be the aim for Ray tomorrow, it would be his first since race one at Brands Indy.

Jake Dixon has looked quite strong this weekend, and qualified decently in sixth place. He has a good chance to make the podium tomorrow from the back of the second row, but the most important thing for Jake tomorrow is to take points out of the podium credits lead of Leon Haslam.

Speaking of Haslam, he only managed to qualify eighth, behind Christian Iddon and ahead of Danny Buchan. The championship leader has a job on tomorrow to extend his advantage over Dixon, but he can take some steps closer to confirming his spot in the Showdown.

Jason O’Halloran qualified tenth, ahead of Friday’s fastest man, Peter Hickman, who was ill today. Richard Cooper completes row four.

Tommy Bridewell was thirteenth for Moto Rapido Ducati, ahead of an impressive Martin Jessopp and equally impressive Chrissy Rouse. James Ellison was sixteenth, a surprising Shaun Winfield seventeenth and Mason Law was the last of the Q2 contenders in 18th.

Michael Laverty made the mistake of only using one tyre in Q1, which means he only starts 19th for tomorrow’s first race, whilst Gino Rea rounds out the top twenty and Fraser Rogers completes the seventh row.

Dan Linfoot’s replacement, Tom Neave, qualified 22nd for his first BSB, ahead of Sylvain Barrier, Luke Hedger and Aaron Zanotti.
Tarran Mackenzie had a bike issue on his out lap in Q1 which means he starts from the very back of the grid in 26th for tomorrow’s first race.

5th August 2018

Kornfeil Takes First Moto3 Pole

Brno qualifying was just like any other for Moto3, at least it was for thirty-seven minutes. Everyone went out, set some laps at a reasonable pace, and then came in. Then they waited, and they waited, looked at the clock, waited some more, and finally went out with just under three minutes to go. With a 2’08 lap time, they were up against it to get round in time to set a final qualifying attempt, and sure enough, most didn’t.

However, Jakub Kornfeil did, and set his first ever Grand Prix pole in his home race. He was helped on his way by John McPhee for half the lap, but passed the Scot at turn eleven, towing him up the hill and to the line. In turn McPhee went second, as the two of them fooled the field to snatch the front two places on the grid. With many of the favoured riders starting further back tomorrow, they both have a big chance to grab a podium, or maybe even a win.
Marcos Ramirez completes tomorrow’s front row, and for once he took third without the necessity for penalties for his rivals.

Jacub Kornfeil, John McPhee & Kazuki Masaki .Image courtesy of Gold and Goose /KTM

Philipp Oettl took fourth place on the grid, whilst Fabio Di Giannantonio – who held provisional pole for most of the session – was fifth ahead of Aron Canet who was the first rider to miss the chequered flag on his last run.

Row three is fronted by Gabriel Rodrigo, ahead of Nakarin Atiratphuvapat who had his best performance of 2018, and Niccolo Antonelli who has seemingly seen something of a return to form after the break, although the confirmation of that is still pending.

It was a self-proclaimed disaster for Enea Bastianini, who was tenth and needs a good race here to get his championship challenge back on track, although he hasn’t looked so brilliant this weekend. Jaume Masia and Kazuki Masaki – who has had a stellar weekend, topping FP2 – join Bastianini on row four.

Thirteenth fastest was Dennis Foggia – his best performance since the paddock arrived in Europe back in May – ahead of championship hopeful but Czech GP struggler Marco Bezzecchi and Albert Arenas who suffered a crash at the end of the session but was okay. Speaking for Bezzecchi, a good start is essential for his race tomorrow, even more so as his main title rival Jorge Martin, is out of the weekend with a broken radius. Like all the other championship hopefuls, Bezzecchi must make the most of Martin’s absence this weekend.

Tony Arbolino was sixteenth, ahead of Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Nicolo Bulega, who has looked much better than eighteenth this weekend. Darryn Binder was nineteenth, with Kaito Toba rounding out the top twenty and Adam Norrodin rounding out row seven.

Twenty-second fastest was Andrea Migno, then came Stefano Nepa, Vicente Perez, Alonso Lopez and Filip Salac who was superb in FP3 in the morning but could not translate that to qualifying.

Tatsuki Suzuki and Ayumu Sasaki did not set a qualifying lap as they crashed on the first lap out of the pits and both missed the flag at the end. Sasaki also had a trip to the medical centre and looked in pain at the end of the session. Hopefully he will be okay for tomorrow, and able to mount a comeback from the back of the grid.

As previously mentioned, Jorge Martin is absent this weekend. The championship leader suffered a nasty high side in FP1 at turn ten, and suffered a broken radius bone. That has put him out of this weekend, and also made him a doubt for next weekend in Austria. Hopefully the Spaniard will make a decent enough recovery over the next days to be able to turn up and be at least semi-competitive in Spielberg but right now it is difficult to say.

4th August 2018

Oliveira Looks to Continue Championship Momentum in Brno Moto2

Sachsenring was… eventful for the Moto2 class. It all started on lap two when Mattia Pasini’s crash left Francesco Bagnaia with nowhere to go but the grass. The crash of Pasini was then proceeded by a plethora of falls, including a potentially fatal one for the championship contention of Lorenzo Baldassarri.

Bagnaia was able to recover his position to finish twelfth, passing Alex Marquez in the final corner. But with Miguel Oliveira only qualifying seventeenth and with Bagnaia’s stellar pace across the weekend, Sachsenring was another opportunity for the Italian to extend his championship advantage, but with bad luck the chance went abegging. Nonetheless Pecco made a good recovery, and maintained his position at the top of the standings going into the summer break. Now the championship has returned after the holidays, it will be important for Bagnaia to continue in the vein of Sachsenring because, although the result was bad, he was fast over the whole weekend like all the races so far.

For Oliveira, though, the area to work on is obvious: qualifying. Saturday afternoons have been apocalyptic for the Portuguese rider so far this year, costing him a shot at the victory on multiple occasions and whilst he is still right there in the championship fight, it is only a matter of time until a poor qualifying really catches him out and leaves him either on the floor or with a bad result. In fact, it nearly happened in Germany, as the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was cutting through the field and lost the rear in a pretty big way on the exit of the final corner, pushing hard to try to lose as little time as possible. He was lucky it only cost him a few positions, and he got lucky with the effect Pasini’s crash had on Bagnaia, too, but this is racing and perhaps this good luck will help him (in a small way) on his way to a first World Championship.

Binder,Mir and Marini on the podium at Sachsenring 2018. Image courtesy of Hondaproracing

Whilst Oliveira was able to close the gap in the championship, his teammate, 2016 Moto3 World Champion Brad Binder, was able to take his first victory of his Moto2 career in commanding fashion. There is not much to say about Binder’s race in Sachsenring, because it was pretty faultless lights-to-flag, but the journey he has been on to get there, since his broken arm in the end of 2016, has been monumental. In a sense, the victory was a surprising one, because Binder has not been in the best form this season, almost in an opposite way to Oliveira, as he has been going okay in qualifying – generally – but struggling after a few laps in the races. Hopefully for Brad, this German GP win will open the proverbial floodgates, and he can build some momentum on the back of this milestone.

Joan Mir was second in Germany, his third podium of his debut Moto2 season, putting more security on his fourth position in the championship standings. He lies fifty-three points behind in the standings, probably too far to challenge for the title, and has a factory Suzuki MotoGP contract in his pocket. But that does not make it any less important for the Spaniard to grab at least one victory in the second half of this season – to go to a factory MotoGP in the rookie year, a win in Moto2 is important for the confidence. Also, with no win, the media have something to criticise, and when something goes wrong, they will point to his lack of a Moto2 win. A win is almost essential for Mir before the end of the year, and perhaps this weekend will be the one for him to take it.

The third place on the German podium, two weeks ago, was taken by Luca Marini. Of course, whilst it was the best result of his career, it was not anything fantastic, primarily because Valentino Rossi, Marini’s maternal half-brother, finished second in the MotoGP race. But, seriously, Marini’s podium was both well-deserved and long in the making, a shoulder injury holding him back for much of the season to date. Like Binder, Marini’s first podium has the potential to be the catalyst for more top threes – even in the immediate aftermath of the race Marini mentioned several times about the importance in building the foundation with the lower steps before you reach the top. He has certainly done that, coming from the European Moto2 Championship in 2016 to essentially fight for last for one year, before a year of mixed results in 2017 led into this year which has so far culminated in his first Grand Prix podium. There is more to come from Luca Marini, and a good result in the Czech GP last year means that there will be strong hopes in the orange side od the Sky VR46 garage that more will arrive this weekend.

A crash in free practice for Alex Marquez in Germany curtailed his entire weekend, as he crossed the line in thirteenth. He is thirty-five points off the championship lead which, in Moto2, is not an impossible deficit, but if he is to overcome it, he will need to start reducing it this weekend.

4th August 2018

Martin Leads Moto3 into 2018 Part Two

The Moto3 World Championship is back from its ‘summer break’, three weeks after Jorge Martin took victory (again) in Sachsenring. And, of course, it is Martin who is leading the championship coming into the second half of the season, and with Brno being a circuit where the rider can make so much difference, Martin will be the favourite for this weekend.

But, can anyone challenge Martin? Well, possibly. Marco Bezzecchi has been the surprise of 2018, perhaps across all classes. From fighting for the last point last year to fighting for the title this, is some progression and although he hasn’t won since Argentina (his only career win), he is still right in this title fight. Also, in Sachsenring Bezzecchi continued his quite impressive statistic of this year which is that he has not finished a race and then not climbed the steps to the podium. The only races where he has not picked up a cup are Qatar, Le Mans and Assen all three being DNFs. He has been the best KTM rider this year, and it’s showing. Perhaps the biggest surprise now is that Moto2 teams aren’t – at least very publicly – bashing his door down and demanding his signature. Maybe now Martin is signed up for Red Bull KTM Ajo in Moto2 for next year, the attention will start to come the way of Bezzecchi.

Aron Canet is the only rider who made the podium in Brno last year to be in the Moto3 field this year, but the first half of the season has not gone to plan for the Spaniard. He was supposed to challenge for the championship, but like almost everyone else who was supposed to be fighting for the title things haven’t gone his way, and some mistakes have crept in too. Only three podiums in the first nine races of 2018 mean Canet comes into the second half of the year with much to improve upon. Thirty-eight points is not an insurmountable gap that Aron suffers to the top of the championship, but – like with Marquez in MotoGP – the critical part is that Jorge Martin is plain stronger at the moment, not just compared to Canet but compared to the whole field.

Sachsenring was a disaster for Enea Bastianini, as he crashed out and probably said goodbye to the final slither of an opportunity that he had for the championship. That said, his form has been quite good recently, and whilst his crash came in a bad moment for the championship, Bastianini could be well in the fight for the podium this weekend.

Moto3 2018: Round Nine – Sachsenring, Germany. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu

Marcos Ramirez was back on form in Sachsenring as he took fourth place, his best result since his most recent podium in Le Mans at round five. It was only seventh in the wet Czech GP last year for Marcos, but with a decent result to keep him upbeat over the summer he could be in the front fight this weekend.
John McPhee has come back to form in recent races. The first half of the season proved to be one of mixed fortune for John, as he suffered from a lack of testing preseason. He finally got to test post-race in Mugello, and since then has fought for the podium in every race, finally making it in Germany despite his crew chief being absent. It will be interesting to see whether the, albeit short, summer break will stall his momentum at all.

Last year’s Czech GP was the Grand Prix debut for Dennis Foggia, and he scored two points. Unfortunately for Dennis, things have not progressed much this year. He had several impressive wildcards last year, but the reigning Junior World Champion has struggled this season in his first full-time campaign in the World Championship. Combined with the disastrous season suffered by his teammate, Nicolo Bulega, who has only scored seven points this year, you have to wonder whether there is something happening inside the team to make both riders suffer so much, because the riders have talent and speed but right now they are not comfortable at all. Maybe the summer break has provided them with the reset they need ahead of the second half of the season.

Of course, the weather could play a part this weekend, with the forecast in Brno never being completely reliable, and the skies are usually up for a bit of a drizzle. Rain might be the only thing that can stop the race-winning train that is Jorge Martin this weekend, and with that in mind his championship rivals will be hoping the clouds prepare for the lightweight class battle on Sunday morning.

Featured Image courtesy of hondanews.eu

25th July 2018

Brookes Doubles Up in Brands GP Race 2

After winning race one of the Big Brands Bash, Josh Brookes was hoping to double up in the second race, and he had the perfect platform from which to do so as he set the fastest lap in the first race, giving him pole position for race two.

He made the most of it too, as he launched the 20th-anniversary-coloured R1 at Paddock Hill Bend far better than anyone else – the holeshot easily his, from Glenn Irwin. The Buildbase Suzuki of Richard Cooper also made a stunning start, steaming around the outside to take second place, although Glenn Irwin reclaimed that when the pack arrived in Druids for the first time.

From the beginning, Brookes tried to stretch the pack, with gaps appearing between the front three, including the Aussie himself as well as Irwin and Leon Haslam. However, by the middle of lap two, the field had bunched, and the front group went back to Christian Iddon in seventh place – once again the Tyco BMW enjoying the early stages of the race.

As they moved onto lap three, Luke Mossey was closing the leading group down and bringing Tarran Mackenzie with him – the second McAMS Yamaha rider had made an average-at-best start but had made a decent initial recovery in the early laps.

The group then started to split again, with the front three of Brookes, Irwin and Haslam breaking away a little bit from Cooper – who crashed at Paddock Hill trying to keep the pace. The crash of Cooper left a reasonably void between Haslam in third and Jake Dixon who had inherited Cooper’s fourth place. Back from Dixon was another rift before Christian Iddon became visible; the Tyco BMW trying to hold off Danny Buchan and Taz Mackenzie.

But it soon became clear that Dixon wouldn’t be able to catch the leading trio, and soon enough third placed Haslam dropped away from Irwin and Brookes ahead.

Glen Irwin – Be Wiser Ducati. Image courtesy of Ducati media

Once again, it was a last lap duel between Brookes and Irwin, and once again Glenn was not close enough to Josh to make a move, leaving the McAMS Yamaha rider to take his first double of 2018, and be crowned ‘Kind of Brands’. Quite an ominous result for Brookes, and one very reminiscent of his dominant 2015 season where, after being unable to find victory before the mid-season Brands Hatch round, he then struggled to miss the top step for the remainder of the year. Of course, it wasn’t all good, Brookes – as promised – shaved off his magnificent moustache after his double win, raising over £1500 for Movember in the process. Facial hair aside, Brookes announced his championship intentions this weekend and with two more solid circuits for the Aussie next up, another second-half championship charge could well be on.
Another second place for Glenn Irwin was not the result he desired, however once more he proved to Paul Bird that life without Shan Byrne atop one of his bikes is indeed possible – and potentially very fruitful. Like in the first race, his missed victory is not the end of the world, because his consistency over the course of this season, and the form he has built in that time, shows that his time will come for his first win, and you kind of get the feeling that it won’t be too long before he tastes the victory champagne.

A second podium of the weekend perhaps surpassed the expectations of Leon Haslam, but that is precisely what he got. He ran out of pace at the end to be able fight Irwin and Brookes, but two third places is better than he has gone in Brands Hatch for a while, and bodes well for the rest of his season.

Jake Dixon will be disappointed to have walked away from Brands Hatch without a podium, considering the pace he showed through practice, but in reality the result has not been too bad for him. He only lost two points – really – in the championship compared to Haslam and he had some decent speed across the weekend on one of – what you might call – his weaker tracks.

Fifth place for Tarran Mackenzie is not really enough to make up for the missed podium opportunity in race one, but both races showed his ability and potential, as he was fighting with the strongest riders in the championship throughout both. Also, the result of the second race is his first top ten of the season, which highlights the positive trend both he and the McAMS Yamaha team are on.

Sixth place went to Christian Iddon, who again struggled more towards the end of the race after a strong first half. He was ahead of Tommy Bridewell who completed a superb Moto Rapido Ducati debut with a seventh place, ahead of Danny Buchan, James Ellison and Peter Hickman who completed the top ten.

Michael Laverty was eleventh, but was happy with the second race as he felt he and the Tyco BMW team had found a decent direction for them to head in after a somewhat inconsistent first half of the season.

It was twelfth place for Andrew Irwin, so a step backwards on paper compared to race one, but at this stage in his BSB career he is doing nothing but learning, and no doubt he will be getting consistently stronger over the course of the rest of the season.

His crash in race one gave Luke Mossey an injured elbow, which is presumably, at least part of, the reason he finished only thirteenth in race two. Next up on the calendar is Thruxton, where Mossey had his big crash last year, which has set him back ever since – really – so it will be interesting to see how the number twelve reacts when the paddock arrives in Hampshire in a couple of weeks.

Jason O’Halloran. Image courtesy of hondaracingbsb.co.uk

Another impressive ride from Chrissy Rouse saw him take fourteenth place, ahead of Jason O’Halloran who was the final points finisher.

A lowly sixteenth place for Bradley Ray shows the kind of struggle he had over the course of the weekend. Big changes were made to the Buildbase Suzuki before race two, but they clearly did little to improve the youngster’s feeling with the bike. Both Ray and the team will be hoping that the form of the early season will return in the next rounds, after the Suzuka 8 Hour has passed – in which Ray is riding for the factory Yoshimura Suzuki team.

Seventeenth place was Gino Rea’s, ahead of Mason Law, Martin Jessopp and Dean Harrison who completed the top twenty. Fraser Rogers was twenty-first, and then it was Luke Hedger, Shaun Winfield and Aaron Zanotti who was the final finisher in 24th.

There were only two retirements: Sylvain Barrier and the aforementioned Richard Cooper.

Featured Image courtesy of Ducati media

25th July 2018

Brookes Takes First 2018 Win

For the first race of the ‘Big Brands Bash’ weekend, Glenn Irwin started from his first pole position scored in qualifying, with Josh Brookes and Jake Dixon alongside him on the front row of the grid.

However, it was Brookes who took the holeshot ahead of Irwin and Tarran Mackenzie who came through from the second row of the grid to third place.
The next few laps saw a lot of position changes at the front, especially between the top two of Brookes and Irwin, and this helped keep the field together, with a group of about twelve riders all covered by only a couple of seconds.

By half-distance, though, it was clear who the contenders were. Brookes led a breakaway group including Irwin, Mackenzie, Iddon and Haslam with Dixon just off the back.

But it was Brookes who led to the flag. Apart from a few exchanges between himself and Irwin in the first few laps of the race, it was pretty much a lights-to-flag win for the 2015 champion. It was Brookes’ first win of the season, and allowed him back into the top six after a difficult Knockhill round a couple of weeks ago. This race was an important step for Brookes in this season, as he made the step he needed to return to the top step.

Glenn Irwin. Image courtesy of Ducati media

The second place of Irwin was both impressive and slightly disappointing. Glenn was in the mix for the whole race and despite Brookes squeezing out a small advantage in the closing stages, the Irishman was able to erase that on the final lap to come back into contention, but he just couldn’t get close enough into Clearways for a final corner move. Either way, Glenn once again proved that he is capable of stepping into the shoes of the absent Shane Byrne, even if the situation is a far-from-ideal one. Whilst he didn’t manage his first victory, he certainly proved himself capable of achieving that very soon, and considering the team he has behind him, it would be unfair to rule him out of title contention at this stage.

Leon Haslam lucked into third place after Tarran Mackenzie crashed on the penultimate lap at Hawthorn’s. Ultimately, such a result for Leon is a good one, on a track he hasn’t tasted victory at since 2006, and fundamentally struggled at since his BSB return in 2016. Critically, he also beat Jake Dixon, so extended both his points lead in the general standing, and his lead on podium points. A performance like this might prove pretty ominous for the rest of the season, and should stand him in good stead for the final round in October, where he has struggled in the past.

Jake Dixon’s fourth place was a disappointing result for him, no doubt about it. It is possible to say that, like Haslam, Jake doesn’t go so well in Brands Hatch, but this weekend he had been stunningly fast, and finally it was a surprise that he did not take the pole position. But his race looked in jeopardy from that start, where he made a poor start and dropped from third on the grid to about seventh place, leaving himself a lot of work to do for the twenty-lap race. Furthermore, the incidents in the front group seemed to happen at the wrong time for him, costing him time and Mackenzie’s crash cost him a point in the podium points to Haslam. Anyway, when Dixon had clear space he was quite fast, which is important because it shows that Snetterton and Knockhill were not flukes for him, in terms of pace, and that he has some consistency this season which hopefully, for him, will last the entirety of the season in 2018.

Fifth place went to Christian Iddon, who seemed to suffer in the opposite way to usual. Normally, Iddon suffers in the beginning, and comes stronger towards the end of the race when the tyre goes away. However, in this race, it was the opposite, as Christian went extremely well at the start, fighting strongly at the very front of the race but towards the end fell away, presumably with rear tyre issues.

Peter Hickman had his best ride of the year in sixth place, ahead of Richard Cooper who similarly has his best performance of 2018 in seventh place. Danny Buchan came home in eighth place, although he looked better than that over the course of the weekend. Ninth place went to Andrew Irwin, who continues to be incredibly impressive on the Be Wiser PBM Ducati – since he cleaned out half the pack in Snetterton race one he has been sublime and the potential for this kid is immense. The top ten was rounded out by Michael Laverty.

Tommy Bridewell’s replacement at Halsall Suzuki, Chrissy Rouse, had a remarkable ride to eleventh place. Was it not for Andy Irwin’s current form, Rouse would be seeing a lot more attention for this result.

Bridewell himself was twelfth over the line on his Moto Rapido Ducati debut, ahead of round one double winner Bradley Ray. The Buildbase Suzuki rider has been struggling recently because he has to use the hard front – which isn’t giving the grip he wants – because the softer compound front tyres are overheating in the atypically warm British summer. In fourteenth was Jason O’Halloran, presumably still suffering with the ankle injury he picked up replacing Leon Camier in the Red Bull Honda Team for the Imola World Superbike round, and Mason Law rounded out the points for WD40 Kawasaki.

Sixteenth place went to Gino Rea, who was ahead of Dean Harrison, Luke Hedger, Fraser Rogers and Shaun Winfield who was the last of the twenty finishers.

The retirements were Sylvain Barrier – who was out on the sighting lap – Dan Linfoot who broke a scaphoid putting him out until Thruxton; Luke Mossey who bashed an elbow up fairly bad; Martin Jessopp, James Ellison who had brake problems early on but re-joined the race a few laps down; Aaron Zanotti and final Taz Mackenzie who crashed out of a potential first BSB podium on the penultimate lap.

Featured Image courtesy of Ducati media

14th July 2018

Pasini Takes German Moto2 Pole as Oliveira Faces Another Fightback

Before today, no Moto2 bike had lapped the Sachsenring in under 1’24. Now four riders have, led by Mattia Pasini who looks back on form after his post-Mugello depression. The veteran Italian has looked strong all weekend and in a field more closely packed than it is possible to remember, came out on top in qualifying with an early lap to give him pole position.

Mattia Pasini. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing

Nearly two tenths back of Pasini – yes, two tenths – was Luca Marini, who took his best career qualifying and second consecutive front row with second place. Marini was unable to convert his front row in Assen to anything special, but unlike Assen the Italian has had decent pace all weekend, and could challenge for the podium tomorrow.

Joining Pasini and Marini on the front row tomorrow is Francesco Bagnaia, the World Championship leader, who started off the weekend testing parts for Kalex which left him one second off the pace and down in 26th place. It turned around from there, though, and Bagnaia soon found his rhythm, as was able to make it an all-Italian front row, and tomorrow will be aiming to take consecutive victories for the first time in his career.

Pasini, Marini and Bagnaia, Sachsenring. Image Courtesy of Honda Pro Racing

Sam Lowes was the final rider to dip below 1’24, with a 1’23.971 to give him fourth on the grid. Gearing changes – made for the race at Assen – to give the engine an easier time cost Lowes a better result than ninth, so on a weekend when he has been amongst the top times for its entirety, he will be hoping to maximise his potential tomorrow and take his first podium since Aragon 2016.

Lorenzo Baldassarri has floated about this weekend, sometimes outside the top ten, sometimes challenging the front runners, but in qualifying managed to pull it all together to take fifth on the grid from where he will be aiming to make up for the disappointment of Assen’s puncture.

The final spot on the second row goes to Xavi Vierge, who has also been there or thereabouts all weekend.

Alex Marquez suffered a big crash today in FP3, but still managed to take seventh on the grid for tomorrow’s German Moto2 Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Joan Mir and home hero Marcel Schrotter.

The top ten is rounded out by Brad Binder, who heads up row four and is joined on it by Romano Fenati – who was about the only person to improve their lap time in the final part of the session – and Danny Kent who has been strong this weekend despite the Speed Up historically not suiting Sachsenring.

Row five is fronted by Augusto Fernandez who continues to improve and impress on the Stihl HP40 Pons Kalex. He is joined on the fifth row by Isaac Vinales and perennial poor qualifier Miguel Oliveira who will need a first lap sent by some sort of deity if he is to avoid losing more points to Bagnaia in the championship tomorrow.

It’s not easy to pass in Sachsenring and although Oliveira has possessed solid race pace this weekend, it’s difficult to use that if you have fourteen riders in front of you who, in reality, aren’t all that much slower. Furthermore, if there is a first turn on the calendar that invites a lap one pile-up, it’s turn one at Sachsenring – partly because it is so tight and partly because from turn one you have to wait, really until turn twelve to be able to pass again. Whichever way you look at it, Oliveira has a proper job on tomorrow.

Miguel Oliveira. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing

The sixth row is headed up by Jorge Navarro who has had a quieter weekend than normal this weekend, and is ahead of Andrea Locatelli who has looked better than seventeenth this weekend, and Fabio Quartararo, the Catalan winner blighted by inconsistency this weekend as his name has become linked to the Petronas Yamaha team for next year.

Simone Corsi will start from the head of the seventh row, ahead of Remy Gardner who will round out the top twenty – a surprise after the Australian’s superb FP3 form – and Bo Bendsneyder.

Row eight will consist of Steven Odendaal, Dominique Aegerter – who started the weekend by topping FP1 – and finally Khairul Idham Pawi.

Iker Lecuona will be disappointed with 25th place, but either way he will be joined on the ninth row by Tetsuta Nagashima and Eric Granado.

Jules Danilo, Joe Roberts and Stefano Manzi make up the tenth row, Manzi incurring a three-place penalty for taking out Federico Fuligni in FP2 yesterday.

The eleventh and final row will only have tow riders on it, and they are the aforementioned Fuligni and the wildcard Xavi Cardelus.

Niki Tuuli has deemed himself unable to continue riding this weekend due to the finger injury he sustained in Assen two weeks ago.