Yesterday, Jorge Martin looked to be in trouble after a crash in FP2 which left him being carried away on a stretcher but today turned that around, despite an injured foot and thusly adjusted right Alpinestars boot, to take yet another Moto3 pole position by 0.310 seconds. Tomorrow it will be important for Martin to finish, not only to protect his foot but to also get some points on the board after the non-score in Barcelona two weeks ago. But Martin will not just want to finish, he will want to win, and it would be no surprise to see him break the pack, or at least try to, in the first laps tomorrow. Whether he can do it or not is a different story, but again he is probably the favourite for the victory tomorrow.
Two Italians join Martin on the front row: Enea Bastianini and Nicolo Bulega. The last time the pair started together on the front row was back in 2016, also in Assen. Bastianini has had a mixed weekend, climbing and tumbling through the times in almost equal measure, but he got a solid time on the board when it counted and will hope to be able to take back-to-back wins for the first time in his Grand Prix career tomorrow.
Nicolo Bulega, meanwhile, took his first front row start since Argentina last year, to show that Barcelona was no fluke, and his pace is truly back. Last time out in Barcelona, Bulega had the pace for the win but was taken out of contention by events out of his control – tomorrow he will look to rectify that, and maybe even take his first Grand Prix victory.
Aron Canet has shown superb pace this weekend and could fire himself back into championship contention tomorrow with a good result. Aron put himself in a good position to do so, too, qualifying third. A win tomorrow would be his first of the season, and could hardly be better timed, just before the end of the first half of the season.
Fifth place on tomorrow’s grid will be occupied by Lorenzo Dalla Porta, and the last place on the front row is taken by John McPhee, who has looked strong in the last two rounds and will be aiming to claim the podium that escaped him last time out in Montmelo.
Fabio Di Giannantonio is seventh on the grid, ahead of championship leader Marco Bezzecchi. Bezzecchi has been fast this weekend, but also has been suffering with the front end of the KTM, a common theme. But, the most important thing for Marco tomorrow is to protect his nineteen point championship advantage which he currently holds over the rider starting one place in front of him.
Marcos Ramirez goes from the back of the third row, whilst Gabriel Rodrigo, aiming for his second GP podium and second in a row, rounds out the top ten on the grid.
From here, things get complicated because of penalties. Yesterday, Adam Norrodin got a back of the grid penalty for his second offence of riding too slowly in three sectors in one session; whilst Dennis Foggia, Ayumu Sasaki, Jakub Kornfeil and Kaito Toba received 12 place grid penalties for the same offence, but they were first timers. Albert Arenas also picked a penalty up.
Darryn Binder. Image courtesy of Philip Platzer/KTM
So, from eleventh back, the grid positions are: Tony Arbolino, Niccolo Antonelli, Livio Loi, Philipp Oettl, Jaume Masia, Tatsuki Suzuki, Darryn Binder, Arenas, Andrea Migno, Nakarin Atiratphuvapat, Alonso Lopez, Ai Ogura (wildcard), Kornfeil, Kazuki Masaki, Stefano Nepa (replacing Makar Yurchenko), Ryan van der Lagemaat (Dutch wildcard), Sasaki, Foggia, Toba, Norrodin.
If Martin cannot break away tomorrow, it could be a cracking Moto3 Dutch TT, and a potentially crucial one for the championship.
Featured image courtesy of Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
Francesco Bagnaia came into this weekend after having had his championship lead cut to one point by Miguel Oliveira in Barcelona two weeks ago. Bagnaia had to rebound, and he has, qualifying for the Dutch TT on pole – his second in the intermediate class – after topping all three free practice sessions. Bagnaia has the best pace, and he is in the best position to capitalise on that tomorrow. Bagnaia is the favourite, but as we know with Moto2 – it is just not that simple.
Miguel Oliveira.Image courtesy of Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
For a start, Marcel Schrotter has been phenomenal in the last few races, and this weekend has been no different, qualifying second and looking good all weekend. We will only find out whether Schrotter will be able to take the fight to Bagnaia tomorrow but if anyone is going to do it, it could well be the German.
Luca Marini made sure that the Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex of Schrotter will be the meat in a Sky Racing Team VR46 sandwich on the front row by putting the #10 Kalex third on the grid. This has been Marini’s best weekend since Le Mans last year; now that he is fully fit he is being able to express his potential, and whilst his performance this weekend might be a surprise, if he stays fit for the remainder of the season Marini’s name towards the top of the timesheets might not be such a rarity by November. Of course, racing is much different to qualifying, but Marini will be targeting the podium tomorrow, which would be his first in Grand Prix racing.
Alex Marquez starts from fourth tomorrow. The Spaniard has had a tricky weekend, struggling for consistency, but managed to pull a lap out of the bag in qualifying to give him a decent chance to make a good result tomorrow. Typically, this year, Marquez has gone well in practices only to fail to live up to expectations in the race. Maybe a more difficult time in practice will yield a more impressive race for Marquez – with expectations perhaps a little lower he will be able to ride more freely and perhaps get a better result as a consequence.
Xavi Vierge starts precisely behind his teammate, Schrotter, in fifth place. The #97 has been fairly under the radar this weekend but has put himself in a good position for tomorrow; tending to race better than he qualifies, Vierge should be one to watch tomorrow and could well arrive on the rostrum.
Qualifying has been an issue for KTM this season, and Sam Lowes was the highest placed rider on an Austrian chassis today, qualifying sixth. Often, Lowes has underperformed in races this season, but in Barcelona he rode fantastically to come from a pre-race bike issue and starting last to finish ninth. If he can ride as well as that tomorrow, there is no reason why Lowes can’t make a return to the podium, albeit a while later than most expected.
Montmelo winner, Fabio Quartararo, has continued his good form on the Speed Up this time out, qualifying seventh, and he has looked strong all weekend too. Getting his first win seems to have freed the Frenchman up a bit, so he should be quite competitive tomorrow, but being a newcomer to Moto2 frontrunning, it is difficult to predict what he might be able to do come race time.
Andrea Locatelli has enjoyed a brilliant weekend, finishing second in FP2 yesterday, and qualifying today in the middle of the third row, in eighth. It’s his second season in Moto2 and finally, it looks like something is clicking for the Italian. Hopefully for Loka, he can turn his good pace over the weekend into a good result in the race tomorrow.
Jorge Navarro has crashed a lot this weekend, but he has also been quick. He goes from ninth tomorrow, and it will be interesting to see what the Gresini rider can do in the race, because as yet he hasn’t made the step probably most people thought he might from rookie Moto2 season to season two.
Joan Mir, again, did not have such a stellar qualifying performance, but always races better. He rounded out the top ten today but it would be a surprise to see him absent from the podium fight tomorrow. Joining Mir on row four are a disappointing Mattia Pasini and an incredibly impressive Khairul Idham Pawi who, like Locatelli, may have finally found something with the Moto2 bike.
Lorenzo Baldassarri has looked okay this weekend, but nothing special. He qualified thirteenth, but with the times so tight (he was only 0.347 seconds off pole) he can still make progress tomorrow. Typically, consistency is Balda’s strongpoint, and if he can have good consistency tomorrow he can still rescue a good result and some important points for the championship.
There have been moments this weekend where Romano Fenati has looked like he can fight for the podium, but qualifying was not one of them. Like Baldassarri, he suffered from the tightness of the field – being just 0.453 seconds off pole but down in fourteenth on the grid. Again, Fenati’s pace shows potential, so if he can make a good start then he can be in the mix towards the front.
The last rider on the fifth row is Isaac Vinales, who starts ahead of Augusto Fernandez, who has got the Pons gig full time in the wake of Hector Barbera’s dismissal.
Brad Binder. Image courtesy of Philip Platzer/KTM
Miguel Oliveira once again decided to make life difficult for himself in the race by qualifying 17th. He was also 17th on the grid in Montmelo and finished second, but there are only so many times you can qualify in the back end of the top 20 and get away with it. Oliveira’s pace has been good this weekend, anyway, so he can still make a good result, but he also needs to make a good start to be able to do so. Remy Gardner lines up on the back of row six.
Nineteenth place was taken by Iker Lecuona, ahead of Simone Corsi, although the Italian will start from last after riding into the back of Oliveira in Barcelona on the cooldown lap.
Domi Aegerter will start twentieth, Brad Binder 21st, Danny Kent 22nd, Bo Bendsneyder 23rd, Stefano Manzi 24th, Steven Odendaal 25th, Niki Tuuli qualified 27th (which would have been 26th) but might not be able to race because of a big high side at the end of qualifying. Eric Granado will be 27th Joe Roberts 28th, Jules Danilo 29th, Xavi Cardelus – who also crashed at the end of qualifying – will be 30th, and finally Federico Fuligni will start 31st.
Tetsuta Nagashima crashed yesterday, and was taken to hospital to have surgery on a broken finger. Hopefully he will be back in Sachsenring, although the doctors have to make a decision first.
Assen, once more, has not disappointed. It is only qualifying day but this weekend might be the best of the season already. In Q2, just 0.376 seconds separated the top ten riders, and it seemed like almost each of those twelve had a spell in pole position.
In the end, though, it was Marc Marquez who took his 75th Grand Prix pole position, his third of 2018 and first at Assen in the premier class. The result for Marquez was somewhat expected; despite suffering with the front quite a lot this weekend, he has been fast throughout and was always going to be difficult to beat to the first grid slot. All of his lap time came in the final sector, perhaps predictably, and this is important for tomorrow, because if he is fighting for the win come lap 26 he is absolutely going to be able to launch his #93 Honda up the inside of whoever is in front of him into the final chicane. He probably will be there, too; along with Maverick Vinales, Marquez has enjoyed the best race pace of anyone this weekend, and is probably the favourite tomorrow. He is the only rider who can make the 2018 Dutch TT a dull race.
Cal Crutchlow made it a Honda 1-2 in qualifying, with a strong fastest lap at the end of Q2 to secure his spot in the middle of the front row. The critical thing for Cal tomorrow will be track temperature, and how that affects the front tyre, which is once again the limiting factor for Honda this weekend. His pace looks quite strong, too – if he can go with the front riders from the start then he can battle for the podium.
Also likely to be in that battle is Valentino Rossi, who qualified third. The Italian has seemed to have the pace to fight for a fourth consecutive podium all weekend, and maybe even a first win of 2018. However, his weekend took a negative turn when he crashed at the very high speed turn seven, Ruskenhoek, in FP4. This crash not only upset his rhythm into qualifying, but also hindered his race preparation for tomorrow, and cost him valuable minutes in FP4 where he might have wanted to try something different. Anyway, he recovered well to be third fastest in what was a very competitive Q2, and put himself in a good position to end both his and Yamaha’s year long winless run.
Andrea Dovizioso. Image courtesy of Ducati
Andrea Dovizioso has looked strong all weekend too, enjoying pace superior to that of his Honda bound teammate; Jorge Lorenzo, and pace enough to be in the frame for a third podium of 2018. For Dovi, it was important to qualify well to allow him to use his good pace from the beginning of tomorrow’s race, and he managed to do that, qualifying fourth. Ducati have been without a win in Assen since 2008 with Casey Stoner (who else?), their only Dutch TT win, but now Dovi is in a very good position to be able add a second victory to that, and if things go his way, maybe even bring himself back into championship contention.
Alex Rins and Maverick Vinales join Dovi on the second row, in fifth and sixth respectively. For Rins, this was a great result, as he out-qualified teammate Andrea Iannone, and recovered well from what had been a difficult weekend up to qualifying. It will be interesting to see whether the steps he seemed to have made for qualifying will also translate into race pace.
For Vinales, sixth is something of a disappointment. Over the whole weekend the number 25 had looked good, constantly being amongst the top riders in all practice sessions, and having strong race pace as well as decent one-lap speed. However, being less than 0.2 seconds off the pole position time of Marquez in Q2 was not enough for Vinales to qualify any better than sixth. The most important thing for Vinales is, as ever, to make a good start and go with the leaders on the first laps. If he can do that, he has the pace to win.
The third row is headed up by a very impressive Aleix Espargaro, who is joined on row three by Johann Zarco, who has seemed to struggle this weekend, and Andrea Iannone who, with one minute to go, was running second in Q2.
Jorge Lorenzo qualified in tenth place, just 0.376 seconds off the pole time, and with one minute to go, he was on pole. Either way, Jorge has struggled more this weekend compared to the last two races, and has been generally slower than his teammate, Dovizioso. However, it is difficult to discount Lorenzo from podium contention in the race given his recent form, but he will need to find something big in morning warm up.
Lorenzo’s Ducati replacement for 2019, Danilo Petrucci, will line up between Lorenzo and the slowest rider of Q2, Alvaro Bautista. Bautista tends to race a lot better than he qualifies, so it will be interesting to see what he can do from twelfth tomorrow.
Bradley Smith signing fan’s hats. Image courtesy of Philip Platzer/KTM
Thirteenth place went to Takaaki Nakagami, who is alongside Tito Rabat and Hafizh Syahrin on row five tomorrow; row six consists of Jack Miller, Scott Redding and a struggling Dani Pedrosa; row seven will be occupied by Karel Abraham, Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro and the two riders on row eight are Tom Luthi and Xavier Simeon.
Franco Morbidelli suffered a broken metacarpal in FP3 this morning and was ruled unfit, so only 23 bikes will start tomorrow. Hopefully Franky will be back in Sachsenring.
Since 1949, world championship motorcycle racing has visited Assen, annually, without fail. This will therefore be the 69th running of the Dutch TT as a world championship race, and an important one, especially for Yamaha.
It has been way over one year since Maverick Vinales last won a race, back in Le Mans 2017, but for his teammate, Valentino Rossi, and the Iwata factory, last week marked the one-year anniversary of their last win. Furthermore, the day of the race, July 1st, will be the 63rd birthday of Yamaha’s motorcycle division; so an important weekend for Yamaha awaits. Moreover Rossi, second in the championship, abit twenty seven points back, he is not theoretically, out of contention – so a win this weekend would ensure that his deficit in the championship is cut to less than one race win. Also, Assen has long been one of Rossi’s best circuits on the calendar, perhaps his absolute best, winning ten times at the Dutch track in his, now, 22 and a bit season long career, even winning in a tough 2013 season. Assen may prove one of the best circuits for the Yamaha, too. Not only does the M1 suit the fast, sweeping corners which arrive after De Strubben, and the end of the first sector, but the usually cooler Dutch climate can work in the favour of Yamaha, who tend to struggle in the heat. That said, the forecast for this weekend seems remarkably stable and warm, like it was for World Superbike earlier in the year.
Rossi himself, has had a tremendous run of races since the return to Europe. It started with a difficult Jerez, where he lucked into fifth place thanks to the triple crash of Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso, and that was followed by three third places in the next three races: Le Mans, Mugello and Barcelona. Again, he was fortunate in Barcelona that Dovizioso crashed, but with the current situation of Yamaha, capitalising on the errors of others is more important than usual. The Mugello podium was also quite special, losing the front in almost every corner throughout the race to finally take his first Italian GP podium since 2015. But what about this weekend for The Doctor? The importance of this weekend resulting in a win ultimately means little; what is important for Rossi and for Yamaha this weekend is whether the M1 will be able to cope well with the warmer conditions and whether it can conserve the tyre sufficiently in the race to be there at the end.
For the #25 side of the Movistar Yamaha garage, the situation is different. Maverick Vinales has suffered ever since he went to Yamaha in the early phases of races, even in the first races of last year, even the ones he won. Many times after tests, or after Saturdays on race weekends, Vinales has said something along the lines of ‘We tried with the full tank, we’re happy. I feel good,’ only for the next race to see precisely the same pattern as the previous ones: a poor start, an inability to overtake or ride quickly in the first laps, followed by a final five or seven laps which are as fast as anyone else out there. Once more, after the Monday test on the day following the Catalan GP two weeks ago, Vinales claimed a step had been made with his M1, that he could go to Assen and finally make the start he needs to, to be able to make use of his late-race pace. Only on Sunday will we understand whether he will be able to fight for a good result.
Jorge Lorenzo on his Ducati. Image courtesy of Ducati
But ultimately, the layout of Assen works well for Yamaha. And, typically, what works for Yamaha works for Jorge Lorenzo. The winner of the previous two Grands Prix is arriving this weekend with all the confidence in the world – who wouldn’t, after dominating the last two races? However, it is excessive confidence which Lorenzo blamed for his crash in 2013 which arguably cost him the World Championship that year, but more importantly broke his left collarbone and left a minefield of mental scars which have haunted the five-times World Champion ever since, especially when returning to the origin of the damage, which makes absolute sense. In 2013 he would have won, but the broken collarbone prevented that, although it did not stop him from racing (an act of relative heroism). As a result, Lorenzo has only one MotoGP win in Assen, back in 2010 – his first championship year in the premier class. Since then, Lorenzo has only had one podium in Holland, in 2015 – he was taken out by Marco Simoncelli in 2011, by Alvaro Bautista in 2012; the collarbone prevented a win in 2013; it rained in 2014, 2016, 2017. However, consistent, dry, warm weather – on paper – suits Lorenzo perfectly. But the Ducati has suffered in Assen in recent years (with one exception which we will get to later), its stability combined with a lack of turning making it a very physical twenty six laps on Saturday, and more recently Sunday, and none of them being particularly rapid. Maybe this weekend, Lorenzo can change that, and if he can fight for the win, that is a very worrying occurrence for the opposition.
That Ducati exception, came from Danilo Petrucci last year. If it weren’t for Alex Rins getting in the way at the end of the race when Petrucci was challenging Rossi for the lead, Yamaha could have been waiting for 13 months by now for a win, and Ducati would have signed a Grand Prix winner to replace the Honda-bound Lorenzo for 2019. The rain towards the end of the race played into the hands of the #9 Pramac Ducati rider last year – having nothing to lose helped Petrucci in those conditions. But this weekend has the potential to be a difficult one for Petrux, partly for the reasons mentioned previously about the difficulties of the Desmosedici in Assen, but also because the higher temperatures, combined with the old, relatively slippery Dutch asphalt and Petrucci’s aggressive riding style could leave him without grip at the end of the race.
Andrea Dovizioso struggled last year in Holland, relying on the late rain to allow him to fight for the podium, although he ultimately missed out. Dovizioso has the unfortunate situation this weekend of being on a motorcycle that does not particularly suit Assen, with a riding style which does not particularly suit Assen. Dovi brakes very late, carries quite high entry speed, but not much apex speed, which doesn’t really work in Assen. However, the factors which could work against Petrucci have the potential to work for Dovizioso, who is the master of tyre conservation. However, you have to say that the most likely rider is Lorenzo to end Ducati’s 10-year winless run in Assen.
Marc and Dani Assen stats. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
Marc Marquez comes into this weekend with a 27-point championship advantage and, probably, as the favourite for the race win. Marquez has five wins in Assen, including three in a row in 125cc and Moto2 between 2010 and 2012. He is without a win in Holland since 2014, but with fair reasons: his Honda was subpar in 2015 and his ability to even fight for the win was impressive enough; 2016 was a situation where he had to think of the championship whilst sat behind Jack Miller; and 2017 was a similar situation to ’16 with rain at the end bringing out the rarely seen cautious Marc Marquez, although he still threw down a huge move on Cal Crutchlow at the Ramshoek on the final lap to take third place. Fair weather and a much improved RC213V compared to previous years could put Marquez out of reach on Sunday, although excessively high temperatures could see the return of the front tyre issues that have plagued the Honda rider in the last two races.
Unusually, Dani Pedrosa is currently attracting more attention than Marc Marquez, primarily due to his contractual situation. It is seeming more and more likely that the Spaniard will go to the proposed Petronas Yamaha team for next year, but the announcement of the team has to come before Pedrosa can announce that he is riding for them – and that is if he is riding for them at all. The warm, stable weather should help Dani this weekend, who has struggled at Assen in recent years, but was strong in Barcelona and feeling better physically ahead of this weekend.
Johann Zarco will be hoping for a stronger weekend for this round, having suffered in the last races. The Frenchman was on pole for the Dutch TT last year, and fought for the victory for most of the race until he pit for a bike change anticipating an increase in the rainfall which never arrived. Another potential dark horse this weekend is Jack Miller, who took his one and only MotoGP win in Assen back in 2016.
An unusually warm weekend in Assen awaits, with birthdays and anniversaries, the potential for a second triple-winner of 2018, but who will win the first Dutch TT to be held in July?
Last year, the Dutch TT was one of the best races in the Moto2 World Championship, and with an even tighter championship this time round, Assen looks set to deliver a cracking intermediate class race yet again.
Two weeks ago, in Barcelona, Fabio Quartararo crossed the line first to take his debut Grand Prix win, and Speed Up’s first since Sam Lowes won in Texas, 2015. It was a breakthrough for Quartararo, who has had a couple of years in the doldrums since his broken ankle at Misano in his debut GP year, 2015. The win was an important one for Speed Up, too, who had traditionally struggled in hotter conditions, but Quartararo’s imperious performance proved that those days may well be gone, which could be important for this weekend, which looks set to be uncharacteristically – for Assen – hot. Assen has been a good track for Quartararo in the past, too, taking one of his two Moto3 podiums at the Dutch track back in 2015, and he will see this weekend as an opportunity to prove that his Catalunya win was no fluke.
Whilst the Catalan GP was a dream for Quartararo, it was a nightmare for championship leader, Francesco Bagnaia. The Italian had looked strong all weekend, which made his race performance particularly confusing, as he finished eighth. The situation became more clear after the race, though, as it became obvious that Bagnaia had suffered a tyre problem – a whole chunk, at least, missing from his rear Dunlop by the end of the race. Fortunately for him, he held the championship lead coming to Assen, although his advantage is down to one point over Miguel Oliveira, and Bagnaia will be keen to extend that on Sunday.
Whilst Oliveira could not keep tabs on Quartararo to fight for the win in Montmelo, he was able to come through from seventeenth on the grid to finish what was, in the end, a comfortable second place. Oliveira is going to need to sort his qualifying out at some point, there are only so many times you can start in the middle of the pack and not get caught up in a race-ending incident. Miguel scored Mahindra’s first Moto3 pole position in Assen, back in 2014, so perhaps this is the time for the Portuguese to set his 2018 Saturdays straight. What is sure, though, is that the warmer conditions this weekend should suit well the KTM-Oliveira pairing come race day, where tyre management will be key to obtaining a good result.
Alex Marquez only managed third place at home in Barcelona. Once more, he went from race winning pace in practice to fighting hard for the last podium spot in the race, this time 3.485 seconds off the win in the end. Since then, Marquez has been testing the Kalex chassis for next year with the Triumph engine, with positive results. With so much time riding the Honda Moto2 Kalex, it is improbable that Marquez will struggle to re-adjust back to the 2018 spec machine, however it will be interesting to see if there are any issues. Assen was a circuit at which Marquez dominated, though, in 2014, taking the Moto3 win by a few seconds from Alex Rins. Perhaps this weekend can thus provide the catalyst for Marquez’ title charge.
Lorenzo Baldassarri needs to bounce back this weekend, but in a different way to his flatmate, Bagnaia. Balda struggled all weekend in Barcelona, in complete contrast to the domination he enjoyed in Jerez, the previous Spanish round. It was seventh in the end for Lorenzo in Montmelo, and the onus will be on him to return to the podium on Sunday.
The Dynavolt Intact GP team were unfortunate to miss a podium in Montmelo, with both Xavi Vierge and especially, Marcel Schrotter in the running for a top 3 finish. Vierge came almost from nowhere in the race to be challenging for the podium, whilst Schrotter had looked strong all weekend and probably would have been on the podium had he not made a mistake at turn one, costing him a lot of time and many positions. Expect the #23 and #97 to be fighting at the front again this weekend.
With so many riders having the potential, coming into this race – and to the aforementioned riders you can add Mattia Pasini, Sam Lowes and possibly Iker Lecuona – the intermediate class should produce a brilliant battle this weekend, which could have, potentially, large ramifications for the championship.
Fabio Quartararo may have stunned everyone on Saturday with his first ever Grand Prix pole position, but on Sunday afternoon he sealed the deal, taking the victory. It wasn’t a straightforward job for the Frenchman, though, as he had to recover from an average start that allowed Alex Marquez into the lead, as Fabio dropped to fifth in turn one, where the two Dynavolt IntactGP bikes came through with Pecco Bagnaia.
Whilst that was happening at the very front, Miguel Oliveira made his usual start: coming from a different continent to be in the front group. This time, the Portuguese went from seventeenth to seventh, and by the end of the first lap and a half he was fourth. After setting a series of fastest laps and picking his way through the field, he took the lead at turn ten on lap eight. Oliveira was unable to open up much of a margin, though, and when he ran wide at turn four with thirteen laps to go, Quartararo was soon underneath him.
From there, Quartararo went unchallenged, stretching away from Oliveira, making the Portuguese look almost amateur. Not only was Quartararo’s victory unexpected, it was also masterful, dominating the field to the point where the question has to be asked: why only now? Quartararo’s ability and speed has never been questioned, and after changes made to his personal management and training personnel have been clearly so successful, you have to wonder why it didn’t happen sooner. Had it been so, he would likely still be at Pons HP40 and perhaps fighting for the Moto2 World Championship; or maybe he would be in the Estrella Galicia Marc VDS team having won the Moto3 title for them in 2016. Quartararo’s story in Grand Prix racing so far has been one of ‘what if’s’, and this win only increases that – but if the double Junior World Champion can continue in this form, and take more podiums and victories with Speed Up, his real future might just start to look as promising as his hypothetical one as it did in 2015.
Miguel Oliveira. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose /KTM
Oliveira may have had no answer for Quartararo on Sunday, but he still took second place and after starting seventeenth, it is probably fair to say that he should be reasonably happy with his performance. Crucially, he beat Bagnaia (by quite a bit) and cut the gap in the championship to just one point. Twelve rounds remain and we are pretty much back to square one in the intermediate class championship, and there are reasons to say that both Oliveira and Bagnaia are evenly matched as we approach the second half of the season.
Third place went to Alex Marquez. Whilst this meant he closed in, in the championship to be precisely one race win behind Bagnaia, but he will be disappointed to have missed the victory. Once more, Barcelona proved a race of unfulfilled promise for Marquez: quick in practice, nailed on for the win, only to find himself in more difficulty in the race, and dropping back in the end. Maybe a cooler Dutch climate can yield a first 2018 victory for the Spaniard.
The late-race drop off from Marquez this time brought him into the grasp of the two Dynavolt Kalex’s of Marcel Schrotter and Xavi Vierge. Schrotter realistically should have beaten Marquez to the podium, in fact you could even argue that he had the potential to challenge Oliveira for second, but a mistake in the early phases of the race when he ran wide at turn one and dropped five or so positions. His fightback was strong, though, but still he will be frustrated to have missed the podium. It was not all bad for Marcel though, as he got a motocross jersey from American motocross/supercross star Adam Cianciarulo.
Vierge went under the radar in the race to end up fifth, which was quite a good result for the Spaniard after a weekend which was not straightforward. Three seconds back of Vierge was Brad Binder, who fell away from about the midpoint of the race onwards – for whatever reason he cannot manage the race distance as well as teammate Oliveira, although he can keep the leading pace fairly often in the beginning of the race.
Seventh place went to Lorenzo Baldassarri, who lost his third place in the championship standings to Marquez after this race. It had been a difficult weekend for Balda, and he will hope for more in Assen to try and keep himself in the championship frame. Nearly three seconds back of Baldassarri was a frustrated Francesco Bagnaia. It was a tyre problem which cost the championship leader a shot at the podium and maybe even the victory; after the race he put a photo of his tyre on Instagram, and it had a huge chunk of rubber missing from it. A frustrating race for the Italian but not a threatening one in the long run, his pace is not in doubt.
Lorenzo Baldassarri . Image courtesy of Honda pro news
The extent of Bagnaia’s struggles can be contextualised by the following: Sam Lowes had a fuel pump problem before the race began, and did not make the grid for the formation lap. This meant he had to start the race from last, rather than his qualifying position of ninth. By the end of the race, Lowes was only three seconds behind Bagnaia, and had recovered to his original qualifying position – ninth. It was a stunning race by Lowes, much of it off camera, but where he might have previously made mistakes and in the end had a poor result, he showed calmness and class in a difficult situation to make a good race. Credit has to go to his team manager, also, who was making a big effort to calm the Brit down before the race when everything looked so negative. In another team, Lowes might have crumbled. As it is, he can go to Assen in a good frame of mind.
It was Lowes’ teammate, Iker Lecuona who returned to the top ten after a few difficult races, as he finished in P10 in his home GP.
Andrea Locatelli took eleventh place, ahead of Simone Corsi. But the drama for Corsi was not in the race, rather it came after the chequered flag. Corsi was looking everywhere other than in front of him after the race had ended, and when he looked up he was too late to react to the impending situation, and he slammed into the back of Oliveira on the run into turn one. Thankfully, neither rider was hurt in the incident, but Corsi received a back of the grid penalty for Assen; an understandable decision from the stewards.
Tetsuta Nagashima finished thirteenth, ahead of Augusto Fernandez on his return to Grand Prix racing in place of Hector Barbera. The fact that Fernandez was wearing fully liveried up Stihl Pons HP40 leathers strongly suggests he will remain with us in Grands Prix for the remainder of the season, which is no more than he deserves. Remy Gardner took an impressive point on his return from two broken legs as he rounded out the top fifteen.
Edgar Pons wildcarded this weekend and finished sixteenth, better than he ever managed, pretty much, as a full-time GP rider, and ahead of Luca Marini who may have felt better physically better on the bike this weekend than in Mugello but clearly did not have the feeling with the bike as he ended the race seventeenth. Eighteenth went to Steven Odendaal on the NTS, ahead of Khairul Idham Pawi in P19 and Domi Aegerter who completed the top twenty.
Danny Kent was P21, thirty seconds down on his race winning teammate, and then came Joe Roberts, a further seven seconds back, Jules Danilo, Dimas Ekky, and Eric Granado who was the final finisher.
Stefano Manzi, Niki Tuuli and Bo Bendsneyder all got caught up in an incident at turn four on the first lap which ended their respective races. They were joined on the sidelines by Jorge Navarro, Federico Fuligni, Joan Mir, Mattia Pasini (who crashed because of a gearbox problem), Romano Fenati and Isaac Vinales.
This weekend, the 2018 Superbike World Championship heads to California, and the Laguna Seca circuit, home of the famous “Corkscrew”. Negotiating turns eight and nine efficiently this weekend will be critical to achieving a good result, but the puzzle of Laguna Seca is not only limited to its most famous section. Coming over the crest of a hill at turn one on full lean angle and at around 160mph gives a breath-taking start to the lap, which leads straight into the second turn at the double-apex Andretti Hairpin. The complexity of this section means mistakes are inevitable across the weekend, so minimising having a setting to give good confidence when braking on angle is essential for this part of the track. Then the circuit flows right into turns three and four. Three is merely a kink, but it is important to take a good line to be able to make a good turn four. At the same time, in the race, the layout of this part of the track means that the fastest line also leaves you open to a pass, so finding the right compromise will be important in the early laps.
Turn five is a fairly simple, flat right hander, but the radius combined with the relative lack of camber means that it is easy to get sucked in, but the important thing here is the corner exit, because there is then a reasonably long run to turn six through the un-numbered right kink. There is a lot of camber to offer a lot of support in turn six, meaning there is potential for a pass. Turn seven is very fast, on the left side of the tyre. As Always the riders are on the limit of the track boundaries on the exit, and track boundaries in Laguna are enforced not by the Race Direction but by the run-off areas themselves, which are largely gravel – rest easy Mr. Haydon. After the run down the Corkscrew, it is the tricky Rainey Corner, where the riders push the front hard as the downhill run continues before another heavily cambered corner at the penultimate turn. Finally, the last corner is the best overtaking spot, as highlighted by Eugene Laverty in 2013, but as Casey Stoner showed in the MotoGP race back in 2008, it is also quite easy to make a race-deciding mistake at turn twelve.
Image courtesy of Honda Pro racing
Chaz Davies best mastered the Californian circuit in race one last year, which was a remarkable victory, only two weeks after he was run over by Jonathan Rea in Misano race one. This year, it is not physical issues which have the potential to hinder Davies this weekend, but rather problems with the bike. Davies has struggled since Imola, and especially in Donington and Brno. In Donington, Davies suffered his worst weekend of the season, missing the podium in both races; then, in Brno he suffered again, but with some crashes in race two he was able to make the podium. Laguna has been a good track for both Davies and the Panigale in recent seasons, and the Welshman will be hoping to make a return to the top step.
It was Jonathan Rea who took victory in the second Laguna Seca race last year, and the form he is in at the moment would suggest another double could be coming the way of the new ‘most victorious’ rider in World Superbike history. He took that record from Carl Fogarty in race one in Brno two weeks ago, but contact with his KRT teammate Tom Sykes left him as a spectator from lap three in the second race. The frustration from the incident was put to one side, though, as he put pen to paper on a new two-year deal to pilot the ZX-10RR until 2021. As for this weekend, Rea and Davies have been the two to beat around Laguna since 2015, and with the Welshman currently in a difficult moment, this weekend could well be a Johnny Rea domination.
But maybe Marco Melandri can take it to the reigning World Champion. He should have won race two in Brno but made a mistake at turn three which put him out of contention. Melandri made the podium last year in race two, and may prove to be the only rider with any hope of stopping Rea taking yet another double. However, if his instability issues reappear this weekend, Melandri could have a bigger problem in Laguna than anywhere else – few places require total confidence, especially in the front end, as the Weathertech Raceway.
What about Sykes? Well, he took two wins in Laguna – one in 2013 on his way to the championship, and the other in 2014 when he shared the winning that day with Melandri, the last time the Italian won in Laguna. He took a pair of second places in 2015 behind Chaz Davies and in front of Rea both times, before he took a third US win in 2016. A podium was followed by a crash two weeks ago, and with his record in Laguna Seca, this weekend could offer an opportunity for Sykes to expand on his solitary victory of 2018 so far.
Perhaps the biggest question for this weekend is: what can the Yamahas do? Three race wins out of the last four races, across both riders, and including a double for Michael van der Mark in Donington one month ago leave the R1s under significantly more pressure to perform and achieve big results, especially with the Ducati riders having fairly large question marks over the heads of their competitiveness, as well as Sykes. The Pata Yamaha riders could be the biggest contenders to Rea this season, ad they have to be in a good position to be able to try to challenge the championship leader.
The Aprilias could also have something to say this weekend, with Eugene Laverty making good progress at Brno a couple of weeks back, taking a sixth in race one and a fourth in race two. He was backed up, too, by Lorenzo Savadori who, despite having a bonfire underneath his rear tyre for most of both races, managed to shadow his Milwaukee Aprilia teammate to take seventh in race one and fifth in race two. Coming here, Laverty was confident of being able to achieve podium results, and the progress in the last races would point towards being able to get near that. Maybe they are quite far away, still, but with some luck they might be able to get themselves on the box. Laguna has been a good circuit for Laverty in the past. He only has two podiums, but has only ever raced there once on competitive machinery, in 2013 (when both podiums came), including a stunning win in the second race that year.
There are also three Americans on the grid this weekend: the two WSBK regulars, Triple M Honda’s PJ Jacobsen and Red Bull Honda’s Jake Gagne; and the wildcard Josh Herrin on a Yamaha.
Jorge Lorenzo qualified on pole position for the Catalan MotoGP, with a stunning final sector on Saturday afternoon. It was his first Ducati pole and gave him the perfect opportunity to put his superior pace to use, and demolish the field as he had done two weeks previously in Mugello. His only real threats came from Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso, who had shared similar pace with each other across the weekend and had the potential to upset Lorenzo’s rhythm.
Jorge Lorenzo ahead of Marc Marquez and his teamate, Andrea Dovizioso . Image courtesy of Ducati media
Marquez made a great start, whereas Lorenzo did not, and made it into first place, with the buffer of Andrea Iannone’s Suzuki between him and Lorenzo. However, the number 29 ran wide when trying to pass Marquez for the lead on lap one in turn 10, allowing Marquez back through and the #99 Ducati into second place as well. This let Lorenzo line up perfectly a pass into turn one. Marquez defended the inside as hard as he could but Lorenzo was unstoppable on the brakes.
From there, Marquez tried to stay with Lorenzo and, despite looking at ease, he was clearly on the limit because, when Dovizioso crashed behind him at turn five on lap nine, he dropped the pace and let Lorenzo go by two seconds, preserving his second place and the twenty points that come with it.
Jorge Lorenzo’s pace in this race was incredible. Between lap seven and thirteen, his lap times were separated by less than one tenth of a second, and over the whole race only 1.2 seconds separated his fastest time from his slowest. This was vintage Jorge Lorenzo and when he rides like that, there is no one person on the planet who can stop him.
Of course, demolishing the best riders in the world two races running opens up inevitable questions about a World Championship challenge. Can he do it? Probably not, but possibly. Over the past two races we have seen that Lorenzo has the pace to win races, the problem is that they were both at circuits he adores. We haven’t yet seen how he might go at a circuit he is less suited to. Another problem is that he is forty-nine points behind Marc Marquez in the championship, and it’s perhaps fair to say that taking two race wins out of Marquez and with twelve rounds left is not so easy. Furthermore, Lorenzo is not as consistent as Marquez. Where a bad weekend for Marc in the remaining races might be a fourth or a fifth, it could be a lot worse for Jorge, especially if the track conditions are neither wet nor dry. Speaking of which, Assen is next, the birthplace of Jorge Lorenzo’s wet weather demons, courtesy of the crash he suffered in the Thursday practice at the Dutch TT back in 2013 in which he broke his collarbone. In the years since 2013, Lorenzo has only managed to podium in Assen once, in 2015 on his way to World Championship number five.
After Assen comes Sachsenring, another of Lorenzo’s weaker circuits; and the other thing that Assen and Sachsenring have in common is that Marc Marquez loves them both: he has five wins in Holland and is unbeaten since 2008 in Germany. However, if Jorge can somehow keep the gap to Marquez below fifty points after the next two races, the ones which come after the summer break are far more favourable: Brno suits, both him and the bike, as does Austria. He goes well in Silverstone and the Desmosedici won there last year in the hands of Dovizioso.
Misano is the perfect place to be an enemy, Lorenzo’s favourite role! Aragon is one of his best circuits during the season and he is the only one, other than Marquez to win there since 2013. In Japan too, Lorenzo moulds Motegi into his circuit by focussing on corner exit and acceleration from low speed, Phillip Island again suits his style, so long as it does not provide changeable conditions. He has always enjoyed Sepang and he was under the lap record there in this season’s winter test and lastly Valencia is another of his best circuits. Thailand is a question mark, but in theory the Ducati should work quite well there. So, Lorenzo can fight for the championship, but the next two rounds can eliminate that possibility.
Marc Marquez unable to keep with the pace of Jorge Lorenzo. Image courtesy of Honda Pro racing
For Marc Marquez, the race was perfect. He missed the win, but that does not matter. After Mugello, Andrea Dovizioso had closed down the Spaniard’s advantage in the championship to 29 points – a recoverable margin. But after Barcelona, Dovi is precisely as far back as Lorenzo: 49 points. Furthermore, Marquez’s advantage over the factory Yamahas increased to 27 over Valentino Rossi, with Maverick Vinales a further eleven back. With Assen and Sachsenring being races Marquez can definitely win, he could have the title all but won by the summer break.
Valentino Rossi’s race proved uneventful and yet it exceeded expectations. He did not have the pace of either of the factory Ducatis or Marquez, but the crash of Dovizioso allowed the number 46 to recover a podium position, more than he could have expected. In Assen next time out, it will be almost precisely one year since he or Yamaha last won a Grand Prix, but despite this the Italian is still in mathematical championship contention. There still needs to be more found from Yamaha with the acceleration of the M1, and what they tried in the Monday test after the race did not aid that, but with what he has there is no questioning the great job Rossi is doing, and in Assen you can never discount him.
Cal Crutchlow ahead of Dani Pedrosa. Image courtesy of Honda Pro racing
Cal Crutchlow finished fourth. He was embroiled in a mid-race battle with Dani Pedrosa and Danilo Petrucci, but upped and left just quick enough to evade the attentions of Johann Zarco and Maverick Vinales when they turned up in the fourth-place battle with just a few laps to go. In truth, it seemed that Cal could have finished on the podium in the first part of the race. He took over one second out of Valentino Rossi when he was chasing down Pedrosa and Petrucci, and dealt with the number 9 quickly, only for his charge to be halted by Pedrosa, whose defence was very strong. Crutchlow also ran wide in turn 10 at one point to hand the fifth position back to Petrucci, and that meant that it was only with seven laps to go that he passed Pedrosa for fourth place. He duly departed, but was too late to do anything about Rossi. Anyway, a fourth place finish from eighth on the grid was a good result for Crutchlow, especially as he went against the Honda grain by using the soft rear tyre.
Dani Pedrosa did a similar thing, using medium tyres front and rear, rather than the hard-hard combination which was more expected from the Hondas. This worked for him in the beginning of the race, because he had enough grip, but also enough support, to make a good pace. However, by the end of the race, he had no rear grip left – edge grip nor drive grip – so he had little to fight Crutchlow with. Even still, he positioned the bike very well, which is why it took Cal so long to get by the number 26, but in the end tyre grip won out, as usual, and Pedrosa wound up in fifth place, just ahead of Maverick Vinales.
And what a disappointing race it was for Vinales. Through the weekend he had spoken about how he had worked to be more comfortable in the race, how he felt he had found something for the first five laps. But he had no chance from the start, from which he put the M1 in reverse and fell through the pack to the back end of the top ten. Whilst his teammate, Valentino Rossi, and also Johann Zarco, are able to be aggressive in the first laps, Vinales is not, and this issue must be fixed if he is to win races. This is not a new thing, though, it was the same last year: in Qatar, he did not get going until halfway through the race. It was the same story in Argentina. In Assen he crashed trying to recover from a bad qualifying and a poor start and he could have won in Phillip Island had he started better. The difference is that now, these poor starts ruin his whole race because he cannot overtake – whereas he was able to still come through to the podium or even win in 2017 after a bad start, in 2018 he can go nowhere. The worst thing for Vinales is that it is only him having the problem, and whilst he is suffering with this, the other side of the Movistar Yamaha garage is enjoying its fourth podium of the year and third in succession. Something has to change in the #25 box, and quickly.
One positive for Vinales, is that he was three seconds clear of Johann Zarco at the end of the race, which didn’t look remotely likely before Le Mans. Since then, though, the Frenchman has become a little bit invisible. It was somewhat expected in Mugello, because Johann struggled there last year, but in Barcelona, he finished fifth last year, so only seventh place this year seems a bit odd. But, next up is Assen, and for Johann that is the scene of his first MotoGP pole position which he took in wet conditions last season. Hopefully for him he can have another good weekend this year in Holland to get his season back on track.
Danilo Petrucci had a strong start to the race, but suffered towards the end, no doubt with tyre wear, and could only manage eighth place. seven seconds behind him was Alvaro Bautista who scored his fourth successive top ten finish with ninth place, a couple of seconds clear of the factory Suzuki of Andrea Iannone who had a bizarre race, going from challenging for the lead on lap one to being 24 seconds away from the win by the end, and down in tenth place.
Pol Espargaro. Image courtesy of Markus Berger/KTM media
Pol Espargaro took KTMs best result of the season in eleventh place, ahead of Scott Redding who had a good race to twelfth – a good result after probably his best weekend on the Aprilia. Thirteenth went to Karel Abraham, who was the final finisher. Franco Morbidelli was fourteenth, but classified three laps down.
Only fourteen classified finishers leaves plenty of retirements: Mika Kallio was the first to go on lap one; then Sylvain Guintoli crashed out two laps later; Tom Luthi went one lap after Guintoli; Aleix Espargaro crashed one lap after Luthi; then came Simeon’s exit with seventeen to go; one lap before Dovi crashed; then Rins retired with thirteen laps left; two laps later Taka Nakagami folded the front in turn five whilst trying to pass Bradley Smith, and took the British rider with him; Jack Miller crashed with seven to go; Tito Rabat’ Ducati blew up one lap after Miller bowed out; and finally Hafizh Syahrin had a strange crash at turn four.
A race of attrition, then, in the premier class for the Catalan GP, but it was Jorge Lorenzo who came out on top. Can he continue this form in Assen, or will Marquez reclaim his authority in the 2018 World Championship?
The seventh round of the 2018 Moto3 World Championship looked, in the early phases, to be a fairly straightforward, uneventful affair, at least in the fight for the lead. Jorge Martin bolted immediately, only Tatsuki Suzuki able to go with the Spaniard. It looked set, Martin would win, eventually breaking the Japanese, and assume the championship lead.
Moto3 2018: Round Seven – Barcelona, Catalunya image courtesy of hondanews.eu
But it did not go like that. It was not Suzuki who faltered, it was Martin, crashing at turn nine on lap nine. He tried to re-join but the bike wouldn’t allow it. Suzuki duly fell back to the chasing pack of about ten or eleven riders, unable to maintain the pace Martin had previously been setting which had been good enough to pull the pair clear.
The drama was not done there, though, as Aron Canet and Albert Arenas came together into turn four with six laps to go and took down Nicolo Bulega in the process. Bulega had returned to the front-running pace this weekend, and felt he had the potential to win the race. When he was taken out, he was angry and expressed that to Canet and Arenas who at the time were both lying on the floor; Canet eventually carried away on a stretcher whilst Arenas was able to walk off. Bulega’s anger at the incident was understandable; he had finally gotten back to the front of a Grand Prix after spending all of last year at the back end of the top ten, and all of this year fighting for last, and crashing. That said, putting that before the safety of your competitors when they are clearly suffering is not perhaps the best way to go about things. Canet and Arenas were both largely unharmed in the incident, as was Bulega, and that is the most important thing.
The craziness did not end there: Jaume Masia made contact with John McPhee as a result of avoiding Marco Bezzecchi at the end of the pit straight. Masia lost control and collected Andrea Migno when he fell. Again, both riders were okay, but this time there was less anger in the gravel trap, and Masia was as apologetic as was to be expected, which Migno acknowledged.
That left five bikes in the leading group: Enea Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi, John McPhee, Gabriel Rodrigo and Tatsuki Suzuki.
They had six laps to sort themselves out, and in those six laps it was Bastianini who took charge, and broke away just enough in the final stages of the race to put himself out of danger into the final corners, as he took his first win of the season, and first since Motegi 2016 when he beat Brad Binder with some stunning late-race pace. This win was different, though, for Enea, because it was his first outside of Gresini, and it also brought him into championship contention. He climbed up to fourth in the championship, and now sits thirty-five points behind table-topping Bezzecchi, but, perhaps more importantly, twelve points behind Jorge Martin who still surely has the be the championship favourite. There are another four points in front of Martin to Fabio Di Giannantonio, but the Italian’s poor weekend in Barcelona showed a weakness in his season which could cost him in November.
Bastianini celebrating his win. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing
So, Bastianini is back in the championship hunt with this victory, but it is Marco Bezzecchi who remains atop the standings after he snatched second place from Gabriel Rodrigo on the line. It had been a tough weekend for Bezzecchi, struggling to find a good feeling with the PruestelGP KTM across all three days, but he still managed to arrive in the podium, showing his strength and potential in this season – even when things aren’t quite correct, Bezzecchi manages to be there and score important points for the championship. His strength is his consistency, and this is highlighted by the statistic that the Italian has finished on the podium in every race which he has finished. Bezzecchi is in the championship hunt 100%, it’s just hard to believe he can be there at the top until the end.
Third place went to Gabriel Rodrigo, who claimed his first podium of his Grand Prix career. There is no doubt that Gabri deserves this, he has been challenging near the front for a few seasons now, only for crashes to take him out of contention. Unfortunately, crashes are still a big part of his racing, but if he can find a way to finally phase them out somewhat, he can be a regular podium contender.
John McPhee took fourth place, his best result of the season, and it shows what he can achieve when he makes a good qualifying. As he becomes more in tune with the CIP-Team Green squad, surely results such as these will only become more recurrent for the Scot, as he surely looks to find himself a Moto2 ride for next season.
The only man who could match Jorge Martin’s pace at the start of the race, Tatsuki Suzuki, could in the end only manage fifth place. Still, it is a much better result than he picked up in Mugello, and also his best result of the season – his previous best being sixth in Le Mans. Kaito Toba led the second group home, with a sixth place finish, his career best, ahead of Di Giannantonio who recovered from running off track at turn five to finish seventh and move into second in the championship. Alonso Lopez came from the back of the grid to finish eighth in the second of his four home races; Dennis Foggia took his first top ten finish as a full-time Grand Prix rider with ninth palace which is a good result from a difficult weekend; and Raul Fernandez rounded out the top ten, which is very impressive from the Spanish wildcard – surely we will see him in the GP paddock full-time next season.
Eleventh place went to Jakub Kornfeil, ahead of Makar Yurchenko, Adam Norrodin, Nakarin Atiratphuvapat and Livio Loi rounded out the points. Philipp Oettl was sixteenth and the seventeenth and final finisher was Lorenzo Dalla Porta.
Darryn Binder was the first retirement on lap one. He was joined on the side lines by: Kazuki Masaki, Jorge Martin, Marcos Ramirez, Ayumu Sasaki, Tony Arbolino, Albert Arenas, Aron Canet, Nicolo Bulega, Andrea Migno and Jaume Masia.
Fabio Quartararo. Image courtesy of Honda pro racing
In 2015, Fabio Quartararo came into the Moto3 World Championship with the Estrella Galicia team as the next big thing, and a double CEV Moto3 champion. The rules were changed for Quartararo, to allow champions of the Moto3 Junior World Championship to graduate to the World Championship from the age of 15, rather than 16 years. But a broken ankle in Misano 2015 pretty much ended his year, and a move to the Leopard team, who won the 2015 World Championship with Danny Kent, as well as KTM machinery hindered the Frenchman’s progress. He had an awful 2016, not even reaching the podium. Fabio then went to Moto2 in 2017 with the Pons HP40 team, but was fired from the team at the end of the year after another tough season. Speed Up was the destination for Quartararo for 2018, and up to now, he was looking pretty ordinary: 20th in Qatar, 22nd in Argentina, 15th in Texas, 10th in Jerez, 8th at home in Le Mans, and 11th last time out in Mugello. There has clearly been progress, but nothing which you might say is pointing to something special.
However, since Quartararo arrived in Barcelona, he has been rapid. He may have been only 23rd fastest in FP1, but that was only 1.1 seconds of the top time; then in FP2 he was third; FP3 he was eighth and in qualifying he took his first ever Grand Prix pole position, and Speed Up’s tenth their relatively short history. It was a brilliant lap by Fabio, and completely unexpected – he has been nowhere for two-and-a-half years and all of a sudden he arrives on pole position, and by over one tenth which is a huge rarity in Moto2. His consistency over the weekend points to promise for Sunday, but he really is an unknown quantity, it is difficult to say what he can achieve.
Alex Marquez and Marcel Schrotter join Quartararo on the front row, Marquez having looked strong all weekend and Schrotter similarly. For Marquez, tomorrow is crucial; with the championship falling away from him he needs to take a lot of points out of the championship leaders and tomorrow offers a good opportunity to do just that, with some unusual names seemingly able to mix it with the typical front runners. A win tomorrow could launch Marquez back into contention.
Francesco Bagnaia, image courtesy of honda pro racing
Championship leader, Francesco Bagnaia, will aim for his fourth victory of 2018 from fourth on the grid – an omen? As you might expect, Bagnaia has looked fairly risk-free and still blisteringly fast all weekend. He may have missed the front row today but this seems to be the type of race which suits Bagnaia perfectly, as he tends to have a little bit extra on his rivals, at least those on Kalex chassis’, when it comes to tyre conservation. This advantage could prove vital tomorrow, and Pecco will be keen to return to the rostrum after missing it at home in Italy two weeks ago.
Brad Binder will line up fifth for tomorrow, and is another rider who has looked consistently quick this weekend. The South African is still without a podium in 2018, and tomorrow’s race seems like it could offer a great opportunity for him to change that, now he has finally made a good qualifying. The final spot on the second row will be taken by Mattia Pasini, who has not been so consistent this weekend, but might just be able to sneak a decent result if he can make a good start and get his defence on.
Xavi Vierge has not had such a stunning weekend, but nonetheless made the head of row three in qualifying, ahead of Joan Mir, who is surely aiming for a third consecutive podium, and Sam Lowes who will just want a solid points haul after a torrid beginning to 2018.
Lorenzo Baldassarri has not had the pace you might have expected so far this weekend, and only managed tenth place in qualifying. He needs to make some changes in warm-up on Sunday morning if he is to take a result which can help his championship. Joining the number seven on row four are Simone Corsi and an impressive Tetsuta Nagashima.
Luca Marini is in better physical condition than in Mugello, where he managed an impressive seventh place, but could still only manage thirteenth place and the head of the fifth row in qualifying. Iker Lecuona and Romano Fenati join Marini on row five.
Andrea Locatelli and wildcard Edgar Pons will be either side of persistently poor qualifier Miguel Oliveira. Fortunately for Miguel, it never seems to matter if he qualifies in the depths of the top twenty, because he always makes a stunning start and first laps. From eleventh in Mugello he won, but tomorrow, from seventeenth will be tough for the Portuguese. He will need to make the most of the long run to turn one from the grid if he is to make a good result tomorrow. But, if he can get to the top ten early, he might just be able to use the KTMs impressive tyre management to his advantage and come through to the top five or even the podium. One thing is for sure, Oliveira is not particularly intent on making these races easy for himself.
Jorge Navarro disappointed with only nineteenth on the grid, but did beat Hector Barbera’s replacement, Augusto Fernandez who has been incredibly quick this weekend but for whatever reason could not replicate his pace in qualifying. Barbera is out because he has been sacked from the Pons HP40 team due to a drink driving incident in the week, and the decision of the team is entirely understandable, and indeed correct.
A little bit about Fernandez: he was riding a Superstock 600 Yamaha R6 in the European Moto2 Championship (effectively the STK600 in European Moto2 is like a race within a race, think European Supersport Cup), and riding it well, until he got on a Moto2 Tech3 Mistral 610 at the Aragon round of the European Moto2 Championship back in 2016, at which point he immediately launched himself into victory contention. Last year, he was drafted into the Speed Up team to replace Axel Bassani, but he was dropped from Speed Up this year and has since been riding a private Suter back in the European Championship again, on which he challenged Jesko Raffin (on a Kalex) for the win last weekend in Barcelona. It’s fair to say Augusto is trying to make the most of this opportunity with the Pons team, and hopefully he does enough for them to keep him. Isaac Vinales rounds out the seventh row.
Khairul Idham Pawi and the returning Remy Gardner are in front of Domi Aegerter on row eight; then Steven Odendaal, Bo Bendsneyder and Danny Kent (1.681 off Quartararo) will make up row nine; Joe Roberts, Niki Tuuli and Dimas Ekky row ten; Stefano Manzi, Eric Granado and Jules Danilo row eleven; and Federico Fuligni is the final rider on the grid and the only one on row twelve.
Interestingly, Manzi on the Forward Suter was only 0.020 seconds faster than Fernandez’ time last week, and his teammate Granado was 0.025 seconds slower than the Spaniard.
